Day 128

11/15/10

"Fall Winds Down"

This photo was taken after a light snow the night before. It was a great day out and the sky was wonderful and made for a great HDR shot that played off the color of the building in the foreground.

Day 119

11/6/10

"Sunset Over the Kohl Center Lawn (HDR)"

One of my favorite HDR shots so far. Taken as the sun went down near the home of Badgers Basketball and Hockey, the Kohl Center.

Day 90

10/8/10

"Twilight Over Madison"

This shot was taken from atop my apartment building toward the campus in Madison.

Day 53

9/1/10

"Clouds like Mountains"

Not much to say today. Just got this pretty photo of Lake Mendota again and the sunset in the background, and clouds that looked like mountains in the distance. Similar to one a few days ago, but I still liked it.

Bonus Shot: Memorial Union Bash 8/30

I decided to post a photo that I spent significant time editing today. Its an HDR shot (again, High Dynamic Range. I might do a little write up on so you can understand a bit better, but basically, our eyes perceive shadows and highlights simultaneously, which a camera cannot do without multiple exposures, which is what I've done here). Hope you enjoy, and as always you can click for a larger view. This looks great blown up full size.

"Buckyzilla! (HDR"

Day 51

8/30/10

"Windsurf at Sunset"

I had the great opportunity to shoot some action at the Memorial Union tonight while they had the MU Bash. Out of a lot of good shots, as well as two or three good HDRs that I spent significant time layer masking, my favorite shot of the evening was just a quick grab without a tripod or filter and very little messing with tones in post processing. Definitely a good one for a background on a computer.

Click for a larger photo.

Day 45

8/24/10

"Downtown Dirt Road"

Today I have an HDR image that I took outside my new apartment. I really enjoy HDR, and the level of realism and surrealism that you can create from any given set of three images. I actually took the time to go through and do layer masks and take out certain parts that didn't blend well in Photomatix. I think it turned out great, and deserves a look at the larger image.

Day 28

8/7/10

"Blue Mound's Ball of Fire"

I went today with Laura to Blue Mound State Park with the intention of using the beautiful lookout as a place to take some decently intricate panoramas. However, the humidity caused a large amount of haze and some problems with the lens (a spot on the lens that didn't show up in my test photos) kind of ruined those plans. However, I was able to get a few good HDR shots, as well as spend some time with Laura after she got back from being out of the country for 3 weeks. Out of 8 total HDR, each with a small problem of lighting or too much foreground showing, this was my favorite.

Click for a larger image.

Day 16

7/26/10

"Sunset on the Lake"

I love taking photos of sunsets. I attempted to take a few HDR photos of the sunset tonight but for some reason my AEB wasn't working correctly, so I just chose the best photo of the sunset tonight.

Click the photo for a larger view.

Day 2

7/12/10

"Lovers on the Lake"

Lake Mendota from the Memorial Union, Madison, WI
The color of the sunset was just gorgeous earlier and I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of it. The couple sitting on the pier was just too well placed to pass up photographing. Here I meant to do Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) for a HDR shot, but I rushed down to the water so fast to catch the sunset that I didn't have enough time to figure out my AEB on my new camera before shooting. I notice a lot of noise in my shot, especially the clouds, so I have to look for a noise reducing program.


Click for a much larger photo.