Sunday, December 28, 2008

Playing With Flash: Chickadee

I don't remember what exactly I was doing, but it caused me to remember a guy who photographs birds using his flashes. It occurred to me that I'm pretty much all set to give this a try myself, so I did. What you see below is my first attempt at shooting a bird using flash. I wanted to blacken out the background, but it didn't work out as well as I had hoped.

Chickadee (by John Brainard)

In order to shoot this, I had my camera and flashes on full manual. The slave flash (580EX) was set to full power and my master flash set to 1/128th, the lowest it can go. All I'm using my master flash for is triggering the slave. I set the shutter speed to 1/2000th of a second and the aperture as wide as I could go, which is f/5.6 with my Sigma 70-300mm lens.

Here's a list of things I plan on trying next:


  • Block all the feeder ports on the feeder except the ones I want to shoot the birds from.
  • Remove the other bird feeder from the back yard so they don't have an alternate feeder to eat from.
  • Position myself better so the tree is in the background.
  • Work out better exposure settings.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Playing With Light

Thanks, Zetson, for the extra push I needed to get a new entry up on my blog! Hopefully, this won't go collecting dust for nearly a whole month again for a while!

I currently have in my possession a 580EX flash to accompany my 580EX II as I contemplate buying it. I originally wanted to purchase a set of Elinchrom Skyports to get my flash off camera and I still may do that, but I really am enjoying the Canon wireless flash system. Some of the benefits to it are the e-TTL, which I'm not using much, and high-speed shutter sync, which I have used. It didn't take long to figure out how to control the 580EX as a slave to my 580EX II master.

The following is a result of my playing around with a toy my mom bought me for Christmas a few years ago. Yes, I'm 32 years old and yes, I still ask my mom for toys like this for Christmas! I thought it only fitting that I incorporate some Christmas lights in the photos of a Christmas present around Christmas time!

Robo Raptor (by John Brainard)

Robo Raptor (by John Brainard)

Robo Raptor (by John Brainard)


The lights in the background are supposed to be star shaped. Unfortunately, the star I cut out of a piece of foam craft paper didn't work out too well. I'll have to try again with card stock. If you want to know what I did, check out this link.

Have a Merry Christmas! And don't forget the Reason for the Season!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Welcome Snow!

Welcome Snow! (by John Brainard)

I know certain family members will wish to cause me harm in some way because of these feelings (yes dad, I'm talking about you and my wife too), but I'm excited about the snow! It's here! I got to use the snowblower today!

I went out for a few hours this morning and took some photos around Labrador Pond and Tinker Falls. I have more photos to post, but I'm going to wait until my new computer parts come in. I'm anxious to see how much of an improvement a Core 2 Quad w/4Gb of memory will be over my old, tired Athlon XP with 1GB of memory.

I see the prices on 1TB SATA Seagate drives are reasonable, so I'll likely add one or two of those in a RAID configuration soon.

Keep an eye out for more photos.... I think I still have some to finish up from the men's retreat.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Men's Retreat: Nifty Fifty

I haven't forgotten about the Men's Retreat photos or my Nifty Fifty project! I managed to get my 50mm f/1.8 lens mounted to my camera while at Huntington Camp on Raquette Lake. I sometimes wonder which lens I'd keep if I had to get rid of all but one lens. I get so much use out of my 10-20mm lens, but when I use my 50mm f/1.8, I get some photos that I really enjoy. I especially enjoy taking photos of various hardware on docks and piers, especially if there's a little rust involved.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Believe it or not, I still have a few more photos to process and post. I've been preoccupied with other things lately. More to come, I'm sure!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Men's Retreat: Second Day

I woke up the first morning rather early. Well, 6:30am is early for me. I took a shower and went straight to the dining hall for a cup of coffee. Surprisingly, I didn't manage to take any pictures. I took the following picture between breakfast and the devotional/worship time.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


This photo required a little running around to get into position. The guys on the canoes probably wouldn't have stopped for a picture, so I didn't bother asking. I figured it would be easier to run.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


Surprisingly, I haven't touched my camera since I came back. It's been sitting in the camera bag, next to my bed. Granted, I still have quite a bit of work left finishing up the photos from the trip, but this is the longest my camera has gone untouched. Perhaps I'll find some time this week to get out and take some close ups of leaves or something else.

