Mabry Mill, 630nm IR
I just added about 15 Grist Mill GPS database entries into the Grist Mill GPX file that you can download in the DOWNLOADS menu on the right hand menu! I added Ohio and Kentucky! Please feel free to download this file and then using your GPS software you can download it again into your car’s GPS!
If you have any additions to this file please send them along!
Thanks!
Mattamuskeet Light, B&W Conversion
Wow, talk about a loaded topic! I have ALWAYS preferred B&W over color, but until recently the public voted with their dollars for color over B&W about 3 to 1. Along came Infrared and the trend totally reversed! So I find myself looking at B&W conversions of my color images each and every time I sit down in front of the computer! This is especially true in Infrared also.
What this means is that as I post process my color images I also do a B&W version just to be sure…
After doing my RAW conversion and basic cropping for my master image library size I use the Nik filters in the following way…
That’s all there is to my workflow from the color world. Infrared is much different and you can read great volumes about it on my IR blog at:
OK, here are some color/B&W comparisons for you to ponder over…
Capt James, Very Moody & interesting image
But, check out how the B&W version draws you into the image and smacks you around a little! Both images are good but the B&W works better for me!
Emotionally Charged, Moody... Perfect!
B&W - Down & Out, Moody, Nice but a little plain don't you think?
But the Color image is something else!
The Color version tells more of a story and works better!
As you can see, I like the Color version much better. This goes to prove that you never know which is going to work out the best so you should process for both each and every time!
Shrimp Boats & Crab Pots!
I know, it really was an Infrared workshop given in the Swan Quarter area of North Carolina! BUT, (really big but!) I wanted to capture these shrimpers in color. The lighting was perfect, the clouds were moody and there were literally hundreds of the boats in port in both Swan Quarter and Englehard. It was a dream come true!
Joane B. - Englehard, NC
Just look at these colors! This first image was taken in Swan Quarter. The fleet infrastructure was dismal and beyond poor condition. Some (most) docks were physically crumbled but yet still had boats tied up!
The difference between Swan Quarter and Englehard was simply amazing! Englehard was well maintained and full of boats. Everything was sparkling (well, as much as a fleet of shrimpers can be!)
And yes, I did shoot in Infrared as well but will post those images on the IR Blog at infraredatelier.wordpress.com.
Ok, and now for some of my favorite shrimp boats of the weekend. All were shot with the 7D switching off between the 24-70L f/2.8 and the 17-40L f/4 lenses!
Wonder Woman, Englehard, NC
Swan Quarter Fleet
Mary Elizabeth, Englehard, NC B&W
I did mention B&W shrimp boat images didn’t I? Sometimes, B&W images can be so stunning that they can take your breath away. They pack and incredible emotional punch that can grab the viewer by the throat and scream “Look At Me!”
Swan Quarter Fleet, B&W
Mary Elizabeth, Englehard, NC
All images were processed in Adobe CS5 using the Nik Filter set.
Rainbow Umbrella
Balancing Act
Christmas Tree Lights
Water Drop photography is both fun and challenging! It is in the world of MACRO where focus and Depth Of Field are things that are seriously difficult to obtain! I do these on the table in my studio under very controlled conditions. Feel free to stop by and watch sometime!
Infrared Photography has had a life changing effect on my photography. It has caused my creative juices to be re-charged! I cannot get enough of it and to that end I find that I take hundreds of Infrared images to each single color image! I find Infrared Photography to be emotionally charged in a way that takes my breath away! I hope that you agree!
On a recent trip to Greece I visited the Temple Of Poseidon where the sky and storms work to my advantage to produce this moody image!
Temple Of Poseidon, Faux Color Infrared
The Temple Of Poseidon, B&W Infrared
An image from Brookgreen Gardens. Sometimes the unprocessed image straight out of the camera can be be very stunning and full of emotional impact!
Brookgreen Gardens Reflection, Unprocessed Infrared
A garden gate in Brookgreen Gardens, Faux Color Processed!
Brookgreen Gardens Gate, Faux Color Infrared
Shrimp Boats in Georgetown, SC, Faux Color Infrared. I like the Yellows and Pinks in this one!
Carson Elizabeth In Georgetown, SC, Faux Color Infrared
This B&W image of the wheel house and bell of a shrimper is one of my favorite Infrared images of all time!
The Wheel House Bell, B&W Infrared
I am very passionate about my Infrared Photography and tend to take 100 Infrared images to each color image! I have several WEB sites dedicated to Infrared Photography but my best one is listed below!
