Michael Kleinwolterink's Photography

Trusted Hunting Equipment underneath the Sb-700

2012-01-26T20:27:00.000-05:00

After having some success with the Nikon Speedlight SB-700shooting Absolut vodka bottles in the dark, I figured I might as well get outsome hunting equipment and do the same. I gathered up the product brands that Iuse every day while out in the marsh: Beretta, , Winchester, Drake, Kent, Greenhead Gear andLynch Mob along with a collection of goose bands.

Once again I placed the D90 on the Slik 500DX tripod andused the Nikon 18-105mm and Sigma 50-150mm lense. I used the 36mm Zeikoextension tube on the Sigma lense which allowed me to get within inches of the goose bands to really get upclose to them. Manual focus was used along with VR being turned off on bothlenses. Settings on the camera were RAW, aperture priority mode and ISO ofeither 200 or 400. A wide aperture of f2.8 to f6.3 were used on the goose bandclose ups while the other images were at f16.

The SB-700 lit up the products and bands in manual mode offcamera by allowing me to adjust the power output of the flash. A range of 1/1to 1/128 allowed to me to dial in the lighting that I needed. To change the“warmth” of the flashes light discharge, the incandescent filter was attachedto the flash.

I transferred the files into ViewNX to process the images bychanging the picture controls. Landscape-Nature, Mono Snow Goose andMonChr_G+con picture controls were used to give the images the look that Iwanted. The shadow adjustment slider was used a bit to lighten up thebackground on some of these images.

I used PSE8 to put the final touches on the images by usingthe cloning brush tool and cropping tool to remove minor scratches from the equipment.The Virtual Studio plug-in for PS was used too with the WWII black/white filterto give another look to a few key images.

Using the flash I was able to highlight the products that Itrust while hunting and look forward to the springtime to use the flash duringsnow goose season.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

#22.

#23.

#24.

#25.

#26.

#27.

#28.

#29.

#30.

#31.

#32.

#33.

2012 Waterfowl Hunting Calendar

2012-01-24T19:58:00.000-05:00

If you have ever been in a marsh or laying out in acornfield, duck and goose hunters get to experience sights that are unreal andoften have you saying “did that just happen.” Lucky for you, I have capturedthis experience as my camera is always with me while out hunting. From having aCanada goose almost land on top of my layout blind to having thousands of snowgeese above the decoys, this “Waterfowl Hunting - A Way of Life” 2012 calendarshowcases these amazing sights.

Below are the images used on this Waterfowl HuntingCalendar. National holidays and other holidays are also printed on thecalendar.

This center fold 11” x 8.5” calendar is professionallyprinted and will make a great gift for any hunter that enjoys the sights of thegreat outdoors.

Please go under Contact Me to send me an email to place anorder.

More information about my calendar's underneath the calendar products page as well.

Front Cover

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Absolut Speedlight

2012-01-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

It didn’t take me long to start practicing with the NikonSpeedlight SB-700 that I got after the New Year and after shooting some images,I should of purchased one much sooner! With cold weather outside, the basementturned into a “product” studio for Absolut vodka using bar stools and coffeetables.

I used a wide range of equipment to get these close upimages of the bottles and it all started with the D90 on the Slik 500DK tripodin RAW mode and using f6.3 to f16 in aperture priority mode. ISO was either setat 200 or 400 to keep noise low. The lenses used were Nikon 18-105mm, Nikon70-300mm and the Sigma 50-150mm. I used the Zeikos extension tubes on theselenses to fill the frame with the bottle or Absolut logo itself. All autofocus systems were turned off alongwith VR on the lenses.

The excitement of this “product” shoot on Absolut bottleswas these were taken with no lights on in the basement. The Nikon SB-700 lit upthe bottles by using it as a remote flash unit. This allowed me to manuallyadjust the flash output from 1/1 all the way down to 1/128 if desired alongwith changing the position of the flash to light up the bottles. To change the “warmth” of the flashes lightdischarge, the incandescent and diffusion filters were used. Food coloring inthe bottles filled with water helped create different colored bottles and a veryneat illusion.

ViewNX was used to process the RAW files by changing thepicture control to the custom curves of Landscape-Nature and Mono Snow Goosethat I created a while back and use often. Since the flash did a great job oflighting up the subject, exposure compensation and shadow/highlight sliderswere seldom used.

A little work was done in PSE8 by straighten the images andcropping them after I finalized them in ViewNX. A few scratches and other lineson the Absolut bottles were cloned out using the cloning brush tool.

After taking these images, I can see that theSB-700 will get a workout on my camera or off the camera as I continue to learnhow and when to use it to help with lighting conditions.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

#22.

#23.

#24.

#25.

#26.

#27.

#28.

#29.

2011 Waterfowl Season Behind the Viewfinder

2012-01-13T12:44:00.000-05:00

With near record duck and goose counts in the north, the2011 waterfowl season was supposed to be a great one for hunters throughout theflyways. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t cooperate with dry conditions incentral Iowa and one of the warmest winters on record. This proved to make theseason a challenging one but by spending countless dollars on gas and using theexperience of the last 10 years, it turned out to be yet another rewardingseason.

The Nikon D90 was with me on every one of these 50+ huntsthat I experienced and was able to capture the scenes that we waterfowlers getto experience. The camera was equipped with the 18-105mm the whole season tocapture wide angles while extension tubes were used with the lense to get closeup’s of the drake mallards. With a wide range of lighting conditions, RAW wasset on the camera along with apertures ranging from f5.6 to f14. ISO was keptat the lowest setting possible while still allowing me to capture the scene andsubject.

After putting the files on the harddrive, ViewNX was used tochange the white balance to either direct sunlight, shade or cloudy based onthe particular image. On the picture control side of things, I either used thelandscape-nature or monchr_g+con controls that I have made to enhance myimages. If needed exposure, contrast, highlight and shadow sliders were used inViewNX to finish off the images. The RAW files were then exported to PSE8 in theway of Tiff’s.

Some of the images had a large dynamic range so in ViewNX, Icreated copies of the original image and duplicated them by changing theexposure compensation. I then imported these files into EasyHDR. HDR softwareis able to take multiple images and combine them together to create a singlehigh dynamic range image.

