^Thanks rob. There used to be MUCH more.  A lot of Downtown's 3-4 story blocks have given way to parking lots, parking decks, or larger single structures.  The ones that have remained though do add to the urban setting.  And some of the newer and larger buildings definitely make it feel like a small city.  I love Downtown because of that.  It's only a town of around 35,000, and it's smack dab in the middle of nowhere, but Downtown always seems like a little bustling metropolis.

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum

I love that picture, Sherman.

Nice and serene. The season definitely is advanced there, compared with the way things look here.

I'm really trying to get into wildflower and blooming tree identification right now. If you know one that's been incorrectly labeled, let me know :)

 

_{Round Leaved Ragwort}

 

How is the foilage up there in Toledo, BTW?

Great shot.  Was that taken in low light or did you do some editing to make it look like that?

I used a Nikon SB-900 speedlight at f/7.1 1/200 s. to effectively narrow the focus down to just the flower. The power that I set for the flash helped fill in the flower but not much else, leaving the ground remarkably dark. For post-processing, I used my standard floral filter I developed, which increases sharpness and increases vignetting to bring more focus to just the flower (and not the busy background). It was taken in the middle of the day under a shade tree.

I used a Nikon SB-900 speedlight at f/7.1 1/200 s. to effectively narrow the focus down to just the flower. The power that I set for the flash helped fill in the flower but not much else, leaving the ground remarkably dark. For post-processing, I used my standard floral filter I developed, which increases sharpness and increases vignetting to bring more focus to just the flower (and not the busy background). It was taken in the middle of the day under a shade tree.

 

I like it.  I am excited for in the future to start experimenting with new flashes besides my camera's interal flash (which basically sucks).  Did you use that flash for other pics on your website?  I''m curiuos to see other pics with that flash besides the flower shot.  Do it take good portrait pics?

^Where is that taken at?

 

I used a Nikon SB-900 speedlight at f/7.1 1/200 s. to effectively narrow the focus down to just the flower. The power that I set for the flash helped fill in the flower but not much else, leaving the ground remarkably dark. For post-processing, I used my standard floral filter I developed, which increases sharpness and increases vignetting to bring more focus to just the flower (and not the busy background). It was taken in the middle of the day under a shade tree.

 

I like it.  I am excited for in the future to start experimenting with new flashes besides my camera's interal flash (which basically sucks).  Did you use that flash for other pics on your website?  I''m curiuos to see other pics with that flash besides the flower shot.  Do it take good portrait pics?

 

I didn't really use flash for floral photography until this year, and really until the last month. I usually just relied on light, luck and low wind :) I've never been a big flash guy, but I can see a huge use for it. But no, I really don't have any other flash photos on any of my sites -- I drag around my tripod.

 

Portraits? Bounce it off of the ceiling and put a diffuser and it's pretty nice.

 

I just ordered the Nikon R1C1 ring flash kit, which is designed for macro photography (i.e. floral). I'll post up some shots with it when it comes in Thursday.

That the Garfield Monument at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.  I typically use a tripod since as I said the only flash I have is my internal flash.  This is the reason I basically hate taking pictures of people in low light settings.  It just ends up looking like a point-and-shoot kind of picture (of maybe I just need to learn different techniques). 

Define irony.

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.  This example gets a pass, but Alanis definitely had no idea of what was or was not ironic.  Maybe disappointing, or a juxtaposition, or Murphy's Law, but not ironic.

That the Garfield Monument at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. I typically use a tripod since as I said the only flash I have is my internal flash. This is the reason I basically hate taking pictures of people in low light settings. It just ends up looking like a point-and-shoot kind of picture (of maybe I just need to learn different techniques).

 

The first thought that popped up when I saw the photo was "Chambered Nautilus." Neat composition.

 

The Garfield Memorial dates to an era when public structures tended toward visually sumptious. It's a feast for one's eyes, with brilliant, elaborate stained-glass windows and almost every surface decorated with colorful murals and designs.

