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Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+ The Wait | Pittsburgh, PA During my last visit to Pittsburgh, I got to take in the city from a new vantage point- The West End Overlook. Dave DiCello, of HDR Exposed Photography, and I traveled up to get a good view of the city. Unfortunately it was windy, rainy and COLD. The wind was blowing the clouds across the sky very quickly and we knew that eventually an opening in the clouds may shine a beam of light onto downtown. At least that’s what we thought. In the distance, we saw a gap in the clouds and knew it was only a matter of time. We waited and waited, then waited some more. Finally the gap, now a tiny sliver, reached the city shining a singe ray of light on the the right side of this frame. It just missed the city. The wait was over, but at least we got some material to take away from our trip up to the overlook. ©2012 Zach Frailey
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The Wait | Pittsburgh, PA

During my last visit to Pittsburgh, I got to take in the city from a new vantage point- The West End Overlook. Dave DiCello, of HDR Exposed Photography, and I traveled up to get a good view of the city. Unfortunately it was windy, rainy and COLD. The wind was blowing the clouds across the sky very quickly and we knew that eventually an opening in the clouds may shine a beam of light onto downtown. At least that’s what we thought. In the distance, we saw a gap in the clouds and knew it was only a matter of time. We waited and waited, then waited some more. Finally the gap, now a tiny sliver, reached the city shining a singe ray of light on the the right side of this frame. It just missed the city. The wait was over, but at least we got some material to take away from our trip up to the overlook.

©2012 Zach Frailey

The Keystone | Heinz Field; Pittsburgh, PA Connect- Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+ Before I get started, I just realized this is my fourth straight Pittsburgh related photo post. This wasn’t planned at all, in fact I really would have preferred to break it up a little. It just turns out that I had such a successful time shooting this trip that I have a ton of new material to share. Hopefully you can use these images to get an idea of how great the city is, if you’ve never been there. It’s an amazing place, really! Today’s photo, like the previous few, was shot during a morning photowalk with Dave DiCello of HDR Exposed Photography and Ben Beard of Ben Beard Photography. We ventured around the North Shore between the stadiums and downtown getting some predawn shots of the city before heading back toward Heinz Field and our cars. As we reached the stadium, we had a brief moment of clear sky and I was able to shoot a few brackets with my wide angle lens before the grey skies returned. With the Steelers (hopeful) run to the Super Bowl this year set to begin with a Wild Card Playoff game in Denver against the Broncos and Tim Tebow on Sunday, I thought this was a perfect photo to share. If you’ve followed me for any time, you’re well aware of my allegiance to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you’re with me, join me in saying “Go Steelers!” The Shot: 3 exposure HDR. Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens (f/16, 1/250sec, ISO 100). Tripod held, remote fired. Improted into Lightroom 3 for tweaking and JPEG conversion, tonemapped in Photomatix Pro, masked with three original exposures in Photoshop. Finished with some area-specific tweaks with Nik Color Efex. ©2012 Zach Frailey, Do not use without permission.
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The Keystone | Heinz Field; Pittsburgh, PA

Connect- Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+

Before I get started, I just realized this is my fourth straight Pittsburgh related photo post. This wasn’t planned at all, in fact I really would have preferred to break it up a little. It just turns out that I had such a successful time shooting this trip that I have a ton of new material to share. Hopefully you can use these images to get an idea of how great the city is, if you’ve never been there. It’s an amazing place, really!

Today’s photo, like the previous few, was shot during a morning photowalk with Dave DiCello of HDR Exposed Photography and Ben Beard of Ben Beard Photography. We ventured around the North Shore between the stadiums and downtown getting some predawn shots of the city before heading back toward Heinz Field and our cars. As we reached the stadium, we had a brief moment of clear sky and I was able to shoot a few brackets with my wide angle lens before the grey skies returned.

With the Steelers (hopeful) run to the Super Bowl this year set to begin with a Wild Card Playoff game in Denver against the Broncos and Tim Tebow on Sunday, I thought this was a perfect photo to share. If you’ve followed me for any time, you’re well aware of my allegiance to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you’re with me, join me in saying “Go Steelers!”

The Shot: 3 exposure HDR. Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens (f/16, 1/250sec, ISO 100). Tripod held, remote fired. Improted into Lightroom 3 for tweaking and JPEG conversion, tonemapped in Photomatix Pro, masked with three original exposures in Photoshop. Finished with some area-specific tweaks with Nik Color Efex.

©2012 Zach Frailey, Do not use without permission.

Weathering Storms | near Stonewall, NC Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+ This is the latest installment of my on-going ‘Abandoned NC’ project in which I am documenting rural abandonment primarily in Eastern NC. I came across this old boathouse near Stonewall, North Carolina. It’s hard to say how many storms this old structure has weathered over the years. I had seen it before but never had a chance to stop by and shoot it. I set out with the plan to add it to my project, but on the way it donned on me that it may not even be there anymore being that it is located in an area that was heavily impacted by Hurricane Irene in the summer. But, as I turned the corner, there she was. Standing there the same as always. It is amazing to me that things can sometimes be discarded as ‘useless’ or ‘junk’ but survive long beyond anyone’s expectations. That’s the essence of what I’m hoping to capture in this series; before these structures actually do succumb to Mother Nature, as they are certain to do someday. Check out the series so far at: http://uprootedphotographer.500px.com/abandonednc/ The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105 VR lens. f/16, ISO 200. 3 exposures, merged in Nik HDR Efex Pro and finished in Photoshop CS4.
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Weathering Storms | near Stonewall, NC

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This is the latest installment of my on-going ‘Abandoned NC’ project in which I am documenting rural abandonment primarily in Eastern NC. I came across this old boathouse near Stonewall, North Carolina. It’s hard to say how many storms this old structure has weathered over the years. I had seen it before but never had a chance to stop by and shoot it. I set out with the plan to add it to my project, but on the way it donned on me that it may not even be there anymore being that it is located in an area that was heavily impacted by Hurricane Irene in the summer. But, as I turned the corner, there she was. Standing there the same as always. It is amazing to me that things can sometimes be discarded as ‘useless’ or ‘junk’ but survive long beyond anyone’s expectations. That’s the essence of what I’m hoping to capture in this series; before these structures actually do succumb to Mother Nature, as they are certain to do someday.

