Oracle On Delhi Studio Blog

Parhelion

2012-01-22T17:01:00.000-05:00

Sun Dogs! I am always fascinated by sun dogs and why they form. This morning at about 8:50 AM I spied a sun dog and then the one on the other side. I kept glancing at it, and saw it was a whole arc. Next was finding a place that was safe enough to pull to the side of the road and get a picture.

To really appreciate the image, go here and press "L". http://flic.kr/p/bgY5AR

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T15:59:00.003-05:00

From all of us at Oracle On Delhi Studios, may you have a blessed 2012.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:48:00.002-05:00

From all of us at Oracle On Delhi Studio.

May you all be blessed at this time if year.

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year!

Christmas in New Orleans!

2011-12-18T20:12:00.000-05:00

We wandered around Algiers Point after dark a couple of nights, and enjoyed the Christmas lights on the shotgun style houses.

Fog!

2011-12-03T09:04:00.001-05:00

It was a dark and stormy night....

Or

It was well after midnight, but the church lights were on across the misty moor....

A Family Outing to Thorden Park

2011-08-10T22:48:00.000-04:00

Praise Him Fundraiser for Eagle Wings Academy

2011-04-16T13:09:00.000-04:00

Eagle Wings Academy took over Eastern Hills Church for a night to host a Battle of the Bands. Great, great music for all and for a great cause.

First up was Syracuse Alliance' Worship Team

Second was the Five to Life

More to come...........

Irish Step Recital 2011

2011-03-23T15:06:00.001-04:00


If we believe, we can fly!

We do have a DVD available of the performance as well as a low-res cd of stills. Prints are always available.

Ground Blizzards

2011-02-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

The wind was brutal, snow was blowing horizontal. That's the time to get some great shots of the weather.

I like the blue cast on these from the white balance settings. The one above might be a little more blue than I'd like, but it works.

The best part is that I shot these from the comfort of a warm van.

Eagles

2011-02-18T12:12:00.001-05:00

The eagles are back on Onondaga Lake and with the weather warming, I needed to get down there to see them. They were there, but sitting around in the trees. They are so big, it's amazing.

On the Journey

2010-12-25T08:06:00.000-05:00

Luke 2

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Ice Berries

2010-12-24T09:19:00.001-05:00

Just one of the winter wonders around the yard at this time of year. Those thorns look pretty big, but they are only about a half inch long, they do hurt though! This bush has to get trimmed regularly because it grows into the sidewalk!

Joseph has a vision

2010-12-23T16:05:00.000-05:00

Joseph has a vision

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

NIV

These Little People are so small, I used a couple of LED flashlights to light them
ISO 200 6 sec exposure -1.7EXP Program Mode, Matrix metering, tripod, 50mm lens.

Christmas Caroling

2010-12-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

Crossroads bought the old St Peter's Church on James and they hosted the carol sing, Its a beautiful old catholic church inside. The highlight was the huge pipe organ that the organist played from in the balcony.

After we sang, everyone was invited downstairs for punch and cookies, or Hot cocoa. The girls were so happy at the prospect of cookies.

"You will have a Son"

2010-12-16T07:36:00.002-05:00

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

NIV

These Little People are so small, I used a couple of LED flashlights to light them The orange thing is a glowing electric candle and I shot this inside the fiberglass body of the electric fireplace with the guts removed. Just how did we get it?
ISO 200 5 sec exposure -1EXP Program Mode, Matrix metering, tripod, 50mm lens. ll be adding a behind the scenes set up shot later today.

The Christmas Story - Little People Style

2010-12-13T14:28:00.001-05:00

Yep! This is just a teaser for what we'll be digging into this week. Full studio lighting of the Nativity story acted out by Little People from Fisher Price!

Luke 2:8 NIV
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

Lit the shepherd with a 9 LED flashlight, hand held by my youngest assistant, Shaniah. Shot at 1600 ISO EXP-3.0, 1/13 no flash. There's a little shake, because I was too lazy to get the tripod, just wanted to see if it was going to work. That -3 EXP makes it very close to ISO 4800.

Lights on the Lake - Walking Edition

2010-11-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

What can do you at Onondaga County Parks? Everything! 24mm 1/30 ISO1600(-1.0EXP) hand held

The two nights before Lights on the Lake opened, it's really open for walking. The first night is for walkers and the second night is for the dogs. We went on the second night, it was raining the night before. I've got hundreds of pictures of the light displays, but bring the camera along anyway.

Wonder! 26mm 1/40 ISO 1600(-1.0EXP) hand held

Now I find myself capturing images of what the kids see. Wonder and amazement at the light, right there where she can inspect it up close. Good luck finding a bulb like this at my house, we use CFL's. She's my engineer, so I would imagine that she was trying to figure out how it worked.
She was real impressed with the blue lights.


