LeggNet's Digital Capture

The Bride, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here’s one more capture from Jenna & Benjamin’s wedding this weekend.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Benjamin & Jenna, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Two of my friends got married today. Jenna and Benjamin had an absolutely gorgeous wedding. The ceremony, officiated by Benjamin’s father, was sacred and served to remind us of the sanctity of God’s plan for marriage. Benjamin and Jenna are a wonderful example of what I desire my children to become.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Provo at Night, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This nightime capture from the Western shore of Utah Lake was made looking East across the lake toward the city of Provo. An exposure time of 300 seconds (5 minutes) was used, as is apparent by the star streak in the sky in the upper right portion of the frame. The rocks and grass in the foreground were included in the composition to add depth perspective.

It was a very chilly 5 minutes on a late night waiting for this photograph to be captured.

Salt Lake City, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

The capture featured today is a recent re-shoot of a photo I posted earlier. I wanted to detail more of the skyline and opted for a wider, more panoramic, view.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Long Forgetten Attic, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This abandoned old house looked as though it would fall down at any moment. I made this capture in the late afternoon as the sun was low on the horizon. The isolation and overgrown trees served to add to the mystery of this old building.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

New West Magazine – Featured Image, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Today (March 7) one of my captures is being shown as the featured image on the front page of the internet magazine New West (www.NewWest.net). This is the second time they have chosen a photograph I have taken to be used in this manner and it is extremely flattering.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

SkaterGirl, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

We went rollerblading as a family this afternoon. Captured here are Michelle’s skates as she zooms along the local path. I created this capture by setting the camera at a fairly slow shutter speed (to blur the ground) and holding it a few inches off of the asphalt as I skated alongside her.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Downspout, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I came across this old building and the distressed textures of the bricks interested me. To further accentuate the color and details, I added a bit of diffusion and adjusted the color saturation and contrast.

Pigeons, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I continue to be amazed at the bright and reflective greens and purples on the common pigeon’s neck.

Five Points Trio CD Cover, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

One of my captures has been chosen to be used as the cover image for the FIVE POINTS TRIO’s new CD. I’m flattered.

This capture was made on a hazy day in Murray Utah while looking southbound on the Union Pacific rail line. I really like how the three parallel lines vanish as they turn to the left.

Calmness, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here is another capture from the recent late night trip to Utah Lake. Note how the long exposure time (30 seconds) creates such smoothness in the moving clouds and water. The glow that can be seen in the distance on the clouds is coming from Salt Lake City’s lights.

Labels: time exposure

Calmness, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here is another capture from the recent late night trip to Utah Lake. Note how the long exposure time (30 seconds) creates such smoothness in the moving clouds and water. The glow that can be seen in the distance on the clouds is coming from Salt Lake City’s lights.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rusty Sun, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Found this interesting gate while driving this week. It is really a unique barrier that feels more like art than a simple way to block a driveway. I really like the detail in the rusted metal and the contradiction between the sun’s flowing rays and the lines of the grid.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Stare, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Antelope Island, in Utah’s Great Salt Lake, is home to a free-roaming herd of over 500 North American Bison. This fellow became increasingly wary of my presence as I photographed him while he was grazing on the snow covered plane.

A capture like this can be a challenge to get the exposure acceptable. If I had followed my light meter’s suggested settings, the darkness of the bison face would be too much and the detail would be lost. I adjusted my lens opening to allow more light in to capture these details. The background snow loses most of its details, but the face is nicely represented.

To learn more about Antelope Island, visit their website at: http://www.utah.com/stateparks/antelope_island.htm.

Labels: animal, winter

Presidents Day, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

In honor of Monday being President’s Day in the U.S., I photographed a well worn $5.00 bill for this portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States.

80 Degrees, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Featured here is a close-up of a Galileo Thermometer I have in my office. The current temperature is displayed by the floating spheres. To learn more about this type of glass thermometer, click here.

Traveling at Light Speed, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Featured here is a capture of downtown Riverton Utah made on a recent late night trip to the store for a gallon of milk. Contrary to the title, I was only driving 30 mph at the time of the photo.

