Assignment 9: Recap

Want to thank you all for making Assignment 9: Portraiture very successful.  I know it was a fast turn around from the last one.  I felt it would be something most people could get done quickly and creatively.  This time I was correct!  I would also like to thank all the models who gave of themselves even if they were not totally thrilled with the idea.

Our Danish blogger, Carsten, had no trouble finding a model.  His problem was which photo to use as he celebrated the birth of his granddaughter on his blog.  He submitted several (see assignment link for all of them) but this portrait where he setup a background and lights was his official one.

A new submitter, Brian Jones, showed us two photos of his lively daughter in front of a mural and bridges in Joliet, Illinois.  While both are nice, I really liked this one found elsewhere in his gallery.

Nye Noona selected a good time of day, excellent background and a receptive model (once the deal was made).  She also showed the fun and color of a prop in A Portrait of Lee.

Mike Criss, my favorite Alaskan photographer, did a Senior shoot for his daughter and showed us how he uses off camera flash to create stunning portraits. Not as hard as you might think.

One of the traits of a good portrait is capturing your model’s emotions.  The best way to do that is through the eyes and Doreen did just that with this fabulous portrait of her son who just turned over into the double digits.

Though not really a formal portrait where the model knew about it, Preston Surface shared with us a portrait of a man as he walked by on a hot Kansas day.  What is hard to do or find with a street photo is getting a good background and lighting.  Preston found both for us.

KD used a lovely day apple picking to set up a natural light portrait.  The title gives away the prop which helped the model get into the photo, An Apple for the Teacher.  My only question.  When do I get the apple?

Karma was also out picking apples with her family when she captured her daughters under the trees.  Though the portraits didn’t come out of the camera to her liking, she used the digital darkroom to adjust them into lovely autumn portraits.

Dawn shares with us a portrait of an amazing women and might have broken the ice for Dawn to take more portraits in the future.

Robin joins in for the first time.  She found a willing model by asking though it did take a bit of courage for her to do so.  I, by far, favor the portrait with the model engaged with the photographer over the other ones.  Good work, Robin!

First, I would like to thank Kathy for helping to spread the word about this assignment in a truly unique way.  Second, in following her own advice, Kathy photographed two close friends with beautiful smiles and hearts.

So, you have a teenager and a 7 year old and you want to take their photo for a silly blog assignment, what do you do?  Well, if you are Michaela, you do the best you can with a couple of not so willing models.  Good light, composition, and young eyes created some compelling portraits. Years from now, I am willing to bet these photos will be family favorites.

I knew who my subject for my portrait would be.  The question for me was where would I take the portrait.  I tried a few places but using a technique called rear-sync flash, my favorite was of my daughter with Mount Rushmore as the backdrop.

Birgitte is one of my favorite bloggers and photographers. Her take on this assignment introduces us to another side of her, the front side in her self-portrait post.

Jennifer A took a break from her food blogging, got (begged?  coerced?) her husband to pose for her.  Her selection of background, time of day, composition and clothing(?) focuses our attention to his handsome and personable face.  Well done!  Glad you made it this time.

I always look forward to the submissions by Deanna as she is a very creative person who loves photography.  That is a great combination and her portrait selections are colorful, well exposed and fun.

I throughly enjoyed all of your posts and portraits.  Each time you all amaze me as you stretch your photographic wings.

The next assignment will be in mid-November featuring your photos of the Autumn of 2010.  Remember, whether you live in a place of changing foliage or not, autumn is a time of change and community with lots of color and festivals.  Enjoy!

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View 145: Prairie Dog Bokeh

A prairie dog peaking out from his burrow at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

A prairie dog peaking out from his burrow at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Nikon D70/80-400VR, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 400, EV +0.3, 400mm focal length.

As I tell people when taking photos of children or pets, getting down to their level will make for better photos.  Prairie dogs are only about 12 to 16 inches high when they stand up.  Much lower when on all fours.  To get down to their level, I got out of the car I was photographing in and down on my stomach.  I held the lens steady by propping myself up with my elbows. This put the lens about 6 inches above the ground.  Using my old Nikon D70 camera with the Nikon 80-400VR lens giving me an effective focal length of 600mm (400mm times the 1.5 camera crop factor), I got some incredible photos at the eye level of the prairie dogs.

A forging prairie dog.

A forging prairie dog. Nikon D70/80-400VR, 160s, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 400mm focal length.

A prairie dog giving an approaching neighbor a bit of a threatening look.

A prairie dog giving an approaching neighbor a bit of a threatening look. Nikon D70/80-400mm, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 400, EV +0.6, 400mm focal length.

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Wildlife Bucket List

When I travel to areas where I know I will have an opportunity to photograph wildlife, I research the area and make a list of the species I want to try and find.  The list I made for my trip to North and South Dakota consisted of a large mammal, a cute “dog”, an antelope and a large horned sheep.  Lets see how I did.

