Good start in ND

The green isn't for that ND. This the other ND — the one that beats the Indiana ND in hockey every year. Pretty happy with this snap from the first day of the Tillman Crane Structures Workshop. 

Five shot bracket, over 5 stops, windows would have been blown out otherwise.  Sandwiched with Phototmatix Fusion.  5D MkIII @ ISO 200, f/11.0, bracketed around 4/10, 24mm TS-E. Focus assist via SmallHD DP-4. 

Rain delay...

at Camdem Yards for the Orioles and the Rangers.  Not so different two miles or so to the east.  Quick flat-stitched pano with the complete ND configuration including the Lens Rental 24 TS-E. The thing feels like it coists what it does. Took off the 45 TS-E to mount it — no comaprison, might be why it is twice the price.

Three portrait snaps, cropped 12x5.

Rugby, ND - show and tell

So here are the fifteen images I am taking to the North Dakota, Tillman Crane workshop.  All printed on 13"x19" Epson Cold Press Natural (rough texture fine art paper).  They are printed with a minumum 2" border and bottom weighted so there is lot of white space especially on the square images. All finished in a split tone faux platinum. 

It was hard culling these out from 150,000 images taken since 2003. They turn out being from eight states (CO, KS, MD, ME, NE, PA, VA, WV), taken with four different cameras (Canon 10D, 5D, 5D MkII, 5D MkIII) in six different years (2005, 06, 07, 09, 11, 12).

So... after review by the editorial board at lunch today, three images are coming out.  The bane of the editorial board, while remaining an all time favorite of the artist, the houses on the Ohio river, on Wheeling Island, WV. Out! Relaced by the Last Picture Show, not in Archer City, TX however, this in Dunning, NE.  

The schoolhouse in Volland, KS out because, it really didn't make the cut technically, replaced by the Coca Cola machine from about sixty miles away in Cottonwood Falls, KS. The Florence, KS schoolhouse will be coming out as well, to be replaced by one of two shots from Maryland — Crystal Pool (2004) or the Linwood Grain Elevator (2006). Polls close later tonite.  Both are posted in the gallery for the moment.

After further review,artists priveldge is being asserted and both Crystal Pool and the Linwood Grain elevator are staying in, Marietta, PA is coming out which will please the editorial board which only found interest in the light bulb.  Done and dusted, unless there are some technical issues with the three new additions when printed.

Well... maybe dusted but not so done. Concluded that three tall images with signs was too much. So the Linwood Grain elevator bites the dust and is replaced by Leadville, CO (2006). Love the Ford in the alley. 

Click on the contact sheet to be transported to the gallery.  Click on a thumbnail there for the full size images. 

Archer City to Waterford

Texas to Virginia. Somewhere in the McMurtry oeuvre, or tangentially to it, I discovered his DC/NOVA residence was in Waterford, VA. Web queries indicated a particularly attractive photo venue. So, in the anticipation of a wet weekend, it was off to Louden County, via Whites Ferry across the Potomac, for a Friday late afternoon session. Everthing in town was shot with the 45 TS-E in anticipation for the upcomming North Dakota trip but the first few of the day were outside of town and required a longer reach.

100-400 at 250mm from along the fence on Old Wheatfield Road. Cropped 16x9 full width to eliminate the excess and out-of-focus grass in the forground. Gotta love the Turkey Vulture on the right chimney.

39.187167N 77.658667W

The storeA doorGallery/BookstoreJohn Wesley Methodist ChurchChurch BasementJohn Wesley Methodist Church

Mc Henry Redux

About as good technically as I manage to get.  Back to McHenry for these two shots from the tripod with focus stacking using Heliocon Focus. The 5D Mk II (no bracket yet for the Mk III) in portrait orientation with the 45 TS-E mounted and shifted as needed.

Garrison Flag replicas in color

Garrison Flag replicas in faux PlatinumThe Prison in color

The Prison in faux Platinum

Technically correct

Not so artistically intesting.  Practice again.  This on the 5D Mk II (can't do this without the grip and RRS L-Bracket which are backordered for the Mk III) and the SmallHD DP-4 for focusing.  Shot with the 45 TS-E, in portrait orientation, manual exposure at f/11.0 at 1/80 of a second, ISO 100.  In the RRS macro rail (mounted sideways) with production stops set at 11mm to the left and right of center.  Six shots taken, two each at three positions.  The two shots were focused near and far and combined in Helicon Focus to increase the DOF.  The three images rendered by Helicon Focus were then flat stiched in Photoshop CS-6 as they were shot (i) left lens and camera rail shift 11mm (ii) no camera or lens shift and (iii) right lens and camera rail shift 11 mm.

Afterwards a shot of Velvia 50 emulation with Alien Skin Exposure 4, then Pro and Tonal Contrast with Nik Color Efex 4, noise reduction with Nik Define constrainted by a surface mask and sharpened with USM constrained by an edge mask.  Resulting image is about 1.75x the width of a normal portarit orientation snap on the 5D Mk II and would "contact" print at 300ppi at 21.7 x 17.5 inches (slightly cropped from the top only to a 5x4 aspect ratio).

Etude for DOF in Flat Stitch

Is better in faux infrared from Exposure 4.

Feeling shorter

Already delivered upon return from Hoboken was the SmallHD DP-4.  I have it mounted on the hot shoe of the 5D Mk III.  Got it for two purposes, the first is for serious tilt-shift structure photography ala the upcoming excursion to North Dakota and the second was to change the perspective on hand held shots, particularly on the street. The first, allthough so far mostly simulated hand held (tilted and shifted but not stiched) was pretty much no sweat from the beginning.  The street stuff more of a risk.  Other than the two to three seconds the screen blanks out after a shot, this configuration is great.  Now I finally have the perspective of a short Vivian Maier with a Rollieflex instead of 6'5" me with camera stuck to my face. Less intrusive for the subjects, far better angle of attack and forces a considerably more purposeful approach. And... so far everthing I have taken was with the 45 TS-E, all manual focus!  A bit bulky but not bad on the R-Strap. Been looking to solve this for a while — it causes some equipment asset rethinking but I am wild about the new POV.

5D Mk III, 45 TS-E f/2.8 @ f/8.0 focused with the SmallHD DP-4 mounted in the hot shoe, attached to a Black Rapid R-Strap shot from waist level. Very, very cool.

Unshifted and untilted handheld TS-E 45

This guy is looking past not at me. He is out of focus because they walked into my shot which was unshifted but tilted to get the fence/walls all in focus. Once again completely enamored over the new POV.

Unshifted but tilted TS-E 45

Not yet very speedy, so the left side of this snap is out from the tilt used to deal with the preceeding fence and walls but this HAD to be in with the pink (or whatever the name of that color is) hair. The dog pee on the right is perfectly focused however.

Erroneously tilted TS-E 45

Shifted but really only here becuase of Bertha's paint job!

Untilted, shifted TS-E 45

A bit out on the left but in any case the end of Fells Point for the day.

End of Fells Point