Sunday, December 30, 2012

Iron Mountain, Poway CA

Technically speaking, I took this yesterday morning before sunrise. I thought it was Sunday - being off work has apparently messed up my internal calendar. The forecast called for clear skies all evening with light clouds around sunrise. As I stood at the trail head to Iron Mountain about a hour before sunrise...shivering...the light clouds quickly turned to angrier skies. I took advantage of that and changed my composition accordingly, making the sky the subject.

Iron Mountain, Poway CA
Processing notes: 9 exposures, -4 EV to +4 EV, tonemapped in Photomatix. Tonemapped image blended with the -1 EV exposure in Perfect Layers to maintain the cloud drama. Slight glow added in Perfect Effects. Final sharpening, contrast and definition in Aperture.

Lastly...for the few readers I have out there...this will be my last post to this blog. At least for the foreseeable future. For 2013, I'm going to try my hand at a weekly photo project on Google+. This blog has been good for me to keep making the time for photography. Some shots were hits, some misses, but the journey has been rewarding. I hope you'll check out my 2013 work. +Scott Davenport.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Morning Coffee

I've been in a funk lately....at least for my Sunday morning outings. Maybe it's because it's winter, maybe it's slowing down toward the year's end. Probably not because it's cold...I'm in San Diego after all. But it's been a real chore to drag my bones out of bed in the morning and head out for a shoot. I stayed in again this morning. However, I'd promised myself I'd make a post today. So this post is a bit different for me.

I'll have a coffee once in the morning and once in the evening. I like my coffee potent, cold, and a bit sweet. The mix I make at home is a double shot of espresso, a generous amount of vanilla syrup (sugar free), and milk over ice. I add the milk last, mainly because I like watching the swirls and patterns made as the milk mixes with the espresso.

Today, I tried capturing it in a photo. The photo came out alright - and the coffee tastes great. It's sitting on the desk next to me, nearly gone.

Setup notes: No elaborate setup. All housing lighting. Camera on a tripod, remote trigger to fire.

Processing notes: Blended two images, just so the cup pouring the milk is separated from the edge of the glass. The swirl in the coffee is not a composite. Photos blended in Perfect Layers, minor contrast added in Perfect Effects. Finishing touches in Aperture.


Sunday, December 2, 2012

Windansea...Revisited

I couldn't make it out this morning for a shoot. Hopefully next week. Did get through processing another batch of images from last Sunday's outing to Windansea Beach in La Jolla.

The Tiki Hut, Windansea, La Jolla