Here are some other shots that don't really fit into the battlefield theme but I did take them at the park.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Manassas Battlefield
I spent the better part of this afternoon wandering around the Manassas Civil War Battlefield Park. I hate to admit it but I have lived in the Northern Virginia area for the past 27 years and this was my first visit. You wouldn't think that open farm fields would be very interesting but I have to say that it was indeed. It has an almost eerie feel about it when you are walking along the roads and trails where so many people died in what were some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. I'll post some more this weekend but here are a couple to start off with.
I spent the better part of this afternoon wandering around the Manassas Civil War Battlefield Park. I hate to admit it but I have lived in the Northern Virginia area for the past 27 years and this was my first visit. You wouldn't think that open farm fields would be very interesting but I have to say that it was indeed. It has an almost eerie feel about it when you are walking along the roads and trails where so many people died in what were some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. I'll post some more this weekend but here are a couple to start off with.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Logo Design
I have had several people ask me about my signature logo so I thought I would put up a quick post to tell you how I made it. First, all credit must go to Scott Kelby from who I learned this from in his type class at the last Photoshop World. Who knew that type could be so fascinating.
First of all, you don't need a Wacom tablet to do this. I have a Wacom but chose to go "old school". Just get yourself a fat Sharpie and a piece of paper, write your signature out a few times until you are happy with how it looks, then scan it into Photoshop. Once you have the signature layer, lower the opacity to about 40% or maybe even a little less. Now grab your type tool and put your business name (or whatever you like) right on top of the signature. You can flatten the layers or leave them and save in psd format. It really doesn't matter. Now here is the real key, when you want to place your new logo on the bottom of a gallery print or somewhere else on an image in Photoshop, don't copy and paste it, open it as a smart object in your image by choosing Place... from the File menu. This will allow you to resize the logo and then go back later and resize again if you so choose without worrying about image degredation due to loss of pixel data. That's it, very simple but a really cool effect. And if you want it in black, just invert your image and then do a levels adjustment of your mid-tones to make the signature look just right.
I have had several people ask me about my signature logo so I thought I would put up a quick post to tell you how I made it. First, all credit must go to Scott Kelby from who I learned this from in his type class at the last Photoshop World. Who knew that type could be so fascinating.
First of all, you don't need a Wacom tablet to do this. I have a Wacom but chose to go "old school". Just get yourself a fat Sharpie and a piece of paper, write your signature out a few times until you are happy with how it looks, then scan it into Photoshop. Once you have the signature layer, lower the opacity to about 40% or maybe even a little less. Now grab your type tool and put your business name (or whatever you like) right on top of the signature. You can flatten the layers or leave them and save in psd format. It really doesn't matter. Now here is the real key, when you want to place your new logo on the bottom of a gallery print or somewhere else on an image in Photoshop, don't copy and paste it, open it as a smart object in your image by choosing Place... from the File menu. This will allow you to resize the logo and then go back later and resize again if you so choose without worrying about image degredation due to loss of pixel data. That's it, very simple but a really cool effect. And if you want it in black, just invert your image and then do a levels adjustment of your mid-tones to make the signature look just right.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Afternoon shoot at Great Falls
I arrived at Great Falls National Park around 3:00 PM and headed out for my afternoon shoot. It was hot (93 degrees) and humid and I had 20 pounds of gear strapped to my back, not to mention the tripod I was carrying by hand. The light was not great this afternoon with a little haze in the air. I wanted to get some good IR shots but nothing really worked out from the overlook points. I decided to climb down to the water level and try some different angles. You can't really tell from the images but the climb down can be anywhere from 50 to 100 feet, depending on where you want to get to. I started near the falls which is the easier climb down. An hour or so later I had climbed back up and moved down river to where the reflecting pool shots were taken. This is almost 100 feet down and it took me about 45 minutes to negotiate the boulders and rock to get there. The only thing worse than the climb down, was going back up again. If nothing else, I got my exercise for the day.
