Old Images

Image: Seattle, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 200mm @ f11, 5 sec.

Larger Image

The weather has pretty well sucked the last few weeks, so I have not been out shooting much and some times it pays to stay home on those rainy days and go back over old image files, this one I took in Feb 2009 and didn't do anything with it, however I decided to process it this time and turns out it makes a great print, some times you can go back and re process old images with new software and it can make quite a difference, maybe you have learned some new tricks or got some new software, try it, it may pay off.

Ross Murphy Images in Light

Selective Focus - Blur tool

Image: Seattle docks, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L
Larger Image

This image was shot normally and then the out of focus area was added with CS4, using a gradient mask and the blur filter, this can also be accomplished in camera with tilt shift lenses.
These are fun images to put together and give the impression of models or dioramas.
Simply create a new back ground layer, add the filter>blur>lens blur
edit in quick mask mode and choose the gradient tool of your liking
finally bump up your curves to soften the edge contrast.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

WWII over Mukilteo this summer

Image: P-51B, 5D MkII, 16-35 f2.8 L at 16mm

The Historic Flight museum opened the other day at Pain field and the flights they will have this summer with Paul Allens group The Flying Heritage Collection will be a feast for the senses for WWII vintage plane fanatics, P-51's, Spitfires and B-25 bombers will be flying out of Paine Field on a regular schedule, it will offer up some great opportunities to capture some very unique images and be next to these historic aircraft. Paine Field is becoming a world renown location to see these aircraft. Also the opportunity to see new build Me 262's from Storm Birds, that is a sight to see. More on Paine Field flight attractions. Museum of flight restoration center

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Flash Photography

Image:Lake Louise, 5D, 17-40 f4 L., 3 stop GND filter and B + W CPL.

Larger Image

I came across a great site for learning about flash photography, its mostly for Canon, however I think any one could learn quite a bit from this site. Speedlite.com

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Implied Motion

Image: Rush Hour, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 85mm, f9 for 13 sec.

Larger Image

Seattle from the south, this 13 sec. exposure allowed the car lights to streak, giving this image a feeling of motion or activity, a nice change from very static images. Some times you can benefit from longer shutter speeds. Single exposure, no filters used.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

747-8 First Flight

Image:5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L at f5.6, 1/1250 sec
Larger Image

Image:5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L at f5.6, 1/1600 sec.
Larger Image

Image:5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L at f5.6, 1/1000 sec.
Larger Image

First flight, on final with T-33 chase plane escort. So why f 5.6, I wanted a pretty fast shutter speed, because I was hand holding on a fast moving subject and I knew at this distance f5.6 with the 70-200 would give me the depth of field I required to get the aircraft in focus.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

747-8 High Speed Taxi Test

Images: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L

The 747-8 Freighter made its debut high speed taxi test this week end, look for first flight Monday the 8th, this is what I have been working on for the last 4 years and I'm looking forward to seeing her fly. Boeing still knows how to design and build pretty cool aircraft.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

CS4 Color range selection

Image: Snake River, 5D, 70-200 f2.8 IS L, 3 stop soft GND, B + W CPL.
Larger Image

A very handy tool in CS4 is the color range selection for selecting large areas by color, this can be used to selectively lighten, darken, adjust color or sharpen by selecting a color. From the menu 'select > color range' in the dialog box adjust 'fuzziness' to desired level, (watch the preview) around 20-60 will work, then select the '+ eyedropper' to add more of the color range to be adjusted, say OK and select the adjustment layer from the pallets menu, ie. levels, color balance, etc... and adjust your image. In the above image this allowed me to adjust just the yellow in the trees to the levels I needed. Nice little trick and well worth trying.

Same in this image.

Larger Image

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Take advantage of Puddles :)

Image: 5D Mk II, 24-105 f4 IS L, 45mm, f16, 20 sec 2 stop soft GND.

Larger Image

Take advantage of element's that can add to your image, here a simple puddle after a rain storm gave me the opportunity to add foreground interest to this image of Seattle, I took a few images and the one with the planks leading into the puddle proved to add a little more than just the reflection on its own. Simple little things can mean a great deal to an image. B and W conversion done in Lightroom and CS4.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

The Rule of Thirds

Image 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L II, 30mm at f 16, 1/4 sec, 3 stop GND soft

Larger Image

Although I don't really try to hard to work with the so called Rule of Thirds it does work. When an image can be divided in to 9 separate portions of equal (or close) size by 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines and placing points of interest at the intersections it meets a certain balance that is more pleasing the eye, if any one took art in school maybe you will remember this. But it is one more thing to think about when composing an image, I have found composition to be easier for me when I set up my equipment and do a quick composure through the viewfinder and then use live view to make adjustments, that 3 inch screen is a lot easier to see than the peep hole of a viewfinder. Only a few images work where the point of interest is centered in the image, most of the time you want the primary subject off center.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Pre Dawn Light

Image: Bandon Beach, 5D Mk II, 70-200 F4 IS L.

Larger Image

Early morning just prior to sunrise, totally overcast sky's, no filters, 2 sec at f16, slight adjustment to white balance from 6250 to 5250, who says you can't shoot in bad light, live view was used to expose and focus.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Back Light

Image:5D Mk II 24-105 f4 IS L, 3 stop GND soft, 93mm @ f16, 1/50 sec

Larger Image

Back light can kill an image or make for a strong composition depending on how it is used, here the light was so strong I needed to reduce it far beyond a filters capability, so I walked towards this sea stack at Bandon beach until I was standing in the apex of its shadow and composed an image that included the shadow of the sea stack.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Happy Holidays

Image: Westlake Center , 5D MkII, 16-35 f2.8 L II

Happy Holidays

Ross Murphy Images In Light

787 high speed taxi test

Image: 787 No. 1, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS , ISO 400 1/2500 sec at f5.6

Larger Image

Big week coming up here in Boeing land, the 787 should be in the air on Dec 15th at 10am, high speed taxi tests where performed over the last few days in preparation.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Night Photography

Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L II, 16mm @ f11 for 3 sec, CPL filter.

Larger Image

Shooting at night or just before dark can be rewarding when looking for a new perspective on an often photographed subject, the Seattle Center Pergola is a place I have been wanting to shoot for a while and I must admit I found it hard to find a position where I could come up with something original, I am sure its been shot from this perspective before, maybe not with this light and this type of cloud. The 16-35 f2.8 allowed me to get the wide feel I wanted for the image I had thought about before hand and the light and cloud worked pretty well to allow me to come away with a few images I like. See more at my web site.

Ross Murphy Images In Light