The Blue Lagoon 24mm 1/20 ISO 1600(-2.3EXP) hand held

You'll notice the pictures were all taken at ISO1600 and -X EXP compensation. With the Nikon D50, that's effectively increasing your ISO, ISO 1600 at -2.0 becomes ISO 3200. It's a little bit of a cheat, but it works when you've got to get the shot in the dark.

Candle Light Vigil

2010-11-24T07:26:00.001-05:00

Our little village pulled together for a candle light vigil for Matt McCabe. He had a heart transplant and is not responding well. Many have jumped in to support the family and they are still accepting donations to cover the medical expenses. His birthday was Monday, he turned 52.

Christmas Portraits

2010-11-13T19:02:00.000-05:00

There are only 41 days left to get your Christmas portraits done.

Get those Christmas cards made up and ready for the mail.

Anybody else waiting for snow?

Introducing the Classic Series

2010-10-21T07:45:00.001-04:00

The fall colors are strong, but not vivid like some years. It begged to be a black and white.

I think with this weather change, the leaves are mostly gone, but you can enjoy these beautiful limited edition prints available on Etsy.

October is Clergy Appreciation Month

2010-10-15T18:37:00.001-04:00

We love our pastor. This month is the month to remember and honor him for all that he does. There would be no great pastor without the great lady that stands behind him, his wife.

October 31st we are giving away a family portrait package to one pastor and his family. The pastor either needs to live in Syracuse, NY or Binghamton, NY areas or be willing to travel to there for their portrait session.

The Prize: They will receive a portrait session, one 8x10, four 5x7, and nine wallets. That's a $100 value.

The Rules:

You can nominate any clergy or their wife. leave a comment here why they should win, or on the studio blog when the giveaway is posted.
To make it fair, a candidate's name is only in the hat once.
They have to be local or can travel to us.
You can nominate your wife if you're a pastor.

How to enter:
Leave a comment on the blog why they should win. I'll take all the names and throw them in a hat and pick one out on Oct 31, 2010.

Blue Jazz

2010-10-14T10:56:00.000-04:00

We went for a walk last night, well after dark, so the girls took their flashlights along. One green and one blue, the blue had the glowing baton part turned on and was operated by a 2 year old who just wanted to move it around. Hold the shutter open and walk down the sidewalk.

The Waxing Moon

2010-10-12T22:57:00.001-04:00

The moon was little more than a sliver tonight. Beautiful, silver and stepping quickly to the west, ever chasing the sun. I had originally gone out to shoot pictures of Jupiter, but it was hiding behind a tree. The moon was off to the southwest and no trees obstructed the view. For the technical diehards, shot the moon from a tripod with Nikon D50 105mm f/5.6 1/250. I did crop and double the size of the moon in post production. I hope that doesn't throw any tides off tonight.

Syracuse Astronomical Society Public Viewing

2010-10-09T08:31:00.001-04:00

We had a blast at the SAS last night. We saw a comet, Jupiter and 3 moons and a nebula. I did take along a camera with a 11-18mm lens to capture a wide swath of the night sky.

That's the Milky Way running vertically through the center. This is nearly overhead with a slight tip to the east. For you photo junkies out there, this is ISO 1250 F/4.5 11mm manual focus to infinity.

Here's another shot of the Milky Way looking east off the horizon.

Red light is easier on your night vision, so they have red lights inside their observatory building. There's one more public viewing next month, weather permitting. You can find out more about this little slice of amazing on their website. These are best seen in original size on black in a darkened room.

Flooding

2010-10-02T11:24:00.001-04:00

Had an errand to make at lunch on Friday and found my short cut closed. Road flooded. Lots of people were cutting through anyways. I wasn't going to try it, I like my car too much and it's pretty low to the ground. That's moving water by the way.

Butternut drive was flooded at both ends, ironically in front of the Manlius DPW and the State DOT garages. Must be the budget cuts.

All license plates have been blurred out to protect the guilty from disobeying the road closed signs.

Red Rocks Ampitheatre

2010-08-06T11:51:00.000-04:00

Went out to Colorado on business and worked my tail off during the day. Couldn't resist the opportunity to ride along with some of the guys on a trip to Red Rocks Ampitheatre. It was built by the CCC during the depression. Hit the link to see the whole gallery from Red Rock.

BCA Dance Recital 2010

2010-06-03T15:34:00.000-04:00

I was only going to shoot my two dancers at the recital, but there were so many on stage, I couldn't help but get a few more in the frame.

This was the opening number. A Fairytale Story and it was for the youngest class of dancers, the older kids "helped".

You can see lots more of the recital in this gallery: http://oracleondelhistudio.com/BCA2010

Enjoy.

