Feb 252014
 

Snowbound ©2014 April Siegfried

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Chicago has officially topped the 5 foot mark for snowfall this winter…so far. We’ve also “enjoyed” 19 days of sub-zero temperatures, with more just ahead and high temperatures running 30°(F) below normal.

Even so, when I do decide to bundle up and venture out, this winter is quite striking and beautiful.

Nikon D300; 1/500 sec @ f11, ISO 200 (handheld);
18-200 mm f/3.5–5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance 3.76m

Oct 272012
 

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What a pleasure to become immersed in this color and light for a time…

Nikon D300; 1/125 sec @ f9.5, ISO 200 (handheld);
18-200 mm f/3.5–5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance .89m

Feb 082012
 

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Though presented as a diptych, I rather like the first image solo…

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Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/60 sec, ISO 560/800 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance 1.33/.67m

Oct 302011
 

“Bagged”
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Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance .71m

“Flow”
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Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/350sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm (157mm EFL); focus distance .45m

Two takes on one theme I’m noticing often at this time of year—as temperatures begin to fall, but the sun still has some warmth.

Oct 132011
 

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To sample colors for this image using Photoshop, I first converted to 8-bit Mode and then applied Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic with a Cell Size of 200 square. The resulting palette is pretty cool!

Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 3200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance .67m

Jun 122011
 

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A red car, green leaves, and blue overcast light: RGB!

Peering through foliage to find a clear shot, the in-camera square format helped convey an impression of tapestry as I saw it.

But, the highly saturated complimentary colors created some nasty fringing around the edges of the leaves—challenge a lens/confuse the sensor. 😉 After trying several correction methods found online, I made up a solution for this particular image. In Photoshop:

  1. Select the red background, Invert to select the leaves, and Stroke > Outside with a pixel width to cover the fringe.
  2. Because the red changes in value from light-to-dark, top-to-bottom, create a selection from the stroke and fill with a gradient of light-to-dark red using the Eyedropper to sample hues.
  3. Add a Gaussian blur to further help blend, and;
  4. A little high-pass sharpening on the edges to finish.

This result isn’t quite print-ready, but with some refinement I think it could be. Getting it to print within gamut, however, is likely another thing altogether.

Panasonic DMC-FZ40; f4 @ 1/50 sec, ISO 400 (handheld);
Focal length: 45.6mm (299mm EFL)

Sep 182010
 

Impressions of fallen leaves in a concrete sidewalk

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I found a stretch of sidewalk which must have been poured in the autumn when leaves were falling. They’ve left beautiful impressions, and I took a bunch of shots. They might make nice greeting cards. 😉

Nikon D300; f/8.0 @ 1/125sec, ISO 800 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 95mm (142mm EFL); subject distance 1m