Cory Brodzinski Photography

A Suggestion

2010-11-15T09:33:00.003-05:00

Real quick folks, check out my friend Rob's blog today. These two shots show how incredibly simple getting amazing landscape shots can be... if you're in the right place at the right time and have the right conditions... not so simple. Rob's got a great eye and continues to amaze me every time he posts something new. Scroll down a few and see that lightning shot. Wow. Well done, sir.

Have I Waited long Enough?

2010-08-30T09:36:00.008-04:00

Well, as always, it's been a few months so I figured I should post some more. Hey, at least I'm consistent if nothing else, right??

OK, so earlier this summer I shot a few simple portraits of this great couple, Alex and Christine. They were so much fun! Happy, energetic, stylish, they made it easy to make them look their best! Only downside was the heat and humidity, but hey, it's Maryland in the summer, can't get around it, right? We shot one evening at Glenview Mansion, always a favorite place for portraits. It's simple, elegant and offers a variety of places to shoot.

Enjoy, and be sure to check out the new updated www.corybphoto.com, big changes! And as always, contact me for more info or to schedule your shoot today.

What the heck is an ephemeris??

2010-05-10T08:43:00.008-04:00

According to Wikipedia: "An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides; from the Greek word ἐφήμερος ephemeros "daily") is a table of values that gives the positions of astronomical objects in the sky at a given time or times..."

Well, Stephen Trainor has created The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE), a desktop or iPhone application that let's you see the azimuth of both sun and moon rise and set, any day of year, anywhere in the world, overlaid on a Google map of your location. Or any location you choose. No more guess work when scouting a location on where the sun will rise. No wondering when the sun will come from behind a hill as it rises or sets, no wondering the moon phase when you're planning a night time star trails shoot. And it gets better, the iPhone application doesn't require a network connection to give basic data such as rise/set times and azimuth (the map overlay does require a network connection).

So how would you fit this in to your workflow? Well, say you're planning a photo trip to a relatively far away location, one you cant just drive to anytime you like. Undoubtedly, before you go you'll search flickr and other resources to see what other people have shot and get an idea for what the place looks like. You'll start to develop ideas where a good sunrise/sunset shoot may be. Simply search that location in the FREE desktop version of TPE and find out if the sun will rise right over that peak like you'd like it to, or if it will set at the open end of the valley. No more getting half way across the country and being disappointed, wishing you'd come later in the year (always a good excuse for another trip though!). When you get there and are out on foot scouting, simply use the iPhone app to re-confirm azimuths and times, check to see exactly where they fall on your view of the horizon using the iPhone's built on compass and you're done, location scouted. No stumbling in the dark and constantly re-positioning to get just the right spot, you figured it out the night before.

My only gripe with it is the desktop version, the map is too small. The data charts on the right are great, but I'd like to see a larger section of map at one time. The iPhone app isn't cheap, $8.99, high dollar in the world of iPhone apps. But I was more than willing to pay for it, as the desktop program is free and it's worth more to me than the $9 it costs (don't let that get our or they'll jack up the price!).

While the benefits to landscape photographers are plainly obvious, this could be well suited for scouting architecture and portrait shoots as well. And its just fun to play with f you're a geek like me.

Blog images are a screen grab of the desktop version and iPhone app isand are Copyright to it's creator.

Rain Delay

2010-04-28T09:42:00.004-04:00

Oh look, it's been 3 months again. I'm done apologizing for never updating this thing, just accept that I'm not good at that, ok? So I went to Ricketts Glen State Park in PA the other day, should've stayed over night, but it was just raining too hard the whole time. I managed to make a few frames between waves of the downpour, but when I saw water dripping out of my camera, I knew it was time to cut my losses and come back another day. Another day soon, hopefully. This place is a waterfall photographers dream, dozens of falls and cascades in two canyons that join together at the bottom, not to mention all the forest scenic's that are possible. Definitely worth the trip, just go when it's not raining quite as hard and stay a day or three.

Youghiogheny on Ice!

