Paul T. Bellinger, Jr.

Photography by Paul T. Bellinger, Jr.

Most Popular Photos

Bayview Sunrise, Bayview TX

I think it's a good thing that I'm not going to be living this close to the bay when we move TX, otherwise I'd probably spend all my time on the docks. I really love seascape photography when I get a chance to do it. I really like how the long exposure effect smoothes out the water and of course the sunrise reflection.

This is a two exposure HDR and the exposure times are 8 and 15 seconds. I use Photomatix Pro, version 4.1.3, but thanks to Art's question yesterday have now updated to 4.2.3. In Photomatix I use tonemapping. See my post yesterday for more info an links to Trey's HDR tutorial. Yesterday I also provided links to a new lighting show with Joel Grimes on Framed Network called Lit up, check out episode seven. Lastly, Creative Live is broadcasting live and FREE all weekend. The workshop is titled "Sales Sales Sales," taught by photo business guru Tamara Lackey. I have seen Tamara's previous workshops on Creative Live and she really knows business. Creative Live broadcasts replays all night long so you have two chances (or three if you stay up really late) to catch it.

Daily photo: July 21, 2012, taken July 5, 2012

Two Minute Blue Hour, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

A view from the new beach we've found at Lake Sam Rayburn. I can't stress enough how cool this beach is. My photos don't really give any sense of what it looks like, just the view. I'll have to take a video the next time we're there. Maybe I'm just really excited because the previous 20 or so lake views we've scouted on two different lakes have mostly been a bust. We're really looking forward to spending the day there sometime in the next few weeks and exploring it further.

This is a single two minute exposure taken some 20 minutes after the sun went down. This is one of the last shots of the night and it was getting dark fast. I'm always surprised how much light I can continue to capture long after the sun goes down. I used a 3-stop hard-step graduated neutral density filter to block three stops of light above the horizon. I've always admired the abstract feeling of really long exposures on the water, and it has been a goal of mine to make some really long exposures of my own. I've still got a lot to learn. I'm also trying to break my habit of using 17mm and f/22, but habits are hard to break.

QUESTION: I'm interested to hear your thoughts about the color temperature of this photo. What color temperature do you think I used for this photo? What's your best guess? What is the appropriate color temperature for this situation 20 minutes after sundown?

Critiques always welcome!

Daily photo: August 29, 2012, taken August 26, 2012

Fading Pink, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

Nini and I were lucky to see a beautiful sunset at Lake Sam Rayburn on Sunday with the dogs. There were a lot of cool cloud formations. I think the low layer of clouds right on the horizon made for some extra-special colors in the sky. The pink swept across the sky from the East to the West. This was the view just before the pink faded away.

This is a single two minute exposure taken just after sundown. To make this photo I first found a nice composition, which I really struggled with because most of the cool rocks I've been shooting are now on the beach due to a recent drop in the water level (this area of the lake is pretty shallow so I'm guessing the shoreline fluctuates often). Once I settled on this composition I played around with several graduated filter combinations until I finally decided on using a single 3-stop soft step graduated neutral density filter to bring the exposure of the sky down closer to that of the lake. I fiddled with the filter for a bit, making sure it was exactly where I wanted it to be, and took several test shots to double check. Once the filter was in place and just in time for sunset, I added a 5 stop neutral density filter to increase my exposure time from 4 seconds to 2 minutes. I like the slow shutter effect in the clouds and water and I like the exaggerated colors that come from really long exposures. Of course you don't get to take as many shots when you're using really long exposures and in this case I only took four. After those four shots I removed the 5 stop neutral density filter and took a lot more during the blue hour. During the long exposures I fiddled with another camera on another tripod, and even took a video I think. I've been trying to take more video while I'm shooting, but I'll probably never get around to editing them.

Critiques always welcome.

Daily photo: September 12, 2012, taken September 09, 2012

Lake Isabelle, Indian Peaks National Wilderness, CO

A new version of a photo from our trip to Colorado in July 2010. I want to get a large print of this so I had to re-crop it for 8x10 aspect ratio and I touched up the processing. It seems like every time I revisit old photos I find new ways to process them. And I don't even do much stuff, just little tweaks make a big difference.

I think this was the first photo I took with a DSLR that I really liked a lot, so it is one of my personal favorites.

I hope everyone has a fun weekend! I know I'll be watching some good football games.

Daily photo: January 15, 2011, reprocessed January 15, 2011, taken July 30, 2010

Orange to Purple, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

The colors of sunset never cease to amaze me. I love to watch the colors unfold even when the sky is lifeless without clouds. Add some water lapping at my feet and a breeze carrying the sound of the waves and it's a paradise.

This is a single 3 minute exposure taken just a few minutes after sunset. I used a 3 stop soft step graduated neutral density filter to reduce the exposure above the horizon by three stops. I also used a 5 stop neutral density filter to get a really long exposure, creating the long exposure effect on the water and allowing the colors of the sunset to unfold as the exposure carried on.

It's HELP-PORTRAIT time again! Help Portrait is a global community of photographers that set aside one day to make portraits for people in need. This year it will be December 8. Right now we're in fundraising mode. If you'd like to donate $10.00 through "this groupon page your $10.00 will be matched by WACOM. If you just want to get involved head over to www.help-portrait.com

I participated in Help Portrait last year in Columbia MO and it was a very inspiring experience. I highly recommend you join a local group or start one if there isn't one in your area. I for one will be calling the portrait studios here in Nacogdoches to get some volunteers and a volunteer studio space.

Critiques always welcome.

Daily photo: September 24, 2012, taken September 07, 2012

Hot Pink Cool Purple, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

Wow I've got a lot of info for you today, so I'll get right to it: This is a single four minute exposure of the same composition I posted on Monday from our Friday night outing with the dogs at Lake Sam Rayburn. If you're interested in the technique, this one is the same as the previous except I actually metered and then added a 5 stop neutral density filter so I could make a really long exposure. It was getting dark so I had to go to f/8 to get enough light in. This one was taken some 5 minutes later when the light on the cloud was fading and the colors were peaking. The colors become a lot more saturated with these really long exposures and I've read that the color builds up as it changes during a long exposure. I'm not sure if that's really the reason, but I'll go with it until I'm convinced otherwise.

This photo made me rethink color temperature once again, and I tried to find out what the "correct" color temperature setting is at this time of day (roughly 15-20 minutes after sunset). Along the way I found this sunrise and sunset calculator that also provides some indication of color temperature. Scientifically I think that there is a "correct" color temperature for every kind of light, but artistically everything is subjective. WHAT DO YOU THINK? The color temperature I used for this photo is 4095K, but not because the color temperature chart told me to. I just liked the combination of cool and warm colors at this color temperature.

I've got a deal for you! A friend forwarded me this great deal on canvas prints. It's through AmazonLocal, a subdivision of Amazon that I had never heard of before. It seems to be something like Groupon, which I've only had limited exposure to. Anyway, there are a lot of great deals on there. In this case you buy a voucher redeemable for $90.00 on printing for $35.00 (and you get free shipping with the voucher too). I bought one and used it to buy a 36x46 rolled canvas print that regularly cost $99.00 + $8.00 shipping, but I only had to spend $44.00 ($35.00 for the voucher and an extra $9.00 for the large print size I bought). The sale runs out in 6 days or so. I don't think I'll have my print in time to tell you how good the print quality is, but at this price I think it's worth the risk. I love having prints made and have prints laying around all over the place. WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Critiques always welcome.

Daily photo: September 13, 2012, taken September 07, 2012

The Dock Before Sunrise, Bayview TX

I woke up in time for the blue hour before sunrise despite having only four hours of sleep that night, and driving 14 hours on very little sleep the day before. It was worth it. There was one burst of clouds on the horizon and they were well placed at the end of the dock I had access to. There was very little wind and the water was calm. The blue hour was already underway when I arrived and the sunrise colors were starting to trickle across the horizon. Mother Nature was not going to be out-shined by the fireworks the night before.

This is a single 43 second exposure. I used a circular polarizer to increase the glare on the water so that it would be more reflective and so that the exposure of the water would more closely match the exposure of the sky. I had trouble focusing in the dark so I did not want to go below f/11 and risk having some of the dock out of focus. I had to take several shots and check the focus by zooming in on my LCD screen. When a 30 second exposure was still too dark, I went to bulb mode so I could hold the trigger down for as long as I needed. I used my other camera as a timer to help me time the shots. For a 60 second exposure I held the trigger down while firing two 30 second exposures on my other camera. This was probably supposed to be a 40 second exposure but I held the trigger three seconds too long. Bulb mode is never an exact science. Lastly, I started out shooting at 17mm, which really stretched the dock into the horizon and squashed the clouds. I've been pushing myself to stop shooting exclusively at 17mm and it paid off this time. Switching to 40mm compressed the frame by making the clouds appear closer and taller, and I think it created a more dramatic photo.

I really like the long exposure effect on the water and I have been longing to try this technique on a dock since we went to Andaman Islands India back in early January.

