Photography

2008-05-14T20:20:00.007-06:00

practicing with 180 degree panoramas. what happened to scott's head??

Our new trucks

2008-04-01T15:17:00.005-06:00

Mine--- old Blazer

I took this right after we bought it. I was in the Mustang and Scott was driving it home. My truck isn't the prettiest thing but it's real neat. It has aftermarket heads, cam, Edelbrock intake manifold, Holley carb, MSD ignition, headers, alarm system, and some other stuff. I'll try to get some more pictures of it up later.

His--- Chevy Silverado

The paint on the Silverado looks weird but it's just the reflection of the trees around us.

view of the front

My Blazer is 4wd and so is his Silverado. The Silverado also has the offroading package.

So hopefully we'll stop getting stuck all the time now that we have trucks

2008-03-21T20:33:00.003-06:00

These pics are kinda crappy, I just put them up here to show somebody. But I'm uploading some new HDR pics to my Flickr account, check them out when you get a chance http://flickr.com/photos/7647803@N08/

2008-03-14T13:35:00.003-06:00

I've started a new job so I don't have much free time. I was working full time but had to go to part time because of back problems. I'm starting physical therapy soon so even though I'm now part time I will still be busy.
I'll post pictures on here whenever I get a chance. Thank you for visiting my page :) I really do appreciate it.

2008-03-11T19:39:00.003-06:00

2008-03-10T18:26:00.001-06:00

2008-03-09T17:27:00.003-06:00

2008-03-08T08:34:00.004-07:00

Malibu

2008-03-07T18:51:00.003-07:00

2008-03-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

2008-03-05T06:57:00.001-07:00

2008-03-04T12:29:00.002-07:00

new layout

2008-03-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, that was easy. I'll try to post a new picture every day, preferably stuff that I haven't already posted to my Flickr account. Hope you guys enjoy it :)

2008-03-04T10:03:00.002-07:00

I figured out how to post a 360 panorama!!! Here's my living room. Well, part of it. I didn't actually take enough pictures to make a full 360. You can move the picture around if you click on it with your mouse.

2008-03-02T17:42:00.002-07:00

I've been neglecting this blog lately. I think I'm going to go with a completely different layout and change things up. Scott is going to be gone for a whole week on a business trip so I'll have lots of time to work on it. But we'll see.

pics from a few days ago...

2008-02-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

Old Steel Bridge panorama

5xp HDR

Another HDR

some older ones

2008-02-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

West Glacier

Pretty clouds

good one

2008-02-06T08:19:00.001-07:00

ha

hahaha

Glacier National Park

2008-02-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

We went to Glacier National Park on Saturday. It was the first and perhaps the last sunny day for awhile. There are a lot more pictures here

That hazy white spot in the middle of the photo is actually snow falling from the trees

Yeah, next time we're taking snowshoes.

Lucisarts pictures

2008-01-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately these are all low res images, thanks to the hard drive crash from last month

Lucisarts

2008-01-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

I just started using Lucisarts and it's awesome!!! Kind of pricey but totally worth it! I went through some old pictures and ran them through it. I'll post a few after they finished uploading to flickr

It's cold

2008-01-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

-9 right now. for some reason I really like this cold weather... I grew up in the desert where it rarely got below 30 degrees.
we haven't been able to really go anywhere lately because of all the snow. think i'll start working on some old pics.

Snowed In

2008-01-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, not really. But almost. We got a butt load of snow last night so we're kind of stuck at home for the day. And with the wind chill factored in it's -10 degrees. Scott and I just walked to the store and between the snow and the cold we almost didn't make it!
So I'm just going to turn up the heat and stay inside for the day :) I have a ton of hidden object games to play(after MCF I was addicted!)
Oh, and I posted new pictures on my Flickr page a few days ago so check them out.

I forgot to add...

