”Mirrored City"

”Mirrored City"
©M. LaDawn Ziser

Today’s image of the day features an image that LaDawn captured on our weekend photowalk.  She liked photographing the same building I was shooting but decided to take it up to the next level with her Photoshop mirror manipulation.

I think her lines are very cool in this image too.  Notice how the blue sections are parallel with the edge of the image but there is some convergence of the center area of the image – very cool if you ask me.

She did all her color and density post-production in Lightroom 5 and finished the image in CS6. The warm and cool tones together with the diagonals and vertical elements makes for quite the “eye pleaser.”   Way to go, LaDawn!

Camera specs: Canon EOS 7D fitted with Canon 18-200 IS lens at 130mm, F618 @ 1/250 second, ISO 800. Enjoy! -David

Line, Shape, and Form: Enjoying All Three On A Recent Cincy Photo Walk

Hi Everybody,

I thought I would drop by - see how everybody's doing here at DigitalProTalk today. This past weekend we took a short photo walk with some friends in Northern Kentucky.  Our walk took us through downtown Covington, KY and then across the John Roebling Suspension bridge to downtown Cincinnati, OH and then back again. BTW the bridge was modeled after the Brooklyn Bridge – see the resemblance?

Line, Shape, and Form: Enjoying All Three On A Recent Cincy Photo Walk

I thought I would share with you a few the images I made during our two hour trip. The weather was perfect the subject matter was cool and colorful and I think I got some nice images. Let me share them with you in the order in which they were captured.  All images were made with my “fun” camera, my Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Digital Camera which I love for just these kinds of things. BTW, all post processing was done mostly in Lightroom 5 and a bit in CS6.  On to the photographs…

1. This image is of three drums I saw in a pawnshop as we passed walking down Main Street in Covington, Kentucky. I just love the bright colors and repeat of the bright greens in this image.

2. In the next image I was taken by the shadows on the wall against the venetian blinds. I tweaked colors a bit in Photoshop and Lightroom 5 and then added a little spherical distortion with the Lens Correction tool to get this final result.

3. In this next image as I looked across the street I saw this unusual reflection in the mirrored pane glass of the storefront. I thought the bright colors and the curvature of the space made for an interesting photo walk grab.

4.  As we continue down the main street I saw a “sign” – a real sign - so I had to photograph it. I love the bright yellow against the dark blue sky. It's a wide-angle photograph that's just kind of a fun compositional juxtaposition. 

5. The next image is a really simple image of repeating rectangular elements of a parking lot. But I love the curved power line running in front of it. I thought it offered a interesting contrast to the otherwise horizontal/vertical lines of the composition.

6. The next image of this tall building with this blue accents I found really appealing. I positioned the light post against a solid part of the building to create the finished composition I wanted. This was actually one of my favorite photographs of the photo walk.

7.  This next image of the red grid work was again one of my favorites from Sunday's photo walk. It was actually a black grid when I started and it was actually vertical but after colorizing it to the bright red and rotating it 90° I like how it gives us a cool overhead feel.

8.  The suspension bridge crossing the Ohio River in Cincinnati, OH  is one of the most interesting architectural features of our area. As I mentioned earlier it was designed by John Roebling who also designed and started the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

In this image I love the curved lines of the cables push both upwards and downwards.  I filled the frame with all the curved elements and shot away.  I think this arabesque dance created quite a interesting composition.

9. This next image is just an exercise in contrasts. The shadows were getting long and I thought they looked cool playing against the bright, sunny sidewalk. As I said I love playing around with my design lines.

10.  After crossing the suspension bridge we happened upon a public fountain in which we found several small children enjoying themselves. I captured several photographs to get just the image I wanted.  I love seeing this little boy splashing exuberantly in the spraying water. Nice way to cool off!

11. On the way back across the suspension bridge which is really tied together with these huge bolts holding together the cables themselves, I thought a close-up of one of those huge bolts as the sun was reflecting would make an interesting composition in this image.

12 and 13. As you know as a DigitalProTalk reader, I'm a big fan of lines and shapes. These next two images are of one of the office buildings on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.  The building provided an interesting subject matter I was looking for. The colors and densities were enhanced in Lightroom 5 to my desired result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. Continuing our photo walk I was given yet another “sign” so I had to photograph it ;~)  Once again, I love the bright yellow against the blue sky with the Suspension bridge in the background. I happened to be a big fan of wide-angle lenses and this was done with a 24 mm lens shooting up from a very low vantage point. Again it was just fun and I just like the composition.