When opened in PSE8, I used the cloning and healing brush toremove items that I didn’t want in the image. The dodge and burn brushes wereused to lighten or darken areas of the image if needed. The last step that Idid in post was the use of adjustment layers and masks to create the color andblack/white images. By creating new layers and using masks, I was able to brushout the color or black/white in certain parts of the image. This is one of myfavorite techniques to use.

The D90 was able to survive another waterfowl season and Ilook forward to the spring to have it with me in the blind when I’m chasingsnow geese. For the spring, I will haveanother new piece of equipment to use, the Nikon SB-700 Speedlight. With the flash having remote capability alongwith many other features, I’m sure to enjoy learning how to use it.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

#22.

#23.

#24.

#25.

#26.

#27.

#28.

#29.

#30.

#31.

#32.

#33.

#34.

#35.

#36.

#37.

#38.

#39.

National Wreaths Across America Day - Van Meter, Iowa

2011-12-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

On December 10, 2011, I attended the National Wreaths Across AmericaDay at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter, Iowa. On a crisp cold windymorning, families, friends and the great men and women that serve our country,layed wreaths next to the loved ones that have been lost.

With a dusting of snow on the ground back dropping the tombstones andbright colored wreaths, it was truly a special site to be seen. I can onlyimagine what Arlington National Cemetery would look like on the same day.

In 1992, a man named MorillWorchester found himself with a surplus of Christmas wreaths and drew on achildhood memory of a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. He wanted to honorthose that call Arlington National Cemetery their final resting place so hesend the surplus of wreaths to Arlington to be layed on the graves. He did thisquietly until 2005, when a photo of Arlington was circulated on the internet.The emotion that this photo brought to others, the Worchester family, veteransand other groups soon formed Wreaths Across America. Now Wreaths Across Americalays over 220,000 wreaths across the entire United States.

The images below were taking at Iowa Veterans Cemetery with the D90 and18-105mm. I shot in RAW along with aperture priority mode to allow control overfinal post processing and depth of field. Once on the computer in ViewNX, Ichanged the white balance to daylight and the picture control to the customlandscape-nature control. The shadowadjustment slider was used if necessary. In PSE8, I used layer masks andVirtualPhotographer plug-in to create the special black and white treatment onsome these images.

For more information about Wreaths Across America, please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org

Thank You to the veterans and their families that have served thisgreat nation to preserve our freedom in the United States of America.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

Ducks Unlimited Waterfowl 360 Photo Contest Finalist

2011-12-19T11:21:00.000-05:00

Please take time to follow the link below to vote for my photograph that was selected one of the top 5 finalist for this contest.

I snapped this photograph with the D90 and 18-105mm lense in late November while out in a field underneath hundreds and hundreds of ducks tornadoing into our decoys. It was a sight to not only see but to hear their whistling wings.

Thanks to everyone who entered the Waterfowl 360 Photo Contest! Voting will close at 11:59 PM Central on December 23. The winner will be announced in the January DU newsletter.

Click HERE to go to DU's webpage to vote.

F5 Tornado:

2012 Lake Panorama National Golf Course Calender

2011-12-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Michael Kleinwolterink’s Photography has created a calendar thatis sure to be a favorite for golfers of Lake Panorama National. Over the years,I’ve been able to capture the breathtaking beauty of the golf course and wouldlike to share these images in a calendar.

Below are the images that will be used on the LPN Calendar.To make this calendar even more geared towards golfers of LPN, importanttournament dates for Lake Panorama members along with the Masters, US Open,British Open and PGA Championship dates are printed on the calendar.

This center fold 11” x 8.5” calendar is professional printedand will make a great Christmas gift for any golfer. The calendar will salefor $25.

Please go under ContactMe to send me an email to place an order.

Front Cover

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

2012 Iowa's Countryside Calender

2011-12-03T21:38:00.001-05:00

With my enjoyment of the outdoors no matter what type ofactivity I’m doing, I’ve been able to capture beautiful images of Iowa’scountryside and have put them together in a 2012 calendar. From cold winterdays shooting alongside Lake Panorama to spring flowers to chilly autumnsunsets with harvest in full swing, the calendar is sure to capture what Iowahas to offer.

Below are the images used on this Iowa’s CountrysideCalendar. National holidays and other holidays are also printed on the calendar.

This center fold 11” x 8.5” calendar is professional printedand will make a great Christmas gift for any person that enjoys the outdoors. Thecalendar will sale for $25.

Please go under ContactMe to send me an email to place an order.

Front Cover

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Autumn at Lake Panorama National GC

2011-11-10T21:48:00.001-04:00

With chilly north winds blowing over Lake Panorama NationalGolf Course, fall approached this golfing season changing the golf course fromgreen hues to rich autumn hues. These images were taken at two different shootsand unfortunately, with the strong winds this fall, the leaves did not stickaround like I had hoped.

I drove around the course with the D90 in hand equipped withthe 18-105mm or 12-24mm lense. Surprisingly, this was the first time I had the12-24mm on the golf course and it offered a new wide angle perspective on someof the beautiful holes. The camera was set to RAW to capture the golf holes infull color. The aperture of f9 to f14 was used along with the auto bracketingfeature on the D90. This allowed me to get different exposed images at rapidpace. With plenty of light, the ISO was kept at 200.

Once on the computer, ViewNX was used to change the RAWfiles by adjusting the white balance to direct sunlight and the picture controlto landscape-nature. The highlight and shadow protection sliders were used at aminimum on these images. The final step was changing the RAW files to Tiff’s toexport into PSE8.

In PSE8, I used the cloning tool to clone out hazard stakesand other items that I didn’t want in the images. Adjustment layers and maskswere used in combination with hue/saturation, brightness/contrast and smartpaint brush to further enhance the images. The ability to stack layers andmasks on top of each other is one of the biggest processing powers of Photoshop.

The golf course will soon be covered in snow but the beauty ofLake Panorama National GC will be back in the spring to greet golfers onceagain.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

Harvesting Golden Moments

2011-10-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

These past few weeks is the favorite time of year for me asthe weather starts to turn, the harvest is in full swing and hunting seasonbegins. With all this going on, having the Nikon with me at all times is amust. While riding the gravel roads and helping the family on the farm, I hadthe opportunity to capture the moments that matter most.

