Nathaniel Reinhart Photography

The Digital Grad ND

2009-04-14T23:50:00.001-07:00

This is a rough draft post - please leave comments about how it can be made clearer and improved! Thanks! - Nathan

One major problem photographers face is shooting scenes have have too much difference between the dark parts and the light parks of the scene. For instance, how do you take a picture flowers during sunrise? The sky is really bright and getting all those wonderful warm tones from the sun rise, but the sun isn't "up" yet (obviously) and those flowers that you want to give the picture some interest are way to dark for your camera to take a picture of both of them.

This was exactly the problem that I faced a couple of weeks ago and I'm going to show you how I solved it.

The Foreground

The Background

Step 0) Take two pictures

Back in the "good ol' days of film", photographers would uses graduated neutral density filters to "even" out these types of problems. These were pieces of glass with one side dark and the other side light. They would put the dark part in front of the brighter part of the scene, toning it down to where the darker part was. You can certainly still do this in a digital age (I know several people who do), but you can very easily get the same effect, after the fact, with little work. The advantages to doing it after the fact are you get all kinds of opportunity to mess it up and try again and you can perfect it each time for each image. So...here is how you do it.

You need to take two pictures - one that has the dark part looking "right" and one that has the light part looking "right". If you are shooting in RAW and the scene works for it you can take one picture and develop the RAW file with different exposure settings to get this pictures. If you don't know what RAW is, take two pictures. In taking these two pictures the camera really needs to be on a tripod because you need these images to line up perfectly.

At this point you have two versions of the same image, one with the foreground looking correct, one with the background looking right. We need to put these together into a single image.

Load up both the foreground and the background into your favorite photo editor. They need to be loaded into the same image on different layers.

Step 1) Add a layer mask to the top layer.

Most editors have some sort of "mask" option if you right click on the layer. If you've never used a mask, you'll love it. Masks have to be the most flexible way of blending two layers together. A mask lets you "paint" away the part of the layer your want transparent. The areas of the mask that are black make that part of the layer transparent, where the areas that are white keep that part of the layer opaque. Shades of gray are partially transparent. That's where the magic is. You can paint, cut, copy, paste, blur, smudge, whatever you want to the mask without damaging the actual image. This is going to let you quickly create a complex blend between your layers.

Step 2) The basic blend

Find your editors gradient tool and make sure it is set to a basic black to white gradient. Now pick the area of your image that you will blend. For the example image, its going to be the area of the meadow in the distance, but not really the sky part. Now, on the layer mask, draw a gradient in the area you want to blend. It should look something like this:

Play with this a couple of times until you've got something that looks "pretty good". In my case it looks like this.

Step 3) Smudge it, smudge it and then smudge it some more

If you are satisfied with the basic blend then don't feel like you have to continue with these steps. However, these other steps can really fine tune the blend. Anyway, grab the smudge tool and a huge (300+ pixel radius) fuzzy brush and smudge the mask so that it doesn't look as "harsh". Parts of the transition that seem too dark should probably get smudged to make it lighter, vice versa for light areas.

This step should be quick and natural and sloppy. Don't think to hard about how you are smudging it. If you smudge it too far one way just smudge it back, but the goal really is to sloppy up the gradient. My mask looked like this when I was done with this step.

And my image now looks like this...

Step 4) Gaussian Blur

At this point it probably looks pretty good but there are areas that seem kind of harsh in the transition. To fix this, run the mask through a Gaussian Blur filter with the radius set to 300-600 pixels depending on taste. This will even out all that smudging you did and leave you with a silky smooth, but not even transition that has been hand tweaked to give you the best possible results. In my case the mask looked like this...

If you run it through the blur and it doesn't look right, go back to step 3 and smudge some more...or use a smaller radius. Play around with these steps to get a feel for how they behave.

