American Museum of Natural History.

No Comments
Aug 17 2011

American Museum of Natural History Museum, New York
5DMKII+16–35mm, f/3.2, ISO 2000. I combined 3 shots (-2, 0, +2) in Photomatix.

Inside the American Museum of Natural History. Now with more dinos!

I took this photo moments before closing to get the least amount of tourists in my shot. I didn’t even bother getting my tripod out as I could tell that the leering security guard was gonna have any of that, so I snapped this handheld. And yes, I got yelled at and personally escorted out by that security guard. Angry security guard was angry. :|

Belvedere Castle, Central Park, NYC

2 Comments
Aug 2 2011

Belvedere Castle, Central Park, NYC
5DMKII + 16-35mm, f/11, ISO 100. (5 Photos combined in Photomatix).

Belvedere Castle and it’s surrounding turtle pond is a very surreal and painterly looking scene nestled in Central Park. A lovely little spot to get away from the city noise.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Google+ lately posting photos and discussing photography. There are a slew of awesome photogs on there, so it’s definitely worth joining if you want inspiration. Come join the fun!

Double Rainbow over Manhattan

9 Comments
Jul 22 2011

Double Rainbow over Manhattan
5DMKII + 16-35mm, 1/5000 at f/3.5, ISO 200 + Photomatix.

I’m always chasing rainbows. Any time I see rain clouds part and a burst of sun stream through I think, “there is a rainbow somewhere!” Fight or flight kicks in, I grab my camera, and I race against the clock to grab the perfect shot.

I was in my living room when I see the thick thunderclouds break with a bolt of sun and I instantly lunge for my camera (which of course has no memory card in it). Gah! I frantically search my apartment and find one… that is completely full. Arg. I delete some photos and dash out of my apartment towards the elevator.

After a few agonizing minutes it arrives and I head up to the sky deck. I open the door and BAM — the most vibrant double rainbow I’ve ever seen. It’s still pouring out and I’m getting drenched, but I have the biggest smile on my face. This shot is perfect. I turn on my camera, look through my 24-70mm lens and realize, with utter dread, that this lens isn’t wide enough to get the whole rainbow in the shot. I’m gutted. I feel the floor cave in while my perfect shot is slipping away. I pout. Maybe swear a little. I reach for my iPhone and I grab a few shots. They are cool, but I need my 16-35mm.

Taken with Camera+, FX: Vibrant.

I decide that I can’t give up and book it to the elevator. As I’m heading down again, my stomach is literally sinking. I know the rainbow is fading. I get off the elevator and run to my apartment. I turn the key in the lock and it doesn’t work. Wrong key? I try a different one. Wrong FLOOR. Ahh!! At this point I nearly lose it.

The elevator is taking ages to arrive again. Each second that passes, I feel my dream photo vanish. I finally get back to my apartment, grab my 16-35mm and head back up. I burst through the sky deck door and start shooting furiously. The rainbow is fading rapidly, but I manage to catch it’s last few breaths before it dies.

Rainbow Empire State Building

3 Comments
Jul 6 2011

Rainbow Empire State Building
5DMKII, 24-70mm, 4s at f/5.6, ISO 100.

The Empire State Building Celebrates Pride. Such an electric time here in NY!

I snapped this through a window without a tripod, so it was a little blurry. I sharpened it in post and dodged the sky to bring out the clouds.

Magic Kindgom Sunburst

4 Comments
Jun 26 2011

Sunburst cloud above Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando
5DMKII + 24-70 f/2.8, Photomatix HDR.

It is a rare thing when the sun and the clouds come together in such a spectacular way. It’s even more rare that you happen to be standing in the perfect location with your camera in your hands and your batteries are charged :)

It’s time like these that make me perfectly content. Last month I was in Orlando, Florida for the Mashable Connect Conference. I was blessed with a room at the Contemporary Resort with a spectacular view of the Magic Kingdom. I snapped a picture of this view every day I was there, but none of them came out because the weather was either hazy, too bright, or cloudless and flat. I was almost going to give up on this shot, but the day before I was due to leave, a storm started building and produced some of the most spectacular clouds I’ve ever seen. I perched myself on the balcony and waited until the perfect moment and snapped this. I missed dinner, but it was worth it :)

This shot is made of 3 photos combined in Photomatix. I then used Photoshop to add more contrast, definition and warmth.

