The light was low and filtering through the trees making for great accent light. I hope you enjoy the images.
Wild Rose
Creek Light
Nikon D7000, rose image with Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, stream image with Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8
Thoughts on Life and Photography by Dale Grosbach
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Back to the Woods
After a week of stormy weather I took advantage of the pleasant evening to hike back into the woods. Most of the spring flowers are gone, but the wild roses are still blooming.
The light was low and filtering through the trees making for great accent light. I hope you enjoy the images.
Wild Rose
Creek Light
Nikon D7000, rose image with Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, stream image with Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8
The light was low and filtering through the trees making for great accent light. I hope you enjoy the images.
Wild Rose
Creek Light
Nikon D7000, rose image with Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro, stream image with Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Storm Clouds
We are in the midst of the summer storm season. On Sunday the day's storms generated on a line just east of Kansas City. Here are a couple of images of the building thunderheads.
D7000, 35-70mm f2/8, polarizing filter, conversion in ACR 6
D7000, 35-70mm f2/8, polarizing filter, conversion in ACR 6
Sunday, May 15, 2011
High Plains Skies
The High Plains are the region of my birth, and where I spent my childhood. The broad expanse of sky is one of the trademarks of the region.
I've just finished up a week visiting family. The weather was not very cooperative for photos in general, and particularly of the skies. Several rainy days, preceded by dust and haze limited the opportunities. On my day of departure the skies had been washed clean by the precipitation and polished by winds that were blowing out of the northwest.
These views of the clouds appeared as I was driving in Kansas. The clouds began filling what had earlier been clear skies.
Country Hiway
High Plains
These photos were taken with my D7000 and 35-70mm. The conversion to Black & White was done in ACR 6 and final prep was in CS5.
Finding ways to portray these skies and the level horizons has been one of my photographic challenges. Using B&W and the ability to use the tools of the digital darkroom give me some pleasure with the outcome of this attempt.
I've just finished up a week visiting family. The weather was not very cooperative for photos in general, and particularly of the skies. Several rainy days, preceded by dust and haze limited the opportunities. On my day of departure the skies had been washed clean by the precipitation and polished by winds that were blowing out of the northwest.
These views of the clouds appeared as I was driving in Kansas. The clouds began filling what had earlier been clear skies.
Country Hiway
High Plains
These photos were taken with my D7000 and 35-70mm. The conversion to Black & White was done in ACR 6 and final prep was in CS5.
Finding ways to portray these skies and the level horizons has been one of my photographic challenges. Using B&W and the ability to use the tools of the digital darkroom give me some pleasure with the outcome of this attempt.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Searching for the Milky Way
Updated 5/16/11: I'm home and have had a chance to process the images on my home computer. The images are greatly improved!
I am spending the week at my family home in Southwestern Nebraska. Something that I have been wanting to experiment with was star photos. I've been searching the web for sky and light tools and star photography techniques. I discovered that this week was at the end of a good "dark" cycle: the moon is rising and setting in synch with the sun. This provides for moonless "dark skies" that help make good star photos possible.
The other thing that I learned is that the Milky Way would be rising during the current dark sky period. Just like the moon and the constellations the Milky Way rises and sets. So I set out to take photos of this astronomical feature. Here are the results. The processes for capturing and post-processing I followed are after the images:
Milky Way - Northern Arm
Milky Way - Southern Arm
How did I do these:
- Camera: D7000 and Tamron 11-16mm f/2.8
- Settings: ISO 800, 30 second exposure, aperture f/2.8
- Post processing ACR and CS5
In ACR the images's exposure was boosted+1.0ev +1.75ev along with applying Clarity and Vibrance adjustments. Noise suppression was also done in ACR. That converted image was then completed in Photoshop. There the image was built up as a composite of several layers of the same image and curves adjustments applied. The cropping was done in CS5.
I am very excited how these first efforts came out, with a degree of sadness about how difficult it is to find truly dark skies. I left the horizons in both of these photos to demonstrate how much light pollution there is in the night sky, even in rural Nebraska. In the second processing I did crop out the village lights from "Southern Arm", but you can still see the effects of the light pollution.