Daily photo: July 9, 2012, taken July 5, 2012

Holy Family Sunset, Gretna Nebraska

My little sister Taylor and I went out to take some sunset photos at the Holy Family Shrine about 20 minutes outside of Omaha. The chapel is a stunning combination of glass and wood. We see the shrine every time we go to Lincoln, as it's clearly visible from the interstate. Hopefully we'll go back soon. For those interested, the Holy Family Shrine website is here: http://www.holyfamilyshrineproject.com/

This is a seven exposure HDR. So much for my non-HDR streak of two dailies. This photo caused all kinds of problems in tonemapping and was a big hassle to process. Even after working on it for a few hours I'm still not satisfied. I'll have to come back to it on a rainy day. I had a blast processing and listening to hard core rap music with my dad into the wee hours of the night while everyone in the family was sleeping. Dad wasn't as into the music as me, but he played along. Ah the holidays...

Daily photo: Dec 23, 2011, taken Dec 22, 2011

Colorful Big Red, Columbia MO

Got out to take some new photos today and this was the best one. Big Red loves our photo walks since he gets to do his own thing off the leash. But at some point I always sit down and wait for him to come around and pose for me. John A. Stewart park is still full of color, even if most of it is on the ground.

Update: This photo was taken with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. It's the first lens I bought for my camera and I really like it , I use it a lot, and it's not too expensive.

Daily photo: November 10, 2010, taken November 9, 2010

Red Sunset, Lake Sam Rayburn

I'm happy to report that Nini and I have found our sunset spot here in Nacogdoches. The only problem is that it's not in Nacogdoches, and is a good hour drive from our home. But it is nice. We went out early yesterday so we could try a few places. The first stop on the list was Harvey Creek recreation area. Upon first sight it was nothing more than an uninteresting boat ramp. So we left right away and spent about an hour driving around on various gravel roads looking for a better view of the lake. But all we found was a lot of private property. So we headed back to Harvey Creek, and low and behold, we found a dirt road in the rec area that lead us to the best beach we've seen since we found the best beach in Missouri. There is a lot of room for the dogs to run while I shoot and Nini reads, and there is a strong cross wind that keeps the mosquitoes at bay. We can't wait to go back and spend the day there sometime soon.

This is a single 8 second exposure. I started off by using a 3-stop hard-step neutral density filter, which helped me bring the exposure of the sky closer to that of the foreground. Then I added a 5 stop neutral density filter to allow me to use a longer exposure. I wanted the long exposure effect on the water, but the long exposure also let the sensor capture more of the rapidly changing colors as they spilled across the sky. I was surprised at how much more red came through. When I was on the beach I was thinking that maybe the filter was just tricking the camera's auto white balance into setting a really warm color temperature. But the color temperature here is actually 5200, the color temperature of daylight. I would guess the actual color temperature was somewhere closer to 6500, since the sun was partially behind the clouds, but of course if I changed it to 6500 it would be even more red! Anyway, long story short, I'm still learning about these filters, but I'm liking the results. Lastly, our new beach has solved my foreground problems. Now I have a lot more options and look forward to trying out some different foregrounds as we return to this beach over the next few months.

Critiques always welcome!

Daily photo: August 27, 2012, taken August 26, 2012

Just Before Sundown, Rocheport MO

Nini and I took the dogs to our new sunset location the night before last and were lucky to see a beautiful Missouri River sunset. This little sandbar is just below the Katy Trail outside of Rocheport Missouri. The Katy Trail is a 240 mile state park that runs along the old M.K.T. railroad line (Missouri-Kansas-Texas). To access the sandbar you have to climb down a steep dirt cliff, but there are plenty of tree roots to help lower yourself down. The dogs were down in a skip and a jump. One passer by said, "How in the heck do I get down there? That's the best beach in Missouri!" We had a fun time watching the sunset on the best beach in MO.

This is a six-exposure HDR. Despite an awesome view of the sunset, I struggled for a long while to find a composition I liked. But we arrived 45 minutes before sunset and I had plenty of time to try out different compositions and ultimately settle in on a few that I liked.

Thanks for all of the comments on my Dad and I's photos yesterday. We have a great time when we get together and are always giving each other a hard time. I always razz him about his haircut and he always mocks my clothing and lack of shave, but I know he really envies my good looks and sense of fashion!

UPDATE: CreativeLIVE is LIVE today and all weekend, and it's free. The workshop is "Bellies and Babies with Sandy Puc." You can go to www.creativelive.com but I recommend the low resolution link here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/creativelive-lowres
I like to keep these on in the background and pick up as much as I can. They replay the day's workshop each night too. Even though this one is about baby photography, and I'm not especially interested in that (yet), I always learn something from these shows, especially about the business of photography because I know so little about it!

Daily photo: Feb 24, 2012, taken Feb 22, 2012

Chicago River View, Chicago IL

Nini and I are in Chicago for our annual conference. We drove in the rain all day yesterday and then were very busy meeting our colleagues once we arrived. I noticed the sky changing on our walk home from dinner, called the valet to bring my tripod from the car, and rushed out to see if I could make a photo. I only had time to take two shots! Seriously, I released the shutter only two times and was off. I used spot metering and the zone system to get the exposure close on the first shot, reviewed and adjusted my composition, made a minor (2/3d stop) exposure adjustment, and took this second shot. I hope to find a better composition tomorrow if we have time. As most of you know I'm a bit a perfectionist so it was really hard to just take two shots and run. But that is why I practice so much at home, so I can get the shot when it counts.

Daily photo: April 14, 2012, taken April 13, 2012

Blue Hour Reflections, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

The high water at Lake Sam Rayburn makes for some beautiful reflecting pools. I tried several different compositions, but this one was kept catching my eye as I scrolled through my recent photos. I hope you like it! A previous photo of this sunset can be seen here.

This is a single four minute exposure with no filters. The clouds were moving right at us and I really wanted to capture some cloud movement. This was the last photo I took before hiking back to the car in the dark.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: February 11, 2013, taken January 21, 2013

The View, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

The view from the camera that is featured in my photo from yesterday. The colors erupted after sundown as these wispy clouds moved across the horizon to cover the area where the sun had just went down. It was a very unique sunset for sure.

This is a single 30 second exposure. I used a three-stop soft-step graduated ND filter and a two-stop soft-step graduated ND filter to reduce the exposure above the foreground.

Critiques are always welcome.

UPDATE: CreativeLIVE is live and FREE with wedding photography master Marcus Bell. The FREE re-watch just started. Visit www.creativelive.com/live often over the next three days to get a free education from one of the world's best.

Daily photo: February 6, 2013, taken February 2, 2013

My Angel, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, India

Happy two year anniversary Nini! I love you! You are my best friend! I am so lucky and so proud to be your husband!

This photo is from Nini's house in Hazaribagh. Isn't she pretty? I used a small reflector to create the catchlights in her eyes and spent about 15 minutes processing this photo in lightroom. Overall, it's pretty simple when you have a beautiful model!

Daily photo: Feb 8, 2012, taken Jan 4, 2012

Dande of a Sunset, Columbia MO

This is not your typical spring flower photo! This patch of backlit dandelions caught my eye while driving home from a photo hike with the dogs at Grindstone Nature Area. So I took the dogs home and went back to photograph the dandelions! This turned out to be my favorite photo of the day! Photography never ceases to amaze me!

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments on my portrait work lately! I really appreciate it! The daily community has given me a great education and I hope I've contributed my fair share as well.

UPDATE: Thanks for your comment Phil, but this is the natural color, not sepia processing.

UPDATE 2: CreativeLIVE is live and FREE all week long. The 5 day workshop is entitled "Fundamentals of Digital Photography," with John Greengo. The first few days of this workshop may be too introductory for most of us, but it's always good to refresh on the basics. Watch it HERE.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG

Daily photo: April 9, 2012, taken April 8, 2012

Warm Grass, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

I love the way that a sunset can light up a foreground! This glowing grass caught my eye as I was looking for a new foreground composition that included the reflection pool. We hope to get back to the lake this weekend and maybe even today!

This is a three exposure HDR. I haven’t made many HDR photos lately, but still find it to be a handy technique when I have to shoot into the sun without any filters. The only filter used here is the circular polarizer.

CreativeLIVE is live and FREE today with Jen Rozenbaum and workshop titled “Building a Successful Boudoir Business.” Check it out FOR FREE 24hrs a day for the next two days at www.creativeLIVE.com/live

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: February 15, 2013, taken January 21, 2013

Hinkson Green, Columbia MO

Hinkson Creek in all it's spring glory. The boys were tired and ready to go home but I had to stop on our way out of Grindstone to take a few long exposures.

This is a single 15 second exposure. I used a circular polarizer to cut the glare off of the leaves, allowing the colors to shine through, and a six stop neutral density filter to allow for the long exposure on the water. As most of you know, I'm obsessed with long exposures on the water. This shot probably would have been just as cool without the ND filter, but I liked the added motion blur on the bushes to the left and of course, the long exposure effect on the water.

CreativeLIVE is live and FREE all week long. The 5 day workshop is entitled "Fundamentals of Digital Photography," with John Greengo. The first few days of this workshop may be too introductory for most of us, but it's always good to refresh on the basics. Watch it HERE.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG

Daily photo: April 11, 2012, taken April 10, 2012

Missouri River Blue Hour, Rocheport MO

I guess I've got the blues since I've been shooting during blue hour two days in a row. Nini and I went back to the so-called "best beach in Missouri" yesterday with the boys. The sunset was a bust but the blue hour was beautiful. We found a nice rock to sit on and watched the sun go down.

