Category: Maryland

Things you do to get the shot

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, Johns Hopkins, TipsLeave a comment

The things that you do to get that shot.

A few days ago I posted the following picture on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/markdoddphotography/) BTW, if you like my photography, be sure to like this page.

20160307-DSC_3363_AuroraHDR_HDR

Although I did like it, something was not quite right. I had taken it on my tripod at the lowest height setting I could use. After someone commented on my Facebook page that they thought the hands were too close to the edge of the photo I realized that was what was bugging me about the photo.

Since I do not have a super wide-angle lens what was I going to do. My widest lens is a 18mm-135mm and that is the lens I used for this photo and was already at the widest setting of 18mm. I thought about it for a few days and decided I’d go back and just set the camera on the floor.

So yesterday I went back, set the camera on the floor and got ready to take a few photos. I’ve done this kinda thing before with sheer guesswork and multiple attempts. Take the photo, pick up the camera, check the image and repeat until I got what I was looking for. This takes forever and there is no sure way to know if I got the shot until I picked up my camera and took a look at what I just shot. Not to mention that you had to remember where the camera was when you picked it up so you knew where to place it when making an adjustment.

My camera does not have a flip screen or wi-fi, so I had no way to view the image live. Also it is inside and my camera doesn’t have a high enough ISO to let me hand hold it and get a noiseless photo without using a flash, which would destroy the look. What else was I going to do.

Then I started thinking. I have a cell phone, it has a forward facing camera so you will see on the screen what it is pointing to. Can I use this to see what I would see through the viewfinder. Turns out the answer is yes. I placed the camera on the floor, slide my cell phone under the viewfinder so the lens is lined up with the viewfinder, and low and behold, I could see on the screen what the viewfinder was showing.

Here is the picture of the setup on the floor at the base of the statue.

20160318-P1020408

I did have to use my lens cap to prop up the right side of my camera to make it level. So if you are going to do something like this, have a few small items that are the same thickness as your cell phone just in case you need to prop one side of you camera up like I did. I lucked out in that my lens cap was the same thickness as my cell phone

Here is of one of the photos I took with this setup. I think it turned out rather well with much more space between the hands and the edge of the frame and showing much more of the dome itself.

The Statue of Jesus in the Billings Building of Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Statue of Jesus in the Billings Building of Johns Hopkins Hospital

I do have a Black and White version that is colorized like the first photo on my store page so be sure to check that one out as well.

#tips #gettheshot #Hopkins #Baltimore

 

Aurora HDR Software and Macphun

On By Mark DoddIn Fall, General Blog Post, Johns Hopkins1 Comment

Great Photo editing software from Macphun

My primary photo editor is now Aurora HDR that was developed by Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs in collaboration with Macphun. If you do HDR photography I would say this is the best program to use for that.

Macphun makes a whole series of photography apps in addition to Aurora HDR. When I’ve taken a single photo instead of the multiple brackets that you need for HDR photography I sometimes use the Macphun apps of Intensify and Noiseless CK to do select edits, but they do have an entire suite that you may like.

Check out the complete line of Macphun software. Click on their logo below to visit their site.

 

 

And don’t forget you can get 10% off any of their products using my coupon code

 

Mac Phun 10%off Coupon Code MDPDEAL

 

A recent photo edited with Aurora HDR

This is my photo of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Billings Building also know as the Dome.

I know it needed a little punch added to it so I brought it into Aurora HDR, the Macphun/StuckinCustoms application. Click the slider to compare the 2 photos of the original iPhone image and the edited image from Aurora HDR. It didn’t need much adjustment, but you see the possibilities especially in the sky.

 

#Macphun, #AuroraHDR #photoeditor #Freestuff

 

Made it through the storm

On By Mark DoddIn Carroll County, General Blog Post, Maryland, Tips, WinterLeave a comment

We survived and made it through the storm.

