Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mm f/2.8__6.0 sec at f / 22__ISO 100

I have a small pond adjacent to my backyard patio, and the lilies are in bloom!  I made this image on Sunday, using two frames stitched together in Photoshop CS5.  To fulfill my concept, I cut the flower, then placed it in a small bowl of water which in turn was placed on black velvet.  Aiming straight down, I “shifted” my Canon TS 90mm lens to include two halves of the flower in two separate exposures.  This techniques allows me to create a square format with Photomerge, which suits this flower shape to me.  It also gives me a bigger file:  PS Image Size reads this file as 206 MB.

Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts,   Bill

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__EF50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro__10.0 sec at f / 27__ISO 100

This last weekend, I was mowing my grass (electric mower, not gas!).  I noticed a mushroom and picked it.  Then I plucked out the stem so I could photograph the radiating pattern.  I tried various framing options including full mushroom and black background, partial mushroom in the frame, and filling the frame with the pattern with no black background.  As I photographed, it occurred to me that the composition would work well in B&W.  It also occurred to me that I might print this very large someday, and that I wanted a square format.  So made two frames, one with top half filling my frame, and one with the bottom half, then used photomerge in PS4 to create a higher res, square framed image.  The lighting is from my office window.  The file size with adjustment layers is 334 MB.  Here it is!  Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,   Bill

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mmf/2.8+2x Extender__1.5 sec at f / 19__ISO 100

On Sunday morning, I discovered these great ice patterns in my bucket of landscape pebbles.  The “bucket” is a rectangular cement mixing bucket which I bought when I was building my waterfall feature on my back patio 9 years ago.  At the time, I noticed how vivid the stones were when wet, and started an ongoing series of the wet stone details.  Last year, I sold a 5×8 foot print of one of those!  Then, in winter I’ve noticed the bucket, filled with rainwater, will freeze over on cold, clear nights.  So now I also have a collection of ice pattern images!

If you are disappointed in learning that I didn’t make this image of a natural scene, I have my misgivings too.  For various reasons however, not least of which is that I am busy “surviving” in this economy and raising two children, this is where I find the most inspiration these days – in my back yard!

This photograph was made with my 90mm TS lens plus 2x Extender, camera turned horizontally, with front tilt near max to obtain full sharp across the ice.  I created five frames using the lens’s Shift function with incremental turns from far left to far, then stitched together with PS4’s Photomerge.  Even with the five background layers flattened, the final file is over 300MB.  Not quite as big as some of my 4×5 layered master files (which can be up to 1GB), but still very high res!  One has to enlarge the image in PS, or else print it at least 24″ to fully appreciate the intricate filigree patterns in the ice.

Other Bucket images:

Stones

Stones and Reflections

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

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__EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM__4.0 sec at f / 32

Last week, my family and I traveled to the Monterey coast for a short vacation.  I returned to one of my favorite subjects there – the endangered Monterey Pines.  Very fortunately, there was  thick fog that makes this subject so appealing to me.  This image is made of three frames, Merged to Panoramic in Photoshop.

We have many more images to edit and process, so stay tuned for more.

One thing I did learn – I am out of practice!  I made so many mistakes.  Sometimes it feels like the movie Groundhog Day – making the same mistakes over and over.  Got to get out to photograph more often!

Ride the Light,  Bill

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III__TS-E90mm f/2.8 + Canon2x Extender__6.0 sec at f / 27__ISO 100

In my backyard, I have a rectangular bucket full of Mexican Pebbles I bought many years ago from the local landscaping supplier.  I washed them down and set up to make a pano detail of them.  I aimed to the left for the first frame, then used the Shift function of my Tilt Shift lens, recomposing to include the stones in the right side of the bucket without moving the camera or tripod.  I imported the resulting images into Lightroom, and inspected all the pairs I made to find the best and sharpest ones.  I selected those two, then used Photo>Edit In>Merge to Panorama in PS.  Here is the result.

Enjoy,  Bill

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Impressions of Light – Digital Edition

Landscapes of the Spirit – Digital Edition

Meditations in Monochrome – Digital Edition