For these images, I used the D90 that was fitted with eitherthe 18-105mm or 12-24mm lense since I was capturing landscape scenes. Thecamera was set to RAW to allow post processing of the files on the computer. Iranged the aperture from f9 to f11 and the ISO from 200 all the way up to 3200. ISO 3200 was needed to capture the shots inthe dark but next time I need to remember to change a few settings in camera tohelp with noise reduction. To capture the bright colors of the sunset, I usedeither exposure compensation or bracketing to help darken the sky. Since I wasshooting on the go, my tripods were not used at any time.

Using ViewNX, I changed the white balance to either cloudyor shade to get the right colors I wanted for these fall scenes along with apicture control of landscape-nature that I use so often. The highlight andshadow protection sliders were also used if needed to get the right balancebetween the sky and farm equipment.

After the files were changed to tiff’s, I opened them up inPSE8 to do the final adjustments. A little cloning was done to get rid ofunwanted objects. To improve the sky even more, I used a levels adjustmentalong with a layer mask to finalize the beauty that fall sunsets offer.

My favorite image of the batch is with the combine unloadingcorn into the grain cart blowing corn dust towards me with the sun settingbehind the combine. This image was taken standing on top of the tractor tirewhile it was parked and is #19.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

Guthrie County Arts Show - A Great Success

2011-10-23T15:12:00.000-04:00

Thank you to everyone that stopped by my display last nightat the Guthrie County Arts Council Show.

I had a great timeshowing off my work and talking with everyone. It was a great turnout with alot of great artists displaying their work. The music that was provided added anice background to the event along with the wine, cheese and crackers.

Thank you to those that purchased or ordered prints. Be sureto take a look around my website and see more of my work that can be purchasedin different size prints. I look forward to being out in the outdoors thesenext few months as the seasons change capturing more great images.

Lake Panorama National - Summer 11

2011-09-01T19:31:00.000-04:00

Over the summer, Lake Panorama National Golf Course has been a beautiful place to play golf which also meant a great place to photograph. During the day or when leaving at night, I tried to get a few images when the lighting was just right.

Since most of these images were taking in quick circumstances, I did not use my tripod but did my best to rest the camera against my body or something else to help keep the camera still. The D90 was fitted with the 18-105mm for all of these shots. Aperture values ranged from just f8 to f13 since the sweet spot of the lense is right around those values. Because I shot from bright sunlight to sunset conditions, I ranged the ISO from 200 to 800 depending on how much light I needed to hit the sensor. If needed, exposure compensation was used to darken the sky.

Needing to change the white balance and picture control values, ViewNX was used to adjust these two adjustments. I was able to change the picture control to the custom Landscape-nature picture control because I was shooting in RAW. This control helps get the golf course colors to be contrasty but yet bright.

Not much was done in PSE8 other then cloning out hazard stakes and divots to improve the look of the holes. I did use a little blue filter to enhance the color of the ponds to get that Augusta look.

With fall approaching, I want to get out a few more times and capture the autumn leafs on the golf course before the golfing season is over.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

Coneflowers & Asters underneath the D90

2011-08-29T20:32:00.000-04:00

Still waiting for the fall to arrive, I’ve been taking pictures of flowers when I get a chance and was able to get these beautiful flowers one night after work. I targeted the purple coneflower and aster with the camera on this particular shoot.

I set up the D90 for close up photography with extension tubes and used the 18-105mm or 70-300mm lense on the Slik tripod. Shooting in AV mode, I used a range of apertures from f8 up to f18 to vary what I wanted in focus. While using a low ISO of 200 or 400, the shutter speeds were on the low end so I’m glad I had a good tripod. The D90 was set to RAW to allow me more flexibility in post process.

Nikon’s ViewNX was used to make changes to the white balance, picture control, exposure and shadow/highlight protection. Without using RAW, I wouldn’t be able to make these important adjustments when the image is not quite to my liking. The custom landscape-nature picture control was used for all of these.

The final step was done in PSE8 were I used the cloning and healing brush tool to get rid of imperfections and spider webs that were in between some of the pedals. Clipping masks and fliters/plug-in’s were then used to give the coneflower and aster a special look. From PSE8, I used poster edges and craquelure filters and used a WWII black and white filter from VirtualPhotographer to give them that extra special look. With a lot of edges on these flowers, I zoomed in between 200-300% in order to erase the clipping mask with the brush.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

Summer Time Tiger Lilies

2011-07-25T14:06:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago the tiger lilies were in full bloom next to the house and with the right lighting conditions, I had to get out the camera on a couple of different nights. Luckily for me, the sun was setting which gave a nice soft glow of light to the lilies.

The majority of these images were taking with extension tubes so I used the Slik tripod to help make sure the camera stayed nice and steady. The D90 was used with either the 18-105mm or the 70-300mm lense. To vary the depth of field, I used AV mode and used a range of apertures from f5.6 all the way up to 18. As I always do, RAW was used and the lowest ISO was used depending on the lighting conditions. Extension tubes are a powerful tool to have in your camera bag in order to get really close to your subject and they work well with both of these lenses.

The images were processed for white balance, shadow/highlight protection and picture controls in ViewNX 2.0. The custom landscape-nature picture control was used for almost all of them but I did use the custom sunrise control a few times on the orange lilies. If needed, cropping was done in ViewNX along with minor adjustments to exposure.

The post processing fun started in PSE8 were I used the cloning tool to clean up some imperfections in the lilies and other areas of the image. Some images required small adjustments to levels and hue/saturation but overall I was happy with the color of the lilies straight out of ViewNX. Since I enjoy giving flower images some extra processing, clipping masks and filters/plug-ins were used. I used the poster edges and lighting filters to give the flowers a unique look. The VirtualPhotographer plug-in was also used with my favorite black and white filter to make the backgrounds into b/w. Different brush sizes on the clipping mask was used to erase the b/w treatment to allow the lily color to come though.

Another trick that I used to get water droplets on the flowers without having to wait for rain was using a small water sprayer and lightly hitting the lily pedals with the mist. It proved to add another dimension to the tiger lilies.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

Yale fireworks on the 4th of July

2011-07-11T15:29:00.001-04:00

To finish off the 4^th of July weekend, Yale had its fireworks on Monday night. After getting off work, I decided to take some more firework images. I decided to set up in the bed of my truck with the camera to be able to get a view over the corn field and get Yale’s FC coop in the image as well.