15.  This image I was playing with as I was shooting with my Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Digital Camera and I really enjoy using it’s articulated viewfinder to make this photograph. That means I didn't have to lay down on my stomach to take it, I just lowered the camera to the ground pointed the viewfinder up to my eyes so I could create the composition I wanted and shot away.

I have to admit, I meant for the yellow line to run to the center the building in the distance but that was not the case.  Since I missed the centering slightly, I did have to modify it ever so slightly in Photoshop CS6 to get the effect I wanted.

16. This last image is of our group of photo-walkers which I made with my iPhone 5 set to Panorama mode.  I have to say I don't know how Apple works that panorama into that camera but it is so seamless and so cool to play with I thought I would just throw one in here at the end of the post.

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Hey gang, that wraps it for me today. I hope you enjoyed the post – quite colorful and diversified.  I really like to get as much variety as I can on these fun little photo walks.  They just give a boost to those creative juices flowing through your brain. 

I know it's been a while's since I posted at DigitalProTalk but I have to admit, I'm enjoying my slower paced lifestyle but at the same time, I do miss writing for the DPT blog.  I think maybe I’m going through a DigitalProTalk mid life crisis or something ;~) 

Anyway, I do have a few more articles planned for the future.  One in particular features Lightroom 5.  I'll try to get it up maybe next week because I think it will be a really very helpful article for all you new Lightroom 5 users. I’m planning to point out some of the new features and shortcuts you may not be familiar with even with all the tutorials currently on online reviewing the new features. Anyway I'll do my best to get it up probably for Technique Tuesday next week so check back - give it a peek and I hope you enjoy it.

Hey gang that's it for me today. We got big plans this weekend so check back again on Friday and I'll fill you in.

Adios, David

"The Edge Of Tomorrow"

"The Edge Of Tomorrow"
©David A. Ziser

I borrowed today’s title from an Isaac Asimov sci-fi book title but I think it fits this image perfectly. We were up really early – 2:00 a.m. – on Saturday for our flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico that by the time we had boarded the plane 4 hours later in Dayton, Ohio it was still dark outside.  No problem, I was sitting in the window seat, my favorite, and the window was really clean on our Frontier Airlines jet.  That meant that it should be a kick to get some really cool shots at 38,000 feet.  That is, whenever the sun came out.

Also considering the fact that the plane was traveling westward into the darkness, sunrise was going to be later for us than if we had stayed in Dayton.  I still just love gazing out a plane window to see how the sky changes with the clouds, weather, and time of day.  Anyway, about two hours into our flight the rotation of the earth overtook the speed of the plane and I could clearly see the edge of night or edge of the new day – which ever you prefer.  I thought the sight on the 38,000 foot horizon was really interesting – the easy lines, smooth tonalities, and almost monochromatic colors.  You can actually see where the darkness meets the light of the new day right in the center of the image.

I took several images but this one was my favorite.  I like the fact that the plane’s wing and engine are included in the composition.  That gives the image a sense of space without the image coming across as a totally abstract composition.  I also like how you can discern the curvature if the earth in the image as well.  Like I said, a very cool view!

The camera I was using may come as a surprise to you.  I had just picked up Canon’s recently introduced PowerShot SX50 HS camera – a little jewel of a camera, But, more on that in a later post. The articulated viewfinder allowed me to easily frame up the shot from my bulkhead seat.  I adjusted the exposure to under-expose the scene slightly in order to better define the “edge of tomorrow” that you see in the image.

Post production was minimal – a slight tweak of the vibrancy slider, reduction of the noise, and slight edge sharpening gave me the finished result.

Camera specs: Canon PowerShot SX50 HS at 4.3mm (24mm-35equiv.), F3.4, 1/40 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  David.

"Via de Mezzo"

"Via de Mezzo"
©David A. Ziser

This image was captured on our first night in Florence, Italy. LaDawn and I like to really soak in the sights and sounds of any new city and we were out strolling most of the evening.  This image was made just as we were returning to our hotel about 11:00 p.m. I looked down the street and liked the European feel of the scene.

