Life Imitates Art… and this website.

Tags

art, life, photography

This website has been up and running for a few months now. I have been trying to figure out what this site is going to be about and have tried a few different formats, but none of them seemed to stick. It isn’t that I can’t follow through – one of the few things I know about myself is that I am faithful, and long term commitment isn’t something I balk at. Rather, this blog is a lot like my own life right now, just trying to figure out what it is. I won’t be posting every day anymore, I just don’t like doing that, but when I have something to say or show I’ll post it here. You can follow me on twitter, or subscribe to the blog by hitting the button in the left sidebar to get updates whenever I post anything new. Thanks for stopping by and I hope I see you around.

Go Here to Become a Better Photographer

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photography

500px.com

You need to study good photographs in order to become a better photographer. I have always had a hard time finding a website filled with great photos. Until now. I just spent the last hour pouring over the “popular section” of the site. You just need to try it out to see what I am talking about. Have fun!

Just Missing the Light July 14 edition

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photography

ISO 100, 50mm, f/18, 4seconds

I went out tonight to take a photo of our town, but it ended up that way too many people were out and I didn’t want a whole lot of people walking around in my shot. So instead I drove around looking for some interesting subject matter against the intense sunset that was going down. I was running out of time for something doable, and this building was in the closest vicinity at the time. I got my tripod all set up just as the last of the great light was hitting the cirrus clouds high above the building. So this was the best I could do today.

My First Attempt (and failure) at Star Trails

Tags

photography

ISO 100, 50mm, f/3.2, 30sec

I went out tonight to try to shoot some star trails. I was all primed with my camera set on the tripod, set to bulb mode and was just ready to hit the shutter release, head inside, and eat some ice cream. Well it is a good thing I decided to try this at home before taking it on the road. Little did I know that you need a shutter release cable in order for this trick to work. in Bulb mode your camera will open it’s shutter for as long as you have your finger on the button (in case you don’t have a shutter release cable), and I was not about to have my finger on the button for 30 minutes trying to keep my hand steady for the whole time. So instead of trying to make a star trail since I have no shutter release cable I decided to take a 30 second exposure (the longest my camera will allow) of something moving in the sky. I am not sure if this was a plane or a satellite or a UFO, but it was moving pretty quick. If you didn’t notice, you can see the beginning of movement in the stars even in a 30 second exposure, which makes me wonder what a 30 minute expose will look like. I hope someday to run across a cheap cable release so I can try out star trails for real.

Another Shot in the Dark

Tags

photography

ISO 400, 50mm, f/3.2, 6sec

I’ve had kind of an itch to take some night photos recently. It has been so dang hot out recently though that I have no ambition to go out and find an interesting subject. Ten feet or so is about all I can muster in my traveling endeavors. I have never really taken any photos at night before, but so far I have found the technique to be pretty much the same as during the day, just longer shutter speeds. I hope tomorrow night is clear so I can try to take a photo of a star trail.

got any night shooting tips to share? I could use some

A Frame A Day – At Last, A Passenger.

Tags

photography

ISO 400, 50mm, f/3.2, 3.2sec

I usually don’t get the chance to be a passenger in a moving car, especially at night, so when an opportunity presented itself I grabbed my camera to try a classic long exposure of taillights, traffic, etc. You see the frame I got up there. It’s nothing great, but it was at least a fun experiment in long exposure.

Breaking the Rules – A New Header Image

I passed out last night at 8:00. I woke up this morning at 8:00. I guess I was a wee exhausted. I had every intent to make a photograph last night, but it just didn’t happen.

So I broke the rules in that way, and then again today I broke the rules. My rule breakage today at least had a good reason. I was trying to make this image you see above to use as a header image for this website. I figured it was time I renovate the website and make it a little more user friendly and “prettier”. I was having a doosey of a time making this photo happen. I had my camera on a fully extended tripod set with a two second delayed shutter release which I had to press, get in this position on the ground, and settle into place in under two seconds. It took about 7 or 8 tries to nail it just because it was physically challenging to pull it off. I don’t think you can blame me for that.

I plan on getting back on track with the frame a day idea on Monday. Hope to see you then!

The Random Photo Adventure – Just do it!

Tags

photography

ISO 400, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/1250sec

My wife and I had to take a break from the doldrums of life. We were both feeling rather oppressed today, and we just needed to get out and take a break. We hopped in the car with no clear direction in mind, and just went. I made some directions that looked something like this. Turn right, go straight for 4 roads, turn left, go straight 3 roads, etc.
We passed by a lot of interesting things that I never knew existed in the area. An old airfield with old airplanes, a covered bridge, plenty of beautiful forests, and an old town that held a restaurant, a post office, and a carry-out. It was a fantastic trip, much needed to break up the recent monotony. It was a great way to get out and explore the countryside around where we live.
So here’s the tip, go out, get lost, and bring your camera along.

A Frame A Day: July 6 2011 – Light and Shadow

ISO 800, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50sec

A Quick Tip

Unless you have an amazing technique of holding your camera, you should use a shutter speed that is at least the same as the focal length of your lens. My lens is a 50mm prime lens, and so you will see that I never use a shutter speed under 1/50sec. Using this shutter speed or faster gives you less of a chance of seeing any movement from your camera in your shot.

A New Approach to Photography (pt II)

Tags

art, christianity, photography

ISO 400, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50sec

Yesterday I talked about shooting what I love. It was a great thing to ruminate on and thinking about this helps to keep me focused on why I chose to take up photography in the first place.

So I have this lens firmly set in place through which I will see all of my photography through. I will not release the shutter unless I am aimed at something that I love, something that excites me, something that fills me with joy or amazement, something that helps portray my life in a frame.

Here you may be thinking, “duh Mike, why would you ever want to photograph anything but this kind of thing?” Well it’s not that easy for me. I have spent a lot of time working on photographs that have no meaning for me because I think maybe you will like them.

My Second Lens

If my first lens is only shooting what I love, then the second lens is this.

I was reading a book on Van Gogh and Gauguin and a quote by Van Gogh struck me. He said something to the effect of every scene that I paint should hold something of that quality which was portrayed in the past in the halos above the heads of saints. Meaning that, no matter what the situation, no matter the scene being portrayed, there is a certain divinity that is infused into every single thing in the universe. As an artist it is my desire to include that divinity into my photographs, and to do it in such a way that it is the central theme, a kind of divine glue that holds it all together, of all of my photographs. I have known that I have felt this way about my goal of photography, but never until I read this quote by Van Gogh did I have words to explain it at all.
See you all tomorrow.