Speaking of time, I know some of my readers are Christians. I have a prayer request. If you could take a few moments and pray for me and my family, I would certainly appreciate it. If you see me in Church, feel free to ask about it or e-mail me. I'll be more than willing to share.

God Bless!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Men's Retreat: After Dark

Normally I get very bored when I'm taking pictures after dark as I can stand there for as long as 10 minutes, sometimes more, waiting for the exposure to finish. When I'm with a group of 40 or so men, I can take night scenes all night, or until the battery dies. These are some of the night shots I managed to capture while at Huntington Camp last weekend.


Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


You can see on this last one that the boats and the dock were moving with the water. An interesting effect, but I think I'd prefer it if the boats were more clear.

God Bless!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Men's Retreat: Two Truths and a Lie

The first evening we were there, the sun was perfect and the sky had a nice texture. I managed to get a few photos in after getting settled into the bunk house and before the dinner bell rang.

After dinner, we all met in the building they used for a classroom. In order to break the ice, we played this game called "Two Truths and a Lie". The rules were you came up with two truths and a lie and shared them with the others in your group. It was a great time. My two truths and lie are below. I hope you'll take the time to figure out which is the lie and leave a comment!

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


  1. I rescued my wife from the fashion industry.
  2. I took first place in a photography contest this summer.
  3. I dropped out of college my second year and moved to North Carolina to start my career in computer programming.
Leave your guess in the comments.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Men's Retreat: Huntington Memorial Camp

Our Church, Grace Christian Fellowship, organized a weekend at Huntington Memorial Camp on Raquette Lake. It was a great time. Brian Newman shared from God's Word on the relationships in men's lives and what it is we live for and what we're supposed to live for. He did an excellent job of helping to open my eyes to the fact that I need to be there for my family more and spend less time playing. I went to my first Bible Study in a long time as a result of this weekend.

There was plenty of free time available to do as we pleased, so, naturally, I took pictures. Sunday morning, as I was about to take a photo inside the lodge, I looked at my camera and saw that the ISO was set to 800. I only adjusted the ISO once this weekend and that as Friday evening to meter for some night shots. I set the ISO to 800 to get my light meter to give me a usable reading. The whole day I was fairly bummed about having lost a whole weekend's worth of photos as photos taken at ISO 800 on my camera get pretty noisy. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but I may never see Raquette Lake again! Oddly, though, it didn't bother me much at all. I knew that there was a much better purpose to being there and it certainly wasn't to take pictures. That was an added bonus.

Here are the first couple of photos of what will be several posts over the next week from the trip.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

This was a great weekend and I certainly won't hesitate to do it again. I'm extremely thankful to the guys that organized this weekend! It was a blast. I met a lot of guys from Church that I might not have met otherwise.

Enjoy!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Hope Lake After Dark

When I went through these photos to process them, I wasn't sure I was going to post them. I didn't like the way they turned out, mostly and became discouraged. Looking back through them again, I found a few that I liked.

I reprocessed this one as the noise-reduction routine removed a lot of detail and sharpness. I just didn't like the way it turned out. So, I processed the photo without noise reduction. I think it looks better, though I have no idea how it would look printed as it's a bit noisy.

Hope Lake (by john_brainard)

Hope Lake (by john_brainard)

I took this photo earlier the same evening I took the above photos. This is a campsite in Heiberg Memorial Forest owned by one of the SUNY schools. I liked the light trails from this set of photos so much, I decided to do it again. I set the aperture so I could get a two minute exposure, which gave me enough time to get in my car and drive around the loop a few times.

Heiberg Memorial Forest (by john_brainard)

These photos were taken on September 19th. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Rays of Sun

This is the last of the photos from my trip to Calico Pond at Gee Brook State Forest on Saturday. I've been impressed with the photos I took there. Many of them turned out to be much different than what I normally get on my trips out.

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


This photo was taken at a park in Homer. I'm not sure what the name of the park is, but I'll probably go back to get some more photos. I was about a half hour early for worship practice, so I stopped to check this place out. I had only a few moments to capture this one before the sun disappeared below the horizon.