2008-01-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

Even with all that crap talking about Explore I still get excited every time one of my photos makes it in there :)

Flickr Explore

2008-01-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Compiled from a funny discussion on Flickr about Explore and how to get lots of comments

A glossy, high resolution photo of a women holding a kitten and showing cleavage has a high statistical probability of getting on Explore/ Interestingness.
It’s optimal that the woman be between the ages of 20 and 27 and wear western fashion. Tags kitten, cat, kitty, woman, beautiful, and sexy, are a must. Similarly named groups are a good start.
She would have to be wearing a bikini and be holding a flower with a bug on it i to make it a certainty.
And pipe the picture through Photomatix for some tone mapping.
Tone mapping is the single biggest factor.
Especially if it is overdone.
Add somebody as a contact and then comment and fave all of their photos, no matter how crappy they may be, in hopes that they will reciprocate

And this is hilarious

From Jakerome

2008-01-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

I still haven't started working on the new pictures, I've been kind of busy the past few days. But I do have something to post...

It was 7 degrees when I left the house at 6am. Then at 10am it was down to -1. It is amazing how quickly the weather can change around here!

Cell phone pics

2008-01-13T13:12:00.001-07:00

I haven't started working on the new pics yet so here are some old ones from my cell.

I was driving in L.A. and I saw this car. Didn't seem to be crashed or anything, and there was nobody inside it. It was just sitting there. Odd.

looks uncomfortable to me but that's how he slept all day

My car is cold

2008-01-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

I posted a long blog that I wrote about how much I love Montana but I accidentally deleted it. Oops!
So anyways,... new pictures should be up in a few days. went down to the river today and got some, I also have some from our trip to Glacier National Park last weekend. But it was snowing pretty hard when we went so I doubt any of those shots will come out good.

new pictures

2008-01-09T07:36:00.001-07:00

These are all from New Years day. I know the pictures are tiny but if I post them any bigger they get cut off. I'll upload the next batch to Flickr so I can link to larger versions.

Sunset over the Flathead Lake

Bighorn Sheep near Plains, Montana. I didn't have my telephoto lens so this is almost a 100% crop

The Mustang. Notice I don't call it the Rustang anymore. Over the last year this car has really proven itself

I believe this was Mcgregor Lake but I'm not completely sure on that

Crappy eagle pic. I used the Orton effect to try to disguise the crappiness. Definitely taking the 300mm lens next time!

I think we need some snowshoes!

This is the view we were rewarded with after trudging through all that snow. It was totally worth it!

Another shot of Mcgregor Lake

Crazy fog

Montana is beautiful

2008-01-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

This is the view just driving through town.

Here are some more pictures from the drive we took a few days ago.

We drove through a bad snowstorm that day. Wind was blowing hard in some spots and causing near white out conditions

2008-01-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Yeah... those are icicles on my car ....

2008-01-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Columbus had fun on Christmas :-) He would hide under the tissue paper and jump out whenever somebody walked by

His big butt is sticking out but he still thinks he's invisible!

Happy New Years!

2008-01-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Scott and I went for a long drive today and it was a blast!!! We saw 3 eagles, a bunch of bighorn sheep, wild turkeys and deer. I got pictures of the sheep and one of the eagles, I'll try to post them within the next few days.
Oh, and it was -2 degrees at 8:30am today. That's the coldest it's gotten since we moved here!

Pictures

2007-12-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

My poor car! It's so dirty but there's no point in trying to keep it clean out here

Cute deer

Scott and I went for a drive on Christmas Eve and hit some heavy snow...

There was a car up ahead of us but you can't even see it

Overlooking Kalispell.

We were driving down a road and passed this small creek with steam rising up from it.

Today

2007-12-29T19:09:00.001-07:00

We went for a drive today but I wasn't able to take many pictures because we got caught in a snowstorm. I can't wait until we get a truck! The Mustang does okay in the snow but ice is a different story! Very scary.

3 xp and 7xp HDR comparison

2007-12-28T05:23:00.000-07:00

The differences aren't dramatic but they are noticeable(to me, anyways). This isn't the best example because the 7 exp. HDR had more cloud movement than the 3 exp. HDR did.

3 exp

7 exp

3 exp 100% crop

7 exp 100% crop

More...

