Picture of the Week 7-30-2009

I chose this week’s picture from our archives but I chose to run it through Photomatix. This shot is one of my favorite photos that Bryan took when we visited Burnet, Texas in 2007. The shot was already very colorful but I thought if I made it an HDR photo I could make it pop even more. This is a single shot so in order to make it HDR I merged the original correctly exposed RAW file with RAW files of the same image where I overexposed and underexposed by 1 F stop. I know it sounds confusing but it’s actually very easy and look at the result. In order to grasp how awesome HDR is I put the before and after photos. Enjoy!

After

Before

Photo Info: Taken with the Canon Rebel XT at ISO 100 at F5.6 at 1/320 of a second.

Picture of the Week 7-24-2009

This week’s photo is a special treat. Bryan and I went to Crystal Cove this past weekend to take some sunset shots and to try out our new polarizing filter. We set up the tripod high up on the bluffs and shot away. Bryan decided to use the Auto Exposure Bracketing setting on our camera so he could do HDR images. We have only recently dabbled in HDR but we decided to go ahead and purchase Photomatix Pro so we could really experiment. If you don’t know, HDR (high dynamic range) is where you take multiple exposures of one image and merge them into one. Taking the best parts of all exposures to make one “super exposure”. Okay I just made up “super exposure” but seriously the photos look awesome. Below is a photo Bryan took and made into an HDR image. What a sunset!

We ended up making a bunch of these HDR images and put them up in the GALLERY. Check them out!

Photo Info: Taken with the 5D Mark II. 1st Exposure- ISO 250 at F8 and 1/640 of a second. 2nd Exposure- ISO 250 at F8 and 1/1600 of a second. 3rd Exposure- ISO 250 at F8 and 1/250 of a second.

Cal Poly Pomona: 5 Years Later

I graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2004. The year after I still frequented the campus since Jamie was still going there. Since she transferred I have only been back on campus a hand full of times. Today Jamie and I spent some time photographing there and chronicling the changes and the foundations. Jamie started by photographing the Arabian Horses. This is one thing which is both always changing but yet always a constant. The Arabian Horses have to be kept on campus you see as part of the deal Kellogg made to allow the ranch to become a university campus. Jamie photographed some of the newest additions to the campus; the young foals. Then we photographed the horses which sit in the triangle plot of pasture near the 10 freeway exit.

Next Jamie drove to the top of the new parking structure. I guess it’s been in use for a while but it is new to us. The structure is massive and probably is only dwarfed by the structure at Disney Land, California. From the top I photographed many buildings old and new. The familiar CLA building with the triangle shaped point sits near the library which recently got a face lift. The library is now a juxtaposition of old and new all in one. The original building remains intact with a new fascia on one half, a new entrance, and more room.

Most memorable of all are the Dorms where I spent many many nights with friends since gone off to lead separate lives but not forgotten. The buildings look exactly as they did the day I moved in during the Fall of 1999. I remember making the walk many times between Montecito where I lived and Cedritos where most of my friends were. I remember the long nights not studying but instead just hanging out or playing Counter Strike. Oh, those were the days. I also remember LosOlivos . A place called “the olives” can’t serve good food and it didn’t. I even worked there for a while. At least you could get a bowl of cereal and know it would be a constant. All Kellogg’s brands too… I wonder why?

After driving around the entire campus, Jamie and I crossed Temple Ave. and visited the Farm Store. There we bought some Faygo soda at one of the few locations where it is sold. I also picked up an awesome shirt which says “There are two Cal Polys: Pomona and the other one”.

I actually like what they’ve done with the place. A lot has changed in five years but even more has stayed the same. I’ve got to say I like the parking structure. Parking was always a nightmare on campus (and I lived there and had a separate lot). I can’t help but wonder what the next five years will bring. I hope it’s more of the same; improving the campus while paying homage to it’s history.

Kellogg Arabian

New foal at Kellogg Ranch

New foal at Kellogg Ranch

Kellogg horses

Kellogg filly

Jamie and filly

Jamie and Arabian horse

Cal Poly

Kellogg Ranch view from the parking structure

New Library

New parking structure

Jamie on the roof of the parking structure

CLA building

Cedritos

Clouds over Cal Poly

Farm Store

Farm Store Truck

Farm Store

Farm Store

Faygo

There are two Cal Polys: Pomona and the other one

Picture of the Week 7-14-2009

I’ve been really busy the past few weeks with moving so I haven’t been able to go out and photograph as much as I would like. So for this week’s photo I had to go back in the archives. This photo was taken way back in February 2006 when we used to live in Pomona. We used to live on the third floor with a balcony that overlooked Holt Blvd. Even back then I seemed to have a fascination with shooting sunsets. I’m sure it’s not good for me to be shooting directly into the sun but how else would I have gotten this shot? I believe at the time this sunset was made even more spectacular by the fact that a fire was producing a huge smoke cloud. Photography Hint: Sunsets are made better by smoke from wildfires. Anyway, enjoy this weeks photo and hopefully next week I’ll have something brand new.

Photo Info: Shot with the Canon Rebel XT at ISO 400, F16 and 1/500 of a second.

Independence Day Hike

Jamie and I started out our Independence Day at our new Tustin place of residence by having Red, White and Blue French Toast. If you know the history of how this country was founded you’ll understand why that isn’t a contradiction. As you can see in the photo the Red was provided by strawberries, the White by powered sugar, and the Blue by blueberries. Jamie and I then proceeded to spend the rest of the daylight hours filing my old mail in preparation to move it to our new place. This was the height of excitement let me tell you.

Luckily we broke away from that extremely exciting task to do something that was actually fun. Jamie booked us for an evening hike at Bommer Canyon which is in the South Preserve of the Irvine Ranch though the Irvine Ranch Wildlands website. The hike started at 7:30 PM and went on a 3 mile loop up near the 73 Toll Road and paused at the top of the ridge for a spectacular view of at least eight different fireworks shows all over Orange County. I took the camera along and attempted some shots of the shows below. Only after the hike did I realize I truly needed a zoom lens but I think the shots I captured were pretty spectacular nonetheless. Besides the long exposure night shots of the fireworks I also bumped the ISO up to 25,600 and took some shots lit only by moonlight. This is extremely difficult since you have to manual focus and it’s quite impossible to do anything except estimate distance since it’s dark out. Through trial and error I was able to get these shots somewhat in focus.

The hike was fun and just difficult enough to be challenging. Jamie and I look forward to doing more hikes like this in the future.

You can view the details of our hike here as well as our pictures below:

Red, White and Blue French Toast

Bommer Canyon trail taken with the SD550

Orange County

Moonlit shot taken at ISO 25,600.

Picture of the Week 7-1-2009