Photolog

My random life, infront of the lens.

scarred land....

burnt tree

this was shot on a short vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. i took a trip out there with my girlfriend for the 4th of July in 2012. this was out by Jewel Cave.

i shot SO MANY photos out there and i am just now finally getting around to taking a peek at some. pretty sure i over shot. this was back when i was on my HDR kick and everything was bracketed. this is not and HDR shot, just a single exposure.

shot at F22 1/8th of a second ISO 250 using my Sigma 17-35mm lens.

first snowfall... part 4

falls pano

now for my final post on the first snowfall at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD.

the whole shebang.... this is a panorama of the whole park, with our city's skyline in the background.

Jon

@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram

first snowfall... part 3

falls winter 4

this is the waterfall in the background of the previous post. nothing exciting happened during the capture of this image. it was a pretty straight forward shot. i wish i had a good story to go along with the shot, but i don't. it was just pretty.

Jon

@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram

first snowfall... part 2

falls winter 2

here is my second shot from my snow day at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD. this one is a little more mellow. this one is using the same Cokin filter system that i used in the first shot and i had to get a little wet for this one... not by choice.

as i was setting up for this shot i realized a low angle would be the most dramatic, and i would be able to capture the waterfall in the background as well. unfortunately i was in a bit of a hurry, you see it was friggin cold outside! being next to the water falls when it was only about 25 degrees out really made it hard to stay too long. as i was setting up this shot i stood up to move around and get warm and my foot slipped. i almost went butt first into that stream you see rushing by. in the process i managed to bump my tripod and watched in horror as it slid off the rock it was so precariously sitting on. both hands in the water and not being faster than the effects of gravity i watched my camera slide back and land. i was lucky enough to watch it land with the handle of the tripod pointing down and my camera about 2 inches above the rocks and water. so lucky.

i took a few more minuets and set the shot back up and made sure to pay attention to every movement i did. i managed to get a couple decent shots and moved to the next image i wanted to capture.

i have included the non cropped version and one for the Facebook cover photo.if you enjoy the image feel free to use the cover photo provided. please leve comments and share the posts as well if you wish.

falls winter 3

Facebook cover photo:

falls winter 2 cover

Jon

@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram

first snowfall....

falls winter

this week i plan on sharing some photos that were shot on Sunday morning. we were getting our first real snowfall of the season and i decided to take a walk around our famous Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD. i recently purchased a Cokin filter kit, and was extremely impressed with how easy it is to use.

all of these shots are with my Sigma 17-35mm and the Cokin filter kit. i was using the ND filters 8 and 4 to get some long exposure shots of the water. as you can see there is only a light snowfall. it gives a beautiful clean look to the shots.

i will also include a shot that is cropped, and can be used for a Facebook cover photo. if you enjoy the shot you are more than welcome to use the cover photo.

falls winter cover

jon

@thejonseaton - twitter @jonseaton - instagram

city lights....

and here is the view from my hotel. this was a pain to shoot due the the fact i did not have a tripod. this was a 15 second exposure, handheld, with my fisheye lens. i literally had to push the lens against the window and just hold it.

the more i bumped up the ISO and took shorter shots, the more gunk on the window would show up. so an ISO 100 at 15 seconds was about the only way i could get the shot and the light trails helped too.

thanks again for looking.

@jonseaton-instagram @thejonseaton-twitter

45/52...

so this week my work sent me to Orlando, FL. no vacation allowed, because i was too busy. i still bring my camera to see what i can capture in the few moments i have. in this case... it was a nap at the Atlanta Airport. i have 2 more photos i will be posting this week from my work trip. nothing too special, but they were all i could get as i was traveling and working the entire time. hopefully on the next trip i will have a few more minuets to try a couple more shots.

as always thanks for looking and post comments for anything you might like to see in the future. i am open to all ideas.

Jon

@jonseaton - instagram @thejonseaton - twitter

41/52...

here is a panorama i shot this week while i was in Jacksonville, Florida for work. it turned out surprisingly well due to the fact that when it was shot i was slightly inebriated, and had no tripod with me. this was had held with my canon 28-135 at F3.5 and ISO 3200!!!

i think i got lucky on this one.

