In the past year a lot has happened with the pictures I take.  For those who’ve been following along I think you’ve probably noticed the changes.  Beyond the look and feel of my photos changing, how I deal with the photos has also changed massively.

If you talked to me a year ago and asked me about Photoshop you would have heard something to this effect….”I rarely use Photoshop.  I use it for cropping and resizing shots, that’s about it.  I’m not sure about editing photos.”

Well, since that point in time I’ve learned a ton about Photoshop.  I’ve also learned how many pros use the program every day.  As I’ve learned I’ve realized it’s just part of the post processing….almost part of the developing process of old.

Other things have changed too.  Last year my friend Lynn sent along a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for me to try out.  I really didn’t have an interest in the program.  For years I’d been using IPhoto to manage my photos after I offload them to the computer.  Why change?

After getting Lightroom in hand I waited quite some time before I loaded it.  Finally I took the time to load it, and I looked around the program.  It seemed “big”.  More options than IPhoto offered.  Lots of buttons, lots of options, and a little intimidating.

For quite a while I stuck with IPhoto.  Lightroom seemed like too much of a program for me.  Just like Photoshop.  So many options, where do I start?

I spent a lot of time reading around the Internet about Lightroom.  After a few months I realized it might be exactly what I needed to manage climbing photos, so I tried learning the program in earnest.  Unfortunately it wasn’t super straightforward to me.  Finally I broke down, rounded up Scott Kelby’s book on Lightroom, and sat down to really learn the program.

Glad I did it!  Wow, what a photo system!!!

Now here I am a year later enjoying Lightroom.  I’ll never go back to IPhoto, it just doesn’t have the features that I now “need.”  Go figure, just as I’ve settled in, Lightroom 2 has been released!

I downloaded the latest version just the other day.  Much has remained the same, but much about the program has changed.  More developing options, increased web support, better printing support….good grief.  Another book is in my future!

If you’re looking for a great photo management program, take a look at Lightroom 2.  Take it from a guy who has resisted changing his photo programs.  The time savings in my work flow thanks to the program has been amazing!

Oh, and no, this isn’t an ad for Lightroom.  I was just working with it this morning and realized I’ve never talked about how cool the software is!

As most readers know by now, I’ve been playing with Photoshop, HDR photography, and my own photo techniques a lot over the past few months.  Each thing that I’ve toyed with has been totally separate from the other things….

What the heck does that mean?

It means that my HDRs are strictly HDR.  No Photoshopping.  It means that what I’ve learned about working a photo over in Photoshop has remained totally theoretical.  I haven’t had enough time to break out marginal shots and see what else I can do with them.  And it means that my strict “normal” photos haven’t been Photoshopped or HDR’d.

I tried to do an HDR of a human being not too long ago…..it didn’t go so well.  The model in question will never look the same in my eyes!  Talk about exaggerating features!!!

Since I’ve finally had a little downtime I decided it was time to combine all the lessons learned into one big ball of wax and see what’s what.  Additionally, I recently finished a Ben Willmore training DVD which left me saying, “Ah, I knew he did something else to his shots!”  Sure enough, he did!

Now, what follows below is completely experimental, incomplete, and I don’t even know if I like it.  For those following the blog who are offended by the bending of photographic reality, turn back now!  I’ve really gone a little over the top!

Sunday morning I took a very early ride into town to shoot around the square and Whiskey Row once more.  My first lesson about shooting in Prescott is a really easy one….

Weekday mornings there aren’t any cars downtown at 6 a.m.  Weekend mornings the square already has people on it at that time, cars are littered here and there along the road, and more people stare at a guy with a tripod and ask things like, “Do you want to take my picture?”

The answer to that question is more often than not, “No.”  If it is a yes, it’s a yes with caveats.  The caveats being things like, “I’d love to take your photo provided you’re standing at the other end of the block staring into the sun.  That way you’ll just be a silhouette.”  Not long ago in Jerome an extremely drunk biker “chick” asked if I’d take her picture.  I told her I only did landscapes!  Worked well, she shrugged her shoulders and walked back into the bar!

