Welcome To The Daily View

What is one to do on a snowy day? Take a 50 Mile drive I suppose. And that's exactly what Kim and I did today. But it wasn't so bad really. Though there has been on and off snow for the past couple of days we really haven't been affected that much. I think we got about an inch or so. There was enough snow however to make for some nice photos. And today I am sharing one that I shot along a lonely back road.

Click For Full Size Image

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Sigma DC 18-250mm Lens at 18mm
- Aperture Priority
- Aperture F18
- Shutter Speed 1/80 Second
- ISO (Film Speed) 100
- Center Weighted Average Metering

Post processing was actually quite minimal. I had to correct the White Balance and the color but there was no cropping. I did use Color Efex Pro 2 from the NIK Collection from Google to bring out some detail hidden in the RAW image.

Here is the "Before" image.

Click For Full Size Image

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Friday January 6, 2017

That's all for now folks. Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Welcome To The Daily View

Switching back to my Valley Forge trip last weekend I would like to share this railroad bridge with you. As you can see there is no clear path to the underpass. In fact the area is blocked off. But when I was a younger person this was not the case. There used to be a set of stairs leading to that right hand side tunnel that was meant for pedestrian traffic. One used to be able to pass under the bridge and get a very nice view of the Schuylkill River.

Click For Full Size Image

You can see I tried to add a bit of artistic flair. Nothing much but just a little something.

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Sigma DC 18-250mm Lens at 26mm
- Aperture Priority
- Aperture F18
- Shutter Speed 1/50 Second
- ISO (Film Speed) 125
- Center Weighted Average Metering

Post processing was done in Photoshop and within Photoshop I used components of the NIK Collection of filters.

Here is the "Before" image.

Click For Full Size Image

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Thursday January 5, 2017

And that's all for now my friends. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...

Welcome To The Daily View

New Years Day was a nice one around here. It wasn't the warmest but it wasn't too bad either. And the evening sky was crystal clear. Of course I had to go out and grab some shots. So today I would like to shift away from Valley Forge which is about four miles from me to a destination that is a tad further away. About 238,900 miles (384,472.282 kilometers) to be a more precise. That of course being the Earths favorite satellite. The Moon.

Click For Full Size Image

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Digitalmate 500mm Manual Lens
- Shutter Priority
- Shutter Speed 1/30 Second
- Aperture F8
- Spot Metering

The lens I used is kind of a monster. And cheap too. Very cheap. I paid about $59.00 for this thing and though it is kind of rustic it has been a lot of fun trying to master. 

Adjustments were few but standard cropping and some minor work was done in Photoshop.

Here is the "Before" image.

Click For Full Size Image

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Wednesday January 4, 2017

And that will do it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Welcome to the Daily View

Today's photo is yet another from Valley Forge. I have shared "My Favorite Tree", the Valley Forge Train Station and Washington's Headquarters this week. And now today we take a look at the train tracks that run through the park along the Schuylkill River. Of course  I could not resist going with black and white.

Click For Full Size Image

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Sigma DC 18-250mm Lens at 18mm
- Aperture Priority
- Aperture F20
- ISO (Shutter Speed) 200
- Center Weighted Average Metering

Cropping and adjustments were made in Photoshop using filters within the NIK Collection. I also emulated AGFA 400 APX 400 Speed Film. The film emulation gave me a bit too much grain but I was able to resolve it within NIK and by kicking up the white setting and brightness. I also toned down the contrast.

Here is the original image.

Click For Full Size Image

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Tuesday January 3, 2016

That's all for now my friends. Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Welcome To The Daily View

Yesterday I shared the Valley Forge Train Station with you, which is located next to Washington's Headquarters. Today I would like to share Washington's Headquarters with you.

Click For Full Size

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Sigma DC 18-250mm Lens at 18mm
- Aperture Priority
- Aperture F18
- Shutter Speed 1/100 Second
- ISO (Shutter Speed) 160
- Center Weighted Average Metering

As usual I post processed in Photoshop and within Photoshop I used the NIK Collection of filters. I stuck with color this time. I did toy with black and white but I it just didn't like it.