Mini-Sessions

2010-05-26T10:22:00.005-04:00

We are now offering Mini-Sessions. These fun fast and on-location shoots. Typically we are looking to book these usually 7-8:30 AM slots or 5-6:30 PM time slot during the week for 20-30 minutes in front of the camera. Why those times? Great light! We can shoot around lunch time, but the light is not as good. We do shoot on weekends. We'll fit you. What's so much fun about these mini-sessions? The location! You get to choose the location, may be its:

Armory square
Franklin Square
Onondaga Lake Park
The gazebo at Upper Onondaga Park
Ryder Park
Thorden Park with all the roses
A gritty graffitied alley somewhere down town is your style
Beaver Lake with a touch of mist, and still lake under a new day sky is your backdrop
Your local park in Syracuse
A corner of your backyard in the quiet morning.
Shove Park
Outside the Everson Museum

What's the catch? There really isn't one as long as the location is in Syracuse or a short commute away, like Liverpool, Camillus or East Syracuse. How much is a mini-session? $15 + your prints that you choose from an online gallery within a couple of weeks.

Wearing of the Green

2010-03-02T06:41:00.001-05:00

St Patrick's Day is coming and that means Irish Step Dancing! We'll be at the Mahoney School of Irish Step Recital March 21st for portraits. It'll will be a busy day for the dancers, but not as busy as St Patrick's Day itself with 4 or 5 stops and exhibitions across the northern Finger Lakes.

Time Lapse

2010-02-27T20:16:00.002-05:00

This is my first time lapse video taken the day after the big snow storm. The view is due south and the clouds are blowing from east to west.

I Spy!

2010-02-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

I was up to the nature center this morning and who did I spy, but a an owl sleeping in the sun. Heading back there now with a bigger camera to see if he is still there.

Church Nursery Project

2010-01-24T16:16:00.000-05:00

My current contribution to the nursery is this cutey and I was busy taking pictures of all the kids in there. Just for the record this one I can publish because she is mine. We are working on a bulletin board full of the kids in the church nursery. It's a fun little project, there just wasn't very many kids at church today.

Maternity Shoot

2010-01-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

Finally got around to my better half's maternity shoot. Girl number four is on the way! We had some fun matching up these shots with maternity shots from the last one.

Free visit to the zoo and a contest!

2010-01-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

As we enter 2010 and it finally begins to look like winter, you're invited to enter the 5th annual Winter at the Zoo photo contest at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Amateur photographers are encouraged to enter this year's contest for a chance to win some fantastic prizes. Contest details and rules are available by clicking here.

All photos must be submitted with an entry form. Word document (for those submitting via e-mail) available by clicking here. PDF file (for those submitting via mail) available by clicking here.

The 2010 contest begins January 2 and ends January 31; winners will be announced February 19. Categories include:

Youth (ages 5-12)

Teen (ages 13-18)

Adult (ages 19+)

Best "Winter at the Zoo" photo

Best action shot

Best digitally enhanced photo

Complimentary zoo admission is offered to contest participants who show their camera and present the coupon available here. The contestant must fill out the coupon in its entirety before giving it to the ticket booth attendant. This coupon allows one entrant, with a limit of one entrant per household per day, to enter the zoo free of charge.

Please e-mail info@rosamondgiffordzoo.org or call (315) 435-8511 x110 with any questions.

2010-01-05T16:50:00.000-05:00

Download your calendar here.
Put this up on my 365 Project blog, but here it is in the main blog. Enjoy.

Christmas in Small Town Americana

2010-01-01T08:08:00.002-05:00

In my home town there are many old houses and folks just dress them up with lights for Christmas. Here they are in their holiday beauty.

We don't even need Macys, we have our own beautiful windows that change with the seasons.

There are many more beautiful Christmas lights to see in our little slice of Americana. Check out the Flickr gallery here.

Christmas Eve Service

2009-12-26T21:34:00.003-05:00

I did learn something on Christmas Eve, either shoot stills, or shoot video, but not both at the same time. The tallest girl on the left in the back is mine. She's great dancer and very happy to be dancing at church.

Happy Holidays to all.

The Christmas Giveaway!

2009-12-25T08:01:00.001-05:00

The winner of the Christmas Giveaway has been selected. Here's what there nomination said:

I would like to nominate the Cathcarts. They are a very busy family with a great love for their children. Larry uses coaching as a way to keep involve in the lives of his children. There no limit to their love for their children, they spend many hours on the road in order to be by their daughter's sporting events, win or loose. I personally enjoy spending time with them, and their children.... I see a great love not just for their children but also for all of God's, Wendy also volunteer to serve with the kids in Kidzone at Syracuse Alliance Church, not too mention their unmeasurable support to our student ministry there as well.

They would be a great family to receive this blessed gift. So I recommend to you Larry, Wendy, Matt, Mell, Michelle, and Mike Cathcart.

Merry Christmas to the Cathcarts and we'll soon be seeing you in pictures.

Christmas Give Away!

2009-12-04T19:59:00.004-05:00

Christmas is the season of giving. So here's the contest. We are giving away a portrait package to a deserving family or individual on Christmas. The person who submits the winning nomination wins too!
Write to us and tell us who you think should win. Please send us an email of 500 words or less who and why they should win by December 23rd deadline is midnight. We'll pick the best and announce it on Christmas morning.

