June '08 Photo of the Day - # - Welcome to Bill Pador Photography! Professional Photographer Serving NJ-NY-PA Weddings - Sweet 16 Parties

June's Photo of the Day where anything I shoot on any given day could find it's way into this gallery and is Updated DAILY. All images may be purchased but only in limited sizes. Most of the photos in the POTD Galleries are located in their respective MAIN Galleries through out my web site. If you can't find a image you would like to purchase in a larger print size please contact me directly for assistance Click HERE to Email Bill Pador

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Bill Pador > Last night was food shopping time so I found these in the fridge today. There not the quality I would use for a food ad but I did with what I had. They were shot using a single over head light slightly forward and then processed using a blue graduated filter over the blueberries to darken then to bring attention to the strawberries. A simple frame in & slightly wider out was applied for the finish.
Shot with Tripod mounted Tamron 90mm Di f/2.8 macro using settings of:
Shutter: 1/4 sec.
AP: f/36
ISO 1000
WB: Cool White Fluorescent

Bill Pador > "Spinning Psychedelic Crystal Glass"
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I had no idea what I wanted to do for POD today but I knew I wanted to mess around with low light subject matter. I started off messing around with some colored straws and went into a totally different direction with this project. I saw some some crystal glasses in my studio from a previous shoot laying there so I started messing around with one. This is the bottom half of a crystal champagne glass sitting on top one of those lit crystal spinning light tables they sell with those laser etched crystal blocks. It resulted in looking like a slow speed ferris wheel image.

Taken using my Tamron 90mm Macro lens tripod mounted:
Shutter Speed 1.6 seconds
AP: f/40
ISO 100 (L1.0)

Shot in RAW (nef) format and then converted to .jpg there is very little post on this image besides a small amount of sharpening and adjusting the black level a tiny amount. That's about it! Enjoy
Check out the shot this inspired by Kre8ive HERE

Bill Pador > "Spinning Psychedelic Crystal Glass"
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I had no idea what I wanted to do for POD today but I knew I wanted to mess around with low light subject matter. I started off messing around with some colored straws and went into a totally different direction with this project. I saw some some crystal glasses in my studio from a previous shoot laying there so I started messing around with one. This is a crystal champagne glass sitting on top one of those lit crystal spinning light tables they sell with those laser etched crystal blocks.
I like the ghosting effect of the top of the glass floating above the rest.
Shot with Tamron 90mm Di macro lens in my still life studio, black background
Shutter Speed: 5 seconds
AP: f/36
ISO 400

Bill Pador > Well I really didn't have any time to shoot anything for my POD today since I was stuck in the office doing post on a shoot but I did manage to do post on this one that I took a few days ago while fishing. I was on a boat going through the inlet when I shot this multi-million dollar water front home and thought I would share it with you all. The day was very over cast except this little patch of sky and I only had my D70 with me since I can't risk bringing my expensive equipment on a fishing trip. It managed a nice shot after some post boosting the colors and a bit of sharpening but non the less a decent result. Don't you wish we all had money for a home like this ?

Bill Pador > "THE STEAMING TEA POT"
This image has won 'PHOTO OF THE DAY' honors at WEBSHOTS.com 7/30/08
Inspired by an image by "Kre8ive" I wanted to attempt to catch the steam shooting out of my tea pot. Set up was simple by placing a reflective black poster board sheet behind the pot. I then took a small LED flash light leaned upward from the counter using a spice jar and aimed the light directly into the steam. The tea pot is lit using available sun light coming through the back door into the kitchen. Tripod mounted I used a slow shutter speed of 10/16 sec. @ f/10 ISO 1000 to capture the full steam path. In Post I created a B&W layer and then painted over the steam to allow it's color through and gave the tea pot a soft focus effect & finished with the frame. Thanks to "Kre8ive" for the inspiration for this image!

