I planned a trip to Tahoe for this weekend about three months ago. I assumed that there would be snow like usual….and it turns out that this is the driest year since snow records have been kept. Its sunny but still chilly. Our first day up we went for a small hike since our Heavenly passes are blocked out today for MLK Day weekend. It’s weird to be up here right now because it doesn’t even feel like winter. There is absolutely no snow on the ground and the skies are completely clear. And people say rain is depressing….

I brought up my Canon 5D mkii and Fuji X10 but didn’t realize that I forgot my CF cards in my other camera bag with my 1D back at home because I was using that this past week. So this weekend is a good chance for me to get a little more familiar with my Fuji X10. This weekend is also a good chance for me to think long and hard about selling all my Canon equipment and switching back to Nikon for the D4. Ever since I sold my D3 and picked Canon back up I have consistently been frustrated by little things here and there. Don’t get me wrong, Canon makes great equipment, but for me it comes down to what feels better in my hand and what is more intuitive to use. Nikon won me over with the D3 and from what I hear the D4 (minus the price) wont fail to impress either.

Enjoy the photos!

Still playing around with some processing techniques.

Here is the first time I’ve attempted tilt-shift processing in Lightroom. I think it turned out decent but I think I can do a little better.

And this is my first infrared processing. The branches on the right are not branches…they are the roots from a toppled tree.

Watch out for Big Foot.

A big part of being a photographer that often goes unrecognized in my opinion is the post-processing. When I was shooting most assignments in college I did not have the opportunity to process my images. Now I have no direction and a lot of experimentation to work with. The post-processing applied to a photo can control the feeling that it gives to the viewer. I went hiking the yesterday with my parents and my girlfriend. Here are several similar shots with some different processing done in Lightroom.

All of these were shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and the 24mm f/1.4. I am still testing the combination of this camera and lens out. I have been frustrated with the 5D Mark II lately because most if not all of my raw images are appearing soft. I’m not sure if its the camera or lens but I think I might have to get both checked/calibrated or something. Do these images look sharp to you? Because on my monitor at full res they definitely aren’t sharp. I just started to read about a lot of other people who have experienced this with their 5DMKII’s so I’m beginning to think that this might be a known issue…I just want a consistently sharp full frame camera with some good glass.

Also, what do you think of the 24mm focal length in the shots? I really like looking at these shots but when I am taking the photos I sometimes feel myself wanting a little more. I’ll be using the 24mm some more but might try out a 35mm soon.

This shot was taken a few years ago in Valencia, Spain. I was wandering and exploring around the streets and came across a modern art museum. There were many intriguing galleries and this room was one of them. No shoes allowed. Everything was the canvas. The black shoes in the photo were part of the exhibit.

This winter season is killing me so far. Its been cold with no rain or snow which doesn’t seem right. I went up to Tahoe last weekend to go snowboarding and there was barely any snow. Usually by this time of year there is a ton and there aren’t even any storms in the near forecast. Here are some photos that I took a couple years ago up at Heavenly at Tahoe, when there was snow like usual. All shot with a Nikon D3. 14-24mm, and 50mm.

Canon 1DMKIV, 300mm, 400iso, f/2.8, 1/2000, manual

I finally finished up editing the third day of the 2011 USAU College Championships.

Checkout the full gallery here: http://www.scaughtyphoto.com/Ultimate/College-2010-1011/2011-College-Championships-Sun/

You can also checkout all the photos on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/scaughtyphotography

Enjoy!

Canon 1DMKIV, 300mm, 400iso, f/2.8, 1/1600, manual

Canon 1DMKIV, 300mm, 500iso, f/2.8, 1/2000, manual

Canon 1DMKIV, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 1600iso, f/2.8, 1/1600, manual

Canon 1DMKIV, 400mm, 200iso, f/2.8, 1/4000, manual

Going into this semi-finals game I surely thought that Oregon was going to easily walk away with the win and I hadn’t really seen too much of Michigan throughout the year to develop an opinion of their team. The Oregon Women’s team is one of my favorite college women’s teams to shoot because of their athleticism, likeliness to huck, and big plays. They are fun to photograph. I felt like they got over confident as they knew they were a top team, and got complacent at a time where games really have to be earned. Michigan played a great game and showed that they deserved to play the next day in the finals. For this game Alex Peters, a fellow ultimate photographer, let me borrow his 40mm f/2.8. It sure did feel good to get behind some longer glass again.

Canon 1DMKIV, 400mm, 200iso, f/2.8, 1/4000, manual

Canon 1DMKIV, 400mm, 200iso, f/2.8, 1/3200, manual

Canon 1DMKIV, 300mm, 200iso, f/2.8, 1/4000, manual

Canon 1DMKIV, 400mm, 200iso, f/2.8, 1/2000, manual