To create this image, I wedged a tripod into the passenger seat of my car then aligned & focused the camera before leaving (safety!). I estimated an exposure time of 13 seconds at f/8. I then simply reached over and pressed the shutter release while driving.

I am farely pleased with the result. I only wished I had cleaned the mirror beforehand.

Labels: time exposure

Mountain Dog, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here’s a capture of my faithful companion, Ziggy. He never complains about having to carry his share of the load.

This was shot with an inexpensive point & shoot camera. The flash fired to serve as a fill light, otherwise his dark face would be in a shadow and the details would be lost.

Labels: animal, birds

Mountain Dog, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here’s a capture of my faithful companion, Ziggy. He never complains about having to carry his share of the load.

This was shot with an inexpensive point & shoot camera. The flash fired to serve as a fill light, otherwise his dark face would be in a shadow and the details would be lost.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Winter Field, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This capture intrigues me. At first it seems out of focus. However, upon further examination you will see that much of it is sharply in focus. The lighting just plays a bit of a trick on the eye.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Full Moon Over Wasatch Mountains (B&W), originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This is a difficult shot to get the exposure right.

In order to get the exposure so that the mountains could be seen yet not have the moon details completely blown out, I took two separate captures. The first was with a long shutter speed to capture the mountain. I then took another shot with a fast shutter to catch the detail of the moon. Then in Photoshop I laid the image with the mountain detail over the one with the moon detail and masked it to allow the moon detail to show through.

See the color version here:
flickr.com/photos/richlegg/99014929/

Obligatory Moon Shot, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Last night was extremely clear in Northern Utah, so I took advantage of the clear sky and nearly full moon to capture this photograph. The exposure for a shot like this can be misleading. If you follow the recommendation of your camera’s light meter your capture will typically be extremely over exposed.

This capture was made with a 300mm lens and an exposure of 1/800 a second at f/5.6. If the clear sky holds through Monday evening, I will likely step outside to capture the true full moon.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Serenity, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

The southern end of the Salt Lake valley in Northern Utah is very popular for hang gliding and parasailing due to the abundance of updrafts created by Traverse Ridge. When conditions are ideal it is not unusual to see several dozen aloft simultaneously. Captured here is one such pilot enjoying a serene flight above the valley with the Oquirrh mountains in the background. To see more photos in this series, click HERE.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Barbed, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Featured today is a capture of an old barbed wire fence. This shot was purposely made in an abstract form with the intese bokeh, or out of focus area. By showing it in black & white, the texture and moodiness is further enhanced.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Today marks the biggest day traffic-wise that LeggNet’s Digital Capture has seen since it’s inception in December of last year. Here’s a screenshot showing the origin of each visitor today. I find it very interesting to see how geographically diverse the group is.

Thanks everyone for visiting!

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Midnight Clouds, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Last night, just before midnight, I went to the kitchen for a drink of water. While getting the drink, I looked out the window and noticed how remarkably well lit the nighttime clouds were from the city lights below. In my gym shorts, slippers and winter coat I ventured into the backyard with my camera and tripod. Featured here is one of the captures made during this late night excursion.

This shot was taken with a 30 second exposure at a fairly wide lens aperture of f/5.6. Due to a strong wind, the clouds were moving during the long exposure giving them the slightly blurred look. I’m amazed to see the detail in the mountain considering it was fairly dark at the time of taking the photograph.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

March of the Geese, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Displayed here is another capture taken this past Sunday when I came across the flock of geese feeding in a local field.

I felt that featuring this photograph in black & white adds dramatically to the mood of the shot. In addition to the tone change to B&W, I added a bit of effect to the background and a slight sepia type color.

Click HERE to view a similar photograph without the changes. Please feel free to comment on the differences of the two captures and your preference.

Labels: animal, birds

Keep your eye on the ball, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Thanks to a friend, I recently had the opportunity to take in a Utah Jazz basketball game. Here’s a capture of the action taken from the upper deck with a 300mm lens. I like how most everyone’s eyes in this shot are fixed on the basketball – yet they all have very different expressions on their faces.