Sorry for the tangent.  The morning proved to me that if I want to shoot in town early I should pick something with a Wednesday or Thursday flavor.  I’ve learned a new lesson.

I did manage to get a few series along the Row without people.  Further, I got a series of the Palace Restaurant that I thought might make a neat HDR.  The first photo here today shows the Palace shot with a 0EV.  Basically, what you would get it you put your camera on fully auto at the time.

In total, I took 5 frames of the Palace that morning.  -2EV, -1, 0, 1, and you guessed it, 2.  After watching Ben Wilmore’s DVD I had a few new ideas about additional exposures, getting over exposures almost completely over exposed, and making sure I had lot’s of blinkies on the high end.

You might not know what blinkies are.  That’s ok.  They are non-communicable, and you’re completely save from them.

After combining the shots in Photomatix I came up with a darker HDR (I’ve been toying with the darker styles lately), and it’s the second photo in this post.

If you haven’t noticed lately, I’ve been pushing the HDRs a little more.  Bottom line, I just want to see what happens.  And after all the reading I’ve done combined with tutorials and the fun training DVD I’ve learned it’s ok to push a photo for the sake of curiosity.  You never know what you might end up with.  Then again, sometimes it’s better to have a more true to life photographic style for a print…..  In the end it’s all up to you and what you’re looking for at the time!

Doesn’t that all sound fun?

Now, the HDR came out pretty neat.  But there were a few things I didn’t like about it or the originals.  First off, why are power lines everywhere?  Actually, I know why, but why do they need to show up in my shots?  Gotta deal with them.

The second issue….the haloing around the lamp post.  Pushing an HDR image you’re bound to get halos.  The question is what to do with them?  In some cases they’re cool, and in others they look out of place.  Maybe I could explain this one away by saying there was a guy behind the lamp post with a flash light (same guy who asked if I wanted to take his picture).

Since there were a few items I wanted to fix in the photo I decided it was time to apply all the fun stuff from Scott Kelby’s books and from Ben Willmore’s training video.  And HDR that’s been pushed a little plus Photoshop!  Ah, a high tech adventure.

I started into Photoshop this afternoon looking to brush out the power line, and tone down the halos.  But then I thought that would be too simple.  I needed more!  How about changing the sky completely?  How about something other than blue mixed in with the clouds?

As you can see, the editing went a little over the top.  An orangy reddish sky, additional haloing above the building (like the sky’s glow was being generated by something behind the building), the power line gone, and the halo around the lamp post toned down.  Ah, the halo isn’t gone, the guy behind the post is just using a less powerful flashlight now.

My editing experiment isn’t over, and the photo isn’t “perfected”.  I’m sure many folks won’t like this one.  That’s ok, it’s just my experimental piece.  I’ll be working on it more.

By the way, there’s one glaring issue that’s a problem with this current edit.  Can you see it?  It should stand out like a sore thumb.  Take a look.  If nobody points it out in comments today I might clue you in tomorrow.  Or maybe I’ll do another post of the “final” edited version when I’m done with it.

Ah, the website has been up and down for more than 24 hours.  I’ve been the same way.  I think both the site and the person are now up and operational once more.

What can I tell you about the website?  Not sure.  Database errors across all of my sites, not just this one.  Remember, they’re all hosted by the same company, and hosted on the same server.  The site could still be flakey, so just hang in there.

Away from the website issues I’ve had a few myself.  Been feeling rundown the past few weeks, and it all snowballed yesterday.  I woke up in the morning feeling feverish.  So I broke out the thermometer.

When you feel feverish you probably are.  In my case, 101.  Just a little toasty!

I headed into work for the morning, knowing I’d be leaving early.  Driving up I felt terrible.  I stayed at work for an hour and a half, knew that I made my effort, and knew that I was fighting something off.

Getting home I set up the couch for a nap.  A stack of pillows, glass of water, and a movie on in the background.

Around 2:30 I woke up, “Harry Potter” had ended.  I went through a few glasses of water, kicked on “Flushed Away,” and fell back to sleep once more.