This is a single 30 second exposure, taken about 30 minutes after the sun went down. Since I've shot at this beach before I knew that a 30 second exposure would create a nice blurring effect on the water even though the water directly in front of the camera is not moving very fast at all. I also like how the long exposure shows the cloud movement. I took a similar photo the last time I was on this beach, but I like the cloud formation in this one better. Which do you prefer? You can see the older photo here:
http://smu.gs/w86Xxl

Did anyone watch CreativeLIVE this weekend? I caught a lot of it on replay and learned a several posing tips that I'll put into practice right away.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on the blog:
http://paulbellingerjr.blogspot.com/

Daily photo: March 19, 2012, taken March 18, 2012

Angel Boy, Columbia MO

Big Red sitting on guard in the sun at the end of our bed. Isn't he a handsome boy? We have lots of nicknames for Big Red and not all of them are very flattering. But in this photo I think he resembles "Angel Boy," the nickname I use most when he's behaving like a perfect angel (very rarely used nickname). And the light was so beautiful on him that it could have been shining down from heaven directly. Fitting for an Angel Boy.

This is a single exposure (seven days in a row with no HDR!). I really like to use natural light. In this case I wish I would have turned up the ISO a stop or two and increased my shutter speed so I could get a sharper image handheld at this range. But I'm quite happy with this exposure. I have not converted many photos to black and white in recent memory and this is one of the first I've tried using Lightroom3.

Daily photo: Feb 12, 2012, taken Jan 28, 2012

Glacial Skyline, Omaha NE

Dad and I were treated to an awesome sunset last week when we shot the Omaha skyline from the East side of the Missouri River. I always love shooting at this location because I love Omaha and have spent most of my life pretty close to the Missouri River, so it’s a special place for me. We scouted the frozen banks of the Missouri for about an hour, trying all different compositions as huge pieces of ice drifted by. Eventually I settled into this crevice, and quickly dubbed the ice formation in the foreground, “Omaha Glacier.”

This is a single ten second exposure. I used a 3-stop hard-step graduated filter and 2-stop soft-step graduated filter to bring down the exposure above the foreground rocks.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: January 14, 2013, taken January 8, 2013

Trail with a View, Rocheport MO

Hiking along the M.K.T. trail on our way to "the best beach in Missouri," when we come across this golden view about 20 minutes before sunset. We were in a hurry to get to the beach before sunset so Nini and the boys hiked on ahead while I stopped for this photo. You can barely make them out if you look in larger sizes. You can also see the clouds on the left side of the horizon that would later ruin the sunset we were rushing to.

This is a six exposure HDR. I wanted to show the scene that we were enjoying along the hike, with the grass on the left and high cliffs on the right being lit up with golden light. But to get a good exposure of those two elements would mean blowing out most of the sky. I knew before I even started setting up that there was too much contrast to capture the scene in a single exposure, so when I got the view I wanted, I didn't hesitate at all deciding to go with HDR. I already had my camera on the tripod with the remote tranceiver and hotshoe level on the camera (I hike with the camera on the tripod over one shoulder and messenger bag over the other shoulder). It took me about two minutes to get the composition and exposures I wanted, and I was on my way.

Ultimately, my rushing through this routine didn't matter, because the sunset I was rushing to was a bust, and I would have been better off lingering in this spot and working for a better composition. But I wasn't paying attention to those clouds! It's always something and that's why photography is always an adventure for me.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on the blog:
http://paulbellingerjr.blogspot.com/

Daily photo: March 21, 2012, taken March 18, 2012

Early Bird for Earth Day, Havelock Island, India

I reprocessed this photo for the Earth Day challenge. I've taken lots of "earth" photos over the years but this one is one of my favorites. I remember spotting the bird and frantically firing off shots with my second camera (the other was on a tripod). And of course the sunrise was amazing.

I went back and reprocessed this photo with Lightroom 4. I am astonished by how different the photo looks this time around. See the previous version here.

Daily photo: April 22, 2012, taken January 9, 2012

Behind Ouzel Falls, Rocky Mountain National Park CO

Nini and I love Rocky Mountain National Park, and were happy to find out that the park's Southeastern most entrance was only a short drive from our campsite. So we decided to check it out on our last full day in the mountains. The area of the park is called Wild Basin, near Allenspark CO. We were greeted enthusiastically by a park ranger who claimed Wild Basin had the most beautiful lakes in the park. The only problem is that getting to many of these lakes requires a 10+ mile hike. The bonus is that many of the hikes follow beautiful streams up the mountain. The park ranger also mentioned that Wild Basin is home to a third of the park's bear population and at least one prominent mountain lioness. Oh, and a bear was spotted near the trailhead the day before.

I started from the Wild Basin trailhead (aka: Copeland Falls trailhead) planning to hike 2.7 miles to Ouzel falls by myself while Nini and Cheech took a day of rest hanging out at the trailhead. The trail follows the beautiful Ouzel Creek, which offers an infinite supply of scenes like this one. I liked this small falls behind Ouzel Falls more than the main attraction itself. In fact, I didn't even take any photos of Ouzel Falls. Instead I quickly shot this small falls and continued up the trail. More than anything, I wanted one last view of the mountains before our departure the next morning, and I knew this was my last chance. So I started off thinking that I would hike until I could get a good view of the mountains. About a mile and 1000 feet of elevation change later, and I had my view of the mountains again. But by that point I was only another mile from Ouzel Lake, and I thought back to the ranger's claim: "Wild Basin has the best lakes in the park." So I pushed on. The last mile is where it got interesting…

This is a single two second exposure. I used a circular polarizer to cut the glare off the water, allow the rocks below the water to be seen, and to saturate the colors. In processing, my standard preset reduces overall saturation quite a bit, and then I return the saturation in specific color channels as I see fit. I was lucky to have gray skies creating the perfect soft light for shooting waterfalls, so there wasn't much glare and the colors really popped. Less light also makes it possible to get longer exposures without having to use any neutral density filters. It's funny to be half way up a mountain in gray skies and be thinking "boy I'm lucky to have these gray skies!" Gray skies could come with flash flooding or even snow. But I hiked on, feeling lucky…

My beautiful wife Nini chose this photo for me to share today. She is becoming a doctor this afternoon so now she is the most accomplished member of our family, and I have to do whatever she says.

Daily photo: June 12, 2012, taken May 31, 2012

Trump Tower, Chicago IL

I was really tired from our conference in Chicago and barely made it out in time to shoot sunset photos on the only day that wasn’t completely overcast. I was searching around for a new composition and had to settle on this one as the colors arrived. This is on the North side of the Chicago River between Michigan and Columbus aves, on a sidewalk know as the River Esplanade.

This is a manual blend of three exposures and it’s the first manual blend I’ve ever made in Photoshop. I’m lucky to have a very sturdy tripod so it made the blending job in Photoshop really easy. I don’t think I could have done it if my camera moved even a tiny bit, without learning some complicated technique at least. I also used a two-stop soft-step graduated neutral density filter to reduce the exposure in the sky. Someone asked why I use Lightroom and Photoshop to process a single photo. The answer is because I’m much faster in Lightroom and prefer to do as much as possible in Lightroom before using Photoshop for anything. Then when I’m done in photoshop I might make a few minor tweaks back in Lightroom before exporting to a jpeg. I’ve really enjoyed learning Photoshop on the fly.

Thanks to everyone who has gone out and voted for my photo in the photo competition I’ve entered. Unfortunately I don’t think I will win the fan favorite part of the competition as there are a few photos that have doubled in votes recently. My social network is apparently pretty weak, even for East Texas standards. But a lot of smuggers did go vote for me and I really appreciate that! Hopefully I will fare better in the judging categories.

It has been a really long weekend! Sal Cincotta was rocking on CreativeLIVE and I assisted Sarah with a wedding and an engagement shoot. I’m wiped! And just in time for Monday!

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: April 22, 2013, taken April 13, 2013

Wide Ice Reflections, Omaha NE

The downtown Omaha skyline from the Gene Leahy Mall. The ice had just frozen over the previous night so it was still fresh and clear. It was only 10 or 15 degrees, but there was no wind, so it wasn’t too bad.

This is a single two-minute exposure. I used a circular polarizer to bring out the reflections in the ice. I set up this shot right when I arrived at this location and then put this camera on the inervalometer so that it would continue shooting into the blue hour while I played around with my other camera and lens to get this this shot that I shared the other day.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 29, 2012, taken December 21, 2012

Big Red Snow Portrait, Columbia MO

My most photographed subject. On this snowy walk through the woods Big Red only stopped to pose a couple of times and he was quite brief. He's been hunting birds in the bushes. Strange because he's never caught a bird or shown much interest in them. But for some reason he thinks he can catch them now, it's humorous.

