This is one of the two major sandstone formations that comprise the Red Rocks Amphitheater in suburban Denver, Colorado. To me it looked like a guardian, protecting the lonely pine tree struggling to survive in the rocks. Order your copy today.

People look at the above photo and almost immediately ask “what’s up with those funky clouds?” I tell them that this isn’t a straight picture, it’s a reflection out of a mud puddle. “Ooohhhhhh, now I see.” The inversion of this image so that the mountain is pointing up totally throws people off. It’s kind of funny to me, but it also makes me wonder how good of an idea it was to flip it 180° to satisfy my feelings on what looks better.

Compare the shot above to the original below:

Which works better for you? Or should I not have gone through all this, and instead used a different image I captured, from a little further out, that really puts the scene in context?

Me being me, I naturally continue to like the first the best. I think if it makes people talk, then it can’t be all bad, right?

We received about 10″ of snow recently, so I took that opportunity to go get a new view of my normal surroundings (luckily my Sorel’s are good to about 12″ of snow). Got what I think is a great shot of this creek near my home. Converted it to a high contrast black and white in Lightroom. I wish it snowed more often.

The image above is of a braided hose line on the primary lift motor of a Titan II missile. In September of 2008 I had the opportunity to visit the Titan II Museum outside of Tucson, AZ. The museum is actually a decommissioned Titan II complex, a relic of the Cold War. This photo is available for purchase as a print or digital download in my Art Gallery.

I took several interesting pictures on that day. It was one of the more fruitful photography days I have had, most likely because that’s all it was supposed to be. No doubt more of those images will make their way here as photos of the week.

More information about the museum can be seen at their website.

I have had my Olympus E-510 for over a year now, and I can say it has served me well. From time to time people ask me why I chose to go with Olympus for my DSLR purchase. There were a couple of factors at work. The kit I purchased (E-510 with two lenses) was very competitively priced compared to what Canon and Nikon had to offer. To get comparable equipment from the other two would have cost me a few hundred dollars more. Sensor resolution (10MP) was the same as the other two manufacturers. And then there was the big deciding factor - image stabilization. Olympus was the first with IS for their DSLR cameras. You had to buy the 510 to get it, but it was there. Even better, it is in-camera. That means the lenses don’t cost extra if you want IS (or VR) in them. That really helped frame my opinion up front. But this wasn’t (to me) a small purchase.

Wolf Camera, in conjunction with Olympus, had a special deal going where you could “borrow” a camera (E-400 or E-510) for a weekend to take some pictures and see what you thought. I jumped at that chance. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were out of the 510s. I took the 400 home for the weekend and really enjoyed shooting with it. I must admit, I was intimidated by making the jump from my P&S (Canon Powershot G5) to a full on DSLR. But I had a good weekend of shooting, and decided what the heck.

I then started doing my research online. I found the 510 for an even better price from B&H Photo/ Video. Fortunately for me, the manager at Wolf decided to match the prices I found at B&H when I was ready to walk out the door. That willingness to eat the margin a bit also meant I will buy from them in the future - mostly prints and stuff I think.

Now that I have had this camera for roughly a year, I naturally have my list of likes and dislikes about it.

Likes:
- Lightweight (in my camera/ laptop backpack, this hardly adds any weight)
- Great image quality (never had an issue with the image quality)
- Sensor cleaning (the sensor cleaning system seems to work well, don’t see any problems in my images)
- Kit lenses are good quality (I wouldn’t know what ‘great’ glass is, but these do everything I ask)
- Live view (even if I never use it)

Dislikes:
- Limited EV bracketing (3 shots, in one stop increments)
- Unique Olympus USB connector (cables are more expensive and harder to find)
- No tilt/ swivel LCD (was useful on my G5)
- Requirement of Oly xD card for pano mode (I can take panos manually and stitch in something else though)
- “Live capture” software has additional $$ cost
- FL-36 (seriously, why did they even build/ sell this?)

All in all, I can’t say I made a very poor decision in buying this Olympus. It continues to serve me well. That said, Olympus as a whole doesn’t seem to be very innovative at the moment. This worries me. I don’t have a huge investment in Olympus glass and gear, but it would be nice if they had an upgrade path that looked enticing. Compared to what I am seeing from Canon and Nikon, Olympus has a lot of catch up to do. I am not ready to upgrade just yet, so this isn’t of immediate concern. Who knows, maybe they do have something impressive in the works. They need to. The E-3 is outdated now, and the E-30 is not even close to being an evolution.

