Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Entrance | Washington DC
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I awoke to cloudy skies on the morning of my visit to Arlington National Cemetery, and I’m glad I did. The photos I shot in there just wouldn’t have the same mood and feeling if it was a bright and sunny day. It is such a hallowed and somber place that I wish I could be in there all alone, without the noisy fieldtrippers who do not yet understand or have the appreciation for such things. Don’t get me wrong, that was me last time I visited our nation’s capital—a 5th grader who really didn’t ‘get it.’ Visiting for the first time as an adult, I immediately felt the appreciation for the history and culture that all of Washington DC represents.
When I first emerged from the Metro, I could see this fountain and knew immediately that I wanted to spend some time shooting it. After a brief stop at the visitor’s center, I walked up to find a maintenance truck parked right in the middle of the center arch. My wife and I walked around the cemetery for a while, found some cherry blossoms, watched the Changing of the Guard and came back to get this before leaving.
The shot: Nikon D90, Rokinon 8mm /f3.5. 3 exposures, tonemapped in Photomatix, finished in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color Efex and Nik Viveza.
Path to the Clouds | New Bern, NC
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Happy first day of Spring everyone! With the way the weather has been in the Eastern US lately, it’s easy to forget that it was still technically Winter. I thought this shot of a beautiful pastel sunset behind the NC History Center would be a great way to ring in one of my favorite seasons.
The History Center, part of Tryon Palace, is one of my favorite places to shoot the sunset in New Bern. There are so many great foreground elements there, especially these boardwalks and railings. The plant life is also starting to bloom in the gardens there and I’m really looking forward to working that life into these shots!
The shot: Nikon D90, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 lens. f/22, 1”, ISO-100. 3 exposures, tonemapped with Photomatix. All three exposures and the tonemapped file were manually masked together in Photoshop. Finished with Nik Color Efex ‘Glamour Glow’ filter and ‘Pro Contrast’ filter.
Sun’s Last Reflection | Atlantic Beach, NC
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This was one of those sunsets that come along ever so often where the scene changes by the second. The colors shifted so quickly and so drastically. It seemed like at one moment (like this one) there were a lot of blues and greens in the sky but soon after, the sky turned a blazing red, orange and purple. Lots more to come from this sunset.
The shot: Nikon D90, 8mm f/3.5 Rokinon lens. f/22, ISO-100, 2” exposure. 3 exposures, tonemapped and manually masked together in Photoshop.
Saturday Sun Dogs | New Bern, NC
On a few occasions, I’ve noticed the little rainbow spot to the side of the sun at sunset but didn’t realize this phenomenon had a name…nor did I have my camera at those times. Sun dogs, as they’re known as, can appear as a spot on one side, both sides or as a ring the whole way around the sun.
This weekend I was shooting the sunset in New Bern with my friend Brad of Brad Styron Photography when the sun dogs appeared. I can remember a few instances where I’ve seen one spot, but not two. Luckily I was able to get it on camera.
The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm Nikkor VR lens, 3 exposures, HDR. Masked back with the original exposures in Photoshop. Finished with Nik Color Efex.
Off Season in the Marina | New Bern, NC
I caught this scene at the sun set on February 13 from the Bridgepointe Hotel and Marina in New Bern. The marina is not so busy in these off-season month, but will surely start to ‘heat up’ as the weather likewise does. I liked how the yacht and sailboat to the right filled the negative space opposite of the clouds and reflections to balance this photo out. It really leads the eye across the frame, which I like.
I bracketed three exposures for this scene, but standing on a floating dock, things didn’t line up very well. I auto-aligned the frames with Nik’s HDR Efex Pro (a program I actually use very little) and then masked the reflection on the boat’s window, the water and some of the clouds back in from the original layers.
The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm Nikkor VR lens, tripod held (while bobbing up and down on a floating dock). Nik HDR Efex for merging of three exposures, original layers masked back in using Photoshop CS4. Nik Color Efex and Viveza for finishing.
