Uploads from Photomike07 / MDSimages.com, tagged nikon

Chasing the color - Searching for reflections in Woodstock

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:15:23 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel— as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them— wherever you go." - Anthony Bourdain

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Deep color along the lake

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 21:45:00 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man." ~ Author Unknown

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At Emerald Bay

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:57:26 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

Part of the challange of the capture is to create feeling of being out in the middle of the landscape, off the beaten path, and in a perspective that the average tourist would never get a chance to view the scene from.This one was however, about 25 steps from the car……

I found this little perch up on the ridge to try to get away from the crowds, absorb the beauty of the scene, and take away a few clicks here and there. (Did I mention it was crowded there?) As timing would have it, it was mid day, not a cloud in the sky, and the lighting was a bit harsh to say the least. Not the perfect conditions that you hope to arrive to a vista like this as a landscape photographer, but I figured I could at least capture a few brackets for a foundation that I could use to create someting out of later.

Sometimes, when I find myself lost with an image….during the processing that is…I save it into a sort of “Ill look at this a little later” file. This one was one of those. After almost deleting it several times, I decided to work a few textures into the scene, painting here and there through layers, to give new life and dimension to the scene.

A work of art?

Not so much….

But the process of creating, learning, and striving to make “better” art is all part of the process…

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An evening in Morrocco - Painting with light for a good cause

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:12:36 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

Hey there Flickr friends!

Been a little absent here lately! Sorry about that. Work, life, you know how it gets.

Looking forward to the slow part of the season when I can get back to capturing the light instead of painting with it like in this shot above. I must admit though, these events I get the opportunity to light are sometimes a playground of visuals just waiting to be captured. I'll share a few more soon. I usually set up the camera to shoot a few HDR brackets that can process later, then I set the camera to auto ISO and head out shooting handheld to capture the many details in the scene.

As always, check out the blog for more.

I have also been dabbling a bit with recording some audios in the hope of eventually creating a podcast as well as some other online content. I have been posting these little experiments on the blog. Its a learning curve, but isn't that what its all about?

Live long learning :)

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Dining in Morrocco - A colorful night for a good cause

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:12:36 -0700

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God beams in the redwood forest

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:53:01 -0800

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"Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.” - Seth Godin

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As golden light paints the Tower Bridge - Wandering around London

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 20:56:42 -0800

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.” – Bumper sticker

Getting a little inspired to try some new techniques to "Paint with Light" from some classes I am taking over here on this site. bit.ly/RQvSFf

Look for a few new projects here over the next few weeks as I refine my chops and dive a little deeper into the technique.

More about this on the blog here! www.mdsimages.com

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Fall color on the farm

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:02:57 -0800

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

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A walk around Brickle - Deep colors in Miami

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:51:55 -0800

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As I prep a few things to head down to Miami for a show I am lighting, I am reminded of that last time I was down there in this vibrant part of the city. After a late night session of programming lights for a corporate meeting, I decided to head out onto Brickle Key to see what I could capture. It's a quite a unique location right in the heart of downtown with a nice jogging path that surrounds it. It's a safe walk at night with plenty of locations like this to capture the night sky or at the very least....grab a bench and just enjoy the night time light show!

As always, more to come from this location (and many more!)

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Deep color on the West Palm Beach docks

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 21:03:44 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. DO IT NOW!" - Paulo Coelho

I'm not exactly a morning person, so I must share how I captured this one. It's a little different when I am out on those "image gathering specific" trips like the one I am about to embark on in a couple of days as each day is usually focused 100% on finding the best light possible. Those golden hours, the hours before and after sunrise as well as sunset are of course the best time to be out to capture that special light. And while on those trips, its a given that you are up regardless of the weather predictions, because that is the mission! When back at home however, it takes some extra special light to drag me out. I guess we all get a little lazy as we get used to seeing our local surroundings. It can sometimes be a little difficult to see your familiar world in new, fresh, and exciting ways....but that's a post for later.

The intracoastal is but a few steps away from where I live, so I...well....kinda cheat! On this particular morning, like so many others, the alarm went off about 15 minutes before sunrise. The next step is usually a groggy one eyed squint out the window only to be disappointed at the sky. The covers of course usually then just seem to find their way over my tired body to comfort it before getting up for my normal routine. More times than not, it happens this way.