With the Slikpro 500DX tripod, the Nikon D90 and the 18-105mm lense zoomed in to capture what I wanted; I started shooting as the fireworks exploded in the sky. Since my camera was on a tripod, VR was shut off along with using manual focus since it was dark and I didn’t want the autofocus hunting. Fireworks are bright subjects so the ISO was set at 200 and I used Manual mode. Manual mode allowed me to set the shutter speed to “bulb” and hold the shutter open as long as I wanted to. The sky was darker then it was on Saturday night at Lake Panorama so I held the shutter a little bit longer.

The images were processed as RAW files in ViewNX 2.0 with adjustments to the white balance, picture control, color booster and D-lighting HS. The white balance was set to either cloudy, direct sunlight or left alone to make the sky different shades of color while the picture control was mostly set at Nature-Landscape. The color booster and D-lighting HS sliders were also used on the low side to increase contrast and lighten up the image. Unlike the Lake Panorama firework images with the lighthouse, when processing the images, I decided the coop could remain mostly black.

I finalized the images in PSE8 with the crop and cloning tool to remove unwanted lights and other items in the image that occur when shooting longer exposures.

On a side note, I discovered the on/off button on my camera no longer works which will require a three or four week turnaround to get it fixed. The camera stays on and functions regardless of it being turned off. What a bummer! I will have to decide the correct time frame to be without my camera.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

4th of July Fireworks at Lake Panorama

2011-07-05T20:52:00.001-04:00

The 4^th of July, the United States of America’s Independence Day is celebrated every year with grand firework displays all over this great nation. Last Saturday night, I was lucky enough to have great weather and a great opportunity to capture the fireworks on beautiful Lake Panorama.

I positioned myself where I could capture the Lake Panorama’s lighthouse along the fireworks shooting off in the distance. This position turned out to be perfect except without bug spray, the mosquitoes sure liked me as I stood alongside the water.

The images were processed in ViewNX 2.0 with adjustments to the white balance, picture control and D-lighting HS. The white balance was either left alone to what the D90 had picked for the shot or changed to cloudy. The picture control was adjusted to the custom Nature-Landscape control I created to help make the colors of the fireworks “pop” more. The adjustment that proved to be the best was the use of the D-lighting HS which allowed me to lighten the image without blowing out the fireworks. I wanted to faintly have the lighthouse visible in the image and the D-lighting HS allowed me to do that.

To finalize the images, I used the cloning tool in PSE8 to clone out unwanted lights and the boat docks along the jetty. The burn tool was also used to darken the lights from the houses off in the distance.

This was the first time the D90 was used on fireworks and I’m very happy with the results. A few years ago with my old Pentax dslr, I had to wait an extended amount of time between each shot while the camera processed the image. With the D90, there was no wait.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

Daisies over Memorial Day

2011-06-13T22:42:00.000-04:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, I took a trip out to Springbrook Park to do some family photographs and on the way back through the park, noticed a batch of daisy’s in full bloom. With the new Zeiko’s extension tubes in my camera bag, it was a great opportunity to try them out.

With the Nikon D90 in hand and on my Slik tripod, I used the 18-105mm lense to take these images. The camera was set to AV mode and RAW along with a base ISO of 200 to get the best quality of image. I changed the aperture from low to high to vary the depth of field on what daisies were in focus. I ended up using the 12mm and 20mm extension tubes on this lense as well. Being the first time I used extension tubes, I was amazed at how close I could get to the daisy and still be in focus. Of course, with extension tubes, your depth of field is very limited so one must pay special attention to focus.

The images were processed in ViewNX with very minor adjustments to exposure and shadow/highlight protection. The white balance was changed to direct sunlight and the picture control to my custom landscape-nature settings

Once in PSE8, I then used the cloning tool to clean up some imperfections to the daisy pedals and other areas. Since I enjoy using clipping masks, I processed some of the images into black and white using the VirtualPhotographer plug-in. Clipping masks allowed me to keep the daisy in color while the background was turned to black and white. I also used Jerry Jones textures on just one image this time since my backgrounds were much better then with the alstromeria images.

After taking these daisy images with the extension tubes, I really look forward to more macro work with them!

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#11.

#12.

#13.

New Tools of the Trade

2011-06-02T11:21:00.001-04:00

With my interest of taking images of flowers, I decided to order up some new equipment that should be able to help me capture flowers up close and personal. I ordered a set of Zeikos macro extension tubes in three different lengths. The set includes a 12mm, 20mm and 36mm tube that can be used individually or in combination. Extension tubes enable your lens to focus closer than its normal minimum focusing distance which allows you to get much closer to your subject. I look forward to using these on my lenses to see what kind of shots I can get!

I've received the extension tubes and have used them once on some images that have not been posted yet. After having some trouble knowing how close I can focus to my subject, I did some testing inside with a ruler and business card. This allowed me to try different lenses and extension tubes and measure the distance between the lense and the business card. With the Sigma 50-150mm lense and a 36mm extension tube I was focusing at 22" at 150mm while the Nikon 18-105mm and a 36mm extension tube was focusing at 5" at 105mm! This close focus distance allowed me to have just a quarter of the business card filling the viewfinder. This will be fun using the extension tubes on flowers!

Alstromeria and Calla Lily Spring Blossom

2011-06-02T11:10:00.000-04:00

With a large wedding reception and brunch being hosted at the Conference Center in mid May, I was able to take home some left over flowers. The beautiful calla lily and the alstromeria were my subjects for these images.

The equipment used was the Nikon D90 and again I used all three Nikon lenses I have after learning that I was able to capture some unique perspectives of flowers on my last shoot. The 70-300mm was used the most followed by the 12-24 mm and 18-105mm. The camera was set to AV mode and RAW along with ISO ranging from 200 to 500. The Gorilla and Slik Pro tripods were used to keep the camera steady. Experimenting with shooting inside on some of these images, I just used a pair of desk lights that I could point at my subject.

This was the first time I made a little “studio” in the basement so the desk lights and a cardboard background was the only thing available. The hardest camera setting to get was the white balance so I shot in RAW so I could adjust it later but the majority of time, left it with what the camera came up with. The nicest thing about shooting inside was no wind which made focusing much easier.

The images were processed in ViewNX with adjustments to the exposure, white balance, picture control and highlight/shadows if needed. My custom landscape-nature picture control was used along with a Top Gear picture control that has been downloaded. Cropping was also done during this step.