In total, I slept more than 5 hours yesterday afternoon.  And I went to bed last night at 9.  Didn’t wake up again until 5 this morning.

I’m glad to say when I got up this morning the fever had broken.  Still a little clogged, but I won’t complain.  I’m awake today, and it’s a nice feeling!  14 hours of sleeping in a 24 hour period.  Wow!  But it seems to have helped!

Since I was up so early and not feeling poorly I decided to take a quick ride downtown.  Whiskey Row is an interesting spot, and I’ve been wanting to photograph it early.  So many people walk along the road during the day, and so many cars are usually parked along the row during the afternoon.  Getting shots free of people and cars can only be achieved early in the day.

With all my rest I could finally get those early shots!

I didn’t take many photos this morning.  Only a few that have been on my mind.  Pictures from the St. Michaels, a shot in front of Matt’s Saloon, another shot of the Palace, and a few more random photos that popped up along the way.

It was nice to be out early in the morning.  Whiskey Row was quiet, and my photos were normally unobstructed.  A few walkers made their way around the town, and occasionally I had to wait for them to pass on by.

In total, I only spent 20 minutes on the Row.  You know I’ve got other things that need to be accomplished each day.

After returning home I quickly picked through this morning’s shots.  Glad to say there were a few I found interesting.  I’ve shared several here this morning.  Hope you like them!

Nice to be awake again, nice to have the server up, and nice to have the energy to get a few new photos again!

Oh, and I hope you enjoy today’s photos.  These are extremely experimental HDRs.  I’ve pushed them here and there, and some have “haloing” on purpose.  Just tinkering with some new ideas you know!

Time has not been on my side these past few weeks.  Seems like you just never have enough time to do what it is you want.

In my case I’m looking to play with photo techniques, toy with HDR some more, and really get into experimentation mode.  The problem……..

I haven’t been out and about shooting different scenes!

I’ve continued to read here and there about working with HDR.  I’d like to create “more than real” images.  I’d also like to create prints that go beyond a real shot and really alter color and tone.  There are some amazing HDR images out there that do just that.  I’m still in the infancy of understanding how folks like Trey Ratcliff and Ben Wilmore do it.

Since I had a few moments in town yesterday after popping by Ian’s gallery, I decided to pop by to one of my favorite photo subjects.  The Yavapai Courthouse.  It’s a neat spot that occupies the square in the center of town.  Cool walkways, green grass, and an interesting center piece!

While there I took a very short series of photos.  5 exposures each this time instead of 3.  The more shots the more you can get out of the contrast of the scene.  That’s part of my understanding.

After getting my photos I returned home, wrote a short blog, and went to sleep.  I didn’t work with the photos much at all.  But this morning I decided to get into the pictures a little more and play with some concepts I’ve read about recently.

The first photo appearing here today is clearly “over baked.”  I pushed up the color saturation and strength on Photomatix.  I also dropped the light smoothing in order to head for a more cartoonish effect.  It’s a bright scene for sure.

The second photo I went for a darker more foreboding look.  It’s probably what people in trouble with the law see when they head to the courthouse! 

Both series of photos were shot moments apart, and when looking at what went in to them there’s very little difference in the exposures.  The difference in the final images directly relates to how I’ve dealt with color saturation, shadow and highlight smoothing, and a half dozen other options I have at my disposal when generating the final HDR.

What I’m really interested in producing is an image with more saturation in the foreground while reducing almost all color in the sky.  I guess I’m looking to almost move the blue skies into the realm of gray skies while still retaining the look and feel of the surrounding clouds.  Somehow I think Photoshop will need to be involved with this in order to get the result I’m looking for.

If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about take a look at one or two of Ben Wilmore’s before and after images to see.  I’ve got a lot more to learn!  And there’s going to be a need for more of that “time” stuff in order to learn it.

Ah well, if anyone has some spare time they’d like to send me it would surely be appreciated!

But everybody else is doing it, so why can’t I?

See, it’s been months since someone mentioned HDR to me.  I’d never heard of it, considered it, pondered the possibilities, etc.  But when I found the first sites by Ben Wilmore, Trey Ratcliff, and several other well known photographers I found some very consistent shots.

