Adorable Little Girl

I got a shot of this adorable little girl, as I was leaving a traditional Persian wedding in Southern California in October, 2010.

I'm no wedding photographer, but I took my camera and put together a short video montage of still images of the festivities, as a surprise for the bride and groom.

You can see it on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/gcharlie1115#p/a/u/0/1ijEdNXkPcE

-CG TTL

Boston Harbor

This view of Boston Harbor was shot hand-held, from the second deck of a moving tour boat in mid-afternoon light.

The resolution of the full-sized sensor on the Canon 5D Mark II allowed me to do this panoramic crop, without losing too much detail.

I shot this with a 24mm lens focal length at ISO 400, f/16, and exposed for -0.67 Ev at 1/640 second.

-CG TTL

Dinghy

This working dinghy was tied up at a dock in the harbor at Rockport, Massachusetts.

This was shot near mid-afternoon in open shade provided by an adjacent building.

I shot this hand-held from a walkway above the floating dock, using a lens focal length of 67 mm, at ISO 800, f/16, and 1/100 sec.

-CG TTL

New England Lighthouse

This New England lighthouse, silhouetted against the setting sun, marks the entrance to the Annisquam River from Ipswich Bay, near Gloucester, Massachusetts.

While I was framing the shot, a fishing boat conveniently appeared on its way home at sunset.

The shot was hand-held, using a 67mm focal length at ISO 400, F/16, and underexposed by 0.67 Ev at 1/250 sec.

-CG TTL

Budding Possibilities

These buds among the colorful flowers remind me of the many budding possibilities in life and the fact that the universe seems to keep evolving pretty much as it should, without a lot of effort on my part.

This was shot handheld in available light at a distance of 1 meter with a lens focal length of 105 mm, at ISO 800, f/8, exposed for -0.67 Ev for 1/30 sec. Post processing was in CS5.

You might want to click on the image to see it larger.

-CG TTL

Flowers

I liked the colors, shapes, and composition of these flowers I found in a hotel lobby.

This was shot, handheld in ambient light, at a focal length of 105 mm, at ISO 400, f/4.0, and exposed for 1/50 second.

Post processing was done in CS5.

-CG TTL

River Oaks

River Oaks County Club in Houston provides an intimate environment for shooting professional tennis action.

These images were shot at River Oaks, during the US Men's Clay Court Tennis Championships held there in April, 2010.

Shooting under bright overcast skies and at close proximity (third row), I was able to stop the action with a 200mm f/2.8L lens at ISO 800, f/8, and exposed for 1/1000 sec. I found that I had to underexpose by a full stop to prevent the blinkies on those bright white tennis outfits.

-CG TTL

Indian Wells

I shot these images at a semi-final match between Andy Roddick and Robin Soderling at the ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California in March, 2010.

You may want to click on these images to see them larger. Mostly, I was trying to stop action on the ball.

-CG TTL

Rafa Nadal

These action shots of Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal were shot in a semi-final match at the ATP tennis tournament at Indian Wells, California in March, 2010.

They were shot at a distance of 36.8 meters from my seat high in the stadium in very bright, early-afternoon, side light, using an effective focal length of 400mm at f/5.6, ISO 200, and exposed for 1/2500 sec.

My intention was to take advantage of the bright light to shoot at a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the movement of the ball.

I did the post processing, including some selective brightening of the harsh shadows, in Photoshop CS4.

-CG TTL

Joshua Tree Blossom

This joshua tree blossom was shot in Joshua Tree National Park in California a couple of weeks ago.

I shot it in the late afternoon light at f/5.6, ISO 500, and exposed for 1/800 second with a EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens set at 70.0 mm at a distance of 2.5 meters from the subject. I was going for a sort of portrait look with a moderately narrow depth of field to produce a sharp foreground and a blurred background.

The image of the moon was shot at about the same time and with the same lens, but (...sadly) in a different image.

So, I'm officially fessing up here. This is not photo journalism. If I worked for The New York Times, I'd be fired. I composited the moon into the background of the blossom image, using Photoshop CS4.

-CG TTL

Joshua Tree

During a recent trip to Palm Springs, I managed to slip over to Joshua Tree National Park for an afternoon photo shoot. This is the tree after which the park is named.

This was shot with an EF 17-40 mm f/4L USM lens set at 37 mm. The camera was set at f/16, ISO 200, and exposed for 1/80 second.

-CGTTL

Palm Desert

I shot this image early one morning outside our time-share villa in Palm Desert, California, as the sun was coming up behind the camera.