This poor Western Tent Caterpillar had been sliced in half, carted away by busy ants.

 

 

Took this in Avon Lake last week.

 

Wow that is awesome!

Sherman - Excellent macro work. If ants were as big as dogs, humans probably would be extinct by now, along with a lot of other life forms.

 

Corey - Nice light!

 

Whenever I post a rural thread I can hear the yawns clear over in Indiana. If you want to see more of this, click on the photo:

^I don't think we mind rural so much. It's shots of Applebee's we mind.

 

A lot of those old Township Halls, Grange Halls and whatnot are pretty cool. Besides, in 50 years we might all be working at the grain elevator.

Sherman - Excellent macro work. If ants were as big as dogs, humans probably would be extinct by now, along with a lot of other life forms.

 

Corey - Nice light!

 

Whenever I post a rural thread I can hear the yawns clear over in Indiana. If you want to see more of this, click on the photo:

 

Rob - Not sure how to link to it - but my favorite of the set is the 5th from the bottom.  Nice work!

Yeah I like that photo also.  There's something about rural industry that really interests me.

The funny thing is I was just looking at an HO scale kit of a structure like that.

Needless to say, it was too expensive and too big for my layout haha.

Looking Northeast, about a mile and a half from where I lived from ages 8 - 22. If you go about an hour west of here, it starts to get really flat and stays like that for a couple hundred miles.

 

 

Looking South, same location:

 

That's a nice low cloud cover!

^^I don't know what it is, but seeing huge expanses of undeveloped land like that immediately makes me feel at peace.

 

A few years back my wife and I drove cross country on our way to San Francisco, and I have to say the that after seeing all the wide open spaces in Wyoming, I've decided that once I make my forturne I'm setting up shop out there, with a few hundred acres and enough head of cattle to keep people from wondering why I have so much land to begin with...

Should have put this in the "Show a pic of yourself" thread but I decided to put it here.

A behind-the-scenes look at a typical photo editing night. This is what goes into the photos I produce. Everyone had to be there and give their two cents:

The two guys standing make it look like you have bodyguards. The guy sitting on the floor, in profile, kind of looks like you, like maybe he's your brother?

 

When I work at photography usually I do my best work when going solo. There are only three people I can think of that I could have around during photo excursions, and one of them died 17 years ago (age 33, RIP Greg). When I'm editing, I work strictly solo. I have one friend who's a pro who critiques my edited photos and gives me pointers on what to correct or adjust.

 

I was severely ADHD as a kid, before there was such a diagnosis, and as a senior citizen I've never outgrown it; I've just learned to manage it to a fair degree but I'm still vulnerable to being derailed by distractions, including interaction with other people.

Well in that photo I am working solo.  It's just all of my personalities were in tow. 

That's actually all me in the photo.  Some photoshop trickery for ya!  :wink:

Well in that photo I am working solo.  It's just all of my personalities were in tow. 

That's actually all me in the photo.  Some photoshop trickery for ya!  ;)

 

I'm requesting a name change:  DJ Orion to Sybil!

 

Thanks!

Well in that photo I am working solo.  It's just all of my personalities were in tow. 

That's actually all me in the photo.  Some photoshop trickery for ya!  :wink:

 

Silly me! Good job!

 

Edit: Maybe if I had alter egos or multiple personalities like that, I could delegate the several things I try to do/think about at once, and get the distraction under control. Just think of all the stuff I could get done!

Michael Keaton, "Multiplicity," 1996.

I spent about three weeks testing out the new Nikon R1C1 ring lighting setup. I've been very pleased with the results so far.

 

 

 

I've not used flash units before, so stepping into something that has a wireless commander and two independent, wireless flashes is something very much new.

 

The lighting brings out the saturated colors nicely.

My 350Z-owning friend's new toy, his 1988 BMW 735i:

 

Cedar Falls, May 2009

Love this place...best time for me to go is during the week when hardly anyone is there. I designed the aquarium exhibit in the visitor center. Haven't been there in a while so its probably a mess by now. (aquarium)

Or in the dead of winter. I have over a hundred photographs from the past two years still yet to post.

