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Teavana Tea Anyone? – Emperor’s Clouds and Mist

Posted on January 15, 2012 // 2 Comments

Updated for 2013

Teavana tea shops have been popping up all over the map and for good reason. Their tea is fantastic and fresh! Over the past few years, I have amassed a pretty decent collection of greens, oolongs, and black teas. Each one is unique so its important to have a good variety on hand for when the mood strikes. There is nothing better than steeping a pot of green tea about an hour after dinner and sitting down on an oversized cushy couch with a laptop in hand relaxing the night away.

Emperor’s Clouds and Mist

Green teas come in a variety of different complexities; some are vegetal with a strong earthy taste – think grassy here. Others can be mild and bring back a touch of sweetness to your palette. Emperor’s Clouds and Mist is a delicately soft green tea that adds a touch of honey to its taste. I suppose this can be indicative of the region its grown or how it is harvested, but that’s what I taste here. I’m a fan of Teavana tea and most recently, a newer tea shop called DAVIDsTEA, which can be found in the NYC village at 275 Bleeker Street.

Mix Your Teas to Create Flavorful Blends!

Teavana is all about mixology and their iPhone app will give you suggestions to create new blends! I particularly love black teas that have chocolate undertones combined with dried fruit like acai and blackberry. Write this down… this blend is to-die-for and was my own creation!

Combine equal parts of Golden Monkey black tea with Wonderberry Chocolate Truffle Oolong Tea. This blend is not listed under the pairings section, but it really should be. Try it! You won’t be disappointed!

Speedlights for Detailing Tea

In the spirit of everything speed light from class yesterday, I decided to mess around with an off-camera strobe and try to extract as much detail from these tea leaves as humanly possible. My SB900 was placed on the floor in line with the tea and in pretty close. Notice the soft shadows? iTTL mode was also used.

Location Lighting Workshop With Rick Friedman

Posted on January 15, 2012 // Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure of attending a location lighting workshop instructed by photojournalist Rick Friedman this past Saturday. This class crammed a four day curriculum into 6 hours of nonstop lecture and group activity. Rick taught speed light fundamentals, how to mix ambient light with flash, on-camera flash techniques, and studio/on-location set-ups with octaboxes, softboxes, ring lights, snoots, grids, gobos, beauty dishes, and sweeps. Reflectors, sun screens, home depot solutions, and other various tools were also introduced.

Rick Friedman is high energy and extremely passionate about photography and it shows in his lectures. We barely had time for lunch and I’m okay with that because I wanted to maximize my time and get the most out of the 6 hours.

Rick Friedman’s Lighting Course Modeling Shot

Unique Photo and Rick come prepared; we even had a model to shoot during our break-out sessions. This photo was shot with a single Dynalite studio strobe inside a RiME LITE Octagon Softbox and a Home Depot foam core reflector @ camera right.

Filed Under: 365 Project, Lighting For Photography // Tagged: Lighting Workshop

Christmas Tree Star Topper – Flower Abstract

Posted on January 13, 2012 // Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is a sad, sad day. The Christmas tree is finally coming down and making its way to the trash. All those days of coming home from work and enjoying that winter pine scent will soon be a distant memory. This year, the tree was especially small, but it made up for its size by overpowering the room with pine tree scented bliss; I can’t tell you its type, but I do know it was not a Frazier fur. Our Christmas tree had a star topper this year, which added a little bit of color to the already festive red, white, and green lights.

Blur Your Focus to Create Light Bokeh

The weather has finally turned cold and windy which is capable of sending chills through bones so what better way to introduce memories of warmer weather with an abstract flower from the Christmas tree star topper! This technique is simple to do with any sort of light. Simply switch your camera to manual focus and pull the lights OOF (out-of-focus). You can make this as dramatic as you like and for added punch rip the shot with a fast shutter speed to render your lights in a sea of black like I did here.

Filed Under: 365 Project // Tagged: Abstract, Flowers

Key West Butterfly Conservatory

Posted on January 12, 2012 // Leave a Comment

It’s extremely tough to pull yourself away from island time once you’ve had a taste. Key West, FL did just that and then some.

There are tons of activities to enjoy on the island depending on your mood and adventure level. These are in no particular order and this list is more of a brain dump than anything… you can rent wave runners, swim, scuba dive, tan, lounge, eat wonderfully, watch the sunset, explore the downtown art scene, party, shop, kite surf, build sandcastles, take sandcastle building lessons, sleep in, drink from coconuts, eat the inner carpel from said coconut, dance in the rain, or lay on the beach, get pampered and drink cocktails all day.

Yeah, Key West is that awesome. 🙂

Feel Like a Kid Again Chasing Butterflies

Key West also has a butterfly conservatory that will make you feel like a kid again. I chased butterflies for at least an hour and left with a free cardboard sticker cutout of a Blue Morpho butterfly on my shoulder. The elusive Blue Morpho is difficult to catch with its wings spread wide, but if you do get lucky, that beautiful blue shimmers and glitters like you have never seen. It is a great color for an import tuner car if I ever owned one.

I happened to stumble upon this aerial view of a butterfly and was drinking in the view; it was the iPhone to the rescue to capture this shot… This phone/camera combo is super handy in a pinch in case you were wondering.

Filed Under: 365 Project // Tagged: Nature

Church Architecture – Day 13

Posted on January 12, 2012 // Leave a Comment

Church architecture is always very beautiful, even if the structure is old and falling apart. I am drawn to the stained glass, the old stone work, and its moody and ethereal lighting.

My immediate surrounding area is filled with gorgeous churches that light up the roads on which they reside and I am constantly pulled in their direction to take a few photos. My initial intention was to go inside, but it was too late and the doors were closed and locked. I thought church doors are always open for visitation? Oh well, there’s always next time.

