photographer in huntington beach, ca

I created this to enhance my website and my photo gallery pages.  I am searching and discovering different aspects of my photography.  Growing up I was always the one with the camera, beginning with my Kodak Brownie, evolving into my Canon 20D. I hope to acquire many followers, be they students or experienced photographers,  who will enjoy watching  my continued progress and will come back often to see what they can learn from the things I share.  Please follow me on my adventure to one photo per day!  Thank you and enjoy!

A Good Lensbaby 2.0 Shot

Canon 20D, Raw, Lensbaby, 1/20, ISO 200

I could not resist taking one last picture of this cactus plant. It is a good way to finish off the month. Plus it is a shot I took with my Lensbaby 2.0. That lens is a lot of fun to use. I still have a lot to learn but it is great to play with! I see they have a new fisheye lens. Maybe I can move up to one of the newer lenses some day. It was a cloudy afternoon so I raised my ISO a little for more light. It did the trick.  I brought it into Camera Raw and made just a few adjustments. In Photoshop I made a levels adjustment and it was ready to post!

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My Photographic Study, Part V

Canon 20D, Raw, f/8.0, 1/200, ISO 100, 37mm, +2 Macro Filter

Here is my last image in this study of normal household items. The images were shot at different speeds and aperatures. The only comman elements were the macro filter and photocube. I don’t know how many of you have an oil can in your home. I didn’t until I got this one from my mother. It is brass and there is a lot of patina on it. I shot this in the mid-day sun in my backyard (that is another common element to all the photos). I am very happy with all five photos in this series. I hope I can get some feedback from you.

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My Photography Study, Part IV

Canon 20D, Raw, f/11.0, 1/80, ISO 100, 35mm, +2 Macro Filter

Here is number four of five. Again, I used the portacube along with a macro filter. This knife belonged to my mother. By looking at it, you can tell it is very, very old. Unfortunately, I do not know the knives history. I liked the embossing that is in the middle between the handle and the blade. Willie thinks the handle looks like part of a deers antler. What do you think? Is is a carving knife or a boning knife?

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My Photographic Study, Part III

Canon 20D, Raw, f/11.0, 1/60, ISO 100, 41mm, +2 Macro Filter

Here is my third image in a study of everyday household items. What do you think of this one? A lot of us cooks have this in the kitchen to wrap up a roast or truss a chicken, etc. Maybe you don’t use it very often, but when you need it, it better be there! I know the “rule of thirds” says you should not center your subject in the frame. Well, I centered this item and think it worked great. I used a +2 macro filter to get in close. I had to adjust the white balance some in Camera Raw.

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My Photographic Study, Part II

Canon 20D, Raw, f/13.0, 1/60, ISO 100, 35mm, +2 Macro Filter

Here is the second image for you to see in this current project of mine. Do you like it? We all have serving spoons in our home, but have you ever looked at one in this way? I have several spoons like this of different colors that my mother-in-law gave me many years ago. I took this photograph outside in the mid-afternoon sun and I used my portacube. It is a great thing to have for product photography.

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My Photographic Study, Part I

 

Canon 20D, Raw, f/10.0, 1/30, ISO 100, 59mm, +4 Macro Filter

 I decided to do a five-part study in photographing everyday items most of us have in our homes. We never look at these items in an artistic or photographic way. I thought I might give you a chance to look at some common items in a different way and with a different eye. I have five different items and this is the first one. On this image, I upped the contrast and saturation. I would love to hear what you think. It was very enlightening and I am enjoying doing it. I shot this outside, using my large portacube, a great item.

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Using My +2 Macro Filter

Canon 20D, Raw, f/5.0, 1/1000, 58mm, ISO 200, +2 Macro Filter

I was looking for something to photograph today. I wanted some inspiration. I got it looking in my backyard at the Christmas Cactus. What changes it made in 2 days! I wanted to use the +2 macro filter with a very shallow depth of field. I am happy with the results.  I upped the green saturation a little and the contrast. I like what that did. I also like the angle of the sun lighting the leaves.

