Photo Friday: Around the TreePosted by drfl on March 4th, 2011

Prairie grass is fascinating to watch, especially when one is standing in miles of it.  Acting as one connected organism, groups of prairie grass move and sway in unison with even the smallest of breezes.  A quiet rustling accompanies the movement, gentle, calming.  On the prairie one can find peace and solitude with miles of nothing and nobody.  The vastness is engulfing and liberating, making one feel both small and large simultaneously.  It is endless and eternity.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/9, 1/60 sec.
Chalco Hills Recreation Area, Nebraska

Photo Friday: Badland’s Sentinel (B+W and Color)Posted by drfl on February 25th, 2011

For Photo Friday I present an image taken in 2009 on a trip to Badlands National Park.  Badlands is one of my favorite National Parks, not only for the stark terrain, but also because it is my closest National Park (it beats Rocky Mountain by a mere 100 miles).  I captured this image in the Sage Creek area of Badlands and have attempted to process it several times, but never quite captured the feel I wanted until this week.  When taking this image I purposely envisaged it in monochrome, but I also like the color.   If you like, drop a line to which version you prefer.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/9, 1/400 sec.
Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The Return of Photo Friday and a 2011 ChallengePosted by drfl on January 14th, 2011

This year I am adding two major challenges.  One is mastering a piece of hardware that is now in my possession which I’m going to leave you guessing on until I actually get a chance to use it.  The second is to work on making more black and white images.  When I first started seriously in photography, all I made were black and white photographs.  I used to carry a camera containing only TRI-X and T-Max Kodak film and that it what I used to make images.  I slowly moved into color slide film, but I still would carry a camera with black and white film.  Once I went to my first digital SLR, a Canon 20D, I figured I could make black and white images whenever I wanted.  Guess what?  I rarely did.  This year I am challenging myself to make at least 20 black and white images that I will present on this blog.  I’m excited for these new challenges and what new experiences they may bring!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/11, 1/125 sec., Polarizer
Toadstool Geologic Park, Nebraska

Time Moves ThroughPosted by drfl on April 27th, 2009

Today’s image is one I’ve been holding onto for a while.  This is a barn near Schramm State Recreation Area that I have passed several times and always wanted to stop.  It seems to have so much character and history.  One day when I was driving down to Schramm, the clouds were puffy and high in the sky which created a interesting backdrop to the rustic barn.  I pulled over and grabbed this shot.  While I like the color version, I felt that the subject demanded something in a black and white sepia toned.  I used nik SilverEfex Pro to do the black and white conversion and toning which worked out beautifully.  I highly recommend that product for black and white/toning conversions.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 28mm, f/9, 1/800 sec.
Near Schramm State Recreation Area, Nebraska

A Wintry Day in MayPosted by admin on January 26th, 2009

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days trekking through Alberta on my own. I went during the last couple days of May and the first week of June and on one of those mornings I arose to some heavy snowfall. I decided to wait it out and so I went back inside to the warmth for a good couple of hours until the snow slowed. Later, I ventured out to the beautiful wintry landscape. The snow was especially wet and sticking to everything. I only took a few photographs in these conditions, but what came out was some images that were very conducive to being converted to black and white.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 40mm, f/11, 1/50 sec.
Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada

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/.