Morning Prayer

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/1250 second, f/4, ISO 100

Little Cowboy

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

Lion Hunter

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/30 second, f/7.1, ISO 800

Sepia Tone Photography

Most people know what a Sepia Tone photograph looks like. But do they know that the term originated with the use of pigment from a fish cephalopod?

Sepia tone is a type of monochrome photographic image in which the picture appears in shades of brown as opposed to greyscale as in a black-and-white image. It was originally produced by adding a pigment made from the Sepia cuttlefish to the positive print of a photograph taken with any number of negative processes. The chemical process involved converts any remaining metallic silver to a sulphide which is much more resistant to breakdown over time. (Source: Wikipedia)

Now you have some useless photographic knowledge to impress your friends with.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/200 second, f/5, ISO 100

Framed

I shot this portrait of Jenna for a request I received from a graphic designer. For lighting, I used a simple three monolight setup in my studio:

- Softbox main-light to right of camera
- Umbrella fill-light above and behind camera
- Single light on backdrop

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100

Confluence

con·flu·ence [kon-floo-uh ns]
-noun

1. a flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like: the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
2. their place of junction: St. Louis is at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
3. a body of water formed by the flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.
4. a coming together of people or things; concourse.
5. a crowd or throng; assemblage.

Today's image was captured at the confluence of the Chena and Tanana River in Fairbanks Alaska. The Chena River (on the left) is relatively clear as opposed to the Tanana River (on the right) which is extremely cloudy caused by glacial silt.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/13, ISO 160

Morning Spruce

Captured on a foggy morning in Fairbanks Alaska.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/80 second, f/9, ISO 160

The Kiss

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/50 second, f/4, ISO 200

Seeing Things in a Different Light

If spending three days last week with famed photographer and teacher Kenneth Linge did one thing, it was to re-invigorate my lookout for great natural light. Kenneth is a master at using existing lighting to create stunning portraits.

I noticed this great afternoon sunlight being deflected through the window of a Salt Lake City hotel on Saturday. The light, combined with the reflection, made a very nice portrait setting. My always willing model Sarah stepped in to pose for the quick capture.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 160

On a side note, I am heading out to Alaska today for a week or so to attend my nephew's wedding. I haven't been back to Alaska in over 10 years and I am excited to see how things have changed. It is rumored that I will have Internet access where I am staying so I can occasionally post to the site. But in case I don't - enjoy this pleasant photo of Sarah until my return.

A Suitable Model

Yesterday afternoon UPS dropped off a new backdrop to the house. When I got home and found it waiting, I was anxious to give it a try. Usually I have a daughter or two around to assist me by sitting in as a model, but this time it was just me and the two dogs.

My first thought was to use the smarter of the pair, our Border Collie Ziggy. As it turned out though, this intelligence told him that sitting on a chair in front of a camera was not worth a nibble of cheese. That left me with Holly, the Shorthaired Pointer. She was more than willing to plant her furry backside on a chair and allow me to take a few shots in hope of receiving a piece of cheese.

The lighting on this image is very simple. I placed a small softbox just to the right of the camera. Fill lighting was provided by the light reflecting off of white blinds to the camera's left. I set the light's power level low enough so that I could shoot wide open at f/4 to minimize the depth of field. I also shot at the lens' full reach of 105mm to further accentuate the shallow focus. In processing, I opted to go with a sepia tone effect because I felt it worked well in creating a uniform tone to the image (here's the color version).

At the end of our short photo shoot, Holly was extremely happy for two reasons. The first was being allowed to get off of the chair. And secondly, she finally got the cheese she had been intently watching.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens - 1/30 second, f/4, ISO 50

Misty Valley

Misty Valley, photographed in Draper, Utah.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens - 1/200 second, f/4, ISO 50

Relief from yesterday's Clash

Wow, did the color in yesterday's post clash with the rest of the page or what? If you missed it, click here and see for yourself. Yeesh, what was I thinking with that post? Well as a relief from that blogging faux pas I have posted an image that will hopefully be better suited for its webpage surroundings.

As I mentioned yesterday, I picked up an R72 infrared filter to experiment with. This filter is so dark red that it is nearly black. I'm not an expert in infrared technology, but from what I have read this filter cuts out much of the visible light we see with our naked eye and just lets in the infrared. This can result in very dramatic black & white photographs.

So far I haven't been overly impressed with my results, but I really need to do some more trials. This particular shot was made with the filter on my lens. Even though it was a bright sunny day, due to the density of the filter this capture required a 30 second shutter speed.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 30 Seconds, f/22, ISO 100

Snowy Tracks

Snowy Tracks photographed on a winter day in Draper, Utah.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/80 second, f/14, ISO 100

Checkers on the Porch

The Eyes Have It

Nephew, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I made this capture of my nephew at the family Thanksgiving Dinner last week. It was a spur-of-the-moment photo as he sat on his father's lap and looked my direction. The intense eyes really make this shot.

Old Mill

Antiqued, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Taken at a small park in Salt Lake City.

Stray

Stray, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Is it just me, or does this toy cowboy bear a striking resemblance to Burt Reynolds (during the
Smoky and the Bandit era)?

Rooster House

Rooster House, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

My goal with this shot of the Rooster House at Gardner Village was to process it in a way to make it appear like an old painting. Did it work?

Surreal

Surreal, originally uploaded by LeggNet.