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Pentax K10D, SMC Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, ISO 100,  f/1.4, 1/125 sec, +/-0 EV, IS on

Shot this through the iron gate of a closed nightclub in downtown Auburn while I was on my way to lunch. I really like the way the skylights illuminate the dance floor in the background. The space heaters hanging from the ceiling seem almost alien. I opened the 50 f/1.4 all the way up, focused on the nearest table and let the lens do the rest (including the green halos).

Post processing in Lightroom required a little tweaking of the white balance (I used the eyedropper tool on the top of the table to get the best feel). I also backed all the way off of the black slider and then darkened the shadows back up by increasing the contrast. This revealed more shadow detail but still gives plenty of richness to the shot. I could have acheived the same effect with the Tone Curve tool but this worked well so I left it at that. Finally, I upped the Recovery a little to recover a little highlight detail in the rafters and bumped the Vibrance up a touch to make the image pop in a browser a bit more.

April 10th, 2009 | Tags: Adobe Lightroom, AL, ashtray, Auburn, bar, bokeh, chairs, closed, dance floor, DoF, empty, nightclub, Pentax K10D, quiet, railing, Robert S. Donovan, skylight, SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4, stools, table | Category: photos | Comments (2)

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

I’ve already blogged here once about taking sunset photos but after taking this blue hour shot tonight I just had to share how easy this is.

I had to run downtown around 6pm to pick up some fresh oysters from the Fish Market. On the way out the door I grabbed my Pentax K10D, 16-50 f/2.8 DA* (borrowed) and tripod. I made a bee line down 21st Street South (past the Fish Market) to the viaduct that goes over the railroad tracks into downtown. From this elevated vantage point over the tracks I knew I would have a decent view west with enough streetlights for some killer starburst action.

Here’s the set-up for this shot:

• camera mode: MANUAL (you can’t do this in AUTO!)
• aperture: f/22
• shutter speed: 30 seconds
• ISO: 100*
• white balance: AUTO
• flash: OFF (!!)
• IS: OFF
• auto focus: OFF (manually set focus to ∞)
• self timer: ON (2 second delay)
• focal length: widest setting (here: 16mm)
• battery: fully charged (!)

*Nikon users with ISO 200 as the lowest setting may have to back off the shutter to 15-20 seconds.

That’s it. Mount the camera on a tripod, compose the shot, trip the shutter (using the self timer prevents camera shake), step back, and wait. If you time the light right that’s all you’ll ever have to do. The small aperture ensures everything is in focus and creates dazzling starbursts. The long exposure pulls in all kinds of light and colors and the low ISO keeps things s-m-o-o-t-h. I did shoot this photo in RAW but all I did in Lightroom to this shot is apply my standard import settings and touch up a little sensor dust.

Truthfully, I rarely look at the exposure meeter for these shots. I usually just take a 30 second f/22 shot at ISO 100 and check the LCD. If it’s too dark I’ve probably missed the magic blue hour and it’s either time to pack it up or break out the DIY bulb switch (though I usually try a few in vain at f/16 and f/8 just to be sure). If the shot is too bright I’ll just back off the shutter to 15 seconds and try again. If that doesn’t work I just wait a bit until the light drops off some more. The only real hard part is getting the timing right (most people are packing up to leave about the time I’m setting up for my best shots) and being patient (30 second exposures can seem like an eternity sometimes).

It’s really one of the few never-fail shots if you use these settings. Trick is you pretty much have to use all of these settings to get decent results. Break out the tripod and give it a try tomorrow night!

Here are a few more examples on my Flickr stream if you’re interested.

February 7th, 2009 | Tags: 21st Street South, 30 seconds, Adobe Lightroom, AL, Birmingham, DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL [IF] SDM, dark, DIY cable release, downtown, evening, exposure, f/22, Fish Market, manual, night, oysters, Pentax K10D, self timer, starbursts, streetlights, sunset, tripod, www.booleansplit.com | Category: technique | Comments (4)

I’ve driven past this place a number of times and often thought I should come back with my camera. This morning it was foggy and rainy and I thought “Ah ha! Perfect conditions for the trailer park!” ;-)

The picture above was heavily processed in grayscale mode in Lightroom. I tweaked just about every slider to get this image. I was going for maximum texture, grime and dynamic range. Here’s the original color version with only minor adjustments applied:

All these images were shot had-held with my Pentax K10D and kit lens at ISO 400 at between 1/13 second to 1/60 second with the IS on. I stopped the lens down to f/5.6-f/8 when I could for optimum sharpness. Here’s a close up of the interior of the trailer above. I did not venture inside as the floor was rotten to the point I was afraid of falling through.

Here’s a wide shot of one of the trailers. The aluminum exterior skin had long been stripped and sold as scrap (I assume):

A detail of the trailer in the previous shot:

These trailers were surprisingly full of left behind personal possessions:

January 3rd, 2009 | Tags: abandoned, adding machine, Adobe Lightroom, adventure, AL, Auburn, fog, junk, mattresses, Pentax K10D, rain, trailer park, trespassing | Category: photos | Comments Off