Full Spectrum Photography

I was lucky enough to once again attend a Greensboro, NC Strobist group meetup. It's never a disappointment going to that group simply because of the people who attend and organize the meetings.

The models are great as well:

I stumbled across this place on the way to Eden, NC one day. When I saw the open roof trusses I knew I had to go there the first chance I got. When I finally did I wasn't disappointed by the view.



It looked like we weren't to be the first or last people to spend some time there. There was trash, old clothing, some questionable magazine pages, bullet casings, shotgun shells, broken televisions, and the creepiest part of all was "The Christmas Tree." The Christmas Tree was a huge fir tree that was adorned with different paper shapes with children's names on them. That was plain creepy.



It was hard to tell inside the old tin covered building which holes in the wall were from bullets/shells and which were just rusted through:



Luckily we found our way back to the road without meeting with any unsuspected suprises, but there was a creepy air about the place, almost like the feeling when someone is watching you while your back is turned.

I've been really busy with school work the past month or so, but here is a small update in the meantime before I can do a real post again.

This is compilation of some different processing I did to one picture I took at the old brick mill (full post next time):

Bottom to top steps:
1) Straight from Adobe Camera Raw
2) Photomatix used to fuse 3 photos into 1 HDR
3) My own LAB color processing done after photomatix
4) Nik Color Efex used instead of my LAB coloring



I hope this helps a few of you better understand how I approach doing HDR.

The other day when half the county was flooded I took some back roads and ended up at a service station that looks to have been abandoned several years ago.



I've been there before, but this time around the roof was about a hairline crack away from completely falling in.



I stayed around and took some pictures, but I don't think I'll be going back. Through the summer the vegetation will grow back up and the room will likely collapse, so I don't see much point in a return trip.



I love abandoned places.

Something I get asked at least once a month is "what kind of lighting should I buy?"

I suggest not buying hot lights (lights that are always ont) unless you are also planning on using them to shoot video. They tend to be very comparatively weak and hard on your subjects eyes when compared to "strobe" lighting. As the name implies they also provide a lot of heat which can do anything from warming up your studio to melting/burning some of your accessories.

Hotshoe flashes operate on AA batteries and throw out a lot of light in a fraction of a second which makes them ideal for photography. The lights you buy are of utmost importance, but the accessories you buy with them (stands, brackets, etc.) really don't matter as far as brand or price.

Below is a group of items that can get most people started in lighting while keeping the cost somewhat low:

SB-600 for Nikon camera owners


430ex II for Canon camera owners (may or may not require sync)



******Please note that you should buy a flash that coincides with the brand of camera body you own, for compatibility reasons.


Accessories:
General Purpose Light Stand


Universal Umbrella bracket


Shoot through umbrella


For more information on photographic lighting and equipment, check out Strobist.

Well I finally got my act together and started making the tutorial videos I promised everybody about a year and a half ago. The audio turned out a bit too low, but hopefully I'll get this worked out as I go.

The first series will be working with HDR, but after that I will go to regular photo retouching and maybe then something like advanced photo lighting lighting.

Part 1:


Part 2:


All the best,
Barney D.