While that last shot really made me look at multiple ways to convert the image to black and white, these two were much easier as these conversions really stuck out for me and worked perfectly for what I wanted to portray with the conversion...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 27mm, 1/120th second at f/8. ISO 800. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw, B&W conversion in Adobe Photoshop CS5 with Nik Silver Efex Pro using Preset 030 - Film Noir 1.

Mouseover the images to see the original color version.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 27mm, 1/120th second at f/8. ISO 800. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw, B&W conversion in Adobe Photoshop CS5 with Nik Silver Efex Pro using Preset 020 - Fine Art (high key, framed).

And as a bonus, here's a heavily cropped shot of a Peregrine Falcon sitting atop another piece of driftwood. This particular piece was probably 200 yards away, so the sharpness produced by my Canon 100-400 Mark II lens was definitely very surprising. I really expected any of the bird photos at this distance to be completely useless, but surprisingly I was able to salvage at least a couple for slightly more than identification photos.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/200 sec at f/11. ISO 800. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

We'll get back to the underwater shots here soon - I still have some gems to share from that trip (and hopefully at least one more video if I can get the motivation to put another one together).

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

And now for something completely different... </Monty Python>

Well, to be entirely accurate, we'll look at six rather similar things that are still pretty different in their own respect. We'll take a little break from the underwater photography and look at some photos taken just this past weekend in Presque Isle State Park. Anya and I went to the park to do some birding, and while we didn't see much in the way of birds, we did see some cool driftwood on the beach at Gull Point. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to do some black and white photography of it.

What I didn't realize was that picking which B&W conversion I liked the best would be a very big challenge.

Original Color	Preset 001 Underexposed (EV -1)	Preset 005 High Structure (harsh)
Preset 010 Low Key 2	Preset 020 Fine Art (high key)	Preset 024 Full Contrast and Structure

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM at 26mm, 1/80th second at f/8. ISO 800. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw, B&W conversion in Adobe Photoshop CS5 with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

As you can see from the original color version, it was a heavily overcast day, and even the horizon between the sky and the surface of the lake blended into each other and vanished. I wanted to either eliminate the sky or somehow draw some detail out of it. I think each of these conversions were at least partially successful in that goal, but I was amazed at how each conversion produces almost a completely new feel to the scene.

Mouseover each thumbnail to display the larger version, then cast your vote below for your favorite.

- Bill

Ok - as promised, more marine mammals. Unfortunately, these aren't nearly as cute as the sea otters from the other day. Again, to get through all of these photos, I'm just going to post another assortment (plus I'm having a difficult time choosing just one or two to share) - so just mouse-over the thumbnails to see the larger version.

These elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) are mostly males and pups. Apparently the females had already left the area. They return to this one cove in California (just up the road from Hearst Castle every year. The males - which get the long noses which give rise to the name - can grow to be 16 feet in length, and weigh over 6000 lbs. They can also dive to depths ranging in the thousands of feet (usually averaging around 1000 - 2500 feet) and can hold their breath for up to 100 minutes at a time. During breeding season, you would never see males together on a beach like this because they become fiercely territorial and fight (note all the scars on their heads and necks).

... but like I said, they're not very cute... oh, and they are moulting at this time of the year too which certainly doesn't make them any prettier...

As with the outdoor shots at Hearst Castle, the lighting wasn't exactly ideal. In this case, the sun was on the other side of the seals from where we were, which caused a lot of poorly places shadows. It was also ridiculously windy, and there was sand whipping around everywhere - which not only is bad for the camera, but also caused a kind of dusty haze in most of the shots.

However, I was glad that I had lugged my Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM long telephoto lens with me on the trip as after I took a few shots with the Tamron 70-300 and wasn't getting as close as I would have liked, I went back to the car and pulled out the big gun so to speak, as well as the tripod.

It definitely helped make better photos of these ugly beasties....

Then again, the pups are kind of cute...

I really love that third shot there with the pup almost completely buried in the sand. Between them throwing sand on their backs (to protect their skin from sunburn as well as flies) and the wind, this little fella was almost completely hidden in the sand.

Anyway, after this, we continued driving up the coast on Highway 1 which is a beautiful road (and fun as all heck to drive!). We tried finding the classic view of Big Sur, but unfortunately, the coast was socked in with fog and I didn't get many good shots (I guess we'll have to go back and try again sometime). So we'll be jumping right along into the Monetery Bay Aquarium next!!!

