I had spent the entire season photographing my son's football team. This was one of my favorite pictures of the entire season. On this play all three football players hit the running back at the same time. They bounced off and the running back ran on for a 60 yard touchdown.

The specs
f4.8
1/350s
+.7 exposure
focal length 340mm

When shooting sports you need a long lens and fast shutter speed. A monopod adds more stability and thus a clearer photo. I used Topaz Adjust to add a little pop to the photo.

I like the action.
I like how all the players are pointing to the player in the middle.
I would like to not have the cars in the background, but that is the reality of shooting high school sports.

I would love to hear from you. Let me know what you think.

~wr~

Tags: Topaz

A couple of years back I was the official photographer for my daughters swim team. This was baptism by fire. I had just recently purchased my Nikon D200. I quickly learned that I needed a faster lens. All of her meets were indoors and in poor lighting. The key to taking making this type of picture work is a high iso and fast lens.

The specs
iso 1000
f/2.8
1/80s

I like the intensity of the eyes.
I like the subject being in the center of the photo.
I like the blur of the hands. They show motion
I would like the subject to be larger.

Let me know what you think.

~wr~

Tags: Swim

I had wanted to go to this location all summer. This is Cascade Springs in Utah. It was hard convincing my wife to go with me. The year before this photo was taken was a bad memory for her. She was two weeks away from giving birth and we decided to go to the mountains for the cooler weather. Just as we arrived at Cascade Springs I ran over a small metal rod sticking out of the dirt road. It sliced a large hole in the car. If she had gone into labor on this day I would have been history.

The Specs
f22
1/2 second exposure
overexposed by .7
iso 200

We were here on this day at high noon with no clouds in the sky. If you want to blur the water with full sun you need to set the iso low, use one or more neutral density filters, low iso, and low f stop. To process this photo I used Lightroom 2 and several Topaz plugins.

I like how the bridge is not centered.
I like how the bridge leads the eye from left to right.
I like how the path on the left is only partial. This gives a sense of mystery.
I would like to shot this picture during the morning or evening.

Let me know what you think.

~wr~

Tags: Topaz

The Background
This picture reminds me of a peacefull setting. The stream is slow moving the trees form a nice archway over the water and there is a small beaver dam moving across the photo at a slight angle. This photo is a perfect example of what happens so often in photography. This was not the photo I was originally trying to get. I wanted to go to the other side of the stream and take a picture of some dead trees as the sun was setting. All of a sudden we came across this scene. I quickly took the photo and didn't think another thing of it. This was my favorite photo from the shoot.

The specs
1/30s
iso1600
stopped down 1/3
f5.6

This photo taught me many things. First check your camera settings before shooting. The day before I was shooting a swim meet indoors and had the iso set higher then I would like. Second when ever you want high quality prints make sure you are shooting in RAW.

I like the reflection on the water
I like the gold and deep greens of the water
I like the canopy
I wish I would have shot this using a tripod, in RAW, and at a lower iso

Let me know what you think

~wr~

Tags: Sunset, Water

On this page I will add photos often. I will share how I took the photo, and what works for me or what I would like to change. I welcome your feedback and hope that through this page your photography and mine will continually improve.

This was a fun picture to take. The weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. There was no wind, and the temperature was crisp. The company was good. To get this type of picture you need a cable release, a tripod and a good subject. After the shot I used photoshop and topaz plugins.

I like the colors in the photo.
I like how the bridge appears out of the colors and disapears into the colors.
I like the reflection of the bridge.
I would like the color of the tree in the left corner to be toned down.

Let me know what you think. You can contact me on the link on this page. I will be updating this page often and will add a comment section soon. If you like what you see please share the site with your friends.

~wr~

Tags: Topaz

Recently we decided to go to Colorado for our kids fall break. I was looking forward to this opportunity to spend some time in the Colorado Rockies and take some beautiful fall photos. The aspens there are incredible. One week before we were to leave an early winter storm came in. This was not a regular storm. This one brought with it bitter cold air. The cold temperatures completely killed all remaining leaves. Those that had just started to change turned brown, while the rest just fell off the trees. I was a little disappointed, but I hoped to still find some fun places to shoot. We went on this short hike in the Rocky Mountain National park and came to this waterfall. There was snow at the base. I thought the large rocks would make for a fun shot.

The Specs.
iso 100
28mm
f/22
2 second exposure
2 neutral density filters

I like the large boulders.
I like how the water dances in and out and around the boulders.
I would like to go to this place when the sun is lower in the sky.

Let your friends know about this site. I want to share it with as many as possible.
Let me know what you think.

~wr~

Tags: Fall in the west