The large mammal was the same American Bison or Buffalo I spent a day with back in January.  This time the weather was eighty degrees warmer in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park with temperatures in the mid-60’s (Fahrenheit).  The individual was a Bison bull who came around a rock formation near the road I was driving on.  His size was impressive as he came within ten feet of the car I was photographing from.

An American Bison bull in the South unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota.

An American Bison bull in the South unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV -0.3, 300mm focal length.

Back in January, the cute Black-tailed Prairie Dogs were no where to be seen as they were safe and warm underground in their burrows.  I certainly could not blame them.  This time I saw large active towns of prairie dogs where there had been snowy wilderness eight months before. The prairie dogs were out and about forging for food with the sentinels on alert who would give an alarm if they sensed danger nearby.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 400, EV +0.3, 300mm focal length.

Though technically not an antelope, the Pronghorn is often referred to as the only North American antelope.  In reality, it is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae which fits the same ecological niche as those antelopes found in Africa but not a true antelope. I came upon the pair you see below as I was driving to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Pronghorns are fast and can turn on a dime often reaching speeds over 50 miles per hour (80 KPH).  The buck at first tried to scare me off with snorts before herding the female in fast sprints in front of me.  After coming back and forth a few times, they ran out over the grassland they live in.

A pair of Pronghorns race across the South Dakota grassland.

A pair of Pronghorns race across the South Dakota grassland. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/40s, f/32, ISO 200, EV -0.3, 300mm focal length.

I thought I would not find the large horned sheep.  On the last day before leaving North Dakota, I visited the North unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park which lies about 75 miles northeast of where I encountered the bison and prairie dogs.  I was looking out over a beautiful river bottomland from the Ox Bow Outlook when I spotted them.  I first noticed many white rumps on top of a ridge.  As I came closer, the large Bighorn Ram raised his head and there was no mistaking he was the head of the group of ewes.  A younger male was nearby who may someday challenge the Ram but not on this day.

The large Bighorn Ram looks me over as he protects his group of Ewes.

The large Bighorn Ram looks me over as he protects his group of Ewes. Nikon D70/80-400VR, 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 400mm focal length.

I felt very happy to have seen and photographed all the wonderful wildlife of the northern plains but I got an additional surprise when leaving the Mount Rushmore National Memorial parking facility.  A nanny Mountain Goat and her kid where taking advantage of some of the plants in the landscaping.  I got a nice close up of the little guy.

A Mountain Goat kid snacking on some landscaping at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.

A Mountain Goat kid snacking on some landscaping at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/320s, f/10, ISO 200, EV 0, 300mm focal length.

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A Monumental Portrait

A portrait of my daughter at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota.

A portrait of my daughter at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 3s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, 28mm focal length (cropped), Nikon SB-600 speedlight, tripod & remote shutter release.

To accomplish this photo I set up my camera on a tripod and used a remote shutter release.  I set the Nikon 28-300VR lens to 28mm knowing I would crop it later to suit the subjects.  I used manual mode to set my camera to a 3 second shutter speed and an aperture of f/16 to ensure I got everything in focus from front to back with enough exposure on the lighted mountain knowing my flash set to -1 power would illuminate the model (my daughter) correctly at the end of the 3 seconds.  This is called rear-sync flash technique.  I did not want an exposure too long for the model to hold her beautiful smile. 🙂

This is my submission for Assignment 9: Portrature.

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View 144: Mount Rushmore

Entrance to the Mount Rushmore National Monument near Keystone, South Dakota.

Entrance to the Mount Rushmore National Monument near Keystone, South Dakota. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/100s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, 56mm focal length.

Is there a unique photo of Mount Rushmore National Memorial to be had?  I heard every shutter sound at the memorial and it is a slow time of year.  Thousands of photos were taken in the few hours I spent there.  One evening and one morning.  If you want great light on the Presidents, you want to be there in the morning.  Evening is much harder as the light is coming from behind the mountain.  A tripod and remote shutter release is necessary after the mountain is lighted at the conclusion of a half-hour ceremony consisting of a twenty minute movie and talk by a park ranger.

Here are my views of Mount Rushmore.

The classic Mount Rushmore photo with perfect blue sky as the background for Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

The classic Mount Rushmore photo with perfect blue sky as the background for Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/80s, f/14, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 200mm focal length.

President George Washington through a rock outcropping at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota.

President George Washington through a rock outcropping at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/160s, f/6.3, ISO 200, EV +0.6, 65mm focal length, spot metering.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial lighted at the end of the evening ceremony.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial lighted at the end of the evening ceremony. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 8s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, 28mm focal length, tripod.

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