Posts Tagged ‘Photography’
Month at the Museum
I know this a little off the beaten path of my previous posts but I can’t resist. I first read about the “Month at the Museum” contest on PopSci.com and have been so excited about the prospect of spending a month in the museum that I have hardly had time for much else. To apply, I created a video displaying my creativity and enthusiasm for science. I also wrote an essay on why I wanted to spend a month in a 14 acre museum and took my own picture for the application.
I took this self-portrait in my garage with no backdrop. It's not where you take a photo, it's how.
It was a challenge to cram my personality and experience into 60 seconds, 500 words, a 5×7 photo and 7 page application but with a little help from my friends I did it.
If selected, I will be staying at Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. I will have limited contact with the outside world, aside from tweeting and blogging. The sleeping arrangements are provided in various exhibits around the museum, like the U-505 German submarine or the “Smart Home” or maybe even on the Pioneer Zephyr. According to the contest site, there will also be public appearances and demonstrations with the museum patrons.
The semi-finalists will be notified by August 25 and by September 1, the semi-finalists will fly to Chicago for an interview. Then, three finalists will have their videos posted for public vote. The winner will be announced on October 6, move into the Museum on October 20 and spend the next month exploring the museum both during and after hours reporting their experiences via tweets, blogging, Facebook and other social media.
Check out the photos I obtained from the press release, this is the “home base” for the winner:
As a complete and over-the-top bonus to this unique experience, the winner gets a laptop, camera, and $10,000!
Thanks to Carrie, Brittany, and Anna for reviewing the essay; Rae for lending her awesome public relations and social media expertise; Rylan, Jay and Sam for being references; the Ellison family, Shala, Caleb, Brandon and James for helping me spot errors in the application and offering suggestions; Kitty and Dan for letting me use their cameras and finally, the neighbor kids for making the science demonstrations fun.
Wish me luck! and leave a comment if you think I’d make a good candidate or just want to comment.
8/31/10 Update: Unfortunately, I was not selected.
Bryson and Tai
Needless to say its been a busy month, hence the lack of posts. But enough about me. 
I took some great photos for my cousin and his new wife. It was windy/raining/snowing on their wedding day so we went back on another day and it was still raining. Go figure.
Plympton Bailey Wedding
These photos are from a wedding day I recently shot. The wedding ceremony was held at the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course. Unfortunately, it started snowing and I wasn’t able to get any shots outside. I did not to use a flash during the ceremony so that was a bit of a challenge and in the end the photos turned out.
Bride's Breakfast
Wedding Ceremony
First Dance
Provo City Series – Provo City Power
I’m working a photo series of Provo. This is my first image of the set. Let me know what you think and I’m still open to updating my list.
Utah Sky Trials 2010
I attended the Utah Sky Trials on February 20th. The object of the event was to have a trained bird, falcon or hawk, hunt a pigeon (In retrospect I don’t recall seeing a hawk). The top ten birds had qualified the day before to participate in the final runs. In the 30-something years since the Utah Sky Trials began there have been only a handful of pigeons caught. The pigeons are specially trained to evade the birds of prey and the falconers have trained their birds to hunt the pigeons. You might call it a Bird Olympics where the best of the hunted attempt to outmaneuver the best hunters. Here’s a list of this year’s winners.
The officiators of the trials needed a volunteer to record the position of the birds as they circled to their desired hunting height, naturally I jumped at the chance to get closer. Since I was away from the crowd and very close to where the birds were released I was able to take some shots in between recording the bird’s position.
Provo City Photo Set
I’ve been contemplating taking up a new project. I have a list of buildings and sites of Provo that I think show Provo’s history and uniqueness, and here is the list in no particular order:
Lavell Edwards Stadium
Provo Tabernacle
Provo City Power
BYU Girls Gymnasium
Center Street
Utah Lake State Park
Provo Hospital
Creamery on 9th
Original BYU Creamery
The ‘Y’
View from Squaw Peak
Missionary Training Center
Provo Temple
J Dawgs (J Dogs)
Provo Library
Covey Center
Provo Wetlands
Malt shop
Seven Peaks
Update: This is going to be a year long project at least so I’ll get all seasons and here are some of the suggested additions.
Bell Tower
Airport
Cemetery
Train yard
Farmers market
Pioneer village
If you have more ideas for photo worthy place in Provo, please leave a comment.
Thanks!
Nathan T. Gross
Long January
Without going into detail, its been a long January and I’ve been trying to come up with an apposite theme for the month. So here it is:
Concerts and Theater
Here are some of my favorites from my new Events Gallery showcasing concerts, dancing, plays, parties and parades.
This was taken at a concert featuring the bands Silent Envy and Scarlet Grey. I used a flash and 3 second exposure to get the two expressions.
I took this photo at a swing dance club in Ogden, Utah called “The Cowboy.”
The comedy improv group known as the Thrillionaires asked me to take some photos of a production featuring Kirby Heyborne.