• Heavily contrasted subjects.
• Interesting cloud formations.
• Cool buildings.
• Amazing night shots.
• Oh yeah……and “THE OLD ABANDONED TRUCK.”

Heck, if all the masters of HDR shoot the old abandoned truck I’d better take a whack at it as well, right?

The key problem…..I hadn’t found the right truck.  You’d think it would be easy.  Spot an old truck across a field and run up to shoot it.  The problem…..getting “shot” for doing it.  Barbed wire fences, testy bulls, giant “No Trespassing” signs, or freaky folks sitting in front of the old truck.  It’s not as easy to find that truck as I first thought it would be.

This whole line of thinking reminds me of an outing with Mike of “I am Mike” fame.  The lone tree shot by moonlight.  I don’t think I ever told the whole story, and maybe I will someday.  All I can tell you is that fence hopping occurred, we wandered into a cow pasture in the middle of the night with 4 people, hand guns were in packs for snakes (I had no hand gun), and several cows made a bee line for us while we tried to take photos.  In the end, I ripped my favorite pair of shorts on a barbed wire fence, I underexposed my photos, and we all ended up on the Granite Dells shooting moon reflections in Watosn Lake.  Ah yes…..all for photos!

Today I hopped zero fences.  My shorts are fine.  No cows made a beeline for me.  And nobody in today’s party was packing a handgun for snakes.  Overall, things went well.  My other friend Mike (different one) brought me to his parent’s place.  Horses, cows, miniature horses, and “the old truck.”  Ah, that worked out well.

Many other photos are sitting in Lightroom right now.  I still have to sort.  Some wonderful shots including one shot that got ruined by a nosy horse nose actually getting put on my lens while I was shooting.  Needless to say I pet the horse and then wiped the lens off (yup, horse snot).  Apparently horses can be hams too.  3 horses in the shot totally messed up by one horse’s nose.  I think it was bothered not to be in the photo.

So, you’ve seen the obligatory “old truck” HDRs.  Since that’s all satisfied I can move on to other subjects (until the next cool old truck I see).

The other week I went up to Flagstaff.  You might remember the trip.  A new wide angle lens was purchased that day, and I had fun playing with it.  I’m still enjoying the lens.

Sadira suggested we go take a look at a local church, as she liked the architecture.  It was pretty unique.  Especially the pink.  Seriously, the photo you’re seeing is accurate to the reality of this church.

The gargoyles along the roof of the church just didn’t work for me.  Pink gargoyles?  Yeah, they’re really warding things off.  Would you take a pink gargoyle seriously?

No?  Me either.

I will say, the church does make for an interesting image.  While not my favorite from my visits to Flagstaff it is a memorable shot.

Just thought I’d share, as it’s not something you see every day! 

No, we’re not having a “heat wave” here.  This morning it’s 57 degrees in Prescott.  We’ll probably see something near 90 today.  But without humidity you can stay comfortable in the shade, no problem.  Walking downtown yesterday I stayed in shady spots on the square, and I was pretty darned comfortable!

That’s not the same story for folks in New England.  They’re running from 60 to above 90, but there’s high humidity.  I remember those days.  Breaking a sweat no matter what you do.  Plus most every house in New England has no AC!  Eeek!

Last night I spoke with one of my sisters.  Her little ones were fussing big time.  They couldn’t sleep.  Fans fail to cool well with heat and humidity together.  While we talked I sat outside my Airstream in the shade.  A light breeze was blowing, and I was happily comfortable.  I wish they lived closer, they could come here for a few days and get comfortable.

I know, Arizona is HOT.  It sure is….in some areas.  Phoenix is looking to hit 109 degrees today.  Boy, that wouldn’t be fun, even though it’s a dry heat.

Fortunately I don’t live in Phoenix.  Less than 2 hours away Prescott sits at a much higher elevation.  That gives us cooler temperatures every day.  While Phoenix climbs to crazy temperatures, we climb to reasonable temperatures.

