Two New Photos

August 13, 2010 | Category: Nocturnal Photography, Photography | 9 Comments

Here are a couple of star trails photos from this summer. I wouldn’t say that they are portfolio worthy, but I’m trying to make an effort to post more often and not be so picky about the work I share.

This photo was taken in early summer. The thing that looks like a railroad track is actually a large wooden flume.

Specs: Nikon D3, Nikon 17-35mm 2.8, f/4 at ISO 640. 16 frames stacked at 4 mins each = 1 hour total exposure. I lit the “track” from underneath using a gelled flashlight. It was EXTREMELY dark (new moon) hence the wide aperture, long exposures and high ISO.

This is a more recent photo, taken during the peak of the the Perceid meteor showers. There are some faint meteors, but disappointingly only one bright one. It’s also noteworthy that this was taken at the same location as this photo.

Specs: Nikon D3, Nikon 17-35mm 2.8, f/8 at ISO 640. 50 frames stacked at 3.3 mins each = 2.75 hour exposure. I lit the foreground with a green gelled headlamp.

9 Comments | Permalink

Tags: california, Dan Newton, flumes, Light painted, Meteor, nevada, night, Nikon D3, perceid meteor showers, photographer, Reno, Star trails

Some Recent Tear-Sheets

August 9, 2010 | Category: Photography | 1 Comment

Since I haven’t been doing much shooting lately, I thought I’d share a couple of recent tear sheets from publications featuring my photography.

July 2010 Issue of Nevada Magazine – no longer in news stands since the August 2010 issue is now out.

August 2010 (current issue) of Digital Camera World Magazine – an international publication, and in news stands now.

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Tags: august 2010, Dan Newton, daniel newton, digital camera world, july 2010, nevada magazine, Nv, photo magazine, photographer, Reno, tear sheets

My Hiatus

August 9, 2010 | Category: Photography | 1 Comment

Well it has certainly been a while since my previous post and I apologize. You could say that I’ve been on photo hiatus for the last couple months and with that said, I haven’t been producing much “post-worthy” photography lately. This is the longest I’ve gone in years without picking up my camera and I’m positive that will change.

I love photography! I live and breath it and even dream about it (yes, I know I’m a geek). I’m going to make a conservative estimate and say that during the last 3 years, on average, I spent at least 7 hours a day doing something related to photography. I work at a camera store and talk photography, gear, art, technique and everything else all day. When I’m not working at the store, I’m usually shooting, assisting, planning photo courses, teaching photo courses, learning new techniques, editing, backing up photos, prepping prints, submitting to contests, blogging, flickr-ing (I made up a word!), etc. My basement looks like a camera store, my bathroom looks like the photo magazine section of Barnes & Noble and my living room has enough photos on the wall to start charging admission. Most of my friends and acquaintances are also photographers, so I’m constantly exposed, day and night, pretty much 24/7 to photography.

While “living in your passion” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, every once in a while, I just need a break and an opportunity to focus my attention on other things. I’ve really been trying to do more backpacking, running, whittling down my book list and spending more time with my family.

This isn’t the first time this has happened and I doubt it will be the last. About 4 years ago, I quit photography outright. I sold all of my gear and was done with it. After about half a year later, I opened my darkroom to find that the projects I had left covered in dust and I started up again. I began shooting 4×5 and then digital and I’ve been and just like that, I was hooked on photography once more.

To my photo buddies whom I’ve definitely been neglecting, I’m especially sorry. I feel like I’ve had a good break, and even with school coming and monopolizing my free time I want to get cracking again. So lets go shoot! ASAP!

1 Comment | Permalink

Tags: break, Dan Newton, hiatus, nevada, photographer, Photography, Reno

The Two Sides of Michael Sweeney

May 21, 2010 | Category: Lighting, Photography | 3 Comments

Here are a couple from a last minute shoot of filmmaker/photographer Michael Sweeney from Everything to Nothing Studios. You should check out his work.

Specs: Nikon D3, 35-70mm 2.8. 1/125th at F/13, ISO 200. I stopped down so much to get some nice diffraction spikes from the sun. WB was set to overcast for a bit more warmth. I decided to leave the lens flare to add to the “bright” feel. For the main light, I used an Elinchrom Ranger AS with an A head shooting at full power through a varistar brolly box to camera left. The wind can be thanked for newly dented umbrella in the setup shot

Specs: Nikon D3, 17-35mm 2.8. 1/200th at F/9, ISO 200. For the main light, I used an Elinchrom Ranger AS with an A head shooting through a varistar brolly box to camera right. I also used a couple of gridded Q-flashes (one to light the foreground slightly and one out side of the frame to camera left as a rim).

These were trigger by Elinchrom skyports. Both photos are 99% processed in Lightroom with minimal Photoshop. See setup shots for more details.

3 Comments | Permalink

Tags: commercial, Dan Newton, Elinchrom Ranger, Everything to Nothing, Films, Lighting, Mike Sweeney, photographer, Photography, portrait, quantum q-flash, Speed AS, strobist, varistar

Shooting Cars or the Dumbest Title Ever!