Using PSE8, I then used the cloning tool and other techniques to finalize the calla lily and alstromeria images. Because of the cardboard background in my “studio” I used textures for the first time. Textures are a unique way to add a different look to your images. By using them, I believe I improved the look of the images since I was dealing with a boring background. I used the textures from Jerry Jones at http://shadowhousecreations.blogspot.com/. Textures were also used on the images taken outside and I found the pollution texture to be to my liking. The opacity of the texture layers were also adjusted to fine tune the post processing.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

Tulips in the Spring

2011-05-15T09:53:00.003-04:00

In my mind, there isn’t a better flower then a tulip (alittle bias because I’m dutch but they are still the best :) and this spring on a nice May morning, I went into town to find a few flower beds. I found the tulips in a nice full bloom with even a few daffodils planted with them as well. I turned the hat around and started shooting.

With the trusty D90, I used the arsenal of Nikkor lenses I had in my bag: 12-24mm, 18-105mm and the 70-300mm. By using the wide zoom range of these lenses, I was able to capture many different angles of the tulips which was even a bit of a surprise to me. The camera was set to AV mode and RAW along with a base ISO of 200. To control the depth of field and lighting, I did adjust the aperture and exposure composition if needed. The ‘crazy’ legged Gorilla tripod was used since I wanted to get different perspectives of the tulips which sometimes caused me to get completely flat on the ground so I was looking up with the camera.

I processed all of these images in ViewNX by changing the white balance, picture control and exposure if needed. The custom landscape-nature picture control curve I’ve created was used most and I even used the custom sunrise one I used last year for golf course images. I adjusted the sharpness from 1 to 3 on the slider since out of the camera, RAW doesn’t have any camera sharpening.

Putting the final touches on them was done in PSE8. With tulips cut off or unwanted objects in the background, the cloning and healing brush tool was used to fix these situations. To enhance some of the images, layer masks, guassian blur, smart brush tool and levels were used in some sort or fashion. As I have come to like, the Virtual Studio plug-in was used for black and white treatment. With the different layers and affects in these images, opacity was used to lower the percentage of these post processing techniques. EasyHDR was also used on the church image to try to capture the whole dynamic range of the scene.

Next year hopefully I will be rewarded with a trip to Orange City or Pella for their tulip festivals; I would need to bring extra batteries and memory cards!

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

#22.

#23.

#24.

#25.

#26.

#27.

#28.

#29.

Spring Time Daffoldils

2011-04-21T16:24:00.001-04:00

With alittle bit of sunshine and warm temperatures, the daffodils are in full bloom this spring. Knowing where there are some flower beds in the area, when the wind was right, I took the opportunity to take some images. With any wind at all, it was tough to keep the daffodils in focus which had me shooting early in the morning or at dusk.

I was able to try out the new lense that I purchased over the winter, the Nikon 12-24 f4 on the D90 along with the 18-105mm. The 12-24 is a wide angled lense and will be a joy to use. I used the Gorilla tripod to be able to get sharp images and the ability for it to get low to the ground and at different angles with its ‘crazy’ legs. With different lighting conditions, I had the camera in AV mode and RAW along with adjusting the aperture and ISO if needed. For the images taken after dusk, I even used the flashlight app off my Droid smart phone to help with lighting.

I processed these in ViewNX and CameraRAW by changing the white balance and picture control. This was done to get the colors to my liking to make the images standout. The sharpening and contrast sliders were also adjusted. Once the images were finalized in ViewNX and CameraRAW, they were sent into PSE8 after being cropped. In PSE8, cloning was done if needed to get rid of unwanted branches and the like. To create special effects on the images, layer masks and guassian blur tools were used in different ways. Finally, the Virtual Studio plug-in was used for a black and white treatment for the background on a select few images to help the daffodils come off the paper.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

#22.

#23.

#24.

Super Moon

2011-04-05T22:22:00.004-04:00

During the third week of March, the moon was going to orbit closer to Earth then it had for 20 years. This was deemed to be a Super Moon and I was hoping to capture images of the moon since I hadn’t done any moon shots yet. On the Saturday night that the moon was supposed to be the brightest, cloud cover kept me from getting any shots at all. Luckily, on that Monday when going to the snow goose spread, the sky was clear and I had 10 minutes to get the images I wanted.

The 70-300mm was quickly put on the Nikon D90 and I zoomed out to 300mm. I used my Jeep or the Ranger to steady my camera to help with getting a sharp image. Having only 300mm, I had to crop these images in ViewNX but after processing them, I am quite pleased with the results.

#1.

#2.

#3.

Chasing Whitey

2011-04-05T22:08:00.006-04:00

During the month of March, with the snow goose conversation season going on, I was out in the corn fields of central Iowa hoping to see some white. As anyone that knows, snow goose hunting can be either very exciting or very maddening depending on what the birds do above your spread. Luckily for me, I experienced both the good and the bad and had the camera along for the ride.

I used either the Nikon 18-105mm or 70-300mm lense on the Nikon D90 to capture these images. To have the ability to control the depth of field and for better post processing capabilities I shot in AV mode and RAW. Depending on the light, I adjusted ISO to hopefully get enough shutter speed to freeze the birds. At times, with poor light, I didn’t crank up the ISO high enough. I also tried for the first time setting my camera on a Joby Gorillapod flexible mini tripod next to my blind and triggering it using the Hahnel remote control. Unfortunately, with poor lighting and missed manual focus, the images didn’t come out tack sharp.

I processed the RAW files in ViewNX and finished post processing them in PSE8. Most of the adjustments were done in ViewNX by correcting the white balance, sharpness, contrast and picture controls. With ViewNX 2.0, I was also able to crop and rotate the images if needed. In PSE8, small adjustments were made to hue/saturation and action curves.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#11.
#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

The images below were created by changing the picture control curve underneath the Picture Control Utility. I basically adjusted the curve just above the images histogram to really change the appearance of the image. These images are almost infrared like in character and I thought were neat to see on the computer screen.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

Honkers Guided by Light

2011-01-22T12:37:00.005-05:00

In early January on a cold and windy day before I hit the gravel roads to scout for geese, I stopped to check out their roost on the Lake. To my surprise, some of the birds were coming back to get a drink of water and with the strong wind, were dropping right in around the lighthouse. I figured this would be a good photo opportunity so I got the camera out of the back of the truck.