I decided to see what an HDR interpretation of the scene would look like.  I liked my early results but decided to push my post-processing agenda a bit more.  With a bit more “Clarity” and Vibrance” added, I was able to obtain an almost painterly look for the street scene. I really like how it came out.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with Tamron 28-300 VC lens at 168mm, F5.6 at 1/10 second (handheld), ISO 6400.  Enjoy!  David

"City of Lights"

"City of Lights"
©David A. Ziser

Okay, gang don't hate me for this image post today. Over the weekend we visited Showboat Majestic, a floating theater on the Ohio River.  At the intermission break we were walking the decks and I thought, “What a great place to capture some HDR photographs of the night lights on the Ohio River.”  This image is a view from the Cincinnati side looking towards the Kentucky skyline.

Barges and boats were going by causing a slight rock and roll action on our deck.  I decided to make the exposure anyway. I guess we were hit by a fairly large wave during this exposure, hence the long light streaks across the image.

When the image popped on the back of my camera, I still thought the image was a quite interesting exposure. Although I had several other images that look just fine, I kept coming back to this very abstract looking image.

I brought the image into Photoshop CS 6 and decided to have some fun with it. In addition to “juicing” the saturation and vibrance of the image, I also applied the Smart Sharpen filter to this image as well. I found I got a very interesting result when I used the “ remove motion blur” option in the Smart Sharpen work panel – it added sort of a bevel/embossed look to the image.  Some careful burning in of the shadow areas to darken them  added an even more dramatic feel to my finished result. You're right, maybe I had too much time on my hands today but I still like this result.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with Tamron 28 – 300 MM lens at 60 MM, F4.5 at 1/8 second, ISO 6400. Enjoy! – David

"Pizza By The Slice - Bourbon Street Style"

"Pizza By The Slice - Bourbon Street Style"
© David A. Ziser

I captured this image last night while walking Bourbon Street one last time. My goal was to shoot with the Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens only and shoot everything in HDR (Art Vivid) mode on my Canon 5 D Mark lll.  I wondered around for about 2 hours walking up and down Bourbon Street looking for the right subject matter of my self imposed late night assignment.

The bright, rich colors and strong contrasts of this location seemed to be perfect for my assignment.  I stepped into the building and grabbed a few shots.  This one was my favorite.  What struck me about this image was the sense of loneliness about it.  Here we are in the middle of one of the rowdiest streets in the country - music blaring, the smell of stale beer and perspiration everywhere, the wild come-ons and colors everywhere, and in spite of this "neon peacock" location, only three people could be found inside.

The emptiness of this location I think echo's some of the emptiness some people wondering these streets might feel in their own souls. The chaos and shear din on Bourbon Street masks that out for these lonely souls.  But Like Dragnet's Joe Friday said so many years ago.  Every city has a story and every person in that city has a story too.  What are the stories to be told in this Bourbon Street neon electric bawdy colored bar/pizza parlor?

Camera specs: Canon 5 D Mark lll fitted with Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens at 15mm, F7.1 @1/400 second, ISO 6400.  Enjoy!  -David

"Old Christine"

"Old Christine"
© David A. Ziser

Here is an image I took at a photo-walk a few years ago. It was one of my favorites. This kind of subject matter is so great to photograph. There are so many ways to explore the colors and composition. The old, rusty look of this old Plymouth made me think about the Steven King movie, "Christine" - hence the title.

There are just wonderful contrasts in this image - the complementary colors of blues and reds, the rough rusty paint against the smooth chrome, the smooth curved fender lines complimenting and framing the straight lines of the grill work. All these elements lead to a final dynamic composition. There were just so many ways to shoot "Old Christine", I wish I'd had more time. Heck, maybe another visit sometime soon.

Camera specs; Canon 40D fitted with 70-300mm DO IS lens at 135mm, F 11 @ 1/800 second, ISO 400. Enjoy! -David

"Rorschach Bouquet"

"Rorschach Bouquet"
©David A. Ziser

I created this image a few years ago at my studio. Yes, the operative word is created this image. No camera, lenses, or flash was used in creating this image. In Monday's post I mentioned a visit to the Easton Art Fair a few weeks ago.

I commented on Earl English's wonderful images he had on display in his booth. Many of Earl's images were created with a simple digital scanner. I loved the effect it gave to the resulting image. Because of the extremely shallow "depth of light", the light fell off so quickly and gave this images a completely different kind of look than what I had seen before.

I decided to give it a try for myself on Monday. I simply grabbed one of the artificial flowers that we have on display at the studio, laid it on the copier, and "exposed" my image. I then brought the image into Photoshop, cleaned it up slightly, and enhanced it a bit with the "Levels" control till I had a tonalities exactly where I wanted them.