Jon

@jonseaton -instagram @thejonseaton -twitter.

single file please...

here is a shot i did on the same day as 40/52...

literally a short walk on my local bike path, led to many beautiful photos. this one is not HDR, the wind was too high for me to get a decent bracketed exposure. so i shot to the left and really underexposed the sky. the sun was shining directly on the trees so that helped a ton. all post was done with lightroom. i added a graduated filter to the bottom to lighten it up a bit, and boosted the vibrancy and saturation a little. probably one of the most simple photos i have taken in a while, but it turned out amazing.

thanks again for reading.

jon

@jonseaton-instagram @thejonseaton-twitter

39/52...

oh man, how i love HDR. i am still very addicted to HDR, and my fisheye lens. for some reason i just love the perspective that it is capable of delivering.

jon

instagram-@jonseaton twitter-@thejonseaton

36/52...

i decided to play with the Brenizer method again today. i used this bench under a bridge in Sioux Falls to create a pretty neat panorama.

i also shot one from a little different perspective.

35/52...

this is my first attempt at the Brenizer method. this method consists of stitching multiple photos together to achieve a focal length and aperture that can not be matched by most lenses.

this photo of my son is comprised of 70 photos all shot with my 50mm f1.8 on a canon 50D. i used photoshop to stitch them together and crop the image down. this is about 55 photos worth cropped and re-sized.

due to the cropped sensor i am using an effective focal length of 80mm at f1.8 each image was re sized to 1500x1000 before stitching. after i finishes the image is 6674x4333 with and effective focal length of 18.125mm at f.41. that is super impressive depth of field, and due to all the images being hi res the final image has TONS of detail.

you can google the Brenizer method to see plenty of tutorials, and the calculator i used to figure the effective focal length and aperture. i have a feeling i will be using this method more in the future for some of my still life photography. it takes some extra time, but the finished product is well worth it.

jon

34/52...

shutter speed: 30 sec aperture: f2.8 ISO: 6400 focal length: 17mm

decided to revisit an old spot. this spot has been featured on my blog twice. i took my first panorama photo here, and my first star shot. the star shot was the most memorable. i have included the link to both posts below.

i went back because the last time i was here was October of 2011, since then i have gotten a WAY better camera, and have learned a ton of new tricks to composition and editing. thankfully my camera has a bit higher ISO speed, granted its not as nice as i wish but it does the job. this will be a favorite spot of mine for a long time. its in the middle of nowhere and super peaceful.... well except that one night... read Stars to see what i'm talking about.

Stars: http://jonseaton.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/stars/

country evening: http://jonseaton.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/country-evening/

33/52...

this week i did some shots of my son doing some "light painting". i have a few friends that do Poi, and my son has always loved watching them spin fire, and LED lights. a few months ago i found this toy at a local store, and purchased it for my son. after it being neglected for a while we took it out the other night and snapped a few pictures. i will be posting some of the other pics from that night in a few days. the big boys were plating with fire.

the best part of the whole night was the adults giving my son high 5s and genuinely being stoked on my son spinning. the smile on my sons face was priceless. I'm sure there will be some new LED toys coming soon.

Jon

@jonseaton - instaram @thejonseaton - twitter

30/52...

I was walking around down town Sioux Falls, for the Hot Summer Nights event: which is a bunch of corvettes, and music, and all around good fun. i came across this guy, doing some street performances. basic stuff like juggling, and just making an ass out of himself, very entertaining. turns out he was helping to raise funds for the restoration of an old theater in our town. its the State Theater in Sioux Falls, SD. http://siouxfallsstatetheatre.org/

if you have time, check out the website i provided, or swing down and look at the building. they are about 1/3rd the way through the renovation. but they are in need of substantial help. they still need close to 2 million in private donations. the city is not willing to help with the restoration of a historic building.i would love to take my son to some movies in this place, the same place my mother and family went when they were kids. its a beautiful building, and when its done it will be an amazing attraction. if you are able to help n any way that would be awesome! if not, no big deal. they will get it done, it will just take more time.

so if you're down to help a good cause, hit them up.

jon

@thejonseaton-twitter @jonseaton-instagram