The weekend storm is now the largest single snowfall event on record for the Baltimore area. The only time we have had it worse was the back to back snow storms in 2010. What made it worse was that it was one right after the other, but still not the amount of snow we received this time.. Like many around us, I spent yesterday digging out for 6+ hours just to get my 100 feet of driveway clear and unbury the cars. We got lucky in that a neighbor’s son who had a plow on his truck cleared our spur of the road and another neighbor had already cleared the main private road out to the county road.

Thank goodness I bought a snow blower a few years back or I think I would still be out there and very sore instead of just a little sore and stiff. I’m still recovering from all the exercise today though with sore muscle that haven’t seen that much use in a while. Despite all the work it takes to clear it, it was a beautiful sight to see everything covered in snow there for a while.

The beauty of the snow

20160124-DSC_3252

The scene outside out house before we got to clearing the road. Yes our road is buried in there between the stake and the pine trees. Now that things are cleared and all the snow is piled up it doesn’t look so pretty.

I was hoping to get another series of photos with the snow on the trees, but by the time we got things cleared out enough the snow had fallen off the trees. It was just way to deep for me to walk in before so I wasn’t able to get the entire tree line as I’ve done in the past like I had hoped to. Also, the snow was only on the south side of the trees this time. During the storm the high winds from the north kept the snow from sticking to the north side of the trees.

A tip when taking pictures of snow

I learned over time from various web sources that when you are photographing snow you should slightly overexpose your photo. The thinking behind it make sense to me in that all the snow glare is making your sensor think it is much brighter than it actually is and thus it is setting your f-stop higher that you want it to be, an Aperture of f11 instead of f8 for example. Since the f-stop is higher it is letting is less light and as a result you will get dull looking snow instead of the crisp white snow that you see. For the above picture I over exposed my photo by 1 f-stop. It is straight out of the camera untouched.

Here is a photo I took back during the 2010 storm before I figured out this tip. And you can see how dull it looks. Granted it was cloudy in this picture but it was still very bright outside at the time.

DSC_0173 - 2010-02-06 at 14-48-03

#Storm #Snow #Snowmagedon #WinterStormJonas

First snow storm of the year is on the way…

On By Mark DoddIn Baltimore, General Blog Post, Home Page Slider Images, Johns HopkinsLeave a comment

Major Snow Storm on the way to the Mid-Atlantic

Trying out a new posting format that will include a photo header and a recent photo that I’ve taken. Figured this would be a perfect time to break out an old photo of Pine Trees in the Snow with the pending snow dump that is going to hit the Mid-Atlantic area I”m in this weekend.

I’ll admit I”m not a fan of winter, but if it is going to be cold I do like to see snow falling just as long as it doesn’t trap me at home for too long. Since I live on a private drive, the neighbors and I have to dig ourselves out and sometimes that can take all day.

I am looking forward a little to the first real snow of the season for our area. But when it is over and gone, I’ll be just fine until next winter. For now, enjoy a photo from a much warmer time this fall.

 

The Dome in the Fall

Photo of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Dome in the Fall

This is is the Johns Hopkins Hospital Dome and is the icon for the Johns Hopkins Hospital taken between some trees in the fall.

#JohnsHopkinsHospital, #JHH, #Baltimore, #Snow #Storm #Snowmagedon #WinterStoreJonas

Got published again….

On By Mark DoddIn American Kiwi Photo, Baltimore, General Blog Post, Home Page Slider Images, Maryland, Published WorksLeave a comment

Just found out today that I got published again in the Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union 2016 Calendar.

This year I have the honor of having not one but two of my pictures featured in the 2016 Calendar, one of which made the cover.

The cover photo of the 2016 JHFCU Calendar is a cropped version of one of my Baltimore Inner Harbor Panoramas. Here is the cover of the 2016 Calendar showing my photo

JHFCU 2016 Calendar with a cropped portion of my Baltimore Inner Harbor Panorama
JHFCU 2016 Calendar with a cropped portion of my Baltimore Inner Harbor Panorama

 

The other is one of my photos that I took during the Sailabration event in Baltimore and is of one of the reenactments at Fort McHenry. It is the photo used for the month of September and shown below.

