Cannon Blast - Cannon Beach, Oregon

Well there are 7 hours left in the Smithsonian Photography Contest I am in the lead by 2%. Thank you all for the massive effort you have put in when voting for me each day. The best part is you no longer have to hear about it hahaha:) If you want to put one last vote in you can do so HERE, I am number 18.

On another note, I have released 4 new star photography workshop dates for the summer to everyone on my email/wait list. I will provide the link to the general public this Sunday in the late afternoon on my Facebook page www.Facebook.com/DaveMorrow the link will also be available on my website. Currently I have sold 3 spots but 29 remain.

The Shot

Another shot from the amazing Cannon Beach. I took this one while sitting next to a blazing fire we had made on the beach. I really like Oregon's beaches because you can pretty much do whatever you like, including camping, driving, fires, drinking, sleeping and so on. If you look closely you can see the Big Dipper up there as well.

Click to hang this shot on your wall

Winter Falls - Latourell Creek, Oregon

Well I am back in action from a much needed break. Stepping back from photography for a few days has always helped me in many ways. Upon my return in noticed that I am almost 2% ahead in the Smithsonian Photography Contest which ends tomorrow. Click HERE if you would like to vote, and select #18(that's me), then scroll to the bottom of the page and submit:) You can vote every 24 hours! I really appreciate all the support everyone has given so far!

The Shot

I have been hanging out the in Columbia River Gorge lately practicing up on my waterfall skills. At first falls are not as easy to shoot as you may think, and the post processing takes some effort as well. It is definitely a skill I am still getting better at.. see what you think:)

Journey to the Heavens - Ruby Beach, WA

There are only a few days left to vote for my picture in the Smithsonian Photography Contest Finals. I have pulled into first place and would love to win this thing! Please help me by clicking HERE and voting for my shot which is number 18. After selecting the picture just scroll to the bottom and click submit. You can vote once every 24 hours. 

As for tonight I am just finishing up a few pictures from NYC and packing a bag for Miami. Tomorrow morning I leave for my vacation and Ultra Music Festival, so I'll be taking a break from posting a picture for the next few days, unless somehow motivation comes through in the wee hours of the morning. If you get bored take a few of my free tutorials provided at :

www.DaveMorrowPhotography.com/learnphotography

The Shot

One of my favorite places to shoot star photography is the Olympic Peninsula, there is just something great about the Milky Way combined with water and the beach. I found a small bridge made of logs crossing a stream on Ruby Beach and thought it was cool enough to capture, so here ya go...

Blue Dawn - Ísafjörður, Iceland

I have been working all morning to integrate an “On the Road” photo-stream into my website. Photos that I take with my iPhone when out shooting or on the road will now stream directly to the side bar of my website. I think this kind of stuff is really fun, I hope you enjoy it as well. Click any of the pictures to see them full size in the gallery. You can always come back to this gallery by selecting "On the Road -  iPhoneography" under "Let's Explore" in the right-hand sidebar.

There are some other fun functions that have been recently added to Dave Morrow Photography as well, including a Travel & Adventure Map which allows the you to view where all my photos have been taken on a user friendly map interface.  This has also been located on the bottom of the “Let’s Explore” section on the right-hand sidebar. 

The Shot

Deep in the North West Fjords of Iceland lies the Small town of Ísafjörður. This is about the closest to the middle of no where and the Arctic Circle that I have ever been. None the less it is an awesome town with beautiful Fjords rising up on all sides of it, if you ever travel to Iceland make sure to take this drive.

Troubled Roots - Columbia River Gorge, OR

I had a great weekend shooting waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge even when the rain started pouring down. My buddy and I decided to trek up the Oneonta Gorge, which requires chest waders, but is well worth the adventure. The place is absolutely beautiful especially when rain is pouring down the sides and the sunlight is making everything neon green. Here is an iPhone action shot of Paul trudging through the deep cold water. You can see the rain pouring down from both sides. On another fun note King5 News in Seattle did a short article on my Star Photography that you may enjoy!

The Shot

I have been driving the 3 short hours down Oregon and exploring the waterfalls and beautiful landscapes a few of the past weekends. Here is a shot I took in the woods near the Women's Forum on the Oregon side of the Columbia River.

The Milky Way and Beyond

From time to time I like to throw sets of pictures together and feature them as daily posts. Here is a set of my Milky Way and star shots, you may also enjoy my Favorite Photographs of 2012. The top picture on the list is in Smithsonian's Photo Contest Finals. I am number 18, if you would like to vote, click HERE. After selecting my photo scroll to the bottom of the page to submit!

