Laurie's Blog

DLWS Santa Fe Day Two

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:21:58 +0000

Once again Joe had a very special treat in store for the group. We headed to the old New Mexico State Penitentiary where the bloodiest prison riot in US history took place in 1980. The prison has been unused for the last decade and is falling into a wonderful state of disrepair with amazing patina on the walls and great light coming in from the windows. We had four models and divided up into groups to photograph in various locations around the prison. My group worked natural light with Donald as our subject. Donald is a wonderful gentleman with a face that simply oozes charachter.

For the next session, we had Deollo, an engaging young man with a wonderful face and great head of hair and once again used natural window light…

As I entered the staging area, I found Adam just finishing up from working with a group and he graciously posed for a few quick shots…

While portrait photography is not my normal forte but, I have to say with the models we had to work with and the great location, it was a no brainer.

Images captured with Nikon D3S, AF-S 70-200mm VR II on Lexar Digital Media

DLWS Santa Fe Day One PM

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:15:48 +0000

Wow, what an afternoon! We took the group to a ranch that Joe works a lot when he is in Santa Fe and we had some models for the group to photograph. I took Rick & Hollywood (the horse) out beyond the buildings where he would gallop past us giving us some great panning opportunities…

The sun broke through illuminating the world in a beautiful warm glow so, we had Rick & Hollywood pose for a few more images…

The clouds were very dramatic and I was thinking B&W when I photographed the church. I used NIK Silver Efex to process the image…

I finished the day in the Saloon photographing Thomas using window light…

Wanting a bit warmer look, I pulled out the flash and used a warming gel to light Thomas…

Images captured with Nikon D3S, AF-S 24-70mm, AF-S 70-200mm VR II on Lexar Digital Media

Tech Tuesday…L-Bracket

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:17:57 +0000

Capturing the sharpest image possible is critical to the success of a photograph. I use a stable tripod to help prevent camera shake when the light is low. However, when turning the camera into the vertical position, the center of gravity is displaced which can run the risk of a sharp image. To avoid this problem, I use the Really Right Stuff L-Bracket to keep my camera centered on the tripod…

The Really Right Stuff L-Brackets are custom designed for most cameras.

DLWS Santa Fe Day One AM

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:55:40 +0000

We kicked off DLWS Santa Fe with a trip to the Plaza. After going through camera settings with the group, everyone dispersed around town in search of “Santa Fe” images. The first thing that caught my eye was a cool sculpture against an adobe wall. The simply graphic nature of the sculpture made me think B&W but when I converted it in the digital darkroom it didn’t speak to me the way I thought it would so, I took the opacity down to 50% to let some of the color bleed through and then added some contrast to emphasize the shadows…

I ran into Mike from Dell and we began wandering down the street. I like shooting with others because we now have extra sets of eyes spotting things, seeing from each others perspective. A colorful balcony caught my eye and while I was composing a pigeon flew into the frame and landed on the window sill. That darn bird matched the blue of the trim…click… Back in the digital darkroom I used Topaz Adjust 4 to finish the image.

We didn’t get far before we found a “Santa Fe” doorway with red chili peppers hanging down on each side…

All too soon, it was time to head back to watch Joe’s lighting demo on the steps of the Basilica. While Joe was wowing the group with his prowess in lighting, I looked over to see Stephie with her scarf wrapped around her face to keep warm. The blue of her scarf brought out the blue of her eyes so I asked her to pose for a quick photo knowing I was going to make a pano out of the image to emphasize the eyes…

With a great start under our belts, we headed to a well earned breakfast and then back to the conference room to work our images. We have a special treat in store for this afternoon. Stay tuned!

Images captured with Nikon D3X, AF-S 24-70 (first & last image), AF-S 70-200mm VR II on Lexar Digital Media.

Laurie Excell…”Plug”ged In!

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:38:58 +0000

I hear all these albums by artists…Eric Clapton…Unplugged, Neil Young…Unplugged, Bruce Springstein…Unplugged. Shoot, even MTV is…Unplugged (go figure) and the music is great! It has a grittier, more personal and intimate sound to it without all the studio enhancements. Well, that’s all fine and dandy if I want to make music (and trust me, you don’t want me to make music) but, I want to unleash my creativity in the digital darkroom and to be my most creative, I need to be “plug”ged in to…

…or an assortment of the plug-ins combined that make my job easier by doing the heavy lifting of figuring out the math for me allowing me to focus on the creative side of life. It’s great fun and highly educational to while away an afternoon exploring the various plug-ins to find the select few that help me to express my emotional reactions to a location, a subject, a brief moment in time.

DLWS Santa Fe is just a few days away and I am excited to be back with the gang along with thirty of our new (and old) friends for a few days sharing our mutual passion for creativity in a location that simply exudes creative vibes from every nook and cranny of which I hope to explore.