Photo of the Week 1/25/10

Good candid opportunities often appear at inopportune times and difficult circumstances for a photo. The setting for this image, a moving dimly lit limo bus backlit by bright sunlight is a perfect example. I like the way this image captures the excitement of the wedding day for not only the bride and groom but also the other guests in the frame.

This image was captured at 1/250th of a second at an aperture of f3.5 and ISO of 1000. I used a Nikor 14-24mm f2.8 lens at a focal length of 14mm and SB800 flash. My Nikon D700 already generates little noise at high ISO and what little was present was cleaned up using Noise Ninja software.

Photo of the Week 1/18/10

This winter I got to take some pictures and play some fetch with the very enthusiastic Maddie, a lab mix who resides in Syracuse, NY. Naturally, I was drawn to the challenge of photographing a black dog on white snow but her great expression and snow sprinkled face are what made this an easy photo of the week pick. This exposure was made at 1/1000th of a second at an aperture of f/2.8 using my Nikor 70-200mm lens at a focal length of 70mm and ISO of 400.

Photo of the Week 1/11/10

This a shot I took for Washington, DC-based musician, Justin Trawick. This shot was actually Justin's idea and the background dancers were a group of teenagers we recruited on the spot. Justin is also the the artist you hear on my website and his birthday falls on this month so I figured he had earned a spot on the photo of the week. That and of course I really like this image.

I captured this image using a tripod and my Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens at f16.0 and 1/15th of a second at ISO100.

Photo of the Week 01/04/10

After an short break for the holidays, my photo of the week is back. I recently did a head shot session with NYC-based actress, Candace LaRicci. I shot the image above in Grand Central Station using a single softbox. I like the expression and eye contact in this image in particular. This is a real credit to Candace, who had to tune out all the people walking by throughout our shoot.

Photo of the Week 11/16/09

While shooting a BMX event about a year and a half ago, I captured the image above. I had shot hundreds of very similar frames of the various races and wanted to try something a little different. I increased the exposure time and panned with the racers to blur the motion. This was one of my favorites because of the way it takes on an abstract appearance more like a painting than a photo. This image was captured using a Nikon D40x and a Nikor 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 DX Lens at a focal length of 95mm. The exposure was for 1/30th of a second at an aperture of f10 and ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 11/09/09

A little over a year ago, I took a day trip out to the Salton Sea, while I was visiting San Diego, California. The strange, barren, and smelly landscape was utterly intriguing to me and I very much look forward to revisiting this location, though I hesitate to recommend it to others. The image above is one of my favorites from my trip. This image was captured with my Nikon D300 using a Nikor 17-55mm f2.8 lens at a focal length of 55mm. The exposure time was 1/80th of a second at an aperture of f7.1 and ISO of 100.

Photo of the Week 11/02/09

I captured this image during a recent kids' football game. While I was focused on capturing the action shots, I am always watching for moments like this as the coach of the team gives instruction to one of the players. This image was captured using my Nikon D700, with my Nikor 70-200 f2.8 lens at a focal length of 160mm. The exposure time was 1/1000th of a second at f2.8 and ISO of 500.

Photo of the Week 10/26/09

One of the things I hear a lot is, "You must have a nice camera!" This comment implies that a nice (read expensive) camera is required to take good pictures. There are times and places where this is true but more often it is not. Just as talented surfers have been able to ride waves on a house door, excellent photos can be made with lower-end equipment. And just as the best board in the world won't make me even a decent surfer, the most sophisticated cameras will never substitute for experience and skill. To illustrate this point the picture above was captured with my Treo camera phone (less than 2 megapixels) while I was in Belize, several years ago. The key here is the location, composition, and the time of day, which provides the great warm lighting.

Photo of the Week 10/19/09

I captured this shot of the strange path of a lightning bolt on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, DC earlier this summer. This image was on my mind the following evening when I was photographing from the top of the building in the front left of the image and the skies remained cloudy. This image was made at an aperture of f22.0 and 4 tenths of a second at ISO100 using my Nikor 14-24mm f2.8 lens at a focal length of 14mm.

Photo of the Week 10/12/09

In the summer of 2008, I took an amazing trip to the Philippines lasting several weeks. As I was there primarily for a wedding, I spent time in several small towns traveling and staying with the friends and family of the bride and groom. One morning we went into the market in the town of Tigoen and I noticed a woman hunched over a pile of charcoal she was gathering together and apparently selling. Her face and hands were blackened from the charcoal dust and her ragged clothes barely covered her thin frame.

In order to not draw attention to myself, I shot several frames including this one while holding my camera at my side and talking with my friend. I like the authenticity of this image, her resolute expression and posture and apparent indifference to her clothing's lack of coverage, and the way the whites of her eyes stand out against the her charcoal-stained skin. This exposure was made at 1/160th of a second with an aperture of f6.3 and ISO 400 using my Nikon D300 and Nikor 17-55mm f2.8 DX lens at a focal length of 35mm.

Photo of the Week 10/05/09

Even before I knew its name, I was a big fan of the triangular shaped Flatiron Building in New York City. I got a chance to take a few pictures of the building this week and thought I'd share this one. This 9 exposure HDR image was taken using my Nikor 14-24mm f2.8 lens at 14mm and f22. The high aperture and an ISO of 100 enabled me to use a slow shutter speed range from 1/80th of a second up to 3 seconds for the exposures to blur the moving figures and cars.

Photo of the Week 9/28/09

As the weather gets colder here on Long Island, I was reminded of the time I spent in San Diego, California just before Christmas last year. I made it out to Black's Beach after hearing great things about it. I was surprised to discover numerous parasailers and hangliders as there is a launch area above the beach. Before going for a quick dip in the Pacific, I snapped a few pictures including this one. I made this images at 1/400th of a second at aperture of f5.0.

Photo of the Week 9/21/09

I caught this moment at a recent wedding in Syracuse, NY of a bride being walked down the aisle by her mother. What makes this image special for me are the near identical expressions of the mother and daughter, which convey so well the emotions they are experiencing.

Here is a little on the technical details which enabled me to save the moment the way I did. This image was captured using my Nikon D700 camera using my 70-200mm Nikor f2.8 lens with an exposure of 1/125th of a second at an f2.8 aperture. This exposure was made with ambient light with my camera set to an ISO of 1600. An off camera flash is backlighting the subjects here as well. The clarity of the image is a testament to the newer Nikon CMOS sensors and noise filtering technology. What little noise was present in the image was further reduced using Noise Ninja in post-processing.

My photo on the big screen in the movie 'Away We Go'

About a year ago, I licensed several of my images for use in what was then an Untitled Sam Mendes Production. That production was released in theaters this summer as the movie 'Away We Go' staring John Krasinski (Jim Halpert from NBC's The Office) and Maya Rudolph, best known for her work on Saturday Night Live. The image above was used in the set of the house of another character played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. This was an extra bonus for me since she is one of my favorite actresses. The movie is now out on video and available for rental or purchase. My picture appears about an hour into the movie and can be seen during the staring couples interesting exit from dinner with Maggie Gyllenhall's character and her family.

Links:

Away We Go on IMDB

Official Trailer for Away We Go