Bill Pador > "REFLECTIONS OF LOVE"
This image was taken for a contest entry I submitted today with the theme being 'Feathered Friends' so I decided to post if for my POD as well. These Canadian Geese are all over New Jersey & this lovely pair decided to make their summer home around the corner from my house in a near by pond. Their pretty friendly when it comes to photographing them but don't get too close or they will charge while making an awful barking noise LOL. The lake was as smooth as silk with no wind so I decided to grab this shot with the reflections of the birds almost looking mirror like.

Taken with my:
Nikon D300
Lens: Tamron 90mm Di 1:1 Macro used as a Prime
SS: 1/50
AP: f/5.6
ISO 200
Shot hand held while sitting like an Indian using my knee & elbow contact as a tripod. Not much in the way of PP besides a basic unsharp mask application I do to all my photos and the canvas border, so pretty much straight out of the camera as is.

Hopefully these fine feathered friends will earn me another contest win, keep your fingers crossed.

*ATTN: If anyone of you are members of the www.PhotographyCorner.com would you could please take a minute to cast a vote for me (only registered members can vote - membership is free), It's a great site of you don't belong and they run some really nice contest monthly & throughout the year. "Voting doesn't begin until the 30th" I believe so you have time to register and make 5 posts in order to qualify for voting.
I will place a link RIGHT HERE to the voting page once it's posted.

Thanks ~Bill~

Bill Pador > "MIDNIGHT LILLY"
-Looks Great Enlarged-
I Shot this Lilly tonight at my best friends house, The original was a beautiful image itself but I wanted to do something a little different then the usual FLOWER Image. So off I went into CS3 to work a little of my magic. I did most of the post using Nik Color Efex 3 filters by first bringing a grad filter into play, followed by some contrast adjustments and then a Midnight filter to give it the look of being shot late at night. Then a small amount of unsharp mask & then finished with a purple colored circular frame which I blended into the corners ever so slightly to highlight just the corners and enhance the end of the pedals and then enlarged the canvas with the square frame colors. *(Be sure to click on the image to enlargen it)*

This is NOT a macro image but was actually shot with my Nikkor 18-200 VR lens since i didn't have my macro with me. It was shot hand held using:
Nikon D300
LENS: Nikkor 18-200mm VR
Shutter Speed 1/200
AP- f/20
ISO 1000
Focal Length 112mm
Standing about 4' away from the bush and shot from an angle below the flower upwards.

I'm so Happy the way this turned out I think it will be going in my Portfolio, What do you think?
~Thanks for looking - Bill~
*If you like this image please hover over it and click ion the THUMBS UP icon so it becomes a Popular Photo on my site!

Bill Pador > GUN SMOKE
Today's POD was something I've been wanting to try for a while & finally got around to it. I wanted to capture a handgun that looked as if it were just fired. Setup was fairly easy using my Still Life Studio. I took my Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Model 66 2" barrel (unloaded) and laid it up against a weight, set the camera up on a tripod with my Tamron 90mm Di 1:1 Macro lens.

The Smoke effect was achieved by taking a small portion of an Incense Stick, lighting it and sticking it in the end of the barrel while keeping the cylinder open. Then I took my Rocket Blower and squeezed it very softly to force the smoke out the end of the barrel and cranked off some frames (@ 8fps) 1/40 sec. @ f/7.1 until I got enough smoke where I wanted it. Lighting was aimed from above with a small 40 watt fluorescent desk lamp using a total black background surrounding the weapon.

The original was shot in RAW (.NEF) format so I had total control of post and then adjusted in Photoshop for proper balance, levels & contrast then added the frame. Very little PP was needed so total time spent was only about 45 min. including setup. I hope you Enjoy this one, feel free to post any questions on achieving similar results on your next smoke project! ~Best Regards, Bill~

* ALWAYS practice safe firearm handling rules prior to attempting a project such as this & never attempt to photograph a loaded firearm - "SAFETY FIRST"

Bill Pador > Shot while waiting to go Blues Fishing in Belmar NJ. I had just turned into the parking lot and got stuck waiting for a guy to launch his boat when I saw the sun coming up over the new Rt. 35 bridge. I waited for a few minutes until it cleared the bridge and stated firing away. I love the orange glow it cast off the water and the slight lens flair I was able to capture even though I had my circular polarizer mounted. Without it I wouldn't have managed this shot as the sun was too powerful and would have flooded the sensor and caused the shot to be over exposed.

