Behind the Lens

7/29/09 - Fashion Focus Show

2009-07-29T08:05:00.002-04:00

The following images were taken for the Fashion Focus Show. Because of the layout of the room I didn't have too much flexibility with where I could shoot from. The best I could do was sit 3 feet away from the end of the runway and shoot up at the models. This meant I was also shooting up at the drop ceiling (an ugly backdrop for sure), and my perspective of the girls was not the most flattering because it made their lower halves look wider than their upper.

Because the only ambient light was two spots and some dimmed reccessed lights, I had to use flash. To create a softer light, I bounced it off the ceiling. The challenge was that I was popping off a shot every 10 seconds. This, combined with the extra power required to bounce the flash, meant that the recycle times on my flash quickly dwindled. Thankfully, I brought along my assistant (Brenna) and had two flashes and 20 batteries. As my recycle time became too slow, I quickly changed flashes to one with fresh batteries that Brenna was maintaining.

There are a few things I wished I could have done differently. But, part of being a photographer is the ability to go with what the situation warrants and make the best of it. Besides, the girls all looked beautiful... which made my job easier.

5/30/2009 - Combining Ambient and Flash

2009-05-30T06:58:00.004-04:00

This set of portraits of my beautiful nieces was taken at a family bbq. Yes, I am an opportunist. I found a flowering Dogwood and placed my subject in front of a branch that was about chest height. For the lighting, the late afternoon sun was being filtered through haze from camera left and about 45 degrees in front of my subject. I supplemented this with a flash shot through a white umbrella to camera right but just outside of the frame of the image. This was about 2 feet in front of the subject to create a nice soft light.

I shot ETTL with a master flash on-camera, but not firing. The slave flash was set between -2 and -3 depending on the subject.

5/29/09 - A Weekend in the White Mountains, NH

2009-05-29T08:00:00.006-04:00

The following images were taken during a camping/photography weekend in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with my friend Erick and Bob.

5/10/2009 - Portraits w/ Remote TTL Flash

2009-05-10T12:47:00.003-04:00

Using remote slaves is a nice way to have a portable lighting studio. The downside of slaves is that all your flash exposure needs to be done manually (unless you have the new TTL-capable triggers from PocketWizard. However, both Canon and Nikon have remote capabilities built into their flashes (i.e. their flashes can talk to other flashes of the same brand and compatible models).

These pictures were taken with one remote 580ex as the mainlight, and a 580ex II in the hotshoe for fill. The mainlight is on a stand to camera right and is unfiltered. The fill on the camera is bounced into the corner of the ceiling and wall behind the camera.

The fill is programmed as the master flash and defaults to group A. The main is set as a slave and programmed to group B. Using this method, I am then able to control flash exposure compensation of both flashes from the master on the camera. Even better, I can set a flash exposure ratio difference between the master and the slave. In both cases, the ratio of master (fill) to slave (main) was 1:8.

My makeshift studio on this day was in my screenroom. I exposed so that the background ambient light outside was underexposed. There was little light inside, so my subjects are being lit primarily by my lighting setup

5/9/2009 - Portraits w/ reflected light

2009-05-09T06:30:00.004-04:00

What is one to do when your own kids have had quite enough of playing model... well, borrow the neighbors kids, of course!!!

It had been a while since I had done some portrait work using just natural light and as I was finishing up the yard work, I noticed that the light in the yard was perfect. I decided it was a perfect opportunity to get some nice pictures of my daughters. Nothing doing. Apparently, riding scooters is much more fun than standing around takng directions from you dad while he tries to figure out where that perfect light is... go figure.

But, all was not lost. As I was about to sulk back into the house, dragging my gear behind me with that dejected look on my face (yes, I'm not above a little guilt technique), my neighbor Timmy asked, "Mr Roberts, what are you doing?".

Aha!!!! "Timmy, come on over buddy, and I'll show you"

Interesting how all of a sudden my own kids became more interested in what I was doing at this point, also. There is something to be said for peer pressure, afterall. With a little hounding I was able to convince my oldest to hold the reflector.

The trick to using a reflector is to skim the light onto your subject to create a nice feathered light. If you bounce the light back at 180 degrees from the light source, it will look harsh... to say nothing of possibly blinding your model. Also, in most cases, the ideal lighting technique, for any lighting setup, is to give the feel that there is only one light source (i.e. shadows all in the same direction). Any additive light should be a fill and not as strong as the main lightsource.

However, in this case, my subject was in a shaded area and I was using my reflector for the main lightsource. The sun was about an hour from setting to camera right. However, Timmy was mostly blocked from the sun by the archway he was standing next to (to his right). I had my daughter hold the reflector at camera left, about 2 feet in front of my subject. The light was being reflected at Timmy's head at about a 45 degree angle.

