Just a little picture, I much prefer the look of silken water, but I also like a touch of texture when shooting a roaring river. The water gets too silken and it is transformed into a peaceful setting which isn’t very realistic.  

This was shot f 22 at 1/4s Slower speed would have made the water much smoother and faster would have made it much more choppy.

Dan Achatz, a regular in the Flickr PFRE group, put together one of the best HDR tutorials I have seen yet. He goes through his process of compiling the images into a realistic representation of what he saw in person. It is well worth taking some time and watching the video.

After watching it, I followed his steps when making the HDR image shown above. It’s the used tire warehouse at Metal Movers, a Denver, Colorado based auto recycler. I am doing some website consulting for them and needed some photos of the different products and services they offer. A tire warehouse of this size is a lighting challenge due to all the dark colors and shadows, so I thought it would be best to do an HDR to represent it. This particular image is a combintation of 5 exposures, taken at the intervals that Photomatix recommends. I think it came out pretty well, the notable exception being the fluorescent overhead lights. I need to practice with HDR more, but I am really pleased with the results I am starting to get.

Client-based photography is a tricky thing. In the age of digital clients expect super-fast turn-around times with excellent results and unlimited usage abilities. The reality is that even though it is digital, it isn’t magic, and if the client wants something superior time is a necessary element. 

I was Facebooking a couple weeks ago and and a high-school classmate of mine who I had just reconnected with after, many odd years, placed a note on his status that he was looking for local artists to display work in his Larimer Street boutique. I immediately got a meeting and took my MacBook  with me after preparing a few separate galleries for him to see. From the artist aspect, I actually prefer to remain client-centric. I think in a boutique setting my art should enhance the experience of the store, add to the ambiance, not be a separate entity within the walls. The owner looked at several different galleries and told me what he liked and we refined it to a LoDo shoot of textures and patterns in giant prints with a finished 2 foot X 3 foot frame. 

It was the Tuesday, a week before Christmas, and I really wanted to hang before the holiday with the last-ditch hopes of catching a last-minute shopper. I told him I should be able to have them by Monday, and I would let him know for sure. He was shocked I could turn-around so quickly with shooting, editing, post and framing in 6 days. I was terrified, but hopeful. I did much research, found a quick turnaround printer that was still photo-quality, archival printing, and edited to match their profiles. Got archival the mats cut and waited for Monday to come around for the frames to go on sale. 

All in all it was a whirlwind of a chaotic week, but I thrive on tight deadlines and I had a blast shooting in freezing weather in LoDo. I made 12 giant exclusive, limited-edition prints to the show at this boutique, in a six-day turnaround. I worked with the owner to showcase work he thought would be well integrated into his boutique, and in the end the showing is great, They look gorgeous, and they are the kind of works I haven’t done in years. It was thrilling, exciting and fun merely to push myself to the limit in getting it done. 

compuware_aerial_water, originally uploaded by DeNic Photos.

The aerial waterfall inside the Compuware World Headquarters at Campus Martius in Detroit, MI. This photo was taken Thanksgiving Day while waiting for seating for the America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Colors and shapes can make a boring image come alive. Not that I think this could be a boring image, let’s just say that at 7am on a freezing cold November morning in Detroit the colors and shapes are what woke me up to take out my camera.

Always look around you for the uniqueness of your surroundings. Simply adding a splash of color or an interesting shape to an image can transform it in to something magical.

I am most happy with this photo because it was the first time my mom commented on one of my images other than “that’s nice”. Must be doing something right here…mom is happy

Greetings and Happy Holidays!

I received an email last week with the latest episode from the RitzPix.com photography instructor, Digi Pixels, including tips on creating your 2009 photo calendar. With 2008 rapidly coming to a close, photo calendars make great last minute gifts for anyone in your family, and are perfect for your home or office.

Have fun choosing your favorite pictures from the year. Don’t forget to add your custom dates, like birthdays and other important events, as well as text or captions for the photos. Add personal greetings for a meaningful touch.

Get creative this year! Use a theme throughout your calendar, like Baby’s first year or travel pictures. Show off your favorite photos from 2008. Commemorate any special events or build a “year in review” calendar. Or, better yet, gather some photos of your family from previous holidays or other events and create a calendar for your parents or children documenting the family’s history. The possibilities are endless! Custom photo calendars are the perfect way to say “Happy New Year!” They truly are the gift that keeps on giving — all year round!

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all. I have been seeing great pictures of holiday lights this season, and finally decided to try and take one of my own. The photo above is an HDR Exposure Blend (using Photomatix) of 7 exposures I took one morning. I also took some photos just using the ambient light and not doing the HDR thing. After reviewing these shots on the computer, I decided the white lights just aren’t very interesting. Normally we decorate the two large fir trees in front of our house with colored strings, but we opted not to this year. Rest assured, we will next year. That will give it some “life” I think. So instead, I will go out in search of other homes in our neighborhood to take pics of. I had better hurry, only a week to go before most people take their lights down.

Oh, and I should point out that the inspiration for this, besides the photos I linked to above, was a Strobist article about holiday light pictures. As is the norm with Strobist help, this article was wonderful for a rookie like me.

Snapped this photo of a rusting crankshaft in a Denver salvage yard recently.

blue_plants, originally uploaded by Dizzle @ 2*3 Photos.

Another captured image while waiting for the fashion show to start last Friday.

I can’t be sure if it was the colors or the texture that pulled me in. I think it was the textures. The pebble covered wall with the lights somehow reminded me of marbles. With the odd stick plant out front it just made me want to reach out and touch it. But I didn’t.

Texture can make an ordinary photo into something extraordinary. This particular image, without the texture would just be a really colorful image, but the texture gives it life and dimension.

Look for different textures and how they can work for you to change an ordinary photo into something spectacular.