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Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 100, f/1.7, 1/100 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

March 20th, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, bokeh, DoF, flower, green, orange, Pentax K10D, pink, purple, Robert S. Donovan, spring, tulip | Category: photos | Comments Off

Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 100, f/8, 30 sec, +/-0 EV, IS off

Taken in an alley behind an apartment building on Historic Highland Avenue in Birmingham, AL. I was drawn to the combination of lighting (sodium vapor and mercury vapor), the texture of the brick and the arrangement of the trash cans. This photo was taken with my Pentax K10D and my old manual focus 50mm f/1.7 lens on a Joby Gorillapod. I set the camera to manual mode, selected ISO 100 (for minimum noise), Auto white balance, 30 second shutter (maximum shutter time in manual mode), f/8 aperture (for maximum sharpness), and set the self timer to the 2 second delay position (to eliminate camera shake when the shutter opens). I manually set the focus at infinity and didn’t bother checking the light meter reading. Since I shoot these shots with the long exposure noise reduction turned off, I was able to review the shot immediately and saw that it was good on the first try. The alley was a lot darker and creepier than this photo suggests so after one shot I grabbed up my camera and kept moving… More »

March 19th, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, Adobe Lightroom, AL, alley, Birmingham, city, f/8, Gorillapod, Highland Avenue, ISO 100, light trails, long exposure, manual mode, motion, night, Pentax K10D, RAW, self timer, starbursts, street, urban | Category: Tips & Tricks, photos, technique | Comments Off

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