The Grand prize: Digital images free for the winners personal download plus four 5x7 prints, an 8x10 print, and a set of wallets from a portrait session.
The Runner Up prize: Four 5x7 prints and an 8x10 print in a free portrait session.

Write to oracleondelhistudios[at]gmail[dot]com.

The winner has to be in the Syracuse, NY area or can get to Syracuse, NY.

Long time no post

2009-12-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since a post. We've been busy on numerous fronts. Just finished the first two energy product shots for the Energy Wright. I still need a hand model for this product for additional shots. If you're interested let me know.
I've been concentrating on taking energy related pictures for my day job, as I am developing curriculum. I still have a long way to go there. I am also dabbling in video from a DSLR as well. One of the fun things that I get to do is photograph the graduating class from Weatherization Boot Camp. Boot Camp Gallery. We've been having a problem with the host of our NYSWDA site, so if the link doesn't work, check back a little later.
We are working on an exciting new project. I think that when we launch it in early January you will really like it.

Christmas Portraits

2009-11-07T15:04:00.002-05:00

Now is the time to get your Christmas portraits booked. For the next two weeks, you can receive two complimentary 5x7 prints with your order.
We will deliver your prints by December 1st, so make your appointment soon.

Mundane Monday October 12, 2009

2009-10-12T18:50:00.000-04:00

Been busy over the weekend pulling the last of the vegetables from the garden. We picked about 1 1/2 dozen pumpkins and squash. This was a bumper crop and if we had growing weather for a few more weeks, we might almost double the crop! Snipped off the dahlia blossom too, and that's where we find ourselves with a camera.

The first shot is P mode, no flash, nice diffused light from behind. It's a little dark, but not bad. I popped the flash, full power but I underexposed the shot -.7 stops. It's washed out, just too bright for a great composition.

There's also annoying reflection from the flash off the window on the right. Flash diffusion may help us out. Since I was using the pop-up flash, and I couldn't find any old film cans, I resorted to a translucent caontainer lid. I think it worked great.

A soup container lid from the Chinese restaurant saved the dahlia photo from ruin.

Mundane Monday October 5, 2009

2009-10-05T23:12:00.000-04:00

Almost missed, it's been a busy day. But it is important to stop and smell the flowers along the way. This shot is okay. The flowers got lost in the middle, so how about another take.

Here, I've framed the flowers with the hose and zoomed in to really show the detail in the flowers. Don't forget the rule: Get close and then get even closer.

Mundane Monday Sept 28, 2009

2009-09-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

What could be more cliche than an apple on a cutting board? A picture of a camera perhaps. Overall not an exciting photo. I thought I would take a strobist approach to reshoot the apple.

Looks better. It has a little more pizzazz with the black background and the top light. You could do this with a flashlight and a point and shoot if you got a little creative.

By the way the girls enjoyed the apple.

Mundane Monday Sept 21, 2009

2009-09-21T07:28:00.001-04:00

Next to our door is a great big 6 ft tall clump of Canadian Goldenrod. It's beautiful. It's maligned. It does grow with ragweed which is allergenic in most people, but goldenrod is often identified as the ragweed itself. Two separate plants here, folks.
What's our typical first picture of a flower? Something like this?

Doesn't do a lot for me, the poor goldenrod has been beat down by the rain. It's real smart looking at full height. The rule of thumb is always move in. Let's try getting closer.

Better, but there's that blue wheel from something in the yard. That's gotta go. There is also a web in the flower. Is anybody home? I think we need to dive in a little deeper and try for one more shot.

Here we go, popped a flash, slightly underexposed (-0.3) and zoomed in. I let the camera do the heavy lifting in PROGRAM mode and then I make minor adjustments in aperature for depth of field, exposure to bring out the details and in this case, popped the contrast in post production.
I'm kind of liking the mundane Canadian Goldenrod on the day before the Autumn Equinox. The leaves will be changing soon so charge up the camera batteries and be ready.

Mundane Mondays are Coming!

2009-09-19T17:07:00.000-04:00

On Mondays I will be posting a picture of the mundane, but it won't be a boring photo, I hope. This is a challenge to take up and I'll going to set the first round of it to last until November 2. That'll give me plenty of time to see if I can keep up.
Here's a pic I pulled out of the archives of a farm's grain storage.

Click on the image to see it full size. I hope to see you all back on Monday. In the meantime I've got pictures to make.

Gift Certificates

2009-08-22T08:33:00.000-04:00

Just a word about Gift Certificates.
You can apply them up to 25% of the cost of the order or if you have a $25 gift certificate that can be used on any order over $50.

I hope this clears up any questions about gift certificates.

Back to School!

2009-08-22T07:30:00.001-04:00

Back to School means school photos.

Are you satisfied with the quality of those, drop $100 and get 4 5x7's, an 8x10 and 52 micro-wallets? What do you do with those postage size pictures?

There's a better solution. You buy only the pictures that you want. What size and how many do you want is up to you. You'll get an hour behind the camera with wardrobe changes and friends and family if you want them. We'll even come to you, so you can look like you just came from the stylist, instead of rolling out of bed, matching the clothes in the dark and hoping the pictures come out ok, proofs unseen.