Here is the "Before" photo

Click For Full Size

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Monday January 2, 2017

And that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Welcome To The Daily View

Today's photo is another I shot yesterday while at Valley Forge. It is the Valley Forge Train Station located next to Washington's Headquarters. Though no longer used as a train station it is preserved and used as a starting point for bus tours of the park.

When out shooting I generally have a certain level of intent. What I mean by that is that I have a good idea of what I am aiming for and how I want the final image to look. And then sometimes I just see a nice scene and capture it to see what I can do with it. Today's image is the former. What you see here is exactly what I saw in my head even before the RAW shot.

Click For Large Full Size Image

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Sigma DC 18-250mm Lens at 26mm
- Aperture Priority
- Aperture F18
- Shutter Speed 1/50 Second
- ISO (Film Speed) 125
- Center Weighted Average Metering

Normal cropping and adjustments were done in Photoshop and Photoshop Camera RAW. I used Silver Efex Pro 2, part of the wonderful NIK Collection of filters made available for free from Google, for the black and white conversion. Within Silver Efex Pro 2 I emulated AGFA APX 400 Speed Film.

Here is the "Before" image.

Click For Full Size Image

I think You'll agree that this needed to be in black and white. But if not that's okay too. I would love to hear your opinion.

Also, you probably noticed that I have included a few clickable links throughout this post and in many of my recent posts. I place these links for your convenience and curiosities. I am sure many of you are very familiar with the destinations of these links but I am also sure some of you are not. So if you are so inclined I encourage you to check them out. And I promise that they do no lead to any harmful sites. In fact most of the time it's a Wikipedia page.

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Sunday January 1, 2017

That will do it for now folks. Thanks as always for stopping by! And if you like what you see please share it with others.

Until next time...

Welcome To The Daily View

Happy New Year everyone! 

With a new year comes new opportunity. And of course some changes here and there. Some big and some small. Hopefully more good than bad. And my little blog here is not immune from change. Some changes will be simple housekeeping. I am removing some minor redundancies which you may or may not notice. But you will probably notice the larger changes I am implementing. Starting today.

When I made the commitment to post every day I had a very personal reason. To make myself a better photographer. And while I am not and will never be perfect I like to think I have improved. So that is good. But I have to admit that sometimes I have a tough time posting. Not for lack of material. Far from it in fact. But for lack of words. I have never claimed to be a writer. And while love sharing some of my adventures with you sometimes it's really just about the photo. So starting today it's going to be more about the photography. Oh I will still share some words and observations and some stories behind the photo now and again. But on a daily basis I will be sharing some of the technical data behind the photo of the day. And in addition I will also show you the "before" picture along with the final result. Plus I have some other ideas that I will soon implement. Perhaps surveys and even a prize here and there? You never know...

Some things will remain the same however. I will always provide a link to "Yesterday's View" in case you missed it the first time around. And as always I welcome feedback and even constructive criticism. And above all else one thing that will remain the same is my sincere appreciation of you. My readers. If it weren't for you there would be no blog. Thank you! 

Now before I get on with my first post of the new year I would like to ask one thing of you. If you enjoy visiting please share my blog with others who you think may also enjoy stopping by now and again. The more the merrier as they say :)

And now...

On with the show...

Today's Photo was shot at Valley Forge National Park. Many readers will recognize it as "My Favorite Tree". Since I ended 2016 with a picture of one of my favorite subjects, a squirrel, I thought it proper to begin 2017 with this tree located at one of my favorite places.

Technical Info

- Canon 80D
- Sigma DC 18-250mm Lens at 43mm
- Aperture Priority 
- Aperture F20
- Shutter Speed 1/125 Second
- ISO (Film Speed) 125
- Center Weighted Average Metering


Adjusted with Photoshop and Photoshop Camera RAW. Mainly white balance correction, cropping and of course conversion to black and white.

For some reason this shot gave me a little trouble. I think it came out okay though. What are your thoughts?

Here is the "before" picture completely untouched except for conversion from RAW to PNG so you can view it.

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Saturday December 31, 2016

And that will do it for today my friends. Thank you so much for stopping by! Please be sure to come back soon.

Until next time...