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

Omaha Holiday Lights Festival - 2009Posted by drfl on December 28th, 2009

I don’t usually get a lot of time to photograph the city, but every year I make it a point to go to downtown Omaha and photograph the holiday lights that the city places on the trees throughout the mall. On each visit I attempt to make a photograph from a new location or a new perspective. This year was particularly spectacular as we got over a foot of snow dumped on us. I headed down right after the snow and before many people had walked through so that I could get a shot without any footprints. I was the first to make the prints, but of course, when I was done my feet were very cold, but my car was close.

Below are links to previous year’s images. It’s always fascinating to see how the city has changed.

• Holiday Lights Festival - 2005
• Holiday Lights Festival - 2006 - I
• Holiday Lights Festival - 2006 - II
• Holiday Lights Festival - 2007 - I
• Holiday Lights Festival - 2007 - II
• Holiday Lights Festival - 2008

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/9, 2.5 sec
Omaha, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Holiday Lights Festival - 2009

What is “Acceptable Sharpness”?Posted by drfl on December 23rd, 2009

A few weeks ago I wrote an article entitled “How to get Sharp Enlargements: Breaking the Megapixel Myth”that gave some tips on creating images that could be greatly enlarged. Now, I am going to address the issue of “Acceptable Sharpness”. In a perfect world of capturing sharp photographs we would all have a remote similar to the movie “Click” in which we could simply hit the “pause” button and everything would simply stop. At that point we could setup our gear, put our tripod in place, connect our cable release, set the mirror lockup, choose the sharpest aperture, put on the best lens, fix the lowest ISO, and then finally capture the image. Unfortunately, no such device exists and so we are left to deal with breezes that blow, animals that run, and hands that shake and As a result, not all nature images are studio perfect. When zoomed in and analyzed imperfections may be noted, perhaps a little motion blur, perhaps a bit of depth of field issues and of course, hand held photographs will almost always be less sharp than an image from a tripod mounted camera. Does this mean that these images should be tossed out due to technical imperfections? At what enlargement point would these images degrade? These are the questions that led me on my path to finding my “Acceptable Sharpness”.

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Photo Friday: Morning RelaxationPosted by drfl on December 4th, 2009

Taken the morning of the second day of the DeSoto show, the sun’s light was filtered by some interesting cloud patterns. For just a few seconds at a time the rays would cut through.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/9, 1/10 sec., Singh-Ray 2-Stop ND Grad, Singh-Ray 3-Stop ND Grad Reversed
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa Side

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Morning Relaxation - Sunrise Over DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

Returning to One’s Roots by Using a Point and ShootPosted by drfl on November 24th, 2009

Over the Sea of Grass

When I was a young lad I had a 35mm Kodak camera that I had won at a contest in Montana.  About once a year my family and I would go on a trip, usually to a national park and I would be sure to pack the camera.  I would take several rolls of film and I would ultimately end up exposing most of it in the first couple of days and then I would have to ration the rest for the remainder.  During the time I was scurrying up on rocks and running up to lake shores to snap a quick photo, I had no idea that one day that would turn into something greater.  My only goal in those days was to capture the beauty around me so that I could be reminded of it later.

As time has progressed, so has my equipment.  During college I used a completely manual Pentax K-1000 to capture almost solely black and white images.  I did quite a bit of dark room work in those days, rolling and exposing my own film, and creating prints until the dead of night with only a singular red light for illumination.  I learned of different lenses, apertures, and shutter speeds.  I first used a tripod and a medium format camera.  Needless to say, the quick point and shooting slowly morphed into more deliberate, careful shooting, I had become a “serious” photographer.   Besides, now I had a grade depending on it.

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A Post Show Thank YouPosted by drfl on November 23rd, 2009

Under the Skies of Fall

Over the weekend, I was setup at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge’s “Art of the Wild” show near Missouri Valley, Iowa. I want to thank everyone who stopped by and saw all the artists’ great work. It was so nice to visit with everyone and I had some great conversations. I look forward to attending again next year.

Additionally, I did get a couple of opportunities to grab a couple of new images. This particular image was taken in the parking lot with a leaf that I found on the ground. The sky was so beautiful I had to capture it in the background. The contrasting colors work well with this centrist composition.

