The Keystone | Heinz Field; Pittsburgh, PA
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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.
Autumn Rays | Kinston, North Carolina
Driving down a particularly long, straight and boring stretch of road, I noticed some interesting storm clouds blowing in from the West over the cotton fields in my rear view mirror. At the next opportunity, I pulled a u-turn across the median and found a nice dirt road that cut through the fields. Stepping out of my car and feeling the breeze and humidity, I could tell it was going to storm very soon. I was only able to capture a few frames before the sun was covered by the incoming dark clouds. This was the last frame I shot and thanks to those quickly approaching clouds, I really like the way the sun is showing a few rays, but mostly casting great diffused light across the sky. The colors in the foreground are about as close to fall foliage that I’ve seen in our area (thanks to countless pine trees) and it shows very vibrantly thanks to the sunlight’s brief bathing of the foreground. Storms coming in like this often are a very frustrating time to shoot. On one hand, the clouds and changing conditions around the sun make for some of the best lighting. On the other, conditions often change so quickly that you only get one chance to make the scene. It’s important to always be ready when you’re out shooting during weather conditions like this— you never know when you may need to make a u-turn and snap that scene!
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The shot: 3 exposures, hand held (no time to get out the tripod). Merged in Photomatix Pro, finished in Photoshop CS4. Very little other work- I really liked the feel and softness of the sky.
