Panorama of Happy Valley Foothills Parkway

In my younger days as a photographer I would start a day of hiking in the mountains with a frame backpack designed for overnight trips. The backpack had a 4x5 view camera, 35mm SLR, and a 
2 1/4 square camera along with film and lens for each format and one very heavy tripod. I knew that each camera had its advantage for certain subjects. It was too much weight and too much to keep up with. I even thought I needed one of those panorama cameras to complete what I thought would be the perfect set of tools to capture anything I might find along the trail. 
Today I carry a Digital SLR with lens and a heavy tripod. This panorama was made by putting together 7 separate images in Photoshop. The camera should be mounted on a tripod that is level. Set the camera on manual and start making exposures that overlap each other. Put them together in Photoshop and leave your panorama camera at home!

You Need Photoshop

This is an image one of my students Stephen Hillis shot on a  trip to St. Petersburg , Russia. He wanted to see what I could do to improve this image using Adobe Photoshop of The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood.

Camera Simulators

Here are some links that will help you learn how to shoot in manual. They are camera simulators.

http://dryreading.com/camera/index.html


http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/

http://www.kamerasimulator.se/eng/?page_id=2

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/

http://dryreading.com/camera/index.html

Knoxville Saturday Night

Using a tripod with a long exposure I was able to capture a busy street in downtown Knoxville. The white balance was set for tungsten that gave the sky a nice  deep blue color.

Water and Leaves at Market Square Knoxville

Grave Site

This grave in Monticello seemed best in B&W mainly because the subject is about death not like. So bright colors seem inappropriat for this subject.

Fat Tree ???

I found this tree on a visit to Monticello. What do you think? 

Shadows From the Ballet

 I found these interesting shadows during a Ballet Gloria performance. 

Reflections at Pellissippi State

Reflection is one of those things that most people never notice.As a photographer I feel the need to open ever ones eyes with my images showing this beautiful world. Please take a closer look next time you are out and about then you might understand why I always have a camera .

Chalk Art Market Square Knoxville Tennessee

Ballet Gloria at Market Square Knoxville Tennessee

This is the closing act at the Rossini Festival in Downtown Knoxville Tennessee. To get this angle I was down low with my camera held close to the ground. The camera was so low I was shooting without looking through the view finder.With the camera set at manual my ISO was 2000, f-stop 5.6, shutter speed 1/60 and white balance set at auto.The weather was perfect for this outdoor event.

Photography In The Rain Market Square in Knoxville Tennessee

Rain seems to following every other day in the spring time in East Tennessee. On an early morning visit the rain puddled on the wide sidewalks of Market Square in Knoxville. I was attracted to the bright colors and reflections. I used the plastic wrap filter in Photoshop to create some texture to the scene. A rainy day is a good day for photography. I like to use an umbrella and a tripod. With those two things I stay dry and happy even in the rain. Photography In The Rain ( Like Dancing in The Rain).

Painting With Light in My Photography Class

This image was produced during one of my classes at Pellissippi State. Where are my students? Good question. They are in the front of the room  with my camera and tripod as I run around the class room with a flash light. I set the camera on 30 seconds and started painting the chairs and walls and crazy lines in the back of the room. You can not see me in the picture because I am moving and did not have any light on me. The room is totally dark. The only light source is my 2 dollar flash light with new battiers. Try it ! It's FUN!!

Duck at Pellissippi Campus

Ducks are some of my favorite portrait subjects, The eyes must be tact sharp and it helps to use a large lens opening to produce shallow depth of field. The evening light is hard to beat with the warm evenness of the sun at a low angle.

Another Shot in Cades Cove Spring

I am always trying to find an angle that is different from normal viewing. Looking at subjects at eye level seems to be the most boring way to look at our world. I actually rested the camera on the tree using it as a way to stabilize the camera for a long exposure and to get that very different way of looking at a tree. f-32  1/15

Cades Cove in the Spring

This image was taken this weekend in Cades Cove. With a 15mm lens at f-32 I was able get the depth of field I needed in order to get a sharp image from the rock to the mountains. 

Painting With Light

I used the same equipment for this shot too.

Pencil Sharpener in Filtered Light

This is a pencil sharpener in my photography class at Pellissippi State. All the equipment I used to produced this interesting light was a small flash light and a pair of red and blue paper frame glasses that they give you to view a 3D movie. I put the camera on a tripod so I could take a long exposure. Camera settings: ISO 200 - f-11- 30 sec. exposure. With all of the lights off during the 30 second exposure I placed the blue part of the glasses in front of my flash light and began painting the sharpener then I do the same with the red side of the glasses.

Spring Flowers in Black and White

I used only one channel to produce this black and white image of these purple flowers. I kept the red channel discarding the blue and green channel sof my RGB image. It seems to give the picture a infrared look.

Hosta in Black and White

More spring green comes out as the Hosta  plants become thick and healthy at this time of the year.. The beautiful lines on this broad leaf plant on the forest floor in the Southern Appalachians is one of my favorites. 

Spring Green in Morning Light

The light from the sun turned the leaves into light sources.I always enjoy the early light green colors of spring.

Portrait in Knoxville

Portraits are so interesting to me because they give so much information about a person through a simple composition.

Downtown Maryville Tennessee

This image was shot just before the sun went down giving just enough light to show some detail on the building.

Fiddle Player Loudon Tennessee

Toy camera photo of an master fiddler in Loudon Tennessee

Full Moon Over Downtown Maryville

Amy Campbell's Art in the Window of Roy's Record Shop Maryville

I found this wonderful collection of local history in the form of art by local artist Amy Campbell. You never know what you might find in downtown Maryville.

Street Signs in Downtown Maryville

Downtown Maryville Scotty Pizza and Dancing

The Joy of Photography

This is my photography class having fun capturing Downtown Maryville at night.

Parking Lot Arrow in Maryville Tennessee

I like the view of the low angle. I guess this is the same view a cat would have as he wondered through an empty parking garage at night.

Inside Looking Out

Church at Night

Young Freestyle Swimmer

Ice Forming Over The Little River Great Smoky Mountains National Park

It must be close to zero to have ice over moving water form. These unusual patterns are created by the water refreezes several times.