US Congress Candidate Photography in Santa Fe with Alexis Johnson

November 07, 2019 in Commercial, Portrait

Santa Fe Political Photography in the park!

This was my second photo shoot with Alexis Johnson, who is running for U.S. Congress for District 3 of Santa Fe, New Mexico. For our first shoot we a little pressed for time, so I was very glad she had more time for this shoot done right in Cathedral Park in the heart of Santa Fe. This extra time allowed me to really find the best backgrounds in the park, which were still important to get right even though as you can see they are out of focus in both shots. The bokeh (out of focus background) quality is still very much dependent on what is being made out of focus. So purposefully choosing where Alexis stood for the above photo with a tree being hit by the sun resulted in that great, bright bokeh behind her.

Shallow DoF creates new Autumn views

October 30, 2019 in Fine Art

Warm autumn light & color plus shallow DoF

I tell my photography students that for something to be a photograph (and not merely a snapshot), you have to show the viewer something that cannot be seen standing there with the naked eye at eye level. There are many ways to accomplish this, one of which is to use a very shallow DoF (depth of field). For the first time, I own a f/1.4 lens, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens that I bought to pair with my new Sony a7R IV mirrorless camera just to be able to create shots like the one above. Because the DoF is so shallow, an ordinary tree branch,, helped by the colors of autumn and warm golden light, looks like an alien world. You cannot see that just by standing there and looking at it. Therefore, the photo shows something different that can attract the eye of the viewer.

Finally a New Mexico Roadrunner Bird photographed!

October 09, 2019 in Nature & Wildlife

Roadrunner in the backyard!

I have been waiting a long time to get a photograph of a roadrunner, the New Mexico state bird. In Florida, I regularly photographed birds. There are far fewer birds in easy sight in New Mexico, but in my new neighborhood in central ABQ, I regularly see, I believe, this particular roadrunner when out walking my dog. I do not tote around a 70-200mm lens on those walks usually, so I never get a chance to photograph this roadrunner.

Last Green Leaves Before Autumn 2019

October 03, 2019 in Photo Story, Fine Art, Nature & Wildlife

Wandering makes photos

If anyone asks me how did I learn photography, I tell them, by walking the streets of Tokyo for hundreds of hours with my very first DSLR camera, a Nikon D80. What is great about living in a city with wide spread public transportation is you can take a train to one area, walk randomly to where your eyes take you, then just hop on another train and get back home without having to worry about returning to where your car is parked. This is how I went about finding one of my more famous photos, at least in Japan, which I titled, “Last Green Leaves Before Autumn.” I submitted it to Metropolis Magazine (the largest weekly English magazine in Japan) and they featured it in the Photo of the Week section. Picking up a copy of the magazine the Friday afternoon it came out and seeing my photo featured inside, I was stunned and even stopped strangers passing by to say (in English), “that’s my photo!” It was a moment of exhileration I have rarely ever felt again.

Wheat colors in the high desert

September 04, 2019 in Nature & Wildlife

Getting Low and Close for Desert Flora Photography

When I have some downtime on rural land photography shoots waiting for the sun to get lower in the sky, I put on my macro lens and see what the desert might be hiding. Such was the case on a recent shoot in McKinley County, New Mexico. I had gotten all the traditional photos I needed, wide landscapes, and was waiting to make my signature HDR sunset shots. So I took a stroll around the property, not looking far and wide, but low and close. I have told photography students in the past, if you show me in a photo what I can see from my own eye level, that is one way to make merely a snapshot. To make a photograph I used to say, show me something I cannot see with my own eyes at my own eye level. Thus, by getting low to the ground, to the eye level of this desert flora, and using the very shallow DoF abilities of the macro lens to create a creamy bokeh, I can show the viewer something she/he cannot see merely by standing in the same spot.

Creative Commercial Portraits for Engineers in Albuquerque New Mexico

April 30, 2019 in Commercial, Portrait

Simplicity for diversity in commercial photography

With the right lighting and creative use of depth of field, one can turn an engineering building campus into a diverse photo shoot location for commercial portraits, like I did for these photos in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I left it up to each person if they preferred indoors or outdoors for their candid photos (after I made headshots of everyone earlier). Whether I shot indoors or outdoors, my lighting setup was the same. A very simple and flexible lighting setup of my new 42” Cheetahstand SoupBowl softbox powered by my Godox AD600 strobe light. Just using a different background and positioning the light differently allowed me to get a different looking commercial portrait for each person. Which one is your favorite style?

Cormorant of La Jolla California bird photography

January 17, 2019 in Nature & Wildlife

Get the background and the bird right

In La Jolla, California I was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to do bird photography. I knew there would be a chance for seal photos, but having birds also was great. I miss the bird photography I could do almost anywhere in Florida. Check out this anhinga for example. What makes a good bird photograph (or any photograph) assuming you have a good looking bird as the subject? Then for a bird photo to stand out it is a matter of having good light (it was only so-so in this shot) and having a good background. The latter made up for the former in the above shot with the creamy bokeh created by my Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2 lens. The blue in the bokeh is the Pacific Ocean.