I am pleased to invite you to a week long intensive Outer Banks photo workshop hosted by myself and local naturalist and photographer Jared Loyd.

http://sceneinadifferentlight.com/outer-banks-wild-photo-workshop

I was just getting into digital photography when I captured these images. Unfortunately I photographed them all in JPEG format instead of raw format. And to make matters worse I didn’t even save the original JPEG images, I copied over them which means I lost a lot of data. Some of these photos can only be printed in small sizes.

I have learned a lot since then and this was an important lesson.

Never ever copy over the original photos out of the camera. Always save the to original photos. As new software emerges and your skills and knowledge improve you may want to go back to the original images, that have all the data that was captured, in order to redevelop your photos.

Sailors Take Warning

On this September morning I had a feeling it was going to be a beautiful sunrise as I drove to Manteo North Carolina. I could see intermittent stars through the clouds, which means the cloud cover was probably not too thick for the sun to shine through. I was headed to Manteo to teach a private photo workshop and was hoping for some nice color in the sky. We were lucky to have this sunrise unfold in front of us. Part of the battle of taking good photographs is being at the right place at the right time, and we sure were this morning. It turned out to be a beautiful morning for photography and we both came home with some great photographs.

I photographed this in the George Washington National Forest. The green fronds of this plant contrasting with the colorful leaves attracted me. The name of this plant is, Southern Running Pine and oddly enough it was used in the early days of photography. This plant produces highly flammable spores that burn very bright. Early photographers collected these spores and dried them out to use as flash powder. I found out about this by reading a post from Joe Kegley on the Carolina Nature Photographers Association form.

As I look back through my older stuff, I find photos I didn’t have the skill to fix up at the time, or photos that have just slipped through the cracks. There are also a lot of those that when I see them again I ask myself what in the world was I thinking when I developed it. As my tastes and skills mature I’ve found a lot of photos that badly need reworking. Over the years the software I use has continually been improving along with my skills. This means it’s now possible to develop images I wouldn’t have considered working on years ago.

Here is one photo I didn’t have the ability or skills to develop correctly years ago. Luckily I photographed the shot in the raw file format which enabled me to take an image with very little detail in the sky and develop it correctly.

Summer Storm was photographed in 2008 and developed in 2011.

I have to pick one of these photos to submit for the 2011 Photo Walk Competition. I would love to hear which one you think is best. Please leave a comment below.

Here is the link for more information about the Worldwide Photo Walk.

Thanks, Dan Waters

Photo Tip

I remembered a photo tip I once read that said, spray sugar water on the flower and the insect will stay on the flower longer. I tried it and it worked like a charm. The butterfly landed and sat there for quite some time while I took a lot of photos. While it drank sugar water, I took photos, in the end we both benefited, it was a win-win situation.

I was able to capture this close-up photo with a Canon 500 D close-up filter on a 70 to 200 zoom lens. This filter allows the lens to focus much closer.  I used a wide aperture, at F/6 .3 in order to control the depth of field and throw the background out of focus. A telephoto lens has a narrow angle of view which allows you to pick and choose what background is best suited to your subject. It also allows more working distance between you and skittish insects. Remember to keep your camera and sensor parallel to your subject while shooting close-ups, especially when trying to limit the depth of field.

This shot of the Monument to a Century of Flight was taken on a rainy evening. I used a wide-angle lens low to the ground in order to capture the whole monument. This was a long exposure, you can tell by the movement in the clouds and the trees.

I visited this monument on a sunny afternoon and took a few scouting shots. Since this is a monument to flight I thought it might be cool to show movement through the air.  I envision this photo, as Ansell Adams said, “in my mind’s eye”. I waited for a cloudy evening with the wind blowing the clouds and trees to illustrate this concept. The dramatic light and the movement of the clouds reminds me of a modern day Stonehenge.

If you’re visiting the Outer Banks don’t overlook this hidden gem.

Here is a link for more information about the Monument to a Century of Flight and where it is located.

http://www.monumenttoacenturyofflight.org/

Photography Course in High School

After that I took a photography course in high school and was mesmerized while watching the black-and-white photos come to life in the developing tray. I guess I’m showing my age. After high school my soon-to-be wife, Tina and I made a darkroom in my mom’s basement bathroom. My mom wasn’t too pleased to find her bathroom windows painted black to keep the light out. I can’t resist telling an old joke, people kidded that “Tina and I went into the dark room to see what develops”. I went on from there to print my own color cibichrome prints from slides.

Moved to the Outer Banks

After we moved to the Outer Banks I was looking for something I could do on my own to make a living and pottery fell into my lap. I’ve been a full-time potter for the last 16 years. During that time I made a lot of contacts with art galleries on the Outer Banks.

Digital Photography

When digital photography finally came of age, it was a perfect fit for me, even though I missed the magic of seeing the prints come to life. I have always been interested in computers and Photoshop seemed to come naturally to me. I am still amazed at how quickly photography is changing in the digital age.

Business Write-Off

Three years ago, in 2009 I had just bought a new digital camera and was trying to convince my wife that I needed a new lens to go with it, when I came up with an argument claiming that the new expensive lens would be a business write-off. I had to make good on my claim and began selling photo cards and bookmarks to the same galleries that carried my pottery. That first year I was able to pay for my new lens and all of my equipment by selling cards and bookmarks. After that I started producing matted prints and teaching photo workshops.

Now photography is a large part of my living and I love every minute of it.

Here are a few of my earlier photographs taken with Kodachrome slide film.