Studio portraits at $20 for the retainer anywhere in the greater Syracuse area. You can't beat that. We'll even apply the $20 back into your print order.

This offer is good if you book your photo shoot by September 30th. The phone operators are standing by!

3rd Largest Water Tanks in the World

2009-08-08T20:19:00.001-04:00

You read that title right. The third largest in the world. 32,000,000 gallons each! Here's the first one that will go online in late fall.

Here's the second one under construction. over 1,000,000 square feet of space, all concrete under compression, solar panels are going on the roof to power all the electrical needs of the system.

We had a unprecendented opportunity for a tour. This is the only time the public will see this. Our tour guide was the Water Commissioner himself! We walked up into the old resevoir which they had to drain and dig a road through. Then we stopped at several points along the way to see the process and the method to put it all together.

Here's the newspaper article: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/huge_tanks_at_westcott_reservo.html

Win a Trip to NC - Don't enter I want to win it!

2009-07-13T15:19:00.004-04:00

I want to win this trip so here's a blog about the contest! Please don't enter it, because you don't want to go and spend 2 days on the NC coast. Thanks for not entering to increase my chances of winning.

original post: http://tinyurl.com/nf3gyn

Ocean Isle Inn Weekend at the Beach Giveaway

July 5, 2009 by Crafty Mama
Filed under Reviews & Giveaways

89 Comments

Going to the beach is a tradition in our family we have been going just about every summer for the last 20 years or so. We usually go to Ocean City, MD, stay on the boardwalk, soak up some sun and spend lots of money!
This year we considered going to the Outer Banks, we even went so far as to look at houses on the beach that would fit the extended family for a great getaway. I couldn’t believe how much more space you can get in NC as opposed to the small condo we usually rent in OC. Just when we were ready to make all the plans, we found out my cousin was going to be having a baby in August, right when everyone was able to go. So, we pretty much axed the beach plans for this year. Needless to say my kids were pretty bummed (and so was I!).
Just when I had given up all hope of going to the beach this year I met Lee on Twitter. Lee is the general manager of the Ocean Isle Inn in North Carolina. We got to talking and Lee mentioned that he enjoys inviting bloggers to theOcean Isle Inn to experience the beauty and fun first hand. He offered me a weekend trip to NC with my family and we couldn’t be more excited! Up till now only bloggers from the area had made the trip to Ocean Isle I am pleased to be the first non-local blogger to be offered the opportunity to make the trip.

We will visiting Ocean Isle Inn in the middle of August and I am very excited to make some new family memories with my kids at the beach. To add to the excitement I found out Monica (MommyBrain) and her family will be there at the same time as us. After being in all the hustle bustle of Ocean City for so many years, I can’t wait to sit back and relax at Ocean Isle’s “Uncrowded, Unhurried, and Unforgettable” beach.

Here is a little bit of info on Ocean Isle Inn taken from their website:
Gaze at the beautiful Atlantic from your private balcony or experience an impressive view of the Intercoastal Waterway and scenic marshlands. The Ocean Isle Inn offers Oceanfront or Soundview rooms with a Polynesian flair.
All our rooms are air-conditioned and non-smoking, with either two queens or a single king bed with quilted-top plush mattresses. Tastefully decorated with hand-made teak wood furniture, our rooms also feature beautifully tiled floors, in-room coffee service, refrigerator, microwave, wetbar, hairdryer, color cable television, and data port phones with voice mail.
Daily housekeeping service, complimentary deluxe continental breakfast, heated indoor pool and ocean side pool, Jacuzzi spa, and private beach access will make your stay relaxing. Ocean Isle Inn’s friendly, professional staff is available twenty-four hours to ensure our guests a vacation to remember.

If you don’t just want to hang out at the beach while you are at Ocean Isle Inn you can also go turtle watching, visit the Museum of Coastal Carolina, take a tour of the states oldest remaining lighthouse Old Baldy, visit the Orton Plantation, check out the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial, or take short a drive south and visit Myrtle Beach. You can find out more about all these cool attractions here.
Now for the BEST PART!!!!!! Not only do I have the chance to visit Ocean Isle Inn but so do 2 of my readers!!! I will be giving away one 2 night weekend stay on Sunday, July 26th and another 2 night weekend stay on Sunday, August 16th while I am in Ocean Isle. (prize includes 2 nights hotel accommodations only, dates to be chosen by the winner)
Main Entry
~ Subscribe to my blog, visit the Ocean Isle Inn site then leave me a comment telling me why you want to visit Ocean Isle Inn .
Bonus Entries (lots of chances to enter here!)
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The Nina, the Pinta and no Santa Maria

2009-06-20T23:53:00.000-04:00

The Pinta
On Friday we went up to Oswego Port to see the Nina and the Pinta. They are exact replicas of the ships hand made in Brazil by Portugese shipwrights. I was surprised to see how small they were and how open the rear forecastles were to the weather. The captain had a private room with 4 foot of headroom, but that is the only private space on the ship. The men slept anywhere they could. The animals and supplies rode below deck in the cargo hold.
Of course we took pictures. Here's our gallery of photos.

