Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mm f/2.8__1/180 sec at f / 2.8__ISO 400

New photo! I made this image yesterday evening.  My purple plums are just started blooming, so out comes the camera!  I used my Canon 90mm TS lens with two Canon 2x extenders.  It’s a bit like have a Lensbaby, and I could play around with focus point and blurring the background.  The image was made from two exposures blended – one “sharp” and the other complete soft focus.

Enjoy!   Bill

There are several purple plum images in my Impressions of Light ebook:  Impressions of Light.  Download it now for only $15.00.

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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Painted bark eucalyptus, the Hana Coast, Island of Maui, Hawai

John and I have been working on more scans from my 4×5 film archive.  It has been rewarding to finally make use of these images, but also frustrating to see how many good images are languishing in my filing cabinets.  I have also been placing new images on my Facebook Fan page.  I look forward to your comments here or on the Fan Page!

Enjoy,  Bill

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Red Maples and forest, autumn, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Here is another image from Monday morning.  I took seven frames, each one stop difference, and my assistant John assembled them using Lightroom and Photomatix’s Lightroom plugin (http://www.hdrsoft.com/).  This was taken with my Canon 16-35mm as the sun rose through the fog.  The tree behind the big oak were heavily tilted due to the convergence caused by aiming upward with 22mm of focal length!  I raced back to my car (yes, I should have had my camera bag next to me!) to get my 24mm Tilt Shift lens, which I used in the previously posted image.  To correct for the distortion of the trees, I asked John to straighten up the trees.  Instead of using Photoshop’s Lens Correction tool, he used the Crop tool, with Perspective box checked.  John writes about using this tool in this blog post, at the bottom of the page:  Breaking the Funk/Meditations on a Moment Blog.

Let me know if you have a favorite between the two Sunrise Fog images!

Bill

ONE ON ONE WORKSHOPS

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E24mm f/3.5L__1/180 sec at f / 16__ISO 100

Yesterday we had a wonderful morning of fog after the night’s rain storm.  I have driven by this location many times in the past, made note of its potential, and finally got myself over there after the morning’s usual parental duties!  Unfortunately, I started out with the wrong lens so I lost some good light making the short dash back to my vehicle to grab my Canon 24mm Tilt Shift lens.  Happily, the fog was still great as I exposed this image.  The lens was shifted up to near its highest position to maintain proper perspective and avoid convergence of the trees.  Also, I positioned the sun so that it was mostly blocked by the tree, with just a tiny bit of light showing through my viewfinder.

Enjoy!   Bill

The William Neill Store

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM__1/2 sec at f / 9.5__ISO 100

Last week, I need to make a run to The Ansel Adams Gallery to deliver prints.  I timed the drive so I could check out Horsetail Falls at sunset.  There was some nice light early on, well before sunset, and then clouds came in so it looked like a bust.  But the water lit up nicely right at sunset.  Average light = average photo.

I have been photographing the falls since 1981, with a poster being published of my first session in 1988.  Wish I could find a jpg of it to share!  I’ll have to scan the film someday soon… There is a photo of Horsetail in my Yosemite: The Promise of Wildness book, too.  I have probably photographed it less than ten times since 1981, so you can tell I haven’t spent much time focused on this event.  I prefer to seek out more intimate views of Yosemite.  Still, it is amazing to me to see how many people are showing up to photograph it and it is a wonderful site to see and experience.   I remembering seeing the original Firefalls off of Glacier Point, but this natural event is much more appealing to me.

I made some other photos of the falls, earlier in the evening with shiny cliffs and no color in an attempt to come up a fresh perspective.  I haven’t decided if they are worth sharing yet…  Stay tuned!

AND, Happy Birthday Ansel!  Read my thoughts about him here:  Thoughts on Ansel.

Yosemite: The Promise of Wildness

The bark of a Gumbo Limbo tree, Everglades National Park, Florida

The bark of a Gumbo Limbo tree, Everglades National Park, Florida

Photographed in 1992 with a Wista 4×5 Field Camera

John and I continue our efforts to scan film in my files. Here is an old favorite, never scanned or printed before.  I must credit Eliot Porter for the inspiration as I first learned of this tree and its amazing bark from a photograph of his.

I am starting to develop an idea for a new portfolio that includes my more abstract details of nature.

The 4×5 film was scanned using my Epson Perfection V750 Pro.

Enjoy,   Bill

William Neill Portfolios

Dune Pattern and Storm Clouds, Death Valley National Park, California

Dune Pattern and Storm Clouds, Death Valley National Park, California  1983

Photographed in 1983 with a Wista 4×5 Field Camera

Last week, when a client asked me to show him some dune images, my eyes lit up.  I happily sent him a selection of jpgs to review.  This process got my memory in gear and I recalled a couple of DV images I’d been wanting to scan.  I used to make Cibachrome prints of this image, but somehow it has remained languishing and unscanned in my file cabinets.

The 4×5 film was scanned using my Epson Perfection V750 Pro, which gives me excellent results when the film is fluid-mounted.

Enjoy,  Bill

The William Neill Store

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__EF50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro__1/2000 sec at f / 2.5

Last weekend, after we had an icy storm that knocked our power out, I made this macro photo.  I had never noticed an “ice drop” of water like this before.  Amazing patterns.

This drop was on a young oak tree in my yard, and struggled to compose since I had to stand on a retaining wall, shooting hand held with no place to set up a tripod.  Fortunately, I caught a few sharp ones.  Next time, I will try some with a slightly smaller aperture which would have given better sharpness in the ice patterns at this extreme shallow DOF.

Enjoy,

Bill

PS.  There is space still available in my February online course with BetterPhoto:

Inspiring Nature Photography:
The Essentials