thedude.com » Photography

James Was Here

thedude — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:01:50 +0000

OK – I’ve been feeling kinda bad. My pal Jim visited for a week, and, despite great conversation, great weather and meals at places like Haven, Sea Salt and of course Chop Bar, I took a grand total of one photograph. With a cheap-ass point-and-click. I guess it could have been worse – I could have used a cell phone. There’s no excuse for this.

I was stumped at what to do, and Jim solved the dilemma by posting a really amazing shot of a few of the more than 50 orchids he has blossoming in his kitchen right now. In Madison Wisconsin. In January. I find this amazing. There is absolutely zero chance of me ever being capable of creating anything even remotely like this. I’m in awe.

It was great to hang with you, Dude. Always enlightening in so many ways.

This Little Chip Will Change the World

thedude — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:14:18 +0000

View the announcement here. Pretty exciting stuff!

You Can Do It Too!

thedude — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:36:38 +0000

I made this totally original motivational poster for my company last weekend. Model Marina was awesome. She really nailed the part.

Shot with a $95 lens and hand-held FourSquare against a yellow wall in the office. PhotoShop makes it perfect.

Sophie

thedude — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:13:03 +0000

It’s hard not to get a good shot when your subject is as cute as Sophie, but there’s something else I like about this shot, and that is that is was not a posed shot. I saw her sitting there and took two quick shots in the (indoor) available light. Snap, snap! It took three or four seconds to make the shot.

I’m also very proud of the fact that this image was made with a super-cheap manual-focus portrait lens. I’m wonder what kind of results we could get if we actually try to make a good shot. Maybe if I control the light on her beautiful eyes a little better. Next time for sure!

Last Night at San Gregorio Beach

thedude — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:49:05 +0000

I’m pretty happy with this shot of my wife with her parents and best friends Jeff and Wendy. To make it, I used my new FourSquare lighting system, held high above my head while I clutched the D3 with the other hand and snapped this about 30 minutes after sunset. The colors in this one make everything else on my site look washed-out. Wow.

Soft Boxes are nothing new in the studio. What makes this one so special is its portability. Equipped with a couple of Nikon SB-600 flash heads purchased on ebay and triggered with an on-camera SB-800, I can throw a heck of a lot of high quality light into a scene. Setup takes about 5 minutes, and the results speak for themselves.

If there’s anything not to like about these shots is that they look like they’re faked. Sort of like a cheesy Sears portrait against a photo backdrop. I can assure you — these are real.

Rider in the Rain

thedude — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:18:32 +0000

Determined to get a look at Bandit under control of a more skilled rider, (thanks, Hannah!) Kelly and Stella brave the rain and fog at Skyline Ranch this morning.

First Photo Event After PhotoShop World

thedude — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:42:27 +0000

I attended my first-ever PhotoShop World in Las Vegas last week, and all things considered, I would give the event a thumbs-up. After recovering from the shock of the most expensive martini ever, and a corny, but slick keynote, the classes turned out to be worth the price. I attended 7 or 8 classes, where I learned a lot. Much of what I learned was often not even the main topic of the class. I paid close attention to the techniques used by the mostly excellent – sometimes outstanding instructors – and several times heard myself say, “I never knew you could do that! Wait – you can simply drag the drop shadow when you apply it?? Wow! I never knew that!!”

Now, as a result of what I saw at the show, I will definitely be switching to Adobe Lightroom for printing and possibly much more, and I’ll certainly need one of these awesome lighting devices and a couple of these to go with it. Show sponsors should be happy. A couple of other very cool things I saw at the show were the super-quality photo books by Miller, and the mind-blowing aluminum prints from Metal Mural and Image Wizards. I also learned that I can rent virtually any camera gear known to man or woman with a few mouse clicks from borrowlenses.com. Next time I want to play with a $10,000 lens for the weekend, I’ll know where to go. And they’ll FedEx it directly to my door.

So, less than three hours after returning, I was at the grand opening of the new covered arena at Xenophon, trying out new techniques. Getting results like these adds time to my workflow and greatly increases file sizes, but it seems to be worth it. My wife is certainly happy about the glow-y softening technique used in some of the shots above.

Welcome to Panorama Country

thedude — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:10:42 +0000

Jackson Hole experienced its greatest snow accumulation ever this year, and we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

I’m posting these images super large this time so you can check out the details. (I’ll add GPS info as soon as I get a chance.)

The images in the panoramas were shot hand held using a Nikon D3 and the cheapest Nikkor lens – less than 100 bucks when I bought it. Stitching with the amazing AutoPano Pro.

The New Largest Outdoor Photograph

thedude — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:47:59 +0000

These records are falling fast. Would you believe 111 gigapixels?

Hat tip to thedude.com fan Barry Johnson.

And Now, the World’s Largest Outdoor Photo

thedude — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 04:02:06 +0000

Who’d a thunk? Budapest.