Daily photo: January 14, 2011, taken January 12, 2011

Before Sundown in Nac-Land, Nacogdoches TX

Nini and I had the great pleasure of being invited to a friend's plot of land for a sunset dog walk. The boys had a blast checking out their new land and we got to hang and have a few beers with our new friends. It was Big Red's first encounter with horses since he's been with me (six years). He always barks at horse sounds on TV so we were worried he'd try and herd the horses and get his head kicked in. On first encounter his hair stood and he started to growl and move in on the first horse he saw. But I commanded him to come and heel, and he obeyed. We didn't have any trouble after that, but I'm still unsure of how he'll handle a closer encounter.

This is a single exposure. How many people would have guessed that? Normally a single exposure could not capture this much dynamic range because the foreground is over 5 stops darker than the sky above the horizon, and my full frame camera can only capture 4 stops of light at once. So how did I get over 5 stops of light in one exposure? I used a graduated neutral density filter, two of them in fact, a three stop and a two stop "hard step" neutral density filter made by Singh Ray. I've owned these filters for about three weeks, they came with my 5D Mk II, but I've only tried them out a few times and with little success. But I think I'm getting the hang of them. I would have liked to prevent the sky around the sun from blowing out, but that would have required knocking out another five stops of light or so, but only in that little triangle of blown highlights to the left of the big tree. Of course that would be impossible to accomplish with filters, but I could certainly take a darker exposure and use HDR. Anyway, long story short, filters are kind of cool, but no replacement for HDR unless your horizon is a straight line.

Thanks to everyone who's answered the call for constructive comments in the dailies! I've really enjoyed learning from the comments on all of our photos, not just my own. The vast majority of folks on the dailies are behind us, but there are a few who do not want criticism and we need to respect their opinion. Until we have a good list of participants, let's only critique those photos where criticism is explicitly solicited. If you want your photo critiqued please say something like "critiques always welcome!" in your caption. Eventually we'll have a better idea of who is in and this won't be necessary, but for now this is the best way to ensure we won't offend anyone. I apologize in advance to anyone who receives an unsolicited constructive comment. But I'll also warn you: if you post your photos in public there is an inherent risk that you'll receive unsolicited criticism. And when it happens, just remember that it takes time and effort to take a deeper look into your photo, formulate ideas, and then communicate those ideas to you. So please please reciprocate by taking a little time and putting in a little effort to think about the criticism you've been lucky enough to receive before responding in a negative manner. My favorite professor in college always said: "criticism is love." And that's exactly what it is, so take it or leave it.

Lastly, thanks to Indigo and Kelly Headrick for the extra comments yesterday and pointing out that my photo was out of rank. At one point my photo had 15 more comments than the number one photo of the day, making things a bit obvious. But I'll forgive, forget, and keep trying to make better photos.

Critiques always welcome! Bring on the love!

UPDATE: Thanks for the comments, especially the critical ones! You're definitely making me stronger! Yes, the ground is sloping down to the right where there is a pond out of frame. I always have a level on my camera so I know for sure that it's perfectly level, but that doesn't mean it's right. Joel Grimes always says that a piece of technology cannot make a creative decision for you, and he's right. I made the creative decision because I didn't want the big tree that anchors the frame to be leaning. This is basically an un-mowed, empty field. I tried to find a bit of a hill to set up on so that we could see the foreground all the way out and down the path of light to the sun. The plants aren't pretty, but they look pretty with this light on them. I always struggle with what Art mentioned, finding the subject. With landscapes sometimes I wonder what my subject is. Is it the sun star? Is it the vegetation? These thoughts are constantly in my head when shooting, perhaps the primary thought (the other major thought is: find a good foreground). In this case I was sure the subject was this beautiful golden light, so I wanted to show it off by contrast to the shadowy areas on the right, and place the main source of light and eye catcher at the intersection of the thirds. I am really enjoying this discussion, please keep it up!

Daily photo: August 14, 2012, taken August 13, 2012

Low Water at Leaf Falls, Columbia MO

The waterfalls continue to evolve as the water recedes on Hinkson Creek in Grindstone Nature Area. This little bit of white water here is about the only water flowing through the dam of leaves that make up Leaf Falls. The dogs had a blast while I made a few photos.

This is a single eight second exposure. I used a circular polarizer to remove the glare from the water in the foreground, allowing the green and brown colors to shine through. The camera is on my tripod just about 8 inches above the water. I like to get the camera as low as possible to exaggerate the size the of these tiny waterfalls.

UPDATE: Colby Brown shared this link on G+ and I thought I'd pass it along to the smugworld. Watch and share this video to help spread the word about Joseph Kony, an international human rights violator who few people know about:
http://vimeo.com/37119711

UPDATE 2: My photo was selected for the supporter section of PhotoExtract.com, where Jarek Klimek publishes the TOP photos on Google +. Check it out here:

http://www.photoextract.com/plus-extract/2012/3/5

Daily photo: March 7, 2012, taken March 6, 2012

Chicago River from Michigan Ave, Chicago IL

Nini I spent the last four days in downtown Chicago for a conference and I managed to break away and shoot one sunset and blue hour. We were busy and it was cloudy and rainy most of the time so I didn’t do much photography. I really like to shoot up and down Wacker Ave between Michigan Ave and Wabash because the river bends between those two streets and so does the city around it. This shot is actually from the sidewalk on “Lower Michigan Ave.” The bridges offer great compositions right over the water but they also bounce as cars drive by so it can be a little tricky to get a sharp shot.

This is a single 30 second exposure processed in Lightroom 4. Check out my photo from Wabash last year here: http://smu.gs/159v1pa

Critiques are always welcome.

UPDATE: Thanks for your critiques! I think I tilted it a little too far to the right in cropping so I will fix that this evening and you can see if it worked. I did do some distortion/perspective adjustments in Lightroom but I don't like to push it too far. Maybe I'll post a before and after now that I now how to make collages in Photoshop.

Daily photo: April 15, 2013, taken April 14, 2013

Scaredy Boy, Nacogdoches TX

Of all three of the boys, Big Red was the most frightened by my new light setup. I only managed to take a few shots before he jumped off the bed. I think it was the popping sound the Alien Bees make that was scaring him because he’s usually pretty good about posing. But on the bright side, his fear made for a very expressive pose.

This is the same one light technique I used for Sala’s portrait. Click the link for more info.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: May 8, 2013, taken May 5, 2013

Evan and Big Red, Omaha NE

I read some tips on making children's portraits before Evan's session and one common suggestion is to bring some props/toys. What better prop can you get than this?! I told Evan that we would give him a very special surprise if he cooperated for a few poses, and that he might get to play with two puppies if he's good. He cooperated right away for a few poses, and then completely lit up when we released the hounds. And I was ready and waiting.

Cheech is actually in this photo too, but I decided to go with a tighter crop around Evan and Big Red. Cheech's pose wasn't so great; he's still got a lot to learn from Big Red when it comes to posing. I have been desperately trying to get some processing done lately, as I have taken so many portraits over the last few weeks I don't even know how they will all get done. But I'm happy to have made some great additions to my portrait portfolio.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG

Daily photo: April 4, 2012, taken March 28, 2012

Sundown Blues, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

The high water washed out part of our beach, creating this great little line and reflection pool. Since this photo was taken the water is now much higher and this part of the beach is completely under water. But there is still plenty of beach for us to play on!

This is a single six second exposure. For an even longer blue hour exposure see my current Sam Rayburn favorite. I love shooting after the sun goes down. I like the longer exposures, blue tones, and the reduced dynamic range. Not to mention it’s just a peaceful time of day to be relaxing on a beach! Read about my filter set up for this shot here.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: April 3, 2013, taken January 21, 2013

Before Sundown, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

Nini and I were treated to a beautiful sunset at Lake Sam Rayburn on MLK day. These reflection pools are an interesting new feature to our beach that I think may have come about since the lake is very high right now due to winter rains. The reflection pools were great for me, but for they made a muddy mess out of my dogs!

This is a single 0.8 second exposure. I used a three-stop soft-step graduated filter and a two-stop soft-step graduated filter to reduce the exposure above the horizon and above the reflection pool.

Critiques are always welcome.

UPDATE: HA! I have coined a new phrase: "dad crop"! I should add it to urbandictionary.com, except there is nothing urban about it. I agree a dad crop would work well here. I tried to achieve the effect Tom is mentioning during blue hour, moving the camera about 10 feet towards the sunset so that I was cropping the bottom reflection at the clouds. The decision for me is always to have the horizon in the top third or bottom third. If I can find a cool foreground I'll put the horizon in the top third, and if there is no cool foreground then I'll put the horizon in the bottom third to minimize the poor foreground. I'll also put the horizon in the bottom third if the sky has interest all the way to the top of the frame. But in this case there was only blue sky above where I cropped it in camera, so I decided to put the horizon in the top third and scrambled to find a decent foreground (which I'm very rarely satisfied with the foregrounds I find!). I also agree with Doug that the detail in the foreground mud is distracting. I played around with darkening the mud so that it was less distracting and now I'll go back and look at that again. Thanks for the critiques!!! I'll definitely reprocess this photo and make it better, and I'll post the blue hour photo taken shortly after this soon too.

UPDATE 2: I've updated this photo, darkening the mud to make it less distracting. I also added in some contrast. I'll post the original here and you can see both side by side.

