Dusty Llama

Meet Dusty the llama. This is shot 2 of 2 from Justin Trails Resort. Dusty, and his friend Rusty, made for great entertainment for our newly 3 year old son. I love the sharp hairs on his head and beard in this photo.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/10, 1/800 sec, ISO 2000
Processed with
- Photoshop to crop, and clean some lunch off of his beard

Fun Fungi

Can you tell I have grown to love macro photography? On a hike near Sparta Wisconsin, I grabbed this shot of some mushroom/fungi growing on top of a fallen log. It's shot 1 of 2 from the Justin Trails Resort, a great B'n'B on an old farm.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/14, 1/125 sec, ISO 2000
- Handheld
Processed with
- Photoshop for edge enhancement, contrast boost, and crop

Sparta Train

The old converted railroad tunnels (now bike trails) between Sparta and Elroy provided a cool photography opportunity. They were completely dark to the eye in the middle. So, I placed the camera on the ground, set it to a long exposure, and snapped away. I couldn't see the camera at all, so had to do focus manually and do all the settings in the dark. It was a real challenge. Finally, I got the shot below.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, Nikkor18-35mm, f/3.5-4.5 ED lens
- 18mm, f/5.6, 0.77 sec, ISO 2500
Processed with
- Photoshop for slight burning, contrast boost, and crop

Slipping Mississippi

The sun slipping into Minnesota, just past the Mississippi. This shot was taken from the Wisconsin side, atop the Lacrosse Granddad Bluff. Downtown Lacrosse city lights are in the foreground.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens
- 200mm, f/22, 1/20 and 1/5 sec
- Camera supported on railing
Processed with
- Photoshop to combine 2 bracketed shots (one for sky, one for city)
- Minor removal of dust spots... time to clean the sensor!
- Color as shot... no adjustments.

Quercia Nut

The nut of an oak tree is called an acorn. The oak tree comes from the genera Quercus, and in Italian oak is called Quercia. For some reason, I like the word Quercia, especially when said in Italian. As we all prepare for Fall, I thought a quick shot of this nice little acorn would be befitting.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/10, 1/60 sec, ISO 1000, Aperture Priority
- Nikon SB800 flash (on auto) bounce flash off ceiling over left shoulder
Processed with
- Lightroom 3.0 (basic raw import processing, vignetting, crop)

Grilled Spider

This little arachnid was hanging out on our porch last week. I placed a black felt box behind the spider to get nice high contrast in the web. The spider was less than 1 inch long. He had a terrific web built between our grill lid and side plate. The web was destroyed in order for us to eat dinner.

This photo was taken about 6 inches away from his web. If you look closely, he only has 7 legs (missing a front left leg)! The 7 legs appear on all the photos I took. He seemed to have no problems spinning his web without that 8th leg.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8mm VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO 800
Processed with
- Lightroom 3.0 (basic raw import processing)
- Photoshop to crop

Foggy Fox Sunrise

This is the 3rd photo from the Foggy Fox River series (see "Foggy Fox" and "Goose Hunt"). After all the geese flew away, I was left to admire the sunrise.

Shot with

- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens

- 80mm, f/8, 1/2500 sec, ISO 3200

Processed with

- Photoshop/cropping

- Slight contrast boost using curves (again, colors were as shot!)

Waukesha Sunset

Sunset during a drive home from work. Called Andrea and quickly grabbed the camera and got a few quick shots before the sunlight disappeared. The moon was a waning, orange sliver on the horizon. Mosquitoes were swarming. I rattled off 8 shots and received an equal number of bites.
Shot with:
- Nikon D700 camera, 50mm f/1.4 lens
- 50mm, f/2.2, 1/50 sec, ISO 1250, Manual mode
Processed with:
- Lightroom 3.0 to give dark vignette to edges, boost vibrance, reduce noise
- Photoshop to remove some dead pixels, slightly brightened

Bridges Portrait

As of yet, this blog hasn't featured any people. This wasn't intentional. So, I found my first model. This young guy stood up and got a nice portrait taken. The pose and lighting was inspired by the cover of Rangefinder magazine (July 2010). The cover highlighted Jeff Bridges in a similar portrait, shot by Jerry Avenaim. Of course, Bridges had a rustic beard, long hair, & brown leather jacket -- a much more manly dude!
Shot with:
- Nikon D700 camera, 50mm f/1.4 lens
- 50mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO 200, Manual mode
- 5600K white balance
Lighted with:
- 1 AlienBee 800W with 3x4-foot softbox directly overhead
- 1 AlienBee 400W kicker with grid to light chest & face
Processed with:
- Lightroom 3.0 to add a graduated filter darkening the bottom
Shot by:
- Wifey (thanks honey!)

Butterfly Blues

This photo is "as shot"... only minor photoshop. The blue color came from a window reflecting sun light behind the butterfly. To my eye, the window was gray. The camera picked up the blue, and it was instantly my favorite shot. The Milwaukee Public Museum butterfly collection is a treat for anyone with a macro lens! Oh, and kids love it too; it's so interactive. The best part was when a big, burly guy turned to me and said, "They don't bite, do they?"

Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/3.5, 1/125 sec, ISO 1250
- Handheld, manual white balance
Processed with
- Photoshop 4x6" crop, minor saturation boost

Carl Zach

We spent the afternoon a few weeks ago in downtown Waukesha at the Carl Zach Cycling Classic. During the senior men's race, I finally got the shot I wanted! The rider is perfectly in focus, the background is silky blurry... and his arms are ripped! This was shot 104 out of 108. We packed up after I shot this one -- a keeper shot.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
- 150mm, f/18, 1/60 sec, ISO 100 (L3), Manual mode
- Handheld panning with rider, manual focus
Processed with
- Photoshop 4x6" crop, minor saturation boost, removed many dust spots

Milwaukee Fireworks

The Milwaukee fireworks display afforded wonderful opportunities for photos Saturday night. I snapped this shot early in the show. You can still see the blues in the sky immediately after sunset. This view was from Pier Wisconsin with the amphitheater dock in the foreground, city to the left, and Veteran's Park to the right.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
- 24mm, f/8, 5 seconds, ISO 250
- Manual mode, Bulb setting
- Tripod, shutter release cable
Processed with
- Photoshop 4x6" crop, enhance saturation, remove dust spots