I shot from near the top of the highest point in the county. The Northern Arm image is taken to the northeast, which to the naked eye is the darkest horizon. I also took advantage of the peak of the hill to try to block some nearer lights. But there is a large town, some 90 miles away, and a couple of smaller villages in that general direction. You can see the glow at the horizon.
The Southern Arm is the more dramatic section of the Milky Way, and to capture it I had to shoot to the southeast, in the general direction of a village and the farms in the valley. You can see how the glow actually prevents seeing the Milky Way all the way into the horizon.
I also want to call out the tools that helped me plan this outing:
- The Photographer's Ephemeris: this tool provides you with the times of the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon, as well as the various twilight times. It shows the locations of the Sun and Moon at the horizon and the elevation at different times of day. It also includes maps that allow you to plan when the sun will be striking a mountain or illuminating a valley
- SkyGazer: this is a astronomical star chart program. It will show you where the various stars, planets, galaxies, etc. will be in the sky at a given location and time.
I am spending the week at my family home in Southwestern Nebraska. Something that I have been wanting to experiment with was star photos. I've been searching the web for sky and light tools and star photography techniques. I discovered that this week was at the end of a good "dark" cycle: the moon is rising and setting in synch with the sun. This provides for moonless "dark skies" that help make good star photos possible.
The other thing that I learned is that the Milky Way would be rising during the current dark sky period. Just like the moon and the constellations the Milky Way rises and sets. So I set out to take photos of this astronomical feature. Here are the results. The processes for capturing and post-processing I followed are after the images:
Milky Way - Northern Arm
Milky Way - Southern Arm
How did I do these:
- Camera: D7000 and Tamron 11-16mm f/2.8
- Settings: ISO 800, 30 second exposure, aperture f/2.8
- Post processing ACR and CS5
In ACR the images's exposure was boosted
I am very excited how these first efforts came out, with a degree of sadness about how difficult it is to find truly dark skies. I left the horizons in both of these photos to demonstrate how much light pollution there is in the night sky, even in rural Nebraska. In the second processing I did crop out the village lights from "Southern Arm", but you can still see the effects of the light pollution.
I shot from near the top of the highest point in the county. The Northern Arm image is taken to the northeast, which to the naked eye is the darkest horizon. I also took advantage of the peak of the hill to try to block some nearer lights. But there is a large town, some 90 miles away, and a couple of smaller villages in that general direction. You can see the glow at the horizon.
The Southern Arm is the more dramatic section of the Milky Way, and to capture it I had to shoot to the southeast, in the general direction of a village and the farms in the valley. You can see how the glow actually prevents seeing the Milky Way all the way into the horizon.
I also want to call out the tools that helped me plan this outing:
- The Photographer's Ephemeris: this tool provides you with the times of the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon, as well as the various twilight times. It shows the locations of the Sun and Moon at the horizon and the elevation at different times of day. It also includes maps that allow you to plan when the sun will be striking a mountain or illuminating a valley
- SkyGazer: this is a astronomical star chart program. It will show you where the various stars, planets, galaxies, etc. will be in the sky at a given location and time.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Market Day
Kansas City's City Market is one our favorite places. It has full-time produce vendors, the weekend farmers market, coffee shops and bakeries and restaurants. On this past Saturday morning you could get a fresh scone, a live chicken, and a big sack of navel oranges.
It is one of my favorite places for lots of reasons. The photographic opportunities are great because of the various activities and peoples. And it faces the morning sun.
These images are just a few favorite images from our latest visit.
The last image of the flutist was taken in a sunbeam in one of the passageways. On this busy Saturday morning there were many musicians playing around the plaza. I have seen this man playing there several times. The hands of musicians reflect so much of their skill and power. And this man's hands describe so much of a long life.
Camera info: D7000, 35-70mm f/2.8
It is one of my favorite places for lots of reasons. The photographic opportunities are great because of the various activities and peoples. And it faces the morning sun.
These images are just a few favorite images from our latest visit.
The last image of the flutist was taken in a sunbeam in one of the passageways. On this busy Saturday morning there were many musicians playing around the plaza. I have seen this man playing there several times. The hands of musicians reflect so much of their skill and power. And this man's hands describe so much of a long life.
Camera info: D7000, 35-70mm f/2.8
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