Daily photo: January 23, 2013, taken January 21, 2013

Cloudy Colored Sunset, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

We’ve been getting pretty lucky with sunsets out at Lake Sam Rayburn recently. Two out of the last three trips have had nice sunsets. This photo is from our most recent trip. There were very few clouds in the sky when we left the house a couple of hours before sunset. Then all of a sudden these clouds rolled in about a half hour before sunset. I got a really cool time lapse out of it, but I’m a long way from processing it.

This is a single 1 second exposure. I used a three-stop soft-step graduated ND filter and a two-stop soft-step graduated ND filter to reduce the exposure above the foreground.

Critiques are always welcome. In fact, my dog Sala has already given a pretty rude critique of my foreground, as you can see in this previous photo.

Daily photo: January 30, 2013, taken January 25, 2013

Sam Rayburn Blue Hour, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

Nini and I sat and watched the sunset on Lake Sam Rayburn last weekend, and I continued to take photos long after the sun went down. It was an experimental day for me, as I tried out some new filters that I had barely used before, and I also tried out my new intervalometer. The dogs had fun chasing bugs and birds on the lakeshore.

This is a single 90 second exposure taken about 15 minutes after the sun went down. It's amazing how much light remains long after a sunset, you just need really long exposures to capture it. I used my new intervalometer to take even longer exposures than my camera allows in manual mode. The intervalometer can be set to any length of exposure when the camera is in bulb mode. I tinkered around with some very long exposures (8 minutes) but they didn't turn out much different looking than this 90 second exposure. The intervalometer can also be set to trigger the camera at a constant interval, which is very useful for time lapse photography.

Critiques always welcome!

Daily photo: August 19, 2012, taken August 12, 2012

Hinkson Creek Color, Columbia MO

We witnessed a beautiful sunset at Grindstone Nature Area yesterday. The dogs had a blast and we got to make some nice photos. It was a good day despite the terrible performance of our beloved Huskers.

Daily photo: Nov 20, 2011, taken Nov 19, 2011

Michigan Ave, Chicago IL

This is the view looking South down Michigan Ave from Wacker Ave. The Magnificent Mile on Michigan Ave is famous for shopping, but it also makes a nice place to catch some light trails after dark. This is kind of a bucket list photo: I've always wanted to shoot light trails from the middle of a busy street. It was kind of weird shooting around Chicago, there were tons of people everywhere but no one really seemed to notice us!

This is a single eight second exposure. I pretty much set my aperture at f/22 and then spot metered to get a good exposure. It was crucial that I set up and got the technical side of the shot figured out quickly so that I could start taking long exposures when the cars were driving by. I ended up taking about five shots from this position and ended up liking the very first one best!

Daily photo: April 18, 2012, taken April 14, 2012

Hailey the Model, Columbia MO

Meet Hailey, a beautiful model here in Columbia Missouri that I had the good fortune of working with recently. Hailey specializes in swimsuit, sports and lingerie modeling but also does a lot of product modeling. On this day she was actually getting ready to be filmed for a scene in a local independent movie that Jay is in. We decided to do a few headshots as soon as they were done doing her makeup. I didn't have any flashes or reflectors, but was able to find some nice soft light in the entryway of the house. And then it was time to film her part in the movie and she did a great job!

I find it difficult to shoot strictly with natural light, and almost always use a reflector or diffuser when I'm shooting outside and often use a flash too. But I have been trying to shoot with pure natural light when I find a good location. When looking for a location I first try and find good quality light and a good background. In this case I was doing a beauty shot and wanted the light to be as soft as possible. The light in this location was very diffuse because the afternoon sun was lighting up the driveway and some light from this reflection was spilling through the screen door and into the entryway of the house. To put it another way, the sunlight was bounced off of the driveway, creating a very soft main light. In addition, that main light was not pointed directly at Hailey, but rather only the feathered edge of the light was hitting her. So I had good soft light. I also got lucky that there was a nice background to place her in. When composing I just tried to keep her head inside the lines and keep a catchlight in her eyes.

Was it a miracle that I found this light? Hardly! I noticed the light moments after ringing the doorbell when Jay came to let me in the house! I'm always on the lookout for light.

The only issue I had to work around was that while I had very good quality light, there wasn't a whole of it. I had to open up to f/1.4 1/80th, and ISO 160 to get a good exposure. But I was confident that my awesome Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 would be able to produce sharp results wide open at f/1.4. Still, I probably should have bumped my ISO up and stopped down to f/2.8 where this lens really shines in sharpness. As for the depth of field at these large apertures, I actually prefer the shallow depth of field for a shot like this, and it really saves me a lot of processing time by making the retouching job a lot easier. But I would have also liked to shoot a little faster than 1/80th too, especially for closeups like this where camera shake and model movement can kill what little bit of sharpness there is in the frame.

UPDATE: Thanks for being honest Art! I always like to get constructive criticism. I know you don't like shallow depth of field like this and I had you in mind when I wrote the last paragraph above, so we'll just have to agree to disagree. I love super shallow dof for beauty shots. As mentioned above, not only is it aesthetically pleasing to me, there is also a practical benefit in that retouching is much easier in post production with super shallow depth of field. And if you find the background distracting now, it would be much worse with longer depth of field. I also like this crop, head and shoulders only without cutting into her shirt collar. This crop is straight from camera, no crop in post. I think this is a standard crop for a head and shoulders horizontal portrait. On a side note, if you think this photo is over-exposed, you may need to have your monitor calibrated because there are no blown highlights in this photo. See for yourself, I've uploaded a screen shot of the histogram for this photo here: http://smu.gs/NTdkxd

Daily photo: July 1, 2012, taken June 24, 2012

Cheech Man, Columbia MO

Here's a our pretty boy Cheech posing like a pro. Nini's been asking for some Cheech photos since I tend to photo Big Red more than Cheech. I find it more difficult to photograph Cheech because he's so little and low to the ground, making it hard to get low enough for the perspective I like for dog photography. In this case he's sitting in the sunlight at the end of our bed.

High contrast natural light like this can play tricks on your in-camera meter and make it difficult to get a good exposure. I use spot metering (in-camera) and the zone system to get the exposure I want as efficiently as possible. In this case I wanted to maximize the exposure on Cheech's face without completely blowing out the details on his nose. I spot metered on Cheech's nose and adjusted my exposure to +2. Following the zone system, I know that +2 is about as over-exposed as you can go while preserving some detail in the highlights, giving me just the exposure I wanted to achieve.

See more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES here:
http://paulbellingerjr.blogspot.com/

Daily photo: March 14, 2012, taken March 10, 2012

Early Bird at Beach #5, Havelock Island, India

This is the only photo I took with any wildlife in it, even though the Andaman Islands are full of endemic bird and reptile species. We did see quite a few birds, but I was just too busy laying on the beach to follow them around with my camera.

The low tide at Beach #5 creates some fantastic reflection pools. This is an earlier view of the same sunrise on Beach #5 featured a few days ago here: http://smu.gs/wDT3er

This photo is a single exposure.

Daily photo: Jan 12, 2012, taken Jan 9, 2012

Fall Carpeting, Columbia MO

I was on a walk with Big Red and I saw this spot where the sun was shining on a carpet of leaves from half a block away. Big Red was nice enough to sit still while I took several fall color shots on our walk. It was also another round of practice with my new (used) Canon 5D.

Daily photo: October 12, 2010, taken October 12, 2010

Natural Kaitlan, Columbia MO

Here is another photo of the beautiful and talented model Katilan, this time posing in natural window light. I like to incorporate natural light into my studio sessions as best as possible. Sometimes this means going outside, other times it means standing in the window.

We used the silver side of several styrofoam reflectors to light this portrait. I clamped one big 4' x 6' piece of styrofoam to a ladder to the camera right, extending about two to three feet above Kaitlan's head. Another 4'x6' piece extended standing upright on the floor to the camera right so that there is essentially an 8' wall of styrofoam to the camera right. And finally, my beautiful assistant Nini is holding a 2' x 4' piece as close to Kaitlan's face as possible.

I'm off to shoot photos at a movie casting call today. Should be interesting.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG

Daily photo: April 8, 2012, taken April 6, 2012

Four Minutes with the Swamp Tree, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

We went back to Lake Sam Rayburn yesterday to find a new sunset location and had a list of places to scope out. But the first place we went to was pretty cool so we stuck it out for sunset. Directly to the frame right is a large swamp area with tall swamp grass. We heard a lot of strange swamp sounds and saw a lot of water ripples and swamp grass shuffles but didn't spot any reptiles other than the occasional frog. The dogs kept wanting to explore the swamp but we wouldn't let them out of fear of alligators and wild boars. I'm not sure if either animal actually make their homes around these swamps but we were on the lookout nonetheless. I thought we'd be mauled by bugs too, but surprisingly we had a very pleasant time watching the sunset unfold on a small peninsula facing this swamp tree.

