For a while now I’ve had a list of photos that I want to re-work.  This list grows and grows, but rarely shrinks.  For instance, I have in my to-do list “Re-work Europe Trip HDRs.”  That represents a lot of work, not only that I did back in 2008, but that I have ahead of me.  That might be why that line item on my to-do list has been sitting there for over 8 months now.  Every time I prioritize, it moves up, but then as I add things it slowly moves to the bottom.

Last night as part of my move from SmugMug to Flickr, I spotted this photo.  Instantly I remembered how disappointed I was in the photo when I took it.  We were in a hurry, for some reason, and as I was about to snap the photo, there were groups of people coming at this scene from behind me, and some coming down the alleyway toward me.  I knew this had the potential to be a good shot, so I fired off one frame with my Canon G9 before the people got into the shot.  When I got back from Europe, this was one of those images that I was excited about.  When I opened it up on the computer, it fell flat.  The colors were muted, the shadow of the alley went away, there’s some motion blur in it, and in general it just stunk.  One of the many lessons about photography, especially travel photography, is that it’s always cheaper to take good photos while you’re there rather than pay for a re-do.

Luckily for me, with the new software that’s out there now, and more editing skills on my part, I was able to work on this photo for 20 minutes or so last night and get a usable image from it.  The edited image leads off at the top of the post, and I’ve decided to show the original down here.  I think you’ll agree, the re-work was worth it.

I’m finally working through some of the photos from this summer.  Throughout this summer, when I’ve had time to work on personal photos, I haven’t always wanted to.  When I get free time, sometimes I just want to go to a park, watch TV, or have a beer.  However, it’s time to get down to the business of editing the summer photos and start showing some stuff.

The shot above is from the boardwalk at Coney Island, and is pretty simple to see what it is.  This was the afternoon of the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.  If you’ve never been to the Mermaid Parade, which I hadn’t, I recommend going.  I have no  intention of going back again, however, at least not as a behind-the-ropes spectator.  It was hot, crowded, and the photo opportunities just weren’t doing it for me.  After we gave up on the parade, we walked down the boardwalk, and I saw this ticket booth which brought back childhood memories of the Cleveland County Fair.  A quick three-shot HDR and this is what you get.  Unlike Coney Island, this is pretty simple, but I still like it.

There isn’t really much to say about this photo; it’s pretty much exactly what it looks like.  While I would love to type incessantly about the capture, that too was pretty straight forward.  While shooting Matt & Di’s Wedding in July, I saw this storage compartment for a fire hose.  I stepped back, snapped a picture, and that pretty much sums it up.  When I got home, I did a simple conversion to black and white, a little cropping and aligning, and then cleaned up the image noise as it was shot at 800 ISO.

It has been a few days since I’ve posted to the blog, and it seems like today is a good time to do so. Mike Pittman Photography’s “World Headquarters” have been buzzing with activity.  I’ve been busy editing the photos from Matt & Di’s wedding as well as moving my entire photo archive (at least the part that’s digitized) back to 2000 from SmugMug to Flickr.  I really enjoyed SmugMug, but Flickr has a better offering for my requirements.  There are also some not-so-secret changes taking place behind the scenes, but for now I’ll let those remain “not-so-secret” and unveil the curtain at a later date.

Anyone who has been to New York City knows the Flatiron Building.  Then again, most people who haven’t been to New York City know the Flatiron Building.  It’s famous for it’s triangular shape, and is historical for being one of the city’s first skyscrapers.  The HDR photo above was taken on a cold winter night, just before sunset, as the reflection of the setting sun made it’s mark on the east side of the building.  Sometimes these things just align, and this is one of those days.  I was out and about with my trusty Canon G11 and looked up to see the reflection.  I braced myself against a light pole, and started shooting bracketed sets.  I was able to fire off six frames, and the beautiful light was gone.  At sunset, patience is not a virtue.  Shoot through the sunset, and worry with the perfect light later.  If you wait for the light to improve, you may well have just missed the best light of the evening.

