A little boy is learning about centrifugal force first hand while riding a fast moving carnival ride in upstate New York. Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/25s, f/20, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 18mm focal length.

On Google+, I curate or host a Daily Photo Theme each week called #InMotionThursday were I invite people to share their photos using techniques which show motion in a still photograph.

Photographers use various techniques like these to do so:

• Panning
• Blurs
• Zooming
• Long Exposure Streaks
• ICM (Intentional Camera Movement)

Since I post publicly, everyone on Google+ is invited to participate and each week people from all over the world post fantastic motion photos.  It is a fun way to learn about motion photography, meet new and creative photographers and giving back to the G+ community.

Photo themes are well known on Blogs and Flickr but have been taken to a whole new level on Google+ where there are hundreds of themes each week. Think of a photography subject and there is probably a theme for it. If you are on Google+, look me up here, Scott on G+, and, for those who are not, hope to see you there!

Photos taken with an Apple iPhone 4 using the Pro HDR app, except where noted.

1. Flake

You would think considering the time of year and where I live, this would have been an easy one.  Any other year, it would have been. This year I returned to a favorite breakfast cereal from my youth.  Hey, they’re gr-r-reat!

Tasty Flakes

2. Bow

With stores filled with Valentine’s Day merchandise, finding a bow was easy.  Finding one  worthy of Karen’s photo hunt took a little more time until I walked into the Gertrude Hawk shop.  A golden bow on a deep red heart shaped box.  Perfect!

Gold Bow

3. Mug

When participating in Karen’s photo hunts, I put the list on my iPhone so I can refer to it wherever I happen to be.  When attending a family celebration at the local Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant I ordered one of my favorite sodas, a bottle of IBC Root Beer poured into a large glass mug.

Mug of Root Beer

4. Row

This one I knew what I was going to photograph.  I walked out to my company’s warehouse and looked for a pallet of soda.  It turned out to be a pallet of Lipton tea and I lined up this photo of the blue caps in rows.

Rows of Tea

5. Bun

Years ago my local malls were filled with Cindy Cinnamon Rolls locations.  They were huge buns with billions of calories and people did not care they were so good.  Alas, I could only find this coffee bun at Dunkin’ Donuts.  Tasted okay but I do miss Cindy’s.

Milk and Coffee Bun

6. Something Heart Shaped in Unusual Places

This was not taken with my iPhone nor this month.  I still wanted to include it as I have shared it previously online but not on this blog.

Waterfall flowing into a heart shaped pool looking down from the Gorge Trail in Watkins Glen State Park, Watkins Glen, New York. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 6400, EV 0, 28mm focal length.

View out the front windshield of a 2012 Ford Focus driving around Syracuse, New York. Nikon D700/11-16mm, 3s, f/16, ISO 1600, EV 0, 16mm focal length.

My wife drove me all over Syracuse, New York as I rode in the backseat trying to get a good long exposure photo out of the front windshield.  Something I have had on my list of things to try for awhile now. I wonder if any of my readers from Central New York can guess where this was taken.

I used a monopod to allow me get a good grip on my camera during the 1 to 3 second exposures I used.  The photo above is the only one from the night drive which came out fairly sharp in the car at speed.

Mitchell Kanashkevich is an award winning travel and documentary photographer who is the author of a very unique eBook on Travel Photography called Rabari – Encounters With the Nomadic Tribe.  I know, it does not sound like a title for a photography book.  Think of it as going on assignment with Mitchell to India and having the opportunity to hear him tell you the how and why of the photographs he choose to take.

In Rabari – Encounters With the Nomadic Tribe, Mitchell Kanashkevich presents ten photographs from his four months of living with the Rabari. With each photo, he goes through the same process in order of how he came about to photograph the subject, the challenges of doing the photography, how he solved those challenges and the post-processing of the photos to create the look and emotion of the moment as he saw it. Starting with the original image before processing it.  For me, it was an engrossing way to learn how a travel photographer thinks and works out in the field.

