Digital Wonders

At 12:10 PM the other night I used my Nikon D-800 to shoot a night shot at a friend’s lake.  The moon was setting to my right and it along with the stars made my exposure of 30 seconds at f6.7 give me great detail in the water and sky. I shoot in raw format and by using the exposure slider in Adobe Lightroom I was able to make another rendition of the above image. This one showing detail to make it look almost like day time.  Look closely at the second image below and you can still see the stars.

Southern stars over Havenwood Lake

Image# 150627-0130

Way back when (2006) when I was still shooting film, there was no way to get these two different versions of an image out of one Kodachrome 200 slide or any other film. These days you can do hundreds of editing tasks with LR or Photoshop much easier and quicker than you could in the darkroom and many more such as this two examples that you could not do before because of the limitations of film.

Fake daylight over Havenwood Lake

Image# 150627-0130 adjusted

But with traditional photographers like myself, you can use these remarkable cameras to make straightforward images of beautiful places such as the lands protected and restored by The Nature Conservancy in Louisiana.  I did so over the last two years when I visited multiple times the 60 plus properties covering over 350,000 acres in Louisiana by TNC.  My book, Louisiana Wild, which has been researched, photographed, written, edited, designed and printed is now being shipped to the warehouse.  It will be in books stores by September.

New book cover

Every Tuesday, I will write about one of the areas I visited making this book. I will start July 28 with one of the most interesting areas which is named Copenhagen Hills.  This hilly sylvan paradise has more different species of trees than any place in Louisiana.  I started my shooting for this book there on the last day of July 2013 and have been working on it since.  Please tune into my blog every Tuesday to learn more about these interesting habitats. And look for Louisiana Wild in your bookstore or on this web site soon.