Category Archives: Abstracts

Attempts made to break outside of my engineering mentality

Ice Patterns

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150124_Ice Leaf by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 800

I love to walk along the edge of a stream and explore the ice configurations that have been formed.  My imagination wanders as I visualize different shapes created in the ice.  This particular image reminded me of the tip of a maple leaf.  The basic shape formed the edges of the leaf.  I could also see the veins of the leaf within the ice crystal.  I become hypnotized as I watch the water flow under and around the ice.  The reflections create patterns of their own.

At times I get so intrigued by what I am seeing, I do not pay attention to some of my camera settings.  For instance, this was shot at ISO 800 on a tripod.  I could have easily reduced the ISO down two stops and still captured a nice image.  Also, how would this image have looked if I would have slowed the shutter speed down to blur the water passing by the leaf.  However, this was a walk in the woods enjoying the solitude and silence of nature.  If I would have spent a lot of time working this image, the spontaneity would have been lost.

Lesson Learned:  Maintain the balance of wonderment and the mechanics of capturing images.  Many times it is best just to put the camera down and enjoy the moment.

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Getting Out of a Processing Rut

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150117_Ice Formation1_Hard by . 150117_Ice Formation1_Soft by . Fuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 123mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO 800

From time to time I find myself getting into a processing rut.  I tend to process every photo in basically the same way with just a few modifications image to image.  For my black and white images, I normally use NIK Silver Efex Pro and add a high contrast, high structure look to the images.  I amplify the whites and blacks and add structure.  The images look hard and have an abstract feeling as seen in the top image.

This morning I woke up and started on my post.  I looked at the hard image that I had processed the day before.  Something did not feel right.  I tried again doing just the opposite by decreasing contrast and structure.  The resultant second image was much more pleasing to me and better represents what my mind recalls seeing.

Lesson Learned:  Do not process images in a “production mode” method.  Take my time, and process each one to bring out what my eyes and heart see.  Like my friend John Barclay, says, “Wait for the image to come to you”, processing should be considered in the same way.

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In Search of … and Getting Fancy

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150116_Ice & Water Impression by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/11, 1/55 sec, ISO 800

Today I got out for a little walk in Peace Valley Park (Bucks Co., PA).  The morning was beautiful, bright, and crisp.  Besides just getting out for a nice walk in the woods, my objective was to capture interesting ice formations. This image of ice bulbs on branches hanging over a fast moving stream caught my eye.  I got a little fancy and used Topaz Impression’s “Cracked Fresco” preset to enhance the image.  For me, it seemed to highlight the ice and add motion to the moving water beneath.  Below is the SOC version for comparison.

150116_Ice & Water SOC by .

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Just Playing in Our Garden and on My Computer

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141231_Garden Color-Experimentation by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/22, 14 sec, ISO 200

I keep going back to our Red Twig Dogwoods to get a little winter color.  This is a vertical swipe taken at 1/4 second.  Back at my computer, I started playing around with Topaz’s new Impression plug-in. This is the Impasto II preset.  There is a painter somewhere inside this engineer’s mind.

This post is a milestone.  I have entered a post every day for this month, first time ever.  Now to get ready for the New Year!

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The Day After

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141226_Glass Ornament by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MkIII, EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro – Multiple Exposure

We spent most of Christmas Day lounging in our living room looking at our Tree and reminiscing about the past memories that some of our ornaments brought back.  While doing so, why not get a couple of images.

This photo is a combination of two images; one taken at normal focus at a moderate aperture. the other taken as a shallow depth of field and defocused.  I combined them using photoshop layers, nothing very fancy.

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Painting Fall Colors

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141014_Painting Fall Colors-2 by © 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji XT-1, XF55-200mm @ 95mm, f/11, 0.6 sec, ISO 500

Gloomy grey days highlight great fall colors.  Add a little artistic flair and voila … out comes an impressionistic painting.  The colors here in eastern Pennsylvania are rapidly changing.  One day makes a big difference.  A great college friend and I took the opportunity to get a little damp and explore some of the countryside and covered bridges here in Bucks County.  The colors were great, but most important, just being out with a good friend made the day.

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Look Up and Imagine

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140629_Leafy Texture by © 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1. XF18-55mm @ 55mm, f/4.5, 1/350 sec, ISO 1600

Over time, I have learned to frequently look up and see.  On a hot day walking along Lake Galena, I looked up and saw the bright sun shining through these maple leaves.  In the bright sun, the leaves looked pretty flat.  At the time I took this image, I thought about adding a texture.  So off I went looking for something interesting.  I found an old cherry tree covered with a thin green fungus.  The texture caught my eye.  I combined the two to come up with the above image.

For reference, the texture image is below.

140704_Texture Background by © 2013 Karl Graf.

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Thanks Mom!

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140604_Sea Gull Pan by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MkIII, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS @ 170mm, f/32, 1/10 sec, ISO 200 – Motion Pan

Thanks Mom for teaching us to always look for beauty in the simple things in life.  What can be more simple than a sea gull flying along the sea shore.  What can be more beautiful than a sea gull flying along the sea shore.  You will always be remembered!

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Last Day of May

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140531_PV Park Vert Pan by 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1, XF55-200 @ 55mm, f/11, 1.2 sec, ISO 800

Today is the last day of May.  It was a beautiful late Spring morning.  I could not help but to get up early and walk along Lake Galena in near by Peace Valley Park.  My eyes were not picking up interesting subjects.  I used a technique recommended to me by Tony Sweet to just start panning and shooting to get going.  I have learned to consistently fall back on this technique to get my “juices” flowing.  It was a nice morning.

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