Self

I think every photographer needs to do a self portrait at some time to capture how they see them self. I've been wanting to do a self portrait for some time now and finally got around to it.

This image started out as me just playing around with a single off camera speedlite (Canon 580EX II) to try and get a low key image illuminated with only the flash. This image was taken in my home office with the lights turned on, the camera mounted on a tripod with the 10 second self timer enabled and the speedlite sitting on a side table while I sat at my desk. The exposure was set to F8.0 at 1/125 of a second using ISO 160 to limit the ambient room light so the speedlite's flash would be the key light.
The color image was converted to black and white using Adobe Lightroom with some contrast, clarity and sharpening added. There was no heavy Photoshop editing used to produce the effect in this image.

So, what does this image say about me? Am I trying to hide something or expose my dark side? Maybe, but what I think it says is that I tend to see things as black and white. Not black and white photography but rather that I view the world as a contrast of black or white, good or bad, true or false. I'm typically not a "shades of grey" kind of person. I think my subconscious drove me to express this about myself through this image, plus it looks kind of cool.

Ford GT

You don't see many of these on the street.  I found this one in Friendswood, Texas at the annual Friendswood Fig Festival car show.

I'll be going back to the Friendswood Fog Festival again next year.

See more exotic car images here and here.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Hill Country Drought

Somewhere along state highway 16 between Fredricksburg and Llano, Texas.  as you can see the grass is very dry from the serious drought that is currently affecting the majority of the state of Texas.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Magnolia At Last

One of my favorite flowers is the magnolia, maybe because it is the state flower of my home state of Louisiana or possibly because they remind me of  growing up in south Louisiana where these trees are plentiful.  But all my life I can't ever recall having a magnolia tree on the property where I lived.

Well, I do now.  The home we purchased last year has a small magnolia tree in the front yard and it is filled with flowers.  This is the first magnolia bloom I picked from that tree, but I'm sure it will not be the last.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Minh Hai

I've always been drawn to the sea, well the Gulf of Mexico to be more specific.  There is just something about the call of the seagulls and the smell of salt water that takes me back to my youth in far southwest Louisiana.  I spent many days on my grandfathers shrimp boat in the lakes and rivers of Calcasieu and Cameron parishes Louisiana.

This past weekend I was in Kemah, Texas and captured this image of a fleet of shrimp boats docked along the Clear Lake channel that leads out to Galveston Bay.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.