Inner Space

Inner Space

Nikon D5100
F-stop   f/11
Exposure Time   1/125 + 1/500 + 1/30
ISO-100
Exposure bias   0 / -2 / +2
Focal Length  35mm
Photomatix Pro
ViewNX 2
PSE 11

Pilatushaus, Oberammergau, Germany

Pilatushaus, Oberammergau, Germany

This was my first time visiting Oberammergau, It was a quite little town with lots of painted buildings like this one. This is known as Luftlmalerei (fresco work) and was completed by local painter Franz Seraph Zwinck (1748-1792). Very beautiful and interesting.  Once every decade about half of the inhabitants of Oberammergau conduct their version of Passion Play. It is a 5 hour open air play with a 3 hour dinner intermission. The last one was back in 2010.

Nikon D5100

Sigma 10-20 4-5.6

Photomatix Pro 5.0

PSE 11

Plansee, Austria

PLANSEE in TYROL, AUSTRIA

JANUARY 2014

So my Garmin routed us around the Plannsee enroute to Linderhof Palace last week and on the way back I decided to get a quick shot of the lake with the mountains in the background. We will definitely go back this Summer for a few days of relaxation.

Silverback Gorilla

Very cool to watch; but he looks bored.

Take My Picture

So I was out practicing with my Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm 1:1.8G on the outskirts of downtown Heidelberg, Germany when this guy just ran up out of nowhere. I snapped this shot from the hip and was amazed at the quality considering I didn't prepare for it. What you see here is an in camera (Nikon D5100) edit with an exposure adjustment in Photoshop Elements 11. The copyright symbol and the text are my standard edits with CS2 because I haven't figured out how to do this in PSE 11.

Old Benz

I saw this car in Stuttgart and the headlights caught my attention. I'm not sure what model it is because it wasn't on the back of the car and I can't find pictures of a model with this headlight configuration. It is very similar to the W114 models made between 1968-1976. Based on my recent research these headlights were on the North American version.

NitrOlympX 2013

This was an awesome day. I always wanted to go see this event but never made it. But thanks to meeting new people I was able to score a weekend pit pass.

This is one of my favorite shots from the event. Here are the original details from the shot:
Nikon 5100
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6G
150mm  - ISO 200
1/1250s f/4.5
Edited in LR4.4 & CS2

Link to NitrOlympX: http://goo.gl/nQ5qlK

Memorial

Memorial Day Ceremony

Saint Sebastian Catholic Church and the Old Town Hall
Mannheim, Germany
Built in the 18th Century Baroque Period

Multiplicity

Hmmm...the elephant tree as my wife calls it was a great place to try my stint at multiplicity.  You know YouTube is a great place to find tutorials for anything you want to try. This is my first try at it and it was not too hard at all.

Stuttgart on a January evening

  This was shot from Panaramastrasse around 18:50. I always wondered why my photos were never producing the detail that some professional guys were putting out when I was using the same software that they were. Well I of course do not have the cameras that they have (D3x or D4) but I still felt that I could step up my photos to get closer without spending more money on a new camera. Well I just had to listen closer to the pros and I'm improving. My camera (Nikon D5100) is not a bad camera but it will only shoot 3 photos when in bracket mode. So when I was listening to one of the pros his camera can take 5 photos in bracket mode (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). So his photos were an HDR merge of 5 pics versus the 3 that I was merging. So since my camera is on a tripod when I take photos like this I just shot additional photos at various settings in bracket mode in order to get the 5 shot variation (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). Now this picture is not the best but I just had to go and test my theory out and based on previous photos I can see more detail over my normal 3 shot HDR.