2010-01-22T11:23:00.003-05:00

Swallow Falls State Park never disappoints, even when its 45 degrees and ice melting everywhere. I made it out there last weekend, good thing, since this weekend seems even warmer! At least I got to put the new snowshoes to use. I was in an abstract sort of mood and shot these images of ice on the rocks. The park defintiely deserves more than a few hours on a Saturday afternoon; hopefully we'll get another good and cold weekend to head back out there for a day, there's more I want to shoot.

2009-12-20T23:35:00.002-05:00

Look at that DC, it snowed and we all survived. Amazing. Can we please not panic at the forecast of snow from now on please? Thanks. I shot these at Black Hill Regional Park in upper Montgomery County. Didn't hike too far, snow was over my knees in most places, even deeper in some. Yeah, I know snow is white, not blue. But this snow did have a blue hue to it from the clear blue sky we had to day. For the B/w shot, I first made the HDR, then converted to black and white using SilverEfx PRo. And remember to look for us on Twitter @corybphoto. Enjoy the free day off tomorrow.

A little birdie told me

2009-12-13T16:12:00.002-05:00

I heard Twitter is good, guess I'm a few years behind. Follow along @corybphoto

Known But to God

2009-12-05T20:30:00.004-05:00

I had to take advantage of today's late-fall snow storm. We had much more snow at home in Montgomery County than just a few miles away in Arlington, surprisingly. At the Tomb of the Unknowns, the changing of the guard ceremony is impressive and inspiring in any weather. Add the cold, wind, and snow, and it quite frankly makes me proud these men do this. I know I couldn't have done it (little short for a Tomb Guard, aren't you? as Princess Leia would've asked) even if I had been in the Army. The snow wreaked havoc on me, and may have put my beloved 5d Mk II out of service, got to wait and see on that. But every hour on the hour, this ceremony occurs, rain or shone, night or day, visitors or dead of night. Join the Cory Brodzinski Photography group on Facebook to see more from this series.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion

2009-11-17T16:08:00.002-05:00

Went shooting again this past Sunday, the warm streak has been just too good to pass up (hooray global warming!). My good frined Vlatka was yet again gracious enough to be my model for the day. First a nice green dress to pretend it was springtime and not all most Thanksgiving, then tried a few athletic shots, just playing with some lighting and ideas I've had. No wardrobe malfunctions, but there was an equipment malfunction. The good people at RadioPoppers are sending me a new transmitter this week, free of charge. We worked around the problem and managed to keep shooting, even though my brain wanted to shut down because of it. Hopefully doing another shoot at Glenview Mansion this weekend, if all works out.

So You Think You Can Dance?

2009-11-07T21:48:00.003-05:00

Went to B'more this afternoon to Federal Hill Park to shoot the talented Robin Miller. Robin is a 23 year experienced dancer and aerialist. Back in Baltimore after years spent in Vegas and touring the world, she was an absolute delight to work with. And she suffers for her art... 55 degrees and windy, that concrete she was on in bare feet had to be miserably cold, but she was a trooper and stuck with it. I used only OneLight for this shoot, a 28" softbox on a stand, with Canon 580ex and 430ex speedlights inside, gelled probably a bit too warm for my liking. Used two lights to cut down on flash recycle time, hoping to get two shots per movement. Didn't work out, but oh well, was worth the try. I had an extra pair of hands with me today, too, in the form of my lovely assistant Jennifer. She's an outstanding photographer and if she could just get over not wanting to deal with the technical nonsense, she'd be shooting circles around all of us... Her stuff on flickr is here. Thanks for visiting.

Two-fer

2009-11-01T22:40:00.002-05:00

Posted this on Facebook the other day, but tweaked it a bit and posting it here for the benefit of those not on Facebook.

Busy, Busy

2009-11-01T19:37:00.002-05:00

Once again, it's been a long time since posting here. October was a ridiculously busy month for me, numerous photo shoots and trips to Ohio and New York/New Jersey. I attended the OneLight workshop by Zack Arias and learned more than you could imagine in a vey long 14 hour day. It was cold and raining, but we made it work for us. The images here are form that workshop.

