Continuing in the informational vein of my recent posts here on the blog I thought a very interesting and helpful way to explain my photography technique would be to post and share the settings and backstory of some of the images that I've taken....so here it goes!

"Reflections"

Aperture f/2 | Shutter speed 1/1600 sec. | ISO 200 | Focal length 50mm

This photo was taken on a sunny morning in May in the pasture our recently fresh cows use. There is a large puddle in the field that these two were enjoying. I was having fun taking backlit photos into the morning sun when I suddenly thought to look for reflections. I was patient to get a shot in which both girls had nice head carriage and were standing relatively still to avoid ripples in the water breaking up their reflections. I thought the cows grazing in the background added nice depth and dimension to the composition. This is one of my all time favorite images. I have a metal print of it hanging on my wall! 

"Watching the Tide Roll In"

Aperture f/20 | Shutter speed 30 sec. | ISO 200 | Focal length 35mm

This photo is another of my personal favorites. It was taken on a vacation taken to the Porcupine Mountains in the UP (Michigan upper peninsula). This image is of the shoreline of Lake Superior. I love the serenity and peace that this image portrays...like you can almost faintly hear the waves. Fortunately, the swarms of mosquitos that were eating me up are not evident. This photo was taken with my camera on a tripod (necessary when using a slow shutter speed like one half minute). I also used a remote shutter release to further protect against camera shake. The slow shutter speed resulted in the blurred "silky" waves you see in the photo, a technique I have always wanted to try. To obtain this exposure directly out of camera  I used a graduated neutral density filter to darken the sky.

"Farm Boy"

Aperture: f/2.8 | Shutter speed 1/640 sec.| ISO 500 | Focal length 190mm

This photo of my youngest brother Ryan is another one of my favorites. The beautiful blurred background is a result of using a low aperture (f/2.8) combined with a long focal length. I love the separation of subject and background in this shot. I used a fairly fast shutter speed because I was dealing with an animal and a lens with a longer focal length. Ryan and I experimented with a couple shots to see what the best position for the calf was, edging her a little forward on his shoulders and waiting for her to check Ryan out and turn her head back towards him. It was overcast day so I bumped my ISO up a bit for more light sensitivity.