Step 5) Final Touches

After you are satisfied with the transition, merge the layers together. At this point I like to run it through any additional processing, or at the very least adjust the curve just a little. I find that doing "something" to the whole image after blending, makes everything more "cohesive" and the image just works better. So...my end result, after blending and a minor curve adjustment looks like this.

I often use this technique if the scene is too dynamic for me to capture, or if my raw processor can't pull the details out to my satisfaction. Here are some other photos that have gone through similar processes (click for full size):

Mt. Hood and Trillium Lake

2008-12-08T17:51:00.001-08:00

Because of the lack of snow this year, the road to Trillium Lake is still open. Alycia and I decided to take advantage of the easy access to the lake and catch the sunset. Turned out to be one of the most amazing sunsets I have seen this year.

I've been up to Trillium a couple of times now, but this is the first that the conditions we're worth taking pictures of. What I don't understand is why there are so many pictures from the dam, to me that is the least interesting view of the lake.

I have been so busy with life to post on here, but I have a bunch of new pictures on the way. The only reason this one made it here was my excitement!

Scott & Ann, a.k.a. "The Inlaws"

2008-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Almost a month ago, Alycia and I took her parents, Scott and Ann, to Laurelhurst Park, in south east Portland, to take portraits with them. In addition to just going out for fun to take pictures of them, Alycia was looking for experience and I was looking to get used to my new camera and flash before shooting a wedding later in August.

We had a lot of fun wandering around taking pictures and Laurelhurst is such a beautiful park. It was funny watching them react to the "Paparazzi", but after a while they relaxed to the cameras and had fun with it.

A couple more of my favorites from the session:

Forest Fire and Fireweed

2008-09-08T19:00:00.001-07:00

Tree's Burned in the B&B Complex

During a recent backpacking trip, I spent a lot time hiking through burned out trees. Between the B&B Complex of 2003 and the Lake George Fire in 2006, there were only 5 or so miles of trail between McKenzie Pass and Santiam Pass that we're green trees. The rest of the trip was either burned out or lavabeds, both of which make for some surreal environments.

In 2003, the Booth Fire and the Bear Butte Fire burned over 90,000 acres of forest, primarily in the Mt. Jefferson wilderness. As we approached our destination at Santiam Pass we hiked through a small section of the B&B Complex. This area was in stark contrast to the area's of the more recent Lake George Fire we had hiked through on the previous day. There everything was desolate, but here renewal had already begun.

Fireweed, named such because it is one of the first things to grow again in burned areas, was in bloom. Every time I see Fireweed growing amongst the burned out trees, I marvel at how something so beautiful could come out of such desolation. In a lot of respects, it becomes an image for my life and how even amongst times of devastation, God is planting the seeds of something beautiful. A reminder of God's desire to restore and renew and an illustration of Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (NASB).

My Dad, Hiking the PCT

2008-09-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is my Dad. A couple of years ago he decided he wanted to hike all of Oregon Pacific Crest Trail in sections. He got a guide book and started highlighting sections of trail and writing the date he hiked it. Today, about 3 years since he first had the idea, he now has nearly 150 miles logged on the trail and, even though Oregon still has a ways to go, is already talking about doing Washington sections.

Because of his goal, a lot of the hiking or backpacking trips we take together involve at least a chunk of the PCT, that is if they are not composed entirely of it. During our trips, I've ended up hiking some fantastic areas, many of which I would love to go back to. The PCT is a fantastic way to see the Oregon Cascades. Staying basically at the crest, it loops around numerous mountains and goes through some amazing country.

This was taken on base of Mt. Washington during a recent backpacking trip. Although we never did see the mountain, it sure was a pretty area in the fog and the wildflowers were in bloom.

Backpacking the Mt. Washington Wilderness

2008-09-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

"Did I look miserable?"
"Yeah."
"Good! I want something to show my kids some day."