Although I was excited with my image at this point I wanted the final composition to fill a larger space. I have a handy little Photoshop action that, at the press of a button, will give me a mirror image of the original. That is what we have here. I love the final result. To me, it is reminiscent of the old ink blot tests, or more specifically, the Rorschach tests.

Click on the image for larger view and then spend a few minutes just viewing it. I find I quite enjoy the experience. Time to play some more with this technique - thanks Earl.

"Camera specs; Flowers copied with a Xerox C2424 Workcenter and saved in JPEG mode. Image was opened in Photoshop, converted to black and white, and adjusted with the "Levels" control. Image was then flipped and rejoined with first image to create the final result.

Enjoy! -- David

"Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride"

"Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride"
©David A. Ziser 

After getting yesterday’s very late post up on-line and a quick bite to eat, we headed down to a small amusement park in the heart of Myrtle Beach. There are two such areas here in the city, The SkyWheel and Family Kingdom. I have been eyeing both since we arrived hoping to head down after dark and try some more HDR shooting.

It was about 10:00 pm when we arrived.  I set up the camera on my tripod – I wanted to capture some of the motion of the rides – framed up the shot of the Ferris wheel and began making exposures. I quickly found that I preferred the longer exposures to the shorter one. After a few tries, I was getting exactly what I wanted.

In this photograph, even though the camera was on a tripod, I must have fired the shutter with a little too much finger force and shook the camera during that first exposure. In spite of the camera shake, I love the result.  The extra “shake” is what added the “wildness” and chaotic feeling to the image.  Add to that the the motion blur, all the wild colors, and the “out the of register” 1st image and I got a great abstract image – much more exiting than the standard long exposure amusement park shot – I like this one the best ;~)

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with 12-24mm Sigma lens at 17mm, F13 @ 4 seconds, ISO 125.  Enjoy!  -David

The Rest Of The Story 

We were set to move though the midway and enjoy our HRD evening.  15 minutes into our visit and two minutes after I took this photograph, the announcement came across the PA that the park was closing – WHAT!  We just got there. I worked quickly to get off another photograph or two of the Ferris wheel.  I framed up the next ride just as the lights started to be turned off all over the park – rats.

I suggested to LaDawn that we walk the sixteen blocks up to the SkyWheel, surely they would be still be open on this very busy Memorial Day Biker Weekend. We headed up Ocean Drive and 25 minutes later were nearly there.  In the near distance, I could see that the SkyWheel was shut down too, oh no.  We both smiled to each other, turned around and headed back to the car.

By noon earlier in the day the Myrtle Beach streets were backing up with bikers from all points north and south.  By 10:30 pm it was pretty much gridlock.  I have to admit that some of the  bikes were decked out with beautiful metallic paint jobs and colorful neon light treatment.  This was the weekend to show off your bike and is one of the top events in Myrtle Beach. I’m glad to say we felt like we were in the middle of the action.

I’m just wondering about the effects of all the second hand exhaust fumes to my lungs ;~)  Anyway, I did get a few cool shots and we enjoyed our walk back to the car chatting up a few of the revelers on the way – it was a great evening!

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Hey gang, that’s it for today.  We head for the airport in just about an hour and then returning home later this afternoon.  I hope everyone enjoys our Memorial Day weekend in your part of the world. Stay safe and remember our veterans and service men and women around the world.

Have a great weekend everybody.  I’ll see you back in Cincy on Monday.

-David

"Pier Pressure"

"Pier Pressure"
©David A. Ziser 

I captured this image while on our morning walk today.  We're staying on the north side of the beach and just outside our window about a half mile down the beach we could see this very large 200 feet high SkyWheel in the distance.  We made a slow walk down the beach eventually reaching this giant structure near the Myrtle Beach Pier 14.

I aligned up myself (and my camera) to get a perfectly front facing symmetrical view of the SkyWheel.  I loved how the white color of the SkyWheel played against the rich blue of the SC beach sky. I shot away and this is the resulting image. It is sort of an abstract but still interesting in the context of the Myrtle Beach, SC beach front.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 40mm, F16 @1/800 ISO 400. Enjoy!  -David

"Soaring Away"

"Soaring Away"
©David A. Ziser 

I captured this image yesterday morning as were were sitting in Radio City Music Hall waiting for the Pace Commencement Ceremonies.  It was the first time I was inside of the venue and was immediately taken by the the very cool art deco architecture. I had start photographing my environment.