This is a four minute exposure taken at f/22, ISO 50. I used a circular polarizer to increase the glare on the water, creating more light and more reflection on the water. I've been wanting to try a really long exposure with clouds for a long time. I love long exposure motion. I finally got my wish! To get a four minute exposure I put my camera in bulb mode and set my intervalometer
to four minutes and pushed the start button. I also programmed the intervalometer to continuously take photos, one after another, so that I could just stand around and enjoy the sunset myself. Once I get the hang of programming it quicker I think I'll probably stop using it more often. I know for sure that I am going to do some time lapse photography soon. I always wanted to try it, but I'm even more excited after seeing this amazing 30 days and 30 nights by Trey Ratcliff (watch full screen, full volume!).
There was a lot of long exposure noise, but it wasn't anything Lightroom 4 couldn't handle.

Critiques always welcome!

Daily photo: August 20, 2012, taken August 19, 2012

Nini in Black, Nacogdoches TX

We had a busy day yesterday with our anniversary gifts. Nini had her massage, hair and makeup done at a local salon, and then I got to take her photo. The sky was perfectly overcast for the first hour or so giving us great natural light, but when we took a lunch break it got too cloudy to shoot without adding some flash. It was 60 degrees, which was perfect for me, but Nini was chilled. You can see her goosebumps in larger sizes.

For this portrait Nini is lit with a single speedlite shot through a beauty dish with a grid on it. The grid helps to prevent the light from spilling too far in any direction, creating really cool light falloff that is fun to work with when you have a nice background. We shot it downtown Nacogdoches with a beauty dish on a stand, on several sidewalks and alleyways, and no one ever bothered us a bit. One of my goals was to do a wider shot like this that will look good printed in large sizes. It was a fun day!

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: February 10, 2013, taken February 9, 2013

Omaha in Pink, Omaha NE

Dad and I went over to the Iowa side of the Missouri River yesterday to shoot some sunset skyline photos of our favorite town. It was nice and warm in the upper 30s. It was really cool to see all of the ice floating by.

This is a single 2.5 second exposure and I used a circular polarizer to bring out more reflection in the water.

Thanks for all of your comments while I’ve been away. I hope everyone has been having a nice start to 2013! I started my 2013 on a five night ski trip in Colorado that was amazing! This is my first post in 2013.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: January 9, 2013, taken January 8, 2013

Wedding Landscape, Galveston TX

Lindsay and Kevin are such an awesomely in love couple that I’m pretty sure they don’t even remember I was there! But their special day on the beach was a special day for me too. I’m so lucky that the amazing Sarah Williams let me assist her with this beautiful wedding. I learned so much from her and she has so much more to teach me. I can’t wait to do it again soon.

Being a wedding photographer’s assistant and second shooter is such a fun job! You get to enjoy all of the excitement of capturing the precious moments of the day with very little of the stress, especially if you’re working with a pro like Sarah. Of course I’m naturally stressful but Sarah kept me under cool the whole day (unfortunately she couldn’t prevent the sunburn though!). There were times when I was running around carrying camera bags and keeping track of heels and sandals, and I most definitely sweated through my shirt several times, but it was so exciting that it didn’t seem like work at all and I was happy to do whatever I could to help.

For more beautiful photos from this wedding check out Sarah’s awesome blog post!

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: April 1, 2013, taken March 16, 2013

Lori Cliffside, Columbia MO

Here's a view of my new friend Lori taking photos from the cliffs overlooking Grindstone Nature Area just after sunrise.

This is a five exposure HDR. My camera was right on the edge of the cliffs, on my tripod, and we were both shooting the morning light as it flooded into the canyon.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG

Daily photo: March 26, 2012, taken March 25, 2012

The Look, Columbia MO

I don't know what "the look" is, but I know that Lise has it. I hope we can have another portrait session soon. I'm feeling more confident after watching some of Sue Bryce's creativeLIVE workshop last weekend, and next weekend is the posing masterclass. But before that, I need to finish processing the photos from our last shoot.

This portrait is lit with one speedlite in a softbox to the camera left. I always start with one light and add additional lights, and without fail, the one light portraits are always my favorites. I love the soulful shadows.

I'm happy to report that my photo was selected for the supporter section of PhotoExtract.com, where Jarek Klimek publishes the TOP photos on Google +. Check it out here:
http://www.photoextract.com/plus-extract/2012/3/5

Daily photo: March 8, 2012, taken Feb 25, 2012

Reflections, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

The aftermath of a very pretty sunset. The clouds rolled in fast just before sunset and here you can see they started to dissipate soon after. On the way to the lake that day I was telling Nini that we’d probably end up with no clouds, no sunset and head home early! Every shoot is an adventure and that’s why I always say that you never know if there is going to be a good sunset or sunrise unless you’re there.

This is a single 15 second exposure. I used a circular polarizer to increase the glare on the water, bringing out the reflection.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: February 3, 2013, taken January 25, 2013

Garage View Blue Hour, Columbia MO

Nini and I met up with JAY to make some sunset photos on top of Columbia's tallest parking garage. I'm partial to this view because it's the view towards our house. I also like how this Southwest corner of the garage gives a great view down 5th St. towards the power plant I walked by thousands of times on my way to the office, while also giving a view West down Broadway, the street I've driven on the most in Columbia. So this view has a lot of nostalgic value for me.

This is a four exposure HDR. To achieve this composition I set up my tripod on the corner of the ledge, only a few inches from a 10 story drop. I have a strong fear of heights, but I guess that makes it more exciting.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG

Daily photo: April 2, 2012, taken April 1, 2012

Fishing After Sunrise, Bayview TX

This is my Aunt's boyfriend Tommy, fishing on the dock after sunrise. I liked his silhouette with the cowboy hat and took way too many shots like this. I woke up early to shoot the sunrise from this dock and Tommy joined me for some fishing afterwards. Nini and I were only in Texas for about 36 hours, but the roundtrip drive time was about 28 hours!

This is a single exposure and there is nothing tricky going on here. It's nearly straight from the camera. Taking silhouette shots like this is really easy. I spot meter on the bright background and use my shutter speed to set the background's exposure to 0. If you want to gain some details in the shadows you can set the background exposure to +1 or +1 and 1/3 or so. Examine the left side of your histogram to see what you are getting in the shadows. If there is a tall and narrow spike on the very left edge then your shadows will be mostly all black. If there is more of a pyramid shaped spike on the far left then your shadows will have some details. It's up to you to decide what you want.

Daily photo: July 7, 2012, taken July 5, 2012

Room with a View, Chicago IL

This is the view of Wabash and Wacker from one of the four huge windows in our hotel room at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Chicago. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco last year too, and liked it so much we didn't think twice about re-booking for this year's conference. You can tell this a shot through a window by the refection on the top center left of the frame, the the raindrops on the black building on the right third of the frame, and the overall lack of sharpness. Nini and I had a great time relaxing in the window beds (yes, huge beds in each of the four huge windows, big enough for both of us to stretch out comfortably with a lot of room to spare) watching a rainstorm. I highly recommend the Hotel Monaco if you want a boutique hotel with a great view in the Chicago Loop.

This is a five exposure HDR and the exposure ranged from 8 to 30 seconds. This is my first HDR daily in two weeks! That's probably a record for me since I've owned Photomatix Pro. In this case I mostly used Photomatix as a cheap alternative to Photoshop, allowing me to bring in multiple exposures of the light streaks without using layers in Photoshop. Since I don't have Photoshop, this is my best alternative.

There has been a lot of talk about the red thumbs lately, and a great pair of photographers has left us as a result. What a shame. Just yesterday my birthday photo of Nini was 11 spots behind the next closest photo with the same number of comments. Of course that photo is one of my favorites, but the fact that it ranked lower than some of my other photos doesn't say anything at all about the quality of the photo or how much I like it. The fact is, I only post daily photos that I like. So whether they end up number 1 or number 50, it really doesn't matter to me. Of course I like to get comments as much as the next person, but it is the process of posting a photo a day and being an active member of a wonderful community of talented photographers that keeps me participating in the dailies. No red thumber can take away what I've gained from this community and I know that the red thumber will fade with time while I continue to shine.

Daily photo: April 17, 2012, taken April 15, 2012

Colorful Caboose Revisited, Nacogdoches TX

I found out about a cool East Texas photo competition yesterday and started deciding which three photos to enter. I think this photo makes a good entry because it’s pretty and showcases some of Nac’s railroad history. I reprocessed it using Photoshop, and this is the second photo I’ve actually exported out of Photoshop. More on Photoshop below. The second photo I chose is this beauty of the Japanese Maples in the SFA Arboretum, which I have a 20x30” print of hanging in our bedroom and really love it. For my third choice I want to enter one of my Lake Sam Rayburn photos, and have tentatively chosen this one of the warm grass on our beach at sunset. But I don’t know, this isn’t my personal favorite, it’s just the one I think will be most useful for the Texas Forest Trail Region website. My current favorite of Sam Rayburn is this blue hour beauty, but I think it might be too abstract for this competition. Another Sam Rayburn favorite is this this colorful long exposure, but again I think the long exposure might be too abstract. Lastly, my all time favorite Sam Rayburn photo is this red and pink long exposure. Can you help me decide or give any other tips and tricks for entering photo contests? This will be my first.