A couple of weeks ago, my brother, dad and I did a bit of backpacking in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. We had been planning a trip in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness for weeks when we heard that a storm would be blowing in on our first night. Because we were planning to have a late start and 40 mile an hour gusts, at 1am, on the side of Mt. Jefferson didn't sound fun (or really even all that safe), we decided to start a day later, hopefully miss the storm coming through and do a shorter, 2-day trip through the Mt. Washington Wilderness.

Looking out over the lava beds

So, we start out at McKenzie pass, with the rail falling sideways, and go trekking through the lava beds. As if to mock us, while we were getting soaked, it wasn't raining at all just a couple miles to the east. About a mile in, the trail was sheltered enough for me to snap three or four pictures before the lens was covered with rain drops. This would be the last section of trail with any kind of visibility we would see for a long while. We continued our climb through the lava beds and the higher we got the harder the wind blew and the harder rain fell and the more the visibility dropped. When we hit the tree line, and the welcome shelter from the wind and rain, we had walked right past Belknap Crater (6,872 feet) and Little Belknap Crater (6,305 feet) and simply didn't see either one of them. We plugged on for several more miles before deciding to wait out the rain in the tent.

We soon discovered that the tent leaked.

After waking up wet and putting on wet boots and wet...well you get the idea (if not, see the picture at the top of the article for a visual reference), we continued around the base of Mt. Washington.

Into the Mist, On the base of Mt. Washington

Day two started off great. That is to say, the rain wasn't coming down sideways and their wasn't as much of it. The base of Mt. Washington sure was pretty in the fog, although we never did see the mountain.

Zach, Resting at the Lake

As we continued, the weather got better and it turned into a nice day to be out for a hike. After realizing that we were a bit ahead of our scheduled pickup, we took it slow and easy for the last few miles, stopping for a bit to enjoy places like the little lake pictured above.

In the end it was a good trip. Very wet. But, I enjoyed it, I like the pictures I took and I would totally do it again next time.

Shinji & Vanessa

2008-09-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement session for my friend Shinji and his bride-to-be Vanessa. The engagement session was kind of a last minute thing, shot two weeks before the wedding. We decided to shoot it primarily for two reasons; the first being, my wife Alycia (you may have seen her picture) was going to be shooting the wedding with me and was looking for as much experience as she could get before hand. The second reason came from a conversation with Andy and Elisha at e[a] studios about how much more relaxed the wedding pictures are when you get the couple in front of the camera before the wedding. After having a "NO DUH!", "Shoulda had a V8" moment, we promptly called up Shinji and Vanessa and suggested meeting up at Edgefield, to which Vanessa responded "OH! Edgefield!".

So one hot August evening, we all wandered around Edgefield and had a blast taking pictures of these guys. After a while, they relaxed in front of the camera and when time came to take pictures at the wedding, they were totally relaxed.

Here are some highlights from the session.

Into the Sun

2008-08-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

More and more often, I find myself breaking one of the "rules" of photography and pointing my camera into the sun. While, typically, this results in a dark and/or washed out subject with awful ghosting and lens flare, if embraced as a stylistic decision, shooting into the sun can add a lot of character to a picture.

The popular advice is to shoot with the sun behind you and let its light light up whatever you're taking a picture of. And that is all fine and good, but like most "rules" in photography, knowing the rule is less about following it to the letter and really more about knowing how to get away with breaking it. Knowing what happens under these situations (i.e. pictures into the sun end up washed out with lens flare) is the first step towards using for your own devices.

For this picture of daylilies, I purposefully shot into the sun. Did you notice the prominent lens flare, the washed out areas and the darker subject mater? All those trademark "I shot into the sun" characteristics are quite clear in this picture (just in case you missed the big ball of fire in the sky). Now, did you notice what we gained by shooting into the sun? The semi-transparent daylilies are all lit up and glowing from the sun and all those trademark characteristics come together and add a bunch of drama and contract into what could otherwise be a flat, standard, boring flower picture.

Not all pictures into the sun have to be so over the top. Take, for example, the picture of my mom at the top of the article, which has been reproduced here for your convenience.

