As we were driving into the Bear/ Sprague Lake area on Sunday, we drove alongside Mill Creek and I noticed that it had a significantly-sized channel with a lot of boulders in it. I filed it away in the back of my mind, thinking it warranted more inspection. I think Megan noticed it too.

After we wrapped up with all the shooting at Bear Lake and Sprague Lake, we started to head out of the park. It had rained pretty good, and the roads were pretty wet. As we crossed the bridge over Mill Creek, Megan and I agreed that we should at least check the site out. I was a bit concerned because of how much it had rained. The rocks looked pretty slick. We walked all the way from where we parked down to the bridge (where I took a photo of the underside of the bridge because of George Barr and his book. I still had reservations because of the wetness of the rock, but Megan wanted to do it and was confident she could if she went barefoot.

Throwing caution to the wind, we went out into the boulder field/ creek. I wouldn’t want to try this in May/ June when the runoff is raging through there, but at this time of the year the creek was pretty tame. I found what I thought was a good rock for Megan to pose on. I got a good number of shots of her on that rock. Some laughing, some serious, but all good I think. I decided to “think outside the box” a little and moved her off to one side of the frame. That resulted in the picture above. When she saw it in camera later, she was really excited. Didn’t catch what she thought of it full size on the screen. Guess I’ll have to dig into her myspace page - I am sure it is there if she liked it.

For me though, this image could be used to convey so many thoughts. I could easily see it being some type of album cover (or something along these lines at least), or an advertisement, or just an interpretive piece for the viewer to decide what it means. For some reason this image is very powerful to me. Maybe I am reading more into it since I took the image. Definitely possible. Doesn’t matter though, I really like it.

Nature is far more perfect…, originally uploaded by everyday*beautiful (Lacy).

As with the person who took this pic, I am ready for the fall. The colors are more interesting, and the weather less predictable. It all adds up to a good photo op!

In reviewing George Barr’s “Take Your Photography to the Next Level”, I noticed two things. 1. George Barr stitches a lot of images together (a topic for another day) and 2. Mr. Barr uses Helicon Focus quite a bit.

Helicon Focus is designed (per their website) for:

• micro photography (camera + optical microscope)
• macro photography (camera + macro lenses )
• landscape photography (infinite depth of field)

I have only done a couple of tests with it so far (it rained here in Colorado most of the weekend), but I think a definitive one is illustrated below. I want to thank George Barr for bringing this tool to me eyes, and to Dan Kozub (in the Ukraine) for writing it. I am going to use it a lot when I do flower macros, etc.

My first attempt at doing a test didn’t come out so well (I didn’t even save the result). The primary reason? I was trying to do it handheld. You definitely want to use a tripod for this.

Since it was raining all weekend, I just set up my small tripod on the kitchen table and took some pics looking into my wife’s office. For this test, I snapped a total of five pictures, all in manual focus mode. Here is the first:
Notice that the computer monitor and other items are well out of focus in the background. Here is the relevant EXIF data:
Camera: Olympus E-510
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/5.3
Focal Length: 34 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV

Following this shot, I rotated the focus ring a little ways and snapped another. I did this 2 more times before taking this final shot (for a total of 5).
Notice that things in the background are in much better focus now. Here is the relevant EXIF data:
Camera: Olympus E-510
Exposure: 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture: f/5.3
Focal Length: 34 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV

Obviously you can guarantee best results by being in full Manual mode and making sure the aperture and exposure are the same for each picture. Since this was a crude, last minute test, I didn’t go that far.

Here is the resulting image from a combination of the 5, using the default settings in Helicon Focus.

The difference is pretty obvious, and pretty striking as well. All told, it took about 20 minutes for the software to process the 5 Olympus RAW images (~8MB each) into the resulting image above. I can’t wait to get out in the field and try this on some flowers. Just make sure your objects are stationary. As you can tell from the Windows logo on the computer screen, EVERYTHING makes it into the final image.

For more information, or to purchase this software, go to http://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconfocus.html - you won’t be sorry you did.

Be aware that there is not much in the way of tutorial information. You really need to experiment with the program or look in the forums to get an idea of what you are doing. I figured out that I needed to shoot several images, and then simply loaded them in and let it do it’s thing. Very cool tool!

Take Your Photography to the Next Level: From Inspiration to Image, by George Barr, is a collection of the most helpful postings from his blog over the past few years. I rank this book right up there with the works of Bryan Peterson in terms of it’s importance to photographers in general. In fact, I would declare this a must read.

Mr. Barr has taken the liberty (well advised in my mind) of editing his prior posts so that they are more current or relevant for this book. I had never heard of him before, but the author is very impressive in terms of how he is able to “see” a great photo in what seem like ordinary or common objects. I do believe that, in the course of my learning to take better pictures, this is the hardest thing to do.

One of the more impressive things about this book is how the editor, author, and Rocky Nook were able to take the blog postings and meld them into a cohesive book. It follows a fairly structured order, and includes excellent photographic examples along the way. I also particularly like how the author intentionally stayed away from mentioning specific settings and (most of the time) gear used to make certain images. In a few sections of the book, it is pointed out clearly that it is the person taking the photos that is more important than the gear being used, and I agree completely (he does cover the gear he uses at the back of the book).

One other very useful sections is how to deal with rejection and criticism and the whole mindset of taking pictures. I know a few people that could apply the principles of that section (did I mention Barr is a doctor) in their photography or other aspects of their life. Very good stuff, and just another example of how Barr is able to relate to the casual and serious photographer alike.

I could go on and on about this book, but you really should get a copy for yourself. It is outstanding!

Originally saw this video at ProPhotoLife.com and found it to be very useful. I just need to get a reversing ring to try this out at home. I tried it handheld the other day, but with two zoom lenses, it was a bit of a challenge to get a focus. Definitely be easier with a reversing ring and a tripod (I have the tripod).

extreme macro photography trick from Jim Talkington on Vimeo.

macro water drop, originally uploaded by Hypergurl.

One of the oldest tricks in the book, well documented all over the place, and yet I still haven’t tried this. Soon, sometime soon I am going to give it a whirl and see what happens.

Each pane is unique, originally uploaded by olikristinn.

You never know where the next great pic will come from. Sometimes you need to look up. Always be aware of your surroundings to see where it will come from next.

Boat pulley, originally uploaded by Chester Bullock.

I was walking along the lakefront in Toronto last fall, and saw a large wooden sailboat that was used for lake cruises. I am sure that a pulley of this nature is pretty common in sailing or waterfront areas. But to me it wasn’t. We are now in an age of “optimized everything”. Titanium and stainless steel are lighter and more efficient than wood. Pulley’s just aren’t made this way anymore, at least not for the industrial applications I am accustomed to seeing them in.

The boat itself was pretty interesting, but this pulley, conveniently located where I could get up close and personal, spoke volumes to me for some reason. It’s been cared for, but it also shows it has been used quite a bit. I am a “candled are for burning” kind of person. It’s nice to see a unique functional piece that actually gets used instead of just being placed for decoration.

At first glance, you immediately wonder “How did they do that?”. This question is either immediately preceded or followed by “Wow, that is pretty cool.” I didn’t take the photo, but I think I have it figured out.
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Unique coconut, originally uploaded by Jan Kratochvil.

First off, this isn’t my picture. But I think it is an outstanding example of “seeing creatively”. Sometimes the moment isn’t there, and you need to do something to make your image unique and give it some flavor (pun intended). It could be tweaking the colors of the sky in Photoshop, or it could be staging an interesting situation, as seen here. Remember, you want a remarkable image that people are not going to soon forget.