Mitchell did all this with a Canon Rebel, three prime lenses (including a Nifty-Fifty) and a collapsible 5-in-1 reflector.  I know some of you will be happy to know he did not bring a flash and relied on available light, his assistant and the reflector.  His explanation and uses of the reflector to sculpt the light will get your brain working on how you can do it, too.  It sure did mine!

The ten photographs chosen are all very interesting and tell a story about the Rabari people.  While the eBook may seem structured, each section for the photos is very different.  He mentions several times how much help his guide, translator and photography assistant was in being able to understand the Rabari’s views on strangers, especially one who wanted to take their photographs. This is not unlike us going to a different part of our countries and encountering cultural differences.  This is how I looked at it as I was reading about each of his encounters.

Besides the goals of showing different aspects of Rabari life.  There was the technical and practical aspects of how to achieve the light needed, what exposure to use, interacting with the subject to get natural behavior, editing the shoot and finalizing the photo in the digital darkroom.

Mitchell uses Adobe Lightroom for most of his photo editing needs with some work in Photoshop.  He explains his edits in broad terms since editing is a very personal thing.  From his steps, you could go to your software and do similar changes and improvements.  I do not do a lot of brushing in of adjustments but, after seeing his results, I am going to be doing more of it as a way of getting more visual control over parts of my photos.

Rabari – Encounters With the Nomadic Tribe has 58 pages of content which reads quickly.  Photos are large or can be enlarged in your eBook reader or software so they can be studied.  I would go back to the finished photo after reading the post-processing part with a new appreciation.  When I got to the sixth photo, I started to work in my head the kind of adjustments he might have used and how he controlled the light.  The eBook costs $24.95US and is available for immediate download from the links in this article.

Last weekend, I did a photowalk with members of the Syracuse Photographers Association Meet-Up group on the Creekwalk. Nature was kind enough to add a layer of fresh snow which really improved the drab colors of our winter so far this year.

Onondaga Creekwalk in Syracuse, New York.

From top left: One of the distinctive Creekwalk lamps and markers, the Creekwalk features many benches for people to rest on and/or enjoy the views, HDR image of the Franklin Square business and residential area the Creekwalk passes through; joggers on the Creekwalk added some color to the winter scene.

During the photowalk, I encountered many people walking, jogging and even biking on a cold wintery morning.  Wildlife, too, was enjoying the day. Onondaga Creek was moving swiftly and I saw many ducks riding the current like it was their own lazy river.  Black squirrels were moving about looking for food along the Creekwalk’s path.

We only walked the section from Franklin Square to the Inner Harbor.  I will definitely go back when the weather is warmer and make a day of it.

While I did not get the photo I was looking for as I was late getting to the location (long story involving mistaken identity, fences and my iPhone saving the day).  I did get the following photographs which I am thrilled with.

Glowing full Moon over the Carrier Dome on the Syracuse Univeristy campus in Syracuse, New York. Nikon D700/80-400VR, 0.8s, f/11, ISO 2500, EV 0, 195mm focal length, tripod.

The photo above was planned to look that way.  I knew if I exposed for the lights of the Carrier Dome, the shutter speed would be too long for the Moon.  In fact, the Moon moved during the exposure and was blown out.  In processing, I recovered the blown out regions as best I could and left the glow about the top of the Moon.

After getting my Moon shots, I turned my attention to the City of Syracuse.  The beautifully lighted Most Holy Rosary Church was the natural subject to anchor this scene.

Most Holy Rosary Church with the City of Syracuse, New York skyline behind it. Nikon D700/80-400VR, 5s, f/16, ISO 800, EV 0, 195mm focal length, tripod.

I will have to re-visit this location, a reservoir just south of Syracuse, again as I continue to chase the Moon.

Did you know you had that awesome responsibility? Everything corner to corner and pixel to pixel is under your control. Thank goodness for teachers like Kent to help us make the most of this power.