The catchlight you see is from the reflector. You can see that it is at about 9:00 in relation to Timmy's pupils. If my daughter were taller, I would have liked the reflector to be higher so the light were more at 10:30. But, a dad can only ask for so much :)

5/8/09 - Remote Triggered Strobes

2009-05-08T15:22:00.005-04:00

I've been messing around with lighting with remote triggered strobes. For flashes, I currently have two Canon speedlites (a 580ex and a 580ex II). I am triggering these using three Pocket Wizard Plus II Transceivers. One sits in the camera hotshoe and one for each flash connected via PC Sync cords (note that the 580ex does not have a PC port and therefore needs a special cord with a built-in hotshoe. The 580ex II has a PC port)

The Pocket Wizard Plus II does not support E-TTL, so must be used manually (Note: Pocket Wizard now has a fully E-TTL supported receiver and transmitter for Canon). The method I use for getting the appropriate flash exposure is to use my light meter. The one I have has a strobe mode where it will not take an ambient reading until the flash is fired. For the two sessions I did below, I was going for a 1:4 ratio.

The first session was done inside the old observatory on top of the Blue Hills in Milton, MA. Somehow I managed to convince some friend to get up early un a sunday morning. I was looking for something dramatic to take advantage of the stone walls and winding staircase. So, I told my models to, "think Scooby Doo!!!" as the descended the stairs. I setup my main light to camera right and a background light to camera left. This was no easy task since there wasn't much room to work in. In hindsight, I wish I had the strongest portion of light on Rebecca in the middle to even things out.

The next session was with my wife Lisa for her PanMass image (NOTE: PanMass is a two day 180 mile ride to support the Jimmy Fund). I was going for an edgy, badass look (no small feat considering my wife is just not the badass type).

For this, I had her and her bike about 3 feet in front of a brick wall. I put my main light 45 degrees to my model at camera right and a background light to camera left.

4/3/09 - Fashion Runway Shoot

2009-04-03T07:22:00.005-04:00

This was quite the educational experience.... on a couple of levels.

I was asked by one of the mothers in the neighborhood to photograph her daughter at a fashion show she was modeling in. This seemed like a good opportunity so I agreed. I had a pretty good idea what I needed to do, but having never done any runway photography I spent some time researching it beforehand. Like most concepts of photography, there are varying opinions. However, the prevelant opinion for runway photography is a 75-200mm f/2.8 on a monopod and no flash. This is what I went with.

Before the event I also contacted the event organizer to make sure she was ok with me photographing. Technically, she did not have to agree, but did. In fact, it turned out that there was no other photographer there and she asked if I wouldn't mind photographing all the models. When asked about charging I told her that I would charge for prints but not an event fee.

I got to the event an hour early so I could checkout the layout, the lighting, and grab a prime spot at the end of the runway. Right away I became concerned about the lighting. The major lightsources were three skylights directly above the runway, with sidelighting from various flourcent and tungsten sources. I did some tests and found that I could shoot f/4 at about 1/250 at ISO 500 at the middle of the stage where the skylights directed the greatest amount of light. With my 30D, ISO 500 is about the limit. You will get some graininess, but it's useable. My biggest concern was that at the front of the runway the skylight would be behind the models and the exposure dropped to f/4 at 1/100. This would be ok with the older models who took their time and stopped to pose. With the younger kids who sped down the runway and never stopped, it was going to be tricky. But, I didn't want to risk unfocused images with wider than f/4 or excessive graininess with anything greater than ISO 500. I had my flash setup with me, but really didn't want to use it and figured I was going to chance it.

For the entire show I shot in aperature priority mode and f/4. Unfortunately, what I didn't count on was that the main lightsource varied throughout the event because the true lightsource (the sun shining through the skylights) was in and out of clouds. This didn't occur to me until I was postprocessing the photos. I ended up with an f/4 exposure range from 1/60 to 1/500. Pretty drastic. What saved me is that I shot almost 600 images and ended up with almost 200 good ones. However, because I was shooting at ISO 500, the graininess on most of the images will prevent anything larger than 5x7's (to my taste, anyway). Now, I REALLY want the 5DMkII :)

The shooting was fast and furious, and I realy had to anticipate. Althought I was exhausted afterwards, I found it exhilerating and alot of fun.

3/26/09 - Short-Eared Owl

2009-03-26T14:41:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we went for a drive along the Gurnet from Duxbury out to Saquish. I was hoping to be able to show the girls Saquish Village, but got cold feet when we saw the enormous sign at the enterance of the village threatening a hefty fine for any trespassers. I figured nobody would be out there this time of year, but the existence of vehicles in a few of the driveways proved otherwise.

On the way back, we noticed a largish owl hanging out on a fencepost. I stopped the jeep and grabbed my camera. But, it flew away before I could get my long lens attached.

At that time, a car pulled up and told us there was another owl hanging out on the bayside a few hundred yards up. I walked the distance and soon spotted a short-eared owl hanging out on the grass washed up on the beach. It was being backlit from the setting sun, so I had to angle myself in such a way to avoid sun flare. I love my 70-200mm 2.8, but it is not the lens for wildlife.... not enough focal-length. However, the beauty of this lens is its sharpness, and I was able to crop it down significantly to get a respectable image

3/19/09 - Chinese New Year Dragon Festival

2009-03-19T12:18:00.004-04:00

Took the family into Chinatown for the Dragon Festival. Aside from having to keep one eye on the kids while trying to look for photo opportunities with the other eye, the challenges were 1) capturing good images with so much movement, 2) jockying for position with the crowds, and 3) dealing with so much color. The later was probably the most challenging. As odd as it sound (probably because most photographers thrive on color), the abundance of color was overwhelming. I believe the more simple an images is, the more compelling it is to the viewer, and it was difficult to create images that wouldn't seem overpowering with a mix of bright colors. To overcome this I positioned myself, as best I could, to have darker and simple backgrounds, and used a shallow depth of field to bring out my subject compared to what was going on the background.