Camera & Picture Info
Image Quality: Compressed RAW (14-bit)
Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 32mm
Focus Mode: Manual
AF-Area Mode: Single
VR: OFF
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 200

Merged with Photomatix Pro
Edited with CS2

Black Forest Trip to Altensteig

Altensteig located in the Northern Black Forest. I just looked for a place on the map that seemed interesting and off we went. You can find more information about it at http://www.black-forest-travel.com/altensteig/



Camera Info
Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: 10-20mm f/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 18mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
Aperture: f/8
BRACKETED 3 Shots:
Shutter Speed: 1/320s
Exposure Comp.: 0EV

Shutter Speed: 1/1250s
Exposure Comp.: -2.0EV

Shutter Speed: 1/80s
Exposure Comp.: +2.0EV


Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100
White Balance: Auto, 0, 0
Color Space: sRGB
High ISO NR: ON (Normal)
Long Exposure NR: OFF
Active D-Lighting: Auto
Software: Photomatix Pro & CS2

Schuztengel von Jürgen Goertz

Very interesting fountain with quite a few different sculptures in it. The "Schutzengel" "Guardian Angel" looks really cool so I thought I would share it with those who may never get to see in person. This particular sculpture was completed in 2007. The church in the background is the Saint Laurentius Catholic Church which was built between 1745 and 1751.

Picture 1

Image Quality: Compressed RAW (14-bit)

Image Comment: grnantphoto.blogspot.com            

Camera Info

Device: Nikon D5100

Lens: VR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G

Focal Length: 55mm

Focus Mode: AF-A

AF-Area Mode: Auto

VR: ON

AF Fine Tune:

Exposure

Aperture: f/4.2

Shutter Speed: 1/500s, 1,1000s, 1/250s

Exposure Mode: Manual

Exposure Comp.: 0EV, -1.0EV, +1.0EV

Metering: Matrix

ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100

White Balance: Auto, 0, 0

Picture 2

Image Quality: Compressed RAW (14-bit)
Image Comment: grnantphoto.blogspot.com            
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: VR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 55mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
VR: ON
AF Fine Tune:
Exposure
Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/50s, 1/100s, 1/25s
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: 0EV, -1.0EV, +1.0EV
Exposure Tuning:
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100

White Balance: Auto, 0, 0

Johanneskirche am Feuersee

One from this mornings outing.



Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: 10-20mm f/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 14mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
Aperture: f/5
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: 0EV, -2, +2
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100
White Balance: Auto, 0, 0
HDR: Photomatix Pro
Sizing & Text: CS2

Holiday Bokeh

Another photo with the star bokeh effect. This time I used a German Smoker (Raucherman) as my subject. 

Camera: Nikon D5100

Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.8D

Aperture: f/1.8

Exp: 1/8s

ISO: 100

Tripod

Howling Bokeh

So today I bought some black construction paper, some tape, a Fiskars Pop-up Star punch
 and successfully conducted a DIY project that allowed me to add the stars to this picture. So the deal is you  have to make a cover for your lens that changes what would normally be round circles into shapes. Fairly easy to make and they sell them online in sets with many different shapes.  So the setup consisted of some candles, a multi-color flashlight, my daughter's miniature ironing board and one of her little toys.

Camera: Nikon D5100

Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.8D

Aperture: f/2.8

Exp: 1/10s

ISO: 200

Tripod

Tricky

My eyes are playing tricks on me:)

Stuttgart Art Museum

Stuttgart Kunstmuseum

I will definitely go back to reshoot this one later.

Nikon D5100
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Length: 20mm
ISO: 100
Exposure: 8sec @ f/8
Bracketed: 0,-1,+1
Tripod: Manfrotto MKC3-H01

Night HDR

Jubilee Column in the Stuttgarter Schlossplatz in Stuttgart, Germany

I originally went out tonight to get some shots of cool Halloween costumes but I couldn't pass on this shot. I used Photomatix Pro and Photoshop to merge and edit the shots.

Nikon D5100
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Length: 48mm
Mode: Manual
Bracketed: -1/0/+1
ISO: 320
Aperture: f/8
Exposure: 3 sec
2 sec delay with Nikon ML-L3 remote
Tripod: Manfrotto MKC3-H01

Aperture Mode and F-Stops

I shot this with my 35mm f/1.8G @ f/2.2 with a shutter speed of 1/25s. I tried the Auto ISO and it boosted it up to ISO800. I made a few adjustments with Photoshop but only the sharp filter (unsharpen mask) and auto levels. The bokeh (background blur) on this lens is cool and I will post more pics when I get some time to create some new shots.