On this particular morning however, that one eyed squint turned into a 2 eyed gaze complete with long jaw drop and frantic trip out of bed to grab the camera gear and head out the door. Camera gear packed and ready to go? Weeellll, not so much. Good thing the battery was charged at least! After a couple stubbed toes, it was out the door and a mad dash down to the boat docks to set up a shot. Nothing like a brilliant light show to start the day :)

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From the comfort of the bird cave - Kauai, Hawaii

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:02:53 -0700

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“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa

I stumbled upon this little cave of sorts as I danced between the raindrops on an early morning near Poipu Beach in Kauai. Seems a little larger in this image, but trust me...thats just the lens. To get this, I was hunched over quite a bit in what appeared to be a favorite hangout for a few sea birds. Gulls I guess. The foot prints in there were huge though. I felt a little like I was intruding actually. After taking cover for a little while and just as I started to feel like they just might be watching me in some sort of a territorial way, the sky started to open up just as I was able to capture this. Sometimes you just have to wait for it!

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A place to let it go - The temple at Burning Man

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:09:11 -0700

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"Holding on is believing that there's only a past; letting go is knowing that there's a future." - Daphne Rose Kingma

There was a lot to soak in as a first time adventurer and participant into this world called Burning Man. Of course, that's somewhat of an understatement. In a somewhat futile attempt to explain this temporary society to someone today, I settled on this; it's kind of a mix between Blade Runner, Mad Max, Woodstock, A rave, and a Cirque Du Soleil Show. His response was a slighting more tilted to the side head than when he first asked the question.

This special place, the temple, is a massively detailed wood structure and a somewhat deeper and spiritual place to spend your time. When the blaring music from an art car isn't passing by, it's quite moving to wander about to see some of the many things that are written all over the walls and surfaces. Its a great place to let go of the past; to put closure to the mourning of a bad relationship, a deceased parent or loved one, or perhaps a tainted past. It's almost impossible not to shed a tear or two as you read some of the passages that people share as a way to let go of grief. By my last visit there, the walls were virtually covered with memories, relics, and pictures from people from all over the world. Quite moving actually. There's a lot of hurt out there.

By Sunday night, it all comes down ..... burned to the ground.....as a way of finally letting it all go.

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Last bit of light - Dancing on the boulders along the shores of Lake Tahoe

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:34:11 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

“Most people are on the world, not in it-- having no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them-- undiffused separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but seporate. ” - John Muir

I guess I could call this more of a scouting trip than anything. You know its funny. I had this huge goal of coming back with hundreds of images from my recent trip around Lake Tahoe. Slow down, get deep into nature, absorb it all in peace and tranquility, and still come out of the experience with hundreds of incredible images. Shouldn't be a problem right? The reality is, I was here for all of 1 day....1 day! .... just after a week long adventure at Burning Man. I think I just may have set the bar a little too high...again....

Yeah, like I said, a photo scouting trip...

Till I get a chance to get out there again, let's start out with this one I created on a cloudless evening exploring a little park called Sand Harbour. Next time, I'll give myself more that a day....and a non holiday at that :) (man, those roads were crowded!)

Here is a link to the location in case you are exploring that area yourself!

parks.nv.gov/parks/sand-harbor/

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Love on the Playa

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:05:26 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." - Orson Welles

Although I certainly was not alone as the crowds at this years burning man festival topped out at over 60,000 this year, the frequent dust storms with their 5' visibility made it feel that way sometimes. Not the perfect environment for the ole' camera sensor, but I still managed to come home with a few shots.

I had every intention to take the D800 and sticks out as much as possible to capture as many HDR brackets as I could, but as the week unfolded, I found myself taking a different journey through this magical and electrical playground of sorts. As a first time absorber of this temporary and somewhat experimental society, I found myself capturing less than predicted with the lense, while embracing more with my eyes. When I was clicking away, I found the more convenient and dust friendly Nikon Coolpix and Sony Playtouch my tools of choice. I have a few that I will leak out over the next few posts, but lets just say I've already started a shot list for next year to capture a few things I didn't catch this year!

So much more to come as I dig a little deeper and share my perspective into some of the unique aspects of this event and what we all could learn from it.

Til then, Love is all ya need :)

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Along the lake - Rich detail along Lake Como in Italy

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:41:47 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"What is the fatal charm of Italy? What do we find there that can be found nowhere else? I believe it is a certain permission to be human, which other places, other countries, lost long ago." --Erica Jong

I love revisiting files of images from trips past! Who wouldn't actually, especially when they are from Italy.