This photo was taken at Alexander’s Print Advantage 30th Anniversary Celebration.
Simple Photograph Enhancements
A friend of mine wanted to know how I made this photo go from this ordinary Snow Leopard Cub photo:
To this enhanced version in under 5 minutes:
Here is my process for basic photo enhancement.
In hindsight, I took quite a few photos of this cat. I try to take several photos of the same subject, that way I have lots of options when it comes time to edit. Sometimes the best photo comes from the most unusual angle, I move around and try different camera settings. Digital media is reusable, and slight variations can make the difference between an OK snapshot and a great photo.
Once I decide on a photo, I open it in Adobe Photoshop. There are many other excellent graphic programs you can use like Picasa, GIMP or Paintshop Pro.
The very first settings I adjust are Brightness and Contrast; its amazing how a little bit of contrast can make details stand out and enrich color. In this photo I increased the contrast and lowered the brightness, notice how the fence in the background almost completely disappears. I like the effect of the brightness and contrast settings, so I might just call it done, but I like to experiment.
In this photo I pushed Saturation nearly to the limit and every tiny bit of color jumps out. I try to keep my photos in a little more realistic hue so I toned it down for my final rendition of the shot. Also, I find the branches in the background suddenly are distracting because of the increased saturation.
Removing all saturation results in a black and white photo, this can have a dramatic impact and is always fun to try. In this particular instance I feel the cub gets a little lost and the impact of the photo is lessened, but still its crucial to experiment and see what works.
The most important thing I keep in mind is the focus of the photo. That is, what do I want people to notice or feel when they look at the photo? Will the change I made help people find the subject of my photo or is it distracting from that focus?
In short, remember these three basic settings: Brightness, Contrast and Saturation. Of course there are thousands of other variables that constitute a good photo, but I like to start with those.
Just for fun, this version has a “spot focus” on the cub to draw even more attention the cub. 
Risenmay Family Photos
This was a fun photo shoot. We didn’t have a lot time before the sun went down but I think the photos turned out great. As an added bonus it ended in a tremendous leaf fight. Here are the four Risenmay children from youngest to oldest.
California Canyon
Just testing out Posterous.com and showcasing this photo. Enjoy!
Nathan T. Gross
Posted via web from Nathan’s Posterous
Lightning!
I was lucky with my first roll of film taken during a lightning storm, I took four shots that I have yet to duplicate, Check out my galleryfor all the photos.
Fortunately, I never have been struck even though I tempt fate standing on open ground with a five foot metal tripod.
Contrary to popular speculation, lightning is extremely simple to capture on camera. You do not need a fast finger, all you need is a tripod and a camera that has a “bulb” setting or can be adjusted to keep shutter open for at least 10 seconds.
I like to leave the shutter open for about 30 seconds and adjust the aperture down if there is a lot of ambient light. I take a few test shots and point the camera towards wherever I think there will be lightning, release the shutter and then wait for lightning to strike.
Tiny Snake
I found this snake slithering into a hole on the riverbank, I caught it and told it that I needed a picture then set it down and I got one shot. The Western Terrestrial Garter Snake went into the nearby river where it warily watched me as I took some more photos. In these photos the snake is about life size, if it was stretched out it might be six inches long.
A friend of mine suggested the snake looked like a pirate with the spot of green covering its eye.
Rainbow over Provo, Utah
A friend of mine requested this photo, I was happy to oblige and I think it turned into a rather nice scene.
Hiking
My wife and I went hiking yesterday, we started at the Kiwanis Park in Pleasant Grove.
The trail was more challenging than I remembered but worth the exertion. There were a few close calls involving a child and the river but we arrived at the waterfall intact.
I enjoy hiking because you see places where I would not normally go. Hiking reminds me why I take photographs, to show people how something as common as a leaf can be unique. For instance rain, everyone sees the rain and the mud but a closer inspection reveals an entirely different experience. While hiking I see new landscapes or views I’ve see before but have changed. Every moment is unique, I just try to capture the best ones.
Enjoy!
Lacrosse
The Orem High School Lacrosse team recently won the State Championship. It was an awesome game, Orem played Skyview and the final score was 15 to 9. Here is the link to the complete photo gallery for the game: Lacrosse Photos
Update: I removed the lacrosse gallery and replaced it with various sports photos, including some from the game.
Birds
I work across the Provo River from the East Bay Golf Course and there are many types of birds that winter on the partially frozen river. Geese and ducks have a special vein and artery system that helps keep their blood flowing to their feet even in subzero temperatures. On the other hand, I foolishly took most of these photos with sandals and no coat.
The bird below is called an American Avocet, its feet are blue.
Here is a link to my Bird Gallery, let me know what you think.
First Post
Three things considered: this is the the first post of my first photo blog, I like to believe I’m a man of select words, and this is a blog about photography, I’ll begin with a 10,000 word essay on my work, because pictures are worth a thousand words. Enjoy!
