Click to enlarge images
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography
Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Windows of Hale Manu
Hale Manu is an estate on the north shore of Kaua'i that Linda and I
had the good fortune to rent for the 2011-12 Fall-Winter-Spring. A
classic Hawaiian plantation style house surrounded by a 3 acre botanical
garden. There is lush vegetation in every direction and windows to let
it all in.
The Windows project started shortly after I arrived there but has taken more than a year to finish. I had the vision of the black and white frame around the lush views and I had to perfect that look I wanted.
I hope you enjoy these final images. Please click the images to enlarge.
The Windows project started shortly after I arrived there but has taken more than a year to finish. I had the vision of the black and white frame around the lush views and I had to perfect that look I wanted.
I hope you enjoy these final images. Please click the images to enlarge.
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Monday, October 1, 2012
Na Aina Kai Garden Animals
Na Aina Kai roughly translates from Hawaiian to Ocean Land. It is a fantastic place on the north shore of Kaua'i that has an interesting history. See: http://www.naainakai.org
There are a lot sculptures and sculpted areas in the garden. Here are a few of my favorites.
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| Natural |
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| Topiary |
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| Bronze |
Click to enlarge images
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography Day for Night
I think the movie guys call this "day for night". Just exposing at a level that makes the time of day seem dark. I love to take a shot like this into black and white as the essence is really that burning glare and the dark rocks.
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| Rocks and ocean glare at Anini on Kaua'i. |
Click to enlarge images
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Kaua'i Rental
I think of this vehicle as a Kaua'i rental car but that is just a personal joke. I ran across this thing poking its nose out of the jungle on the Kuamoo Road uphill a few miles from Wailua. I passed it several times before stopping to photograph it. It always appeared to me to be about to turn onto the road. It was only a few feet off the pavement. If only the blinker was working it would have completed the effect.
While shooting it, a local slowed and basically looked horrified that I was photographing the truck. People that live on Kaua'i are quite proud of their island and rightly so. I became so too after living there for awhile. However, everything material on the island is in some state of disintegrating back into the jungle.
Anyway, this (and the whole property - at least what you could see from the road) was cleaned up shortly after I took these shots.
While shooting it, a local slowed and basically looked horrified that I was photographing the truck. People that live on Kaua'i are quite proud of their island and rightly so. I became so too after living there for awhile. However, everything material on the island is in some state of disintegrating back into the jungle.
Anyway, this (and the whole property - at least what you could see from the road) was cleaned up shortly after I took these shots.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Fire in Colorado - Flagstaff Fire...
in Boulder County, Colorado as seen from our house (about 16 miles from the fire) the day it blew up. Luckily, this fire is contained and was relatively small (300 acres or so). We have friends that were under pre-evacuation notices. The roundish cloud at the top of the smoke plume is a cloud not smoke.
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| Black and white version. Nik SilverEfex Pro2. |
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| Color version. |
Click to enlarge images
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tropical Plant Studies
The plants here are amazing of course. It has been interesting how many shots lend themselves to black and white conversions. Perhaps the lack of really interesting light has led me in the black and white direction. The light has been, for the most part, pretty flat and dull during this tropical winter.
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| Flowering red Ti. |
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| Emerging water lily. |
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| Fan palm detail |
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| Fan palm detail again. |
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| Palm leaves. |
Click to enlarge images
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Workshop with John Fielder
Before leaving Colorado, I could not resist the opportunity to sit in a workshop with the premiere Colorado nature photographer John Fielder. Apparently he does a workshop as a donation for the Summit County charity organization, Domus Pacis Family Respite every year. The session was scheduled to be in the fall color season but it was late this year so there was only a bit of color in the aspens. The pano below was taken 9 days later.
While all photo workshops (well most anyway) turn into beginner sessions to some degree, I still found it really interesting and enjoyable to hear John discuss some of his great photography in detail. The workshop was at his house and included a gourmet dinner. John was engaging and an interesting leader. I enjoyed the day. Best quote of the day, "photographers are hunters of the anomaly".
I also really enjoyed the shooting session where we wandered around Fielder's neighborhood...with this view of the Gore Range:
...and see what caught his eye. It was an interesting way to do the shooting portion but could have been more in-depth. Basically, we wandered down the road, John would shoot something that caught his eye with his pocket cam and everyone would give it a try. There was lots of feedback and it was fun to see "through his eyes". If you have the opportunity to do this with John, I would recommend it. However, I was disappointed that there wasn't more serious shooting. We were encouraged to keep moving before anyone could refine a shot of their own for the most part. Though I did capture a few keepers, see below.
Here are a few shots from that day that interested me...More black and whites than is my usual for nature shoots but I think that was prompted by the flat light and lack of fall color that afternoon.
While all photo workshops (well most anyway) turn into beginner sessions to some degree, I still found it really interesting and enjoyable to hear John discuss some of his great photography in detail. The workshop was at his house and included a gourmet dinner. John was engaging and an interesting leader. I enjoyed the day. Best quote of the day, "photographers are hunters of the anomaly".
I also really enjoyed the shooting session where we wandered around Fielder's neighborhood...with this view of the Gore Range:
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| 8 Frame merged panorama: Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70, 1/125, f/16, IS0 200, tripod mounted. Merged with Photoshop CS 5. |
...and see what caught his eye. It was an interesting way to do the shooting portion but could have been more in-depth. Basically, we wandered down the road, John would shoot something that caught his eye with his pocket cam and everyone would give it a try. There was lots of feedback and it was fun to see "through his eyes". If you have the opportunity to do this with John, I would recommend it. However, I was disappointed that there wasn't more serious shooting. We were encouraged to keep moving before anyone could refine a shot of their own for the most part. Though I did capture a few keepers, see below.
Here are a few shots from that day that interested me...More black and whites than is my usual for nature shoots but I think that was prompted by the flat light and lack of fall color that afternoon.
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| The group was shooting in this area but I think I was the only one that turned and saw the great reds in the grass behind the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200, 1/60, f/8, IS0 800, handheld. |
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| This shot was probably suggested by John. We spent quite a bit of time on the graphic elements of the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70, 1/100, f/16, IS0 800, handheld. The softness and glow are from the clarity slider in Adobe Camera Raw. Black and white conversion was Nik SilverEfex Pro. |
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| This shot was probably suggested by John. We spent quite a bit of time on the graphic elements of the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70, 1/100, f/16, IS0 800, handheld. The softness and glow are from the clarity slider in Adobe Camera Raw. |
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| This shot was probably suggested by John. We spent quite a bit of time on the graphic elements of the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200, 1/400, f/2.8, IS0 800, handheld. I was working on compressing the grove with the telephoto on this one. Black and white conversion was Nik SilverEfex Pro. |
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| John was suggesting a wider landscape of these trees with the Gore Range in the background here. I didn't like that shot so went vertical and tighter. This black and white conversion of this shot shows how flat light does not always ruin the day. This shot in color is quite dull. Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200, 1/3200, f/2.8, IS0 800, handheld. Black and white conversion was Nik SilverEfex Pro. |
Final timely note, Fielder's newest work from Africa is set to debut at his gallery in Denver on Saturday, October 15, 2011. I saw a few proofs and it looks really interesting. The images are all in a panorama format.
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography
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