Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Jan 7 ~ Jan 13 - FOCUS Into 2008

Wednesday, January 9th

Another one of my focuses for this year is to learn how to use my PPing software better. One thing that I have been interested in learning about for a while now is HDR. This is the first picture I have done using this method. The first image is how my camera wanted to expose the scene. The second image is a composite of seven images exposed above and below the original exposure in 1/3 stop increments. I love how I can get details from both the shadows and the highlights using HDR, it will be fun to do more shots using this technique. HHCC welcome and wanted.





f/11 @ 1/80 ISO 200



















Tuesday, January 8th

One of my focuses for 2008 is going to be to take more pictures, so what a better place than here to take more pictures? For Christmas my wife got me a set of extension tubes, they are going to be a lot of fun and a cheaper alternative to macro lenses. Here is a shot I took of a baby Jesus from a nativity set, macros are going to be one of my focuses. BTW I can take whatever you have to say HHCC welcome and wanted.





f/11 @ 1/60 ISO 200

45 comments:

~~Debb~~ said...

Macro photography is my favourite genre. I have a set of close-up filters that I've had for over 30 years, and they do a pretty good job. But, I'm in the market for a Tamron 90mm 2.8 Macro lens. I'd prefer to buy it used, so I'm checking out the Pentax Forums.
I tried the extension tubes, but wasn't very successful. Your image looks great!

Anonymous said...

This is great! I would love to get into macro...It scares me!
Cari

Michelle said...

very nice job on this! macro is so cool--i'm still trying to get the hang of it so i'll be watching your progress!

For Over 29 Years... said...

Is that a snowman baby jesus? He's so cute. Really nice job and I love the DOF. Welcome to our little funtime!

Margaret said...

I like the angle of this shot. You did a great job with the macro. That's something I need to work on!

cherie said...

macro shots are so neat. have not done many myself but always enjot looking at them

Liz said...

I like the composition and the DOF is really nice.
To me it looks a tad underexposed and you do have a few hot spots above and below his mouth and on his belly. Overall a nice macro though.

me said...

very nice shot. I would love to get into some macro as well

Lori said...

I like the angle you chose.

Angela2932 said...

Very nice perspective in this photo.

Ashley Hiskes said...

Love that snowman. I do agree with Liz. It does look a tad underexposed to me. But what do I know. I overexpose everything. LOL

Mom2Drew said...

You did a nice job with extension tubes, they are not the easiest thing to use. I think I would crop a tad more off the left side to bring attention more to the baby. It also looks a tad underexposed as well on my monitor.

Sharon said...

This is really nice. I like the perspective.

Val said...

Looks a little dark on my monitor, but it's hard for me to tell, with the colors in this image. Nice focus!

Becky said...

I love the angle on this, and it doesn't look too dark to me (but I'm a chronic underexposer :-))

Tomboymama said...

I like the angle you chose. I like the rich tones of the image. I am not so good with macro yet, but that is on my list of things to work on this year.

pakosta said...

i want a macro lense!
cute pic!
tara

pat said...

Travis, nice work with the extension lens! Very original POV going on in this shot. I miss Janae--is she going to join us?

Danielle said...

I'm really liking all the macro shots I'm seeing. Looks like fun to play with.

Sara said...

I like the tones in this, as well as the composition. the subject is nice and unusual, as well (I haven't seen many snowman nativities).
It looks underexposed to me too.
I'm excited to seeing more posts from you. I want to expand on my macro shots this year as well!

April said...

nice shot..i have that same nativity set..i like it. anyway you did a great job.

Unknown said...

neat shot! Fun angle...I LOVE nativities (collect them actually) i'd love to see (even a snapshot)the whole thing :)

Farrah Jobling said...

wow...great example. I would never have guessed that you used f/11! I'm becoming more and more a fan of macro!

Anonymous said...

Love the second outdoor photo! Great work!
Cari

Mandy said...

I love the shots of the mountains! So pretty....do you use Lab color sharpening on those...they seem SO blue.

Margaret said...

That second mountain shot is gorgeous. I love the colors.

Yvonne said...

I love the second nature picture!! What a difference this technique makes!!

Michelle said...

wow! what an amazing technique. i really like the range of colors and light you got. great job!

Danielle said...

I really like the second pic. just beautiful.

Jennifer said...

Beautiful photos! The 2nd one looks like it should be in a book or something...wow!!

Katie said...

I love the 2nd mountain shot!! gorgeous colors and love the composition...

The snowman baby looks a little dark to me as well, but I think the DOF is great as well as the angle....

Welcome to the POTD..it's nice to have a guy's perspective on things :)

Mom2Drew said...

I know nothing about that technique, so take this with a grain of salt. The second one looks a bit overdone. Maybe somewhere in the middle of number 1 and 2 would be just right.

Sara said...

Wow. I would love to hear more about the technique you used. I'm going to bookmark this post to remind me to do some research.
It sounds like it's based on a digital editting version of Ansel Adam's exposure technique... is that basically right? I'm so curious and excited to learn something new. Thanks for the beautiful example!

Becky said...

Travis,
I'm back to say thank you for the CC you left on my blog (the ribbon candy photos). I really appreciate it! Now I'm kicking myself for eating some of it because I want to try your suggestion of doing one of my shots at a different angle. Maybe I can find some more candy on clearance. :-)

Angela2932 said...

I also like the 2nd landscape. When I edit some of my photos, I adjust levels. . . not the same technique as you describe. . . but one thing I'm always uncertain about it how much to adjust the colors. How much "white" is too white? Do you just "eye-ball" it? Also, I justs wanted to say that I just read your tutorial on your other blog, and it is excellent! I'll have to go back to it a few times to let more of a sink in. . .

Kristen said...

I really like the 2nd landscape as well, I dont have any cc for you, just wanted to tell you welcome and great job !

Unknown said...

Very fun! I love the second picture. I'll have to research what you've done..not sure I've heard of that abbreviation...or I'm just being slow since its only 3:30 am.

It's posted on the same initial post as your nativity though...did you mean to do that?

anyway good job!

robin said...

Not familiar with that method. The second image is a definite improvement over the first, but to my "untrained" eye, it looks just a bit overdone, maybe too much contrast? Interested to learn more about this technique and looking forward to seeing more of your images.

Tomboymama said...

I have heard of this, but wasn't exactly sure what it was. I do like the second one better.

Tera Fraley said...

How neat!! I love the changes in the first 2 photos, it looks so much more dramtic. I was thinking of getting some tubes since a macro lens is not in the budget! I will be watching for your macro shots.

Val said...

Interesting post processing. definitely makes the photo pop!

Toni said...

No cc here, Just wanted to say breathtaking picture! Toni

Tori said...

Very nice!

Stacey said...

Beautiful photo! I really love the depth of the second one.

Tomboymama said...

Commenting on the panorama. Very pretty. How many photos are merged here? Looking at it, I think I would have liked to see the base of the tall buildings as well. I would like to learn how to do this. Thanks for the tips.