Keep your eye on the ball, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Thanks to a friend, I recently had the opportunity to take in a Utah Jazz basketball game. Here’s a capture of the action taken from the upper deck with a 300mm lens. I like how most everyone’s eyes in this shot are fixed on the basketball – yet they all have very different expressions on their faces.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Orange Eye, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I recently had a few minutes to kill while enjoying a typical American fast food lunch. Looking for a quiet place to eat, I stopped at a local park hoping to capture a few images of the ducks and geese that live nearby. As I was standing next to a fence photographing the waterfowl, I noticed a few pigeons perched nearby. I turned the lens to the fellow featured here and fired off a couple of shots. I then focused my attention back on the swimming geese.

Later that evening, while reviewing the captures on my computer, I was amazed to see the color and beauty of the pigeon. I never realized the brilliant color that adorns the eye of the common pigeon, not to mention the green sheen from the feathers. Of all the photos taken, the pigeon proved to be the most interesting subject.

The lesson hit home to me. I have always considered this breed of bird to be rather mundane. Many consider it a nuisance and a pest. Now that I have seen the beauty and poise they possess, I will never look at them the same way again.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pratts, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Shown here is a digital capture I made of a photograph that is highly treasured in my family. Featured in the photograph are (left to right) my Aunt, my Mother and my Uncle. This was taken in the 1940’s.

With a small amount of attention given to reflections and composition, you can easily preserve the memory of your old family photographs and heirlooms with a digital capture.

Pratts, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Shown here is a digital capture I made of a photograph that is highly treasured in my family. Featured in the photograph are (left to right) my Aunt, my Mother and my Uncle. This was taken in the 1940’s.

With a small amount of attention given to reflections and composition, you can easily preserve the memory of your old family photographs and heirlooms with a digital capture.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Death & Dying, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

While waiting for my daughters at a local bookstore, I noticed these signs and thought it wood be interesting to photograph the Photography sign in this fashion. After a bit of looking I realized that there was no photography section in this area of the store – but the Death & Dying sign really stood out.

Much to my surprise, this capture has been very popular on Flickr.

School days, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I was recently accepted as a contributing photographer on iStockPhoto.com, a web based stock photography supplier. It was a fairly involved process to get accepted including the submission of several images to be evaluated by their reviewers. Once accepted as a photographer, I submitted numerous photos for consideration and so far have had 25 added to the iStockPhoto inventory.

The first from my gallery to sell through iStockPhoto was very surpising to me – the capture featured here of an old school bus. It was taken outside a small junkyard in Murray, Utah. I found the subject school bus intriguing with the broken windows and the barbed wire.

To visit my iStockPhoto gallery, click here.

Golden Globe, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I was discussing LeggNet’s Digital Capture with fellow blogger Catherman (http://catherman.blogspot.com) recently and the subject of where this blog’s readers come from became a topic. Since I didn’t have an answer, Catherman suggested that I add a tracking tool to the site to find out. So I did.

After adding that tracking tool on December 30th, I have been really surprised to see where the daily visitors to the blog come from. Here is a list of countries that have visited in the past 3 weeks (in order of frequency):

United States, Korea, United Kingdom, China, France, Canada, Italy, Germany, Russian Federation, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Romania, Venezuela, Hungary, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland, Ireland, India, Iceland, Trinidad & Tobago, Israel, Colombia, Poland, Jamaica, Iran and Argentina.

Wow, 37 countries! I do believe that since the blog features photographs, that this increases the international appeal. Photos have no language barrier. I can’t wait to see how this traffic continues in the future.

Marshmallow Snow, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Salt Lake City sits at the base of several canyons. I recently had the opportunity to travel up one of these canyons. This capture was made on that trip up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Upon seeing the field of snow captured here, I couldn’t help but think of melted marshmallows.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Snow Day (Revised), originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This past Monday was a holiday in the U.S. and locally Salt Lake City had been hit with recent snowfall. The kids and I took advantage of these two combined events to take in a bit of sledding on a nearby golf course.

Featured here is a spontaneous capture of Sarah as she looked up from her sled. The natural lighting made for a rather pleasing portrait, especially when presented in black & white.

To further accentuate her face and draw the viewers focus to her eye, I darkened her jacket and added subtle blurring to her cap in post-production.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Riding the Rails, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

A week ago I took my youngest daughter Sarah out with me to do some exploring and photographing. We ended up on an abandoned rail line and did a series of captures of her walking the rails. Click HERE to see one of the shots.