I’ve already said in an earlier blog post that Matt & Di were a great couple to work with, and that I had a blast shooting their wedding.  What’s been even more fun for me for the past several days is going through the photos from their wedding, and seeing how happy they and their guests were.  Looking through photos after an event is my favorite part of this job.  I go out and use the experience I’ve gained in the past, and apply it to the shoot and hand, mix it with some new ideas, and work my butt off in the process.  As soon as I’m back in the office I download the photos and start looking through them with the same zeal I had years ago when I got my 4×6 prints back from the local Costco.  Back then, I couldn’t even make it out of the store before I was looking at prints.  Now, of course, I can chimp the back of the camera to see how things are going.  Nothing compares, however, to seeing the images on a full screen.

Working through these photos, I tried to select the ones I thought best told the story of Matt & Di’s wedding.  It’s tough, telling a story in a few images, but I think this is a pretty good selection of photos that tell the story, and are also pleasing to view.  I hope you enjoy them!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with Matt & Di at 620 Loft & Garden in midtown Manhattan.  Matt and Di, and all of their guests, were great to work with.  The love these two share was almost palpable, and so was the love their family and friends share for the two of them.  I am so glad I was able to be a present for their wedding to capture the wedding day of a great couple, and look forward to sharing the moments I captured with them and their family.

I’m sure the hymn “Old-Time Religion” has been sung in this church a time or two.  This is a little street-side house of worship in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  I took this photo on 4×5 film with a ZeroImage pinhole camera while vacationing in the area a few years ago.  The church clearly has been around, but has weathered the years well with face-lifts as needed, but you can be sure it’s seen a Sunday Morning or two.

The lyrics to the 2nd verse of “Old-Time Religion” are “It is good for the Mourner…” There are days when I come home from shooting, and I mourn quite a while.  Luckily for me, there was no mourning to do the night I processed this shot.

Sometimes when you’re out shooting a wedding, the posed photos become candid, and sometimes the best ones.  Karen and Conrad had just added Cody to their family, and wanted to include him in a few of their wedding photos.  I love dogs and had no intention whatsoever of saying “no,” and after I met Cody I knew he was going to be fun to work with.

Since Karen was a little concerned about her dress (read: way concerned, no dirt!) we didn’t do a whole lot with Cody.  However, after about 5 minutes of working with him, Cody still had no intention of behaving.  Conrad leaned down to have a chat with him, and Cody took his chance to reach out and lick Conrad square on the cheek.  Cody’s lightning fast tongue was too quick for me, but you can see these three were having a good time on this afternoon.

If I could spend two weeks of every year on a vacation where I took as many photos as I did during the two weeks I spent in Europe…  well, I wouldn’t have time to edit anything else.  I took over three months just to do my initial edit on the photos from Prague, Croatia, and Italy.  Looking back at the way I edited them just two years ago, I want to go through the process all over again, but time just doesn’t permit right now.  Sometime soon, when I have more free time, I’ll go back and work on those photos again.

This harbor is in Dubrovnik Croatia.  Going to Dubrovnik was a game-time decision and replaced Florence, Italy in the trip itinerary while I was on an un-planned 6 hour layover in London.  That change, in my opinion, was the decision of the trip.  Croatia, and Dubrovnik especially, is truly the “Gem of the Adriatic.”  The people were nice, and the photos were even better.  I could easily spend just two weeks in and around Dubrovnik, not to mention the rest of Croatia.

The temperature in New York City has been above 95 for four straight days, and threatens a fifth tomorrow before finally “cooling off” to a “chilly” 89 on Thursday.  Right now it’s 101 outside.  It’s so hot outside (how hot is it?) that the snow in this photo is actually melting as I type this.

When I took this photo in Coeur d’Alene, ID, the temperature was hovering just under freezing, and I was out walking around wearing a lightweight jacket, jeans, sneakers, and no gloves.  I was cold, for sure, but looking back that sounds quite heavenly.  For those of you dealing with the heat today, hopefully this photo will remind you that as sure as it’s hot out today, it will be cold again.