Wide Angle Astro-photography

2009-06-13T16:47:00.003-04:00

I had to wait a whole week for a clear sky with no moon. It was worth it, I'm pretty happy with the results. I set the camera up in the middle of the yard, next time I get all the way out back, more open sky. This is pretty simple to shoot. It takes a little trial and error, but as long as you can get the shutter to stay open long enough you can shoot the stars. You'll need a camera and a tripod, a dark field or yard and of course spectacular skies.

You might think that I posted the same image twice, but the second one I shut the camera off and skipped the high pass that the D50 does to cancel out the hot pixels. Can't tell the difference, don't worry most people won't. Never let them tell you "you can't do it". These are 30 second exposures at f/4.5 at 1600 ISO.

Update:

You can pick out the constellations Corona and Bootes. If your really sharp you'll spot Virgo and Serpens Caput as well.

There are still some places in the world where it is really dark at night. Check out this great video from William Castleman. This is worth seeing at full screen.

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Old School Portraits

2009-06-12T13:19:00.003-04:00

I've got a stockpile of real film. Time to clear it out. Here's the scoop: Get your portraits taken on real film, and we're offering 5x7's and 8x10 prints. The sitting fee is $20 and the prints will be, $12 for a 5x7 and $18 for a 8x10. If you're interested, give us a call 315-663-1094. I'm cleaning out the closet.

Dance School Portraits

2009-06-04T21:52:00.001-04:00

I had a lot of fun at a local dance school tonight. We did quite a few portraits. Here's teaser shot from tonight.

There are plenty more frames and dancers to process. I'm not sure that this one's even quite finished, but I like it so far.

Wow! Contest!

2009-06-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

Scott Bourne is giving away stuff all the time!
Tomorrow I'll be giving away $500 gift certificate to ScanCafe.com. Here's more info - http://bit.ly/f6mnU
Easy enough to enter.

from my Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/oracleondelhi

Syracusian Evening

2009-05-24T06:48:00.000-04:00

We joined Syracuse Photographers for a Meetup and wandered around downtown one evening. We wandered from the Delavan center through Armory Square, over to Columbus Circle and back to the Armory Square area.

Pretty cool old gate at Armory Square. This made some great portraits of the girls.

This is the top of the courthouse. The copper roof is already developing a patina. They just put the roof on a few months ago. We topped off the night with coffee from Starbucks and an ice cream cone from our little ice cream shop near home.

DOE NE WAP Conference

2009-05-23T20:57:00.002-04:00

I was the official photographer for the Department of Energy North East Weatherization Assistance Program. Clicked off a 1000+ frames on four days! The hotel even wanted them for their marketing! Pretty cool stuff for a part-time photographer.

The picture is Thursday morning sunrise. Unfortunately, there's an exetremely complicated line of ownership on the conference pics. I might be able to post a few more and definitely post a link when we get them on the NYSWDA website.

Shoot for the moon!

2009-05-11T15:54:00.005-04:00

My company just bought a new Nikon 90. I got to bring it home over the weekend and on Friday night just an hour before the full moon (12:01 AM Sat) I was out in the back yard with a hand-held D90 and 18-105mm VR kit lens. Here's the result:

Looks pretty good, for winging the settings. Here they are:

What do we know? Some cameras have great high ISO characteristics and we should use them. Shooting the moon is hard, because the exposure is all about the balance of the dark sky and the bright moon. Only 26 more days till the next full moon, so get ready to shoot the moon.

Digicam Portraits

2009-05-09T15:09:00.000-04:00

Here's a little shot taken outside with no flash. If the shadows under the face are little dark and you lose detail, theirs a quick trick to fix it. Flip the camera upside down and turn on the flash. Here's the result:

It's a little more washed out than I would like, but I brought out the detail hidden in the shadows. This trick is very effective inside with overhead lighting. If I had more time, I would have turned the flash down and reshot it. I had about 5 minutes to get head shots of two people.
There you go, a quick tip to get better pictures.

What is it winners!

2009-05-09T08:39:00.003-04:00

Thanks to all who participated in our contest. I hope that you had fun. I leave you with this parting shot. The answer will be at the very end of the post.
I'll be getting the gift certificates out to our winners this coming week. If you made the list 3 times that's one gift certificate.