The Nikon D90 was fitted with the Nikon 70-300mm lense and I checked to see that I was in AV mode, RAW and that the ISO was as low as possible. It is always a great idea to check your camera settings before shooting on each outing because the mode dial can get changed along with the fact that a photographer is consistently changing settings. With the 70-300mm, I was able to zoom in on the lighthouse but yet timed my images to get the geese flying through the frame. I shot from two different locations at the marina that allowed me to get images with and without the US Flag.

On the computer, I processed the RAW files in ViewNX and Adobe Camera RAW adjusting the white balance, sharpness, highlights and shadows along with the custom picture controls. Having learned from my previous posting, I kept the picture controls alittle less dramatic but yet adjusted other settings in PSE8.

Cropping of the images was done in PSE8 along with adjusting Hue/Saturation which is very helpful in adjusting the whites and reds in these images to make certain parts pop. To set different moods of the images, I used the VirtualStudio plug in to create different black and white images but yet kept the United States flag alone to make it stand out in the images.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

Waterfowl Season Memories

2011-01-21T12:40:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe another duck and goose season is over with but the season ended on January 12 which was as usually, seemed all too soon. The season started off alittle slower than normal but the good months of the season resulted in mallards and geese right in the decoys. When the conditions were right, I was putting down the shotgun and picking up the camera.

This season, I used the Nikon D90 and had either the Nikon 18-105mm or Sigma 50-150 lense fitted on it. For the majority of the images, I had the camera set to RAW but when needing a faster fps, I would switch to jpeg on those big flocks of birds. The camera was left on AV mode ranging from an f-stop from f5.6 to f10 to control the depth of field. I tried to keep the ISO as low as possible while still getting the shutter speed I needed to produce sharp images of incoming birds.

The images below were processed in ViewNX, Adobe Camera RAW and PSE8. Each program allowed me to process the images in different ways whether changing the exposure compensation, white balance, crop factor, curves, etc. Some of them turned out so well out of the camera, the adjustments were very minor and those are the most rewarding knowing that you nailed the settings out in the field.

I’m already looking forward to the spring snow goose season and hope to have the camera mounted on a tripod more firing it remotely behind the blinds.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

#21.

#22.

#23.

#24.

#25.

#26.

#27.

#28.

#29.

#30

#31.

#32.

#33.

#34.

#35.

#36.

#37.

#38.

#39.

#40.

#41.

#42

#43.

#44.

#45.

#46.

#47.

#48.

#49.

#50.

#51.

#52.

#53

#54.

Winter Frost

2011-01-04T13:51:00.004-05:00

In the month of December with snow already on the ground, one morning I woke up to trees covered in frost, the perfect time to take photographs of the winter landscape. Luckily the goose hunt I was on got done early and the wind was still calm which kept the frost on the trees so out came the camera.

I ended up taking photographs of Lake Panorama, the Brethren Church cemetery and the old barn farm yard that I had photographed before. Using the trusty D90, I used the 18-105mm or 70-300mm lense on the images of the lighthouse and then switched over to just the 18-105mm for the other images. As I find myself using more more, I had the camera set to RAW and used AV mode to control the depth of field.

I processed the RAW files in ViewNX adjusting the white balance, sharpness, contrast and some exposure compensation if needed. With the contrast between the snow and the objects I was getting in the image, I choice to use a custom picture control called Top Gear. This is a “crazy” curve that I downloaded off the web that in the right situations, can product outstanding images.

I then cropped the images in PSE8 along with alittle cloning out of objects that I did not want in the final image. Hopefully there will be many more mornings like this during the winter to get more beautiful images like these.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

After getting some advice from the refuge forum photography members on how to post process snow by adjusting saturation and other items, I've came up with this image below.

A favorite time of year - Harvest

2010-10-20T17:00:00.007-04:00

Harvest is starting to get finished up here in central Iowa but it was in full swing a few weeks ago when I was out helping my Dad in the field. When I could, I carried my camera to capture some of the great images from the harvest that fill the land during the fall.

I captured these images with the Nikon D90 and 18-105mm lense on a couple different days. Like I often do when shooting something that is landscape oriented, I put the camera in AV mode and used the RAW format to allow white balance correction if needed.

With the beautiful clouds and sunset during the time I was taking these photographs, I choice not to do too much work in ViewNX and PSE8. Basically the only adjustments that were made was changing the Picture Control in ViewNX to a custom Landscape curve I’ve created and putting the white balance to cloudy. These two adjustments made the colors richer and more realistic. Two of the images are a black and white conversion using the Virtual Studio plug in PSE8. For those two images, I used the World War II b/w filter and underexposed the filter a wee bit.

If this weather ever starts to change, hopefully I will be able to get some waterfowl hunting scenes. I’m looking forward to clicking away on incoming ducks and geese. I’ve also added a remote shutter release controller to allow me to set up my camera away from my blind and take pictures. It will be a fun fall and winter learning to use that.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

Sunflower Countryside

2010-09-23T22:07:00.007-04:00

Driving by the local marsh that I duck hunt on, I discovered sunflower plants alongside the road. With the sun shining on them as it was going down at night, I stopped a couple of different times to use my camera.

Since some of the sunflowers were down in the ditch by the water, I used either my Slik tripod or Manfrotto monopod to steady the camera. To control the depth of field and what was in focus, I put the Nikon D90 in AV mode and adjusted the aperture from f5.6 to f13 on different shots. As usually, I shot in RAW to allow me to adjust white balance and other important settings on the computer. I also used the bracketing feature on the D90 which made me want to shut off the autofocus and VR on the lenses that I used. I switched between the Nikon 18-105mm and the Sigma 50-150 mm lense to get these images.

The images were processed in ViewNX or Adobe RAW (PSE8) by adjusting the white balance, picture control and sharpness if needed. This was the first time I processed RAW images in Adobe Camera RAW which allowed me to get a different looking image then ViewNX. The feature I like about Adobe Camera RAW was the fill light adjustment which helped me lighten up some dark spots in the image without affecting other areas too much.
Final post processing was done in PSE8 and EasyHDR. I created a few HDR images by combining different exposed shots in EasyHDR and adjusting the saturation and tone curve settings. Using PSE8 and the plug in VirtualPhotographer, I processed some of the sunflower images into b/w backgrounds, poster edges, nightscope b/w, etc. to create different looking images. In order to use those, I had to use layer masks and the paint brush to delete the parts of the image that I wanted to be left alone.

