Contemplative Skater

Yet another capture from the BAPC field trip to the Lee & Joe Jamail Skate Park on the weekend before last.

Skater Down

It isn't always fun and games! In this case the skater was fine and walked away.

Monolith

A shot of one of the more distinctly shaped buildings in downtown Houston. The vantage point for this one was the Sabine St. overpass on our BAPC field trip this past weekend.

Skater One

Another skater from this weekends BAPC field trip. [Your right Larry - Here's the image I thought I was posting (top).]

Curly Headed Skater

One of the "skaters" at the "Babes On Boards" skateboarding event held at the "Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park," which was the featured stop on our BAPC photography field trip this past weekend.

Cool Girls

A couple of skaters from the BAPC field trip this weekend.

Street Skater

This shot came from our BAPC field trip this weekend [sort of!] For our field trip we went to the downtown Houston area along Buffalo Bayou which included the cities newest state-of-the-art skateboarding facility. I was impressed with the facility, but at the same time I missed the more raw grungy look often associated with the rebel street skater counter-culture mentality. So for this shot I took a photo of one of the skaters at the clean, new [maybe sterile] park and added a graffiti wall background I shot for another BAPC assignment. Hope you like it.

By the Numbers

Thirteen lens elements, four ladder steps, one set of trifocals, one triple stack of lenses, one flash attachment, one sunburn, two size ten feet on one three inch rung, three hours invested, forty deleted shots, one mocking wife, and a mystery bird in an old dead tree!

Tech: Oly E-3, Zuiko 70-200 w/ 1.4 Tele, Extension Tube, Circular Polarizer, FL50R Flash [Fired] TTL @ 1/100 and ISO 320, 283mm, Aperture Priority, Manual Focus Post Processing: Adjusted Exposure, Clarity, and Saturation in Camera Raw>Opened in CS3>Duplicate Background> Levels Adjustment Layer>High Pass Sharpen>Merge Visible>Topaz Adjust Clarity >Lens Distortion Vignette

Llama Up Close

Probably the last Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo picture I'll post this year. Hope you enjoy it.

Rainy Day Rodeo

In spite of the weather we still had a good time at the Rodeo. Our good friends Jamie and Mark, pictured here, rounded out our group of four. This was our third or fourth consecutive year to make the trip and I'm sure we'll make may more in the future - rain or shine!

Big Wheels

Two different takes on the big ferris wheel at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Paw Paw's Alpaca

This young boy was the grandson of one of the Alpaca exhibitors at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this weekend. For those of you who didn’t know [like me] Alpacas are similar to and from the same regions as Llamas. The main distinctions between the two are size, the Alpaca is smaller, and the shape of their ears. The grandad told my wife and I that he has about 30 head in his herd and that when the grandson is in the pasture he is the "Pied Piper".

Tech: Oly E-3, 12-60 Zuiko @ 49MM, f5, 1/60, ISO 800, FL50R Flash [Fired] Aperture Priority, Raw Post Processing: Clarity, Saturation, and Exposure in Camera Raw>Open in CS3>Duplicate Background>Clone Unwanted Elements>High Pass Sharpening>Merge Visible>Levels>Topaz Adjust “Simplify”

Junior Rider

I photographed this young girl competing in the Junior Thoroughbred Division 14-18. This event was set up at the smaller venue in Reliant Arena. It’s usually easier to get some good shots there because attendance is lower and it is open seating.

Tech: Oly E-3, Zuiko 70-200 w/ 1.4 Tele @ 258mm, f5.0 @ 1/250 and ISO 800, FL50R Flash [Fired] Aperture Priority Post Processing: Adjusted Exposure, Clarity, and Saturation in Camera Raw>Opened in CS3>Duplicate Background> Levels Adjustment Layer>High Pass Sharpen>Merge Visible>Topaz Adjust Denoise >Topaz Adjust “Simplify”

Foul Weather Fair

It was cold and rainy at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this Saturday. Not a great environment for taking photos, but at least Josh Turner put on an excellent show. Even though I was the only photographer in our group of four I had hoped take a couple of hundred shots at the carnival and livestock show. However in Saturday’s weather I was lucky to shoot about 40, out of which I will probably post four on the blog. Hope you enjoy them.

Tech: Oly E-3, Zuiko 12-60 @ 40mm, f4.5 @ 1/80 and ISO 320 @ +1, Aperture Priority Post Processing: Adjusted Exposure, Clarity, and Saturation in Camera Raw>Opened in CS3>Duplicate Background> Topaz Adjust “Psychedelic”>Merge Visible>Diffuse Glow Filter @ 40%

One More Backyard Bird

One more backyard bird - for now anyway! I promise though, more variety is coming!