Last year we had a week here that broke 100 every day.  It was hot!  The AC struggled.  But sitting out under my awning I always found myself pretty comfortable.  I can handle a week of that again!  Glad it’s not humid here!

To everyone back on the East Coast…..sorry gang!  Pay a visit sometime.  Try the Fall, it’s cooler then and you can really explore the area!

Ah, days off.

Personally I’d like them to become more consistent.  By that I mean I’d like to pick 2 days in the week and have them off each week.

Actually, 3 days would be better than 2.  Just saying…… 

So, what to do with the day off?  How about some laundry?  Yup, the standard laundry day.  I sure wish the Airstream had the room for a washer and dryer.  But let’s face it, living in a 25 foot Six Sleeper doesn’t allow for much washer and dryer room.  I sure wish it did though!

Normally on my days off folks can find me between 8 and 10 in the Point of Rocks laundry room.  It’s a happening spot full of happening people.  Why just this morning I ran into……. uh ….. nobody.  Ok, not the most happening spot after all.  But it is located in a wonderful park!

After laundry wrapped up I visited with my neighbor Ed.  We talk politics, economics, photography, and anything else that interests us.  Ed is a pleasant guy.  Like me, he’s a full-timer.  He and his wife live in a Class A rig a few sites away from me.  He used to own a large door manufacturing company, finally retired, sold the home and hit the road.  Like me, Ed found Prescott and here he is!

Following Ed’s visit I had another friend pop over.  Adobe Lightroom questions.  And some new photos shared.  Tony went to Monument Valley and a few other super cool spots recently.  The photos made me want to hook the rig up right now and roll out.  Alas, work tomorrow. 

See, I didn’t even mention how gas prices factor into the travel decision!  How are people doing it now though?  There’s my question!

By noon I headed into town.  Sadira’s portable drive had been acting up, so I made a backup of it for her “just in case.”  I ran by her shop to drop it off, say howdy, and take a walk around town.  Today was a perfect day for a walk.  Really.  Blue skies, nice breeze, cool in the shade, no humidity.  Exactly the type of day I expect in Prescott!

While walking through town I stopped by “The Art Store” to pick up some covers for my latest prints.  Can’t have them getting coated in dust!  Of course while walking through the alley near the store I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of the mural on the wall.  I wanted to see what it would look like in HDR.  I’ve been wanting to try it out for quite some time.  And I’d say it turned out very interesting indeed!

Oh yeah, it also gave me the opportunity to toy around with my new wide angle lens some more too!  What can I say?  I’m hooked on the new lens!!!

I puttered around town for more than 1 hour and 45 minutes.  I would have stayed longer, but there’s 2 hour parking along the streets.  I don’t want a parking ticket.  So I headed back to the Titan and made my way home.  Late lunch, a few phone calls to friends and an e-mail to a Mac client of mine who is currently on the road.

The rest of the day has been spent just hanging out at the Airstream.  A little cleaning, a little re-organizing, and emptying out my Dyson vacuum cleaner.  A Dyson for a 25 foot trailer?  Of course, it’s for an Airstream folks!  :)  Plus it can get dusty here with the winds in the Spring you know.

I’m not sure how the day will end.  I think I’ll sit back and toy with a few more photos.  Maybe I’ll sit in the shade next to the Airstream for a while, enjoy the breeze and watch the crazy lizards hopping around on the rocks.  It’s all a possibility.

Just another good day in Arizona………….

Well, I got the call yesterday.  Which call you ask?

The one I’ve been waiting for!  Good grief, what other call would I be talking about?

On June 28th at 5p.m. a select grouping of some of my photography will be opening at Ian Russel’s Gallery of Fine Art.  Ah, that was the call, wasn’t it? 

I’ll tell you, I was surprised by some of Ian’s selections, but hey, he knows this business better than I do.  So, I defer to him.  :)  I’m so excited that a bunch of my favorites will be featured in a well known gallery.  Best part, June 28th is Ian’s 1 year anniversary for opening his new gallery.  Nice to be included in an important event for him.