1/23/09 - Worlds End in the Snow

2009-01-23T18:43:00.009-05:00

During the eve of Martin Luther King Day, the South Shore received yet another dumping of snow. By the time I finished cleaning the driveway it was afternoon. I was anxious to get out and capture the snow-covered scenes, so loaded my gear in the truck and headed out with no particular destination in mind. I ended up at Worlds End in Hingham.

Even as I pulled into the parking lot I noticed the incredible late afternoon light that was being filtered through the clouds. It was constantly changing with the movement of the clouds… sometimes a golden hue, other times blue’ish. I knew it would be a challenge capturing the shifting light and high-contrast of snow, but also recognized an opportunity to possibly get some striking images. I trudged through the ankle-deep snow, under-dressed and wet by the end. But, came away feeling that it was a worth-while effort and happy for some outdoors time.

1/17/09 - Messing Around with Lighting

2009-01-17T15:20:00.005-05:00

This image of Lisa took a few different variation before getting what I was looking for. What finally did the trick for me was this:

The stained glass window is one I made in a wall sperating the family room and the kitchen. On sunny days, the light coming in the large picture window in the family room creates a beautiful glow in the stained glass window when viewing it from the kitchen. But, this morning the light wasn't working for me so, I stuck my 580ex filtered through a white umbrella (probably didn't need to be) behind the stained glass window in the family room. This flash was set at 1/16 power at 35mm.

High and to camera right I put my 580ex II, also filtered through a white umbrella. This flash was set at 1/64 power at 105mm. Just enough kick to highlight Lisa's face. Finally, a silver reflector was put face up at chest height to bounce light under the chin and nose. Both flashes were triggered with radio slaves.

The image was taken with my 70-200 2.8 at 1/250 sec, f/3.5, and iso 400. This was intentionally under-exposed for effect.

12/31/08 - Dramatic Flash

2008-12-31T10:55:00.003-05:00

Lately, I've been experimenting alot with using "off camera" flash for more creative lighting. This particular image was taken of my daughter as she was laying on the floor watching TV. Behind her, you can see the flames of the fireplace. My objective was to produce a dramatic image by controlling and limiting the amount of light that spilled onto my subject, while keeping a hint of the fire in the background. I did this by underexposing for the ambient light and shooting a strobe through a white umbrella at camera right. The strobe was set on manual at 1/16th (if I recall correctly).

12/20/08 - 2008 Christmas Pic

2008-12-20T18:31:00.007-05:00

This years Christmas pic of the girls was created with a strobe at 1/16 power, bounced off an umbrella at camera right. The goal was to provide highlight to the portraits while maintaining the existing ambient light of the tree and christmas lights in the background.

11/23/08 - Low-Light Photography

2008-11-23T13:21:00.018-05:00

Shooting in low light situations provides opportunities for creative photography. Yesterday morning I went down to Brant Rock at 5:00 with a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to use the low-light of pre-sunrise to allow an extremely slow shutter speed to convert the wave action into a milky smooth sea against the rocky jetty leading out to Brant Rock.

I set my tripod at the top of the stairs leading down from the sea wall to the beach, looking down onto the jetty. This particular image was shot at f/22 and 14 seconds and and ISO of 100. The result is an image that looks like it was taken an hour later (it was pretty dark at that moment), and the sea is smoothed out, creating a dramatic scene.

The next image was taken from the same vantage point, by turning the lens 90 degrees to the south. The objective was to leave the shutter open long enough to show the glow of the light reflecting off the seawall, while not over-exposing the ambient sunlight or the light in the windows. It was shot at f/22 and 17 seconds at ISO 100.

Finally, as the light brightened, I saw an opportunity to create what I hoped would be a dramatic black and white. f/22 and 6 seconds at ISO 100.

8/24/08 - The One That Got Away

2008-08-24T19:41:00.005-04:00

Last weekend I was away on a camping excursion and found a beautiful clearing where the morning sun filtered through the trees, sending gorgeous rays of light down to the clearing floor which was a carpet of ferns. One morning, I woke at 5:30am and brought my camera, coffee, and a book to this spot so I could capture the changing effects of the light as the sun rose. At one point, I was down on hands and knees with a tripod photographing close-up shots of the fern. I was heavily engrossed in this for a while, and when I finally looked up, I found myself staring into the eyes of a doe and her fawn, less than 10 yards away. I suspect that, in the crouched position, they did not find me threatening. At that moment, I panicked... there is no other way to explain it. I could tell that they were now becoming alarmed and I had only seconds to grab a shot. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was programmed in at 1/4s for the fern shots, and this was way to slow for the deer shot.

Flashback a couple of months ago.... I was taking a 2-day workshop on Documentary Photography. Both days, we were assigned with the task of walking around Boston capturing entriguing images of people that told a story. We were not allowed to ask permission to take the shots, we were just suppose to see the opportunity and make the best image we could. Frankly, I found this difficult.

