Traveling the Journey of Light | Photoblog Thoughts, feelings, and techniques behind the photography of Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston

Spring Blossoms (Spring Is Here)Posted by admin on April 22nd, 2008

It appears that spring has made it to Omaha, Nebraska, and just in time for Earth Day. As a result I went to the arboretum with my macro lens to capture some blossoms in bloom. I used a shallow Depth of Field to capture a dreamy look to this bud.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM lens + extension tube, f/3.2, 1/1600 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Painting in the SkyPosted by admin on April 21st, 2008

Today’s simple image reminded me of a painter’s canvas with small white brush strokes on a blue canvas.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM, f/8, 1/50 sec.
Outside My Window, Omaha, NE

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Swift FoxPosted by admin on April 17th, 2008

Continuing on with images from my weekend excursion to the zoo, is this image of a swift fox from the desert dome. While he was napping, he was aware of me, although obviously not too concerned.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l + 1.4 tc, f/5.6, 1/125 sec.
Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, Nebraska

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Glowing TentaclesPosted by admin on April 15th, 2008

One of my favorite areas at the local zoo is the aquarium. Here I can always find intriguing sea life that I may never see natively, and would be less likely to photograph. In several small tanks there are little creatures that I use my macro lens to capture. I am not quite sure what this critter is, but I liked the patterns in the floating “tenatcles”. I used a shallow depth of field to create more of an abstract composition.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM lens, f/2.5, 1/250 sec.
Henry Doorly Zoo

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Tye and BrendaPosted by admin on April 14th, 2008

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to photograph Tye and Brenda for their engagement photographs. We went to the arboretum and used several of the areas for backdrops, and I kept a shallow depth of field to focus on Tye and Brenda. In the above photograph these bushes were just starting to bloom and the yellow created a nice bright background, but not too bright to eclipse the cute couple. In the photograph below, I tilted the camera a bit to add something to the photograph, converted it to black and white and did a little platinum tinting for the final touch.

Technical Details:
Above: Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l @ 200mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec.
Below: Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l @ 98mm, f/4, 1/400 sec.

Field of TreesPosted by admin on April 8th, 2008

This past weekend I delivered 38 of my framed prints to DeSoto National Wildilfe Refuge to be on display from April 12-June 7. While there I took the opportunity to drive around the refuge and to hike a little. The patterns in this particular grove of trees has always interested me and I took some time to stop and photograph them. After processing this photograph I used the nik “Monday Morning” filter to give it a more surreal appearance.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/9, 1/100 sec.
DeSoto National Wildilfe Refuge

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

The Dark RoadPosted by admin on April 4th, 2008

Today’s image was taken at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. There was a section of the road that passed through a tunnel of trees and it was a very foreboding type passage. I used a smaller depth of field in order to intentionally blur the foreground to force one’s eye down the road. To accentuate the uneasy feeling, I converted the image to black and white, tinted it with a little red, green, and yellow, and then I used the nik “Midnight” filter. This creates an even more ominous environment.

The original photograph:

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l @ 200, f/5, 1/1250 sec.
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

A Touch of the Old WorldPosted by admin on April 3rd, 2008

This is an image of the Giralda Tower near the Cheesecake Factory in The Plaza in Kansas City. It is a 138 foot replica of a tower that is in Seville, Spain. Since this tower was built in the 1920’s and had an old world feel, I converted this image to black and white and then gave it a bit of a brown tint. I also used OnOne’s PhotoFrame program to frame the image with an old film type emulsion frame.

This is the original black and white converted image:

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l @ 73mm, f/10, 1/1250 sec.
The Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Forboding FacesPosted by admin on April 2nd, 2008

While going through my photographs from the Plaza, I came across an image of a fountain from that area. It was essentially a black and white image, but I decided to do something a little different. I tinted the image slightly green and used the “Poster Edges” Photoshop filter (under artistic) to give it a forboding comic book feel. The before an after conversion:

Some trivia: Besides Rome, Kansas City has the most fountains of any city.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l lens @ 145mm, f/10, 1/800 sec.
The Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Brick and GlassPosted by admin on April 1st, 2008

During my recent weekend trip to Kansas City, my family and I visited the Plaza, an upscale shopping area, with very ornate, unique architecture from an earlier time. The primary focus of this trip was not photography, but I managed the few occasional shots. Since the weather was primarily overcast, and the architecture was fairly old, I felt that shooting for later conversion to black and white would be the most effective.

While shooting this photograph, I was filled with questions. How long have these buildings been here? What influenced their design? Unlike today’s designs, even the windows on the top and back of this building were designed with a purpose. What was that purpose?

In this composition I focused on the tonalities of the bricks and shingles as well as capturing the ornate glass windows. From the era in which this was built even the back and top of the building had artistic qualities and it is in this image that I attempt to capture some of these qualities.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 70-200 f/4l lens @ , f/10, 1/250 sec.
The Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.