I’m also happy to say he had a heck of a time selecting the photos he wanted at the opening.  Too many good ones, only a limited amount of room to hang them all.  There will be 10 smaller prints (5×7) matted and framed.  We’ll do one 8×10 limited edition image as well.

The limited edition print will only have a run of 50 prints, signed and numbered by me.  What’s the print….?  Can’t tell ya!  :)  I already have one person insisting they get the #1 print.  Unfortunately he’ll have to show up at that gallery to round it up if he wants it (sorry Dan).  But you know the time and place.  If anyone else wants the #1 print, all you need to do is show up before Dan. 

By the way….this changes everything with Imagekind.  I’ve got to resort my photos that I was going to put up there.  With the stuff going into Ian’s my selection drops a little.  All the shots that hit the gallery will be exclusive to the gallery for the time being.  That’s that.  So I’ll need to take some time reselecting what hits Imagekind.

Finally, sorry to all the RVers here.  I know, way off on tons of photo stuff.  I’ve got a bunch of posts I need to do about full-timing, and I’ll get back to those soon.  Just remember, all my photo stuff gets done in my Airstream.  My home, my studio, my base camp while traveling to new places……and I’m looking forward to new places.  The initial response to my listing photos suggests I might get to travel again soon…..and take more photos of those places.

Well, off to get ready for work.  Hard to contain my excitement.  Now I’ve got to check with the other 2 places regarding prints they want to list! 

Oh, one final random thought.  I have 4 one of a kind prints that won’t be created again.  They were test prints from 2 different printers (I wanted to see their quality).  All 4 are cool, and I’ll be listing them here soon.  2 are poster prints, two are matted “stand outs” (I’ll explain that sometime).  Once I’ve got my bearings regarding the photos I’m listing I’ll post those 4 prints and pictures of them here….just thought you might want to plan ahead! 

Alright, I’ve been having fun experimenting with HDR.  Remember, it’s an experiment.  I’ve just started in with this stuff.  It’s a new medium to me, and I still haven’t perfected it yet.

So, why is it my test photos are getting wows across the board?  I mean, I’ve never had this type of response to photos before.  Sure, I’ve gotten requests for specific shots while traveling across the country…but this is something different.

What exactly do I mean?  Let me fill you in.

I’ve sold 4 8×10 prints this week directly to people who insisted they must have “that print.”  Not too big, but let’s keep going.  I’ve printed out MANY shots for a local gallery owner to pick through.  Looks like we’ll be showing 15 of my photos by the end of the month.  They’ll be framed and everything.  I won’t frame them….that would go poorly.  Also, my friends up at Rollies Camera are interested in featuring several of my shots in their store for sale after looking through my website……plus I’ve recently been asked by another gallery owner about my photos.  It was funny….the owner of Rollies caught me before I left and asked if I’d be interested in featuring my shots there…..Are you kidding?  Of course!!!!

This has all occurred in the past 3 weeks.  Very interesting.  Oh, and folks aren’t just interested in the HDRs.  There are standard shots that are also getting inquiries.  Nice!

Finally, I’ve finished sorting what I needed to sort, and I’ve selected 18 photos that will list on Imagekind for the time being.  So far 4 are up.  The rest will follow when I have time to run to the Raven.  Each Tiff file is over 50MB, and uploading from here is just too slow.  14 more files at 50+MB will be way too slow.  So, time to go get some Mint Tea!

Here’s the thing….the photos will not stay up there permanently.  I’m thinking that each print will only be allowed to have a limited printing.  I’m thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 prints of each in larger format.

Oh, and one other fun thing Imagekind offers…..Greeting cards of my shots.  If you click on a specific print you’ll see one of the options is greeting cards.  So, when you check the gallery click each photo.  You’ll see the option for a greeting card.  Talk about a fun way to share the shots!  I’m excited.

So, looks like more picture taking and photo sorting will be happening here at the Airstream.  With or without people’s interest I’d still be doing it.  Now there’s one more reason to take my shots beyond my own personal enjoyment.  It’s a lot of fun.

Grab your camera and head out somewhere today.  Enjoy yourself, and when you see a fun photo opportunity take it!