So, what's the lesson? My photography leans more towards the "fine art" category. I like to immerse myself in a scene with tripod and cable release, taking in what is around me and taking my own sweet time about figuring out what I want to "say" with the image and figuring out the best way to do so. As a result, I am not accustomed
to making quick decisions with composition and camera settings when it is called for. I never realized this until the afore-mentioned workshop and this was reinforced when I missed the deer shot. Apparently, I need to spend more time with "quick-shot" opportunities.

8/8/08 - A Tourist in Oregon, Part IV

2008-08-08T11:49:00.004-04:00

Ok... so Mt Rainier is in Washington, not Oregon... close enough. Toward the end of the week, we drove the few hours up to Rainier to spend the night and do a little hiking the next day. However, even at the end of June there was still 10 feet of snow at the upper elevations, so instead of hiking, we sledded.

The images for this section were all taken in low-light situations (dusk and dawn). They are of a section of the Nisqually river as it flows by near the Cougar Rock Campground, where we stayed. The source of the Nisqually River is the Nisqually Glacier that works it's way down Mt. Rainier.

The intent of this shot was to make use of the low-light to allow me to use a slow enough shutter speed in order to capture the flow of the river, while maintaining the color in the sky as the sun set behind the trees. I did have to perform some doding and burning to bring out details and color that was otherwise lost in the dusk.

This image was shot shortly after the previous image. The same approach was used.

This image, with Rainier in the background, was taken at dusk. It was a little tricky because the mountain is in the full sun, while the forground is still in shade. Therefore, the background has a yellow hue, while the forground is blue.

8/7/08 - A Tourist in Oregon, Part III

2008-08-07T07:44:00.003-04:00

The dramatic change between the lush Columbia Gorge and the High Desert is sudden and almost hard to believe. One moment your in green forests with cascading waterfalls and suddenly your in dry, arrid country with nothing but sand and sage.

We timed it so that we reached the desert in the late afternoon so the sun was low and the lighting more suitable for dramatic desert shots.

For this shot, I used a polarizing filter to bring out the blue in the sky, to contrast against the light green sage bush and the the yellow black-eyed susans. The shadow under the bush helps give the image some depth.

This was one of the last shots I took on this particular day. The sun had nearly reached the horizon from my left, casting an orange glow over the landscape, and deep shadows for detail. In this case, I had to use the polarizer to prevent the sky from seeming to be blown-out. I was able to get just enough blue to save the image.

8/6/08 - A Tourist in Oregon, Part II

2008-08-06T14:08:00.003-04:00

It is probably a cliche to photograph the waterfalls of the Columbia Gorge, but there is good reason why everyone does it... They are simply stunning. On this particular day, it started out overcast and drizzly. I was able to take advantage of these conditions to produce, what I think are, moody images.

Multnomah Falls is one of the more popular falls to visit in the Gorge. However, I was lucky enough to have arrived early enough to time a shot without herds of tourists standing around. My goal for this shot was to show the flow and height of the falls while also presenting the lush vegetation and dramatic cliffs on either side of them. I shot this at a slow shutter speed to capture the fall as one continuous flow. I did have to do some burning and dodging to get the details in the rocks.

It's apparent why these are called Ponytail Falls. I placed my wife behind the falls to provide a perspective for just how tall the falls are.

This image was capture by standing behind Ponytail Falls. My goal was to show the power of the falls as contrasted by an otherwise peaceful forest setting.

7/25/08 - A Tourist in Oregon, Part I

2008-07-25T13:37:00.006-04:00

This years major family vacation was a trip out to Oregon to visit my sister and her boyfriend. I have to say that I was overwhelmed by the photo opportunities. One of the more successful was at Manzanita on the coast. I found the lighting in the morning and the evening to be superb because of the moisture in the air that is trapped by the high elevations along the coast.

What I first noticed when I saw this scene was how the early morning light gave a sense that the washed-up tree was glowing. This was enhanced by the deepened shadows in the branches and the blue sky in the background. I set up the shot so that the shadow in the sand created a leading line from the lower left of the frame to the main subject (the tree). I was also careful to try and balance the scene by bringing the horizon down to the lower third of the frame. To much beach and I think the scene would have been over-weighted with yellow. I also like the somewhat similar patterns of the divots in the sand and the clouds in the sky.

This image is all about leading lines, patterns, and balance of color. It was taken shortly after the image above. However, by this time the sun was hidden behind clouds, casting a blue'ish hue over the scene. The scene is made interesting by utilizing repeating "S" curves (the waterline) to visually keep the viewer engaged in the scene instead of leading them out.

It is very difficult to pull-off a sunset picture and have the sunset be the main focal point. Typically, the scene will not be interesting enough to stand on it's own. One way around this is to include something else in the scene that gives perspective to the sunset. In this case, the dead tree provides some visual interest and context to the scene. I intentionally waited until the sun was partially hidden behind a cloud. This reduced the amount of light and gave the sun more shape (instead of just a blast of light), while also reducing the contrast between the forground and the background, allowing me to get a little bit of detail in the darker foreground.

Taking a shot at an angle to a setting sun (i.e. not including the sun), can provide dramatic colors and a less contrasty scene than shooting directly at it.

