Bokeh Tuesday

High res image can be downloaded from my Flickr page here -- for your texturing and toning pleasure.

A Different Dickens #3

When we were at Dickens on the Strand a few weeks ago, Larry Patrick and I were taking a break and took this woman's photo sitting nearby. It was right about the time we were talking about how you can isolate a subject from a background, especially shooting shallow depth of field with natural light in a nice open shadowed area. Now, I don't think either of us really thought too much about this photo; we didn't even try to get her email address. We just took a few photos each at f/2.8 and waved to her as she left. It wasn't until we both got home that we realized what a nice background we really had. We both remarked about it a few days later. Photo above processed only in Adobe Camera Raw; 150mm 1/320 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200.

Renaissance Festival 5

From the Texas Renaissance Festival a couple of weekends ago -- this was one of my favorite costumes of the day. It was Barbarian weekend when we were there, so I'm not sure if this was unique to that weekend, or he wore it for the entire festival. The level of detail is pretty impressive -- all the way down to the shark's teeth on the shoulder pads. Doug and I took this photo in front of a pavillion, so the background wasn't ideal. Ended up dropping out the background and adding my own, adding lots of texture with Topaz Adjust and some toning to even things up. Lit directly above with an SB900 shot through a Photoflex EZbox. As I look at it now, the hands and ball aren't in focus. Wish I would have dropped the focus point there instead of the face, but when you're shooting on the run like you do at festivals, those things tend to happen.

A Different Dickens #2

Dickens on the Strand 2010, The Mad Hatter from Airship Isabella.

A Different Dickens #1

I've been going to Dickens on the Strand almost every year for about the past 20 years. And for the last three years I've been taking impromptu portraits, much like we do at the Texas Renaissance Festival. Larry Patrick told me before we went this year he wanted to do something different. Enter Airship Isabella and the steampunk crew that were at this year's festival. Hard to describe these folks ... alternative, futuristic ... definitely colorful. We seemed to be drawn to them. Maybe it was their colorful outfits, maybe it was their interesting accessories, or maybe it was because their corner of Dickens on the Strand was in such nice light the entire day. Above is Amarante Leroux, who worked in the Airship Isabella booth on Saturday. Larry posted a photo of her today on his blog (link). Interesting how we both came away with such different shots, yet there is something in common -- natural light and more of a candid pose. Looking back at all my shots from the day, I seemed intent on turning my camera 45 degrees for some really unusual angles. A different Dickens for sure. Nikon D200, 140mm, f/3.5, 1/320 sec, +.7 EV; texture and edge added in Photoshop.

A Big Splash

The last few times I've been down to Galveston to photograph pelicans I've noticed this behavior -- the pelican will sit in the water and pound his or her wings into the water creating this huge commotion. Water flying, wings beating. They'll do this for 5 or 10 minutes and then go fly up on a concrete piling and spend the next hour flapping their wings and preening ... the life of a pelican. 200mm, 1/50 sec at f/8, sun setting behind the pelican to create the warm tones.

Renaissance Festival 4

Katia, dancer, Gypsy Dance Theater. Texas Renaissance Festival, Nov. 20, 2010.