No one won the grand prize of a portrait session. Here's our winners:

Day	Winner
1	Zach Rall
2	Brenda Courtright
3	Chris Goldman
4	mightyhunter1
5	Wendy Cathcart
6	Brenda Courtright
7	Jeffery Quance
8	WendyCathcart
9	Chris Goldman
10	Brenda Courtright
11	Brenda Courtright
12	Brenda Courtright
13	Brenda Courtright
14	Brenda Courtright
15	Chris Goldman
16	Chris Goldman
17	Chris Goldman
18	Brenda Courtright
19	Wendy Cathcart
20	Chris Goldman
21
22
23
24	Brenda Courtright
25	Kathie Baldwin
26	Brenda Courtright
27	Pete Knodel
28	Kathie Baldwin
29	Goof
30	Brenda Courtright

Brenda won 3 $10 gift certificates, Chris won 2 $10 gift certificates and Wendy rounded out the month for one gift certificate, catching 3 days in a row at the end of the contest.

If you couldn't figure out what our parting shot is, it is a lily stamen.

What is it Update

2009-04-30T07:11:00.003-04:00

One sunny day in Kansas City, Mo.

I hope that you've enjoyed the contest. This is the last day in a mostly rainy, stormy Kansas City, Mo. I've had very slow internet all week. I'll be back home on Friday and I'll try to compile all the winners from the month tomorrow. If you still want to win then take a look at Day 21, 22, 23, and 24.

What is it? Day 30

2009-04-30T07:08:00.000-04:00

What is it?
You simply enter the contest by commenting. The first person to guess what the picture is wins for the day. If you win the contest for three days out of the month, you will receive a $10 coupon towards a portrait session. Every 3 days you can win a $10 coupon. If you win 20 days, we will give you a Free Portrait Session.
This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 29

2009-04-29T08:04:00.000-04:00

What is it? Day 28

2009-04-28T08:24:00.000-04:00

What is it? Day 27

2009-04-27T08:28:00.000-04:00

What is it? Day 26

2009-04-26T07:09:00.002-04:00

What is it? Day 25

2009-04-25T09:11:00.002-04:00

What is it? Day 24

2009-04-24T07:36:00.000-04:00

What is it? Day 23

2009-04-23T00:01:00.002-04:00

What is it? Day 22

2009-04-22T06:58:00.002-04:00

What is it? Day 21

2009-04-21T00:01:00.002-04:00

Here's another shot of the same thing. What is it?

What is it? Day 20

2009-04-20T06:12:00.002-04:00

What is it? Day 19

2009-04-19T06:59:00.000-04:00

What is it? Day 18

2009-04-18T00:02:00.000-04:00

What is it? Day 17

2009-04-17T00:02:00.001-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 16

2009-04-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 15

2009-04-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 14

2009-04-14T08:06:00.001-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? day 13

2009-04-13T10:24:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

"What is it?" gets tougher!

2009-04-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

We've upped our game. So far the contest has been too easy or you guys are too smart. Moriah got a camera for her birthday with macro and super-macro (like crazy 4x magnification - I think I'm in love) and I hacked the D50 to accept the magnification rings that I have (not supposed to work, because the AF/AE are disconnected from the camera.

As you can see from our test shot of a rose (no guesses) that we're pretty tight. Keep on guessing and having fun.

What is it? Day 12

2009-04-12T00:02:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Contest

2009-04-11T07:59:00.000-04:00

The Grand Prize is a Portrait Session.
Here's what's included:

A free sitting, about an hour behind the camera
Unlimited number of people
Unlimited number of wardrobe changes (how many times can you change in an hour?)
Studio quality shots on location, your house or public venue.
Your free packe includes two 5x7 prints, an 8x10 and a set of wallets.
You may purchase more prints with our "build your own package" instead of buying photos you don't want.

There is still time to win this grand prize. Odds are against you, however. Good luck and may the camera be with you.

What is it? Day 11

2009-04-11T07:31:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 9

2009-04-09T06:58:00.003-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 10

2009-04-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 8

2009-04-08T00:01:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 7

2009-04-07T00:01:00.001-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 6

2009-04-06T06:27:00.000-04:00

This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 5

2009-04-05T06:41:00.000-04:00

What is it?
You simply enter the contest by commenting. The first person to guess what the picture is wins for the day. If you win the contest for three days out of the month, you will receive a $10 coupon towards a portrait session. Every 3 days you can win a $10 coupon. If you win 20 days, we will give you a Free Portrait Session.
This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 4

2009-04-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

What is it?
You simply enter the contest by commenting. The first person to guess what the picture is wins for the day. If you win the contest for three days out of the month, you will receive a $10 coupon towards a portrait session. Every 3 days you can win a $10 coupon. If you win 20 days, we will give you a Free Portrait Session.
This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 3

2009-04-03T06:42:00.000-04:00

What is it?
You simply enter the contest by commenting. The first person to guess what the picture is wins for the day. If you win the contest for three days out of the month, you will receive a $10 coupon towards a portrait session. Every 3 days you can win a $10 coupon. If you win 20 days, we will give you a Free Portrait Session.
This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it? Day 2

2009-04-02T00:01:00.002-04:00

What is it?
You simply enter the contest by commenting. The first person to guess what the picture is wins for the day. If you win the contest for three days out of the month, you will receive a $10 coupon towards a portrait session. Every 3 days you can win a $10 coupon. If you win 20 days, we will give you a Free Portrait Session.
This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

What is it?