I looked up, leaned back, framed up what I wanted and shot away.  I like this image, because as the name implies, the lines seem to me to be soaring to upwards, almost like waves of orange moving out from its center.  I like the striking colors and the contrasts of the smaller details we see in the ceiling. I think it’s a cool abstract of the building.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 18mm, Canon Fisheye lens at 8mm, F3.5 @ 1/30 second, ISO 2000.  Enjoy!  -David

"Ghost of Museums Passed"

"Ghost of Museums Passed"
© David A. Ziser

I captured this image during our visit yesterday to Duncan Phillips Art Museum in Washington, DC. As you can see I was using a very wide-angle lens – my Sigma 12–24mm lens on my new Canon 5D Mark III. The elliptical staircase reaching three floors high made a spectacular composition with my wide-angle optics.

I must've spent my first 15 minutes in the museum photographing the staircase. I photograph it from the bottom looking up and then from the top looking down. This image is one of the last images I made of the steps.

As I was framing up the image a museum patron walked into the scene. As my camera needed three frames to complete the HDR exposure, the museum patron was recorded in three different places during the three exposures.

After the in camera HDR processing of the final image, I was pleasantly surprised to see how the person was rendered in the final HDR image. His image was rendered with an almost out-worldly, ghostlike appearance.

As I look at the image again it looks as if my intruder is invisible showing only its shadow on the back wall of the staircase. Knowing that there is a physical presence of someone in the photograph without being able to discern who that person is I think, makes for a very interesting visual conversation.

The overall composition is obviously composed of the repeat of the elliptical elements in the architecture throughout the image. The secondary compositional elements, the highlights and the shadows certainly add additional interest to this image. It is the appearance of the mysterious stranger that adds the final punctuation/mystery to the finished composition.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with Sigma 12–24mm lens at 12mm, F8.0 @ 1/8 second, ISO800.  Enjoy!  -David

"Houston Blues"

"Houston Blues"
©David A. Ziser

I’ve been going through hundreds of images for my new program on composition and stumbled upon this photograph yesterday. I made this image while traveling back home from Cabo, Mexico about 2 years ago.

We had just cleared Customs and were making our way to the next gate.  I think we walked half way home through the Houston airport;~).  I've been through the Houston airport many times but not through this section.

The soaring curves of the ceiling offset by the vertical elements really made for an exciting composition. People were pushing past me but I still managed to pull off this shot.  I shot in vertically and horizontally thinking I'd like the vertical shot the best.  This horizontal version emphasized the blue curve elements even more and I think it is the stronger composition. 

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 35mm, F8.0 @ 1/60 second, ISO 640. Enjoy!  -David

"Digital Sunrise"

"Digital Sunrise"
© David A. Ziser

Early this morning I could hear LaDawn up much earlier than I wanted to arise as she went into the adjoining room of our suite.  It was a long day yesterday and I was still snoozing away.  When I joined her a bit later she mentioned that she had grabbed a few shots of the sunrise.  I grabbed the camera to what she had.  Her images were really cool.

With the sun’s reflections playing on the glass surfaces on the back side of the Flamingo Casino, the effect, at least to my eyes, was a cool abstract that implied a digital sound display.  The interplay of large rectangle containing all the various sized smaller rectangles also caught my eye.

Next we have the interplay of warm and cool tones in the scene.Taken by itself without trying to figure out exactly what the scene is leaves one with a cool interplay of colors, textures, and forms. Hope you enjoy your digital sunrises in what ever part of the world you live.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 50mm, F5.6 @ 1/60 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  David

"Into The Light"

"Into The Light"
© David A. Ziser

I made this image during a flight home from New York a few years ago. We had to travel through Detroit which has completed a brand new airport - and, boy, is it a cool airport. Walking through the long corridor connecting two of the terminals was a kick and kind of reminiscent of the walk to the United terminal at O'Hare airport.

I managed to pull off this shot while there were not too many people in the scene. It was mid-day Saturday and travel traffic was down a bit for the weekend.

The challenge was timing the lights just right to get the beautiful rich colors I wanted to capture in the final image. I don't mind the slight blur of the travellers, in fact I think it adds a sense of motion to the scene. Anyway, I hope you like the urban landscape captured here.

Camera specs: Canon 40D Fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 18mm, F 3.5 @ 1/25 second, ISO 500. Enjoy! -David

"Reach For The Sky”

"Reach For The Sky”
©David A. Ziser

I’m a big fan of shooting “up” when touring any big city downtown location.  This day was no exception.  We had a bright, clear day sky which served as a brilliant backdrop for this cityscape.  I carefully blocked the sun’s direct rays with the tree you see in the foreground. I also like the touch of nature among the concrete buildings.

