Stettler : photos : Photo Journal- powered by SmugMug

Im going to use this gallery as a means to try and get better at photography. In a way, I think it will turn out to be something like a journal, only not with words but with photos. I will take pictures that I think are interesting or could be with post-production in Photoshop. It could be something as mundane as a sign or as unique as a native whaler, but the whole purpose is to expand my ability with my camera so please leave a comment and let me know what you think (like it/dont like it, needs a different crop, sharpening, blurring, color is off anything).

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Stettler > Practicing some more techniques in Photoshop. Trying to give the photo an aged feel by adding texture and color adjustments. You can see the original photo here

Stettler > Practicing some new techniques in Photoshop. Trying to give the photo an aged feel by adding texture and color adjustments. You can see the original photo here

Stettler > Christmas Self portrait

Taken from my desk at work

Stettler > I saw this photo the other day on Photo.net that I really liked, so I thought I would try to make something similar. I didn’t have a picture of wood and Barrow is dark and gray with only around three hours of usable light for photographing so I had to create everything in Photoshop. I’m sure that the original photograph was taken in camera by a great photographer but I like how this turned out.

Stettler >
Power Plant, Barrow Alaska

I started experimenting with black and white conversions and I really like the feeling of the converted photos. The process that I used for the last three photos takes some work but I like the end results, so I'm going to take pictures around Barrow to convert and post in a new gallery called “Black and White”. You can find the new gallery with the landscapes or you can Click hereto jump to it.

To do the conversion, I first bracket the photo +/-2 then create a HDR with the three photos in “PhotoMatix”. I then open the HDR photo in Photoshop and change the image mode to grayscale to discard the color (Image>Mode>Grayscale). Then change the image mode to duotone (Image>Mode>Duotone). In the Duotone options choose Tritone as the type then click “load”, click on the folder called “Process Tritones” and choose “BMY sepia 1”. Then click “Load” and “OK”. I then convert the image mode to Lab Color (Image>Mode>Lab Color). In the channels select “Lightness” and sharpen with “Unsharp Mask”. Convert the photo back to “RGB Color” (Image>Mode>RGB Color), and save the file. I then import the photo into Lightroom and increase the blacks and add some vignette. Now it’s done, see how easy it is.

Stettler > Brit and I came home late last night after a birthday party and there was this incredible light show going on. So we ran in grabbed the camera and tripod then made our first attempt to capture the Northern Lights.

I put the camera in manual focus set to infinity, set the program to aperture priority at f4 and tried a number of different ISO settings. Of course just coming from a party I did this all wrong (One or two many beers). What I should have done is set the program to shutter priority and tried a number of different shutter speeds, but we still got some good shots. To see the other photos taken that night Click here

Stettler > …and one for all.

“Then they saw from the other bank the executioner raise both his arms slowly, a moonbeam fell upon the blade of the large sword, the two arms fell with a sudden force: they heard the hissing of the scimitar and the cry of the victim, then a truncated mass sank beneath the blow.”

Just finished reading Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers”. Number 29 of my quest to read “The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written”. Trying to pick out my next read and I’m leaning toward Joseph Conrad’s “Lord Jim”, there’s just something about the title that makes me think it will be a great read. :-)

No Photoshop here, just a long exposure and a flashlight.

Stettler > If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.

Stettler > As I was taking the photo for “Out My Door” a small bird flew up and landed in a makeshift birdfeeder that Brit made and nailed to the banister. These birds are extremely shy, so this guy must have been really hungry or really brave.

Stettler > I ran across a website the other day that a guy had put together of light paintings that he had done. He had some really cool pictures, some of writing, some of him backlit so that it looked like he was glowing, and even some where he did a landscape at night and lit up some bushes and trees. It looked fun so I thought I would give it a try. I turned off all the lights in the apartment and set the camera on a tripod pointing down the hallway. The focus is set to infinity with a shutter speed of 30 seconds. I tripped the shutter, ran down the hall drew the figure with a flashlight then ran back behind the camera.

Stettler > I made some adjustments to this photo of Brit in photoshop. I tilted it, used a different crop and added some lighting effects. I think it makes a better overall picture.

Stettler > After three attempts I finally got the motion blur. Just shows how much I don’t know about photography. Its pretty simple really, I just lowered the shutter speed to 1/30 of a second and paned with the plane. In order to slow down the shutter speed and not blowout the photo I used a polarizing filter to reduce the light entering the camera.

Stettler > Escape vehicle

The only way out of town is to fly. Alaska airlines lands twice a day and every time I see it take off I wish Brit and I were on it. I wanted to try my camera on a fast moving object. I set the Focus mode to “Al Servo” (focuses continuously) and Drive mode to “Continuous shooting”. I think next time I will set the Focus to “One Shot” and pan with the plane, that should keep the plane sharp, but blur the background and add a feeling of movement.

Practicing some more techniques in Photoshop. Trying to give the photo an aged feel by adding texture and color adjustments. You can see the original photo here