You are Responsible for Everything in Your Photograph

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

“You are responsible for everything in your photograph.” — Kent Weakley

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

Morning Light

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New Steeple in Town

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography
The new steeple on the First United Methodist Church in Baldwinsville, New York.

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.

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.

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View 215: Intramural Basketball

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography
Going up for a basket during an Intramural basketball game in Victor, New York.

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.

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.

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.

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Airborne Over Ice

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

Continuing my quest to capture peak sports action, I caught a series of photos last night as the West Genesee Wildcats took on the Baldwinsville Bees in high school boys ice hockey.

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.

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.

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View 214: Winter of 2010

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Scott Thomas Photography

The delivery of a Western Digital My Book Studio 3TB External Hard Drive last week had me backing up and upgrading my Apple MacBook Pro laptop all weekend.  After hours of moving files from an older 500GB external drive, backing up the laptop, setting up Apple’s Time Machine to do automatic backups, creating a new Vault for Aperture (a special backup for Apple’s Aperture 3 software) and off loading older photo files to the new drive freeing up more space on the MacBook Pro…whew…before I knew it the weekend was over and I had not gone out and done any photography.  On the plus side, I got in some reading while I waited for the computer to finish each task.

Looking out the window yesterday at a brown muted landscape, I thought back to my trip to North Dakota two years ago when cold and snow covered every mile between Syracuse, New York and Medora, North Dakota.  In reviewing my photos from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park while reorganizing my photo library, I came across a set of photos to create a panoramic I had forgot about.  For those of us missing winter here’s a view of the Badlands from the park (Click photo for a larger image).

Theodore Roosevelt National Park panoramic landscape of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota from January of 2010.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park panoramic landscape of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota from January of 2010.

I will get back to shooting later this week.  It took a long time but I feel much better about the security of my system and all the gigabytes of photographic images.

UPDATE: I woke up to six inches of snow this morning.  I guess I should be careful what I wish for, eh? 🙂

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