Here is another example of including another subject with a sunset. This image is about tonal variations and repeating patterns (striations in the clouds and the driftwood)

6/13/2008 - BAY FARM PERSPECTIVE

2008-06-13T09:04:00.005-04:00

BAY FARM PERSPECTIVE

There are very few opportunities to capture an image such as this on the South Shore, these days. However, at Bay Farm in Kingston, this isolated tree sits in the middle of the field that was once a prosperous farm.

6/12/2008 - WISTERIA IN MONOTONE

2008-06-12T20:39:00.006-04:00

WISTERIA IN MONOTONE

This abstract B&W is of the Wisteria that's crawling iver the arbor entrance to my garden area. There is something about the image that I find intriguing. It's almost like a Japanese ink painting.

5/30/2008 - Flattered or Annoyed

2008-05-30T14:32:00.005-04:00

Flattered or Annoyed

I captured this womens expression while wandering through Haymarket Square. I watched her timidly working behind the stand, meeting the demands of her customers, while trying to keep warm on this particularly frosty day. She looked up moments before I took her picture and I'm not sure if she was flattered or annoyed.

5/28/08 - Urban Shoot

2008-05-28T07:38:00.005-04:00

This past weekend I joined-up with a group from the Boston Photography Center for a Urban walk/shoot around the Fort Point section of the City.

5/27/2008 -Voted "People's Choice"

2008-05-27T16:11:00.007-04:00

I am flattered and honored that "Passing Through - Daniel Webster Sanctuary" was voted "People's Choice" at this years North River Arts Festival.

5/9/2008 - A Fresh Coat

2008-05-09T01:36:00.004-04:00

A Fresh Coat

I think I like the story behind this image as much as the image itself. While cycling from Canada to Norwood, MA last year, we stopped at a small filling station in Northern VT for a quick break. This barn was across the street and the "old-timer" sitting in front of the filling station informed us that the 70+ year old owner of the barn climbed up the ladder every day and painted about 6 sq ft more before going back down to take a nap.

4/24/2008 - Humpback Whales off Race Point

2008-04-24T09:29:00.006-04:00

My family and I went down to P-Town on Monday to see the Right Whales that were reported to be mingling around down there. Apparently, there were close to 80 of them hanging around Race Point earlier in the week. When we got down there, we were disappointed to find a few people standing on the dunes with binoculars oohing and
ahhing over the barely perceptable water shoots of a couple of whales way off in the distance.

We drove around to various spots trying to find a better vantage point to no avail. Then an older local woman divulged a local secret (to which I am sworn to secrecy... unless a $100 should find it's way to my palm). The locals know of a spot where whales are often found, but it requires trudging three miles over the dunes and through a salt marsh to get to it. We got lucky since the tide was on it's way down,
and the marsh was dry. It was more like walking through a desert.

When we finally got to the beach, there were no whales to be seen. But, the beach was really nice so we hung out for a while and let the girls play in the water. Finally, Lisa decided to go around the bend of the beach. I heard her scream 5 minutes later and looked up to see a huge back coming out of the water only 100 yds off shore.

For the next half-hour we had a private performance put on by a couple of Humpback Whales within easy swimming distance of the shore (yes, I was tempted). It was pretty amazing.

4/25/2008 - Palette of Colors

2008-04-21T10:15:00.005-04:00

Palette of Colors

One summer day after work, I stopped by the Pembroke Herring Run to see if there was anything interesting to photograph. When I got there, the parking lot was full and a group from the North River Arts Society had their easels setup and working in pastels. This particular image of one of the artists box of pastels is my favorite from the day. I like how the pastels are arranged to create a sort of spectrum range of color. What initially appears as box of arbitraty pastels quickly becomes relatively organized and not haphazard at all.

4/15/2008 - Full Moon Rising on Cedar Point

2008-04-15T13:22:00.008-04:00

Full Moon Rising on Cedar Point

While attending a function across the bay from Cedar Point, I looked out the large plate glass window that overlooks the Bay and noticed a huge full moon coming up over the horizon of the Atlantic. Since things were wrapping up, I herded my family into the Jeep and drove over to Cedar Point Light. I took a bunch of shots that night. However, this one was captured as I was heading back to the Jeep and was taken without a tripod. I really didn't think it was going to come out, but I was pleasantly surpised by the results. Thank goodness for Image Stability.

This is probably one of those images that means more to me than to anyone else because of how it was captured. As a result of not using a tripod, the image is a little blurry in places. However, it is not significantly obvious and actually compliments the moodiness of the scene.

4/14/2008 - The worth of Art

2008-04-14T15:24:00.002-04:00

I have been wanting to see the photography exhibit of Dorothy Kerper Monnelly called "The Great Marsh". So on saturday I went into the city to check out the Panopticon Gallery located in the Commonwealth Motel in Kenmore Square.

Ms. Kerper Monnelly's work is very nice, but I was taken aback by the asking price of her prints (in some cases $1200 for just the print... you pay more to have it matted and framed). I am by no means an art collector, nor do I claim to understand this particular niche. But, $1200 for something that can be readily reproduced without a great deal of effort is tough for me to fathom. That said, I am aware that some photographic prints fetch a great deal more than this in the market. As a photographer, I appreciate that much of what one is paying for is the skill required to capture and finish the image. But, still...

Now, let's look at this from the opposite angle. To get to Kenmore Square, I decided to walk Newbury Street from the Park Street station and check out some of the art galleries. Now, I know art is subjective and everyone has their own tastes in what they like, but in my subjective opinion... there is a lot of crap out there.