Space for Rent

2009-09-14T13:12:00.002-04:00

Standby to standby, the NEW corybphoto.com is coming soon! Hopefully by the end of this week. In the meantime, enjoy some shots of the lovely Elle I took recently. These were shot an an abandoned manufacturing facility in Silver Spring, MD, don't ask how we got in. More of Elle's work can be found on Model Mayhem under Elle Rae.

I Am Strobist, Hear My Flash Whine

2009-08-10T16:25:00.004-04:00

Been getting my Strobist on lately. And it's been going pretty good. Did a shoot in downtown Silver Spring one Saturday evening with a friend who I am eternally grateful to for being such a good sport. Then got over to Henryton again. But instead of HDR'ing it like it was my job, Jeff and I dragged a bunch of lights and stands and such up there. I believe "heat stroke" was the word of the day... It went well, got some really good shots I'm quite happy with. Got up on the roof for sunset and didn't get eaten by any zombies. I have a few more shoots planned over the next few weeks, so (hopefully) there'll be more good stuff coming.

Mainley Maine

2009-07-18T19:35:00.004-04:00

Went to Maine. Again. It rained. A lot. Such is life, good for photography, I suppose, but I got tired of it after a few days. The week found me along the cost from Kittery to Machias and back. I shot Portland Head Light, which has easily become my favorite lighthouse. I spent time in Acadia National Park, of course, but enjoyed the Schoodic Peninsula more than the main area of the park. Far less crowded and, I think, more scenic. But if one wants to be there for a sunrise 4:54AM sunrise, one must get up early.... 3:15AM was the norm. Enjoy!

In the place just right...

2009-05-04T17:35:00.007-04:00

Got out to Shenandoah this weekend, finally. Clearly, Spring is well underway, the streams are full and the leaves are green. Here's a few from the Cedar Run area, Big Meadows, and overlook along Skyline drive. The clouds were low and the fog was excellent. It was a great day to be there. The more I shoot there, the less I like my real job...

The blog title? Think about it long enough, you may get it. It's pretty simple.

I ain't afraid of no ghost

2009-03-22T12:01:00.005-04:00

So I went back to Henryton Saturday. I took Tony Sweet's advice and went light this time, expeditionary as Jeff says, bringing only the 5DmkII, and a couple lenses, carried in an LL Bean lumbar pack (nice name for fanny pack...). It was way better than bringing my bag like I did the first day, lighter, easier to move, and didn't need to put anything on the ground. There were more people there on Saturday, no other photographers, just people there to see the sights... and do whatever it is high school kids do in such places. I was a little less creeped out this time time around, explored the buildings a little further, found some more interesting sights. Still more to be done, though.

HDR is the obvious choice here, but there's good work to be done in black and white (Yay Silver Efex Pro!) and even, fisheye-HDR'd-then black and white conversions, like the last shot here. I was a little afraid to go into the room, I was certain there was something moving in there.

Stay frosty.
-C

IF I were a serial killer...

2009-03-21T01:32:00.003-04:00

... this is where I'd dump the bodies. The Henryton Center is an abandoned and run down MD state hospital for mental health. it's been closed since 1995. It's kind of creepy there, even in broad daylight. The buildings are sufficiently decrepit that the risk of floors collapsing is probably significant, there is no electricity, so It's dark throughout. A good place to go with a group, not alone as I did, and will continue, to do. Why? Cause it's a great place to do urban decay and HDR photography, thats why. Knee pads, dust mask, a cell phone, and a Glock .40 all good to bring with you. More to come, both from there and my trip to Africa.

Gettin' Some Religion

2009-02-16T17:54:00.006-05:00

The National Cathedral in northwest DC is easily one of the best places to shoot in town. They're totally photographer-friendly tripods, flashes, and all, and the light coming in the stained glass windows in the afternoon is spectacular on a bad day, indescribable on a good day. I went and did some HDR'ing there today, results shown here. I'm mostly happy with them, anything I'm not satisfied with was due to how I processed them, but that can be changed easily enough. How do you know when to go, so that the light will be from the correct angle? Use FocalWare on your iPhone, duh.

