Todd Fredrich Photography

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Todd Fredrich — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:55:44 +0000

Recently visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park near Alamosa, Colorado with my friend and co-worker, Kevin Williams. Our intent was to spend the weekend photographing the dunes and the surrounding area. The weather was nice, one evening windy, rainy and cold, but the rest of the time was nice. Unfortunately, we had some serious clouds a good portion of the time, which dampened our efforts to get just the right “post card shot.”

This is a first of a few images that I’ll be posting over the next little bit–making no promises as to time-frame, see? I have yet to fully process all the images, but it seems that there might be a few keepers in the bunch.

This image, taken on Sunday night, April 29, 2012 is from available light on the shore of Medano Creek. The moon was about half-mast (OK, a half-moon). You’ll notice the dunes in the lower left corner. Because of the brightness of the moon, many of the stars were not visible to the naked eye. But the picture turned out pretty well.

Greenville College Campus

Todd Fredrich — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:19:30 +0000

Here’s another HDR from my recent trip to Greenville, Illinois to the campus where Austin is now attending. Standard fare here, too, with tripod, 12-24mm lens at 12mm and f/22. Also circular polarizer, as usual. In this shot, I wanted the lamp as well has the harsh sun highlights to not be blown out. This one is made up of five bracketed exposures using Photomatix Pro.

Greenville College

admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:30:32 +0000

*sniff* Just took my eldest son, Austin, to college this weekend. 15 hours one way of drive time from Denver, Colorado to Greenville, Illinois. After unpacking, somewhat organizing his room and attending the parent must-dos, I had a bit of time to walk the campus. Of course, it ended up being mid-day when the sunlight was very hot and harsh. So I decided to utilize bracketed HDR techniques to soften the harshness of the sunlight, which was almost directly overhead. I thought this one of the Greenville College sign turned out OK.

Wide angle Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 12mm and f/22, if I remember correctly. It was at least f/16. Circular polarizer, as usual.

Wary Mantis

Todd Fredrich — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:40:03 +0000

Yesterday, you saw my first attempt at a wide-angle “macro” shot. Today is my first outdoor wide-angle “macro” shot… This mantis was on the sidewalk as we strolled around the park. And I “just happened” to have my camera with me, with a 28mm f/1.8 on an extension tube. Again, this is at f/11 (or f/16). The mantis wasn’t too comfortable with my lens being 1/2-inch away from him. He ran off right after this shot. Next time, I would like a better angle–less down. BTW, I still had to crop this image quite a bit.

Wide Angle “Macro”

Todd Fredrich — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:39:55 +0000

Here’s my first attempt at a wide angle close-up, or “macro” shot. Done with my Sigma 28mm f/1.8 at f/11 and a short extension tube. So please ignore the EXIF data–it’s all wrong. This is the rear lens cap of my Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 lens. I was sitting in my family room with the lens in my bag and the blue from sky in the window in front of me is evident in the coloration.

Reliving the Past

Todd Fredrich — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:20:20 +0000

Manitou Cliff Dwelling, Manitou Springs, Colorado. Seven exposure HDR @ 12mm, f/16.

Portrait Day

Todd Fredrich — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:52:22 +0000

Sometimes one gets sticker shock when attempting to have portraits of your children taken. Especially when one sees the end results. For once, I was in a position to make good on my promises of, “I could take better picture than that! Or at least one that is equal in quality.”

This is oriented to fit in the square frame that my wife has, that has historically been filled by another photographer’s goods. Not this year…

Austin’s Senior Portrait

Todd Fredrich — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 19:51:01 +0000

Well, I broke out the ol’ camera today and dusted it off. A little rusty, I am. But I had fun taking pictures of Austin attempting to get a decent portrait for his senior year in high school. He wanted one with his guitar in it, so that added an extra challenge. We’re relatively pleased with how this one turned out. It may be coming to an invitation near you… say long about April or May.

In the “Driver’s” Seat

Todd Fredrich — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:16:34 +0000

I’m surprised that this one turned out. Palmero (that’s the horse’s name) always seemed to veer towards the breakers. And the closer she got, the faster she went. Needless to say, I was bobbing pretty dangerously at this point–not being a horseman. Canon A510 P&S camera. Read the exif info for more details–this was on “P” for professional, I believe.

50MP Pano in Mazatlan, Mexico

Todd Fredrich — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:32:16 +0000

Whew! OK. This is fun! This one is 10x10MP images stitched together (with about 50% total overlap each–25% on each side) into a 50MP panorama. Actual size is 13836×3620. Created from the balcony aboard the Mariner of the Seas with my D200 on the tripod in portrait. Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 lens @80mm f/11 with 1/30 sec shutter. Circular polarizer as usual.

It’s much more interesting in full size, but would take a bit to download at 44MB! A smaller facsimile is available here. By viewing the larger version at 1:1 you can see people on the beach, people in the boats, birds on rocks and flying. Oh, and spots on my sensor. Amazing details that you wouldn’t get using a wide angle lens.

You’ll also notice that in the far left shot, the rocks are not as sharp as I think they should be. Maybe I nudged the focus. Also, in just the right of middle you’ll notice an interesting phenomenon of a wake appearing out of nowhere! Hmm… I thought I waited for things to clear. In fact, in the duration of these shots a sailboat went by and so did a bird at close range. Both of which would’ve made a much more interesting photo. Oh well. There’ll be other opportunities.