In it you have the same trademarks, but much more subdued. The lens flare is smaller and adds a subtle, warm feel to the picture, while the subject is only mildly washed out and isn't overly dark. By framing the picture without the sun, its effects are limited to the light spill hitting the edges of the lens and end up significantly diminished. Also because of the lack of the sun in the frame, the look of this picture could be totally changed by adding a lens hood or shading the lens with your hand. All in all I really like the way the warm tones from the flare and washout combine with the sunlight hitting her hair to enhance the portrait.

Another option for reducing the washout and flare is to block the sun with something. In this case, I decided to block it with my brother's head. Not only is he keeping the sun out of my eyes and saving me twenty bucks on sunglasses, he's got this great "wrap around" light that lights up his hair and separates him from the background. Also, he's got some great light hitting him, as it's sunlight that's bouncing off the trees and buildings behind me. Bouncing a light is a really effective tool to make a relatively "small" light (in this case the sun - yes it's small, did you notice that his head is blocking the whole thing?) into a "big" light (the trees and buildings behind him cannot be blocked out by his head, therefore they are big). The advantage of bigger lights is they are softer and provide a more flattering light for your subject.

While shooting into the sun is something that can get over used, cliché or produce some really nasty pictures, it is something that can be used to enhance a photograph. I quite like the results I've had with it and will be refining my technique until the rain returns in October.

Underwater

2008-08-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

Another picture from last weekend's pool fun. I hadn't done "pool pictures" before and was looking to get more familiar with my new camera, so I got it out and started taking some shots with it. Before I knew it, everyone was really into it and we were all having a blast.

This is my brother Zach, enjoying the refreshing pool. To get this shot, I had to stand on the diving board and lean towards the pool (kinda scary with a brand new camera, but totally worth it!) while he swam underwater from one end towards me. This was snapped half a second before he surfaced.

This was tricky to get something that looked "right". If I took the shot when he was too deep, the water would distort him in odd ways and you would have a silly putty Zach, run over by a dump truck and tossed in the river by the mob look. If he blew bubbles, I would have a great picture of "Bubble Face". If I wasn't careful in my positioning and framing the sun reflecting on the water (I forgot my polarizer, and no I don't want to talk about it) would make it look like some helicopter was shining a spot light on him so the FBI agents on the ground could swoop in and make the arrest.

Having worked through those challenges, I'm quite happy with the picture I've made. It's not often that every time I look at a picture I go "wow, I love that picture" and even rarer is it one of mine. But when it is, I love that feeling. They aren't always my "best" pictures, but they always are special to me.

Backyard Baseball Dreams

2008-08-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

These days its rare to see Jon with out something relating to baseball. Even though his season is over, he is always up for some catch, practicing some pitching or working on his batting.

After playing catch with everyone he could talk into it, he laid on the grass and tossed the ball to himself.

I remember doing that, how relaxing it was to toss a ball up in the air and catch it, then do the same thing over and over ... excuse me, I think I need to go find a baseball.

Anticipation

2008-07-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

I couldn't let July pass me by with no post. It's funny, I have so many pictures on the way and no time to put them up here. Until I find the time, you will have to be satisfied with a quick post.

This is the view you see before diving into my Grandparents' pool. We were able to spend this last weekend with them and enjoyed a fair bit of swimming while we were at it.

More on the way!

The Evolution of 'Idea'

2008-06-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do something a little bit different with today's post. I'm going to take a shot at describing how I expand an idea into a photograph.

The first thing for an evolving idea is to come up with the idea in the first place. Well, that's not entirely true. Even before that you have you have to have a problem. Ideas are a response to a problem. My problem came in the form of "I want a picture of my new lens and I want it to look good". Problem established: make it look good. So, I made it look good. Ideas are easy as pie when you work things out like this!

Ok, so it wasn't quite that easy. I had to take two pictures.