I arrived at Great Falls National Park around 3:00 PM and headed out for my afternoon shoot. It was hot (93 degrees) and humid and I had 20 pounds of gear strapped to my back, not to mention the tripod I was carrying by hand. The light was not great this afternoon with a little haze in the air. I wanted to get some good IR shots but nothing really worked out from the overlook points. I decided to climb down to the water level and try some different angles. You can't really tell from the images but the climb down can be anywhere from 50 to 100 feet, depending on where you want to get to. I started near the falls which is the easier climb down. An hour or so later I had climbed back up and moved down river to where the reflecting pool shots were taken. This is almost 100 feet down and it took me about 45 minutes to negotiate the boulders and rock to get there. The only thing worse than the climb down, was going back up again. If nothing else, I got my exercise for the day.
Off to the Falls
I am going to run out to Great Falls and take a few happy snaps this afternoon. My plan is to shoot a lot of IR images since I will be there mid-day. I was thinking of shooting the falls at sunrise but the park doesn't open until 6:00 AM so I would have missed it by 1/2 an hour. Anyway, this is just a test image I shot in the backyard this morning when I was checking out my gear. The image was captured with a Nikon D200, 17-35mm f 2.8, and the exposure was 25 sec. at f 2.8 with a Tiffen 87 IR filter. The image was processed and converted to b&w in Adobe Camera Raw 4.1
I am going to run out to Great Falls and take a few happy snaps this afternoon. My plan is to shoot a lot of IR images since I will be there mid-day. I was thinking of shooting the falls at sunrise but the park doesn't open until 6:00 AM so I would have missed it by 1/2 an hour. Anyway, this is just a test image I shot in the backyard this morning when I was checking out my gear. The image was captured with a Nikon D200, 17-35mm f 2.8, and the exposure was 25 sec. at f 2.8 with a Tiffen 87 IR filter. The image was processed and converted to b&w in Adobe Camera Raw 4.1
Friday, July 06, 2007
Hit Counter Added
I finally got around to adding a hit counter to my blog so I could see if anyone was actually paying attention. Now I can stalk all of my secret fans, all two of you :-) Have a great weekend everyone, and in the words of my #1 fan, Mike (who is quoting someone else but I can't remember who), "it hasn't been shot until you shoot it."
I finally got around to adding a hit counter to my blog so I could see if anyone was actually paying attention. Now I can stalk all of my secret fans, all two of you :-) Have a great weekend everyone, and in the words of my #1 fan, Mike (who is quoting someone else but I can't remember who), "it hasn't been shot until you shoot it."
Thanks for all of the nice feedback on my profile over on Jason Moore's Soup Questions site. I have been looking at all of the great stuff that Ben Wilmore has been doing lately and decided to play around with some grunge effects. Here is a picture from one of the prison cells on Alcatraz that I have been playing around with. What could be more grungy than a prison cell.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Happy 4th of July!!!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th. I spent my afternoon fishing on the Potomac and, while the water was rough (2 foot swells getting to the Md. side), the fishing was phenomenal. I caught over 20 before I had to make the rough ride back across to the marina. There were some storm clouds overhead and I didn't want to get caught out in the weather. When I came home and put my toys away I decided to pick up the camera and see what I could find for a subject. I settled on a little pot of hens and chicks growing on the back porch. These are a few that I took with the 60mm macro.
