Before The Coffee

Bermuda Shoreline

Ferrell — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:46:08 +0000

Bermuda during a turbulent morning, the waters were stirring and the sky was on fire.

Multnomah Falls

Ferrell — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:31:30 +0000

Multnomah Falls near Portland Oregon is a must see but getting an original vantage point is not so easy. The hike to the falls stops in a circular area where everyone takes a picture, so why not, when in Rome do as the Romans. I took about 50 shots of the falls all within a 10 foot section of metal railing, hmmm not sure why I got carried away with shooting so much but the falls are pretty spectacular. I wanted to jump the railing and go further down but you know those park rangers can get mean. It was fun, we never walked to the bridge but of course that’s an option if you feel energetic. Oh, there was a bride and groom there with their photographer so you know it had to be a good place to go for pictures.

Merry Christmas

Ferrell — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 03:36:29 +0000

This was taken with the new Nikon 1 V1. It’s a great little grab and go camera that’s light and fast. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Portland, Oregon

Ferrell — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:27:11 +0000

A very cool sunset spot in Portland along the Esplanade. Not only is it a great view of the city but you can scamper back and forth along the railing for some cool compositions. This pano is made from 3 images stitched together in PS. There was enough foreground and background light that I could get enough range with single images. But these are the +2EV images because the camera was responding to the bright sidewalk lights – you can see that in the EXIF data.

This pano is made from 3 single images +2EV stitched together in PS.

This pano is made from 3 HDR images stitched together in PS.

Motocross

Ferrell — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:27:15 +0000

I love shooting sports, in particular Motocross simply for the reason in my younger years I lived to race motocross. Now a bit older I’m taking a new approach to being part of the sport, getting the camera and finding inspirational shots. One thing I can say is that after spending years shooting landscape, not only do I look for the action but I also look at the light. These pics were published in the leading motocross magazine, Racer X.

This particular event is called the ProAm and was held at Budd’s Creek, Maryland. It’s where semi-pros compete to earn enough points to race professionally. Even the mini’s got to ride at the end of the day, and as you can see, the light was very nice!

The pics with the sunlight through the bike were taken using Hi-speed sync fill flash, the shutter speed was 1/1250 sec. I also got out the 14mm – 24mm f2.8 which certainly adds to my excitement as a photographer – I have to get within two feet of the bike to get anything that’s close to full frame. Most of the time I don’t even look through the lens, see the 3rd pic (rider #285) and the last pic (rider #559). Most of the time I’m using the 70mm – 200mm f2.8. It’s a great lens but it doesn’t stop me from wanting the 300mm f2.8 lens, only about $5800.

Bermuda, Stonehole Bay

Ferrell — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:40:39 +0000

I came across a 5 image set taken at Stonehole Bay in Bermuda that I decided to give HDR a chance. I was pleasantly surprised even to the degree that I made this my new desktop pic. I rarely revisit folders, once I’m done processing my favorite shots I move on to future shooting ideas. This is a lesson learned, visit those old folders and see if anything jumps out that you didn’t see the first time.

11:11am on 11/11/11

Ferrell — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:46:38 +0000

This is what you do when you’re bored at work, you run out at 11:11am on 11/11/11 and take as many shots as you can in one minute. There wasn’t a whole lot to work with but I did like the yellow leaves against the blue sky and puffy white clouds. As I was heading back in I caught my reflection in the glass.

Mt Hood at Trillium Lake

Ferrell — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:22:49 +0000

They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity. If that’s the case, sunrise at Trillium lake was a lucky morning. We were greeted with serenity and a clear sky with soft ground fog. It was one of those moments when you’d run from spot to spot to capture as many different looks that you could. For extra piece of mind I shot 5 and 7 bracketed exposures just to be sure I got sufficient dynamic range. The first image was my favorite of the morning and is an HDR image created with 7 exposures, the second and third are single images.

Great Falls, Virginia

Ferrell — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:00:48 +0000

For a long time I’ve been wanting to shoot Great Falls after a good rain, so after 4 days of torrential rains I knew it would be a unique opportunity. So at 5am I stood at the edge of Potomac River gorge at sunrise. The speed and roar of rushing water and the obvious danger along the cliffs dominates the thoughts at first. Within a few minutes it becomes serene, even relaxing. I shot a few compositions and liked this one the best. Within an hour the sun had come up, the fog burned off and the day had begun. I put this image in the “Maryland” category although I’m standing in VA the view across the river is Maryland.

Bandon Beach Oregon

Ferrell — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 18:32:10 +0000

Bandon Beach Oregon is a beautiful setting of sea stacks surrounded by a gently sloping beach of fine sand. The waves were pretty tame this day but I can imagine the burst of energy when a heavy surf slams against the sea stacks. During low tide it’s easy to spot colorful starfish and sea anemones, just watch for a slowly sinking tripod while shooting in the water soaked sands.