Lord Chaz

Lord Chaz

The only vampire I know with a myspace page, Lord Chaz performs some of the best street theater as far as I'm concerned. I took his Vampire Walking tour in the French Quarter of New Orleans last week, and Lord Chaz was a great story teller and really scared some of the people in our group. If you get a chance to go to New Orleans I recommend this vampire tour, but only if you don't mind the site of blood.

This photo was taken at the end of the tour and the camera mounted flash was used. Notice how the light is harsh on the subject. Available light would have been much better, but there's not much light on Royal Street in the middle of the night. I'll soon be purchasing a Nikon SB800 speed light so that I can have a lot more control of the lighting.
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f5.6
Focal Length: 50mm

Casual Conversation

Casual Conversation

I found these two boys having a conversation on a door step in the French Quarter. I love many things about this photo including the reflections of the New Orleans buildings in the window, the color of the door, the shape of the window above the door, the torn awning cover, and the cracks on the walls. I attempted to frame this shot using the golden ratio, but I may have violated that a bit. I don't know what these boys were talking about, but the one on the right seems thoroughly interested in what the boy on the right has to say.

ISO: 125
F 5.6
Shutter 1/125s
Focal Length: 24mm

Creole Queen's Wheel

Creole Queen's Wheel

The Creole Queen is a paddle wheel boat that gives tours in New Orleans. I love the colors of the wheel and the damage to the wheel from actual use. I'm not sure why, but you'll notice American flags displayed in many of my photos.

Please Tip For Photos

Please Tip For Photos

Another installment of the New Orleans photo set; this picture was taken from across the street from some musicians. The faces of the street mistrals were intentionally cropped out of this photo to highlight what I thought was the most fascinating aspect of it, and that's the dog begging for money. After zooming into the shot I noticed that the dog just had puppies. Another thing I didn't notice when taking this shot was the text on the box that states "Please Tip For Photos." Had I noticed this while there I would have tipped them, because I tipped the guy with the dog on yesterday's post and the violin player too.

Nola Watch Dog

Nola Watch Dog, originally uploaded by edwardjohnphotography.

This dog was sitting with a street musician in New Orleans. I found the dog to be more interesting than the musician himself.

NOLA Violin

NOLA Violin, originally uploaded by edwardjohnphotography.

You can't have a photo of New Orleans without a musician and a gallery (balcony.) This street performer was playing outside of the wold famous Cafe Du Monde where I enjoyed a Cafe Au Lait and a Beignet.

NOLA Walkabout

Here are two pictures from my walk through the French Quarter today. It's late in New Orleans and I need to catch a plane early. So enjoy these photos today, and I'll post more during the week.

NOLA Street Music

NOLA Buildings

Proud Coach

Proud Coach

I love the story that this photo tells. The coach smiles as his gymnast pulls off a very difficult release move, while the athlete is highly focused on the task that he had worked so many hours to perfect. Notice how a cloud of smoke rises in the air from the chalk required to do the move.

ISO: 640
Focal Length: 50MM
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
Aperture: F2.2

Magazine Colors

MagazineColors, originally uploaded by edwardjohnphotography.

This is one of my first shots from New Orleans today once the down pour of rain stopped. There are so many aspects of this city that are amazing to photograph. I hope I can capture as much of it as possible tomorrow.

Hand to your heart

Hand to your heart

This photo was taken on the campus of Ohio State University last weekend. I stood below this flag as I stood for the national anthem.

Dodge Snow Choices

Here's another shot from my nostalgia photo assignment. I couldn't decide if this shot looked good in color or in Sepia, so I chose both to post today. Let me know which one (if either) you prefer best. I feel like there is something missing in this shot. Maybe I wasn't standing in the right location. According to Ansel Adams, "A good photograph is knowing where to stand." You be the judge.

Dodge Snow Colored

Dodge Snow Sepia

Tomorrow I fly to New Orleans again and hope to take some great photos in that city again. Stay tuned.

Nose Dodge

Nose Dodge

Here's another installment of the nostalgia theme. The sun was starting to fall at the time of this photo and the cold was making me tremble a bit. I really could have used a tripod and some gloves because my fingers were cold and the 70-210mm lens is a bit hard to handle in the wind and cold.

Olentangy Peace

Olentangy Peace

A walk along the Olentangy river in Columbus Ohio brings you to this magnificent statue. A fixture of the Battelle Riverfront Park, this sculpture sits in front of a replica ship of the Santa Maria. Our goal was to see the ship, but it was not as spectacular as anticipated. This sculpture was much more fascinating to me. I was unable to find the name of the sculptor, so if someone is able to figure it out, please leave a comment.

Cosi Colors

Cosi Colors

Columbus Ohio is a great city. This is a quick photo from our day exploring the Cosi science museum. This piece of artwork sits outside of the museum inviting all to come in just like a peacock does with it's feathers. The colors of this item at lunch time were great, but the colors at sun set were vibrant.

Forgotten Transport

Forgotten Transport

I'm not sure this wheel has turned in many years, and I think the snow accumulation on the wheel balances the brown color a bit. The sun was setting at the time of this shot, and that warmed the colors nicely. The only problem was it required a larger aperture. This affect is nice for blurring the background through the wheel, but doesn't allow the entire wheel stay in focus. All around it was a nice first attempt at nostalgia.