For any of you that would like to learn how I process these shots I teach Online Star Photography Post Processing Workshops each month! While we are on the subject of star photography here is my Free Star Photography Tutorial. All my other free learning material can be found at www.DaveMorrowPhotography.com/learnphotography PS: You can click on any of these pictures and use them as your desktop wallpaper:)

Good Mornin' Xi'an - Xi'an, China

Walking into REI of Seattle is always an adventure, there are so many things that strike my interest. Today I got a Quarter Dome T3 Tent, which looks amazing. This weekend the Columbia River Gorge is calling so I'll test my near gear out and do some camping. Sometimes it is fun to look at toys, and for that reason I put together a definitive list on my Gadgets, Gear & Other Good Stuff post. There are also some camera and lens reviews over there:)

The Shot

I visited Xi'an China a while back, at that time I was just learning and snapping off shots with my Canon Rebel. Lots of these shots I still have not processed so it is always fun to go back and time with some photoshop action...

When Dreams Come True - Seattle, WA

Finding new places to shoot in Seattle is becoming more and more of a challenge. I did manage to find some cool new spots to explore lately, and the wild weather has made for some pretty cool shots. If you want to find these places for yourself you can check out my special photo set on the Stuck on Earth App or head over to Flickr for the Pacific Northwest Top 50 Set which includes all geo-tagged photos from the Northwest. Feel free to add me as a friend while you are over there:)

The Shot

Discovery Park is it's own little world on the outskirts of Seattle which provides some nature hidden within all the chaos of a fairly big city. In terms of escaping for a few hours, there really isn't a better place! Here is another fun shot from my Nikkor 16mm Fisheye lens. 

Sunset on the Salish Sea - Vancouver, BC

I hope everyone liked the In the Field Video I posted yesterday, I will attempt another one in the near future with the help of someone recording. My newest Online Star Photography Post Processing Group Workshop is filling up fast for the April time slot, if you would like to join us or find out more info check out the page for more details. Other than that all is calm on the home front, I am preparing for another weekend trip to shoot the Olympic Peninsula weather permitting. Is anyone else gonna be out there this weekend that would like to shoot? Drop me a line below maybe we can work something out:)

The Shot

This was one of my first HDR shots that I took while on a weekend trip to Vancouver BC. If you are looking for some fun spots such as this to shoot, head over to my Travel & Adventure Map where the location of nearly every picture is geo-tagged.

It Was All A Dream - Gullfoss, Iceland

Voting is still running for the Smithsonian Photo Contest Finals which I am happy to be a part of. I would really appreciate your vote, no sign up necessary just click a 2 buttons and your done. You can click below to vote, I am number 18# with my shot of the Milky Way and Mount Rainier. Click Here to Vote

Here is a quick HDR shooting video I made the other morning. I was filming my own content and didn't realize how hard it would be to multi-task with two cameras:)

The Shot

Finally getting around to processing a bunch of my Iceland pics, here is one from the world famous Gullfoss.

Horses of the West Fjords - Iceland

Got lucky with some amazing weather in the Palouse this weekend and was able to get some new Milky Way shots, which means some new star pics should surface pretty soon. Next topic! Not sure how many of you out there use SmugMug, I've been using them for almost 2years and find the service to be an unbeatable place to showcase your photos online. Their site also flawlessly integrates into any blog or website which is a huge help. Anyways here is my SmugMug Portfolio which holds my entire online portfolio. You can also click on any of the photos on my website to get the full size view. Feel free to download any of these shots for your desktop background:)

The Shot

On our way to Ísafjörður, an amazing small town deep in the West Fjords of Iceland, an opportunity arose to climb into a pasture and shoot sunset with some horses. This sounded like an awesome photo opp so I grabbed my gear and started shooting.

Hooded Lady of the Valley - Yosemite National Park, CA

I noticed this website getting a lot of visitors from China today, which is awesome! I'm excited to say I'll be back in China this Fall for some photography adventures:) If you didn't know, everyone is always free to introduce themselves in the comments below, I try to respond to them all! There is also an About Me Section for anyone that's interested. Anyways, this is a new moon weekend, so I'm headed to the Palouse Region of Eastern Washington to take some Milky Way shots. Anyone else have a big weekend planned?

