In November, Imaging Resource selected my "Dog in Flight" picture as its Photo of the Day for 11-5-2012. Then in December, my "Orangutan Pose" photograph was the Photo of the Day for 12-3-2012. Today, a third image, "A Helping Hand", was selected as the Photo of the Day (1-8-13)! 

Labor of love

At the end of each month, three of the daily winners from the month will be awarded Canon photo printers. So, I have about a 10% chance of landing another brand new printer. Imaging Resources has already shipped one new professional photo printer (the Canon PIXMA Pro 9000) for the November 5, 2012 photo.

Often times, it's the little touches that make a photograph work. During my recent trip to New Mexico, I noticed the Inn and Spa at Loretto in downtown Santa Fe. Although the building was an interesting subject for photography during the day, my vision was to capture it at dusk. My hope was that at dusk the luminaria (i.e. lights) would be lit and that the sky would be a more interesting color.

Given my limited time in the city, my best chance for this kind of lighting was just before sunrise. I braved the freezing temperature and arrived at the Inn about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. Fortunately, the lights were on! Here's the image that I captured:

Luminaria on adobe building Note that there are a few issues with this initial capture. In an attempt to keep the highlights from blowing out, the building is underexposed. And, the sky is overexposed in my opinion. To solve those issues, I exposed two more frames--one exposed a stop brighter and another a stop darker--and then blended the three images using Nik's HDR Efex Pro 2 software to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.

Once the exposure was corrected, I then moved onto dealing with the faulty lights. Note that two of the bags are not fully lit (circled in red). Using Photoshop CS5, I eliminated the upper bag as I didn't like how close it was positioned to the bag above it. Then, I lit the lower bag by cloning one of the other bags in the frame over it.

Luminaria on adobe building

Sometimes, using Photoshop to turn on a light can improve a photograph!

Often times, I find it helpful to move either closer or further from a subject in order to view it in a different perspective relative to the background. I started shooting the Headhunters Hair Salon in Alamogordo, New Mexico from the parking lot directly in front of the store using a 22mm focal length. Note how getting very close to the building eliminates the mountains behind the store from the frame.

Headhunters

Sometimes, my goal is to remove unwanted objects from the background. However, in this case, I wanted to show the setting of the store and to include the mountains in the background.

To accomplish this, I moved further from the building. I captured the next photo from across the street and changed the lens on my camera from the 14-24 to the 70-200. This next image is captured at an 82mm focal length. Note how the mountains are now prominently  displayed in the frame. The longer focal length also helps compress the elements in the scene.

Headhunters Changing lenses isn't always a good substitute for moving my feet! Zooming in and out with my feet is a technique that I use quite frequently.

Even the most current camera sensors are challenged to portray accurate colors given the variety of artificial lighting sources present in many building interiors. An example of this situation occurred just a couple of days ago while I was shooting a photograph of a piece of artwork hanging in the Oklahoma State Capitol building.

At first, I gave the Auto White Balance setting on my Nikon D800 a chance. Here was the result:

Landscape Fragment Note that I held a WhiBal card in front of the painting. The WhiBal White Balance Reference Card is very helpful for obtaining accurate colors in photographs. To correct the colors in this image, I use the White Balance Eyedropper Tool within Lightroom. Simply click the tool on the gray area of the card. The colors throughout the image are then color corrected almost instantly.

Landscape Fragment Here's the finished, color corrected image:

Landscape Fragment Color correcting images in this manner is a fast and easy process. Probably the most difficult part of the process is remembering to shoot an extra exposure with a gray card in the frame!

I just returned from my trip to New Mexico. Now, it's time for the overwhelming task of processing the images!

The Gates of Time (B&W version)

Oklahoma City National Memorial

Field of empty chairs

And Jesus Wept (B&W version)

Wall of tiles

Wall of tiles

Wall of tiles

Wall of tiles Wall of tiles Wall of tiles Wall of tiles Wall of tiles Wall of tiles

I use multiple exposures to create high dynamic range (HDR) images quite frequently. When photographing scenes with challenging exposures, this allows me to retain some details in both the highlights and shadows.

Many years ago, I captured a photograph of the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Grand Teton National Park using Kodachrome slide film. Slide film does not offer a great deal of dynamic range, so I had to choose an exposure that would retain details in the highlights (the mountains and sky) or the shadows (the interior of the church).  I chose the highlights, so the interior of the chapel went dark.

Chapel of the Transfiguration I recently revisited this scene with my digital camera. This time, I captured five photographs. For the first image, I selected an exposure that would underexpose the mountains and sky slightly. This exposure so happened to be 3 stops below (-3 EV) what the matrix metering of the camera was recommending. From there, I captured four more exposures with each exposure being two stops more exposure than the previous picture. By the time I reached the fifth image, there was plenty of detail in the shadows to work with. My camera is securely mounted to a tripod throughout this process.

I then blend the five exposures using Nik's HDR Efex Pro2 software. Once I have a single blended image, I run the photo through my normal post processing steps in Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS5.  Here is the finished image:

Chapel of the Transfiguration Many times, I'll create a HDR image even though it isn't absolutely necessary given the exposure range. I find that the image quality can be higher with HDR in some cases. Rather than make significant post processing adjustments to raise the shadows and darken the highlights (which introduces noise and other artifacts), the HDR image retains full detail in those areas without the need to stretch the pixels.

An example of this was a recent photograph I captured of the Notre Dame hockey arena. After adjustments in Lightroom, the single exposure was able to retain details in the highlights and shadows. But, the HDR image retained far higher image quality throughout the photograph--particularly in the dark ceiling.

Notre Dame Hockey Arena

Although the dynamic range of the sensor in the Nikon D800 is amazing, I still find myself using HDR techniques under more challenging lighting conditions.

While planning for my trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, it quickly became evident that there are several iconic images in those parks. And, the scenes are iconic for good reason--the scenery is spectacular.

While sitting in one of the lodges, a photographer was advising me exactly how each of these iconic images should be captured. First, he explained how the landscape at Schwabacher's Landing must be composed. He quantified the distance that I needed to hike down the trail--and pointed out that I would know exactly where to stand as there are three holes worn in the ground near the water where the tripod legs are to be placed! He then described precisely how the Moulton barn should be framed.

All of this advise got me thinking about how challenging it is to capture these unique scenes in a way that is different. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of reproducing the same images that were already on display on postcards in all of the stores. Yet, I realized that portraying these scenes in a unique way would be challenging, if not impossible. And, that it would still be fun to photograph some of these amazing sites with my own camera.

I realize that my photograph of the John Moulton barn is much like many others. I decided to bring some foreground (sagebrush) into the frame and widen the focal length to add some additional environmental perspective. Although I wasn't particularly pleased at the time, I now think that the early morning rain and the more dramatic sky added significantly to this photograph.

John Moulton barn

I visit the Brookfield Zoo quite often to practice my photography. Many of the exhibits use moats to separate the animals from the visitors. This eliminates any obstructions (e.g. glass, wires, cages) which would make creating pictures more difficult. Also, there are several indoor exhibits. This makes the zoo an ideal place for photography even when the weather isn't cooperating.

Tropic World is one of my favorite indoor exhibits. Tropic World is a massive indoor exhibit space that houses a variety of primates. The exhibit is in part lit by a glass ceiling--which provides soft, diffused daylight that is ideal for photography!

An Afternoon Nap

Afternoon nap Angry Gorilla

Western lowland gorilla Posed Orangutan

Orangutan Colorful Character

Colorful character Silverback

Silverback gorilla