2009-04-01T06:46:00.001-04:00

Commenting problem.......

2009-03-31T18:11:00.001-04:00

In prepping to get the contest off the ground April 1st, I have a problem with commenting. I think it is a blogger problem more than anything else.

Stay tuned for updates.

"What is it? " Contest

2009-03-11T23:36:00.002-04:00

"What is it?"
Every day about 7am we will post a new picture to our blog. You simply enter the contest by commenting. The first person to guess what the picture is wins for the day. If you win the contest for three days out of the month, you will receive a $10 coupon towards a portrait session. Every 3 days you can win a $10 coupon. If you win 20 days, we will give you a Free Portrait Session.
This contest is open to anyone within the greater Syracuse area.

Make the sky dramatic

2009-03-07T08:35:00.004-05:00

This is probably the hardest tip to remember and it works for silhouettes too. Dial the exposure compensation down on the camera. On most cameras you either have a button marked +/- or a menu item. Just dial down the exposure anywhere from a .5 to a 2.0 stops (that's f/stops for you techies). In this example I dialed down the exposure 1.7 stops.
Why do this? The camera is using it's built in light meter and there's so much bright area with very dark underneath that camera can't figure it out. It also doesn't "see" color the way the human eye does. So in the picture above, this is really what I saw and in the "normal exposure compensation" below, this is what the camera sees.
There's one more plus to this. If your pictures are coming out orange with normal compensation, you can dial down the exposure and take a dark image. You can later bring the light levels back up with software and see the image. This doesn't work every time but you might be able to save a few images that special moment.

Make the picture pop!

2009-02-27T23:20:00.008-05:00

Digicams are designed to get the color to pop. They are designed for no post production. However if you learn to use the camera software for tweaks, or something like Picasa3. Your pictures will pop more.

Post production is now a significant part of a good photo. You might just adjust the contrast, or the adjust the light levels, but you can also change other items. Typically, I adjust the contrast and brightness to crisp up the picture. If I'm still not happy with the image, I may play with the color or vary the fill and shadows. Here's the original shot before post production. This picture was taken by our Art Photography Director while riding in the car.

Syracuse has a number of older buldings with these painted billboards. I hope to capture a number of them this spring. Sadly they are fading and being torn down or painted over with a single color.

Great Light at the breakfast table

2009-02-25T07:11:00.007-05:00

The light is coming in dining room window at breakfast and it's just perfect. You grab the camera and snap a picture and it's too dark. You turn the flash on and try again. Poof! The pictures washed out with too much flash.
There is a solution: Set the camera to Sunrise/Sunset. What? I'm not taking a picture of the sunrise, but my cute toddler eating breakfast! You have to understand how the camera "thinks". What it does is think in terms of Aperture, Shutter and ISO.
These three work together to make or break the picture.

Aperture: How big is the lens letting in the light.
Shutter: How long is the picture exposed to the image.
ISO: How much image processing needs to happen.

There is more to it. The aperture will affect the focus of the image (not so much in Digicams). The shutter has to be fast enough to freeze the picture or it will be blurry. The ISO has to right in conjunction with the shutter or the pictures turn dark and orangeish.
So how does the camera think? The camera manufacturer has logged many hours with professional photographers and how they would set the camera (film SLR) to take the picture. For the Sunset/Sunrise setting, the camera needs to capture the light on a wider dynamic range, light to dark tones. It will push the ISO up, turn off the flash and drag the shutter just an instant longer. This is how the pros did it for years and years.
Now you can shoot like a pro and not have to take years.

Digicam 101

2009-02-22T18:24:00.007-05:00

This will be a series on how to get better pictures out of your digital point and shoot. This will pretty much work on all digital point and shoot cameras. The settings may be a little different, but the tips will be the same.
These all be labeled "Digicam101class" so they'll be easy to find later. I'll be using a Nikon Coolpix L6.

White Balance

2009-02-04T08:11:00.008-05:00

What's so important about white balance? Everything. The above picture is the finished composition. How's that look compared to the orange cast below. Strobist info: SB-24 bounced off ceiling at about 1/4 power, 1/80 sec. exposure, f/5.6. White balance set to Incandescent. Well that is the end result, but what did we start with? Here's the first picture with the flash setting right where we want it.

This one the white balance is set to Auto, the default. The problem is that the ambient light in the room is incandescent and the studio lights are a mix of daylight CFL and incandescent floods. The camera couldn't compensate for all the yellow/orange light. When the White Balance Setting is manually changed to match the majority of the ambient light and then use the flash for fill, the result is picture perfect. I tried to correct this is post production, but the results don't measure up to nailing the exposure in the first place. Here's the color corrected Auto White Balance:

The color is washed out. The skin tones are wrong. It's doesn't pop! So the quick tip for today is to set the white balance when one type of light out powers the rest, or there's only one kind of light. Remember if the color is wrong on the review screen, check the white balance and see if the colors come out right.

Happy shooting until next time.