Lake Crescent, Washington

Low clouds at sunrise on Lake Crescent, Port Angeles, Washington. The view above was nearly right out our back door as Kim and I spent a couple of days on the Olympic Peninsula earlier this month. This photo was taken the morning we left. We stayed at the Lake Crescent Lodge in the Roosevelt Cabins, so named because it was the place where FDR stayed in 1937 when thinking of establishing Olympic National Park. He did so the following year. 1/400 sec at f/8, -0.7 EV, 135mm handheld.

EMP Museum Abstract

EMP Museum abstract, Seattle, Washington. Three handheld frames merged together with Nik HDR Efex 2.

Chelsea senior photos #2

Another photo of Chelsea Cochrane taken in Galveston aboard her father's and grandfather's fishing boat. Again, simple lighting, really bringing out the color and tones here. 1/125 sec at f/6.3, -.7 EV, ISO200, 66mm, light from an SB900 in a Lastolite EZYbox from camera right, mimicking the direction of the sunlight.

Chelsea senior photos #1

I had the opportunity recently to do senior photos for Chelsea Cochrane, pictured above near the Strand in Galveston. I wanted the lighting on most of these photos to be very subtle -- there but not overpowering, just highlighting the natural colors and textures in the scene. 1/180 sec at f/2.8, 85mm, ISO200, -1EV, light from an SB900 in a Lastolite EZYbox from camera left.

Galveston Reflections #2

Galveston shrimp boat and dock with reflections. 1/500 sec at f/9, ISO 200, 150mm, -1 EV.

Galveston Reflections #1

Galveston shrimp boat, pelican and snowy egret with reflections. 1/1600 sec at f/3.5, 200mm, ISO 200.

Galveston Texture

The photo above was taken several weeks ago in Galveston, along one of the alleys behind the Strand. It gave me a chance to try out some new tools in the Nik Collection by Google -- here I used HDR Efex and Silver Efex, both new versions from what I've been using. Google announced new pricing and free upgrades to existing customers. My kind of deal. So now I have the full suite of Nik programs. There's been a lot of speculation about what will happen to Nik since it was bought by Google. So far, so good in my book, but you wonder what the long-term plan is at Google for the professional photographer market. As cameras become less expensive and with so many people using smartphones as their primary camera, Google must feel this is a chance to flood the market with their product. You wonder one day if all these enhancements we make on photos won't even be done locally on a PC -- maybe through the web. The marriage of Nik and Google opens many doors.