The wide angle lens really accentuates the buildings’ climb to the sky. One thing that fascinates me with the image are the contrasting colors and shapes in the scene.  I enhanced those colors with a tweak or two in Lightroom. For me, it’s just a fun visual of the urban landscape.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with Sigma 8-16mm lens at 8mm, F18 @1/500 second, ISO 200.  Enjoy!  -David

"Gates of Wonder"

"Gates of Wonder"
©David A. Ziser

This is another image from my little neighborhood photo walk the other day.  I was still shooting with the Sigma 85mm F1.4 lens at f1.4 to see what I could get.  I found it to be quite the challenge to get the result I wanted.  More importantly, I had to realize that I was out of my comfort zone with this assignment and WAS missing pretty many shots.

But that's the challenge with self assignments isn't it.  The experience just made me want to try harder to get the shot I wanted.  Practice makes perfect, as they say.  I think it behooves each of us to PRACTICE our craft if, indeed we want to prove our ART.

Anyway, back to this image. I just love the light to high key, mostly white tonalities, of the scene with just the one part of the gate in sharp focus. Look how everything else around it goes well out of focus leaving this one "soldier" all alone in the mist.

Notice too the rhythm of the composition, the easy curve of the lines running through the image, even with most of the lines out of focus.  But still being out of focus, it adds a nice harmony to the overall composition.

Yes, I tweaked the tonalities just a bit in Lightroom 3 and even considered converting the image to B&W, but it was mostly white anyway, I decided to keep the color rendition.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with Sigma 85mm F1.4 lens at F1.4, 1/250 second, ISO 200.  Enjoy!  -David

"Line Of Sight"

"Line Of Sight"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another abstract I made during one of our walks down Finestera street this past week. I saw the sunlight reflecting off the wall and carefully positioned the camera to just have the front wall connect with the back wall above it.  That left just a slight sliver of black to contrast off the bright yellow of the sunlight.

Both walls were heavily textured because of the concrete construction process used down here.  I accentuated those textures in Lightroom with a combination of adjustments.

Next, I adjusted the colors, hues, and contrasts of the scene to arrive at the color palette I wanted for this image. The subtleties of textures and colors playing against the bright yellow streak of light make for an enjoyable visual experience.

Camera specs: Canon 7D filler with 18-200mm IS lens at 145mm F8.0 @ 1/200 second, ISO 320.  Enjoy!  -David

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Hey gang, I’m shortening the post up early today.  It’s the last day down here with our friends, Cindy and Ralph who will be leaving tomorrow, so we’re hanging with them all day. 

Over the weekend I’ll re-cap our HOTS Image Competition and Review.  It went great BTW.  I’ll also post the winning images and prizes too.  Lot's of folks asked when we’ll be doing it again.  I’ll let you know on Monday.

Have a great weekend in what ever part of the world you live and I’ll see you bright and early on Monday.

Adios Everybody,  David

"Shadow Play"

"Shadow Play"
©David A. Ziser

A simple, easy photograph that makes good use of lines - horizontal, vertical, and diagonal along with the implied textures of the shadow play of the thatch like roof above. It was made while taking a short tour of one of the golf clubs in Cabo.

I played with the interpretation both as B&W and color and prefer the B&W rendition.  I softened the shadows even more to give the image an even softer quality.

I love photographing this kind of subject matter when we’re visiting Mexico.  It’s so different than what we’re used to seeing in the Midwest especially at this time of year.

Camera specs:  Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens 200mm, F5.6 @ 1/250 second, ISO 200.  Enjoy!  -David

"Red Lining!"

"Red Lining!"
© David A. Ziser

Here we are again with one of my very fun abstract images.  Sort of makes you feel kind of dizzy doesn't it? This image was made during our Scott Kelby photo walk last October. I love our urban photo walks because there so much color to be seen everywhere in the city.This is simply a close-up of one of the building facades on Fountain Square, a very popular place to hang out.

I just went in close and isolated on the brightest colors of the façade.I think it's kind of a fun photograph and I offer it as kind of a welcome to the holiday season which begins tomorrow with Thanksgiving. Don't worry… I'll get back to portrait images in a day or two.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm lens at 100mm, F7.1 @ 1/125 second, ISO 400. Enjoy!  -David