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Last week, we had a huge storm blow into the sierra and into Reno.
The mountains received 8-12 feet of new snow. I reside in the foothills of Peavine Mountain in Reno, and by Saturday morning I received 14 fresh inches of snow. Ahhh, Perfect for picture taking.
I love these events because it always makes for some great photo opportunities.
So without giving it a second thought, I slapped on my snow shoes, grabbed my camera and scurried out the door. Always on the hunt for some cool shots.
Cool was an understatement. It was freezing, with 40 mile-per-hour winds, temperatures in the 20's and snow pelting my face. All the more fun, I thought.
My son on the other hand, was not as adventurous as I, and quickly retreated to the comfort of our home.
Up the hill I persisted, looking for anything that was different, anything that was unique. This was not as easy as it looked, for I had shot this trek up Peavine many snows before.
Still I persisted, shooting at will. I shot anything that caught my eye. Once again, clicking out of control. Getting as many shots as possible before the moisture consumed my lens.
I thrust the camera deep into the protection of my coat, as the wind and snow completely consumed me. I could barely point and shoot without having to duck away. Time was running out, I thought. The moisture was quickly building up on my camera lens. Only have time for a few more shots...I muttered under my breath.
So I got as low as I could pointing the camera directly into the path of the wind and pelting snow, and shot.
Finally, the wind, snow and moisture build up, was too much for my lens. I had to retreat. Turning, I cradled my camera like an infant, whipping away the snow from the lens and body, quickly making my way back down the trail.
Snow covered and wet, I lumbered back into the warmth of the house, camera in tow. I quickly removed any remaining moisture from the camera, knowing too well that water and digital technology don't mix.
Like reaching for treasure, I pulled the drive from my camera and quickly downloaded the shots. Soon, I would be sifting through the lot of images, searching, hoping...
You see photography is not my profession, but my hobby, nothing is planned in these spur of the moment shoots. So its with quiet anticipation that great shots reveal themselves.
To view all my Peavine shots and more Reno in winter click here.
Sincerely
Tom Robinson
owner: renostock.com
I did a little research, and the technique Zack uses on his High Dinamic Range (HDR) photos is created by the software called Photomatix. You can find this software at www.hdrsoft.com. Download the trial version and start creating some really fun images. Here's the process in a nutshell.
Set up your tripod, shoot a range of exposures capturing the maximum and minimum values or darkest to lightest areas of your subject. Photomatix allows you to merge all these exposures into one image, capturing the dynamic range of your photograph.
Click here for a quick tutorial
› How do I shoot HDR?
Most digital cameras are only able to capture a limited dynamic range (the exposure setting determines which part of the total dynamic range will be captured). This is why HDR images are commonly created from photos of the same scene taken under different exposure levels.
Here are some recommendations for taking different exposures for the HDR image:
1. Mount your camera on a tripod
2. Set your camera to manual exposure mode. Select an appropriate aperture for your scene (e.g. f/8 or less if you need more depth of field) and the lowest ISO setting.
3. Measure the light in the brightest part of your scene (spot metering or in Av mode to point only the highlights) and note the exposure time. Do the same for the darkest shadows of your scene.
4. Determine the number and value of exposures necessary. For this, take as a basis the exposure time measured for the highlights. Multiply this number by 4 to find the next exposure with a stop spacing of 2 EV. Multiply by 4 successively for the next exposures till you pass the exposure measured for the shadows. (Note: For most daylight outdoor scenes excluding the sun, 3 exposures spaced by two EVs are often sufficient to properly cover the dynamic range).
5. You can make use of Auto-Exposure Bracketing if your camera supports it and if it allows a sufficient exposure increment and number of auto-bracketed frames to cover the dynamic range determined in step 4. Otherwise, you will have to vary the exposure times manually.
For a complete overview of this process visit: www.hdrsoft.com. For a great site on all typs of photoshop techniques using your digital camera visit www.dpchallenge.com
Downtownmakeover.com
is a site dedicated to the redevelopment of downtown Reno. Downtownmakeover tracks all of the downtown Reno redevelopment projects, and some select projects outside the downtown Reno area.
They also post photo's of Reno's redevelopments, landmarks and social scene. Renostock.com's photographer Zack Rawlinson surreal photos of downtown Reno are featured on Downtownmakeover, giving Reno a whole new look. To see more of Zacks work visit renostock.com.I Will post how Zack creates these images with a photo merge software with related links and information soon.
Hello and welcome to renostockblog
My name is Tom Robinson and I am the owner of renostock.com and the creator of this online journal. I, as well as my fellow photographers, will be posting interesting items such as photo shoots, sharing Interesting photo techniques and photoshop tricks. I will be keeping you updated on new photographers, photo additions to renostock, and news about renostock as it continues to grow.
Being an art director in Reno with a nack for taking pictures, I quickly created a large volume of digital photo's. The problem, where do I put them all, and what do I do with them. At this time, I was working with many of the professional photographers in reno as part of my job, and quickly realized that there was no central place for anyone to go to find their stock images. I also guessed that now that the age of the digital camera was upon us all, there must be hundreds if not thousands of great photo's that have never been seen. So with this in mind, in 2000, I registered renostock.com. It was a slow and long process, but finally after a-lot of time and programming, I completed phase one of the project and in August of 2007, I opened the doors of renostock.com to the public and started allowing other photographers to upload stock iamges of Northern Nevada and the surrounding area.
To date, have over 1,200 - twelve hundred stock images and counting. Every day I find another photographer, or he finds me. And soon it will be the same with all the advertsising agencies and designers in Reno. Finally, Reno businesses will have one central location to go and find quality stock photography of Northern Nevada, lake tahoe and surrounding areas.
If you would like to be apart of renostock.com and want share your stock photography with all the businesses of Northern Nevada, please contact: Tom Robinson by email at trobinson@renostock.com or by phone at 775.348.7862.