This past weekend, my oldest daughter Elisabeth wanted to do some of the same type of photos featuring herself walking the rails. Displayed here is one of the captures. I played around with the color and the contrast on this one and I am really pleased with the resulting image. By bumping the contrast and saturation up beyond normal acceptable limits, a rather unique and artistic image is created.

Thanksgivin’ Tilt, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I love this neon sign at a local movie theatre and on a recent visit I took several normal captures of it along with a few that were not as conventional.

This capture jumped out at me because of the boldness of the sign against the black sky and the slanted angle running from the lower left corner to the top right. It breaks a few rules of photographic composition, but I think it still works. What do you think?

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

My Life in a Bubble, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This convex security mirror in the corner with the green walls made an irresistible target for a self-portait. I love how the capture gives the viewer the illusion of a floating bubble.

My Life in a Bubble, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This convex security mirror in the corner with the green walls made an irresistible target for a self-portait. I love how the capture gives the viewer the illusion of a floating bubble.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Salt Lake City, Utah, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Today was one of those special days in Utah where the mountains Jump Out at you. It snowed last night, but quickly cleared creating marvelous mountain views from all ends of the Salt Lake valley. As I drove back from a bit of work further North this afternoon I took a second to capture this view of downtown Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City, Utah, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Today was one of those special days in Utah where the mountains Jump Out at you. It snowed last night, but quickly cleared creating marvelous mountain views from all ends of the Salt Lake valley. As I drove back from a bit of work further North this afternoon I took a second to capture this view of downtown Salt Lake City.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Elk Meadow, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Nestled within a residentual community in South Jordan (Utah) is a farmer who has raised domestic elk for many years. I drove by the herd today in my daily travels and decided to take a moment and capture a few shots. It seemed so strange to be within one block of many newer homes and to be looking into the face of this fellow. The size of the herd varies, but today it seemed to be around 50 or so.

In addition to the elk, the same farmer has a herd of buffalo. I’ll have to capture some photos of them the next time I’m in their neighborhood.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dream Big, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

My 10 year old daughter loves this photo of a duck among some flamingos. In fact, she even has a framed copy of it hanging in her bedroom. She has told me on many occasions that she feels that it should be a motivational poster.

Well, earlier this week I came across a website that has free tools for making things out of your pictures. One of the the things you can make is a motivational poster.

Featured here is my version of a poster using the Dream Big capture. In addition to the motivational posters, you can also make magazine covers, I.D. badges, movies posters, billboards and much more. If you’ve got some time to kill, try it out. It’s quite fun!

The website: www.flagrantdisregard.com/flickr

Djembe Shop, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

A djembe (pronounced “ZHEM-bay”) is a goat skin covered drum shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played with bare hands.

I had the opportunity to go to Fred Simpson’s shop today. Fred is a master drum instructor that specializes in repairing and maintaining African drums called djembes. He was finishing up repair work on a drum for our church band. As I waited for him to put the finishing touches on our drum, I explored the shop. It was very intriguing to hear him tell of the history of the different drums and how he can tell where the drum was made by the style and the type of wood used (ours is from the Ivory Coast).

This capture is of several drums of various origin waiting to be skinned or tuned. The low light caused a bit of a challenge in photographing. This shot was shot at a shutter speed of 1/13” with the lens set at it’s maximum aperture of f/4.

Thanks Fred, it was very enjoyable learning about the history of the djembe.

Walking the Rails, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

With the unseasonably mild weather in Northern Utah, Saturday was a day to explore an abandoned railroad line. This capture was made with a 300mm lens and a very shallow depth of field to draw your focus to the shoes.

Red Barn Skewed Angle, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

There they sit, waiting to be demolished. An old building can be a very interesting subject when taking pictures. The textures, colors and lines of the structure provide a great chance to be creative in your photography.

This old barn in South Jordan (Utah) is literally days away from being demolished to make way for a freeway off-ramp. In capturing the images of it I found that I was constantly shooting upward to avoid the signs and fencing put in place by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), the owner of the property. I really like the saturated color of the building set against the bright blue sky. Click on the capture to see a larger version, or to see others in the series.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

My Daughters’ Self Portrait, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Here is what happens when your two daughters take an older digital camera into their room to play.