Bill Pador > MADE IN U.S.A.

I didn't have a clue where I wanted to go with my photo today but I wanted to do something different for my POTD image but I wanted it to be a Shape or Abstract type photo. I came up with the idea to use some bullets I had laying around. My first try was a macro of several hundred rounds laying in an ammo can in their natural position, well I didn't like the results just too boring. Then I came up with this idea of lining bullets up so I could create a pattern of some sort.

This image was created using (2) different shots taken in my still life studio, one with them lined up straight and the other is the same line but shot at an angle. The bullets were lined up on top of my brown wood cigar humidor which has a slightly shiny surface to create the reflection but dark enough to not show the brown color. Then by using a medium aperture of f/22, a slow shutter speed of 1/125 and an small desk light and low overhead flash I was able to create the image and slight reflection I was after and only having to take 4 frames to capture the images. Then it was off to CS3 to create the final product which you see here.

Since I am a Veteran myself, the theme of the image & being close to Independence Day I want to dedicate today's entry to the Men & Woman of the "United States Armed Forces" for all of their sacrifices & dedication on a daily basis to preserve our way of life. Thank You

Bill Pador > This image was captured in the Inlet in Belmar NJ. I saw this old boat docked next to what looked like a repair shop surrounded by modern boats in dry dock. One side of the building was modern looking while the part facing the old boat was messy & old looking which was a great CLASHING type of scene as a whole to me. So first I gave the image a black & white conversion then added a sepia type tone to bring the image together. I think it works well and was happy with the results. Thanks for looking at my POTD capture today ~Bill~

Bill Pador > I spotted this old crab / lobster ship off the coast of Seaside Heights NJ while in the ocean fishing. It was a very hot & hazy day that added a nice effect to the shore line making it seem like a heavy fog was rolling in, so I employed a B&W conversion and added a slight over exposure & contrast effect to wash out the scene and bring the eye toward the ship along with the barely visible shoreline as if the captain was trying to navigate his way back to land. I hope I was able to convey my thoughts with this one ~Bill~

Bill Pador > I caught this Rainbow after a quick shower last night. It was amazingly big and cut across the entire sky line. Now where's my pot of gold?

Bill Pador > Not knowing what I was going to do for my POTD shot tonight mother nature helped me make my decision by creating a small lightning storm for me to shoot. I went out to my back deck, set up for a 20 second shot @ f/11 ISO 800 and just kept pressing the shutter button every 20 sec. I was able to grab 2 really good shots in 30 min. or so while hanging out in the rain with my umbrella over my gear. (my neighbor yelled to me that I was crazy go inside LOL) but I had to get the shoot, a photographers last words right! Shooting weather is not my fortee but I've been trying to get a decent lightining shot for a few years, it's about time I was rewarded for my efforts and just by luck I came out of my studio office to grab a smoke out side & stretch my legs.

If you look dead center you can see the lightning bolt makes a hasty turn toward my neighbors satellite dish to ground itself. The photo has not been touch for the exception of a small crop on the right side of some dead space.

This is imgae 1 of 2, check out the Other Lightning Photo by Clicking Here

Last night was food shopping time so I found these in the fridge today. There not the quality I would use for a food ad but I did with what I had. They were shot using a single over head light slightly forward and then processed using a blue graduated filter over the blueberries to darken then to bring attention to the strawberries. A simple frame in & slightly wider out was applied for the finish.
Shot with Tripod mounted Tamron 90mm Di f/2.8 macro using settings of:
Shutter: 1/4 sec.
AP: f/36
ISO 1000
WB: Cool White Fluorescent