Thanks, Moose

2009-02-09T10:28:00.005-05:00

Moose Peterson had the shortcut method of doing this on his blog today, so I thought I'd give it a try. Just a nice little frame around images to post to your blog or wherever. This was shot in 2007 at Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

And Now for Something Completely Different

2009-02-04T17:43:00.004-05:00

I went to my friend's wedding on Saturday and it was great. The service was beautiful, and the reception was simple and elegant. And they had ribs! Who doesn't love ribs?!? I tagged along with the photographer, my friend Andy John, a little bit during the day. I picked up a few things, and credit him for the shot of the newlyweds together. I'm surely not a natural born wedding photographer but I liked it, it was a refreshing change from the usual streams and mountains. I'm going skiing this Saturday, we'll see what the G-10 can do.

HDR, Black and White, Oh My!

2009-01-31T00:22:00.004-05:00

So, continuing with the Yosemite/different post-processing theme, here we have a 4 exposure HDR. Post was done in PhotoMatix as all my HDR's are. By now, you know I like the slightly surrealistic look, just a bit past reality. After that, a little tonal contrast to make the mountains stand out (don't take them for granite..HAHAHA!!!) After that, I ran it back through SilverEfx Pro, just a little bit of dodging and burning in CS4 and we're done. This is the first time I've made an HDR then took it into SilverEfx, and I must say, I like it, definitely be more of this in the future. This was shot waist-deep int he Merced River. El Capitan is to your left and Bridal Veil Falls is just barely visible through the trees.

Silver Efex Pro is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want...

2009-01-30T10:32:00.005-05:00

Here's an image of Half Dome I made during sunset from Glacier Point (not a glacier in sight...) on the rim of Yosemite Valley in June, 2007. I want to tell you a tale of how I was alone in the wilderness and had hiked hours or even days to get to this one spot in all the world where I could bask in the beauty of Yosemite Valley at sunset and mediate on the meaning of life. But, alas, that is not true. I drove here, like the four dozen other people I was jostling for elbow room with. There's a gift shop and snack stand (ice cream!) and flush toilets and everything. But, ignore that, and it's still a beautiful sight.

Problem was, this night's sunset was boring, no clouds, nothing atmospheric to give it some color, just a slow orange fade, and thus, the top image. So, I stuck it in Silver Efex Pro and got something close to the black and white below. Add a little tonal contrast via Color Efex Pro and we get the image we have here, a classic black and white image of a classic Yosemite icon. I guess there's just something about being in Yosemite that gets one in the zone and makes you want to shoot black and white (Get it?!? The Zone?? HAHAHA!! No? Nevermind...) Thanks, Ansel.

On another note, I've stood at the top of Half Dome. There's two routes- the Royal Robbins-sleep-on-the-wall-and-poop-in-a-bag for a few days route, or the tourist, hike to the top route. The less-seen back side of Half Dome is hike-able. From the valley floor it's about 18 miles round-trip depending on your route. The last 400 or so vertical feet are vertical. There's a system of cables attached to the face that hikers steady themselves on as they ascend and descend. It's really great fun, squeezing past slow people and people going the opposite direction. It's also terribly dangerous, as it's all tired hikers, many not experienced with such feats of daring and some braver than their own good. A man fell to his death from the cables the day I got to Yosemite, because he was too cool to stay "inside" the cables.

Insert Witty Title Here

2009-01-26T10:14:00.003-05:00

I went though some shots I took back in June in Montana and Canada. For some reason, I had never processed these as HDR's, even though I shot them for that purpose. The first one is, if memory serves me, Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park. It was shot from the deck of the Many Glacier Hotel there while drinking a very tasty Fat Tire Amber Ale. Not a bad place to be to take some pictures of sunset. The second one is in Canada, Waterton National Park in Alberta. Crossing the border into Alberta from Montana was interesting. The checkpoints are maybe 100 yards apart, but the Canadian one was staffed by what appeared to be Boy Scouts, unarmed, friendly, welcoming, even offered me some mayonnaise. Coming home, the US Border Patrol was much stricter, they searched my car for imported fruits and were armed (at least one of them) with a rifle. When they let me through and said Welcome Home, it made me very proud and glad we had these men defending our borders, even if it was only the border with Canada.