A Couple of Backyard Birds

Wednesday evening I took these two shots in my backyard. I believe they are the same pair nesting in a tree hollow that I featured a while back. Both were shot with my Oly E-3 and 70-200 w/ 1.4 teleconverter @ 283mm with a FL50R flash. With the Oly's 2:1 crop factor that would make this combination a 566mm efective focal lenght. Shooting these birds has made me appreciate how much lens you need for birding. With this rig I find that any small bird more than 15 feet away is pretty much out of range. Meaning that at that distance I will need a 50% crop to fill the frame resulting in about a 170 dpi 12 X 12 print.

Lizard #1

What can you say about a shot like this? I mean it is a common backyard lizard afterall. Actually besides being a common backyard lizard it is one of my best, if not the best, macro shots I've taken. It's amazing what the right combination of filter, lens, settings, and flash can produce when you luck into it. Who knows what's next, maybe people shots!

Tim and Granny

This photo was taken this past Saturday when my wife and I joined her nephew, mom [pictured here], family, and friends at the Monument Inn Restaurant for some tasty seafood. In this shot her nephew was kidding her mom about me photographing her and I really liked the contrast of expressions that resulted.

Tech: Oly E-3, 12-60 Zuiko @ 32MM, f5.6, 1/60, ISO 400, FL50R Flash [Fired],Aperture Priority, Raw Post Processing: Clarity, Saturation, and Exposure in Camera Raw>Open in CS3>Duplicate Background>Levels>Curves>Merge Visible>Clone out Unwanted Background Elements and Remove Flash Highlights >Radial Blur New Layer and Erase Areas of Clarity>Black and White Conversion Layer>Lens Distortion Vignette

Springtime Vignette

Even though meteorologist are predicting 40’s for our area later in the week there is a definite feel of springtime in the air. This shot if from my backyard this weekend and it makes me want to fire up the barbeque pit and string up the hammock regardless of what the groundhog says.

Tech: Oly E-3, Zuiko 50-200 w/1.4 Converter @ 70MM, f13 @ 1/160 and ISO 400, w/ FL50R Flash [Fired] and Circular Polarizer

Sadie

Took this picture of one of our dogs [Sadie] this weekend. She was a long time pet of my mother in laws but we adopted her when Sadie's care began to demand more effort than my wife's aging mother was able to provide.

Tech: Olympus E-3, 70-200 w/ 1.4 tele @ 80MM, f18, 1/160 & ISO400 w/ Circular Polarizer Post Processing: Crop>Clone Out Leaf, Fence Post, etc>Curves>Levels>High Pass Sharpening Localized to Face Only>Lens Correction Vignette

Something Different

The other day I downloaded a group of bird pictures that I shot in my backyard. I deleted most of the batch but decided I liked the composition the simplicity of the silhouette and held on to it. Today I decided that the bird and pattern had an Oriental feel to it and decided to run with that. I added the canvas textured red background, yellow “sun,” black border, and Chinese characters for “nature” to the image. It’s a cliché’, but I like the way it turned out.

Sausage Pot

While no crawfish were harmed in the preparation of this pot - at least one hog was extremely committed!

Tech: Olympus E-3 w/12-60 @ 60MM, f4.0, 1/80, ISO 800, AP Mode, Raw Post Processing: Duplicate Background>Levels>Curves>Merge Visible>Topaz Adjust "Simplify">Len Distortion Vignette

Mud Bugs

Just for you yankees out there I thought I would include this picture of my lovely wife Dianne demonstrating what a plate of crawfish ought to look like!

Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez

"Let the Good Times Roll." My wife and I were invited to a crawfish boil this Saturday to celebrate the 30th birthday of a long time friend of our sons. Boiled crawfish, potatoes, corn on the cob, and sausage along with other goodies made up the menu and a good time was had by all. This shot is of the birthday boy helping out with the cooking.

Tech: Oly E-3, 12-60 Zuiko @ 17MM, f4.0, ISO 1000, Aperture Priority, Raw Post Processing: Clarity, Saturation, and Exposure in Camera Raw>Open in CS3>Duplicate Background>Levels>Curves>Verge Visible>Curves to Darken Background>Merge Visible>Saturation Adjustment Layer>Lens Distortion Vignette