If you didn't see the last post, I just found out I was one of the finalist for this years Smithsonian's 10th Annual Photo Contest. I would really appreciate your vote, no sign up necessary just click a 2 buttons and your done. You can click HERE to vote, I am number 18# with my shot of the Milky Way and Mount Rainier.

The Shot

I have been holding out on posting my Yosemite pictures, so I might as well start out big. I snapped this one off from Glacier Point as the sun light faded over the eastern horizon. Easily one of the coolest sunsets I have ever seen. My favorite part is the waterfall in the bottom righthand corner.

Fun Facts

Full size 21,000 PX wide at 105MB file size.

3 single RAW shots processed in LR4 and stitched together in Photoshop Photomerge (which kicks ass in CS6). Then I used luminosity masking get contrast midtone and light regions along with Nik Color Efex and OnOne Perfect PhotoSuite7 both are amazing programs. The last step was slight color correction and sharpening using Nik Sharpener.

Lost Days - Eastern State Penitentiary, PA

I just found out I was one of the finalist for this years Smithsonian's 10th Annual Photo Contest. I would really appreciate your vote, no sign up necessary just click a 2 buttons and your done. You can click HERE to vote, I am number 18# with my shot of the Milky Way and Mount Rainier. Thanks for the help everyone! Here is a quick shortcut that will lead you to Everything Star Photography on my website;) Just want the pictures with no words, my Under the Stars Photo Gallery is just what you need. OK OK, the last star related subject I'll share today is my Free Star Photography Tutorial, which I keep updated with new info, tricks, and tips! Enjoy

The Shot
 I went to visit my brother in Philadelphia and he took me to the Eastern State Penitentiary where this shot was taken. This place is a photographers heaven, there are endless amount of cool places to explore with amazing art and light all over the place.

Rock This - Manhattan, NYC

Ever since picking up a camera 17 months ago I have come to realize that my sleep schedule is non-existant so I'll continue to post at 2AM and wake up 2 hours later for sunrise. To make up for  that lame intro paragraph/excuse, here is a discount for Topaz Labs or HDR Soft the Makers of Photomatix software packages. To take advantage of this offer use the coupon code DAVEMORROWPHOTO when checking out to receive 15% off:) Interested in all the other stuff I use in the field and at the computer? My post on Gear, Gadgets & Other Good Stuff should have all the answers.

The Shot

All my shots from NYC run together to the point that I have no idea when this was taken, just that what you see in front of you is Chinatown NYC. I also remember squeezing my 14-24mm lens through a very small crack to get the view seen here. None the less it's a very cool place to wander, explore and get some amazing food so check it out for yourself:)

And On We Roam - Driving to Yosemite, NV

Ever have those weeks or multiple weeks when you're getting everything you had ever planned done? That has been these past few weeks for me. Along with processing 20 or so pictures a week which is my usual rate, I also made some really fun new video content I will be sharing soon. A few of them are reviews for Nik & OnOne Software Packages which I use with nearly every picture I process. Stay tuned.... Here is my High Pass Sharpening Video Tutorial to hold you over.

The Shot

This is what I would call "One of those randoms" that I grab on any road trip. You will have to ask my girlfriend if she gets annoyed when I stop every half hour or so to get out of the car and take some shots. I can't image this would be fun, UNLESS you have a camera:)

Take It or Leave it - Cannon Beach, OR

I still need some more participants for my Online Star Photography Post Processing Group Workshop, anyone out there interested? I promise we'll have a blast & you will learn a lot along the way. There are also free ways for you to learn about post processing such as my Post Processing Before & After Page, which has new content added to it every once in a while...

The Shot

One of my favorite spots to make a weekend trip in the summer, Cannon Beach seems to have it all. I caught this shot as the sun peaked over the eastern horizon last summer. 

The Night Goddess - Ruby Beach, WA

Find some great places to travel by checking out all the links on the right hand side bar in the "Take Me To..." category, just scroll down til you find it. I also provide tags such as "The Night Sky" which will lead you to all of my star shots and learning material, just give it a click and try for yourself.

I also provide a Travel & Adventure Map which shows you on a map exactly where I took every shot in my portfolio. I love maps, so this kind of this is really fun for me!

Here are a few fun star photography links:

Free Star Photography Tutorial

Under the Stars Lightroom Presets

Star Photography Post Processing Video Tutorials

The Shot

Ruby beach has quickly become one of my favorite places for photography, especially star photography. I've been looking for some other star shots from Ruby, but can't seem to find any. Feel free to share your links to star shots in the comments below!