They set the camera on a chair, and played around pressing the capture button and jumping into the shot before it fired (while the red-eye reduction light flashed). Someday, I’ll teach them about the self-timer setting – but the shots won’t be nearly as fun.

Of course, I’ve not edited the file (other than correcting wb) as to preserve the integrity of their art… 🙂

Old Gate at Sunset, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I love photographing in the late afternoon and early evening. In addition to the dramatic shadows caused by the sun being low in the sky, the color of the lighting provided by the sun becomes noticeably softer.

In this capture, I stopped to take a couple of photos of an abandoned house when I saw this old gate. I really like the detail in the wood and how the sun accents it. To view this in a larger size, click here.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Playground Before the Storm, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Captured this shot at the Riverton City Hall on the day after Christmas as a rain/snow storm was blowing in. Though the playground is a bit dark, I think it adds to the dramatic feeling of the capture.

Wrestling Dogs, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

In this capture of Holly and Ziggy playing, I used a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second. Note how the camera literally catches Ziggy in mid-air. In addition to the fast shutter speed, I fired a string of several shots in a row in hope of catching one defining photo – and here it is.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Christmas Tree, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I captured this photograph at the Sandy Utah city hall building this week. The city decorates each of the front lawn trees with small lights every year during the Christmas holiday.

To create the effect, I photographed this with a telephoto lens set wide open’ (f/4.5) and got as close to the tree as possible (while still being able to achieve focus on it). Due to the low light, this took a rather long exposure of nearly 1/2 of a second and a tripod was used. If the lens was not set wide open the circles would have taken the shape of octagons (reflecting the shape of the lens aperature).

The result of the background lights blurring into circles and overlapping creates a dramatic effect.

My Great-Grandmother’s Watch, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

In the late 1800’s, my Great-Grandmother immigrated to the United States from Germany as a nanny for a doctor’s family. Here is a capture of the watch she carried as she entered the United States. It no longer works, but it is engraved with the name Bertha. Her full name was Bertha Willamena Karleen Baaske. My Great Aunt Claribelle Legg gave this to me a number of years ago when I was a child.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dinner on Christmas, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

The day of the year for the fancy dinnerware and silver. Thank you Perry 2’s…! 🙂

Christmas Eve, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Blue Sky Deer, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Waiting softly, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Wow, only two more days until Christmas.

I remember as a child the days before Christmas would grow increasingly long – much as my daughters are experiencing today. Now, pushing 40 years old, the days just seem to fly by.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

EyePod, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I was at Best Buy the other day and overheard the sales guy telling a desperate shopper that they were completely sold out of iPods and wouldn’t get any more in stock before Christmas. The customer was visibly upset.

This got me thinking about the growing obsession with the player and it’s increasing popularity. I wanted to find a unique way to capture the iPod. Sarah helped me out and here is one of the results.

I created this by first taking a close-up of Sarah’s right eye. I then edited the eye (adding the contrast effect) and uploaded it to the iPod. Then I set the iPod to display the EYE on the screen and had Sarah hold it up while I photographed her. The tricky part was adjusting the exposure of Sarah’s face to match the brightness of the iPod screen.

Labels: bw

So much to do, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Wow, Christmas is only FIVE days away! I hope everyone is prepared. As for me, I don’t like to wait until the last minute, so I’ll go out on Friday to get my shopping done 🙂

Inversion, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

It has been rather hazy lately in the Salt Lake valley. It is truly amazing what just a short drive up into the mountains can reveal – blue sky and sunshine!

Here is a capture I made just before sunset this past week while overlooking the valley and the haze. Note how the color of the guardrail brings out the rust color of the haze.

Juxtaposition, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

jux·ta·po·si·tion n – the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side; also : the state of being so placed.

I love the contrast displayed in this photo between the signpost ‘sun’ and the daytime moon. I captured this shot up in the Suncrest community on Traverse Ridge above Draper, Utah.

Daphlen, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

I’m not sure if this is a common practice in other parts of the country, but in Utah it is not unusual to see a message displayed on an overpass by placing disposable drinking cups in the chain link fencing.

