Meeting the Challenge

My recent trip to Hawaii continued to strengthen within me the adventure that photography is. Of course, for some individuals it is all consuming and it is a job unto itself, which is quite fine and I am grateful for these people for I learn from them. But for me the adventure comes in fits and spurts where photography fits in the spaces left void when other life events are not pressing.

That is not to say photography is not far from my thinking and desires, for I am constantly planning and trying to make photography more a central player. Be that as it may, I have been forcing myself to give photography more of its due.

Recently, this has taken more form for me in that I have made two major lens purchases—a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens and a Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. Both of these lens were at very appealing prices and I grabbed the opportunity to do so, even though it put some financial pressure on me to purchase them. Those purchases have forced me to make opportunities to use these lens, and I have been doing so over the last two months.

First of all, I will say I am not disappointed in my decision to makes these lens purchases, and secondly these lens have performed marvelously. They have stimulated me to think creatively, especially in how best to frame and use them.

Also, I must say that I am feeling very comfortable in shooting manually in many diverse situations as well as using my camera’s settings to maximize the best photo capture possible, and doing this dynamically, i.e., adjusting shooting on the changing conditions and needs at hand.

The currently posted photo is of Conimicut Point Light House at sunrise this past September.  I was not content with the angling of this shot but I had no options based on accessibility. The photo was taken with a Canon 5DS, EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM @ 35mm, f/22, 1/4/”, ISO 50, used a six stop neutral density filter, post processed using DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, PS Gradient Map, and Nik Color Efex Pro.

 

Implied Style

After a protracted journey of many photographs, some clarity is coming to me regarding how I shoot photographs. Not necessarily what I shoot, but how I shoot.

It appears that I gauge or shape my shooting of whatever is before me to include implied motion.

Obviously,  not only is content involved but also form of how a shot is framed or constructed.

What I find fascinating is that subconsciously I do this.

I will leave it at that for now.

The posted shot is from Beaver Tail, Jamestown, RI during a tropical storm Jose off the coast. It was shot using a Canon 5 DS, EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM @ 35mm, f/14, 1/250, ISO 500, post processing using DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Canon Raw, a gradient map using Photoshop CC (2017), and Nik Color Efex Pro.

New Wave

One aspiration in my recent Hawaii photo shoot was to capture dynamic waves. To a degree I achieved that. The Pacific waters were beautifully multi-shaded blues and there were many large waves, but they were not like the very large ones of Hawaii in the winter months.

Little did I know that in September in Rhode Island I would get my dynamic waves wished for in Hawaii. A tropical storm named Jose passed southeast of the coast but near enough to create abundant wave action with the bonas of very strong winds adding to the dynamism  by clipping off wave tops and creating spray.

I had the pleasant problem of actually having very many good photos to choose from the shoot. I had taken two lenses recently acquired: Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM. Both lenses responded excellently to the challenges of the coastal storm action.

The currently posted photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm, f/14, 1/250″, ISO 160 processed with Adobe Camera Raw, DxO Optics Pro 11, using Photoshop CC (2017) with a gradient map and Color Efex Pro.