Photography, Techniques and Whereabouts of Kevin Raber
Key West, FL on a morning walk shooting photos I came across this guy standing in the water fishing. I couldn’t resist the photo and took a series of shots. This was done with a long lens from a higher perspective so there was no horizon in the shot. I just love the way it feels and looks and has been a longtime favorite of mine.
Down the street from my home is the mid-west’s premier concert hall – The Palladium. It is one beautiful building. This os supposed to be one of the mots advanced state of the art concert halls in the US. I have enjoyed the privileges of doing photography at the center. This image was done with a Phase One P65+ 60megapixel camera and a 45mm lens. It is a pano image comprised of eleven images stitched together in photoshop. After the stitching was done I did work on perspective as well as retouching imperfections of the building which is final stages of construction. With eleven images stitched together with each image being 360 megabytes each you can just imagine how big the image is. Needless to say the quality and detail is spectacular. Click on the image to see a larger view, click on it again to see even larger, use your back key to return to original image.
I had the opportunity to photograph around Iceland on two visits there this year. One area I visited with my guide Daniel Bergman was a Geo-Thermal field. It was a different kind of place. First is smelled like a million hard boiled eggs. Then there were hundreds of holes in the ground with bubbling and boiling water. This water was obviously very hot and you needed extreme care while shooting in the area as not to fall in a hole and get burned. This image was shot looking at one of these areas but what makes it is all the steam coming off similar places in the background. This was shot with the Phase One P65+.
Yes, this is a tree with a bit of fun thrown in. This was shot on Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park in Washington. The trees are very wind blown on the ridge and the weather wears them down to very interesting and twisted objects. I have playing with taking images and flipping them to see how they work. This I think works very nicely. The shot was made with a wide angle lens to accentuate the look. Then flipped in post processing and tinted.
I’m back to peeling paint. I love the way time plays a part on making art. This image was photographed in an abandoned train car. I am sure at one time this was a nice color red. But over time with the help of the elements the paint began to peel and flake off yielding this shot. I love it because it is random and ever-changing. I went back to the location not too long ago and just about all the paint has now fallen off. It’s great when you shoot something and it is now gone. More paint and rust to come.
Today’s image was made in Upper Antelope Canyon. I have a ton of images from these slot canyons and they are all very beautiful. This was shot with a Phase One p45+. Why is this different? The Phase One cameras allow you to shoot in an environment like this which by the way is pretty dark, and do long exposures. Add to this the ability to have a large dynamic range , meaning you can shoot on one exposure and get good details in highlights and shadows. You cannot do this most DSLR cameras out there. the p45+ allows for exposures up to one hour or more. Some of these shots I did of Antelope are up to 15 minutes. I’ll post more from these canyons over the coming months. Also what’s cool when photographing in these canyons is the yellow-ornage walls absorb light as light filter down allowing some of the light to turn a wonderful color blue. That is where the blue in the image comes from.
This is a another iceberg shot. Just one more day of Antarctica and then I’ll get back to some other images. While cruising the peninsula area one evening I saw the sun setting and illuminating the face of this iceberg. It’s simple and is effective and enhanced by the dark sky.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE and Then Click again for a larger view
On my last trip to Antarctica as we dipped below the Antarctic Circle we headed to an area that was known as the Gullett. we had been battling storms and lousy weather for days. As we approached the Gullett which is visited by very few people, the weather cleared to the most brilliant day you could ever have and the wind just stopped. Literally now wind. As we entered the Gullet which we would navigate for almost 12 hours we were met with the most breathtaking scenery you could ever imagine. Today’s image is a a stitched shot for 5 vertical P65+ images. These were shot handheld and then stitched in photoshop. The lens was wide i believe 45mm which allowed some great foreground. The sky was almost black getting blue s it met the horizon. I have a ton of images from the Gullet but this pano gives a good feel for the beauty there.
Sometimes when exploring in remote parts of the world you stumble upon some unusual things. This shot was taken in Antarctica and is one of two rusted tanks that we found. Apparently a long time ago at this remote base Americans used these modified tanks as a means to get around. What was really interesting is that the tanks were fitted with rotary aircraft engines. This was show with a P65+ camera and the detail in the image is just amazing. Capture One allowed me to go in and pull details in the shadow area and the bright snow to make an excellent image.
Once again we went for a zodiac ride to explore this magnificent bay we anchored in. We came across beautiful icebergs, a shore full of penguins and this shot. As we were cruising towards the iceberg in the background we found this smaller iceberg with a Leopard Seal on it. It mazes me the wildlife that abounds in Antarctica. As a matter of record, these seals are very aggressive and distance needs to be kept.