Or three.

Or five rather.

Or more then five, but let's leave the actual number up for debate.

The point is that deciding that you want to make it look good isn't enough. You have to answer the question of how. The answer to this question is your idea. The problem should be thought about, pondered, sketched out, debated and so on and so forth. Once you have an idea that is "workable", that is to say enough of an idea to do something, you can move into the do something phase.

So, back to taking a picture of my lens. My workable idea ended up something like this, "I want a shallow depth of field and I'll put it on a black surface with wood in the background." Not overly complex, maybe not the most original or the greatest but it's a good starting point and more importantly its workable. So I set up that shot and took this picture:

Ugh. Not what I wanted. Back to the drawing board, right? Not quite so fast, there are a significant number of things we can get out of this picture. I do like the black surface, but let's lose that ugly wood and I don't like the framing or how the lens is sitting.

Stop.

Did you catch that? The idea just evolved, based on what was working and what wasn't. This is key. Experiment, evaluate, repeat. So, I made some adjustments and took this:

Ok, so the wood is gone, that's a big plus! But you know, I kind of liked it on its side and wouldn't it be great if it was reflecting off the black surface? You know, I like where this is going, but let's put the camera on a tripod and drop in some flash to have some better lighting and a better quality picture. The idea evolves, adjustments are made, and another picture is taken.

Hey, my knees just might willing to forgive me for that abuse I put them through! And that flash really added a lot, but that background just doesn't do it for me anymore. Let's drop in a black background. Evolved, adjusted, new picture.

Nice. But, now there is a funky difference between "shiny black" and "black". Can we just make the whole thing "shiny black"?

Hey! How about that? It's a picture of my new lens and it looks good!

Ideas, in particularly good or great ideas (not that this one is particularly revolutionary) are the result of iteration upon iteration of identifying the problems and trying it again. They are rarely the result of a spontaneous epiphany, but instead are the product of hard work.

I find that it is much better to build upon a bad, but workable idea then to sit around waiting for the perfect idea to hit. That isn't to say that doing your homework ahead of time isn't important, but that experimentation, being flexible with your ideas and learning from your mistakes will go along way.

I'll finish this up with a couple of pointers for evolving your ideas:

Plan out your idea before hand. Think about it. Sketch it out. Mull it over in your mind. Only then try and execute it.

DO NOT be overly attached to your plans or to the previous ideas. They had their shot, but now it's time to build on top of them. They served their purpose in getting you here, but keep moving forward.

Do not edit in camera. DO NOT edit in camera. DO NOT EDIT IN CAMERA! Just because you think that you are going down a good path does not mean that you are. That shot that just wasn't what you wanted, could end up being your best shot in the set. Just because you hated it on the camera does not mean that you won't love it on your computer.

Lesson's Learned from Jeremiah and Catherine's Wedding

2008-06-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I was the best man at my friends Jeremiah and Catherine's wedding. When I wasn't trying to untie rings from the flower girl's basket, or chasing down the groom's boutonniere, or trying to figure out when I was supposed to walk the maid of honor out, I was snapping pictures and acting as a "backup photographer" (as Jerry kept calling me).

Shooting the wedding, even as a secondary photographer, was an interesting experience. The wedding was indoors and mood lit (read pitch black). Recording it really pushed my limits and skills. Because I was part of the ceremony, I didn't take any pictures during it, however I took my fair share before and after. Here are some lessons learned or reinforced, notes on the experience and some pictures I liked!

Lesson #1: A cool location can trump bad light.
This shot was the result of the groom exploring in the back while we waited for the ceremony to start. The light was that typical dim, bare bulb, "warehouse" florescent light that just gave everything a nasty green color. But, even if it had bad light, it did have a cool location . So we shot the picture. It is black and white, because I liked the texture of the brick; it is not black and white because I was salvaging it. In fact, out of the people who have seen both, the color version is more popular!