Here's one example. I walked into the 3rd floor Newbury Street gallery and all I saw were squares. Everywhere.... squares. There were approximately 10 paintings all hung like they were to be admired and gauked at. But, the truth is that I wouldn't hang them on my fridge. I don't know for sure the medium in which this artist works, but it appeared to me to be oils and tape. It was as if he laid out various squares on canvas with tape, overlaid the entire canvas with paint, then removed the tape after the paint dried. And every piece was based on the same principle. Different colors and layout of squares, but...

Another example was at another gallery where the artist made very large paintings that were very geometrically balanced and seemed like they could have been done with oversized ink stamping kits like my daughters use. An example would be something like a flat red sky, green land (1/3 up) and far over to the right, flush with the horizon line, a square house with a triangle roof. Oh, but then the real selling quality of this art is apparently the fact that she dips the entire piece in some sort of clear plastic or latex and allows the large drip marks to remain at the bottom of the piece. You may ask why. Not to worry, the artist displays a written statement that explains that her work portrays the greed and despair of mankind (or something to that effect).

Now, one could argue forever whether these examples qualify as "art". My opinion (not that it matters) is that in all cases, it does. Somebody took the effort to produce something that was meaningful to them and we have to assume some of their heart and soul went into it.

My question is, what is this art really worth? In each case, the asking prices for the various pieces were in the thousands. Is anyone REALLY paying that for this kind of work? I suppose somebody is, but then I have to ask.... why? I suspect there is a bit of "Emperor's New Clothes" syndrome going on in the Art community. It's expensive, so it must be good. It will be interesting what collectors will be getting for this work in 100 years.

But, maybe I'm just jealous that nobody is writing me a $1k check for my work. I think I need to bump up my prices.

4/11/2008 - WAYWARD BUSH - SCITUATE RESERVOIR

2008-04-11T11:27:00.004-04:00

WAYWARD BUSH - SCITUATE RESERVOIR

The Scituate Reservoir was created by flooding a large section of wooded land. There are times in the summer when the water is down and you can still see the large stumps of the trees that met their fate many years ago, as a result. However, one persistant bush remains. Standing in the middle of the reservoir, it is a strange sight when you drive by.

For a while, I was passing this bush twice a day on my daily commute to work. Often the lighting and/or atmosphere were such that I kicked myself for not having my camera. Finally, one evening in October my timing was on and I had my camera with me to be able to take this shot during peak foliage. The sun was setting behind me, and lit up the scene beautifully. There was little wind so the tree reflected nicely off the water.

I like this image because of it's simplicity, the contrast of bright colors, and the moodiness of the scene.

4/10/2008 - Printing

2008-04-10T11:55:00.002-04:00

I must confess... I am now a "Do your own printing" convert. Until this point, my feeling was that the cost to buy a quality photo printer and keeping it supplied with ink and paper out-weighed the benefits of printing ones own work. The fact was that I had found a finishing lab that I was very happy with.

However, I've been reading a great deal of material on photographers who do their own printing and I found myself smittened by the idea. I did some research and decided that the HP9180 was within my budget. I spent much of last weekend calibrating my new purchase with my monitor and with Photoshop CS3. I had heard good things about Hahnemuhle Smooth Fine Art paper, so had included a couple of boxes with my printer order (at $80 per box of 25 the stuff ain't for snapshots). I was amazed at the quality of my prints... especially the B&W's. The blacks are very close to black and the tones of grey were extremely nice. More over, I found a greater sense of depth than even the prints from the lab (an outfit many pro's use).

I'm still testing papers and ICC profiles, but thus far I am very pleased.

4/3/2008 - Temptation

2008-04-03T15:28:00.004-04:00

Temptation

A photographic cliche'?.... yeah, probably. A great composition?... probably not. However, this is one of those images that I find I can study repeatedly and am drawn to because of it's simplicity. Hopefully, others are drawn to it as well.

4/2/2008 - "Beatin' the Summer Heat"

2008-04-02T14:34:00.004-04:00

Beatin' the Summer Heat

Two years have passed and I STILL smile every time I look at this image. My daughter had no reservations about using a large plastic bucket for an improvised pool. I absolutely love the facial expression.

I did a bit of dodging and burning to get the tones I wanted. The image has also been cropped from the original. I don't think I would change anything else. This one is a keeper... at least for me.

4/1/2008 - Powder Point on Ice

2008-04-01T19:54:00.005-04:00

POWDER POINT ON ICE

Yet another image captured with my trusty 3MP point-and-shoot a few years ago. I distinctly remember this day as being probably the coldest of the year. A group of us were supposed to be climbing up in New Hampshire, but the trip was canceled due to the dangerous temperature. Feeling a bit slighted, I decided to make the best of the day and drove around with my camera looking for photo opportunities. When I got to Powder Point Bridge (crosses Duxbury Bay an is the longest wooden bridge in the US) the first thing I noticed was that the bay was nearly frozen. Where it wasn't, the water was reflecting the deep blue of the sky.

Even though I broke a major rule of the Rule of Thirds (i.e. horizon half-way up), I still like the composition of this image. I orginally thought about cropping it to conform... but, decided that it worked the way it was taken. This has been a popular image and has even sold a few times.

