I have been experimenting with intentionally blurred images as of late. For the most part I am not an artsy fartsy photographer. However, I do like some of the results I am getting.
Water Blur
Besides, it gives me something else to think about and do while I am waiting for the wildlife to do what I want it to do! Sometimes that can mean a lot of waiting! As you can tell from this image, I have a lot to learn about this aspect of my photography. You know what that means? Shoot some more.
Wow! I was blown away by how many people commented on the last post on NYC Skyline HDR & Pano. So I decided to share this image which is attempt at an intentional blur I made.
New York City Skyline Intentional Blur
I tried several different patterns by moving the camera during the exposure. Below is an example of moving the camera in the shape of a crown, more silly than an artistic masterpiece 
.
New York City Skyline Crown Blur
Have a great weekend!
I have been asked a bunch of questions about this image I made of the NYC skyline.
Manhattan Skyline Twilight Pano
This image was created from 9 separate images. I used a Really Right Stuff pano rig. This was my first time using a pano tool and I really liked the ease of use of this tool. What I did was wait for a time when no ships (or planes ) would be passing through the scene and set the shot up so that I took 3 bracketed images (1/2 stop apart) in 3 different positions on the pano plate.
I then processed (tone mapped) each of the 3 bracketed images in Photomatix Pro 4 and used Adobe CS5 to stitch those 3 HDR images together to create this one image. I did have to remove some leaves that would have been in the bottom right of the image because of some trees that are growing into the scene. Lastly I ran the whole image through Color Efex Pro 4. Just how I like my images, fast and easy!
Manhattan Skyline Twilight Pano
I have wanted to make panoramas for a long time, I just never seemed to have the right opportunity. Then I read about a workshop being hosted by Denise Ippolito. She is someone I always wanted to meet as I have admired her work for some time. The workshop was co-hosted by Scott Vincent. Once I signed up for the workshop, I needed to do some more work on making panos. I knew it would require picking up some new gear 
. In particular, I knew I needed a nodal plate. I have used Really Right Stuff plates and ball heads for years so I went to their site and read through their literature (you can also call or email them, they are very helpful). To save you some time, here is the link to the exact rig I purchased to make some of the images I created on Saturday night (link here).
Manhattan Skyline
I’m really happy with most of the images I came away with especially since this was my first night time shoot and attempt to do panos. I will share with you shortly a 15 image HDR + Pano I created that came out remarkably well!
Scott and Denise were very helpful and the group of people that attended the workshop were very friendly. It was a nice size group of 5 shooters with 2 instructors. I had a great time and came away with what I think are some really good images. I also came away with a few things I did wrong that I need to correct. Alas, that just gives me a reason to try more evening and pano shots of Manhattan, maybe next time form downtown!
Empire State Building at Night
If you would like to see larger versions of the top 2 images, simply click on the galleries section of the website. They are located under Places.
Images captured with (top) Nikon D3x w/70-200 VR-II, (middle) D3x w/24-70 VR-II, (bottom) D700 w/200-400 VR-I on Lexar digital film.
This feels very appropriate right now. I don’t think I need to say anything!
Flag with Fireworks
Freedom Tower Crane
Let me start off by wishing my wife, family and friends a Happy Valentines Day!
Snowy Forest Black and White
Moose Peterson announced on his website over the weekend that he will be hosting another Yellowstone Adventure next winter. I have had visiting Yellowstone on my bucket list for a while. I hope to visit Yellowstone in the winter and fall. I hear the difference between those two seasons is amazing! Since Moose is one of my mentors, signing up for this adventure was a no brainer. Yellowstone in the winter is a killer for big game and landscape photography. What a combination. It will be a great time!
You will find below a link to all the details. From what Sharon (aka Mrs. Moose) told me, there are only a few spots left for either of the 2 weeks so if you are interested I would call right away. If you are going on this trip next winter, let me know. We can plan on freezing together. Temperatures this week were -30!
MOOSE PETERSON YELLOWSTONE ADVENTURE
No, you are not going to bang your head. I’m talking about the bird!
Mallard Drake Foraging
I took a ride to Long Island Sound the other morning and loved the shimmer of the sunrise on the water around these Mallard ducks.
Mallard Ducks at Sunrise
Unfortunately, the birds down by the water this morning were not very habituated to humans. While I was the only person there (it was 18 degrees f), the birds wanted to have nothing to do with me. These images are taken with a 600mm f/4 with a 1.4 TCe-III. Still not enough glass which is the story of my life!
Have a great weekend.
We have had an extreme winter thus far. Over 4 ft of snow as of this last storm.
Ice in Long Island Sound
It has also been extremely cold. There are several parts of Long Island sound with significant blocks of ice cutting off fishing for many birds.
Snow Covered Boulder
But there is a silver lining to this cloud. The weather conditions have presented many great opportunities to make images that we don’t often have in a normal winter. I plan on making as many images as I can!
I have to admit I am a Spring, Summer and Fall kind of guy. I like Winter, but in only small doses . Given how much stress New England is under with yet another snow storm due to hit today, I thought I would change it up a little and show some pictures of Spring.
Peony Sun Shower
Peony Portrait
So enjoy your day and stop fretting over sub zero temps. The warmth of the sun is not far away!
The east coast had fresh snow to deal with this weekend. Temperatures stayed cold all weekend and winds were minimal so many of the trees and bushes stayed coated in the white stuff. I tried to make as many “pattern” images as I could. Criss crossed branches with drifted snow on them creates an interesting design element. A difficult element to control when photographing patterns is DOF (depth of field). In most instances with good light, I prefer to utilize as much DOF as possible when photographing patterns in the snow.
Snow Pattern in Black and White
When I made this image I was thinking about black and white so while in Photoshop, I used Nik Silver Efex Pro to convert the image to B&W.
The other area of interest for my photography this weekend was, you guessed it, birds. There is nothing quite like adding snow as an element in bird photography.
White Throated Sparrow Hiding
White Throated Sparrow Eating Snow
There have been many White Throated Sparrows at the feeders this year. I would estimate at least 12. The other big resident in terms of numbers is the Dark Eyed Junco which is a challenge to photograph in the snow. While the Juncos are plentiful, they are not in the numbers that we had last year.
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