Lesson #2: Small mirrors are great compositional elements
Because you can get great reflections and still hide the camera!

Lesson #3: The spectators are interesting too
This is grooms mother and sister (who was also a bride's maid) watching the groom take formal pictures with his father. While the main photographer was taking the formals, I pointed my lens to capture them having fun watching.

Lesson #4: Move your feet
Lesson #5: Get low
I almost missed this shot. The music started and the bride and groom hit the dance floor for their first dance, so I started taking pictures including the one at the top of this article. These were cool, but after taking 5 or 6 I was looking for something different. At this point I noticed the disco ball and worked my way around to include it and the only way to get the ball and the couple to fit was to drop down really low.

Lesson #6: Backlighting is awesome
Stuff like this you can't plan. The light coming through her veil is the "annoying-auto-focus-doesn't-work-in-the-dark" light from the main photographer's camera. Note, unless I really need it, I do my best not to use this light. This might be the only time I have had one of these lights pointed my way and not been annoyed by it.

Lesson #7: Candids only happen if your subject doesn't realize you are taking a picture
I was taking a picture of the fountain and one of the bride's maids came up, ducking so as not to ruin my picture. I assured her that she hadn't and she went about covering this berry with chocolate, while I went about finishing up taking that picture of a chocolate fountain.

In the end, weddings are pretty cool to shoot and I quite enjoyed watching my good friend get married.

Congratulation's Jerry and Catherine and best wishes in your new life together!

Mystery Film

2008-06-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for the lack of posts in recent weeks, life has been hectic lately. I'm putting up more content over these next few days. Just because life has been hectic doesn't mean I stopped taking pictures! In fact, I have a BILLION photos I need to post. Well not a billion, but I have some!

A little more then a week ago, I got hit by the film bug. That is to say, I was dying to experience the joy that is film - it's larger range, the ability to hand it to a lab and get the processing done, the joy of flipping through pictures without thinking about how to process them. So, last Saturday, I reached for one of my film cameras and wandered out to take some pictures.

First thing was to decide which film camera to use. There were two options, I could go with the Holga or I could go with the Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL (a decent camera in 1968). I opted for the Mamiya, as the Holga just seemed too..."holga-ish"? So, I grabbed the camera and discovered, much to my dismay, that the little watch batteries that power the meter had died. So, I decided what the heck, I'll sunny-16 it and wing the rest.

I finished off the roll that was in there (and started a new one), took it to be developed and thought "I don't really know what else is on that roll". So when I picked it up I was pleasantly surprised that I had pictures ranging from the last year and a half. I quite like the way these turned out and am quite hopeful that the current roll of film doesn't take that long to finish.

So with out further ado, here are some highlights!

Union Station

2008-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

I think this is my favorite spot to take pictures of union station. Between the tracks guiding you into the station, the dramatic angles the location offers and having the view of an arriving train, its odd to me that I haven't seen more photos from this spot.

Perhaps it's that pesky "No Trespassing" sign...

This is fifteen of fifteen for my "One a day" project. Most posts were on time. A handful (including this one) we're late (but not too late!). All in all, I think that it's been a success and I fully intend to keep up the semi-constant posting of pictures here.

So what does the future hold? Several more pictures are already heading this way and will be up soon enough. Also, I have a couple of "how to" articles in various stages of development. Look for "Quality Photography on the Cheep: A 'How To' for the Hobbyist" and "Digital Post Processing (Without Breaking the Bank!)" coming soon! If you have ideas for other articles or things you'd like to see here, let me know! Either leave me a comment on this post or hit up my contact section.

It's been a fun little project, hope you enjoyed it!

Sunset Over Cape Lookout

2008-05-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

The was a "oops we read the map wrong and there is no way what-so-ever that we can hike out to the cape and take sunset pictures so we should pull over at this viewpoint and grab the shot thats there rather then hike forever in the mud and in the dark only to not take any pictures at all cause we will have missed it" picture.