3/30/08 - A Morning in Maine

2008-03-30T07:47:00.007-04:00

A Morning in Maine

The first morning of a much needed vacation. I'm up before the rest of the family. Coffee, book, and camera are in hand as I walk down to the dock nestled in a bend on the Damriscotta River, Maine. "ET Bugaboo", the boat I spent a good year building, is sitting quietly on the glass smooth water. There is a slight chill in the air, but it is warming quickly. The result is a blanket of fog covering the water. I know a photo opportunity when I see it.

This is another image taken about 4 years ago with a 3MP point-an-shoot. I like the simplicity of this image and the feeling of isolation. My only wish is that I the lobster boat to the right wasn't there. Now that I've improved my PS skills, I may try to clone it out.

3/26/08 - Lil' Dux

2008-03-26T18:39:00.007-04:00

"Lil' Dux"

This image was taken on a foggy October morning about 4 years ago. Surprising to some, it was captured with a 3MP point-and-shoot digital. The end product is the result of my introduction to Noise Ninja. Out of the camera, the image was very grainy. However, one pass through Noise Ninja and the image was recovered.

This has always been one of my favorite images in my portfolio. I like the relatively bright yellow of the boat interior set off against the dreary mood of early morning fog. I also think the tonal qualities of the grass also works well in this image. However, it has never been one of my more popular images. I must confess that I've never understood this, but such is the subjective world of art. It is possible that my opinion of the image is tainted by the significant effort I put into capturing and finishing it.

3/4/08 - More Catch-Up

2008-03-03T08:44:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, Erick Johnson and I embarked on a photography day-trip into the city (Boston). My goal was to attempt to capture the spirit of the city while avoiding some of the more touristy shots. I found it wasn't as easy as I had hoped.

Before even deciding on a plan of action, we noticed an opportunity with the unique window panes of the Park Street T station.

Next we putz'ed around the Public Gardens. Of course, being mid-February there were no flowers and little color. In fact, the only color I found was a red balloon stuck in a tree. I decided to capture it with the Berkley and Hancock Towers in the background

We then made our way over to Fanuel Hall, grabbed a coffee and then proceeded over to Haymarket to hopefully capture the sights of this energetic outdoor market. For a photographer, it can be sensory overload.

From Haymarket, we crossed under the Expressway and checked-out the North End. It didn't take us long to find a great bakery.

3/2/08 - Playing Catchup

2008-03-02T06:33:00.005-05:00

I need to do some catching up.

In January I took a course on capturing personalities with portraits. There was more info than I care to try and repeat in this blog, but the essence of it focused alot on the eyes and waiting for the right moment. "The eyes are window to the soul" and in photography, this is even more the case since the audience does not have the benefit of engaging the subject in conversation or watching the subjects actions. As the photographer, it is our job to attempt to capture what we perceive is the subjects personality and/or mood in 2D. Capturing the eyes at the right moment is one approach.

There was also a wealth of information related to using natural light with screens and reflectors. Since I enjoy environmental portraits, this was very helpful to me. Two pieces of knowledge I can pass on are: 1) When in doubt about which reflector to use with a portrait, try a gold reflector specked with silver. This reflector tends to provide the least harsh, yet still warm reflective light. 2) You almost always what your reflector to be at a direct opposite angle as your light source for the most even coverage.

3/1/08 - SSCC Shoot

2008-03-01T08:27:00.004-05:00

A few of the members of the South Shore Camera Club gathered at Mary Beth's house to play around with our camera's and be creative with various lighting situations and objects. Since I don't do this kind of shooting often, it was a good opportunity for me to stretch my imagination and get out of my comfort-zone. Many thanks to MB for allowing us to invade her home and pick her brain.

2/29/08 - Damon's Point

2008-02-29T13:14:00.006-05:00

I have been working on the post-processing of some images I captured off Damon's Point on Presidents Day. It pretty much poured the entire day except for a period of about an hour and a half when a break appeared. I happened to be home when I noticed that the rain was settling and the sky lightening. I took advantage of the opportunity to drive over to Damon's Point and see if I could catch some good lighting. I was rewarded for my efforts

12/24/07 - Morning Light

2007-12-24T06:58:00.002-05:00

Yesterday morning was forcasted to be foggy due to the snow on the ground and temperatures in the 50's. With this in mind, I went out looking for dramtic fog shots. Unfortunately, the fog never came. However, the day was slightly overcast with light filtering through the clouds, so I took what was given to me. On the Southern side of Bluefish River is a perfectly symmetrical tree next to a million+ dollar home. Whenever I drive by, I always look for opportunities to shoot this tree. Yesterday morning was no exception.

12/17/07 - Mt Monadnock

2007-12-17T14:03:00.001-05:00

Last weekend Erick and I did a day hike up Mount Monadnock. The trail was snow-covered and icy, but the wind was down and the temperature moderate until we reached the summit.

Erick Negotiates the Snow-Covered Trail

Steven

Erick Nears the Summit

11/23/07 - Flash Technique

2007-11-23T11:11:00.001-05:00

I've begun expanding upon my flash technique. I own a Canon 580EX that does a really nice job. However, there is more to flash photography than turning on the flash then pointing and shooting. Aperature, shutter speed, and even ISO factor into the end result of the image, as does the exposure mode (I prefer manual). The goal of using a flash is to create an image that looks like a flash wasn't used. There are many tricks of the trade for accomplishing this (ex: bounce flash, filtered flash, fill-flash, etc.)