Stay tuned.

- Bill

Unfortunately, we didn't get any spectacular sunsets during our whole trip...

Technical Data:Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 10mm, 1/250 sec at f/8. ISO 200. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control.

I'd found this piece of driftwood earlier in the evening as we strolled along the beach and instantly knew I wanted to use it as a foreground element in a sunset photo. So we (well, mostly Anya) carried it along on our walk until the sun started setting. Unfortunately, the colors of the sunset were pretty muted, and I struggled with getting just the shot I wanted. I knew I wanted to be close to the water, which meant I had to shoot hand-held (plus I'd left my tripod back in the hotel room).

I tried all kinds of combinations - including using the flash remotely to give just a little bit of light to provide some detail on the driftwood. It was far from simple as I was shooting from a very low angle using the live-view on the back of the camera, holding the flash with my left hand to get it far enough away and on a pleasing angle, and of course watching for incoming waves (one of which did end up getting my sandals wet.

In the end, I guess I came away with a couple acceptable shots (of the set, the one above is my personal favorite), and more importantly a good learning experience of things to try or not try in the future.

Here's a few more - both with and without this driftwood...

I am still making progress through the photos, so hopefully I can get more frequent with the posts. There is still plenty of cool stuff to come....

- Bill

We saw sea otters while we were in California... they really are fun to watch!

Note how this one has his dinner sitting on his belly...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro1:2 at 300mm, 1/2000 sec at f/5.6. ISO 400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

I've been having some motivation issues with getting new posts written, so today I'm just dropping by to post a couple nice sunset photos. Enjoy.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm, 1/32 sec at f/8. ISO 320. No post production.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 28mm, 1/32 sec at f/11.3. ISO 3200. No post production.

Hopefully I get my motivation back soon and can get back to posting regularly.

- Bill

Ok - I don't know how many of these I will get around to posting (dive trips are always insanely busy vacations). So far, I've rattled off just under 3000 frames - granted, a large percentage of them will be culled, but it is still a lot of photos.

I'm six dives in with working with my 7D in the Ikelite housing, and I've been learning more and more each dive. I don't have an of those to share just yet, but for now, here's a couple shots...

Enjoy!

- Bill

Ok - still no luck with getting our internet connection fixed up at home. Comcast is already annoying me, and they haven't even even installed yet - but then again, that's why they're annoying me. Which means I have five sets of photos waiting to upload, so you'll have to bear with me a bit longer here and wait for the Vintage Grand Prix photos as well as some photos I took for Anya's Card Blog, and of course more nature photos.

Anyway.......... I am going to switch gears a little and make a post specially for my mom. Today she asked me why I had so many weird photos on the site recently, and actually called my cactus photo from the other day "a little creepy". I'm not quite sure what she meant by that, but she asked for more landscapes or "cute baby" photos (ie: my six nieces and nephews - her grandchildren). Well, I'm not so big on the baby photos - heck, I'm not even that big on any kind of portraits. But I do work in some landscape stuff from time to time. So here you go, mom...

Technical Data: Canon PowerShot SD800 IS Digital Elph at 4.6mm, 1/320 sec (horizontal) and 1/250 sec (vertical) at f/7.1. ISO Auto. No post production. Punta Sur, Cozumel, Mexico.

So we'll ignore some of the technical errors with these photos - like the sloping horizons - and just focus on the orientations. Do you like the horizontal or the vertical view better?

Either way, I wouldn't mind another trip to Cozumel. There are some white sand beaches there (and even a small one in the photo), but usually the beaches are rocky as you can see at the bottom of both photos. But the water is crystal clear and bright blue, and the sky mirrors the bright blue water (or is it the other way around?). Either way, I'd love to take mom and the rest of my family on a trip to the beach, and I definitely wouldn't mind a scuba trip or three.

Anyone have any winning lottery tickets they're not going to use?

- Bill

Today was one of those days. Just a horrid Monday.

And the fact that the only color outside my window at work is grey. Lots and lots of grey.

So just a quick post today to remind everyone what a sky with some color looks like...

I did get some good news today, though. I got an email from Adorama saying that my new Sigma 150-500 is shipping. So hopefully before the end of the week I'll have a new toy to play with, and some photos to share from it.

One of these days I'll get back to a normal routine. Till then, enjoy the sky with something other than grey in it.

- Bill