POD #14

Taken with my Nikon D90 ISO 200 1/125 @ f/13. Natural Light

Took a quick morning trip down HWY 64 East to go check out the Haw River for a quick shoot. Just a little nature photography. This river is one of those places that is just a good memory for me. I stopped here several times on the way back from/ to Asheboro with friends and we always had a great time exploring the trails in the area. 

POD #13

Both taken with a Canon 5D Mark II ISO 320 1/125 @ f/4. Natural Light

Got a Canon 5D Mark II out from school over the weekend. Wanted to get a better feel for that camera because I am not as comfortable with Canon. I like Nikon. Plain and simple. However, Canon is what is used at my internship, so I decided to try and get a feel for it. These are some of the first shots I took with the 5D. The first is of my roommate on the back porch. The second is of her pet flamingo, "Frankie".

POD #12

Image 1 - Taken with my Nikon D90 1/125 @ f/11

Image 2 - Nikon D90 1/320 @ f/5.6

Image 3 - Nikon D90 1/125 @ f/6.3

All images where in natural light. 

Well the plan was to go to Yanceyville, NC to meet my girlfriend. Yanceyville made me mad within the first 5 minutes of being there so I decided that we were going to Danville, VA instead. What is so great about this girl is that without even skipping a beat, she said ok. The choice was definitely for the best because Danville is awesome! The first place we went to was the Dan River and we had an amazing time. The first shot is of the two bridges that cross the river. The second is a detail of the right/left bridge (depending on which side of the river/bridge you are on). The third is of my beautiful girlfriend. Sadly, I still cannot take a color image of her for some reason. Haven't figured out why. 

POD #11

Taken with my Nikon D90 1/125 @ f/16. SB-24 Flash triggering two Alien Bee 800's

Thought I would take a picture of where I am working for my internship. Was not aware at the time that my SB-24 for flash would trigger the optical slave on the Alien Bee 800's. Thank you Paul C. Buff. The first image is our shooting space at Leland Little Auctions. It is just enough room for us to do what we need. The second picture is my supervisor, Kent Corley, shoot details of a metal sculpture on a mirrored base. You would think that this would have been a challenge, but not for Kent. 

POD #10

POD #9

Taken with a Nikon D90 1/160 @ f/32

Taken with a Nikon D90 then run through Photomatix

An early morning at internship can be boring sometimes. This is unless you work at an awesome mill. Then there is always something to photograph. The first image is just a simple silhouette of the smoke stack at the mill. The second image is an HDR in the same location. I was just in the right place at the right time for this photograph. The sun was just rising above the mill and I just shot off a few photos real fast then decided to do an HDR. 

POD #8

Taken with my Nikon D90 then run through Photomatix.

Saw this fountain a few times on the way to Hillsborough and thought it might be interesting to shoot. The fountain is in some form of disrepair and the normal images just seemed flat and uninteresting. HDR seemed like the way to go here. One thing to be careful about is the bracket function on a Nikon. I was having trouble with the shutter speed jumping down so far that I was getting shutter lag. The key is making sure that the normal shutter speed is higher so when the camera shoots the underexposed image, the shutter speed does not drop below 1/80 to be safe. Unless you have a tripod handy of course.

POD #7

Taken with a Nikon D90 1/125 @ f/3.8 ISO 3200

There are a lot of things to discover in Asheboro, NC... if you look hard enough. Glow-in-the-dark mini golf popped up out of nowhere and it was obvious what needed to be done. A panoramic. This was a challenge because as everyone knows, earlier model Nikons do not handle low-light very well. With that said, I still feel like this is a good representation of the course. Here are a few more from that shoot...

POD #6

Image taken with a Nikon D90 1/100 @ f/9, Available Light and On-Camera flash as a fill

This was an attempt at a beautiful portrait of a beautiful girl, but the photographer did not have his thinking cap on and the composition is not quite right. The horizon line is the main issue. It should be below her shoulders. It does still work for the image, but it has an unusual feeling to it. The model was just brilliant and beautiful, of course.

POD #5

Top Image - Image taken with a Nikon D90. 1/100 @ f/5. Available light

Middle Image - Image taken with a Nikon D90. 1/125 @ f/14. Available light

Bottom Image - Image taken with a Nikon D90. 1/125 @ f/14. Available light

This is where my internship is this semester. It is an old mill in Hillsborough that is now used for basically whatever people need it for. This is the perfect place for a photographer like me because I love old, rustic buildings. Especially ones with smoke stacks. The first image is the alley way leading to the base of the smoke stack, the middle image is the smoke stack from the alley, and the final image is another view from the alley way. I think the different layers of negative space really add a lot to the final two images.

POD #4

Taken with my Nikon D90. 25 second exposure @ f/22. Ambient Light.

This is my favorite thing in the world right now. I love long night exposures. However, trying to find something interesting at 11:30 at night in Hillsborough, NC is quite a challenge. I took this image mainly for the design elements. I do wish there had been more cars on the road at this time, but live and learn I guess. 

POD #3

Taken with my Nikon D90. 1/200th @ f/13, daylight backlit, filling with on-camera flash.

I really enjoy going out on photo safari's and finding that absolutely adorable kid at a park and capturing a moment. I played with this image quite a bit more than I usually  do for this kind of thing. Trying to get the skin tone just right was a challenge since I am splitting white balances here. I know what everyone is thinking "WHAT!!!" On-camera flash!!! Well let me tell you, at times, it can be useful.

POD #2

Original Image

Taken with my Nikon D90, 18-105 Kit Lens, Available Light, f/10 @ 1/160 of a second. 

Took this image and liked the composition, so I decided to edit it and give it a little extra something. 

POD #1

Macro Image of a Moth @ f/ 10, 1/100th of a second, Nikon SB 24 Manual @ 1/4th power. Ambient light is a generic incandescent light bulb

I am not an insect photographer in the least, however, I have always wanted to see a moth up close. The perspective shows the top of the moth, which almost looks like a face. This was an added entertaining element.