Technical Details:
Canon G10, 6.1mm, f/3.5
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa Side

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Under the Skies of Fall - An Autumn Leaf Against a Blue Fall Sky

Photo Friday: Autumnal BrillancePosted by drfl on November 6th, 2009

Although autumn was fleeting in Nebraska and Iowa this year, there were some hold outs after the snowfall. This maple tree turned brillant warm oranges and reds two weeks after the storm and managed to hang on to a majority of its leaves during some pretty gusty times. I couldn’t help but stop and capture the vibrant colors with the setting sun filtering through the leaves.

Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/14, 1/80 sec.
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa Side

This photograph is available on my website at: Autumnal Brillance - A Maple Tree Bursts into Vibrant Oranges and Reds

Announcing “The Quiet Beauty of Nebraska”Posted by drfl on November 2nd, 2009

For the past few weeks I have been putting the final touches on my book “The Quiet Beauty of Nebraska”.  I’ve neglected my blog and some other duties, but I am finally ready to make it available.  Comprised of over 40 photographs from across the state of Nebraska, this book focuses on the scenic landscape, nature, and native wildlife that I have travelled far and wide to capture. 

To see a preview of the book and/or purchase, please take a look, it would make a great gift for the upcoming holiday season!
 

The Quiet Beau…

By Derrald Farnsworth…

Book Preview

Photo Friday: Soulful SoaringPosted by drfl on October 23rd, 2009

It’s been a while since I posted an image from my Canon G10. In the next couple of weeks I plan on having a couple of posts dedicated to images that I have captured using this point and shoot. Today, though I wanted to share an abstract image that I captured a couple of mornings ago of the clouds during a sunrise. It’s a simple image that I think gives a great feeling of peace and which relies solely on color and form.

Since the G10’s format is natively conducive to many non-widescreen monitors, I am also offering this image as a free computer desktop wallpaper for whomever may want it in three sizes. On a PC, in order to make this your desktop, simply click on the link that corresponds to your monitor resolution and right click and choose “Set as Background”.

1600×1200

1280×960

1024×768

Technical Details: Canon G10, f/4.5, 1/15 sec., Light Orton Effect
Nebraska Sky

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Soulful Soaring - Colorful Illuminated Clouds at Sunrise

Photo Friday: A Mt. Rushmore GalleryPosted by drfl on October 16th, 2009

Mt. Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags II

Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 40mm, f/10, 3.2 sec.
This photograph can be viewed on my website: Mt. Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags II

Following yesterday’s post “How to Chisel More Detail from an Image of Mt. Rushmore“, today’s Photo Friday contains 4 more images of Mt. Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota. To capture these images, I arose before sunrise and made my way through the Black Hills to the monument. I parked in the parking garage (I don’t know too many National Monuments in the western states that would have one) and for the first time in my life I saw the monument without another soul around. I watched as the warm sunrise light hit the faces and changed the tones from a light purple to a fiery red to a warm yellow glow. These images portray different angles with different lenses and in different stages of the early morning light (in order earlier to later).

Mt. Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags

Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 70mm, f/8, 1/60 sec.
This photograph can be viewed on my website: Mt. Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags

Sunrise on the Presidents

Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @200mm, f/8, 1/50 sec.
This photograph can be viewed on my website: Sunrise on the Presidents

Washington’s Profile

Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 300 f/4l, f/8, 1/1000 sec.
This photograph can be viewed on my website: Washington’s Profile

Welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom: Photos From a Wet, Nebraska SummerPosted by drfl on October 13th, 2009

From the Forest Floor
Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM lens, f/10, 1.6 sec., Schramm SRA, Nebraska
This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Mushroom Kingdom

It was a cool, wet summer in eastern Nebraska, much different from the past norm of hot, muggy, and dry. It stayed a vibrant green almost all summer and I never had to water my grass, in fact I don’t even think I moved my sprinkler out into the yard once. As a result of this weather, mushrooms were sprouting everywhere. There were mushrooms the size that I have never seen growing out of rotten logs, growing out of dying leaves, and just growing straight out of the ground. Now, Nebraska can have a wet spring which causes some mushrooms early on, but these two particular photographs were taken in early September, much later than the normal season. I managed to get out and several mushroom shots, but these two are my favorites from the selection along with “Small World“. 

The Mushroom Kingdom
Technical Details: Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM lens, f/10, 1.6 sec., Schramm SRA, Nebraska
This photograph can be viewed on my website at: From the Forest Floor