Owen and Jessica's Wedding Photos

Here are some photos from the wedding. I did not take all of them because I am in the wedding party, but I did make all the adjustments.

Photo Taken by Andrew Nippert     In photo: Dale Nolan Jr., Will Gallison

Photo Taken by Andrew Nippert   In Photo: Me, Daniel S.,Brent W., Will G.,  Kyle Paradis

Below is the original photo before any adjustments. It was quite sad to have this ugly vehicle in the photo. So I managed to remove it. It isn't too noticeable in the "final" copy of the photo above, without me pointing it out. Though these aren't the final edits. Some of the photos you will see require more work, but I wanted to get some stuff posted up for you too see. I am somewhat busy currently in New Jersey. This photo is to illustrate us guys waiting for Owen as if he was taking to long to get ready.

Jessica and Owen Walsh              Original Photo by Paul Mackey

Below is the original of the photo above I really like the picture above, of their first kiss as a married couple. But it required a lot of adjustments to to achieve the final results. What I love most about this photo is the pastor in the background...

A tricky part of the edit was getting hat leaf thing removed without removing her vail, but it worked out.

Photo: Dale Nolan Jr.

Photo: Dale Nolan Jr.

Taken by Dale Nolan Jr.

A Brief Peek into the Trip

Here is a few photos to peek your curiosity to what I have been up too. I will be putting up another blog post with more detail of what all went down.

Gone for the Week

This morning I flew from Grand Rapids at 4:02am to Ohio to Hartford, CT, arriving at 9:00am. The main reason was to go to my friend Owen and Jess's wedding. However seeing I was in the area, why not make a quick stop at New Jersey working with the skate ministry "Solid Foundation" I will be flying home Sunday afternoon on Halloween.

I will probably be posting up a few updates about my trip while I am gone.

Rabid Raccoon

Isn't he cute?

My Dad and I were doing some yard work, ranking leaves, etc. When we were about half way done, a huge raccoon started to walk right up to us. He had no fear. I ran inside to grab my camera, while my Mom was yelling at my Dad to get inside.

Maybe not so cute...

He keep pacing in circles and stumbling around as if he was drunk. 

My Mom called the police to find out how to remove him. They gave us the number to the some animal place. However apparently they will not come out to remove a rabid animal in a highly infested children neighborhood. They told us to discharge it ourselves.

HDR Leaf

High Dynamic Range or HDR for short is a term used a lot in photography. Perhaps an overused technique but can be used to make beautiful photography. The human eye has an extraordinary HDR, something that can't be seen by electronic devices. However by using this technique with your camera you can achieve the dynamic range similar to that of a human eyes range.

 Though this technique is used for that purpose, it is also used to exaggerate. HDR allows for a greater dynamic range of luminance between the dark and light areas of a photograph. By taking at least 3 of the same photos at different exposures (by bracketing) then going into photoshop (or other programs) and layering the images together.

If you think you need a tripod for this technique you are wrong. The photo's below where done without a tripod.
(if you look closely at the leaf in the left corner of all 3 pictures you can see that I didn't hold the camera perfectly still)

By tone mapping these 3 images together:

Normal Exposure

-1 stop exposure

+1 stop exposure

Final HDR Image

Click here to see more HDR.

Panorama

This is my first time doing a Panorama. I actually took the photos for it, before I even knew how to make one properly. I pre-took the photos with the intention to learn how to do it, within the week.

Click on the image for a larger view

Thankfully I didn't have to stitch these photos together by my own hand. Photoshop does a great job in stitching the photos together, and reducing distortion. I wish I knew how to do this and other things, when I was living in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

Ollie Over a Truck

Thanks to Kenny Hopkins for making this piece of art for me.

Photoshop: Skateboard Sequences

Photos Taken by Kenny Hopkins

I wanted to try to put together a few different skateboard sequences in photoshop, seeing as I have never done it before. I tried to imagine as if I was going to put it into a skateboard mag as an ad or something. However seeing I am not riding for any company and that I will be going to SFNJ (skate ministry) in October. I figured I would make an imaginary Promo, as if I was important or something. haha.

Photos by Kenny Hopkins

Photo by Dale Nolan Jr.

Click on the Images to enlarge them.

If you are looking for a way to make skateboard Sequences click here.

I Am Second: Brian Sumner

To check out more "I Am Second" videos click the link to I Am Second.

Snow Campers

No, its not Snow Camp again already. However I have been in contact with one of my snow-campers from this past year as a Unit Leader. Through Facebook I am able to talk to him once in a while to see what is going on. One I first met them, I was collecting contraband. They gave me a very hard time trying to get their cell phones. But after that was taking care of, we became good friends with the campers having a good time hanging out with them.

Eddie is from New Jersey, he has gone through a lot in his life. This past summer one of his friends was killed and now more recently his brother is going to prison on the charges of murder. I also met his brother as a snow camper. He was a really fun guy, if I remember right he gave me a piece of pizza that he bought for pizza night. They were at a party, when something happened, I am not sure all of the details, but people began shooting. Eddie's brother according to the police shot and killed another person. Eddie tells me that his brother didn't shoot the kid that died but shot someone else once in the leg.

I love both these guys very much, it is sad to see that he is going to prison for a crime he may have not done. If Eddie is right in the matter please pray that the evidence will be found out, so his charges will be less then murder. I would also like to ask for you to pray for Eddie and the rest of the family, that they see God's love and He will protect them. I don't know what kind of influence I had, or that Snowcamp had on them, I hope it was positive.

You never know the situations of the people that you meet and what will happen to them, make the most of every opportunity.