After copying the image to my computer, I added a couple of filters from NIK Color Efex Pro 4, then made just a few more adjustments in Adobe Lightroom 3.

Last summer while attending Skip’s Summer School, I ventured out onto the strip to get some photos of the lights of Las Vegas.  I was having fun with my zoom lens on my camera.

My choice of exposure was such that I had 1 second to move the zoom from one end of its range to the other. If you look closely, you can tell that it only took a portion of that time to rack the zoom, as some of the buildings are very much in focus and still.

Next time you are out, try some not so normal techniques and see what you get.

Here is my favorite shot of the day, converted to B&W using NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 software.

Place cards set up for the reception.

The rings posed in a gorgeous bouquet.

Julia, putting on the finishing touches for her husband to be.

Mark, you have a beautiful bride.

Red, black and silver were the colors.  Nice choice, Julia!  Mark, you’re looking pretty sharp too.

Unity sand is a great keepsake and a beautiful part of the ceremony.

A little post wedding celebration time by Julia and her attendants.

What a handsome couple these two make.

Pictures are over and time to share a meal with all those attending the wedding.

Thank you Mark and Julia for the opportunity of being your photographer for the day. It was a real blessing to be a part of such a blessed day.

I used just 2 lights for the setup, intending use use a second hair light, but some technical issues kept me from doing so.  I positioned the subjects about 10 feet in front of a lit Christmas tree, then shot with an aperture of f2.8 to cause the lights on the tree to grow in apparent size by what is referred to as bokeh.

The following image was one of my favorites of the night.  I love her eyes which are very captivating in my opinion.

The lighting was very simple in this setup.  I used a single AlienBees B800 strobe in a 3×4 foot Photoflex Softbox.  Since it was daytime with light shining through the curtains in our living room, I set the camera to a low ISO (100), causing it to need more light for the exposure, plus I stopped down the lens to an aperture of f16.  This caused whatever ambient light in the room to disappear with the only visible light to the camera being created in the softbox.

I positioned Kel to get the light just right on her face, then had her freeze that position. I set up the camera to capture an image every 7 seconds, then I jumped into the photo, trying to match the orientation of my face to hers so that the shadows would fall similarly on both our faces.  The camera captured about a dozen images, as I slowly moved my head position, hoping that at least one of them would be what I was looking for.

Here is my result.  Not an exact match, but pretty close.

Do you like dramatic lighting like this for portraits, or do you prefer a more evenly lit scene?

Today I had a great time shooting portraits of this lovely family.  I’ve been capturing images of them for years, and it has been fun watching the kids grow.  It was a bit cool out today, but everyone was willing to shed the coats over and over again for new poses.  This was one of my favorites.

I had a fun time this evening at a nearby community named Hidden Springs which is about 5 miles north of Boise in the foothills. It was twilight and getting darker by the minute.

This tree has been a focus of mine for quite some time and I envisioned a photo with stars in the sky and the lights of the community shining from its windows. That wasn’t to be on this particular evening.  The sky was somewhat cloudy, so no stars. Fulfilling my photographic vision will have to be a project for another day.

I did take about a dozen shots, ranging anywhere from 4 seconds to 30 seconds in duration. This particular one was 4 seconds in length. This is nothing like it looked to my eye in the field, as it was very dark, but the more I played with it on the computer the more it became a daytime scene.

My wife never likes it when I go black and white on a subject. She says that it sucks the life out of the image.  I just laugh and she gives me “the look.”  :-)

Here is the same image as it came out of the camera.

What do you think? Do you like the black and white, or the original color image better?

Mid last month I was photographing runners a rather large 10k and 5K race called the Barber to Boise. There were nearly 2,000 participants, so a lot of photos were taken that day. As part of the event, there was an outdoor concert going on as people ate lunch after the race. The group performing is out of England and is called Scars on 45. A major claim to fame for this group was playing the opening for the TV show Grey’s Anatomy.

Anyway, back to the photo.  I had on the 70-200mm lens, and was standing pretty close to the stage and had a great angle for a profile of their singer, Aimee Driver. I wanted to have her lips close to the microphone, but not touching it. I patiently waited for just the right moment and CLICK.  Got it!

I opened the image with Photoshop and increased the contrast just a bit, then lightened the whites and darkened the blacks. Finally, I adjusted what Photoshop calls “threshold” to take away all the mid-tones. This was just what I was looking for. It is kind of different from my normal images, but it was fun seeing something in my head while I was shooting with the full intent of having it turn out the way it did.

Experiment with your images and have fun!