Saturday, December 24, 2011

Ryan and Gayle

















Thursday afternoon I ventured out of my normal photo comfort zone with a portrait project. Ryan (our fourth son) and Gayle are getting married this coming May. The save-the-date cards are to go out in early January and a photo of the couple is needed for that. So off to the local university campus for some pictures. I took the opportunity to experiment with some different looks and pug-ins for this project considering I'm shooting the wedding also. Yes, I took some "straight" shots, but I felt this was about conveying a sense of emotion, so I was leaning toward a warm interpretation. Here are some other images from the shoot:



Thursday, December 22, 2011

Dark and Dank


iPhone 4s BBRUD-611, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

No, this is not the bathroom set as promised in the last post. I was sidetracked today onto a project for Gayle and Ryan's save the date wedding announcement. It has to go out the first of the year and a photo of the happy couple is required. More on that latter.

Today's image is an HDR capture at the silk mill from my last visit. I've had one of these shots on my list since the my second visit back in the summer. There is so much to photograph there that two visits came and went without getting this shot. So this last trip I was determined to get this one early on in the shoot least I forget again.

It was very overcast when this was shot and I choose to process it dark as the scene appeared to me. The water on the floor is from the leaky roof.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Gold Pipes


Camera Roll-434, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Continuing with images from the recent trip to the old mill. The roof continues to deteriorate over the old mill building, leading to fears that without outside funding soon the salvagers may be brought in to dismantle the structure.

Heating in the old factory was accomplished two ways: Radiators (I don't know if they were hot water or steam) and forced air. The radiators are located in the bathrooms while the large air ducts hang from the ceiling over the work floor. Hmmm...speaking of ducts, there is a subject for another trip! This tangle of pipes are located just outside the woman's restroom on the upper floor.

These pipes were on my list to shoot this visit. A fellow photographer, Shaun Moss, discovered these on a prior visit and I had wished to capture my own version since. In areas were the roof is failing and leaking badly, the owner has tried to minimize water damage with tarps and buckets to collect rain water from seeping to lower levels. These pipes were hidden behind tarps in one such area. Beyond this point is the women's bathroom, the subject of the next blog post.

After the first visit, which every photographer who has gone will confirm is overwhelming, I have settled into a pattern on return visits of seeking a balance of capuring new subjects, reshooting a subject from a previous visit or borrowing inspiration from the work of others. This image is a case of the later.

This image was captured and processed on my new iPhone 4s. The image quality is a quantum leap over the 4. I also have Nikon files that are in the cue for Photoshop. Alas, the day job does make for delays on that front.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Return to Lonaconing


Camera Roll-433, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Last weekend I made a fourth trip to the silk mill. This time Donna went with me and we made a weekend of it, shooting both Saturday and Sunday. We meet up with a great group of photographers including Tony Sweet, John Barclay and Karen Messick. It was great to see old friends there, Tom and Richard, as well as make new ones also.

The weather was below freezing both days and it snowed on the second day. Several layers of clothes were the order of the day followed by a soak in the hot tub each evening. With the gray skys light inside the old building was quite low. Keeping close to windows, looonng exposures or light painting were the options this time around.

I have never returned to the same location to photograph so many times. You might think one would run out of interesting things to shoot here but that is not the case. We even found a room we had not been in on prior visits. The quality of the light changes with the seasons presenting different opportunities each visit. Over the coming days, I'll be sharing a number of new images as I have time to process them.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Cape May Sunrise BW


_DSC9730_DxO pre nx se 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.
An alternative view of the drain structures before sunrise. Converted in Silver EfexPro2. The color version is shown below:

Monday, December 5, 2011

The Other End of the Pond


_DSC9279_DxO A nx 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

The trees are surely looking drab around here now. So missing the color, I processed this file from this past fall for a little pick-me- up.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Froze Rose


Camera Roll-386, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Winter officially arrived this week with a frosty vengeance after a string of warm days. Just when I thought outdoor photography was finished for the season I was treated with this yesterday morning.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Cape May Drain


_DSC0113_DxO topaz nx nik 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

These structures secure the storm drains from the town. They are spaced along beach and provide an interesting element for water to interact with during long exposures. I was taking 30 second exposures using a Vari-ND filter. While the clouds were not as exciting as the ones at Ocean City, I was drawn to the color reflections in the sand.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Little Artsy at the Pier

Still working through my backlog of images. I thought I was finished with this pier and was working on other images from the Cape May trip when I became sidetracked with this shot last night. I had tried a series of swipes of this subject. None of them quite worked as intended, but I thought this one might be a good candidate to try out Alien Skins' Snap Art 3. My mentor, Tony Sweet, has been after me to give this a try for years. After having fun with textures in the iPhone, I gave it try with this DSLR image. Topaz Adjust 5 tint, Alien Skin Snap Art Impasto.