storage tank Newington, NH

Yet another of  the lines and rhythm series. This image does not have the same impact if anything is different. I know because I tried them all. If you change the color, the saturation, the exposure, the cropping, the aspect ratio, the tones, or anything else in this image it doesn't work. Some images are capable of allowing multiple interpretations. Not this one.

Art Deco stairwell Hoover Dam

As I reflect on this image I realize that this actually was my first of the lines and rhythm series. There has been more than one person that asked if I was a musician when they saw the images from this series.  I had to settle on this odd aspect ratio in order to get this composition. Notice that the handrail leads your eye to the art deco shadow falling exactly 1/3 of the way down from the top of the image which, as you know, is a very powerful focal point of composition.  

Frosty corral Rollinsford,NH

Another of the lines and rhythm series.

This is the payoff that you get for getting up before sunrise. 

The frost on the ground initially didn't come across well in the color image. George DeWolfe taught me to completely desaturate an image, adjust the gray tones, then reapply the color to the image. However after

seeing this image in black & white the choice was simple. This image had to stay in B&W.

Late Autumn foliage Brookfield, NH

This is a classic example of how beautiful color can be enhanced by diffuse light. These subtle autumn colors would have been washed out on a sunny day. How's that for a paradox! The subtlety of these colors may or may not come across depending on the color gamut that your monitor is capable of reproducing. 

This was shot with a shallow depth of field in order to enhance the three dimensional quality of the image. 

Waves Crashing in storm Nubble Light York,ME

This image was shot late on a rainy day from a back seat and through a rain soaked wind shield of a car. Notice that due to the shallow depth of field (f/2.8), the rain on the windshield is not noticeable. The shutter release had to be synchronized with the waves and the windshield wipers.  The image was enhanced by working the seagull into the sequence. All those years working with a metronome seems to have helped.

Boiled Peanut Man Macon, GA

I hate to spoil the mood of this image, but this guy was actually quite charming. If I had waited for his permission to shoot, the image would have shown him posing with a goofy grin.  The sepia tone effect was applied using NIK Silver Efex Pro. It worked quite well to get the effect that I wanted. 

The gaping maw of the hatchback looks as though it is going to eat the boiled peanut man.

Blues singer at The Hummingbird Macon, GA

No way was I going to do this in color. 

 I was told by my host that this was not a particularly safe neighborhood in Macon. With all due respect, trust your instincts. I heard some great music, got some nice shots, and only got stabbed once (just kidding).

Mothra Macon, GA

Marylin Tully Ward insisted that I ought to get out of an air conditioned vehicle to see something at this shopping mall in Macon, GA. It was kind of like Mom saying that you should be outside playing on this beautiful sunny day. I'm glad that I trusted her instincts this time. Notice how the lines lead you to the moth who is placed exactly 1/3 of the way down. I might have even tried to place him on the left third as well, but it didn't work as well. 

Dam at Union, NH

I had to defend this image to Jim Block that I should have gotten more detail out of the sky. I pointed out that there was no detail in this overcast sky especially because I was  shooting a long exposure with available light after dark. This wonderful dam is a gem that almost was demolished this year. I wanted to bring out all the incredible variations of texture that are in this image. The shiny water above the dam, the striations of it as it cascades off the front morphing into silk below, the strands of water spraying off the rocks on the side...

This thing is a fugue of textures including the trees and the sky! 

Monorail Seattle, WA

It's all about lines and rhythm.

This is the first of this series. The lines of the monorail track in this image dominate and create a powerful sense of motion. This was a spontaneous shot from the front seat of a moving vehicle.  In order to get the faster shutter speed needed to shoot from the car I had to use a fairly high ISO. This results in noise which is visible in the shadows.  It is more noticeable when the image is enlarged. I will try a few different ways to see if I can reduce the noise without loosing too much sharpness. More about this later.

Early Autumn Mist on River Union, NH

And yet another reason to get out of bed at 4:00am to catch a gem like this one! How nice of that kid who strategically placed that tire swing for me exactly at that spot.

Ma's Iris East Rochester, NH

It was quite an ordeal to adjust the tones in this image in order to correct a clipped highlight in the top petal. It took me awhile before I noticed that pushing the midtones too far can cause a foggy shadow-like corona around the flower. I came back to correct this after observing the same thing happen in a different image using the same software plugin. It still can stand some more adjustment. The trick is to do it without losing the great color in the flower.

