A very prominent 22° Halo around the moon on Christmas night...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 12mm, 1/3th sec at f/11. ISO 800. Raw conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw,

- Bill

OK - just a couple quick and dirty photos tonight... we're supposed to get dumped on with a ton of snow, so I went out this evening and fired off a couple shots to get a "semi" before shot. We already have several inches on the ground, but all the snow sticking up in the branches was so beautiful, I figured I'd capture it real quick. I'll probably try and get out tomorrow when the light is better (these are long exposures to get them bright like that). You might even recognize one of the views...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm, 30 sec at f/3.5. ISO 320. RAW processing Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm, 30 sec at f/3.5. ISO 320. RAW processing Adobe Camera Raw.

Stay tuned for more... as long as we can get a door open to get out there tomorrow!

- Bill

Ok - as promised, here is a brighter version of the photos from the other night with the ORS-3 Rocket Launch. Mouseover each image in the sequence and you will get to see a bit of how it looked to have the rocket move across the sky (I was trying to figure out how to make it cycle automatically, but don't have the time to do so right now).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 13mm, 15 sec at f/8. ISO 1250. Raw conversion Adobe Camera Raw.

And in case you are having a hard time finding it, here is a 66% crop to show the rocket a bit more magnified...

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

So thanks to my father-in-law, I got some last minute notice that there was a rocket launch scheduled to take place from Virginia and would be visible along the east coast. Since we had a clear night, I figured it was worth seeing what I could capture with the camera.

I think I might have to reprocess these photos as looking at them again, they look like I processed them a bit dark (I was in the middle of a migraine at the time, so you'll have to give me a pass).

Anyway, here's the first attempt at it - I'll see if I can get a better cleaned up version later.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 13mm, 15 sec at f/8. ISO 1250. Raw conversion Adobe Camera Raw.

I know it is hard to see, but the rocket is a tiny orangish streak to the left of the tree on the right hand side of the image.

- Bill

Ok - I really haven't been motivated to process photos or post on my blog, but Anya and I took a trip to Hocking Hills in Ohio this past weekend, so perhaps that will provide the necessary push. Though I am sure it will still take me a while to get through them all.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm, 5 sec at f/32. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Landscape photography is not my strongest skill, so it took me about a day or so to actually start putting together some nice photos. This one, obviously, is not one of them. I share it mainly because it is in the first set (processing chronologically) and as an example of the magnitude of the geology we were in (I'm not always good about putting a model into my scenes for scale).

Stay tuned, more (better) to come.

- Bill

And to wrap up (at least for now, I might revisit some of the photos in the set in the future), here is a set of night photography in Yosemite.

If the one looks familiar, it is the same photo I used as a sneak peak, but I've gone ahead and fixed the yellow color cast that was showing up to light pollution.

- Bill

This photo is one that I am really pleased with how it turned out. Our last night in Yosemite, we stopped at Tunnel View (remember that from the other day?) and I took some last photos of the valley with the Milky Way above (more on those later).

As I turned around to head back to the car, I saw this scene and knew it would make for an interesting image. Well - to be honest, I didn't see it exactly like this - that would have been impossible. Instead, I was able to visualize how an extended exposure would make the tunnel look against the dark sky. I knew that the exposure time I would need to make the sky visible would cause the lights inside the tunnel to over-expose or "blow out".

The scene ended up looking almost exactly like I expected it to... and when I look at it, it has a very primordial feel to it - almost like that cave contains a burning fire like a volcano, ready to spew forth new life. Almost like Middle Earth existed in Yosemite...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 10mm, 7 sec at f/4. ISO 12800. Raw conversion Adobe Camera Raw with additional edits in Photoshop CS5.

I'm not normally one for titles on my photos, but something tells me that this one deserves one... I just don't know what would work. Any suggestions?

- Bill

Ok - it looks like the photos from this last trip are going to take me a while to process and upload, so I figured I would share a quick sneak peek (or should that be peak) to whet your appetite.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Fisheye (borrowed), 30 sec at f/4. ISO 12800. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop CS5.

As you can see, I even need to go back and redo this one and get rid of that yellow color cast the sky has picked up (not quite sure where that even came from and how I hadn't noticed it before). But that is just one of the awesome things we got to see on this trip... if you're wondering, that's the Milky Way over Half Dome (the peak on the right side of the center valley).

More to come - albeit slowly more than likely.

- Bill

I think this is one of those cliche styles of photography that every photographer tries at some point, so it was just a matter of time before I gave it a spin. It is fun, and the results are interesting - even if they are a challenge to get something really worth keeping...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro1:2 at 176mm, 41 sec at f/36. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Why This Photo: As I said, I think every photographer gives this a try at some point.

What Works: The symmetry of the light trails is really what caught my eye and I am glad that the end product does a good job of presenting it. Also, my new tripod worked well to keep the shot very steady even for a 41 second exposure.

What Doesn't Work: All in all, though, the photo is still pretty cliche, and quickly after browsing it, I think it can become stale. There are also some rather distracting elements scattered around the shot, but those are probably hard to avoid in such an urban setting.

I'm sure I'll try it again, so I'll just have to keep an eye out for a more interesting area to try next time.

- Bill

With the evenings getting darker earlier these days, I recently went out with a couple friends to get some night photography downtown. I came back with only a handful of keepers, but it was still a fun learning experience.

One keeper is actually two different exposures of the Roberto Clemente Bridge. One is a fairly short (1/2 second) exposure while the other is a much longer exposure at 25 seconds.

Short Exposure 1/2 sec at f/1.8	Long Exposure 25 sec at f/11

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, 1/5 sec at f/1.8 and 25 sec at f/11, ISO 100. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Mouseover each thumbnail for a larger view, then place your vote and leave a comment to let me know why you chose what you did.

- Bill