Swallow Falls

2009-01-24T21:17:00.003-05:00

I "discovered" Swallow Falls today. Always heard it was nice, had to confirm it for myself. The light went from spectacular to flat overcast and back in a matter of seconds today, which made long exposures of landscapes or good shots of waterfalls quite a challenge. Add to that occasional snow flurries and snow blowing off trees, and it made for some challenging conditions. I looked down below me and saw these ice chunks slowly circling in the eddies downstream of the falls. So I grabbed the Sigh-Ray variable ND filter and set the shutter to stun. 30 seconds later, I got nice swirls going...and plenty of water spots on the lens from a burst of snow that came down... Little CS4 to get rid of those spots, some Viveza and ColorEfex Pro, and voila, the image you have here. I know, too much tonal contrast for some people, but I like it and it's mine, so deal. Cory, out.

Snow Day

2009-01-23T19:23:00.002-05:00

Came to Blackwater Falls State Park (West Virginia) for the weekend. Today was an odd mix of spring and winter, the temperatures felt like Spring, but the snow and ice says Winter. It's an odd feeling to be standing on several inches of ice on rocks, need crampons to just be able to stand, and yet only needing a light sweatshirt to be comfortable. I manged to make it to Douglas Falls, definitely needed the 4 wheel drive and the crampons, never would've made it otherwise. It was quite something! Here's a few images of the falls and stream, tonemapped in PhotoMatix Pro as always, was kind of going for a saturated look, just a notch past reality. Its the look I like.

I got a library card

2009-01-03T15:50:00.005-05:00

Did some shooting in DC this morning with Jeff. Iwo Jima Memorial for sunrise, then Arlington Cemetery, then Library of Congress, which is probably the best place to shoot interior, detail architecture I could ever imagine. It's got such intricate detail, wonderful curved archways, and amazing colors, you could spend days there. It's also got crowds, security, and rules to follow. Tripods, not allowed...UNLESS you're sneaky enough to call ahead and get a permit to use one. It was super-easy to do, everyone was friendly about it, and it made for such better shooting. All we really shot was the Great Hall, but that was enough, I'll be HDR'ing images all afternoon just from the hour or two we were there. Got a fish-eye lens? BRING IT! The curved arches and tall columns beg for the fun of distortion with a fish-eye. Wanna know how to get yourself hooked up with a permit? Just email me.

Douglas Falls

2008-12-18T11:12:00.004-05:00

Rob put his best Douglas Falls shot on here, so I'm putting mine, too. I think I posted this originally right after I shot it, but it's since been re-edited and I added a fancy frame so it's all artsy and whatnot now. And he wasn't kidding about it being tough to find. I'm heading back to the area in January and really want to see how this area looks then, just not sure how I'd get there in the snow...

Delinquent..

2008-12-12T11:47:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I know, It's been a month, so sue me, I been way busy. Quite a few things have been going on keeping me away from here. First and foremost, I currently have a show going through February 14th at the Barnes and Noble in Gaithersburg, MD. It's a collection of 5 images I made the past two years in or near Acadia National Park, Maine. I'm quite happy with how it looks. Stop by, take a look and let me know what you think. My rep from Out of the Blue has also been hard at work for me and has gotten a few of my images licensed for some commercial uses. I was published in the last issue of Blue Ridge County Magazine and have submitted more work for their March/April 2009 issue.Also, have something else coming up that I'm going to keep under my hat until it works out, but I'll keep you posted. As for travelling, I'm heading to Canaan Valley, WV in January and hoping for plenty of snow and then the Big Trip- Kenya and Tanzania in March!

Running us ragged

2008-11-11T22:10:00.004-05:00

They're not kidding when they say you'll need a vacation after a DLWS workshop. It's the end of the second full day and I'm exhausted already. One more day and we're done, all too soon. The weather's held out and we had the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen over the Bridger Mountains this morning. We've been to several places that were an HDR playground, here's a few samples of those.

Out West.... Again

2008-11-08T21:53:00.002-05:00

Made it to Montana today for the DLWS workshop. Had some time to kill this afternoon, so I went down to Yellowstone, Mammoth entrance. Yellowstone instantly became my favorite national park, hands down. I saw a whole 5 miles of roads in the park before dark, but it was amazing, nonetheless. Here are a few shots from the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces area. It's a large area of hot geothermal springs with boardwalks criss-crossing and going up and down the mountain. It was amazing in the flat overcast light I had, I can only dream what it'd be like with a nice sunrise or sunset instead. Oh, and if you're ever in Montana, the speed limits, yeah, they actually expect you to obey those, FYI....