2007-12-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add that many of my HDR images aren't really HDRs at all, at least by definition. There's still some debate over what constitutes a true HDR image. IMHO, if you have a single RAW and you tonemap it, then it's a tonemapped image and not an HDR.
I try to use multiple exposures as often as I can but it's not always possible. A lot of my shots are taken from the car going at highway speeds! And before I get lectured, I want to point out that I never take pictures while I am the one driving. My fiance is usually behind the wheel, which explains is why I can only get 1 shot. He's a great guy but when he's driving somewhere he really doesn't like to stop for anything. If I see something that would make a good shot I barely have enough time to grab my camera and take the picture before it's gone. So you may see blurred fence posts, tress, etc. when viewing my photostream. But sometimes I'm quick enough to open up the aperture so I get a faster shutter speed and avoid that problem.

HDR

2007-12-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of people have asked me for tips on creating HDR images. Now, I know that I'm not anything close to an expert on the subject but I have learned a couple of things and I would love to share them with anybody that's interested.

I always use Photoshop CS3's Merge to HDR function to create my .HDR file. It's under File, then Automate. Then I tonemap the file with either Photomatix or Dynamic Photo HDR. Most of the time I use Photomatix but if I want a lot of contrast I'll use DPH. The reason I use Photoshop to create the .HDR is because it does a great job of aligning the images, which is important to me because I rarely use a tripod. It also seems like there is more detail in the Photoshop HDRs

The more exposures the better!!! I usually take 7, depending on the amount of dynamic range I'm trying to capture. It's a pain because my AEB only takes 3 shots so I have to do it manually but it is definitely worth it. I'll post an example later on to show why.

If I only have 1 RAW or 1 JPEG to work with I'll use DPH. The newer version has an option for tonemapping a single exposure. It's not a true HDR image but sometimes the results are good enough that you can't even tell.

I shoot using Aperture Priority mode so the depth of field remains constant with each exposure. I also focus manually instead of using auto focus. Using these settings ensures that the only thing that changes with each shot is the shutter speed. I don't worry about the white balance because that can always be adjusted later, as long as you're shooting RAW. But most of the time it's fine anyways.

I always run Noise Ninja on the final image. No matter how many exposures I use, there always seems to be some noise.

2007-12-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on my new pictures, they should be up sometime today. Or tomorrow.
I've been playing a game called Mystery Case Files. That's kind of why I've been slacking on my pictures lately. This game is really fun though! If you like puzzle games you've got to try it out! I've finished all of them except for Madame Fate and Prime Suspects.

too cool!

2007-12-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

Frozen ice/snowflakes on my windshield yesterday morning. They were pretty but it took forever to scrape them off!

A wonderful weekend!

2007-12-23T13:33:00.001-07:00

We were able to recover almost all of my lost files from the hard drive that crashed! And yesterday Scott and I went Geocaching and then we spent the rest of the day just driving around. It was such a beautiful day :-) I am so blessed to be living here in Montana with the love of my life! I don't think I could ever become tired of this place. But we have been throwing the idea around of moving to Alaska someday...

I'll be posting pictures from this weekend later on.
Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

2007-12-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

hard drive has been confirmed dead. trying to do a data recovery on it now. wish me luck

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-21T17:03:00.001-07:00

I store all of my photographs on an external hard drive. And I have approx. 50,000 files on this drive. Today I felt like working on some old shots so I tried to access the hard drive and I get an error message informing me that the drive is corrupted. Are you f*cking serious??? Hopefully it's just a temporary issue and my computer genius fiance will be able to fix it for me when he gets home.
Luckily most of the pictures on that drive were throw aways. All of the shots that I especially liked are backed up and safe.
Everything else that was on the drive, like music, software, etc can be replaced and I am also thankful for that.
But it still sucks :-(

My new blog

2007-12-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

This is intended to be a blog that focuses mainly on photography. But I'll throw a few other miscellaneous things in here too. And it's probably going to be pretty boring so don't get excited or anything.