Pic O' The Week #2

Subtitled: Captured At The Mall

So for whatever reason Brian and I both woke up this morning thinking that it might be a good idea to head up to Park Meadows (local ritzy mall) with our cameras to see what we could see.

I'm not sure what I expected to find that would be picture-worthy, but the trip was saved by a Scottish Stained Glass kiosk....











and a shop selling absolutely lovely cast iron teapots:


I think carrying the camera around makes me a bit more judgemental ("Is that worth taking a picture of?") but also makes me look at things a lot more actively than I normally do. Not a bad tradeoff, I suppose.

Project 365, Day 8. You never know what you'll find.

No fancy, long winded story today.

No special techniques used here, no fancy lenses like yesterday.

Nothing you couldn't do with a point and shoot camera, really.



I was out shooting and came across this painted on the side of a building and it really struck me.

So I took a picture of it.


I'm gonna head back and shoot this again from a different angle. I really like this painting.

(Remember to click once or twice on the picture to see it larger and get the full effect.)

Until tomorrow!

Brian Hatch photography

Project 365, Day 7. Eh, I've seen pictures of that...or have I?

There are quite a few things in this world that have their picture taken all of the time.

Even out in the middle of nowhere, there are places that you have to beat off other photographers with your tripod just to get your shot.

Another problem with this is that with the advent of the internet, everyone on the planet has seen pictures of this place or thing and no one wants to see more of them.

They all look the same.

However....every once in a while...a photographer will capture an image of this highly photographed item and through their creativity, they will show you how they see it.

Even though you've seen a million pictures of it, this particular image will catch your eye. You stop and look at it and wonder why you've never seen it like this before.

There is a place like that here in Denver. It's of the sculpture called "I See You" and it's a two story tall big blue bear looking in the window at the Colorado Convention Center. Now, if you're not from around here, you've probably not seen a lot of pictures of this, but around here? Eh, who wants to see another one?

I, of course, did NOT scout my location like I should have. I had no idea which side of the building this sculpture was going to be on. Which means I had no idea how it would be lit at any point of the day. I figured I would get lucky and it would be lit just how I wanted it to be.

Guess who isn't buying a lottery ticket tonight...

I got there and it was a big dark blue blob. Shit. Now what?

I cant light it with flashes. Number one, I didn't bring any. Number two, I don't have the skill to do something like that. Where is Joe McNally when you REALLY need him?

Well, I didn't drive all the way down there, feed a parking meter just to turn around and leave with no pictures.

So, I pulled out several of my favorite techniques, shoved them in the blender and hit puree on that bitch.

I shot a nine image bracket for a HDR (High Dynamic Range) shot to make the most of the light, since I had too much in some areas and not enough in others. I used my fisheye lens for a unique perspective of the bear and shot at an unusual angle. In post processing, I used selective color to emphasize the color.

It went from a two story lump of blue poop to this:


I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that even if you've seen a ton of pictures of this thing, this one would make you stop and look at it. I'll bet you'd never have seen it like this.

Go ahead and click here to take a look at a couple of other shots I took of him today.

Remember to click on the picture once or twice to see it larger!

Until tomorrow!

Brian Hatch photography

Project 365, Day 6. Dancing puppy!

Well, like the title bar of the blog says:

"Now with 25% more pics of our dogs!"

Time for a dog photo.

When we got this one, she had been abandoned and homeless for quite some time. She probably hadn't had a decent meal since she was weaned. She was 5 pounds of skin and bones.

The first time we fed her, she danced for joy. No, really, she danced. Hopped on her back legs and danced around until the food bowl was set down in front of her.

Not much has changed since then. Oh, she put on some weight...60 pounds worth...but she still dances for her meals.

In fact, she jumps for joy too.

Sera, the happy puppy.


Now, if you'll excuse her, she's trying to beat her best time. Eating dinner in under 4 seconds...




Brian Hatch photography

Project 365, Day 5. Scouting....

A lot of the places I have been to photograph, I have just shown up and started shooting.

Ireland, England, Scotland, New Zealand...

Oh yeah, and Afghanistan.

How do you scout a location when it's your trip of a lifetime?

Nobody goes to Afghanistan if they don't have to. Trust me on that.

I've been reading books by a couple of my favorite photographers the past week or so and they both pound into your head to scout your location. Know what you want to shoot, how you want to shoot it and what you want your results to be.

Hell, even here at home... Garden of the Gods. It's pretty close, seems like it wouldnt be hard to drive 20 minutes and scout a location.

Do I?

Nope. I get up at the asscrack of dawn (well, before that actually, I'm on location at asscrack o-clock) and am amazed and blown away by the colors and beauty of the park. The light is so dynamic there, you only have 30 0r 40 minutes of great light and it changes so fast. In the time it takes to set up for a shot, the light may have changed.

We've been having these beautiful sunsets here in the area, so I went to scout a location to shoot them. Not really to shoot the sunset itself, but just to find a place to set up. Find out what the area looks like and where I want to point my camera.

Today's shot is from scouting...


I wish I'd been there a bit earlier to catch the sunset in that con trail a bit better. Maybe next time!

By the way, you can click on each and every picture to see it in a larger format. You can then click on it again to see it in an even larger format. Try it! Then go back through the blog and click on other pics to get the full effect from them!

Until tomorrow...

Brian Hatch photography

Project 365, Day 4. Fun with Christmas lights and a flash.

So the guy next door has a really nice set of lights on one of his trees and behind it, on the house is a wreath.

Now, how do I take a picture of the tree and the wreath that is below the lamp?

Light the wreath from below with a wireless flash.


Not sure if this is quite what I saw in my head, but it's not too bad I dont think.

Brian Hatch photography

Project 365 Day 3. Waaaait a minute....

I have read advice from several photographers that suggest to photograph what you love. That's what today's photo will be.

You're going to look at the photo and cry foul!

"Hey! That's nothing more than a picture of a couple of toys! What's so special about that?" You'll ask.

Before you brand me a cheat, let's look at this picture a bit closer, shall we?

First, it's a fairly technical shot:

I placed them both on a figure stand in a light box (Google it), I shot my camera in manual exposure mode with macro lens on a tripod, using a shutter release to maximize sharpness and depth of field. I also shot this picture with not one, not two, but THREE off camera wireless flashes! Two of them were set at different exposures and all three were set at a different distance from the figures. ALL of which affect how the picture is lit.

I nailed all of this on my second or third shot.

If that's not enough for you, well, I love Iron Man. I have been a huge fan for more than 20 years. I have all of the comic books going back to the first issue, I have almost every action figure made of Iron Man. I have posters, t-shirts, stickers, coloring books, cups, toothbrushes and books with Shellhead's face slapped right on them. My friends call me Iron Whore. (No, really, they do. Ask any of them.) Shoot what you love.

How about this little tidbit of info?

The figure in the front?

I made that.

That's right, I MADE that.

It is an amalgamation of parts from about six different action figures that I put together and hand painted.
The figure in the back is from the first Iron Man movie toy line and is fairly rare as it is, but it's a six inch tall figure. I prefer the smaller 4 inch tall toys like the GI Joe and Star Wars figures I grew up with. But, they never made this figure in the 4 inch scale.

So, I made my own.



Brian Hatch photography