Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on July 09, 2009
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Lightening can be tricky to photograph. First of all, you have to have an idea of where the lighting is going to strike. Second, you have to then figure out the exposure and the focusing. Finally, you have to take the photo at the same time the lighting is striking. It's a lot to figure while trying not to get wet.
There are several ways to go about getting the photo. This is just the way that works best for me; other ways may work better for you. I approach lightening like I would shoot fireworks; both are very similar.
First I get an idea of something else in the photo that will be the subject. In this photo the subject is the road and the power-lines. Shutter speeds will be slower for lightening photography so I put my camera on a tripod or mono-pod. I then put my camera on manual and my shutter on bulb. This allows me to determine when the shutter opens and closes. I then point my camera in the general direction of the lighting and will hold my shutter down during the lightening sequence. Once the lightening has struck, I release the shutter.
Granted I get a lot of black images but that's the beauty of shooting digital. The exposures vary; some are faster then others but each one is different with different results.
Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on July 02, 2009
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This photo was taken during the Darien Cornfest parade. I have found that parades can be tough to shoot. There is plenty going on but trying to come up with a new perspective from year to year is getting harder and harder the older I get. I have climbed up the side of the town hall, I have been on a float taking photos of the crowd, I even did photos from my balcony as the parade went by when I lived in Darien. With this photo I was shooting low to the ground, from maybe a dog's point of view. As I was laying on the ground looking up, a huge 30-ft flag carried by several volunteers came around the bend onto Main Street.
I then ran to the center of the street and basically laid down on the asphalt as the flag was carried over me. There were people toward the center of the flag holding it up so it would not touch the ground, which is when I took this photo of the lady supporting the a portion of the flag. The sun was bright enough to illuminate underneath so I had plenty of light. I shot 1000th at f8 with an ISO of 400.
Whenever it is sunny and I am shooting outside that setting is a safe bet; it has not failed me yet.
One of the hard parts of photographing in crowds like a parade is just getting the photo and not worrying about what other people are thinking of you. Yes, you're in the middle of the parade and everyone is looking at you, but I just put it out of my mind and do my job. You cannot be timid or scared to get in there and get your shot, but need to be able to get out as well so as to not disrupt the event. If I had just stood in the crowd and shot the parade going by, I would have never gotten this photograph.
Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on June 18, 2009
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I have driven by this spot over a hundred times and seen this truck in the old shed and never payed much attention to it. I am not sure why on this day I saw it differently. It was only a few miles from my house and in plain site, but for whatever reason I pulled over and snapped this photograph.
I used this photo for a photo story about stuff in the farm fields. I left the windows on top in to add a feeling of how old it was and with the truck emerging from the shadows of the shed. It reminded me of an old gruff farmer.
Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on June 11, 2009
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If you have been to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and have gone by the Riviera, you will see an beautiful fountain with this angel at the top. I have liked the angel and the fountain but never knew what kind of photo I could get from it. I was living in Darien at the time and my wife lived in Genoa City. She traveled through Lake Geneva on her way to work and called to tell me the lake had a strange fog over it. Instead of going right to work I went to the lakefront too see what photos I could.
Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on June 04, 2009
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It was a very snowy day and I was just out driving around looking for a photo that would show the snow and cold. I was driving in the country and came across cows in a field during the snow storm, but it wanes right, for some reason I didn't feel the photo. So I pressed on with the idea in my head of cows in the snow just looking for the right one. I crept along in the my car going 10 mph in the country roads were they are the last to get plowed so I should have turned around but I really wanted the photo that was in my head. Then towards the end of the day as it was starting to get dark I saw this cow on the side of the road in a farmers field. I just grabbed my camera forgetting about my coats and gloves. The black cow caught my eye first then I saw the frost and snow around his face, his eyes were so cold looking and he just stood and stared at me. I left the shutter open a little longer to get the streaks of flakes but left the 2.8 apturer wide open to get the shallow depth of filed and concentrate on the face and the nice detail and contrast. It was so cold I couldn't see the screen on the camera so it wanes until the next day I downloaded the card and saw the image.
Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on May 26, 2009
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This photo is from the funeral of Cpl. Keith A. Nurnberg who died in Bagdad. Keith Nurnberg married his life's love, Tonya, in December 2006. In February they found out Tonya was pregnant with their first child. He was killed in action on September 5, 2007.
The paper was invited by family to attend and photograph Nurnberg’s funeral. When I arrived at the cemetery, veterans from area posts were already there along with members of the Patriot Guard Riders setting up for the burial.