Check out the series so far at: http://uprootedphotographer.500px.com/abandonednc/

The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105 VR lens. f/16, ISO 200. 3 exposures, merged in Nik HDR Efex Pro and finished in Photoshop CS4.

Back Home | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+ In just a few short days, I’ll be headed back ‘home’ to Western Pennsylvania. Living so far away now, I’ve grown to really cherish the few short weeks I get to spend in the Pittsburgh area each year. Being around family and friends that I miss so dearly is wonderful and spending time in downtown Pittsburgh is almost magical. I say it all the time, but it’s amazing how much I took the area for granted when I lived there. Rarely would I venture into the city, when I did, it was simply to go to a Pirates or Steelers game and then immediately go back home. When I visit now, I have to drink it in. I grab my camera and a friend or two and we spend hours shooting around town. One of the best parts about being as present in social media as I try to be is that I’ve met a few great folks who shoot a similar style of photography as I do and who live in the Pittsburgh area. Each time I return home it seems like I have ‘new old’ friends to hang out with. With the plans to shoot, visit friends and hang out with family during this trip, I might have to extend my visit for a few days :-) The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR lens. 3 exposures, handheld. Merged in Photomatix and finished in Photoshop CS4. REMINDER- As it nears crunch time for gift buying, please consider some prints for your loved one! Visit www.uprootedphotographer.com/prints to view the galleries. Make sure to order soon to ensure delivery by Christmas! Use code WEB25 to recieve 25% off your entire order, only until the holiday!
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Back Home | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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In just a few short days, I’ll be headed back ‘home’ to Western Pennsylvania. Living so far away now, I’ve grown to really cherish the few short weeks I get to spend in the Pittsburgh area each year. Being around family and friends that I miss so dearly is wonderful and spending time in downtown Pittsburgh is almost magical. I say it all the time, but it’s amazing how much I took the area for granted when I lived there. Rarely would I venture into the city, when I did, it was simply to go to a Pirates or Steelers game and then immediately go back home. When I visit now, I have to drink it in. I grab my camera and a friend or two and we spend hours shooting around town. One of the best parts about being as present in social media as I try to be is that I’ve met a few great folks who shoot a similar style of photography as I do and who live in the Pittsburgh area. Each time I return home it seems like I have ‘new old’ friends to hang out with. With the plans to shoot, visit friends and hang out with family during this trip, I might have to extend my visit for a few days :-)

The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR lens. 3 exposures, handheld. Merged in Photomatix and finished in Photoshop CS4.

REMINDER- As it nears crunch time for gift buying, please consider some prints for your loved one! Visit www.uprootedphotographer.com/prints to view the galleries. Make sure to order soon to ensure delivery by Christmas! Use code WEB25 to recieve 25% off your entire order, only until the holiday!

Underbelly | Surf City, North Carolina Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+ I recently took a day trip to Wilmington, NC and back up the coast with a friend, Joe Sadlo of Silverstream Photography. We stopped off at a couple of beaches including this one, at Surf City. The Surf City Pier is one of the more narrow ocean piers that I’ve been to and judging by the broken off pillars sticking out of the sand, it’s been through a little hurricane damage over the years. If you couldn’t tell by the amount of them I shoot, piers are one of my favorite things to shoot in HDR. I used my 8mm lens for this one and the extreme wide angle really makes this pier look like it goes on forever! The purple sunset sky was really nice on this cloudy evening and I wanted to really be sure not to screw up the sky. I did a lot of layer masking to retain the detail and realism there. The Shot: Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens. Tripod held, remote fired. 3 exposures, merged in Photomatix, tonemapped file masked with the 3 original exposures in Photoshop. A little touch of Nik Color Efex Pro and an Unsharp Mask to finish. As it nears crunch time for gift buying, please consider some prints for your loved one! Visit www.uprootedphotographer.com/prints to view the galleries. Make sure to order soon to ensure delivery by Christmas! Use code WEB25 to recieve 25% off your entire order, only until the holiday!
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Underbelly | Surf City, North Carolina

Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+

I recently took a day trip to Wilmington, NC and back up the coast with a friend, Joe Sadlo of Silverstream Photography. We stopped off at a couple of beaches including this one, at Surf City. The Surf City Pier is one of the more narrow ocean piers that I’ve been to and judging by the broken off pillars sticking out of the sand, it’s been through a little hurricane damage over the years.

If you couldn’t tell by the amount of them I shoot, piers are one of my favorite things to shoot in HDR. I used my 8mm lens for this one and the extreme wide angle really makes this pier look like it goes on forever! The purple sunset sky was really nice on this cloudy evening and I wanted to really be sure not to screw up the sky. I did a lot of layer masking to retain the detail and realism there.

The Shot: Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens. Tripod held, remote fired. 3 exposures, merged in Photomatix, tonemapped file masked with the 3 original exposures in Photoshop. A little touch of Nik Color Efex Pro and an Unsharp Mask to finish.

As it nears crunch time for gift buying, please consider some prints for your loved one! Visit www.uprootedphotographer.com/prints to view the galleries. Make sure to order soon to ensure delivery by Christmas! Use code WEB25 to recieve 25% off your entire order, only until the holiday!