Autumn Sunset

The days are getting shorter and that means sunrise and sunset are more easy to get to for picture taking.  Not that I hate getting up early, but 5 am to get a great sunrise can be a stretch! Here are the eastern slopes of the Rockies north of Cochrane,AB. I took as a 1 minute exposure with a 5 stop ND filter.

©Matt Graham 2009 - Autumn Sunset

Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EF 17-40 mm F/4L USM at 38 mm
60 sec at F/6.3 (0 EV)
Singh-Ray 5-stop Solid Neutral Density filter

Orton Effect - Sunlit Wheat Field

Another week and another new technique learned through my PPSOP course.  Its called the Orton effect and its made to make your photos look painterly, ethereal, and romantic.  I tried it on this picture of a sun lit wheat field with a dark brewing storm in the background.

Here is the original image:

©Matt Graham 2009 - Sunlit Wheat Field (original)

Here is the Orton Effect image:

©Matt Graham 2009 - Sunlit Wheat Field (Orton Effect in Photoshop)

Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EF 17-40 mm F/4L USM at 20mm
1/80 sec at F/8.0 (0 EV)
Singh-Ray Warming Circular Polarizer

To do it go over to Darwin Wiggett's article.  He does a great job explaning the technique.

Light Painting at sunrise

This summer has brought some amazing lightning storms to the Alberta landscape.  I couldn't sleep one night as it was too hot!  I noticed some flashes outside and saw a great intense lightning storm. I am taking a landscape and nature photography course through the Picture Perfect School of Photography taught by Darwin Wiggett and Mark Degner.  I am enjoying it immensely.  I learned the technique of "light painting" and as you can see from the fence posts, they are glowing!  I used a flashlight during the exposure to lighten the fenceposts up, while the background was lit up by the lightning.

©Matt Graham 2009 - Light Painting and Lightning outside Strathmore ABCanon Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EF 17-40 mm F/4L USM at 17 mm
3.2 sec at F/4 (0 EV)

Buffalo Lake Sunset

I recently went to Buffalo Lake over the Heritage Day long weekend in August.  I wanted to catch a great sunset and I was treated. 

©Matt Graham 2009 - Buffalo Lake Sunset August 2009Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EF 24-105 mm F/4L USM at 65 mm
1/4 sec at F/11 (-1 1/3 EV)
Singh-Ray 3 stop ND Soft Grad