Photo used in the 2016 JHU Credit Union Calendar of a reenactment at Fort McHenry during the Sailabration events in Baltimore
Photo used in the 2016 JHU Credit Union Calendar of a reenactment at Fort McHenry during the Sailabration events in Baltimore

 

As always I’m humbled to have my images selected.

At first I didn’t even notice that I made the front cover as I just assumed my images would be on one of the interior pages. I did see the photo, but didn’t look at the caption right away and thought, looks like one of my photos but I didn’t send one in this format so it could not have been mine. I had sent the Panorama version in for possible use on their website, but I have no problem with the crop they choose as it looks great. Pays to pay attention to the details and read the caption. Anyway, very happy I’m on the cover as well.

Sold a print of the Naval Academy Chapel Dome

On By Mark DoddIn Annapolis, General Blog Post, Maryland, US Naval AcademyLeave a comment

I’m always grateful to anyone who thinks one of my photos are worth purchasing and got surprised by a sale that occurred back in April.

Why I say surprised is that I had no idea as I seem to have missed the email letting me know. Got the email today of the payment transfer and was like, what? So naturally I checked to see I sold a 10.00″ x 8.00″ print of Naval Academy Chapel side Dome to a buyer from Virginia Beach, VA.

So a very belated thank you to that buyer.
large-line-item-811599

 

 

 

 

Wallops Island Rocket Launch a bust, but got to see the ISS

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, Hampstead, Maryland

Came home early tonight to see the rocket launch from Wallops Island and to see if I could get a good photo of the arch in the sky as I was within viewing range this time.

Well that was a bust due to the launch being scrubbed thanks to a sailboat being in a restricted area.

But I got a bonus as the ISS (International Space Station) was also flying overhead at around the same time.  And was able to capture part of its path across the sky.

Just in case you are wondering, the orange glow in the bottom left was a neighbors outdoor fire, the orange glow on the horizon is Baltimore City lights and the thin white line in the middle is the ISS streaking across the sky.

ISS

While I was waiting for the rocket launch was able to capture a nice sunset with the moon in 1st quarter.

Moon over Sunset

The Calendar Arrived Today and….

On By Mark DoddIn Baltimore, General Blog Post, Maryland, Published Works

I was pleasantly surprised to find the 2015 Johns Hopkins Credit Union Calendar in my mailbox today and I’ve finally found out which of my images they selected.

And the winner is.

Ships in Harbor at Night

You find it on the month of September.

Again, I am humbled that they selected one of my photos for the calendar and hope folks enjoy it and the many other excellent photos in the calendar this year.

 

Had a busy time at the Star Spangled Spectacular Event in Baltimore

On By Mark DoddIn Baltimore, General Blog Post, Home Page Slider Images, Maryland

This week has been busy here in Baltimore.  From September 10-16, Baltimore has hosted the Star Spangled Spectacular Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of our National Anthem.

Part of the event included visiting Naval ships along with various Tall ships from around the work.  Along with the Navy’s Blue Angels.

I’d say my highlight of the weekend was the Blue Angels show, it was awesome seeing them fly over Baltimore, the inner harbor area, and over Fort McHenry.

Below is a small sampling of some of the pictures I got over the weekend. Check out Americankiwiphoto.com for my favorites when I’m done processing them.

Sold a greeting card of Farming the Field

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, MarylandLeave a comment
Sold greeting card of Farming the Field
Sold greeting card of Farming the Field

Have been blessed with another sale today. This buyer selected the greeting card format of my Farming the Field print, which is one of the many formats you can purchase any of my photography prints in.

I’m assuming the person they are sending it to is a John Deer fan 🙂

Thanks to the buyer from Westerville, OH