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Late Afternoon at the Dog Park

Canon 20D, Raw, f/5.6, 1/250, 145mm, Silver Efex Pro

I was trying something new with this image. It did not quite come out like I wanted it to, so I consider this an idea in progress. I used my telephoto lens with the sun behind the subjects. The dogs were running around a lot and I wanted them to kick up more dirt. This was the image that was the closest to what I wanted but not quite there. I converted it to black and white and added a vignette. I will be trying this again but I need to go a little earlier in the day.

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I Broke Out the Lensbaby Today

Canon 20D, Raw, Lensbaby, 1/60, ISO 200, Imageomic

I broke out the Lensbaby today to take this photograph of the Christmas Cactus that is just about to bloom. It was my mother’s plant and I know she would love what it looks like now. It is changing day-to-day and I like going outside in the morning and seeing what is new. I like the Lensbaby and it has been a few months since I used it. I opened the image in Camera Raw and cropped it a little. In Photoshop, I ran my Nik filter then I upped the green and red saturation a little, ran my noise reduction (I use Imageomic) then a little smart sharpen.

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A Precious Baby Boy

Canon 20D, Raw, 45mm, f/10.0, 1/30, ISO 800

I really wanted to take photos of this baby boy. He is my ”great” nephew, born October 28, 2009. I took the photos in his bedroom and luckily it was bright enough that I did not need to use any other lighting. I used a high ISO (800) and then got rid of the noise with a plug-in in Photoshop, along with a levels adjustment. I converted it to a soft sepia tone and added a  vignette. I took many photos and this is my favorite one. The others can be seen on my gallery pages.

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Looks Like Mother Goose to Me!

Canon 20D, Raw, 55mm, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 200

I did a little work on this image in Camera Raw and Photoshop. I wanted to blur the background so the goose would stand out more. Originally, the image was all in focus and I wanted to improve it.  I did a gaussian blur on the entire image and then brought part of the original image back with different opacity levels. Am I giving you too much information? I want to share with you what I do with my images and maybe some of you will learn from me. I assume all of you know who Mother Goose is and will agree with me that she is the spitting image (except this goose does not have a bonnet on)!

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Morning Shadows

Canon 20D, Raw, f5.6, 1/40, ISO200, Smart Sharpen, Nik Vignette Filter

I walked into my bedroom this morning and saw the sun casting a shadow on the front of a dresser. I really liked the look of it and how it made the grain of the cherry wood stand out.  My first thought was, “I want to photograph that!” I got my camera and took several photos. I liked this close-up one the best because of the wood detail. It has a lot of texture also. I didn’t have to do anything to the image except I sharpened it a little in Photoshop and added a very faint vignette so the center will stand out a little more and your eye will not go off the image.

An Embarrassing Photograph

 

Canon 20D, Raw, f4.0, 1/320, ISO 400, Nik Low Key Filter

This photo shows what happens to a car when it sits in a garage for close to ten years! Not a very pretty site! This is not something I am proud of.  I took this photo as we were dropping off the car at the upholsterer. This is the second time we have gotten the car reupholstered. That shows you how long we have had it. Actually, we got it when it was just a few months old.  

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Is This a Hawk?

Canon 20D, Raw, f4.0, 1/800, ISO400, Imageomic Noise Filter, Levels

Willie was outside in the back yard and came running in the house saying, “Grab your camera and come outside! There is a hawk on top of the telephone pole!” Well, I grabbed my camera, but my wide angle lens was on the camera! I had to shoot as fast as I could! I took a few photos and Willie went into the house to get the telephoto lens. Of course, it flew away by then. I had to crop this quite a bit so it is a small image. Please forgive me but I wanted to show it to you. It is hard to be ready for what ever will come along! I do the best I can!

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An Older MG

When we were at the shop on Friday, this 1950ish MG was there being worked on. Isn’t it a good looking vehicle? I remember when I was learning to drive, my father almost bought one for me.  Maybe that is why I bought my own years later!  There are always great cars there to photograph. I had to increase the ISO to 400 to get enough light on my sensor to shoot inside. I also had to use different shutter speeds to compensate.

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1969 MGB

Canon 20D, Raw, f4.0, 1/400, ISO 100, 21mm, Nik Pro Conrast Filter

We finally picked up the MGB today. I think it looks great! I took this photograph at the shop before we took off to take it to the upholsterer. So far, it has been a year and a half, and we are not finished yet. This has been a big project. We do have photos along the way, through the different stages of the project.

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