Marshall Point Lighthouse (Nikon)

Shannon and I stopped at this lighthouse on our lighthouse adventure day. This seems like the obvious composition to me, but it works so well. I tried other angles, but it just doesn’t have the same visual impact as this one.

After we took our shots, we decided to film a segment on focus stacking for our photography students. We explained how to approach a scene like this, and how to get everything in focus from front to back.

If you think you want to learn about advanced techniques such as focus stacking, you may want to join us over at the Light & Landscape members area, where we are teaching photography to over 20 students right now. I don’t even want to announce the price here because its ridiculously low at half off for the first month with a money back satisfaction guarantee. If you want more details, you can contact me at d.pasillas@yahoo.com or Shannon at seespotsphoto@yahoo.com

On The Inside

Its whats on the inside that counts. The outside of this house, and the lot, both looked cool. You’d never would have guessed there was turmoil on the inside.

I checked out several vacant homes this weekend. This old doctor’s house was the most interesting. It was big and the layout was cool. For whatever reason, its just sitting in decay now. Its not even for sale. Its a shame too because the lot is awesome.

Shot with the default camera app. Edited with Snapseed and Mextures.

Eagle Lake

I’m out at Eagle Lake, just south of the Canadian border, for the 4th. Our friends have a house right on the water, so this is the view we have to put up with for a few days 😛

I shot this with the default camera app and did one small adjustment in icolorama. I mostly achieved the look I wanted in camera by having the sun just out of frame. 

Creative Struggles (Nikon)

Lately, I’ve been struggling with my photography. I’ve felt like I was doing the same thing over and over (creating pretty landscapes,) and not really getting anywhere.

When I moved to this small town in Maine, my girlfriend introduced me to a photographer friend of hers. This woman is relatively new to photography, and mainly is interested in surreal portraiture. That means she is always coming up with concepts and thinking about compositing and textures.

There was a time where I used to do composites and let my creativity run wild. Meeting this woman has helped reignite that part of me that wants to play and experiment with my photography and editing.

I created a couple of pieces yesterday. One, which I don’t love, but my girlfriend does, and this one, which I like more.

This shot is made up of a fall photo from New Hampshire from a few years back, and the bride is from a wedding I shot about 5 years ago. 5 years??? Is that really possible?

This was a simpler edit than you’d think. I made my adjustments in LR and then imported the 2 images into PS. I got the bride where I wanted, did some dodging and burning on her, and created a subtle shadow beneath her. Then, I used Topaz Impression 2 to create the painterly image. I decided I wasn’t completely satisfied with the lighting in the image, so I then used Mextures on my iPhone to totally change the atmosphere and mood. I think it came out pretty good🙂

Come On In, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

There is a 2nd house down the road that looks vacant. When I opened the screen door to look inside, there was a sign with some peeling wallpaper covering part of it. I wanted to see what it said, so I lifted the wallpaper up.

“Come on in, everything else has gone wrong”

And that summed up the vibe of this place. I walked right back out. What I did see in that room was chaos. There were old car batteries strewn about, and piles of garbage. I’d love to explore this place some more, but the musty smell and the unwelcoming vibe make me hesitant.

I find these abandoned properties in Maine to be super interesting. They’re like museums for the people that used to live there. You can try to piece together a picture of who they were, or are, by finding interesting things in each room.

If I find enough of these properties to shoot, I can definitely see myself putting together a story for Stellar. Btw, are any of you using Stellar? I haven’t really been on there since they featured a few of my stories around the new year.

Shot this with my iPhone. Edited in Snapseed, Mextures, and Stackables.

Beneath The Surface (Nikon)

My girlfriend and I recently spent several days camping in Acadia. This gave me the opportunity to revisit places I shot a few years ago, including Jordan Pond. I also explored some new areas, but this pond might be my favorite spot out there.

I took photos there one afternoon, and then we returned again the next day with our kayaks, for a fun paddle on the water.

This image spoke to me, so I wrote some more meaningful words to go along with it:

Often, we seek reflections on water. We love to see a reflection because it creates a sense of harmony. We see something we love, and find it even more amazing when there is an exact replica.

Sometimes, the water isn’t reflective at all. Beneath the surface lies a different kind of beauty. This beauty takes effort and awareness to recognize.

[I know its a bit harder to tell in the black and white version, but the majority of these rocks are under water]

Shot with a Nikon D7000. Edited in Lightroom, Photoshop, and Topaz Impression 1.

Motif No. 1

Apparently, this is a famous building that everyone shoots, or paints, out in Rockport, MA. I shot this a couple of years ago, and never quite knew what to do with the edit. I’m not a huge fan of photos taken during the middle of the day, but this one worked for me because of the clouds.

From Wikipedia:

It is a replica of a former fishing shack well known to students of art and art history as “the most often-painted building in America.”The original structure was built in 1840 and destroyed in the Blizzard of 1978, but an exact replica was constructed that same year.

I’d never sen it before, which is a good thing, because I wouldn’t want to be influenced by anything I might have seen. Honestly, there weren’t too many unique compositions for this scene, so I tried a long exposure with my 10 stop ND and then went with a painterly edit in the end.