Been Busy

2008-11-07T10:36:00.003-05:00

Sorry haven't been on here in a while, been busy working on some photos to submit to various places. Just found out today I won a 3rd place and honorable mention in the Waterton National Park Wildflower Photo Contest in Alberta, Canada. Also, a friend of mine had submitted a shot under my name that she took... SHE won first place, beginner's luck, I say. I'm off to Montana (too) early tomorrow for a workshop. Take care!

Eastern State

2008-10-26T23:57:00.002-04:00

Went to Eastern State Penitentiary today, it is an HDR heaven. All the cells are screaming out to be photographed, it's amazing. Another trip is definitely in order, hopefully on a day when it's less crowded.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

2008-10-22T22:41:00.003-04:00

Went by the old firehouse in Piscatway tonight to play around a bit. Some HDR, some flash, little of this, little of that. More tk...

Back in NJ

2008-10-21T21:15:00.003-04:00

Maine trip is over, it was great, except for being sick the last two days. Got some good shooting in, so thats all that matters, right? Next up is PDN Photo Plus Expo in NY later this week. Going to be doing some HDR work tomorrow evening (hopefully) at my old fire house in Piscataway. Fire engines are natural-born HDR subjects, IMHO.

2008-10-19T21:19:00.006-04:00

I'm very tired. And getting sick. Not the way to end a photo trip. So I'll spare the details, here's some stuff from the last two days. Enjoy.

Did you know the Atlantic Ocean is cold? I do...

2008-10-17T21:00:00.007-04:00

OK, had a little mishap this afternoon near the Seawall picnic grounds in Acadia National Park. During the middle of the day while the light was just too harsh to bother, I was scouting some possible sunrise shoots for later in the week. Well, I was hopping across rocks and slipped...splash! Right in the ocean! Only got my legs soaked and the rest of me damp, so I just hiked until I was dry. Oh well... On another note, throwing some HDR your way, had a little PhotoMatix fun this evening. I know, not everyone likes it, but I do, and this is my blog, so deal with it...

Maine in the Rain

2008-10-16T18:52:00.005-04:00

Just got to Bar Harbor, Maine late this afternoon, only had an hour or so to shoot before it got too dark. The colors here are simply amazing, there's no other way to put it. Looks like I hit peak colors and the fog and wet forest were spectacular. Stay tuned here for some of my work every evening while I'm here.

Note: Looks like I still haven't resolved the contrast/vibrance/saturation issue when I post here, don't know why, but everything gets really flat and dull when I post it.

Last Few

2008-10-13T22:10:00.008-04:00

Finished up in West Virgnia today, Douglas Falls was nice, once I found it. Here's just a few more from today. Something's up with the way these photos are uploaded or something I'm doing to them, they lose a lot of vibrance and punch when you view them on the blog. Got to work on that.

Just a Few More

2008-10-12T20:58:00.006-04:00

From this evenings sunset shoot at Lindy Point in Blackwater Falls State Park. The view necessitated jumping a 4 foot wide, 70 foot deep crevasse. Getting over was fun, getting back over in the dark, not so fun. Don't tell my mom about it, it'd make her mad.

From the Road...

2008-10-12T16:00:00.008-04:00

Out in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia for a few days. Here's a quick sample of what I've been able to come up with. The weather's been perfect... for everything but nature photography, bluebird skies and you couldn't buy a cloud if you had to... oh well, at least I'm getting tan and enjoying the nice weather. Tonight is Blackwater Falls, tomorrow probably Dolly Sods all day, then from there, who knows. Enjoy.

Yet MORE Good News!

2008-10-08T11:55:00.006-04:00

Well, the good news is sure to stop eventually, but not too soon I hope. I'll be having my first solo exhibit in the gallery in Brookside Gardens. It's going to be a show of plants/flowers near waterfalls, streams etc. Mark your calendars, because the date will be upon us before you know it... Aug, 2011! (Who knew they scheduled stuff so far in advance!) Seriously though, I am very excited and honored they chose my work, fortunately I have three years to come up with some new stuff to choose from.

