Cedar Point in Color....

With my most recent blog post being Cedar Point in Black and White, it's time to present Cedar Point in Color!

First up is the Top Thrill Dragster.  I can only imagine what it would be like to go 0 to 120mph in less then 4 seconds, and then straight up 420 feet.  The reason that I can only imagine is that I don't have the cojones to find out!

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 24mm)   

 

Now here is one of my favorite rides that I will get on...the Gemini.  Apparently God also likes it, as it appears he's blessing it with some sun-rays! 

 (5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 40mm)  

And this one presented a nice challenge.  I found this great vantage point which showed many rides all at one point.  I really wanted to find a way to show all the rides with their cars at an interesting point.  So this shot is made up of about nine composite shots.  I used 5 exposures to create a nice HDR sky, and then I would snap a shot when each ride had it's cars at the apex, or at an interesting point.  Then I layered the cars into the final shot, along with the people.

(9 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 30mm) 

Thanks!

Brian

Cedar Point in Black and White....

We recently had a nice trip to Cedar Point.

When processing my shots, I realized that a lot of them really lended themselves to Black and White, so I went ahead with it.

The Power Tower, with same awfully dramatic clouds....

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)  

A rather menacing T Rex....

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)  

...and the Windseeker....

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)  

Stay tuned, as the next blog entry will be Cedar Point in COLOR!

Thanks!

Brian

Arizona Vacation, Part Three

My third blog post regarding my vacation will keep us in Sedona.  After all, it's difficult to not take a good photo at this little part of the globe!

I was in awe of this chapel that we saw.  It's called The Chapel of the Holy Cross.

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 36mm)  

And then we found a store along the side of the road that had everything!  I was really attracted to their pottery....

 (5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)  

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm) 

And then I don't remember the name of this formation, but this was on the way to the Chapel mentioned above...

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)  

More to come!

Brian

Arizona Vacation, Part Two

Day Two of our Arizona vacation takes us to Sedona.  It's hard to not find good photo opportunities in this area.  My only regret is that there were not too many clouds in the sky, but guess I'll just have to make do!

Bell Rock

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 40mm) 

We took a really neat Jeep tour.  We essentially gear up in a Jeep outfitted with some pretty amazing suspension so we can get to places that we would never be able to get with normal vehicles.  Photos during the tour is not easy, as you are being constantly bounced around.

But we did stop the Jeep and took a small walk to a cabin that was originally built in 1908.  I can only imagine how it would have been to live in an area this remote in a cabin such as this, even when it was in good shape....

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm) 

This is a formation that made a great photo, but I never got the name of it....

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 40mm) 

More Sedona photos will follow in my next post!

Thanks.

Brian

Great Clouds!

Not too long ago, I went out during the day because the clouds were just spectacular!

A lot of times, I'll want to wait for sunset for shots like this, but I couldn't resist.  Besides, the weather map was saying that these clouds would clear by the time sunset came around, so I ran around trying to get some great landscape shots while these big puffy clouds were around.

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 24mm) 

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)

I liked the one below so much that I made it my banner at the top of the page....

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm) 

Thanks!

Brian

Sewel H. Richards

I recently took part in a small photography competition.  The theme that I was assigned was "weathered".

I only had a few days to get something together, and I didn't want to do a typical old barn, an abandoned house, or old farm equipment.

So I started thinking about subjects around my town that have been in existence the longest.  Milan has a rich history, going back to the very early 1800's with the Milan Canal System prior to railroads coming through.  After the war of 1812 and the Battle of Lake Erie, peaceful times led to more and more settlers in this area which led to the Village of Milan's incorporation in 1833.

History lesson aside, my mind immediately went to the cemetery knowing that gravestones have been there quite a long time.  So I went there around sunset and I found the grave of Mr. Sewel H. Richards, born 1811, died 1880.

If you look closely, you can see that the original "Richards" inscription towards the bottom is barely still legible, while the main inscription above it seems a lot more crisp, leading me to believe that the inscription has been reworked over the years.

Regardless, I was real happy with how this turned out and I won the competition!

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 22mm)

Thanks

Brian

The Huron River....

Not too long ago, I took a hike along (and in) the Huron River.

It was a beautiful day with the sun peeking out in various places along the hike.  It was a little hot, so getting my feet wet felt good.  And in my area, the bugs are not really in full force...so the evening hike was perfect.

These were shot in multiple exposures for HDR (high dynamic range).  I've always had trouble with dense forests and HDR.  Real dense foliage just is not enhanced at all with Photomatix.  Photomatix hurts more than it helps dense forests.  My solution has always been to either (1) compose the photo so that a dense forest is not real prominent, (2) convert it to black and white, or many times the solution is to (3) simply not process the photo with Photomatix.

In the case with the photos below, I did something between solution #1 and solution #3.  I chose compositions where the dense forest portions are not prominent.  I did, however, process these photos with Photomatix.  This hurt the look of the forests, but it really enhanced the look of the sunsets, rivers, and riverbeds.  So afterwards, I went into Photoshop and brought back non-tonemapped versions of the forest with layers, but kept the effect on the sun, river, and riverbeds.

Enjoy!

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 26mm)

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 33mm) 

Thanks!

Brian

Old Tree

Not far from the Ohio Turnpike, I saw this tree out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing else at all around it.

I thought that it looked pretty interesting, and the clouds certainly helped the scene as well!

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)

Thanks!


Brian

Huron River Greenway

The Huron River Greenway is a 6 mile trail going from Huron to Milan, Ohio.

My son and I took a nice hike along this trail not too long ago, but 6-year-old-legs only made it so far before we had to head back.  I came back with my camera last night to get the images below.  I'll be heading back again soon.  I checked on Google Earth, and there promises to be some pretty neat spots farther along this trail.

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 19mm)

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 27mm) 

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 27mm) 

Thanks!

Brian

Manhatten Beach Marriot

We recently had a business trip that took us to LA.

Unfortunately, these business trips rarely allow us to get much time to do other things such photography.

But I did manage to get some shots in and around the hotel.

(5 Exposures at F10, ISO 100, 16mm)

(5 Exposures at F10, ISO 100, 10mm)

(5 Exposures at F10, ISO 100, 16mm)

Thanks!

Brian