Here are a few of the "messing around" images I've taken while experimenting:

11/20/07 - Another New Lens

2007-11-20T11:51:00.002-05:00

I'm on a roll.... spending $$$ I don't have on new equipment. This time it's a 24-70mm f/2.8. Like the 100mm, it is a nice piece of glass. Here are some samples:

11/9/07 - New Lens (cont.)

2007-11-09T12:11:00.002-05:00

The other nice feature of the lens I mentioned in my previous post is it's 1:1 macro capability. This enables me to get in close for shots while maintaining a real life perspective.

A JUVENILE PICKEREL

GETTING ARTSY

11/5/07 - New Lens

2007-11-05T08:55:00.002-05:00

I recently purchased a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro. My first capture with this new lens was of the kids. Immediately, I was very impressed with its sharpness and clarity. Now I want to get rid of my EFS 17-85mm f/4.0 -5.6... it doesn't even compare.

10/27/07 - More Portraits from World's End

2007-10-27T09:29:00.001-04:00

10/26/07 - Portraits @ World's End

2007-10-26T09:18:00.001-04:00

Recently, I had the opportunity for a photo shoot at World's End in Hingham. We were hoping for some nice autumn color, but due to the lack of recent rain, the leaves were still mostly green. However, we still got some nice shots that I hope the client will be pleased with.

10/24/07 - Lighting Opps. in Nature

2007-10-24T07:46:00.002-04:00

As many photographers know, Mom Nature will sometimes present opportunities that, unless you take advantage, you may never see again. Such was the case this past weekend. The first clue was when, while talking to my wife on my cell, she informed me that it was dark and overcast in Marshfield. Meanwhile, one town over, I was experiencing a bright and clear day.

As I continued to drive towards Marshfield, I observed the cause. I quickly pulled into the Driftway in Scituate, and captured the moment.

The cloud cover above and the sun lighting the grass from the right makes this a dramatic image that would have been tough to capture otherwise

10/23/07 - Fall at Daniel Webster Sanctuary

2007-10-23T07:58:00.002-04:00

Here in New England, the fall foliage has been a bit disappointing due to the exceptionally dry few months we have had. However, I was able to track down some color at the Daniel Webster Sanctuary this past weekend.

10/11/07 - A Better Black and White

2007-10-11T14:34:00.001-04:00

I found some great tips in John Beardsworth's "Advanced Digital Black & White Photography". I strongly recommend it for any serious photographer wishing to produce high-quality B&W's. The most significant "take-away" for me was the ability to make better use of color channels to illustrate seperation of color in a purely grey-tone image.

Compare the above image to it's color version in my previous post http://sdrimages.blogspot.com/2007/10/10807-fall-portrait.html

10/8/07 - Fall Portrait

2007-10-08T09:41:00.001-04:00

An overcast fall day is an opportunity to introduce some colorful background to your portraits

10/6/07: A Week in the Whites

2007-10-06T07:27:00.001-04:00

This years family vacation was a week in the White Mountains of NH. Any time of year, the Whites provide ideal photo opportunities. Granted these images were from a few months ago. But, since I didn't have a photojournal at the time...

We spent much of the 90 degree days floating down the Saco River

Sunset behind the Whites

Diana's Bath was a nice Refresher

The Mount Washington Cog Rail

Snow in July????

10/2/07: More Can-Mass Challenge

2007-10-02T11:57:00.001-04:00

Here are some more images taken from our 300 mile Canada to Massachusetts cycling adventure

Camping along the Moose River was very soothing

The guys flying down Route 5

I couldn't help stopping to photograph the rustic country architecture

The openess of the landscape is breathtaking

10/1/07: Beach Portraits

2007-10-01T08:30:00.001-04:00

I am currently finishing up the post-processing work for a family photo shoot I did at Rexhame Beach. Unfortunately, I missed-judged the sun and we started a little earlier than I would have liked. Therefore, the light was a bit too harsh down by the water. By the time that nice golden glow was starting to show, the kids were showing signs of becoming cranky (they had already been at it for an hour and I'm sure they were dealing with the effects of the first week of school). However, we did manage to get some keepers up by the dunes.

9/30/07: Day 1

2007-09-30T18:09:00.003-04:00

I have finally stepped up to the world of blogging. My goal is to develop an informal online journal to add a more personal touch to my online photography site at http://www.stevendavidroberts.com/. My initial plan is to provide a behind the lens look at how my images were created and the stories that support them. What else develops remains to be seen.

To start, I will provide a few images from a recent cycling excursion from the Canadian border to Norwood, MA. My companions were Chris, Dan, and Erick. It took us 4 days to complete the 300 miles. We started in Derby Line, VT and followed Rt 5 south until Rt 12 where we cut across NH and into MA. The main route across MA was 2A. We camped out along the way and aside from a half day of rain and some frosty mornings, we couldn't have asked for better weather. We had a blast.

Dan, Erick, and Chris ride by one of the many scenic barns along Route 5

Dan, Chris, and Erick

Chris passes by a sunflower field