Back on May 31st, I sent my camera into Nikon's Service Center in Melville, New York. Nikon performed the following:

1. Adjusted the auto-focus operation
2. Upgraded the firmware (to address the LCD blackout issue)
3. General check and clean (including sensor cleaning)

I was pleased with the turnaround time of less than two weeks. Since the issues I was experiencing with my D800 were so sporadic, it will be a while before I know for sure whether the problems are fixed. But, I'm glad to have my camera back!

After a recent photo shoot, some people asked how I was able to achieve a certain sepia look with some of the images. As a reference point, here is the original image:

Connor Baker 2x3 ratio I then opened the image using the Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in for Photoshop. I applied one of the presets called "#36 Antique Plate":

With a few final tweaks in Photoshop, here's the final result:

Connor Baker 2x3 ratio (sepia version)

On May 22nd, I captured some photographs from the abandoned Manteno State Hospital. This psychiatric hospital opened in 1930 and was closed in 1983. At one point, it housed nearly 8,200 patients. The hospital became short on staff (approximately 200 people). As the patient to staff ratio became more dramatic, reports of abuse surfaced. In recent years, the vacant hospital buildings have attracted "ghost hunters".

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the visit. All of these pictures were captured with the Nikon D800 and Nikon 14-24 2.8 lens:

Manteno State Hospital Dirty floor (B&W version) Hospital hallway The shadow room (B&W version) Since posting the images, I've received a number of questions about the location of this site. The above photographs were captured at the building located near the intersection of Ironwood and North Grove Street in Manteno, Illinois. I first noticed this site while putting on the 15th green of the Manteno Golf Club! Please note that a visit to this site poses some risks. The building has stood vacant for nearly 30 years. And, many times a "No Trespassing" sign is posted on the grounds.

Following are a few photos from the earlier days of the hospital:

Manteno psychiatric ward (1938)

Years ago, when floppy disks were the norm for digital storage, I lost a lot of data. My computer's hard drive was experiencing issues. The good news (or so I thought at the time), is that I had backed up my data. I inserted the floppy disk which contained all of my back up data--and the disk was defective. Then, I made the mistake of inserting my secondary back up floppy disk--which was also defective. Apparently, the computer was destroying the floppy disks! Now, I had no remaining back ups--and all of my data was permanently lost. It took days to recover or recreate only the most critical files. Fortunately, this was before the time that I became interested in digital photography!

Now, I'm more careful to ensure that my data is protected. First, I store all of my images on an external hard drive--a Seagate 3TB external hard drive. I have a second Seagate 3TB external hard drive positioned next to the primary drive--and that's used for back ups. I use Microsoft SyncToy to synchronize the files between the drives. Unless I am in the process of backing up the data, I leave the second hard drive unplugged to minimize risks such as a power surge or virus attack.

I'm not comfortable having just one external drive as a back up. Also, having the backup drive located right next the primary drive introduces the risk of losing all the data if something should happen at the site--such as a fire. So, I maintain a third external hard drive as my second back up. That third drive is secured off-site in a safe deposit box. Every three months or so, I back everything up on the third drive and return the drive to the bank. If anything should happen to my on-site drives, I can rest assured that all of my data is safe in that off-site location.

In the unlikely event that all three hard drives fail, I upload many of my jpg files to my website. As a last resort, I can download those jpeg files as needed.

Like many photographers, I have tens of thousands of digital images stored on hard drives. With so many images, keeping things organized is critical! I use a few simple approaches to make it easy for me to retrieve any of my pictures in minutes (or seconds)!

I like to store my images using a basic file structure organized by date. All of my files are stored on external hard drives. They are first placed in a folder titled "My Pictures". Then, there is a folder for each year within the "My Pictures" folder:

Within each year, there is a folder for each shooting date (Year-Month-Day):

Then, the files for each image are stored within the date folder:

Within each image, I embed detailed metadata. Information contained within each file includes the location (along with GPS coordinates), title, caption, date, camera settings, lens, etc.

With all of this detailed information included within the file, I can use a search engine (such as Adobe's Lightroom) to quickly locate an image based upon filters. For example, I might view just those photos with the words "Abandoned", "Building" and "Manteno" in the file--and just those images will appear within less than a second. Once I see the image of interest, I note the date of capture and can quickly access the original file using my folders as they are sorted by date.

I can also use the search engine on my own website to quickly locate images. For example, let's say that I am interested in viewing something as specific as photos with stairs that cast shadows.  By entering "shadow stairs" in the search box, six images appear. Once again, by clicking on the photo, I can view the capture date and quickly access the original file since my files are organized by date:

I hope this helps!

Many times, photographers hope to minimize shadows within an image. Other times, the shadow is the subject of the photograph!

Stair shadows Golf shadow Hanging chain shadow Three forks

Unfortunately, I will be without my Nikon D800 for next couple of weeks. A few days ago, the rear LCD panel failed to display for about ten minutes. I tried removing the battery and powering the camera on and off. But, nothing worked. Then, everything worked properly for no apparent reason. Also, I'm not confident that my D800 isn't experiencing the same issue with the far left auto-focus sensors that so many other D800's have been experiencing.

Although a recent firmware update is reported to address the rear LCD problem, I thought it made the most sense to send the D800 into Nikon's Service Center in Melville for a thorough check while the camera is still under warranty. In the meantime, I'll be shooting with my Nikon D700. Hopefully, Nikon will make the repairs quickly and get the camera back to me soon. I already miss it!

I saw the Chicago Cubs play the San Diego Padres yesterday at Wrigley Field. It was a beautiful day for baseball. My Nikon D800 is in Melville for service, so I brought my D700 and 24-70 to the game. With the 24-70 lens, action photos are out of the question! So, I went with the flow and captured a few images of the park from the area near our seats. I thought the B&W conversions were suitable for photos of this old ballpark.

Wrigley Field tunnel Stairway to Wrigley Field Wrigley Field (B&W version) Wrigley Field And, the Cubs beat the Padres by a score of 5-3 to improve its season record to 17-32!