 

Upper Falls, May 2009

 

Lower Falls, May 2009

Wow - Sherman, those are awesome.  I am embarrassed to show these - but maybe I can learn something here. 

 

I went to Cascade Park in Elyria last weekend.  I had a bit of trouble with the raging waterfalls creating too much mist and getting on my lens.  Anyway, can you tell me how you darken the outside of the pics?  Also, why are your waterfalls so "neat" compared to mine.  Am I leaving my shutter open too long? 

 

 

 

Wow those are awesome! Where is that exactly?

If you are referring to my pics - they are the East and West Falls in Cascade Park in Elyria.

Cory, don't be embarrassed! If you feel that something is missing from your photos, I'm (and others) are more than willing to offer pointers. It is all part of a learning process, and is something that I'm still doing today by trial-and-error. I've never picked up a book, and never will.

 

Here is what I think is lacking, IMO:

 

1. The day of time this was shot. It looks washed out, because I assume that the image was taken during mid-day? As a result, there is little definition in the sky, or color. Find a time when the lighting hits the waterfall -- e.g. early morning or late evening. That's when the lighting is the best. If you can't make it, or it's just a milky cloudy day, shoot only the bridge and falls in this composure, and ignore the sky (as I did in mine).

 

Cloudy days can be quite nice too. It reduces the chances for highlights and deep shadows in an image, and provides a nice soft image. I shot my images above on cloudy days, and those days are really one of my favorites to be out shooting.

 

2. The water is too brown. It's nothing you can really control, unless you go after there hasn't been rain in a while and it's not pulling sediment out. No amount of correction can fix this.

 

3. A polarizer filter can remove the reflection/glare from the rocks, and can remove reflection from the water. A must have for anyone.

 

But you did nothing wrong in terms of composition or anything. The shutter speed is dead-on, along with the aperature. It's just more timing than anything.

 

As for what I did post-processing, I've developed some filters to expedite the process of editing photos in Adobe Lightroom. I just increased the black/shadow for more punch, and did a partial desaturate, but nothing else. I have probably 10 filters I use daily, and over a hundred just stocked just-in-case. Many of these are free and downloadable.

 

If you want to post more up for me to look at, feel free to post them and I can give you my honest opinion. :)

Thanks for the excellent feedback.  Great points to give me ideas/things to think about next time I am out.

Great photos to the both of you.  I'm glad you're willing to give pointers, Sherman.  Many photographers wouldn't do that. 

I went out on Saturday and got some more pictures of a waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  I'll post some pics once I get the chance to download them.  In the meantime, I am thinking about getting a polarizer, as suggested above. 

 

Sherman (and anyone else) - What do you think of these?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hoya-52POL-Polarizing-Photo-Filter/dp/B00006I5BN/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1274708809&sr=1-23

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006HOAN?tag=choosedway-20

That is awesome.  It probably wasn't intentional, but the flare in the corner really adds to the photo.

Cory, what was the light source inside the tent?

 

Regarding polarizing filters, most of what I've read indicates that you need a circular polarizer for AF camers, but I've read a couple of opinions that said it doesn't matter. With my first AF camera (D70) I bought a circular polarizer and never tried anything else, so I'm not sure about that. I did shoot a bunch of video several years ago using a non-circular polarizer, and the AF on the camcorder worked just fine.

 

I've seen a couple of opinions that Hoya polarizers have a warm cast to them, and that was my experience with the one that I bought with the D70. Almost everything is correctible in Photoshop, but I didn't like the color my photos had, so I bought a Nikon circular polarizer (about 3X the price of the Hoya, if I remember correctly), and my photos with it did seem to have a more neutral color balance.

I have noticed that I'll get sometimes major lens flare with my circular polarizer.  I rarely shoot at night with it equipped, but sometimes I'll forget to take it off and then I'll have to fix it later in post.  Sometimes it adds to the photos though.

Morning kids!  Have a safe holiday weekend!