Lake Selmac

2008-05-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is a nice little lake in southern Oregon, where we pulled off to take a break during a road trip. As we pulled over, the setting sun was bathing the snow covered hills in warm light. So I started walking along to lake, looking for a good spot. Eventually I found this place, but in order to get some kind of foreground I ended up having to take the shot laying back on the ground. Fortunately, I was able to frame a shot with out my foot in it!

Sunset at the Beach

2008-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Contemplating

2008-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

After a couple tasty, Full Sail (made in this pub, woohoo!) beers, I decided to try my luck at taking an "action shot" of the business at the bar. Unfortunately, they really sucked. After regaining my confidence, I decided to try a shot of this unsuspecting bar patron. Which came out much, MUCH better then the previous shots. I like a couple of things about this shot, aside from just the overall. I really like the blur of the waitress working at the bar and I quite like that the "unsuspecting stranger" didn't move over the course of the 12 second exposure.

This was taken at the always classy Full Sail Pilsner Room at McCormick and Schmick's at Riverplace.

Cape Kiwanda

2008-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunset at Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City, Oregon.

This was taken from the balcony in our hotel room at The Inn at Cape Kiwanda, which is one of the best places to stay on the Oregon coast. Not the most interesting story for a photo I know, but thats how it happened! It is amazing to step out on the balcony and watch a fantastic sunset like this.

Here's a quick tip to make your sunset pictures pop. Under expose your sunset pictures by up to about one stop. For your standard point-n-shoot this is that +/- button or option and you want it set between -0.3 and -1.0 or so. This will make those sunset colors pop and make the silhouettes darker. Like all things relating to photography, for the best results, play around with it until you find something you like and then do that!

Dramatic Spring Fields

2008-04-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Oregon Coast in the Winter

2008-04-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

A family plays on the beach at Cape Kiwanda (Pacific City), Oregon during a break in the weather.

This was taken a couple of months ago. I really enjoy the Oregon Coast in all seasons, but the variance in the Winter weather is really inspiring and dramatic. This shot has a little bit more post-processing then I typically like to do, but I really wanted to have more control over the details in Haystack Rock. So, from the RAW file, I generated two images, with three exposure stops between them. I then fired up the trusty GIMP and layered the two together. Not a full blown HDR, but I like the control I get doing it this way.

Towering Redwoods

2008-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Standing under the redwoods and gazing up, you begin to compare them to cathedrals or monuments or simply stand awestruck. To get a hint of that in a picture involves a bit of problem solving. First off, to fit all of this in, I needed a wide lens. After I had that part hashed out I needed to frame the shot. If I was shooting something like this straight across, I'd be moving back and forth to get just the right amount of the tree in the shot. But with the tree towering above me, and the ground below me, I had about six feet of leeway. So to get the shot, I ended up basically laying on the ground, pointing the camera up into the trees. I'm really happy with the look of this shot (easy to say now that the dirt is out of my hair) and I hope that it conveys the sense of smallness these trees impart.

This was taken on a trip to Crescent City last month at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

Into the Sun

2008-04-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

This was taken on the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon. Yeah ... I am a sucker for dramatic sunset pictures. I really do like the lens flare on this one. Just another beautiful Oregon beach!

Fish at Tanner Springs

2008-04-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Fish at Tanner Springs Park, taken last fall.

Tanner Springs is a fantastic little park in Portland's Pearl District. It sounds a little odd but it's below street level and is designed to be a sort of fake wetlands that drains into a small pool. In addition to all that the park is full of walkways and has this fantastic wall built out of old railroad track. The park is a great place to sit and read a book or contemplate or have an interesting conversation with a good friend (or shoot engagement photos, photos by Jennifer Erickson)

Sunset Cove

2008-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Sunset Cove, outside of Coos Bay, Oregon.