PUBLISHED

2008-10-08T01:41:00.004-04:00

Great news! Just found out that Blue Ridge Country magazine will be using an image of mine in their December 2008 issue. The photo used is a black bear I encountered in Shenandoah National Park last year and will be part of an article on climate change in the Blue Ridge.

In other news, Im gearing up for almost two weeks of nothing but photography. Saying goodbye to my real job for a bit and heading out to the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia for the fall color. Then, I'll be winging my way to Acadia NP, Maine for more of the same (and, if there is a God, some lobster roll). After that, PDN Photo Expo in NYC. Hoping to follow in Tony Sweet's footsteps and try my hand at HDR at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly on the way back down from NY. After that, back to reality and fighting for truth and justice... but not for long because I'm headed out to Bozeman, Montana for Moose Peterson's Digital Landscape Workshop Series. It's going to be a great month!!

Ohhh yeah, this thing

2008-10-03T22:10:00.002-04:00

OK, yet another example of me being a bad blogger. I promise I'll do better, I swear... So whats new, you ask? Well, I had two images in the juried exhibit at the Claude Moore Photo Expo last weekend and my work was selected for a solo exhibit at Brookside Gardens in 2011 (wow they schedule far in advance!) I took the shots here today at Great Falls, first time out in a while, been doing lots of office work the last few weeks. But now that fall is here, it's time to warm the sensors and get back in the game!

Great day at Great Falls

2008-08-18T11:43:00.003-04:00

Went to Great Falls (Maryland side) yesterday with a friend to play with the new fisheye and do some HDR fun. Weather was good, did some rock scrambling down to the edge of the river, almost fell in, almost got run over by a kayaker, good times. I think this is my new favorite area at Great Falls, going to go back in a few days and see how it is at sunrise.

Good News!

2008-08-12T10:36:00.002-04:00

Been some good news around here lately. One of my tulip shots from this Spring was selected as a winner in the Brookside Gardens 40th Anniversary Photo Contest. It will appear as an inset image in their calendar, available September 1, 2008. My Sunflower HDR, seen below on this blog, was selected as a winner in the 2008 Montgomery County Fair, and received their "Chairman's Choice" Award.

Splish-Splash!

2008-08-11T16:32:00.002-04:00

Just some fun with falling fruit. Yeah, I know it's "been done," but it was a fun way to make a mess... Strawberry was done outside with full sunlight as the only lighting source and the lemon was done indoors with two strobes and umbrellas.

More PhotoMatix Fun

2008-07-30T16:06:00.005-04:00

Spent the day yesterday walking around the University of Maryland- College Park campus again. This shot of the Memorial Chapel is a 3 shot HDR, tonemapped and processed in PhotoMatix Pro, then some more tweaking in the brand spanking new Lightroom 2.0000000. The shot didn't require HDR, but I think I like the look it gives.

Gettin' My HDR On

2008-07-19T11:09:00.003-04:00

Testudo. 'Nuff said.

Flower Power

2008-07-13T20:44:00.000-04:00

Isn’t HDR neat? The sunflowers above were shot this afternoon at the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Seneca, Maryland. There’s a large field of sunflowers there that blooms beautifully every summer. This is one of only a few shots I took, as the heat and bugs were killing me, got to go back in the morning, definitely. It’s an 8 shot HDR, starting at 6 stops under-exposed to one stop over-exposed, at one stop increments. Post was done in PhotoMatix and Lightroom. It’s got the fun, cartoonish, surreal HDR look, as opposed to the more natural look I usually go for.

2008-07-06T23:53:00.000-04:00

I know, I’ve been a bad blogger, I haven't been on here in weeks...months...I know. I’ve been busy with some things in my real job and my real life and this has fallen by the wayside. I am proud to say I am back and hopefully better than ever. Check my wesbite for some of the work from my recent trip out west. Also, I’ve got a show coming up this Holiday season at a local bookstore, I can’t wait!!