Shown here is one such message communicating amorous feelings toward Daphlen. If you know of, or are familiar with, Daphlen – please pass along the message.

Depth of Field Example
Originally uploaded by LeggNet. With the popularity of fully automatic cameras, many people have missed out on the experience of using different settings on their camera to create the feel they desire in the photograph. They can visualize what they want to achieve in their mind’s eye, but are unable to transfer it into the captured image.

Depth of field is an example of something you can control with a simple camera setting that can dramatically change the final photo. Put simply, the less amount of light that is allowed to enter the camera lens, the greater the area of the photograph which will be in focus. This is controlled by adjusting the aperture setting (the ‘f’ numbers). In the example photographs included in this post, you can see that though they are both of the same subject the amount of background area in focus (the right side, down the fence line) changes substantially.

The top photograph (click on it to enlarge) has the camera lens set ‘stopped down’ to f29, or set to allow the least amount of light in. This setting ensures that the foreground and background area will be in focus.

The bottom photograph has the camera lens set ‘wide open’ at f5, or set to allow the most amount of light in. This setting causes the foreground, and more notably the background area to go out of focus.

Many automatic digital cameras have setting which allows the user to manually control the aperture and depth of field. Play around with yours and see what results you can achieve.

For more information on depth of field, do a google search. Here’s a good example.

Soundboard Adjustment, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

You never know where a unique and interesting photograph may come from.

Today at church I was standing in the soundbooth with my camera sitting next to the mixing board. It occurred to me that the lens was aimed at the sound board and that this might make a cool shot. I waited for the right moment when Jonathon (the sound tech) was mixing the sound and then discretely reached down and pressed the shutter release.

It wasn’t until I got home later in the day that I could actually see what was captured. Here’s the result.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Jesus Saves, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Narnia
Originally uploaded by LeggNet. The family and I had the opportunity to see the new Disney movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe tonight. I must say that I feel that Disney did a good job in maintaining the vision C.S. Lewis had when he wrote the book. Though lacking in the detail the book is able to deliver, it does follow the original storyline closely.

The tale of Aslan the lion, an allegory of the story of Jesus Christ, comes across well on the big screen. I think this movie will attract both Christians and non-Christians alike.

To learn more about C.S. Lewis and his Christian faith, check out the book Mere Christianity.

Wheeeeee…., originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Gallivan Skating
Originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Even with yesterday being the coldest day so far this winter, many folks got out to enjoy the crisp winter sunshine. The high in Salt Lake City was in the teens, and the overnight low near zero.

I had the opportunity to be in downtown Salt Lake City Wednesday afternoon. Captured here are some Utahns braving the cold while ice skating at Gallivan Center.

LeggNet’s Digital Capture
© Rich Legg, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wheeler Farm
Originally uploaded by LeggNet. Ever since my high school yearbook staff days, I have had an attraction to black and white photography. Today, with the proliferation of digital cameras, this style lives on – just with a different technique.

In the old days, we loaded our camera with Plus-X or Tri-X black and white film and went about our business. Now we have several options.

Set Camera to B&W
The photo in this post was shot with my camera set on ‘black and white’ mode. I don’t even have a color capture of this scene. This works well, but limits your ability to have a color version of the same photo. If I was shooting this photo today, I would set the camera to the standard color setting and use software to convert to black and white.

Photoshop
My preferred method is to convert the photo to black and white with an editing program. I use Photoshop, so I will demonstrate how to use this program for converting.

The simplest way is to ‘desaturate’ the photo by using the hotkeys [CTRL][SHIFT][U]. Simple, yet allows no control.

Another way is to select [Image] [Mode] [Grayscale]. While this works, as with the first method you do not have much control.

The way I achieve my desired result is a bit more complicated, but allows the photographer the greatest amount of creative control over the result. In Photoshop, select [Layer] [New Adjustment Layer] [Channel Mixer] then click okay. Now click [Monochrom] in the lower left and change your RGB settings to Red-0%, Green-0%, Blue-100%. You can tweak these three percentages, but always ensure they add to a total of 100%.

Take some time and play around with black and white. You just might find you enjoy having a little less ‘color’ in your life.