This was a semi-intentional stop on the way home from Crescent City, CA. Semi-intentional because we saw pretty clouds in the sky and wanted to take a picture, but we'd never been to the beach in Coos Bay. So we started following the signs to "Sunset Cove" - what better place to shoot a sunset then a place called "Sunset Cove"? Turns out that Sunset Cove is actually aways outside of Coos Bay. So we are following the signs and watching the sky turn more and more colorful and driving faster and faster, all the while hoping that around the next curve or bend would be Sunset Cove. Or, at the very least, that we would find the ocean before dusk. At last, just as the sun was falling below the horizon, we pulled into the Sunset Cove parking lot, hopped out the car, grabbed the camera, hurtled over the driftwood logs between me and the beach and managed to snap a photo (or two or three....) just at the peak of the most intense colors!

Sunset Cove was beautiful and I would love to go back. In case you can't tell from the photo, but the sun sets right between the two sea stacks. It's absolutely amazing!

Crescent City Lighthouse

2008-04-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lighthouse in Crescent City, CA

Me at Punchbowl Falls
Photo by Brad Reinhart

For some odd reason, framing a shot often ends up taking me farther then I really should go. Either I'm climbing over fences to get closer to the cliff (note the location of the fence, yes, I know I have sanity issues) or, in this case, its walking past the "do not walk past this sign" sign. Its not my fault that there was a great shot about 50 feet out on the sea wall! To get this, I waited at the edge of the wall, framing the shot and timing the crashing waves with one eye, while watching for waves crashing into the wall (and thus potentially me) with the other eye. Fortunately I didn't get washed into the sea.

This was taken on a trip to Crescent City last month.

Live the Dream

2008-04-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Full Sail's LTD 01

Sometimes inspiration hits you in odd places. Last night as I was grabbing a beer (a delicious Oregon beer I might add) and thought, "This beer would make a great picture". So, visualized the shot, found a backdrop and laid it out, pulled out my camera, and took a couple of shots. I'm quite happy with how this shot came out and need to continue to experiment with similar shots.

The best part about this picture is that the beer was full when the picture was taken, and it certainly isn't now!

One a day...

2008-04-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

In hopes that anyone reading this blog might forgive me for my shear lack of updates, I've gone through all the photos that should have made it to this blog and have stacked up, count them, FIFTEEN posts. That means that each and everyday for the next FIFTEEN days you are for sure, guaranteed a new picture. Beyond that, you probably won't get one every day, but I'm really aiming to be more consistent about updating.

So....with out further ado - I give you One a day, Number One!

My beautiful bride in the evening light

A Frozen Columbia River Gorge

2008-01-29T23:51:00.000-08:00

The View Point Inn, Corbet, Oregon

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Crown Point and the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Crown Point with the Vista House, Oregon

Christmas Cards

2007-12-24T18:09:00.000-08:00

If you want one of these cards or you want a specific card - Contact Me

Merry Christmas and Enjoy! - Nathan

Happy Halloween

2007-11-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Autumn Robin

2007-11-07T19:11:00.001-08:00

Grazing Deer

2007-11-07T19:10:00.001-08:00

Deer

2007-11-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Bottoms Up!

2007-11-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

Self Portrait

2007-10-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

My hair looked good yesterday, so I decided to break out my new tripod and remote and take some self portraits.

Hawthorne Bridge

2007-10-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

Bridge City's (A.K.A Portland, Oregon) Hawthorne Bridge on an October evening.

Fremont Bridge

2007-10-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

Bridge City's (A.K.A Portland, Oregon) Fremont Bridge on a September afternoon.

Park Butte - Mt. Jefferson

2007-09-21T12:37:00.001-07:00

Park Butte and the base of Mt. Jefferson.

Taken August 2007, while doing a small stretch of the PCT during a camping trip at Olallie Lake.

Overlooking Olallie Butte

2007-09-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Taken just off of the the Pacific Crest Trail near Park Butte during a recent camping trip to Olallie Lake.

Olallie Butte is the tall cone in the distance.