May 2, 2010 | Category: Lighting, Photography | 6 Comments

Here is another attempt at a rig shot, this time I shot a friend’s nice 370Z.

Looking back, I wish that the car was turning to the right so I could see the wheel better, but I’m still experimenting with the car stuff. Thanks to Mike Sweeney (ETN studios) for gripping, Fielding Cathcart for providing the Zeus and Vagabond setup and Bobby M. and her husband for the sweet ride!

For more details, photos and setup shots, keep reading…

Read More

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Tags: 2007 Audi A4, 2008, car, car rig photography, commercial, Dan Newton, daniel newton, Location lighting, Nikon D3, nissan 370Z, Nv, photographer, Photography, Reno, rig, S-line, Sports car, vagabond, White lighting, Zeus

Playing Catch-up: Bonsai Rock

April 29, 2010 | Category: Photography | 2 Comments

I can’t believe how back logged I am on editing/posting photos. Here’s an oldie that I’ve been meaning to put up since mid winter.

I wouldn’t consider myself a landscape photographer, I don’t have a pano head and the sky wasn’t very spectacular, but I’m fairly happy with the result. The location is Bonsai rock at Lake Tahoe. Being one of my favorite summer swimming spots, I’ve always wanted to do a winter sunset/sunrise shoot there. I plan on going back soon to try again. I like the polarizing effect interesting in this photo (clear foreground water).

Details:

Nikon D3, Nikon 17-35mm 2.8, Rodenstock C-PL filter. The panorama consists of 6 vertical frames.

2 Comments | Permalink

Tags: Bonsai Rock, california, Lake tahoe, landscape, nevada, Nikon 17-35mm 2.8, Nikon D3, photographer, Photography, snow, sunrise, winter

Bouldering at Night

April 28, 2010 | Category: Lighting, Nocturnal Photography, Photography | 7 Comments

Here’s one from a late AM night of bouldering with Paul near Carson City, NV.

The shoot was a little disorganized: we showed up in the dark, the batteries were dead on our spotlight, I had never been to the spot before and Paul had only climbed there once. On top of that, it was ridiculously windy and the stands blew over a few times. But it was fun and we’ll hopefully do it again, perhaps earlier than 1am next time.

Details:

The image was captured using a Nikon D3 and a 17-35mm 2.8 lens. Two strobes with red gels were used to freeze the climber (sort of) and an LED flashlight (also red gelled) was also used to paint in the rock and background. In post-processing, the speedlights were removed and the light painted frames were combined with the strobed frame. There’s a tiny bit of motion blur from his leg moving, but it was necessary to pull in the starry background. The final exposure was 8 seconds, at f/4 and ISO 1000 (to pull in the stars). The strobes were set to rear sync.

By the way, just after this shot, the rock broke and since someone had moved the crash pad out of the shot, Paul hit pretty hard, but still landed on his feet.

7 Comments | Permalink

Tags: bouldering, carson city, Dan Newton, daniel newton, nevada, night, photographer, Photography, rock climbing, sports, stars, washoe valley

Ghost Town Weekend

April 3, 2010 | Category: Nocturnal Photography, Photography | 10 Comments

Here are a few from a weekend photo excursion with friends to rural towns of Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada.

10 Comments | Permalink

Tags: Dan Newton, decay, Goldfield, Hanger, Hotel, infrared, IR, nevada, Nikon D3, Sante Fe Bar, Star trails, Tonopah

A fun Alternative to Air Fresheners

March 31, 2010 | Category: Lighting, Photography | 6 Comments

Here are the results from a weekend shoot that will hopefully lead to bigger things. Thanks to Jon Loder, Kevin Clifford and Fielding Cathcart. Creative art director and props: Donnie Meyers Studio, New York.

Specs: 9X Nikon Sb-800s triggered by pocketwizards and an audio trigger. Nikon D3 + 105mm 2.8 Micro Nikkor, ISO 400, f/14. Flash duration is calculated at roughly 1/41000 sec.

Some behind the scenes shots:

6 Comments | Permalink

Tags: "audio trigger", Beautiful, commercial, Dan Newton, Estee Lauder, explosion, high speed, Nikon 105mm 2.8 Macro, Nikon D3, perfume, photographer, product, Reno, SB-800s, skull vodka

It’s not as Fast as it Looks

February 10, 2010 | Category: Photography | 5 Comments

This is a first second attempt at a type of photography that I’ve always wanted to get into: car rig photography. Kevin and I assembled all of the pieces and set out for a quick test with his jeep. The result isn’t too bad. Basically the camera hangs off of a “rig” attached to the car. Using slow shutter speeds, the camera records fires while the car slowly rolls along and you get a shot that emphasizes motion with the main subject frozen.

If there’s anyone in the Reno area with a nice car that wants some free shots, email or call me. I’m looking for more practice and nice subject matter.