This photo is a reprocessed version of my original Colorful Caboose photo. I liked the previous version, but wish I had used a smaller aperture to achieve a longer depth of field and sharper focus on the caboose. I also didn’t like how underexposed the caboose is, mostly due to the graduated neutral density filters I used to reduce the exposure in the sky. So what did I do to fix it up a little? I went back to the archives to see if I had an overexposed exposure from the same spot, and I did because I usually always take multiple exposures before changing my composition. I brought the overexposed photo and the original into Photohsop in that order, and layered the original over the overexposed and used a layer mask to allow the caboose from the overexposed version to shine through to the top layer. I also applied a sharpening filter to the overexposed layer so that I could get extra detail in the caboose only, without introducing too much noise, which is what would have happened if I tried to sharpen the original too much because the caboose is so underexposed. Lastly, I added a vibrance layer to exaggerate the colors a little. I’m such as sucker for color it’s hard for me to not over saturate everything! How do you like the changes?

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: March 29, 2013, taken February 28, 2013 reprocessed March 29, 2013

Kaitlan's Closeup, Columbia MO

Kaitlan is one of the best models I've worked with in my very short portrait career. Having a model like Kaitlan, who has nearly flawless skin, gives the photographer freedom to shoot beauty closeups like this one, and makes everything from posing to lighting so much easier in general. On the flip side working with such a talented model does bring the added pressure to perform well in the limited amount of time you have with them. Add other limitations like studio space and gear and the pressures mount. I remember starting off very nervous with Katilan, who towered above me (6'2") in her heels (6'5" or 6'6"?). But I was prepared. I had a list of shots I wanted to get and my beautiful wife to assist me, and my nerves quickly calmed. One thing that helped was that I started with a shot I had practiced hundreds of times before that I knew I could get successfully right out of the gate: head shots with glamour/beauty lighting (clamshell lighting to be specific) such as this one.

I haven't shared a portrait lately despite doing lots of portrait sessions over the last few weeks and months. This is one of my favorites that I recently finished processing and haven't shared until now.

Thanks for all of the guesses on the "major flaw" flaw in my photo yesterday! The flaw is that the tip of the tripod leg can be seen in the bottom left corner. It is a mistake of course, but easily fixed in the field by simply rotating the tripod leg out of the frame!!! Forget about messing around with it in post processing, it's better to get it right in camera. But practice makes perfect, and I can assure you there will be no tripod legs in my photos on my upcoming trip to Colorado!

Daily photo: May 21, 2012, taken April 6, 2012

Stormy Day Reflections, Columbia MO

We took the dogs to Grindstone Nature Area yesterday during a break in the storms. Spring is in full bloom in the park! The sun broke through the clouds as we were hiking along Hinkson Creek, lighting up the trees around the bend. I quickly set up to take multiple exposures for an HDR and did the best I could to compose something interesting. I really liked the contrast between the glowing trees and the storm clouds behind them. Big Red just happened to be posing perfectly. The sun disappeared before I could recompose as another set of photos. Another batch of storms rolled in and we rolled out.

This is a five exposure HDR. My tripod is set up in the creek with my camera about one foot out of the water. I'm balancing on a few small rocks. Composing in these circumstances is difficult because it is hard to get your eye straight to the camera without laying down in the creek! I settle for getting my eye sideways to the camera and not getting too wet. With my head sideways I go through my normal routine of running my eye along the edge of the frame to make sure I'm including/excluding everything I want. But I always had trouble getting the horizon straight with my head on its side. So I bought a small three way, hotshoe level about a month ago, and my horizon problems are over:
http://amzn.com/B0036WFND8

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on the blog:
http://paulbellingerjr.blogspot.com/

Daily photo: March 20, 2012, taken March 19, 2012

Symphony Palms Sunrise, Havelock Island, India

I was very lucky to wake up early and witness a stunning sunrise during the low tide at Beach #5, also known as Govind Nagar Beach. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I can remember seeing. I highly recommend the Symphony Palms resort which is as close to the beach as you can get without a tent. There is a constant cool breeze blowing through shady palms; a nice retreat from the 80 degree temps and hot sun. In addition, the restaurant at Symphony Palms is excellent, and serves the coldest beer in the Andamans.

Beach #5 offers stunning blue and green colors due to the shallow water (see future dailies). During high tide it is only about five feet deep for the first 100 meters or so, most of which is exposed at low tide. The low tide reveals some excellent rock formations and sand patterns, and creates some nice reflection pools for photographing the sunrise.

I asked several locals in Port Blair where they had seen the most beautiful scenery in the Andamans, and without fail, every single person said Havelock Island. If you're into beaches, I can't imagine any more beautiful than those on Havelock.

This photo is a single exposure taken with a circular polarizer. On a full frame body such as my 5D a circular polarizer can create extreme light falloff in the corners of the frame, so much so that the very tips of the corners are totally black at wide focal lengths (of course this depends on your camera, focal length and the quality of the polarizer). I added some vignette to help it blend in without having to crop too much.

The staff at Symphony Palms recommends booking your room three months in advance in order secure a cottage close to the beach, although they are all within a three minute walk of the beach. You can visit the Symphony Palms website here:
http://symphonypalmshavelock.com/site/the-resort.html

Daily photo: Jan 9, 2012, taken Jan 9, 2012

Ouachita Sunset, near Heavener OK

We were lucky to be travelling through the beautiful Ouachita National Forest right before sunset on our drive from Omaha back to Texas. I’ve never seen a prettier piece of Oklahoma. The Ouachita National Forest is mostly in Western Arkansas and the area is very similar looking to the Ozark mountains in Arkansas and Missouri. I can’t wait to visit this area again on our next trip to Omaha.

This is a single exposure. I used a circular polarizer to increase contrast in the sky and a three-stop hard-step neutral density filter and a two-stop soft-step neutral density filter to reduce the exposure above the horizon. With all of that filtration going on I lost about 7 stops of light and my shutter speed was getting too long to stop the motion in the foreground trees. So I had to use a bigger aperture than I’d probably like, and increase the dreaded ISO to 320. I think it was worth it though to make the foreground trees sharper.

Happy MLK day today!

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: January 21, 2013, taken January 10, 2013

Crashing Waves, Lake Sam Rayburn TX

A beautiful cloudy sunset on our favorite beach. The sunset was beautiful despite all of the clouds, as you can see here. The waves were crashing gently on our beach.

This is a single ½ second exposure. I like the wave action that is captured with this fast shutter speed. Usually I shoot at longer shutter speeds that washout the details of the waves. I like both looks but prefer the long exposure look a little more just because it looks so much different. You can read about my filter set up for this shot here.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: February 18, 2013, taken January 25, 2013

Downtown Reflections, Columbia MO PREVIOUS DAILY

Nini and I went out for a quick shoot late Sunday night after the rain had come and gone. I was desperate to get out of the house and take some photos after being cooped up all day during the rain. I spotted this puddle while we were driving past and just had to stop.

This is a single exposure. I spread the legs of my tripod as wide as they could go to get my camera as low to the ground as possible. As I was composing the scene I noticed I could get Jesse Hall (the green lit building in the far distance near the red light in the center of the frame) into the reflection if I shifted the camera to the right a bit. But in doing so I messed up the reflection of the TIGER sign from the Tiger hotel! It is so difficult to compose when you are laying in the street and looking through the viewfinder sideways! Oh well, now I have a good excuse to go back after the next rainstorm.

I'm happy to report that my photo "Dark Sunrise" has been selected for the supporter section for the TOP photos on Google+ at photoextract.com. The TOP photos are big and beautiful and I always enjoy looking at them. Check it out here:
http://www.photoextract.com/plus-extract/2012/3/10

You can also see "Dark Sunrise," on my blog at http://paulbellingerjr.blogspot.com/

Daily photo: March 13, 2012, taken March 12, 2012

Cheech Above 10,000 Feet, Buchanan Pass Trail CO

We found out that Cheech is a great hiker. All of our training at Grindstone Nature Area paid off, and Cheech was able to do three major hikes with me, all around or above 10,000 feet in elevation. This particular hike on Buchanan Pass Trail was roughly 8 miles roundtrip. When we started the hike we had a party of 6 hikers and two dogs. In the end only Cheech and I made it to the alpine meadow with a view of Sawtooth Mountain, elevation 12,300 feet (3,749 meters), the Eastern most peak on the continental divide. Once we made it to the meadow and had a view of the mountains I decided to hike several hundred feet up some cliffs to the North for a better view. Doing so revealed Thunderbolt Peak in the background. It is amazing what you get to see when you hike high up into the mountains! The wind on the cliffs was very strong and Cheech appeared cold. So I found a nice patch of grass for him on the cliffs and made him lay down, then covered him with my black rain jacket to block the wind and give him some warmth. He fell straight to sleep! He didn't wake up for at least 15 minutes while I took photos on the cliffs, but it didn't take much prodding to get him to start the hike back down.

The wind was a big factor any time I got up high in the mountains. But for these long hikes it's not feasible to carry a huge and heavy tripod. So I made do with my standard sized tripod and it worked for the most part. I also found myself hiking such long distances to get a good view of the mountains that I often ended up shooting late in the day, during bad light, or not taking any photos at all because I had to focus on the hike itself. Next time I'll have to be in even better shape so the hikes don't phase me as much.