For today, I captured a night shot of the exterior church architecture highlighting the front door and its elaborate stone work. I think the deep black sky really helps pull the building into focus.

Filed Under: 365 Project // Tagged: Church, Nightscapes

Flower Photography – Day 12

Posted on January 10, 2012 // Leave a Comment

Everyone loves flowers; they are beautiful to look at and they add that little bit of vibrance to any room when they’re freshly cut. Flower photography is popular – especially when one is shot close up. The pistils (those little tentacles in the center of a flower) are remarkably detailed. Get close enough and see for yourself!

I really enjoy visiting the botanical garden in Ringwood, NJ after Memorial Day – there is so much to see and you can literally spend a few hours just walking around. I’m going one step further this coming year; I’m bringing a blanket to sit on for lunch and a soccer ball. Did I mention the field is huge?

A White Daisy Crop

I’m sharing a crop today of a flower that was photographed this past summer. No macro, just a pretty white flower with nice background bokeh from a 50mm lens.

Filed Under: 365 Project // Tagged: Flowers

Night Photography – Shadows & Color

Posted on January 9, 2012 // Leave a Comment

I am sure that I will be partaking in quite a bit of night photography for this photo-a-day project simply because I work during the week and it is difficult to devote time during daytime hours – excluding weekends and vacation days of course. All is good though; night photography can add a new dimension to your photography skill set. All you need is a stable tripod and a cable release. Or, you can use the timer on the camera; a 10 second timer should be sufficient at eliminating any internal camera vibrations.

Shadows & Color

I really like to play with shadows and to create mood with dark scenes, especially at night. This particular wrought iron fence had a light passing through the grates and created the coolest play on shadows near the painted yellow stop text. The wrought iron shadows danced into the distance, mingling on top of one another and interweaved into sets of diamonds. Midway through setting up, I noticed headlights behind me and somehow managed to stop the flow of traffic. Oops! So, I moved out of the way, recomposed again, and came away with a keeper.

Filed Under: 365 Project, Photography Tips // Tagged: Nightscapes, Urban

Nature Photography – Mountain Biking in New Jersey

Posted on January 8, 2012 // Leave a Comment

It’s the winter and the landscape is drab because there isn’t any beautiful white snow lining the trails just yet. Nature photography needs to be meticulously planned; it’s wise to know the weather report and the lay-of-the-land. Also, scout the area for remarkable hidden finds that could potentially land a beautiful shot.

Scenery will change dramatically because of available light and available color (think flowers and growth here), so I recommend visiting a favorite location in different conditions. Rain from earlier in the day can add saturation to your scene’s colors or a ray of light from the sun can add just the right amount of flair to your photo. You will eventually get what you were looking for with patience and persistence.

Mountain Biking in New Jersey

I was not so lucky yesterday, and that’s OK. Chalk it up to another condition that I know doesn’t work for a particular location – at least for the exact vision I had. Nature photography can be finicky like that. It’s January and the temperature is close to 60 degrees here in New Jersey. Crazy right? It felt right to get on the bike and go for one last ride before it is too cold.

So, I packed my camera and my backup mountain bike; the primary has a flat and I really need to change the tires because the treads are down to the bone. My ride started out okay – but proceeded to get progressively worse. The backup Cannondale doesn’t have clipless pedals that I’ve grown to love, and the ground is as slick as a banana peel. Mud is everywhere and I’m having a hard time keeping the bike stable through the rivets of mud, especially with a pack on my back.

In the end, the four mile loop seemed like eternity, but it was worth every grunt, thorn prick, and following day saddle pain. This next shot is a result of a much needed break midway through the ride.

Filed Under: 365 Project, Photography Tips // Tagged: Nature

Camera Phones & Office Sunset

Posted on January 7, 2012 // Leave a Comment

It was a Friday afternoon and I was working on a project at the office, but also fully aware that the sun was setting; a view from the window gave it away that I was in for a treat on the walk to my car. I didn’t have my camera rig with me, but fortunately technology has advanced to the point that you can carry a high quality point-and-shoot wherever you go. Which cameras should you use in a pinch?

Use Your iPhone or Whatever You Have Readily Available

My iPhone 4S works double duty as my backup and my always-on-hand camera. A few minor level adjustments and noise cleanup in post really helps add depth and clarity to any image. While the iPhone isn’t a full frame sensor with professional control, it isn’t meant to be. It’s the device that gets you the shot when you need to travel light or simply forget to bring your rig with you. And for that duty alone, it’s priceless. Kudos to Apple for constantly evolving the camera hardware inside their devices!

Office Sunset

I’m pleased that I was able to take five minutes, compose, adjust the exposure directly on the screen, and fire one precise shot. This office sunset certainly was beautiful and I am forever grateful that high quality cameras are available on phones; otherwise I would have never had the opportunity to capture this beautiful sunset!

Filed Under: 365 Project, Photography Tips // Tagged: iPhoneograpy, Landscape, Sunset

365 Project – Day 8 – Still Life Photography

Posted on January 6, 2012 // Leave a Comment

I am not a morning person and it’s tough for me to wake up for the sunrise. This is not an ideal situation as a photographer, but if I tell myself enough times that waking up early will be worth it the night before, I sometimes get lucky. It’s funny; I had every intention of shooting the wooden bench at sunrise, but there was just too much cover to make it work like I had intended. What I did find after firing off a few shots was a perfect view of the horizon way up past the rock wall in the woods. Today’s photo is not a sunrise photo per se, but instead a rendition of still life photography that does a nice job of showing elongated rock shadows from the low angle of the sun.

I know my secret sunrise vantage point will be a photography heaven for a while so expect more to come from this little find.

Filed Under: 365 Project // Tagged: Black&White, Still Life