This area of Italy was a place that I hadn't taken the time to trek up to during my first 3 times to the country, so even though I only had a couple of days to explore it on this particular trip, I figured it was about time to get up there. Of course after arriving there and getting a small taste of a couple of the many villages that could be explored in this region, I realized that this would most likely be my first of many trips here. The best way to explore this area is of course to home base yourself in a town like Varena and explore the other villages via the intricate boat system that shuffles the locals from village to village. That is, unless you are personal friends with Mr. George Clooney, a regular to this lake region. Of course is that were the case, there is a REALLY good chance that you would not be reading this lil' ole blog post of mine....lol!

I was inspired to dig into this file of Italian images incidentally after chatting a bit yesterday with a cute photographer that has been time lapsing a show that I am lighting here this week. The canvas of her life so far has been painted with scenic memories of stays in Cuba, South Florida, and Italy. It was when we started chatting about Italy that her eyes really lit up. Seems it has that effect on so many :)

Speaking of time lapses actually, here is one I thru together a while ago from this region. Its a bit choppy, but still kinda cool. I have learned so much since then. Guess I'll have to make it back to give it another go I guess!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2NApRKpcY

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Somewhere in Santa Barbara - Layers of grunge along the coast

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:20:02 -0800

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

On this particular trip, I found myself just as interested in exploring the local landscape as I was in gathering all the details for a project I was working on. Funny how the two areas of creative focus tie together though actually. As the lighting designer entrusted to illuminate a 3 day destination meeting for a national beauty brand, my task on this site survey (those trips are always the funnest!) was to figure out the best way to “paint the event with light” to ensure the cohesive blend branding and message would be seen and felt by the attendees.

After those details were hammered out, it was of course time to wander about the area to see how I could “capture the light!”

Like I said, painting with light on an event or painting with light in the digital darkroom….very similar, and two of my favorite playgrounds to play in:)

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Farmhouse in Vermont

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:57:25 -0800

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility." - Oprah Winfrey

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A View from the Room - Atlantis in the Bahamas

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:02:06 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

“The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not sure if I have ever shared this one on the blog here. The timing was perfect. I had just arrived into my room (what a view by the way!) for an event I was illuminating in the Bahamas. As you know, I often talk about how blessed I am. It’s always quite an honor when a client admires your work enough to take you on location to work with the local team to help bring their design vision to life. For me, it’s always an extra special treat for me as I love to travel as well as capture the world as I see it to share with you all!

Not sure if I shared this one either, but here is a little clip I put together from this event as well. The local team there was amazing to work with and of course, I look forward to making it back there soon! Just a quick side note, I was experimenting with a rented DSLR video camera (this was before I received my Nikon 5100 and D800). It was a mix of clips from a Canon T3i, the iphone, and I think a Canon G10. Not sure of that actually now that I think of it. Lets just say that there were a few sources. After the capture, editing was done in a program called Screenflow. While not an epic video, its not too bad for being chopped together on site with the laptop in about an hour

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4sEEyoWa34&feature=player_em...

On a completely different note…..
I’ve been taking a few minutes (all right, hours!) sorting, importing, and organizing my images from several sources that were set up as temporary dumps so to speak, and in the process, have been uncovering quite a few folders. You know how it is…..you intend to stay organized in Lightroom, but sometimes you just drag those memory card folders onto an external hard drive and lable the file “to import later”. And then you do it aain, and again… Time to clean it all up now before it gets out of control! Although I think I have a pretty organized workflow, all it takes is a busy weekend or 2 in the season and its an instant trainwreck!

(am I the only one that does this?)

Also, my lightroom catalogue is also getting quite a bit large actually. With all the HDR brackets I grab, that thing has actually ballooned to over 200 thousand images. If I imported all the time-lapse images, it would be even crazier!

Any tips on the best way to start a new catalogue?

Should I create several catalogues?

I was thinking of one for HyLite, one for timelapses, one for travel, one for family.

Whats the best way to move these files of images into new catalogues? Can you click and drag them?

How do you handle the challenge of so many images in one large catalogue? How many images are too much for one catalogue?

As always, more on this later as well as the solution I come up with for my workflow

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

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Morning greats me at the Hyatt - A morning stroll in Kauai, Hawaii

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 21:14:28 -0700

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“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Out the window of the Mandarin Hotel - a view in Brickel Key

nobody@flickr.com (Photomike07 / MDSimages.com) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:32:38 -0700

Photomike07 / MDSimages.com posted a photo:

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." - Vincent Van Gogh

My journey in photography has helped to teach me not only to appreciate what is visible right in front of me, but what is also, not visible. By the time I was able to finally venture out onto the balcony here in Miami, the scene was quite dark. Really dark. Not really knowing if there it would work, I decided to capture a few brackets anyway. Guess its amazing what that camera can see when you keep the shutter open long enough!

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