Author Archives: bobshank

Before and After

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Adobe Lightroom 2 is some awesome software! It catalogs my photographs, tracks keywords, and allows me to sort through or find the exact photo I am looking for with just a few clicks or filter parameters. The Library Module alone is worth the price of  this photo software. Frankly I believe there is no easier cataloging software on the market than Lightroom.

Now enter the Develop Module. With the upgrade to 2.x, Lightroom jumped leap years ahead because now localized editing is now possible. The paintbrush and graduated density filter are just two tools that take advantage of local edits. In just a little time the user can be correcting white balance, adjusting the exposure, and cropping to a pleasing ratio. It is amazing!

Take a look at these two photos. The first one was right out of the camera as it was imported into Lightroom. The second photo was after just a few quick edits. What do you think? Doesn’t Lightroom rock?

Getting Ready for a New Season

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The weather is starting to show signs of breaking and spring is just around the corner, but there is still time to make all the preparations for a new photography season.

Baseball season is about ready to begin and I can’t wait! There is hardly anything I like more than trying to capture the action on the baseball diamond. So I am making preparations for the new season so that when it begins I will be ready.

First of all, I purchased the MB-D10 Multi-Power Battery Grip for my Nikon D300. This will allow to shoot at a whopping 8 frames per second, which will surely let me capture much more of the action on each play!

Second, I purchased a new desktop computer to make editing and preparing photos for printing much easier. It will also allow me to make use of my storage system to catalog and backup all my photos.

Third, I am already watching some spring training games on tv to help me anticipate where the best photographs might be found during a game.

Similar preparations can be made for any style of photography. So, what are you waiting for? Start getting ready because a new season is coming soon!

Is a computer considered photography equipment?

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I readily admit that I am a computer geek. I took a Fortran computer language class at Temple University, back in the days when we still used punch cards! My laptop often has a large number of programs running in the task bar and my browser typically has far too many tabs open. Yeah, I like computers.

However, I would rather spend my hard-earned money on more photography equipment than on a computer! But reality has set in and I know I need a new pc. I recently purchased a Drobo and my current desktop is unable to run the Drobo–it’s just too old. My wife is reluctant to let me share her desktop pc, worrying that I will hog it much of the time and cut out too much of her surfing and pc game time! Hmmm, I guess I do have to spring for a new pc of my own.

I spent some time tonight configuring some pc arrangements. I am planning to use the new pc almost exclusively for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. I want 3-4GB of RAM and a fast processor. Not much need for any other software at the moment. Oh, yeah, and I want Windows 7.0.

Do you think of your computer as photography equipment?

Pushing the Envelope

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How do you rate your camera and photographic experience? Are you one who believes that you know pretty much all there is to know about exposure, composition, and all things photography? Or are you one who admits he doesn’t know it all?

Too many people in many lines of life are content–too content. They get the job done in a predictable and even reliable manner. However, there is never room for creativity or something new in how they perform a task. It’s the same old thing day after day after day.

I hope this does not describe your photography endeavors

I actually enjoy learning new things all the time and the photographic world these days is more than ripe for learning new things all the time! To get better we have to try new things. Push the envelope a little and you will not only see if something new will work but you will also learn something new. I believe this principle is true in most of life.

So, do you know everything about lighting a subject? Do you know enough about your favorite subjects to photograph? Are you proficient in your workflow and post processing software? Well then, push the envelope!

Just Returned from a Great Trip!

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We are just back from our PA Elk Photo Experience and we had a great time! There was lots and lots of snow, but we also saw lots and lots of elk! In fact, in the first two days we saw over 100 elk on both days! It was fantastic!

We arrived on the elk range last Wednesday, snowplowed the driveway into our camp, and unloaded my truck. Then we went out looking for elk. It didn’t take long before we saw a large herd of elk, mostly cows and a few spikes. On Thursday, late in the afternoon, we saw 5 very nice bulls, which allowed  us to photograph them for about 45 minutes before they moved on. They were feeding on pine trees and put on quite a show while we kept pressing the shutter release button!

I posted a few photos from our trip here below and will upload a slide show onto my website later tonight.

Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience

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Just today a newspaper article in The Morning Call featured our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience. You can read the article here. This article includes some photographs of the elk taken by my colleague and friend, Dick McCreight.

We enjoy leading these photography experiences and always enjoy being out with our cameras and teaching. There is still time to sign up so consider joining us on an upcoming trip. You can find more information here.

York Barbell Weights and Bench

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One of my numerous hobbies is weightlifting. For me it all started back in high school when I was skinny as a rail and was playing football. The football field is no place for a skinny kid, so I started weightlifting to build some muscle and bulk. My parents taught me well and I was never tempted to do drugs. The weight room was where I learned how to lift weights properly and how to make steady progress only through hard work. The weight room I was privileged to work out in was in the basement of a good friend and it was a venerable playroom with free weights and machines galore! York Barbell was the equipment of choice and it didn’t hurt that we only lived about a half hour from York, PA where York Barbell was located.

Now, many years and pounds later, I am trying to recreate a York gym that is filled with the York weights and equipment. My home gym is kind of a working museum where many old memories are recalled as I lift the old weights to keep me in shape today.

Yesterday I was privileged to acquire a beautiful York weight set and bench. Here are a few photos that I took of them.

Birding

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I readily admit that I am not much of a birder. Until a few years ago I photographed mammals and large mammals at that. This began to change about three years ago when I first visited Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. I began to photograph the big birds and enjoyed this location very much.

I slowly learned how to identify the bigger birds and even picked up a “Pocket Naturalist Guide” to help me in this endeavor. I learned the subtle differences between the Great Egret and the Snowy Egret. Slowly but surely I was learning more and more about birds.

This week I returned to Chincoteague. The trip began like many previous ones–photographing a few Great Blue Herons, a Great Egret, and several ducks. I even learned to distinguish the differences between the Mallard and the Northern Shoveler.

Then something unusual and exciting happened–I spotted an unusual and interesting bird that I had never seen before. It behaved in an unusual manner as it pointed its head to the sky and moved in a strange gyration that resembled the weeds blowing in the wind. I took a few photos and it was gone.

Later in the day I happened upon this bird again. Two men approached me and asked what I had seen. I tried to describe this particular bird and then showed them an image of it from my camera’s LCD screen. They excited and enthusiastically informed me that I had spotted an American Bittern! We found this bird again and took some more photographs.

I still am not much of a birder. I know, for example, that without the help of these two nice men I would have had a hard time identifying this bird. I might still not known what I had seen. But I am learning and growing to like birds more and more.

Here are a few images of the American Bittern I saw this week.

Chincoteague

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Over the past two days I have been in Chincoteague Virginia photographing wildlife at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. This is my third trip in three years to this excellent location and it has quickly become one of my favorite stomping grounds. It was cold yesterday. Today is warmer but there is ice everywhere and some snow on the ground in spots.

Today I was fortunate enough to see several of the endangered Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrels. I actually saw seven of them. Here are two photographs that I was privileged to capture this afternoon.