For a more detailed discussion of my infrared work please visit my Infrared BLOG
How could something as simple as falling water drops be so interesting and thought provoking? These image are an example of art that must be felt to be experienced. There is no explanation that could possibly do them any justice at all! They are DIFFICULT to create but very fun. They will challenge even the best photographers in the world so I will not even try to explain the technical aspects of creating them, rather I invite you to experience them…
Alien Encounter
In The Spot Light
Help, I Am Falling Down....
It Was A Dark And Stormy Night....
Something Went BANG In The Night!
A Hole In My Soul
Alice's Mushroom
Well, what did YOU think? They are very interesting and thought provoking, but show a secret part of life that we rarely have the chance to experience!
I am getting old and definitely tired.
I shoot Canon gear and always have. I always purchase 1D bodies and currently have the 1DMK3. For lenses I only use L glass. I have been a photographer for 48 years and am retired from Eastman Kodak. I have a lifetime of photographic experience.
That being said I must tell you that except for my hummingbird shots in Sept and Oct (on the tripod only) that I have not used my Canon equipment since June 2009.
On June 9, 2009 I went into the hospital to have severe spinal damage fixed in my neck that had taken the use of my arms in less than 30 days. I was only to be there for 4 days. 53 days later (25 in ICU on a ventilator) I came home with a breathing tube in my neck and a feeding tube in my stomach because everything in my neck was paralyzed and I could not swallow water or food for another 6 months. In 2010 both tubes were removed when I started to swallow again and I started thinking about photography again. I lost 50% use of both hands and 80% of my neck motion due to 3 levels of cadaver bones and 5 levels of steel cage.
I could NOT even hold the Canon body let alone a 400mm prime! So what I did was to buy an Olympus E-P1. I was amazed by the quality from this little camera that I COULD carry so I started buying lenses. One thing led to another and along came a E-PL1 so the E-P1 was turned into Infrared and I was so happy with it that I started my IR blog (below). So (OK, I told you that IR was an addiction!)within a week of having the L1 that I had it converted to full spectrum IR! Eventually I missed the ability to use a remote shutter release (water drops and lightning trigger) so I got an E-P2 which I am going to LEAVE color!
The only thing that I miss is the Canon L glass which is superior in ALL WAYS to the Olympus micro 4/3 glass except that it is HEAVY. But even this would not make me give up my Olympus system! I might never be able to fully use my Canon equipment again but I am happy enough with the PEN that I do not obsess over it any more! Understand, the PEN is a compromise system which does have good quality glass (which is all important) and the quality it produces places my images almost on equal footing with my past works with my Canon. My normal print size is 22×32 canvas prints which the PEN’s produce brilliantly!
Well, you ask yourself, what in the world does this have with Fine Art Photography? Simple…. Smaller Lighter ultra high quality Infrared camera systems mean that I HAVE THEM WITH ME 100% OF THE TIME! I am taking more images, better images more often! This had lead to a rejuvenation of my artistic juices! I am re-born artistically…
"The Wheel House Bell" B&W Infrared
"The Nets" Faux Color Infrared
"Carolina Trunk" Faux Color Infrared
"The Boots" B&W Infrared
"A Gathering Of Egrets" Faux Color Infrared Image
"Hagood Mill" Faux Color Infrared, Pickins, SC
"Pawleys Pier In Hurrican Hanna" Faux Color Infrared Image
Welcome Mark Hilliard’s Fine Art Nature Photography Blog! Here I will showcase my favorite work with explanations of how each image was created. I hope that you enjoy these images as much as I did in making them!
September & October here in the Low Country of South Carolina is the time that we see the greatest Hummingbird activity as they migrate to Central America. So I thought that I would post a few of my best Hummingbird images! Here is a LINK to my hummingbird blog, please consider giving it a visit to find out how I actually take these ultra high speed images of these little birds!
This first image is of a Violet Sabre-winged Hummingbird going after an ant on the mushroom while a Red-eyed Tree Frog watches. The image was taken in the cloud forests in Monteverdi in Costa Rica.
Violet Sabre-winged Hummingbird & Red-eyed Tree Frog
Next, is an image of an immature Ruby-throated male Hummingbird trying to feed in my back yard and chasing away the Yellow Jacket! These little birds are afraid of nothing (which can be their downfall).
Bee Gone!
Lastly, a mature male again taken in my back yard!
Adult Male Ruby-thrated Hummingbird
I hope that you have enjoyed these images. Hummingbirds are my FAVORITE bird subject in the whole world! I spend a lot of time and energy setting up for this and love every second of it!
Adult Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Mark Hilliard Atelier's Blog 