I say that with respect and sincerity – thank goodness for our wonderful teachers in life. I was recently gifted Kent’s e-class on Photo Composition by Scott Thomas of this gorgeous blog, Views Infinitum. Scott and Kent share their talent with generosity and passion – a gift to those of us learning, watching and experimenting with this medium of photography.

Point and Shoot may be a category of camera, but it was also what I did most of the time. Kent gently guided his class through exercises that developed our thinking in tandem with our shooting. Perhaps my new technique should be “think, point and shoot.”

Before cropping (left) and after cropping for composition (right).

The course in Photo Composition was richly filled with examples keyed to the concepts presented. It seems redundant to say it was visual – but how many times have you had photography explained to you in words and charts rather than images? Kent does an excellent job of bringing the technical to life with his well thought out photographic examples.

My favorite part of this course wasn’t a single exercise or lesson, but rather a new joy for the stories our thoughtful photographs can tell. Embrace the ownership of that photograph, frame your story and share the beauty.

Thank you Kent and Scott.

Dawn, blogger of Sahlah, Photos and Thoughts

Morning Light

The new steeple on the First United Methodist Church in Baldwinsville, New York. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/400s, f/10, ISO 200, EV 0, 105mm focal length.

During my early years in the Village of Baldwinsville, New York, the First United Methodist Church had a steeple on it.  The steeple was removed in 1968 due to structural damage.  Well, being young and not one to notice such things, I only remember the church without its steeple though I must have seen it. I have photographed weddings and attended many community functions there since then.  The pancake breakfasts held at the church are not to be missed.  Never knowing the building was missing an original part of itself when it was built in 1870.

Last December the steeple returned and it can been seen from all over the village. I knew I wanted to photograph it but good weather and time was hard to come by.  On Sunday, I had my chance.  I captured the steeple in its white beauty with good side lighting and a backdrop of blue sky and wispy clouds.

The church looked okay in our unusual Winter season but I will return in the Spring when the trees have popped out their leaves and the grass greens up. I used a 5 image set of bracketed photos to create the High Dynamic Range (HDR) image below in Photomatix 4.0.

First United Methodist Church in Baldwinsville, New York with its new steeple in place. Nikon D700/28-300VR, f/9, ISO 200, EV 0, 32mm focal length.

Going up for a basket during an Intramural basketball game in Victor, New York. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/250s, f/2.8, ISO 4500, EV +0.7, 95mm focal length.

Attended my nephew’s intramural basketball game last week.  The boys are in their early teens which, is a physically ackward time in a boy’s life.  What they lacked in grace, they made up in determination and youthful energy. My nephew (dribbling the ball in the photo below) had his fan club in attendance as many of his family made the trip to the game to cheer him and his teammates on.

Dribbling the ball down the court. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/320s, f/2.8, ISO 5600, EV +0.7, 200mm focal length.

The game was tied at half time and it went down to the wire with my nephew’s team wearing orange pulled it out at the end by 2 points.  After the game, the family celebrated the winner in a nearby restaurant.

Taking a shot during an Intramural boys basketball game. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/400s, f/2.8, ISO 4500, EV +0.7, 70mm focal length.

The middle school gymnasium was quite the challenge to photograph in.  Even using the fast Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8 lens, ISOs climbed past 4000 at shutter speeds between 1/250 and 1/400th of a second.

West Genesee Wildcats defensemen goes airborne clearing the puck against the Baldwinsville Bees at the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena in Baldwinsville, New York on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. West Genesee won 3-0. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/500s, f/2.8, ISO 2200, EV +1.3, 200mm focal length.

A teammate’s stick had tripped the West Genesee Wildcats player causing him to go airborne.  He still had the presence of mind to continue to shoot the puck out of his team’s zone.  While this is something you see all the time in Olympic figure skating competition, hockey players like to keep their skates on the ice.