Park in Homer, NY (by john_brainard)


This photo I took on Saturday. After my trip to Gee Brook State Forest, I went driving around the town I spent the better part of my childhood years in. This is a bridge I used to ride my bike over a lot. I even played down in the river a few times. I've thought about doing a photo journal of where I grew up and played when I was a kid. It could be fun.

Bridge in Cincinnatus, NY (by john_brainard)


Enjoy!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Frost on Calico Pond

I hoped to have had more shots of plants and foliage covered in frost, but that didn't happen. I have a couple that I liked from this Saturday's trip. I'll have to go out and look for frost covered foliage to shoot.


Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

The leaves below are from the same tree. It's amazing how turning just a little bit away from or toward the sun can have a huge impact on how the photos turn out.

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


Enjoy! I hope to have a couple more tomorrow to wrap up my trip to Calico Pond in Gee Brook State Forest.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sunrise on Calico Pond

The scenery first thing in the morning on Calico Pond in Gee Brook State Forest is unbelievable. During the day, it's just a small body of water set in the woods with a nice stream that passes it by. During the dramatic hours of the day, however, it's hard not to see the artist in God shine through.


Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


I have some frost covered foliage to upload soon, so check back!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Nifty Fifty: Foliage

It has been way too long since I made an entry for my "NiftyFifty" project. It's also been too long since I updated my blog with any landscape/outdoor photos which I enjoy making the most.

I spent the last two weeks anxious to get out on a nice day for pictures. This morning finally provided an opportunity to get out that I was able to take. These photos are the first of a set I took at Gee Brook State Forest. Keep an eye out for more entries to come over the next few days.


NiftyFifty: Foliage (by john_brainard)

NiftyFifty: Foliage (by john_brainard)

NiftyFifty: Foliage (by john_brainard)


It's fun to get down close to the ground, even while standing in a stream to do it! I came home with soaked shoes and partly soaked pants this morning. It was well worth the trouble. I read early on about photography that you should never be afraid to come home dirty to get the shot you want. I think I get dirtier taking pictures than I do working in the yard! I love it!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Winnie, Short for Winchester

On August, 26th, I introduced our newest family member, Winnie. Well... over the last month, she became very hairy. Here she is after her first haircut.


Winnie (by john_brainard)

Winnie (by john_brainard)


Judging by the look on her face, she's not thrilled with this new hair style. I tried to convince her that it will grow back!

For those who are curious, check back later for a set up shot and a description of how I shot these.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Grace Christian Fellowship Church

I envision my future with photography to be in real estate. The challenge of lighting interiors and finding interesting exterior shots looks exciting to me. You can imagine my excitement when a friend from Church asked if I'd take some photos they can use for advertising. I didn't get any interior photos, just the exterior. Here are a few of the ones I chose to give them. Most of these are multiple exposures.


Grace Christian Fellowship (by john_brainard)

Grace Christian Fellowship (by john_brainard)

Grace Christian Fellowship (by john_brainard)

Grace Christian Fellowship (by john_brainard)


Feel free to check out their website.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Morning Fog

There was a heavy fog this morning in the valleys that I couldn't pass up shooting. I couldn't capture it the way I had hoped to, but I did manage to take a few photos that I do like. Next time, I'll try to find a different spot to shoot from, perhaps Sessions Hill Road.


Morning Fog (by john_brainard)

Morning Fog (by john_brainard)

Morning Fog (by john_brainard)

Morning Fog (by john_brainard)


Enjoy.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Moonlight on Sessions Hill Road

If you've been following my blog, you might recognize these trees as I have shot them before.

Sessions Hill Road and Vern King Road in Homer have some interesting features to shoot. I'm looking forward to some fall and winter trips up there for some photos. The colors should be great.


Sessions Hill Road at Night (by john_brainard)

Sessions Hill Road at Night (by john_brainard)


I shot these at ISO 400 as I don't really like the star trails too much. Unfortunately, there are small trails. Thankfully, UFRaw has noise removal built in and was able to get rid of a lot of sensor noise.