Vintage Planes in Prescott 7 June 2020

Canon graciously sponsored a shoot with vintage airplanes and models with Explorer of Light Bruce Dorn.   A few years ago, I took a class with Bruce photographing models in Oak Creek Canyon.  He has a cinematography background from Hollywood and is a treat to work with.

We had a few hours to capture images of vintage World War Two planes with models!

I captured images with a Canon EOS R and Tamron 15-30mm wide angle.   Post processing with Lightroom and Luminar 4 (quickly becoming my go-to Lightroom plugin!).   

I bought the Tamron wide angle based on reviews and how nice it would work with astrophotography and real estate.   But look how well it worked photographing planes!

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

Watch the entire slideshow below!

The Phoenix Zoo and Models at Capture!PhotoCon in Phoenix

I was pleased to spend a long weekend with Nick, Cusi, and other photographers in Phoenix at Capture!PhotoCon from 18 to 20 May 2018.  If you've ever been to Photoshop World you'd have an idea what this conference was all about.  The one great thing for me was that it was local!  A side note:  the "photo" of the white bird in the upper left corner was processed in Lightroom and then with Topaz Simplify.

The first part of this blog will be on the pre-conference photowalk around the Phoenix Zoo with John Qoyawayma.  In the second part, I'll share my model photographs.

The Phoenix Zoo walk was done in the morning, so it's not unusual to see many of the animals sleeping.  John pointed out the need to be patient and that at any time the animals would hear the sound of a food truck and then pop to life.  

The Phoenix Zoo is a fairly large facility and we had four hours to seek out interesting animals.  To the right, you see examples of two very sleepy cats!  

In addition to the challenge of finding animals up and about, there were many frustrated photographers trying to capture images through fencing.  It is possible with a lens 300mm or longer to focus through the fencing if there is enough separation between the subject and background.  

More photos from the Phoenix Zoo are here:

During the conference, there was a number of sponsors who advertised their products.  And there were a few shooting booths where models posed.  I had the opportunity to photograph several of the models using continuous light like the Savage ring light which I fell in love with!  It produces a lovely wrap around light.  And look carefully at the models eyes.  You can see the ring light as catch light in Jami Watts eyes. 

In addition to photographing Jami, I also photographed Charles Garner, Cynamon Strong, Lindsey Lockwood, Kim Wright, and Shey Assar.

Until My Next Adventure,

See You On Down the Road!

Jim Patterson

Turf Paradise Horses and Models 5 April 2014

Coming Down the Stretch!

I spent a pleasant Saturday with Marni, and colleagues Hank and Casey at the horse track, Turf Paradise, in Phoenix.  It was nice to be with friends on such a beautiful day in Arizona.  Plus, I wanted to use a lens I normally don’t use all the time, the Canon “L” class 70-300mm attached to my Canon 5D Mark III.

Lovely Model at Turf Paradise

I thought I was only going to photograph horses.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was also a model shoot going on for a video game.  So why not tag along and photograph lovely models along with the action on the track?

We Have a Winner!

Of course, I use Lightroom 5 as my main post processing platform.  I had to pull the shadows out on every shot, it seemed.  Plus I did some sharpening on all photos. 

On the models, I also used OnOne’s Perfect Portrait to soften skin and highlight the eyes. 

Another Lovely Model at Turf Paradise!

On some of the horses on the track photos, I used Macphun’s SnapHeal pro to eliminate rails, for instance, along the track.  On one shot, I used Macphun’s Focus2Pro to put everything except the horses out of focus. 

It didn’t take much time to edit these photos.  Probably took me less than an hour total.  Then I uploaded to both my Flickr and Zenfolio sites, write the blog, and post that. 

The Finish Line

Until my next adventure….

See you on down the road!

Jim Patterson

Bonus Photo... 

Done with Macphun's ColorStrokes

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr!

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