I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th. I spent my afternoon fishing on the Potomac and, while the water was rough (2 foot swells getting to the Md. side), the fishing was phenomenal. I caught over 20 before I had to make the rough ride back across to the marina. There were some storm clouds overhead and I didn't want to get caught out in the weather. When I came home and put my toys away I decided to pick up the camera and see what I could find for a subject. I settled on a little pot of hens and chicks growing on the back porch. These are a few that I took with the 60mm macro.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
I'm officially online
I have recently started a new gallery page for my images that will make it easier for me to display larger volumes of images, grouped by categories. Much of this has been thanks to the great gallery creation features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I am still trying to get a feel for which gallery styles I like best so please pardon the inconsistency. I do welcome any feedback since this is a new endeavor for me. Also, you'll have to excuse my web page building skills. There is a pretty steep learning curve for making web pages from scratch so hopefully that will also become more polished in the future. If you are just dying to see the new sight, then just point your browser to RevellPhotography.com
I will still be submitting images to this blog as often as I am able. The other sight is to display a more extensive collection of images that I have collected over time.
I have recently started a new gallery page for my images that will make it easier for me to display larger volumes of images, grouped by categories. Much of this has been thanks to the great gallery creation features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I am still trying to get a feel for which gallery styles I like best so please pardon the inconsistency. I do welcome any feedback since this is a new endeavor for me. Also, you'll have to excuse my web page building skills. There is a pretty steep learning curve for making web pages from scratch so hopefully that will also become more polished in the future. If you are just dying to see the new sight, then just point your browser to RevellPhotography.com
I will still be submitting images to this blog as often as I am able. The other sight is to display a more extensive collection of images that I have collected over time.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Father's Day Classics
Another Father's Day and that means, yup, you guessed it, more classic cars. It was another banner weather year for the Sully car show. A little warm but very nice in the shade. I did my normal wandering around looking for something I hadn't seen in years past. If nothing else, it challenges me to see things from a different perspective. I hope you like my little offering from this years show. I have a couple more that I am still playing with and will add later this week.
Another Father's Day and that means, yup, you guessed it, more classic cars. It was another banner weather year for the Sully car show. A little warm but very nice in the shade. I did my normal wandering around looking for something I hadn't seen in years past. If nothing else, it challenges me to see things from a different perspective. I hope you like my little offering from this years show. I have a couple more that I am still playing with and will add later this week.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
St. Louis
I was in St. Louis all last week for a conference but I did manage to get a little walking around time. I was hopeful that I would find some great scenery to shoot but all I could muster was a couple of shots of the arch and the Eads bridge. It's a nice city but a little short on photo opportunities as can be attested to by my van mates. They serve a great steak at Morton's though so it wasn't a total bust of an evening (shout out to Mike, Don, Vinnie, and Scott who will never let me lead a photo expedition again).
I was in St. Louis all last week for a conference but I did manage to get a little walking around time. I was hopeful that I would find some great scenery to shoot but all I could muster was a couple of shots of the arch and the Eads bridge. It's a nice city but a little short on photo opportunities as can be attested to by my van mates. They serve a great steak at Morton's though so it wasn't a total bust of an evening (shout out to Mike, Don, Vinnie, and Scott who will never let me lead a photo expedition again).
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Lens Babies and Blossoms
It was such a beautiful weekend that I pulled out the lensbaby and went out back to take a few shots of my apple tree in full blossom. The deer have started their official countdown waiting for the apples at the end of the summer. I have yet to get to eat one but maybe the tree will be tall enough one day to keep a few out of their reach.
It was such a beautiful weekend that I pulled out the lensbaby and went out back to take a few shots of my apple tree in full blossom. The deer have started their official countdown waiting for the apples at the end of the summer. I have yet to get to eat one but maybe the tree will be tall enough one day to keep a few out of their reach.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I spent last week at the Photoshop World Conference in Boston. As always, it was an extraordinary few days of learning from some of the best and brightest in the industry. My friend Scott Kelby and his associates put on a fabulous curriculum and I highly recommend it for anyone that uses Photoshop or Lightroom. The pic below was processed in Lightroom and I picked up the titling from two of Scott's sessions. I even used some Smart Object tips that I got from attending one of Dave Cross' classes. By the way, if you are even thinking of investing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for your workflow, I highly recommend Scott's newest book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers. It is the definitive soup to nuts book on how to work with this great new program. You can find out more info here at Amazon.
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