Photo Reviews by William Neill
I am pleased to announce a new service we are offering here at William Neill Photography. During the past thirty years of my career, I have always taught photography whether at major workshop programs around the country, through my Outdoor Photographer column, On Landscape, or online through BetterPhoto.com. Inspired by Ansel Adams when I worked at his Gallery in Yosemite, I learned from him the great value of sharing knowledge and giving back to the art of photography.

eBooks

Also, I have a promo going on for my eBooks.  Take a look at each book to read “what they are saying!”
Now thru July 4th get $5.00 OFF all eBooks!
Or buy all 3 for $25.00!

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mm f/2.8__f / 32__ISO 100

Earlier this week, I received three calla lilies to photograph.  For three days, I left them in a corner of my dining room where I have found magic light in the past (see blog post from October 2009).  I hung my every-ready black velvet on a chair behind the blossoms.  On the second day, the early morning sun glanced across this one flow.  Aiming downward, I needed f/32 and a little lens tilt to hold sharpness in the vase and flower.

Due to the wide contrast, I bracketed seven exposures that were one stop apart.  This image was made with six of those frames using Photomatix by my assistant John.  The exposure blend enabled us to show fine separation of tones in the white, nice shading in the green stems but left the background black.

I made about 700 exposures in various light, including some blurs and many 7-frame brackets, so I still have much editing to do.

Until I can polish up some more selects, I hope you enjoy this one.  Let me know your thoughts!

Cheers,  Bill

Sign up now for one of my May online workshops! It’s not too late!

Dogwood blooming, Yosemite National Park, California 2005

I have been busy with the “day to day” of running my business, including making new images.  I hope to post soon, so stay tuned!

This month’s Featured Print is “Dogwood blooming, Yosemite National Park, California 2005″ shown to the left.  I created this image five years ago.  My EXIF date shows that I was at 370mm.  It took a great deal of patience, and many frames, to get a sharp exposure since the branch was suspended over a very tumultuous Merced River!  I’ve printed and sold 20×30″ prints and the quality holds up very well.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II__70.0-200.0 mm+2x Extender__1/5 sec at f / 13__ISO 100

This Special Edition image is an archival inkjet print, sized to 9″ x 6″ on Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk Paper, matted and mounted to 11″x14″ on archival museum board. The print will be initialed by me, not signed. The series will be unlimited in quantity andnumbered sequentially on the label.

With each collectible Special Edition released, you can build a fine art portfolio of my photographs at a very reasonable cost. And the best part…it’s only $40!

New Dogwood Featured Print

KInd regards,    Bill

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM__10.0 sec at f / 32__ISO 100

Here is another pier photograph from La Jolla.  This was my first session photographing the pier, and my previous post was taken at sunset on the same day.  For this image, I used my Singh Ray Vari-ND filter to extend the length of the exposure.  I waited for a wave to wash up near my tripod, and then watched for the reflection to develop as the surf pulled back.

Let me know your thoughts on this image, and which Scripts Pier image you like the best.  I prefer the sunset image, but still love them both!

Cheers,   Bill

One-on-One Instruction

Ebook Store

My ebooks are high res PDFs that can be viewed on your computer of course, but also on your iPhone or iPad via the Good Reader app.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM__76.0 sec at f / 22__ISO 100

Last week, my family and I enjoyed a vacation at the beach.  We stayed in La Jolla, a place I’ve been visiting since I was a small kid.  Spent one day at Seaworld, and another day at the beach.

I’ve noticed the Scripps Pier for years, and I’ve enjoyed other photographer’s images of piers.  But I’d never photographed one before, so this was my main focus on this trip.  I photographed at sunrise and sunset.  Here is one image I made, when it was nearly dark.  I got to the point where my meter would not give me a reading at my desired aperture of f/22 or f/32.  I could shoot with a wider aperture, but I would have lost good sharpness on the pier posts.  I quickly extrapolated a good exposure, took out my iphone to use its timer.  Started the exposure (with a cable release of course) and started the stop watch.  f/22 at 76 secs.  Focal length was 70mm.

I hope you enjoy this image!  Let me know your thoughts…

Bill

One-on-One Instruction

Ebook Store

My ebooks are high res PDFs that can be viewed on your computer of course, but also on your iPhone or iPad via the Good Reader app.

Cloud reflections and Mt Moran at the Oxbow Bend on the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Cloud reflections and Mt Moran at the Oxbow Bend on the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

I don’t have any new images to share, but I have been posting several newly scanned 4×5s on my Facebook Fan page.  I hope to have new work to share next week, after I return from a short vacation.

It is now possible to view my PDF ebooks on iphone, ipod touch or ipad. If you have one of these ebooks, or are thinking of buying one, use Good Reader app to view. Excellent resolution. If you try this out, esp on an iPad, let me know how it looks!   Good Reader app

William Neill ebooks

I still hope to offer my ebooks as apps, but we have not found an app designer or a PDF conversion that will work on iTunes.  If anyone has ideas or recommendations, let me know!

Lastly, my next BetterPhoto course, Inspiring Nature Photography Essentails, starts on Wednesday April 7th.  Spaces are still available!

Cheers,  Bill

Glacial erratics in snow, Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park, California

Here is another newly scanned image from 4×5 film.  The film was exposed using a Wista 4×5 Metal Field camera in 1988.  It is about time I brought it out of “moth balls!”

I made this image during a late fall snowstorm.  Soon afterward, the road was closed and I headed down to my home in El Portal.

Hope to hear your feedback,

Bill

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mm f/2.8__2.0 sec at f / 13__ISO 100

I made this image yesterday on my patio.  The water reflects my ochre-colored wall.  I have been watching the light for when the stones and water were in shadow but the wall remained lit.  I was trying to find a good composition with a single frame but it wasn’t working.  So, used the shift function of my Tilt Shift lens as well as the forward tilt for increased depth of field.  I made one exposure with the shift all the way to the left, and then “shifted” the lens all the way to the right while making sure I had enough overlap for PhotoMerge in PS4 to create the pano.  I selected the best two images in Lightroom, then used LR’s Photo menu to “send” the two files to PS4 for merging.

BTW, I used my Canon TS-E90mm f/2.8 for this image, combined with my Canon 2X Extender to create a 180mm TS lens!

Enjoy,  Bill

William Neill Portfolios

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mm f/2.8__1.0 sec at f / 22

Here is a new image, taken on Thursday in my backyard.  I make my own ice pond by leaving out a large, rectangular bucket and checking the results for potential photos in the morning.  This was my favorite of the series.

This ice photo session got me thinking about past ice images and so I searched my PhotoShelter site for “ice” and came up with this portfolio:

ICE

Also, I’ve also posted some amazing comments by past students of my One-On-One workshop sessions.  Check them out here:

ONE-ON-ONE WORKSHOPS WITH WILLIAM NEILL

Regards,   Bill

WILLIAM NEILL ONLINE STORE

Last month, I pulled out my handy piece of black velvet on my table and scattered the seeds.  I photographed them over several days, in a variety of window light.  The original version of this image was vertical, but my assistant John O’Connor had the idea of creating a pano version.  The seeds on the right were originally below the main group, but John suggested this arrangement, and I said Yes!  Two heads are better than one?!  Thanks, John.

Enjoy!   Bill

PS  In case you missed, here is an article recently posted on Luminous Landscape:  Thoughts on Ansel

ONE-ON-ONE WORKSHOPS WITH WILLIAM NEILL