Daniel Ruf

Ramblings

"Be open to the amazing changes which are occuring in the field that interests you." 

Leigh Steinberg

Finally, several days of calm winds and beautiful morning clouds has given many opportunities for morning and evening photo excersions in the Northwest Iowa region.  With so many flowers and landscapes to capture the time has been full and exciting.   It's also given me the opportunity to work more with Photomatix Pro HDR software so that I can become more proficient with its tools.

The above blog image is from a 5 frame image captured with my Nikon D300s and then processed in Photomatix.  This was a subject that changed throughout the time I was standing on the shore as the clouds built in size and definition from a very few whisps to what is in this image.  A few more subtle changes were made in Nik Color Efex Pro and Viveza to help lighten certain areas and darken others.  I especially like the "brush" tool which allows for specific placement of an adjustment by use of the Photoshp CS5 brush tool.  In this case I was able to bring the boat out of the shadows by using the "reflector" tool.

What a blessing it is to have these moments with scenes of natural beauty around us.  As much as I love the art of photography I'm often reminded of what a great excuse it provides to just take those deep cleansing breaths.

Thank you for stopping by this site.

Sic 'em Bears!

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

Hitting The Steet

"Most Photographers would feel a certain sense of embarrassment in admitting publicly that within them they carried a certain sense of wonder, yet without it they would not produce the work they do, whatever their particular field."   Bill Brandt

A couple of weeks ago our town put on the "Cruise - In" event where people that restore or "soup up" cars have the opportunity to display their talents.  About three blocks of Hill Avenue pavement is lined with some of the most incredible car art than one could imagine with "oldies" background music and food to make it all the more special.  The blog image is a result of an hours worth of shooting (not nearly enough), but I had to work at the gallery and my time was limited.

Ideal background for each car is limited to store front type scenes, but this car, which belongs to a neighbor, was in such a nice setting that it was a must to get a capture. The capture is 5 frames meant for HDR processing in Photomatix and was made with my Nikon 300s.  I had to do additional blurring in Photoshop CS5 to minimized the background signage as well as add a Fly Paper texture to give a more antique look to the scene.  The process of painting out the aforementioned additions from the car was the final process.

This event has always been a great opportunity to make a hard turn from the direction of my usual work and usually results in a few "eye poppers" intertwined among the landscapes and still life work that I normally persue.  A little spice is always nice!

Sic 'em Bears!

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

Grab Shot

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."   Vincent Van Gogh

As there was little time before or after the art in the park mentioned in the previous blog post I did come upon this classic scene in Northeast Iowa that caught my attention.  The black ribbon of hiway skirting a rural church was made all the more beautiful by the spots of sunlight crossing the landscape.  To me it really doesn't get much better than an afternoon with a scene like this. 

Captured with my Nikon D300s and processed with Photomatix Pro, I did a little more "primping" in Nik Viveza followed by their Color Efex Pro.  I hadn't used Photomatix for sometime since Nik brought out their HDR program, but I'm finding new uses for the newest version of Photomatix as I feel it preserves the colors of the natural landscape much better than before.  This doesn't mean that the Nik product is inferior, but, in this case I think that the rendition of the scene is more closer to my perception of the time.

Revisiting other software haunts proved to me that certain digital tools may not always answer all needs, just as a particular lens may not be the answer for all subjects.  Reading the blogs of such celebrated artists as John Barclay and Tony Sweet has been helpful in learning the importance of flexibility in tool usage.

There are many summer days ahead...enjoy them all!

Sic 'em Bears!

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

The Others

"The one phrase you can use is that success has a thousand fathers, and failure is an orphan.

Alan Price

I've noted before on this blog site my gratitude for those that have played a part in my growth in the photographic art, whether artist, teacher or friend and the blog image is no exception.  As many of you know I'm a follower of the work and teachings of Tony Sweet and Susan Milestone, Tony's partner.  Their expertise, as well as that of many others listed in the upper right column of this blog, have been instrumental in my growth as well as the growth of many other photographers.

The concept for this particular image came from one of Tony's instructional DVD's "Flower Photography Artistry" that is available for purchase on his website. The image here is a combination of a flower in front of one of my prints from a while back.  The print was of a field of yellow coneflowers and had been blurred in Photoshop Elements as a creative measure.

After fighting the wind on several days in the attempt to capture some images of tulips around our house I decided that indoors shooting was going to be the answer.  Our tulip beds are new and therefore don't offer a lot of background color due to the sparse populations (this will be improved over the next few years with more plantings).  I had wanted to use the background print on several occasions and this became the appropriate time to experiment.

In this case the distance of the tulip from the background is probably double the distance of the tulip from the camera and the setup is catching soft ambient light from a window to the right.  As many of you know I really enjoy doing still life photography in natural light since it is such an exceptional light full of color and softness.

Since I was working with a recently purchased used Nikon D300s I also practice the use of the overlay program which is a fabulous in camera tool that I have high hopes for as well as other camera adjustments that come with this camera.  My thanks again to Tony for his advice and guidence in this selection.

While we all are affected in some way by those that pass through our lives it is often forgotten the role, however incidental, these wonderful "exclamation points" play in ones development.  To all those in the right hand column, as well as many others, a big thank you.

Sic 'em Bears!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy this beautiful Spring.

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u