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Pentax K10D, SMC PENTAX-DA f/3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL @ 55mm + SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (reversed), ISO 800, f/8, 1/30 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

This tulip was shot hand-held with a DIY super macro set-up. Lighting was via a nearby window:

The title of the photo comes from a portion of a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne called Atalanta in Calydon:

For winter’s rains and ruins are over,

And all the season of snows and sins;

The days dividing lover and lover,

The light that loses, the night that wins;

March 15th, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, abstract, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Atalanta in Calydon, bokeh, close, DIY, DoF, hand held, natural light, Pentax K10D, poem, reverse mount, SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL, spring, stabilized, tulip, yellow | Category: photos | Comments Off

Pentax K10D, SMC PENTAX-DA f/3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL @ 18mm, ISO 160, f/4, 1/30 sec, +1 EV, IS on

Read all about Auburn University’s Department of Industrial and Graphic Design’s annual Designing Green competition on my personal blog.

Designed by Aran Mun, the hand-made laser cut cardboard trophy above was shot in a simple whitespace studio with a single incandescent bulb behind a white umbrella diffuser (reversed from the set-up shown below):

RAW file processed in Adobe Lightroom to correct white balance and tweak the exposure slightly. I shot another version at f/8…

…but I preferred the way the vignetting and shallower DoF in the f/4 shot really adds depth to the photograph and focuses your attention on the logo. Best thing about having access to a studio like this is that the total time to set up for this shot and snap the four frames I took was less than 2 minutes!

Click here if you’re just interrested in seeing all the photos I took during the event.

March 14th, 2009 | Tags: Adobe Lightroom, Aran Mun, Auburn University, Best Overall, cardboard, Department of Industrial and Graphic Design, Designing Green 2009, diffuser, DIY, INDD, laser cut, lighting, Pentax K10D, recycle, SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL, studio, tree, trophy, umbrella, whitespace | Category: photos, technique | Comments Off

Pentax K10D, SMC PENTAX-DA f/3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL @ 43mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/60 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

I love rusty old mechanical stuff. This bike has been slowly rotting on the bike rack outside my building all year. The afternoon light was really nice when I took this shot. I shot it at f/8 because I knew that at this close distance it would give me a bit more depth of field and would really make the detail pop. I processed my RAW file in Adobe Lightroom using the Direct Positive preset. The only other thing I did was bump up the Recovery a bit to bring a little more detail back into the highlight areas.

March 13th, 2009 | Tags: abandoned, adjuster, Adobe Lightroom, axle, bicycle, bike, cable, chain, chrome, cog, corroded, derailleur, detail, Direct Positive, dropout, gears, nut, Pentax K10D, rear, Robert S. Donovan, rust, rusted, rusty, screw, SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL, spokes, tangled, texture, tube, wheel | Category: photos | Comments (2)

Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 800, f/1.7, 1/25 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

Another shot from the Centrifuge Bar at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas while I was enjoying a beer and winding down from 3 days at the PMA show. In this shot I simply opened the aperture all the way up and with the camera on my lap played around with the manual focus (using the distance markings of the focus ring on my manual 50mm f/1.7 lens while estimating the distance) and let my Pentax K10D do the rest. It took 3 or 4 tries to get the framing right but using this technique saved me from getting down on my knees in the bar- something I try to avoid these days. This picture is essentially straight out of the camera with nothing more than my Lightroom default import processing of the RAW file. White balance was set to auto and has not been adjusted. Doesn’t get much easier than this!

March 11th, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, Adobe Lightroom, bar, beer, bokeh, Casino, Centrifuge, foam, glass, head, lacing, Las Vegas, manual focus, MGM Grand, Pentax K10D, PMA 2009, rim, Robert S. Donovan, Sierra Nevada, travel, www.booleansplit.com | Category: photos | Comments Off