Photo by Karl Zemlin
Ever since I got an external flash for my Canon Powershot G5, I have been researching and building home made light modifiers. Some are more elaborate than others, some look better than others, but they have all had the desired effect. Here is a rundown of the ones I have tried, with links to instructions (some might go to videos). The DIY softbox above is one I have not made yet, but you can get the plans here.

Milk Jug Diffuser

The milk jug diffuser is one of the simplest ones to make. Lop off the end of a milk jug, slot the edges so it will wrap around your flash head, and presto chango - instant diffuser. Not as pretty or professional looking as a Gary Fong Lightsphere, but it will get the job done. I haven’t made one of these yet. We have our milk delivered, and their jugs are much heavier gauge than the store bought ones. Hmm, that might make for better diffusion though. I’ll have to see if they are so thick as to not be pliable enough to fit on the flash.

MuzzBounce™ Ghetto Flash modifier

The MuzzBounce™ Ghetto Flash modifier is similar to the milk jug diffuser in that it uses a translucent jug (mine was from windshield wiper fluid). The effect is different though. It is designed to redirect (bounce) the light from a flash, while at the same time diffusing it. It works quite well in portrait and macro photography. I built my first one shortly after I got my new Olympus E-510 and FL-36 flash. My wife made a comment immediately, something about spending so much money on a camera only to put a jug on it. I thought it was a funny comment, but it didn’t stop me from using it around the house. Certainly doesn’t project a professional image though. Not really sure what the “professional” (store bought) equivalent would be, but if you spent enough time on this one, you could make it look professional.

DIY Reflector-Diffuser

I have a slightly different version (cannot find the site it was on now) of the DIY Reflector-Diffuser. It is on;y slightly different, and the results are pretty much the same. I like it so much, I keep it in my camera backpack all the time and use it fairly frequently. Construction is very easy, using craft foam from a hobby shop. The DIY Reflector-Diffuser site also includes plans you can print and use as templates when cutting the craft foam. This is a “must make” for the do it yourself light modifier. Other alterations I have seen include cutting a honeycomb pattern (with large hexagons) into the modifier to let more light escape vertically.

A Better Bounce Card

This was one of the first thing I tried. A simple bounce of light from my flash, that allowed enough light loss to spread the remaining light out properly. It worked OK, but I certainly liked the results from my Muzzbounce better. The plans for A Better Bounce Card have been updated to use craft foam. I think the original may have been something else, as simple as copy paper. It certainly served it’s purpose though.

The Finn Bounce

For those of you with a P&S camera that has a pop-up flash (or even a DSLR like my E-510 that has a pop-up), the Finn Bounce is an easy to make light reflector (bounce card) that, given it’s size, has a tremendous impact on the quality of your pics. Don’t take my word for it, find a piece of cardstock, rubber cement and aluminum foil, then follow the 9 easy steps to make it. You will be glad you did.

This covers the ones I have tried. Below is a list of ones I want to try, along with the softbox that led this article. Hope this has been worthwhile to you.

Miscellaneous Others I Have Not Tried

Here are some highlights of projects I plan to try at some point:

• DIY Softbox
• DIY Ringlight (Flickr groups, particularly the Strobist one, are a great resource for DIY light modification projects.)
• A different ringlight idea
• Homemade lightbox for product photos
• Inexpensive Light Tent for product photos

When you are shooting a room with a great view, it is a good idea to show that view, if you can. But that is more complicated when you think about the exposure levels outside versus inside the room. Since I was in an awesome location recently (the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek, Colorado), I decided to use the property to do some practice on. I have posted a few images from this test in the Photography For Real Estate Flickr group (yes, it is a Flickr complement to Larry Lohrman’s excellent site/ blog) and have received some useful feedback from it.
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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.

So you were blessed this holiday season with a new digital camera, but you don’t have any idea how to make it work? Local camera-specific instructional classes and web forums have got you covered no matter what brand you are packing. Read the rest of this entry »