Chicken Westmoreland,NH

This is all about the color.

Lilly pads Sanbornville,NH

This tiny lilly would be swallowed up in this composition if the lilly pads and the powerful reflection of the tree weren't directing your eye to it. The contrast of the bright yellow is an example of how the eye can be directed to a place in the image. The blue of the reflected sky is essential to the balance of colors in this image. I created a 13"x19" print of this image on Epsom Velvet Fine Art Paper and was very pleased with the results. I am offering limited editions of this image are for sale.. Details will be posted on my website. http://hstrial-thomasllavoiepho.intuitwebsites.com/about.html

Dr. Tully's Bullfrog with vignetting Brookfield, NH

How many different ways can you draw attention to a subject than this! Nothing subtle about this one. I did everything but draw circles and arrows with a paragraph on the back. First of all, this was shot about three feet from the guy with an aperture of f/2.8. producing such a shallow depth of field that his nearest eye is much sharper than his other one. Notice how the foreground and background are blurred. This demonstrates how the eye is drawn to the sharpest part of the image. The vignetting (darkening around the periphery) makes the subject look brighter by contrast. This demonstrates how the eye is lead to the brightest part of the image. Finally, the subject has been placed at a very powerful place on the image based on the rule of thirds. If you are new to composition you should become familiar with this rule of composition. Google "rule of thirds". Then ignore it when you feel like it, but definitely be aware of it.

Pilons Wolfeboro, NH

HMS Bounty Portsmouth, NH

This is the actual  HMS Bounty that was used in the original movie with Clark Gabel and Charles Laughton. She has been fully restored and is magnificent to behold. 

The sky was not cloudy. What you see is actually smoke from huge forest fires that were raging in Canada that day.

One of my favorite things to do with a composition is to frame the subject by using an element of the image such as these trees.

I have an ongoing project to give this a more historical appearance. I will either remove or disguise the navy yard in the background and the hideous orange fencing on the dock. It was not extremely difficult  to separate the shipyard from the rigging of the ship, but when I applied Gaussian blur to the background it came out appearing as if there was a massive cobweb in the rigging. See if you can find where I removed the raft from this image. (Hint: look at the reflection in the water.)

Autumn sumac Newington, NH

What can I say, but Glorious Autumn!

Boat houses Union, NH

Hanging out on Milton Pond Milton, NH

This is all about telling a story. They actually caught a small fish using this setup. Notice where the subject group is placed. Rule of thirds again.

Little Bay after dark

This was a long exposure after dark.

Moon over Little Bay

The starburst effect is created by using a small aperture (f/22) and of course a longer exposure.

When doing long exposures, the tripod is indispensable.

fishing for toys

This image tells a story. The toys seem to want to connect with Ella as much as she wants them. 

Some people are very conservative with their use of saturation. However, this image seemed to allow more use of saturation than normal. For the novice, saturation is the intensity of the color. Along with sharpening, it is one of those personal preferences that will evoke a reaction (not always a good one) from most photographers.

The lesson

This was a very spontaneous grab shot with barely enough time to focus. It's all about the expression and the story being told by the image. The most important thing when shooting people and animals is to get the eyes sharp. For this reason, Casey's eye was  selectively sharpened. Her hair was cloned in order to disguise some blown out highlights. Again the rule of thirds comes into play when considering where her eye is placed in the composition. What you can't tell from this image is how incredibly photogenic Casey is. Sorry for intruding on your lesson Casey.

Legs and toes

This my twin sister Judy, her granddaughter Ella, her daughter Liz, and Ella's sister Casey's one leg. No wait. This is Liz, Ella, Casey. No. Never mind.

Glass Bridge Tacoma, WA

In other versions of this image I removed the black bar or added some text (Thank you Ernie Hebert for that suggestion). I struggled with removing it because it messed with the composition that I wanted. Make it a habit to check the perimeter of your image for distracting elements.

balloon rally Pittsfield,NH

This was challenging to get a good composition because they were continually moving relative to me and each other. At one point they were so close that I could literally hear their conversation. 

Murloc

This is my niece Mary's dog, Murloc. Isn't he handsome! OK, he's pretty. This obviously isn't a studio shot. The yellow thing on the right is distracting, and was removed in a later version of this image. I use it to illustrate that you should always check the perimeter of your image for distracting elements.