Finally, the finished image was copied into the gallery frame that I created in PSE8 to show off the photograph in a more professional manner. This gallery frame will be used for my photography from now on this website and in other areas where I post such as facebook and hunting forums.

#1. b/w background

#2. HDR processed

#3.

#4.

#5. HDR processed on a b/w background

#6. HDR processed.

#7 HDR processed

#7.

#8.

#9. Nightscope b/w background from VirtualPhotographer

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17. Poster Edge filter in PSE8

#18.

#19.

Old Countryside Barn

2010-09-23T21:58:00.002-04:00

During the last week, I have been doing some scouting for the upcoming duck and goose season which allowed me to see the sunset at different locations. Driving by the below homestead with the barn and hay bales along with the cattails I knew I had a great image if I could capture the sunset in it.
Wanting to use the bracketing feature on the Nikon D90 and having different exposed images, I used the Slik tripod to get a solid base. Like most of my landscape photography, I put the camera to AV mode and shot in RAW. Needing a wide angle, I used the Nikon 18-105mm lense and because I was on a tripod and using the bracketing feature, I turned off the autofocus and VR. Turning off both of these in this situation helped to create a sharper image. I also used the self timer to get my hands off the camera and allowed the camera to fire off the bracketed images.

I processed these as RAW files in ViewNX and changed the white balance to direct sunlight. Needing to combine the multiply images into one, I used EasyHDR to create the below images. EasyHDR allowed me to combine the five different exposed images into one. To finalize the image, I adjusted the saturation level and also the tone curve to get the look I wanted to get.

The first two images were from one night of capturing the scene and then after reviewing them, I realized I needed to get the barn and hay bales more into the image so I went back for another chance.

#1.

#2.

#3.

Crop Dusting Chopper

2010-09-04T08:08:00.006-04:00

Late in July, crop dusting planes and choppers were flying the corn fields spraying for bugs and I was lucky to catch this chopper close to home. Last year I photographed a plane so I was excited to have something new to snap some images on. I didn't realize that the choppers tanker was just up the road from the house either so that offered some good images too.

Needing to zoom in on the chopper, I used my 70-300mm lense on the Nikon D90 and most of the time for these images had it above 200mm. To get sharp images, I used AV Mode and quick ISO adjustments to keep the shutter speed high to freeze the movement of the chopper. I also used selected focus point because sometimes I had the chopper in the left or right side of the image so I wanted to control were the camera was focusing in on. I do wish the sky and sun would of been more favorable but a photographer cannot control that.

These images are actually jpeg's out of the camera instead of my usual RAW files so I had less amount of post processing involved. I did adjust them in ViewNX and added some sharpness and contrast too them. I then opened up the jpeg's in PSE8 and used Action Curves with Layer Marks, Levels and a few other adjustments to adjust the final color to my liking. I also cropped the images if needed to get rid of unwanted things in the image.

Hopefully for my next update I will be starting to have images from hunting, harvest, antumn and the golf course as we are entering the favorite time of the year for me, Fall. Recently I went over 10,000 clicks on my Nikon D90 so I hope to continue to improve and capture what I get to see in the great outdoors.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

#17.

#18.

#19.

#20.

Tropical Hibiscus flowers

2010-08-19T17:21:00.003-04:00

During July on Hole #3 of Lake Panorama National Golf Course, there was a wheel-barrel sitting alongside the tee box that had Tropical Hibiscus flowers planted it in. One evening while golfing, the setting sun was shining perfectly on the flowers. Knowing this would produce some great images; I got my Nikon D90, 18-105mm lense and Silk tripod and stopped golfing to take some photographs.

Wanting to try and get tack sharp images, I put the camera on my tripod and used LiveView on the D90. The nice thing about the LiveView on the D90 is you can zoom in a lot to find a certain part of the image that you want to focus in on. This was the first time I used LiveView so I was hoping for good results.

The images were processed in ViewNX as RAW files by adjusting the Picture Controls, White Balance, and a few other small items that RAW files allow you to change. Some of these images are duplicates of each other. One image is the RAW file that was processed into a TIFF. The other images were a TIFF file that was processed in PSE8. Using a number of copied layers of the same image, I adjusted the background image by using a plugin called virtualPhotographer. I then used the brush tool to allow some parts of these layers to show through while others didn’t. In the end, I have an image that combined a couple different images into one creating a very neat post processing effect. I then saved them as jpegs to upload them to this site.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

Summer Tiger Lilies

2010-07-23T10:12:00.007-04:00

A little while ago the tiger lilies that were planted around the house and at the golf course where I work were in full bloom. In full bloom, these flowers were beautiful so I tried to capture the beauty with my camera on a couple of different nights. I took the pictures in the afternoon with the setting sun shined on them to really make them glow.

Using the Nikon D90 and 18-105mm lense, I used my Slik mono-pod to help sturdy the camera to get the images sharper since I couldn’t use my tripod at these angles. I was mainly concerned with the depth of field on these images so I used aperture priority mode with the aperture ranging from f5.6 to f11. I tried to focus on the center of the flower and sometimes didn’t get the tack sharp focus I wanted since I wasn’t on a tripod.

The images were processed in ViewNX as RAW files by adjusting the Picture Controls, White Balance, Exposure Levels and a few other small items that RAW files allow you to change. Most of these images are duplicates of each other. The top image is the RAW file that was processed into a TIFF. The bottom image was a TIFF file that was processed in PSE8. Using a number of copied layers of the same image, I adjusted the color type and opacity of the different layers to get different looking lilies. I then used the brush tool to allow some parts of these layers to show through while others didn’t. In the end, I have an image that combined 3 or 4 layers into one creating a very neat post processing effect. I then saved them as jpegs to upload them to this site.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

Dawn Patrol at Lake Panorama National GC

2010-05-15T13:28:00.010-04:00

During the month of April on a couple different mornings, I arrived at the golf course when the sun was starting to rise to take some shots of the golf course in the early morning hours. Not having done this before, I didn't know what to expect but I was hoping to capture some dew on the grass along with the warm yellow glow of the sun hitting the grass.

