Category: Chris’ Corner

Chris Corner #4: The Verrazano Narrows

On March 11, 2016

Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Morning Fog by Christopher Mowers on 500px.com

Last summer, Ashleigh and I had the joy of taking a cruise on the Norwegian Gem out of New York.

Not only was cruising out of New York great because it is a relatively short drive for us compared to Florida, but it was incredible to sail from a pier in Manhattan. These views were unbelievable.

Most of the pictures we got in New York Harbor were from our departure. The weather was outstanding. The thing that was really difficult though was that everyone else was also outside trying to get pictures. We decided we would get up early on our arrival day and try to get pictures with fewer people on deck.

One problem- the weather didn’t think this was such a great idea. Seriously, we didn’t get much. I don’t know how on earth I managed to capture this image, but I’m glad that I did.

About the Photo:
I took this photo at 55 mm, f/4.5, ISO 200, from the Promenade deck of the Norwegian Gem. I captured this photo the day that we drove home from New York, and on that car ride home, listening to the Improve Photography Podcast, heard all about the new dehaze slider in the lastest Lightroom release. I used that same dehaze slider on this photo with excellent results.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 55-200mm f/4-5.6 lens.

Date Taken:
June 21, 2015

Thank you for reading. You can see my best work on 500px and can also find pictures of the “trying my hardest to be good at this” type on Flickr or Pixoto.

Also, be sure to like the Go See Do Facebook Page, and follow Ashleigh on Instagram and Flickr! Check out our Gear page to see inside our camera bag!

Chris Corner #3: Holz Brücke

By Chris

On March 5, 2016

In Chris' Corner, Michigan

Frankenmuth Covered Bridge at Night by Christopher Mowers on 500px.com

Today’s picture is of the Zehnder’s Wooden Bridge (Holz Brücke) over the Cass River in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

For most who know Frankenmuth, they think of it as a corny little town between Flint and Saginaw that is known for a humongous Christmas store, chicken dinners, and all sorts of Bavarian type celebrations and touristy shops.

For Ashleigh and I, Frankemuth is that, but also has a deeper, less kitschy meaning.

Frankenmuth (meaning “courage of the Franconians”) was founded in 1845 as a Lutheran mission to the Native Americans in the Chippewa Tribe. These missionaries founded St. Lorenz Evangelical Lutheran Church, the church at which Ashleigh and I were married.

So you see, Frankenmuth, for all of its crazy touristy identity, has historical import and authenticity. The chicken, cheese, fudge, and river boats may be products of tourism, but nevertheless, Frankenmuth is real.

About the Photo:
I took this photo at 18 mm, f/3.5, ISO 800. Honestly, there’s not much to say here; this was pretty much straight out of camera after I worked the angles a bit to get the right shot. I did do minimal processing in Lightroom including some color correction.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.

Date Taken:
January 29, 2016

Thank you for reading. You can see my best work on 500px and can also find pictures of the “trying my hardest to be good at this” type on Flickr or Pixoto.

Also, be sure to like the Go See Do Facebook Page, and follow Ashleigh on Instagram and Flickr! Check out our Gear page to see inside our camera bag!

Chris Corner #2: Door to Cotswold Cottage

By Chris

On February 26, 2016

In Chris' Corner, Michigan

Door Knocker by Christopher Mowers on 500px.com

Today’s picture is the door handle on the Cotswold Cottage. The Cotswold Cottage is a building which now resides at Greenfield Village, part of The Henry Ford, a history attraction in Dearborn, MI.

The following regarding this cottage was taken from http://www.thehenryford.org/

The families who lived in this home had a variety of jobs. From the early 1700s to the mid-1800s, several generations of the Sley/Robins/Smith family worked as farmers and stone masons. Being a stone mason was a good job for the family because most of the homes in the area were made from stone.

About the Photo:
I took this photo right after I bought our 50mm 1.8 prime lens and I was getting used to the incredibly shallow depth of field made possible by the wide aperature. I focused on the interesting textures in the metal and just let it blur out on the edges. I also did some relatively minimal editing in lightroom including some color correction and a white vignette.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 50mm 1.8 lens handheld

Date Taken:
September 26, 2015

Thank you for reading. You can see my best work on 500px and can also find pictures of the “trying my hardest to be good at this” type on Flickr or Pixoto.

Also, be sure to like the Go See Do Facebook Page, and follow Ashleigh on Instagram and Flickr! Check out our Gear page to see inside our camera bag!

Photo Impressionism from Chris

By Chris

On February 19, 2016

In Chris' Corner, Michigan

Red Berry Tree Impression by Christopher Mowers on 500px.com

Hello everyone, this is Chris, the less interested in online interaction, other half of Go See Do Photography. I have recently agreed to post some of my work once a week.

Although Ashleigh and I have a lot of photographic taste in common, our styles are a bit different. Lately my two main areas of focus have been on black and white, geometrically motivated photography, and in a little practiced, not well liked style called photo impressionism.

I grew up being shown the works of the old impressionist masters, and Claude Monet in particular. As different as photography is from painting, there is still a small group of photographers that carry this style of image forward into the age of digital photography. The image in this post is one such example.

About the Photo:
The image on this post is a composite of 8 images. I went out to my front yard in broad daylight and took 8 pictures of this tree that is by our driveway, with each exposure moving slightly to get different parts of the same tree. I shot at F11 in aperture priority mode, ISO 100. I was zoomed to 55 mm on the 18-55mm lens. I opened the images in Lightroom to do a basic edit which I applied to all of the images, then I opened them as layers in Photoshop. Once in Photoshop, I chose the layer that I wanted to be most prominent and placed it on the bottom of the stack. I then changed the opacity of the other layers to be between 25% and 50%. I blended all but the background layer using the “lighten” blend mode. I then applyed a few final adjustment layers to get the brightness, contrast, and saturation the way that I wanted them to be.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens handheld
Photoshop CC 2015 is also essential for this style of work

Date Taken:
February 13, 2016

Thank you for reading. You can see my best work on 500px and can also find pictures of the “trying my hardest to be good at this” type on Flickr or Pixoto.

Also, be sure to like the Go See Do Facebook Page, and follow Ashleigh on Instagram and Flickr! Check out our Gear page to see inside our camera bag!