Tag: HDR

04-22-14 A Great Place To Study (HDR)

Good architectural design involves good furniture. . . . 

By Scott Shephard

An ongoing project of mine is to photograph various places at Lake Area Technical Institute where a local office store (Office Peeps) has provided furniture. The LATI library is featured in today’s post and as far as I’m concerned everyone involved in the design did a brilliant job.

Years ago, when Watertown High School added a large new wing, there was an open house to show off the new space. One of the taxpayer complaints was, “Why did we waste so much money on color?” The thinking must have been that institutions should be gray and drab since gray and drab is cheaper. Color, light and space have huge impact on how we feel. And as I life-long teacher I can tell you that all of the senses play a significant role in learning.

Canon 5DIII 1/10s f/7.1 ISO320 19mm

 

A few more from the photo shoot:

04-01-14 The Golden Hour (HDR)

The so-called “golden hour” is the perfect time to capture a portrait of a venerable oak . . . . 

By Scott Shephard

The hour just before sunset is called “the golden hour” because the light is soft and warm. Portrait photographers love this time of day but so do landscape photographers. In the case of this beautiful tree in the Maryland countryside, I was there at the perfect time. There was no wind, it was warm and, fortunately, the light was excellent.

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/8.0 ISO200 105mm

03-31-14 Details

The impressive soaring dome at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, was no doubt inspired by the Roman Pantheon. . . .

By Scott Shephard

When I’m shooting a photo in a place like the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, I often wonder what I could possibly photograph that someone else hasn’t already done. The answer on my visit yesterday when I took this was, “Not much.”

But I still took this picture, in part because I wanted the place in my photo collection. I was also experimenting. The experiment? Can I do an HDR photo at ISO 1250, without a tripod and have two of the three exposures slower than 1/60 of a second? The answer is yes, I guess, Though a magnifying glass would no doubt show the imperfections.

On a side note, I am struck by the fact that under this spectacular dome, the statue is the Roman god Mercury. I wonder if designers could get away with blatant paganism in a public building these days?

Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/2.8 ISO1250 16mm

03-20-14 Cabin In the Woods On A Snowy Day (HDR)

A March snow storm in the Black Hills provides a picture perfect covering for houses and trees.

This home is called “Standing Rock” by its owners, Lorin and Mary B, though the huge rock that is its namesake isn’t present in this photo. Their home isn’t too far from our cabin and on one of my recent visits to the Black Hills, a March snow storm offered many good photo opportunities, including this one.

This photo, incidentally, is the result of what I call “road hunting.” I get in my truck with my camera ready and drive slowly, looking for interesting subjects and scenes. I usually get out of the truck to get the photo but on this one I just rolled down the window and braced my lens and camera on the window frame to capture the HDR sequence. Lazy? I don’t think so – I was just trying to keep my equipment out of the wet, spring snow.

Canon 1/4000s f/2.8 ISO250 70mm

 

03-18-14 The Great Wide Open (HDR)

There is something about blue skies, puffy clouds and a cluster of distant trees that makes me pull over and get my camera and tripod out.

Yesterday’s post set a record for the number of words in one of my 2014 entries. So today I will let the photo speak for itself. This was taken a few miles west of Faulkton, SD.

Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/14.0 ISO160 21mm

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03-16-14 Bucolic

Tiny cattle inhabit a bucolic western South Dakota river valley.

So 15 minutes after capturing “Knee Deep,” and roughly 30 minutes after “Beyond Wasta,” I came across this vista, which is looking northeast over the Belle Fourche River valley. The size of the cattle gives a bit of scale to this scene. It was windy and a bit cool when I got out of my truck to set up my tripod (this is an HDR sequence). But when I look at this photo, I feel a sense of silence and peacefulness. And if cattle can feel contentedness, I’d guess they’d feel it here

“Why black and white?” you ask. I didn’t like the quality of the color in the scene and I also felt it distracted from seeing all of the shapes, lines and contours. Finally, I like the way black and white makes the cattle and their shadows stand out from the pasture land that they have chosen to picnic on.

Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/14.0 ISO100 182mm

03-04-14 Sleeping On the Job

I’m not sleeping now and I’m not really sleeping in the photo, either. I was at Lake Area Technical Institute working on a project for Office Peeps, a local office solutions retailer, and decided it might be a good time to get a self portrait. Also, I was using Camranger to remotely control my camera so it was convenient to get myself in a photo. (If you look closely at the iPad on the floor, you will see the same photo you see here because I can get a live view on my IOS device with Camranger.)

For those who are regular readers of my blog, you might see the humor in the title, given that my last post for “A Photo A Day” was on the 17th of February. Have I been sleeping too much? No. Have I been traveling? No. Did my wireless connection quit? No. Do I have a good excuse. Maybe.

I have been working on projects and, significantly, I have been working on a new web site, which you are apparently looking at right now. Thanks for visiting. (How about subscribing to new posts on both my “Learn” and “A Photo A Day” pages here at Scott Shephard Photography? Just fill in the little box on the right.)

Will “A Photo A Day” as you know it disappear? No doubt. When? There is much doubt.

And, yes, four external links is way too much for the average viewer. But you’re better than average, aren’t you? Check out some of the LATI Office Peeps project photos here.