Using a Canon 5D Mark II and an EF 17-40 mm f/4L USM wide angle zoom lens set at 28 mm, I shot four images at ISO 200 and f/16 with shutter speeds varying from 1/20 to 1/3 second.

To accomodate the high dynanmic range, I composited the four images manually, using CS4.

-CGTTL

Puerto Vallarta Video Montage

Here's a link to a video montage of images I shot recently in Puerto Vallarta.

http://vimeo.com/9795524

Images were edited in CS4 and the video and audio were edited in Apple FinalCut.

-CGTTL

Restful Beach

I shot this restful image of a beach at Puerto Vallarta, before breakfast one morning.

Shot data: Hand-held, Canon 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM lens set at 105 mm, f/16, ISO 400, and under exposed by 2/3 stop at 1/100 second.

Post processing in CS4.

-CGTTL

Hotel Reflections

This image was composed to take advantage of the reflection of the seaside hotel in the surface of the pool.

Shot data: Canon 5D Mark II on a tripod, 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens set at 32 mm, f/22, ISO 800, and exposed manually for 10 seconds through a graduated ND filter.

Post processing was done in CS4.

CGTTL

Lone Swimmer

By shooting over the negative edge of this swimming pool at my hotel in Puerto Vallarta, I was trying to get a velvet look to the moving surf in contrast to the sharply smooth water of the swimming pool. In addition I was trying to get a silhouette of this lone swimmer, taking a dip just after sunset.

Shooting data: Canon 5D Mark II, EF 24-105 MM at 92mm, f/16, ISO 1600, exposed in manual mode at -2/3 stop for .5 seconds.

Post processing was done in CS4.

-CGTTL

Light Stars

I got into shooting "light stars" around the pool at my hotel in Puerto Vallarta.

This image was shot from a tripod after sunset at ISO 1600, 28 mm focal length, f/16, and underexposed by 2/3 stop at 3.2 seconds.

Post processing was done in CS4.

-CGTTL

Light Stars

I was trying to get a "light star" effect on the pool lights in this image. You may have to click on the image to see it larger in order to see the "light stars."

Shooting just before sunset from a tripod with a Canon 5D Mark II and my EF 24-105 mm f/4L IS USM lens, I turned off auto-focus and image stabilization on the lens and framed the shot at a focal length of 35 mm. Shooting in manual exposure mode, I set the aperture at f/22, ISO at 800, and manually underexposed the image by -2/3 stop at 1/25 second. To minimize motion blur, I tripped the shutter with a remote cable release.

Post processing was done in CS4.

-CGTTL

Sun Star

While in Puerto Vallarta in February I went out by the pool at my hotel before sunset to get a "sun star" shot.

I picked a point of view that would allow me to frame the setting sun between back lit, silhouetted palm trees and have the middle ground reflected in the surface of the pool. I also liked the diagonal leading lines on both sides of the frame.

Shooting from a tripod with a Canon 5D Mark II camera and an EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM lens, I set the focal length to 24 mm. With image stabilization and auto-focus turned off and the camera in manual exposure mode, I set the ISO to 400, the aperture to f/22, the subject focus to about 2 meters, and the exposure to -2/3 at 1/15 sec. To help assure a tack sharp image, I tripped the shutter with a cable release.

Post processing was done in CS4.

-CGTTL

Young Vaquero

This young vaquero was riding with his family in a parade in the streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last week.

I shot this image in harsh mid-day sunlight. The young boy's sombrero provided just enough soft shade, so I could expose for his face and just allow the background to blow out.

This was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and a 24-105 mm f/4L IS USM lens set at 105 mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, and underexposed by 2/3 stop at 1/160 second.

Post processing was done in CS4.

You can click on this image to view it larger, and see the quality of the hand work on his suede jacket and sombrero.

-CGTTL

Dodge Truck - Sepia

Here's the sepia version of the dodge truck image I just posted.

You may want to click on this image to see it a bit larger.

-CGTTL

Dodge Truck

I noticed this interesting old Dodge pickup truck on the side of highway 6, South of College Station, Texas.

This two-image HDR was shot in available afternoon light with a 24 mm lens at f/11, ISO 400 and exposed for 1/800 second.

-CGTTL

Red Tailed Hawk

This beautiful red tailed hawk was being held by the woman who nursed it back to health for two years. She was saying goodbye, just before she released the bird back into the wild at Armand Bayou Nature Center in Houston today.

This image was shot handheld in available light with a Canon 5D Mark II and a EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens set at 105 mm, f/5.6, ISO 400, and underexposed by 2/3 stop for 1/400 second.

Post processing is in CS4.

-CGTTL