Camera+: The Road to 3 Million

4 Comments
Jun 25 2011

This week Camera+ reached a huge milestone — 3 million sales! To commemorate this special occasion, we’ve created this infographic full of interesting facts & figures that we we’ve gathered over the past year.

Click to view large.

A big thank you to everyone! We wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. Here’s to 3 million more!

Just to sweeten the deal, Camera+ is on sale for 99¢ until Sunday!

New York Skyline Sunset

3 Comments
Jun 24 2011

New York Skyline Sunset
5DMKII + 16-35mm, 1/100 at f/6.3, ISO 100.

A spectacular sunset over New York on a hot and stormy night.

I didn’t have a tripod so I just used the one RAW file to create 3 different jpgs (exposing the sky, buildings & one in between) and combined them as an HDR in Photomatix. I then pulled the shot into Photoshop and added some magic.

Behind the scenes of The Heist trailer for our new #1 app!

8 Comments
May 29 2011

My evil twin, Sophia has been stirring up all kinds of trouble in tap tap tap’s new app, The Heist!

I am truly excited to be a part of this amazing puzzle game app! It has been in the works for a long time for tap tap tap, but within 20 hours the app was #1 in the iTunes store. Pretty incredible!

I had so much fun creating this trailer with an amazing crew lead by Joe Lindsay. Joe shot with a Canon 5DMKII with a 24-70mm f/2.8 and a 100mm f/2.8.

Behind-the-scenes from The Heist trailer-2

Setting up the camera on the dolly –Director of Photography, Joe Lindsay, 1st Assistant Director, Carl Sturgess, Grip, Dana Shaw & Gaffer, Art Phelan.

Behind-the-scenes from The Heist trailer

Our awesome Sound man, Shawn Doyle, who braved the rain & the possibility of getting electrocuted to make this shoot happen :|

Behind-the-scenes from The Heist trailer-3

Interior shot with Lane Genzlinger at Rebel Unit Media’s brand new office.

Joe sets up the shot.

Dana claps, “take three!”

Sam Barber seems to enjoy his role as the evil agent dude a little too much!

Oh! And don’t forget to enter to win a limited edition iPad!

In honour of the Royal Wedding…

10 Comments
Apr 28 2011

iPhone 4, Camera+, Clarity, HDR, Cross Process, thin black frame.

I’m Canadian, but I have two British parents. In my mind, this makes me mostly British, so I thought in honour of the Royal fever sweeping over the entire interwebs, I thought it would be fun to post a few pictures from my trip to London earlier this year where I visited many famous spots. :)

Harrods Double Decker Bus & bokehHarrods Double Decker Bus Bokeh.
5DMKII+16-35mm. 1/60 at f/2.8, IS0 2000.

Westminster Abbey HDR, LondonWestminster Abbey.
5DMKII+ 16-35mm, 4, 8, & 15s at f/8.0, ISO 100 using Photomatix.

Golden Jubilee Bridge & the London EyeGolden Jubilee Bridge & the London Eye.
16-35mm. 6s at f/8.0, ISO 100.

iPhone 4, Camera+u, Contessa wi/ Vintage Frame.

Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London, UKHouses of Parliament.
3 shots combined in Photomatix 8s, 10s, 15s, f/8.0, ISO 100.

London Eye.
iPhone 4, Camera+, Clarity + Cross Process + Vibrant.

Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace.
5DMKII+16-35mm, 15s at f/9.0, ISO 100.

While I’m not too keen on watching the wedding itself, I’ll be really interested to see both the official wedding photos and all the unofficial photos of the celebration. If you happen to be in London town, make sure you get out and get some shots and share them with all of us!

Venetian Gold, Las Vegas

2 Comments
Apr 23 2011

Venetian Gold, Las Vegas
5DMKII+16-35mm, 1/80 at f/3.5, ISO 2000.

I took this during my last trip to Las Vegas for the Mostly Photo walk in the opulent Venetian Hotel. So much gold!!! :P I didn’t have my tripod so I hand-held this shot. I used Lightroom to decrease some of the noise I got from using ISO 2000, then I took the one photo into Photoshop where I spend close to 2 hours cloning, healing and masking out crowds of people from the shot. It took forever, but with the crowds of people the shot looked really messy.

I then took the shot into Photomatix and applied tone mapping to draw some details. The two major problem areas that arise from tone mapping one image is noise and lack of contrast, so I usually reduce the noise and increase contrast in Lightroom. I also increased the saturation of the blues and red accents.

Here’s a short video of our amazing Mostly Photo Walk in Las Vegas!