Using the Nikon D90 and 18-105mm lense I mounted it on my Slik tripod to allow me to use the bracketing feature on the camera to help with HDR work and also to be able to use a 3 second time delay on the shutter. This allowed me to keep my hands off the camera while the shutter was being released. However, when reviewing the shots, I learned that the wind caused the trees to move enough were I couldn't use different photographs for HDR work. Instead I just had to use one single photograph and adjust the exposure compensation in ViewNX.

The first series of photographs were processed in ViewNX as RAW files and then straight into EasyHDR were they were tone mapped to create the HDR photograph. EasyHDR also has the ability to change the tone curve on the image so I tweaked that as well to get the look I was wanting too. I saved them as TIFF's and then finished processing them in PSE8 which involved alittle sharpening and cloning of objects I didn't want in the image such as birds and cart signs.

The second series of photographs were processed in ViewNX has RAW files and I adjusted the white balance and used a custom Picture Control that I created for these sunrise images. The images were saved as TIFF's and then finished them out in PSE8 with sharpening, cloning and alittle adjustment on Action Curves and Channel Mixer.

After finishing all of these up, I was happy with my work and will be going out at dawn and also at dusk to capture the beauty of the golf course during these times.

#1 .

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

#14.

#15.

#16.

The second series from the morning outings that are not HDR.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.

#12.

#13.

FC Coop Sunset

2010-05-15T13:16:00.003-04:00

At the end of April there was a major thunderstorm rolling into central Iowa and I was outside to witness the clouds coming into Yale with the sunset in the background. Seeing the potential for beautiful colors in the sky and with the FC coop's grain elevators in the background, I quickly got my camera and started taking photographs.

Using the Nikon D90 and 18-105mm I tried to pay attention to the Rule of Thirds when trying to get the grain elevators and certain clouds in the photograph. From past experience, shooting RAW allows much more tweaking of the scene so I used that format when taking these. Since I was concerned about depth of field, the Av mode was used as well. I also took different exposure levels by using the bracketing feature on the D90 which allows me to take 3 different shots (either -2.0, 0, +2.0 or -1.0, 0, +1.0). I was hoping to use EasyHDR to create a very unique photograph but I've yet to learn how to get sunsets processed correctly in the program. Instead I just processed the RAW files in ViewNX and then finished them up in PSE8.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

Spring Tulip Time

2010-05-01T16:58:00.004-04:00

With the sun shining this spring, the tulips right by my garage were in full bloom. One particular morning, I set up the tripod with the camera and a couple different lenses and took some photographs of the tulips. Because these tulips are right by the garage, the angle to take them is limited but I tried my best to keep nothing but the blue sky behind them.

After taking some shots with the tripod with the Sigma 50-150mm on the D90, I switched that lense out for the 18-105mm. This lense got me off the tripod and right on top of the ground looking up at the tulips. This was alittle harder as I couldn't see through the viewfinder when I was adjusting the settings.

I changed the exposure level on these photographs ranging them from -2.0 to +2.0 and then processed them in ViewNX since they were Raw files. I finished them out in PSE8 with alittle tweaking of colors and other techniques I'm learning.

#1.

#2. Using PSE8, I put a b/w background behind the tulips in this photograph.

#3. Alittle surreal image here, using PSE8 I used a Neon Glow filter and then using a clipping mask layer and brush tool, brushed out the filter from the tulips themselves. This really sticks out on a black background in my mind.

#4.

#5.

#6. Tweaked the background to alittle brighter and bluer in this photograph.

#7.

#8.

#9. Using PSE8, I put a b/w background behind the tulips in this image.

Discover Guthrie County Photo Contest Winner

2010-04-26T17:15:00.004-04:00

Over the winter, the Guthrie County Tourism organization had a photo contest for their upcoming "Discover Guthrie County" booklet that showcases the many attractions and sites that can be seen in Guthrie County. The contest allowed up to five images to be submitted so I went to my photographs and selected a few favorites that I've taken since I purchased the Nikon D90.

After all the entries were reviewed, I was lucky enough to win the contest with "A Golden Moment" which captured a Yale farmer combining his field in a late October sunset.

Other photographs that I entered into the contest. "Championship Form" was also printed in the magazine underneath things to do for golf.

High Dynamic Range photography

2010-04-26T16:48:00.005-04:00

Recently I was able to pick up some HDR (High Dynamic Range) software that is allowing me to create HDR images out of my photographs. HDR is known for the ability to allow a photographer to create an image that has a wider dynamic range of colors by representing a wider range of intensity levels found in real scenes. Today's DSLR's are only able to capture a certain amount of colors in a image at once, however, by capturing multiply images at different exposure levels, a photographer can combine these images into one by using HDR software.

Not all images can be used to create a great looking HDR image and as I go forth, I'll learn what exposure values in an image create the best looking HDR. So far, I've did a few photographs of the golf course and sunsets. These combined nine different exposed photographs ranging from -2.0 to +2.0. By using the software I acquired, these images offer a wider range of color and depth that I couldn't get with just processing one image.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

Chasing the White

2010-04-03T17:03:00.008-04:00

The spring snow goose season can be alot of hard work but also very rewarding when a hunt comes together. This spring was no different then years past, lots of mudd in the fields and very little success on decoying the snow geese. That didn't stop me and a few of my friends from chasing them. All of the hard work paid off on the last hunt of the year when we had small bunches of snows come right into the decoys.

The photographs below are from a few of the hunts and after putting out the decoys. We switched locations of the spread one particular day and then I took sometime to take photographs of the decoys. On the D90 this spring was the 70-300mm lense and I did most of these shots in RAW and aperture priority to control the depth of field that I wanted to get on the particular shot.

#1. Getting some Zzzz's in the Ground Force.

#2. Afternoon sunset over the decoys.

#3.

#4. During the off season, I added TnT shells to the sillosocks and it really created a nice spread of decoys.

#5. Black & white

#6.

#7. Close up of the TnT's.

#8. Black & white with alittle infrared mixed in PSE8.

#9. This young man got to experience the last day and shot the first single snow that came in.

#10. We had to deal with foggy conditions throughout the spring.

#11. Getting some practice in before the snows come in.

#12. Experienced another great sunrise this morning.

#12. A flock of Canadas going north to their breeding grounds.

#13. Beautiful oranges and reds filled the sky on this morning.

#14. A young hunter looking to the west for approaching snow geese.