Mitchells Food Critic

Mitchell's Food Critic

Yesterday I had lunch with my bride at Mitchells Fish Market in Rochester Hills and it was phenomenal. My wife gave me the chocolates as a gift and I found that they needed to be imortalized on the web. Two ladies enjoying their meal had noticed me taking some shots of the wine glass and chocolates. They thought I was a food critic, and in a way I am. I love great tasting food, but I don't write for a paper of any sort. If you get the chance I highly recommend this restaurant, because the food touches just about every taste bud.

Anne's Valentine

Anne's Valentine

Happy Valentines day everyone. The morning sun over the snow was a terrific setting for today's photo. I got the idea for this photo from Anne Ruthmann whom I had the pleasure of interviewing on The Green Tax Podcast. If you are ever in the market for a fabulous wedding photographer, give her a call.

Shades of Pink

Shades of Pink

I couldn't post near Valentine's day without adding just another shot of these beautiful cookies from the Caribou Coffee. I enjoy the symmatry of products stacked on shelves or out for display at stores. The depth of field opportinities are really rich in those scenarios. Happy Valentines Day everyone.

If it needs a sign

If it needs a sign

Today was a long day of driving and no photo taking for Eddie. Stuck in a lot of snow and no opportunities to explore my craft of photography; I chose this photo as a representation of nostalgia because it was taken a month ago (a violation of my blog rules requiring photos taken within a week,) and the sign does appear to be old too. I took this shot on Magazine street in New Orleans on a terrific walk exploring the city. No dog was to be found when this shot was taken, but maybe the sign is a ruse.

Valensweet

Valensweet

Valentines day is coming very soon and I thought that I would take a moment from my current photo assignment and celebrate the holiday with these delicious looking cookies. The orientation and the natural light made for a very nice shot.

ISO: 100
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
Exposure: 1/50s

Nostalgia Model T

Nostalgia Model T, originally uploaded by edwardjohnphotography.

This week's photo assignment is Nostalgia. The first thing that came to mind was the nostalgia of taking photos with a 35mm film camera. So this photograph tells the story of a film camera being pushed to the side to take the picture of the Model T.

Tree Flash

Tree Flash

Winter photography brings some unique situations when snow is present. The creative side of me wondered what it would look like when the shutter was left open for 1 second and had a speedlight shine from behind a tree. The affect was much more dramatic when the light was aimed toward the ground through the tree. The way it illuminates the snow on the ground is almost spooky.

Winter Detour

Winter Detour, originally uploaded by edwardjohnphotography.

In most cases a detour is unwanted. In most cases a detour means added time and discomfort. Today it meant a photo opportunity. I originally intended this photo to be black and white, but the little touch of color in the yellow signs and road lines added a nice affect. By looking at the photo you feel like it's a black and white shot, but further review shows that the snow and trees are just naturally that way.

Invisible Gift

Invisible Gift

I've been studying color correction and finding out very quickly that the colors displayed on one monitor are completely different on another. The problem is magnified when you attempt to print your work. Calibrating my monitor is just one step of the process. This was another shot taken from the photo shoot with the coffee beans. Unfortunately this was the test shot without the beans and the model was unable to recreate this look for me once the beans were in her hands. I processed this photo with Adobe Lightroom instead of Picassa, and I must say Adobe knows what they are doing.

Mmmm....Coffee

Mmmm....Coffee

When you have such a beautiful model working for you, it's wrong to publish just one pic. Standing on chairs seems to be something photographers need to do a lot of, and this photo shoot required just such an elevation adjustment. Getting the right angle with the lens requires looking from above, below, the side, close and far away. I only wish I had someone behind me with a camera to capture the photographer in the shot to tell the story completely.

Shutter Speed: 1/40
Focal Length: 34mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F/8

Aroma Sumatra

Aroma Sumatra

Lighting a subject is an art form in itself, and this lovely subject was no different. I set up some lamps and diffused the light with see through paper. The only problem was that the lights were not bright enough to show all of the details in the coffee beans. The skin tone on the model really came through well, and she was kind enough to get carpel tunnel from holding these Sumatra beans so long.

Aroma Attempt

Aroma Attempt

My photo assignment is aroma, and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of aroma is coffee. A day without coffee is like a day without coffee. This closeup of my coffee cup was an attempt to capture the steam coming from the coffee. If you look closely, you can see the aroma rising from the hot coffee.

Crystal Drip

Crystal Drip

Walking a dog with a camera around you neck is a bit difficult to get a steady shot. Especially if your dog is 89 pounds and has the strength of an ox. I found this crystal on our walk today. Originally I thought it was really ice, but the person who set this scene intended for that to happen.

Kiss Me

Kiss Me

Valentine's day is coming soon, and why not start the month of February off right with a picture of a kiss. I just wish I had a bit more light for this shot.

1.61803399

1.61803399

I've been studying composition lately, and the above photo is a crude attempt at the golden ratio of 1.61803399. Photography has a lot more to do with mathematics then I realized. It seems the Greeks really knew what they were doing when it comes to mathematics and pleasing the eye. I'm not saying that this photo is pleasing to the eye, but it does help me to remember this ratio. The shell on the left is in the shape of the Fibonacci spiral and also takes up a bit more than 1/3 of the left side of the photograph, and the shells on the right fill the rest of the space in the path of the spiral. I'll explore this ratio in further photographs.