UPDATE: We didn't take Big Red with us on the trip because there was no room in our tiny Honda Civic for him and all of his stuff! He would have been right there with me though I'm sure.

Daily photo: June 7, 2012, taken May 29, 2012

Maple Rainbow, Nacogdoches TX

The SFA Mast Arboretum is full of beautiful trails that look just like this, with a rainbow of colors beneath towering pines. There are over 7500 plants in this 10 acre East Texas paradise. Just a across a small creek is the 8 acre Ruby M. Mize Azalea garden, which has over 500 named varieties of Azalea. Both parks are full of Japanese Maples and other Maples that have been turning colors over the last month or so. Some have already lost all of their leaves, but many are in full color or are just starting to turn.

This is a single 2.5 second exposure. There was not much wind so the leaves are still fairly sharp even at 2.5 seconds. I've found these gardens to be very difficult to shoot. I've spent about 5 hours in the Arboretum and taken about 250 photos, but have only a handful of well-composed photos. It's overwhelming, but in a good way, and with more time I'll figure it out.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 3, 2012, taken November 25, 2012

Downtown Reflections Redo, Columbia MO

It was raining off and on all day yesterday, so I decided early in the evening that I would go back downtown late at night and redo this reflection shot looking down 8th street towards the historic Tiger Hotel. I love to look South down 8th street night or day, rain or shine. It has a view of the Tiger Hotel, and the street dead ends right in front of the columns and Jesse Hall, the centerpiece of the University of Missouri campus.

I discovered this reflection a week and a half ago and shared this photo. I was unhappy with that photo because my composition had the TIGER reflection slightly cut off. So I had to go back for a redo. Once I find a great view I like to revisit it time and time again until I perfect the composition. This one is still a work in progress.

This is a single 30 second exposure. I noticed a semi-truck coming up Broadway so I waited for it to chug up the hill before I started my exposure. I took several, some with no light trails and some with bright white ones, but I liked this one best.

Check out more of my PHOTO ADVENTURES on my BLOG.

Daily photo: March 22, 2012, taken March 22, 2012

Paducah, Columbia MO

This beautiful girl pup is being fostered by a friend of mine. She's so pretty and well behaved, I can't believe no one has permanently adopted her yet. We've taken her to Grindstone Nature Area a few times now and she has such a great personality. She's a little curious, but sticks by your side for the most part. I think she's gonna turn out to be an amazing dog. Now I just have to convince Nini to let us adopt her!

This is a single exposure. I like to use my Canon EF 135mm f/2 lens for dog photos like this one. The lens is both fast and sharp and I like the shallow depth of field you get at this focal length.

Daily photo: June 20, 2012, taken June 11, 2012

Galleries

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Family : Pictures of our people!

Pictures of our people!

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Lake Sam Rayburn :

Lake Sam Rayburn

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Sunset Sunrise : Mostly sunsets, but I do wake up early every once in a while.

Mostly sunsets, but I do wake up early every once in a while.

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don and peyton :

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Big Red : Greatest dog on earth! Big Red is a Blue Heeler, Blue Tick Hound mix... 100% badass.

Greatest dog on earth! Big Red is a Blue Heeler, Blue Tick Hound mix. ...

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megan and eric :

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Cropped for 16x20 :

Cropped for 16x20

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Camera Awesome Photos

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Wayne and Marra Wedding :

Wayne and Marra Wedding

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megan and eric bay photo

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megan and eric edited

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Dinner with Friends :

Dinner with Friends

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Doom : That's DOCTOR DOOM to you.

That's DOCTOR DOOM to you.

Updated: Feb 16, 2012 11:52am AEST

Holy Family Shrine :

Holy Family Shrine

Updated: Feb 02, 2012 6:56am AEST

Taylor Photos : All of the photos in this gallery were taken by my little sister Taylor, who excels at everything in life, including photography.

All of the photos in this gallery were taken by my little sister Taylo ...

Updated: Jan 17, 2012 8:48pm AEST

2011 : Second year daily photo

Second year daily photo

Updated: Jan 03, 2012 9:44pm AEST

Daily Post 2011 : Semi-daily photos.

Daily Post 2011

Semi-daily photos.

Updated: Dec 08, 2011 5:19pm AEST

password protected gallery

Updated: Oct 27, 2011 11:02am AEST

TNN Family Portraits :

TNN Family Portraits

Updated: Oct 20, 2011 9:30pm AEST

Dog Portraits : Some of my favorite dog portraits. View in size X3 to see how well these can be blown up to size 8x12 or larger.

Some of my favorite dog portraits. View in size X3 to see how well th ...

Updated: Oct 06, 2011 3:41am AEST

Rob's Work : Rob Thomas has been processing some photos for my dad and I since we're not good with computers and we don't have a good computer/software to process with. Contact me if you want to hire Rob, his rate is reasonable.

Rob Thomas has been processing some photos for my dad and I since we'r ...

Updated: Sep 14, 2011 3:23am AEST

I-29 Flooding 2011 :

I-29 Flooding 2011

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Pop's Photos : Photo's from Dad

Photo's from Dad

Updated: Aug 18, 2011 9:53am AEST

Jon A. Stewart Park : Big Red's territory

Jon A. Stewart Park

Big Red's territory

Updated: Jul 22, 2011 11:28am AEST

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Uma's Graduation :

Uma's Graduation

Updated: May 12, 2011 4:36pm AEST

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370 Barn : Taylor, Nini and I went to shoot a Barn in Omaha near I-80 and HW 370.

Taylor, Nini and I went to shoot a Barn in Omaha near I-80 and HW 370.

Updated: Jan 12, 2011 5:28pm AEST

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diminishing returns

Updated: Jan 12, 2011 11:55am AEST

Christmas : Christmas 2010, mostly in Omaha.

Christmas 2010, mostly in Omaha.

Updated: Dec 31, 2010 5:48pm AEST

2010 : Daily photo journal, documenting what's going on with us!

Daily photo journal, documenting what's going on with us!

Updated: Dec 31, 2010 4:19pm AEST

Christmas Lights : 2010 Christmas Light Photos

Christmas Lights

2010 Christmas Light Photos

Updated: Dec 22, 2010 2:26am AEST

Thanksgiving in Omaha : Thanksgiving 2010 in Omaha Nebraska!

Thanksgiving in Omaha

Thanksgiving 2010 in Omaha Nebraska!

Updated: Nov 29, 2010 4:56pm AEST

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dinner at Atreyee's house : Happy Birthday Kakima!

dinner at Atreyee's house

Happy Birthday Kakima!

Updated: Nov 24, 2010 3:39pm AEST

Oklahoma Aftermath : A friend and I went downtown to check out the craziness after Mizzou beat number one ranked Oklahoma here in Columbia on Saturday (the first time Mizzou has ever beaten a number one ranked team). It was crazy!

Oklahoma Aftermath

A friend and I went downtown to check out the craziness after Mizzou b ...

Updated: Oct 29, 2010 3:50pm AEST

Huskers vs Texas : Texas size tailgate party on October 16, 2010. The Huskers took on Texas and lost 20-13, bringing the overall record to 5 and 1. We had a ton of fun, despite the loss, thanks to Bruce, Brad and Kurt and everyone else who helped throw one of the biggest tailgate parties on record!

Huskers vs Texas

Texas size tailgate party on October 16, 2010. The Huskers took on Te ...

Updated: Oct 19, 2010 8:26am AEST

My Smug Mug : Amateur everything.

Amateur everything.

Updated: Oct 09, 2010 6:24am AEST

Kansas Motor Speedway 2010 :

Kansas Motor Speedway 2010

Updated: Oct 08, 2010 4:05am AEST

Dadi in USA : Pictures from our time with Dadi, Kaki and Kaku in Columbia MO, 9/29/2010 - 10/6/2010

Pictures from our time with Dadi, Kaki and Kaku in Columbia MO, 9/29/2 ...

Updated: Oct 05, 2010 4:56pm AEST

Huskers vs. South Dakota State : I took my new (used) 5D to the Husker game against South Dakota State on Sept. 25, 2010 to try it out and get some shots of beautiful Memorial Stadium and our epic tailgate party. Memorial Stadium is one of the prettiest in the country, and the sea of red is very photogenic. The Huskers won 17-3 to go to 4-0 on the season.

Huskers vs. South Dakota State

I took my new (used) 5D to the Husker game against South Dakota State ...

Updated: Sep 29, 2010 2:44pm AEST

Colorado Wilderness Areas : Exploring the Indian Peaks Wilderness. My first trip with a real camera!

Colorado Wilderness Areas

Exploring the Indian Peaks Wilderness. My first trip with a real came ...

Updated: Sep 22, 2010 1:11pm AEST

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Your Bio

Paul and Nini!

Nini and I were married three times in 2010. First, in Hazaribagh India on January 1-3. Second, in Columbia Missouri at Agave Mexican Restaurant on February 8. And third, our shotgun wedding at Hansen Lakes (Labedz Drive) on the Platte River, South of Omaha Nebraska on May 30. Each wedding was truly unique and wouldn't have been possible without our many friends and family joining us to celebrate the start of our life together.

If you're thinking about getting a smugmug you can save $5.00 by entering this code in the referral line: LeqYrJ6fPCCA2

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