"Colorful Plantings" - Old Main, Penn State University

Plantings - Old Main, Penn State University

This photo was taken on a slightly overcast day while photographing on the main campus of Penn State University.

I had already spent a fair amount of time shooting one of the most iconic landmarks at Penn State, "Old Main" which is the primary administration building on campus.

During a bit of a break I noticed these colorful, leafy plantings behind me.  They looked like they had promise, but something was lacking at the time so I went back to shooting the building.

Satisfied I had done what I could to catch some new angles on an already over-photographed subject, I turned around and went to pick-up my camera bag.  Just then the sun broke through a high overcast and created a mild back-lighting on these leaves.  That was all they needed to break into the vibrant and unusual colors you see in the photo here.

I used a Nikon D90 DSLR with a 180/2.8 ED lens close to wide-open to make this image.  This created the both shallow depth of field (which draws your eye to the main subject) as well as the vibrant and well saturated colors.  The back-lighting effect adds to the photo by creating a 3-dimensional feeling and is what really caused the colors to "pop".

And no, this was not PhotoShopped :-) 

Old Main Bell Tower

Old Main Bell Tower - Penn State University Main Campus

The Old Main bell tower is instantly recognizable by anyone who has attended or visited Penn State... and it is no doubt one of the most photographed sites on campus.

The challenge for any photographer is how to shoot it in a new and visually interesting way.

This photo was an experiment in trying to do just that.

While not for everyone... this photo was post-processed in Nikon CaptureNX using the "Levels and Curves" adjustment to vary the intensity, density and value of the original colors.

Purists, traditionalists and straight shooters will probably not care for the result or techniques used to get there... but there is no doubt that digital manipulation is a technique that is here to stay.  It's at least something worth experimenting with next time you're shooting the "Same Old".  The results could surprise you.

Duck - State College, PA

Duck - State College, PA

After many years this photo is still one of my favorites. 

This is an example of shooting tight to maximize image quality.  The challenge when shooting this tight is to maintain a "useful" composition which still gives perspective editors and art directors some options on how to use your photo.

This photo also illustrates the use of a wide aperture and shallow depth-of-field to focus attention on the main subject.

Shoot with Nikon F3 and 400/3.5ED Nikkor lens... probably close to wide-open.  Original on Fujichrome 100