Barbed Wire

Another Spring hike through Retzer Nature park in Waukesha. I walked the long path to Brown's Fen to find a great trail with deer, wild birds, and rusty barbed-wire fences.
Shot with

- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 macro lens

- 105mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO 2500

- Exposure compensation -0.3 step; Cloudy white balance

Processed with
- Photoshop to crop, unsharp mask, boost contrast, saturation
- Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0, Darken Edges

Small Flower

Went for a sunset walk along the Waukesha Fox River, and shot some Trillium and these little flowers. The flowers was bright white with a blue-purple centers. They were about the size of a dime and only 6 inches off the ground.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 macro lens
- 105mm, f/3.3, 1/100 sec, ISO 1000
Processed with
- Photoshop to crop, remove minor blemishes
- Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0, Glamour Glow filter

Swimming Swan

A family field trip brought us to a pond in Schaumburg, Illinois, last week. Two swams were swimming around, and they came close enough for some up-close shots.
Shot with:
- Nikon D700 camera, 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens
- 105 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 800
Processed with:
- Photoshop to crop, boost contrast & saturation, and unsharp mask
- Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 to add pink/purple color with Bi-Color User Defined filter

Old Fashioned

A special tribute to a great man, my father, who passed away this Friday. His Old Fashioned Luxury Barbershop mug has been an iconic image in my head. The mug was always in his bathroom. This weekend was a great occasion to preserve some amazing memories.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens
- 105 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO 400
- SB800 flash pointed over left shoulder
Processed with

- Photoshop for crop, curves, minor edits

- Nik Color Efex 3.0 - Darken Edges

Plumes of Smoke

Kenosha Wisconsin, near Pleasant Prairie, is home to one large belching smokestack. On a real clear day last weekend, I tried to capture the billowing gases. It reminded me of the Icelandic volcano that erupted last week. I'm always asking myself, "What is inside that smoke/gas, and is it safe for the local communities?" That, and can anyone pronounce the volcano "Eyjafjallajoekull"?
Shot with
- Nikon D200 camera, 50mm f/1.4 lens
- 50 mm, f/13, 1/350 sec, ISO 200
- Raw exposure
Processed with
- Photoshop raw to import
- Photoshop to crop, curve, remove dust spots, slight burning of edges

Train Station

The fog on March 10th was the thickest fog I've ever seen in my life. You could see no more than 20 feet in front of you. So, I decided to grab the camera and go for a drive. This is the train station in downtown Waukesha. I only shot 5 scenes that night, 20 total photos. One has to be patient setting up 3-10 second exposures on a tripod.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens
- 135mm, f/9, 3 second, ISO 500
- Manual mode, Auto white-balance
- Tripod
Processed with
- Photoshop to crop (no enhancement this time!!)
- Photoshop to remove dust spots, dead pixels, slight burning of edges

Easter Bean

Happy Easter everyone! This photo was my first table-experiment with my macro lens. I tried different lighting, post-processing, depth of field, and exposures. The idea was the play with eggs. I tried the 3 eggs, and got some great shots. Finally, I grabbed a tiny Jelly Belly candy and put it atop the closest egg. That was the shot I liked the best. I also did some real close up shots of cracks in eggs. Wow! You can get so close!!
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (VR turned off)
- 105 mm, f/9, 1/160 sec, ISO 100 (L-3), Manual mode
- Tripod, Trigger-release cable
- Alien Bee 400W with 20 degree grid
- White paper backdrop
Processed with
- Photoshop crop, minor removal of blemishes on eggs
- Nik Silver Efex Pro - Blue-Yellow Split-Toner, 10% vignette

Milwaukee Zoo Peacock

The peacocks at the Milwaukee County Zoo love to roam around, even on the rooftops. On a warm March day, this peacock displayed his feathers and provided a great shot from the side.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
Processed with
- Photoshop crop, Smart Sharpen filter
- Slight boost to green saturation

Jumping Through Hoop

This little creature was also on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum (Sunday March 14th). It was my first test with a macro lens. The art work was a series of skeletons running in circles jumping over hurdles and through hoops. The display carried a somber tone. I'll leave the interpretation up to you.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO 1600
Processed with
- Photoshop 4x6" crop, unsharp filter, curves enhancement

Brass Cottonwood

This was shot on Sunday March 14th at the Milwaukee Art Museum. This piece of art was a series of brass wires forming "balls". The balls were in groups making a large piece of art about 5 feet in diameter. I shot this photo really close, getting only the tips of the brass wires in focus. The other wires in the background made a fun blurry texture.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 105mm f/2.8 VR macro lens
- 105mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO 1000
Processed with:
- Photoshop 4x6" crop, unsharp filter, saturation & curves enhancement

Holmes Moors

This foggy photo reminded me of the English moors of a Sherlock Holmes story. I wonder who is lurking beyond the fog?
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
- 125mm, f/13, 1/400 sec, ISO 3200
Processed with

- Photoshop/crop/monochrome-channel mixer/curves to boost contrast

Tree Collection

Another class assignment was to photograph a subject by taking a series or collection of 8-12 photos. While driving down to Illinois, I saw this tree in the middle of a Kenosha farm. I pulled over, and I walked about 200 yards through knee-high snow. It was foggy out and snowing heavy, so the background in the photos went white. The contrast was low, similar to the final photos. I was inspired by this idea of many individual photos of a tree from a magazine a few years back -- and here is the final product.
Shot with
- Nikon D700 camera, 70-200 mm lens
- each photo was between 170-200 mm, f/8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800
Processed with
- Photoshop crop, layers, contrast
- Nik Color Efex 3.0 - Cross Processing
- Photoshop color adjustment, drop shadow
- Added a texture layer (same one used in "Frosted Trees" below)
- It took about 2 hours to assemble, process, adjust, and finalize.