Paul Smith Photography

Portraits

2012-02-15T19:16:00.001-08:00

Some recent portraits...

Do you have need of some individual or family portraits? I would love to hear from you! http://photos.bypaulsmith.com/

Waiting Patiently

2012-02-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

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Ducky

2012-02-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

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Nikon D5100 - Amazing!

2011-10-15T00:41:00.000-07:00

I recently got a Nikon D5100 and am just blown away by the amount of shadow detail it is able to recover. What you might think is solid black on the camera screen and unrecoverable, even after pulling into Lightroom, is actually a whole lot of detail just waiting to be yanked out of the shadows. The two images below are one and the same; the one on the left being the unedited image straight from the camera and the one on the right after careful editing in Lightroom 3.

Straight from the camera

Same image after editing in Lightroom 3

It seems unreal, but these REALLY are the same photograph. Here is a 100% crop of a deep shadow area so you can see up close what is hiding in the shadows....

Crazy isn't it? The reviews about this camera do not lie; it has incredible shadow detail retention. This image was shot with the following settings: Nikon D5100, 0.4 sec, f11, ISO 100, RAW, 18mm (Lens: 18-55 f3.5-5.6).

If Those Stones Could Talk

2011-09-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

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Don't forget, for a limited time, 100% of all profits from photo purchases go to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Thank you for helping us support those who work hard to make a difference.

Bug On

2011-08-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

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Don't forget, for a limited time, 100% of all profits from photo purchases go to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Thank you for helping us support those who work hard to make a difference.

Proceeds To Benefit Cancer Research

2011-08-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

During the months of August - October (or until we reach our fundraising goal of $3,200) 100% of all proceeds (after developing costs) from photos sold on this site will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help in their ongoing efforts to fight cancer. From now, through October, you can enjoy a beautiful print in your home knowing that the money earned from that print is going to a greater cause than my own wallet. For example, purchasing an 8x10 print will donate $6.77 to the effort.

Why?

My amazing wife Luci recently experienced the painful reality of cancer when she lost her Father to it earlier this year. She has been hard at work, training for a few months now, to walk/run a marathon event hosted by Team In Training. This event is all about raising funds for LLS in the battle against blood-borne cancers and is being held in October. Her goal is to raise $3,200 in order to remember her Dad and hopefully prevent others from having to experience the same.

You can view Luci’s web blog here as she tracks her training progress and shares the stories encountered along the way, as well as her own. Each month, as photos are purchased on this site, the funds from those sales will be posted as an anonymous donation on Luci’s web site so we can all watch that progress bar move forward to 100% completion!

You Only Sell Prints?

Well, actually there’s a lot more than that here! In addition to prints, you can also order your favorite photo on a mug or add them to a box of thank you cards. There are LOTS of options. When you find the photo you want, click the “Buy” button and select “This Photo” for the printing options--there are many! If you simply want a card to send to someone, select the option, “Create a Card.”

Do You Take Portraits?

Absolutely! In the gallery, you’ll see some examples in the “Places & People” section. If you would like a family, individual, graduate, baby, or engagement photo session, I’d be thrilled to have the opportunity to create those memories for you at a very reasonable price. All proceeds from these sessions will also go towards Luci’s fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, up until we reach the $3,200 goal. Contact me directly by clicking the "contact" link at the bottom of this page for more information, pricing or images samples.

View the photos here >

My Daugher In B&W

2010-12-30T22:17:00.000-08:00

Train

2010-12-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

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HDR Test #2

2010-11-20T19:51:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I mentioned my growing interest in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. Today, we got a break in the rain, providing the perfect opportunity to put HDR to the test in a sunny environment.

Best attempt--single exposure

14 images combined using Picturenaut

Wow. The shot on the right would be totally impossible to get in one photo. The sky is totally blown out--i.e., there is no detail there what-so-ever. If I expose for the sky, then the foreground goes almost completely black. As you can see, the HDR approach works wonders! There is a catch though. 14 exposures took about 1-2 minutes to get since I had to change the exposure with each one. As a result, the wind in the sky moved the clouds quite a bit. Here's what I mean:

Original HDR image

After some time in Photoshop

I don't really care for the blurry, wispy, moving clouds, so I took one of the original exposures, added a mask and put the stationary clouds back into the merged HDR image. Neat huh!? It can't be right to have this much fun with such geeky stuff. LOL.

The Value of HDR Photography

2010-11-19T19:55:00.001-08:00

I've never really dabbled much with High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery--that is, taking multiple pictures at different settings (exposures) and then merging the images together. Traditional HDR images, found all over the web, have always seemed overdone to me. Still, I wanted to take a closer look when I found some photographers using HDR techniques resulting in images that, unless you were a photographer, could not be recognize as being an HDR image. I found a program that seems to help do just that; Picturenaut.

Best attempt--single exposure

5 images combined using Picturenaut

Impressive if you ask me. Our eyes have a much greater dynamic range than our cameras--that is, the eye can see a much greater spread between light and dark than a camera. The left image is what the camera sees. The right, is a fair representation of what my eye sees, but it took 5 different images at varying exposures to get it! Wow. I can't wait to play with this some more.