October 11, 2019 — Seat 14 F, Somewhere Over Texas Rules exist for a reason. Rules are normally based on how things work, perhaps with a measure of caution dialed on for safety’s sake. It’s good to know the rules. It’s better still to know how things work. Following the rules without exception can lead to creative imprisonment. Knowing how and when to bend, break, or utterly ignore them altogether because you understand the underlying […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. f/16, 4 seconds, ISO 64. Pan to the left. After a brief hiatus, one more. This is not too different from what originally emerged from the camera — but a bit reduced in vibrancy as a salute to Jerry and Robert who were somewhat minimalist themselves at times. Coming up on a year in the blogosphere. Thinking of a suitable celebration. Stay tuned… (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. f/16, 4 seconds, ISO 64. Pan to the left. This is the longest uninterrupted series I’ve done so far on this blog. Your comments have been interesting, informative, and gratifying. A number of people have asked in comments, email, and in person, to see a “before” image. I don’t usually like to discuss technique because I think it’s potentially limiting: I don’t want it to come off as “do […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Earlier in the evening. f/16, 3 seconds, ISO 64. Pan to the left. In the past few days, many words on the subject of going in the nonobvious direction have passed through my eyes. Aside from being interesting advice for life, photographically this applies to both the initial creation of the image — click — and to the post-processing of the image. A recurring theme for me has been […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Getting even later. Getting even darker. Still at f/10. Now 15 seconds at ISO 64. Pan to the left and back to the right with a twist. Luke’s mentor advised him to use the Force. My mentors have advised me to embrace and use the conditions before me. There were lights before me. (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Getting later. Getting darker. I opened up to f/10 to let in a little more light, and let it go for 10 seconds at ISO 64. Click. Slow pan to the left and back to the right. Clack. In dealing with abstracts, all of the hard-and-fast “rules” go out the window. The only consideration left in post-processing is “what do I want to show?” Something in the image suggests […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Second evening. Five second exposure, f/16, ISO 64. Yesterday’s post was almost exactly what came out of the camera. A bit of color optimization, removing a tiny bit of extraneous light on the left, and a 16×9 crop. That was it. Today’s image, on the other hand, received extensive tweaking, first in DxO PhotoLab and then in Photoshop. Most of the work went into bringing out the subtle color […]
September 6, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. The sun was down and the conditions were perfect for some ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) work looking across and around the lake. As the evening progressed, the shutter speeds declined. This one was made towards the end of the first night of spin: f/16 @ 8 seconds, ISO 64. This series is a test of my ruthlessness as an editor/curator. More to come. (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di […]
May 8, 2015. Devil’s Slide, near Pacifica, California. For Chewy’s Birthday walk, we settled on two places: Land’s End in San Francisco and Devil’s slide. Chewy always loved the sea breeze. Highway 1 had years prior been routed through a tunnel at Devil’s Slide (that portion having lived up to its name far too often), leaving the old Highway 1 free to be used as a park with long stretches for Chewy to run and […]
August 25, 2019; Cuckmere Haven, The Seven Sisters, East Sussex. This is a follow-on to yesterday’s post. The day was such that we came to be standing quite happily knee-deep in the English Channel doing ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) shots of the water (yesterday) and the cliff named Haven Brow, which you see a vestige of above. Both shots are processed to a fare-thee-well — and done so with wild abandon equal to the shot […]
August 25, 2019; Cuckmere Haven, The Seven Sisters, East Sussex. (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) For more abstracts, go to www.amagaphoto.com.
February 17, 2018; Big Sur Coast, California. What do you do when Mother Nature serves you a blah sky? Not a cloud. No fog to speak of. Just boring blue sky. You improvise in post-processing, that’s what you do. This is one of two treatments of this frame. Many pixels’ lives were forever changed. (Nikon D750, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR zoom. RAW processing in DxO Pro, Editing in Adobe Photoshop. More fine-art photography at […]
May 31, 2016; Big Sur Coast, California. After having a really bad day, we drove down to the Big Sur coast — one of the most spiritual places in the world — for much needed soul cleansing. Long hikes, good food, and photography provided the thorough rinse-off we needed. This is one of five treatments of this one frame. Many pixels’ lives were forever changed. As were ours. (Nikon D750, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR […]
…on the same day, a different model. This one had an endearing tendency to blush. The challenge is maintaining a balance between nuance and nothing. (Nikon D850, AF-S Micro NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
…different take on the same original image. Some images lend themselves to many interpretations. I’m sure the rose herself had no idea she was so adaptable. (Nikon D850, AF-S Micro NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
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