Gulbranson Photo: Blog

Fastpitch Poster

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:56:34 GMT

I worked with the Stewartville Varsity Fastpitch team to create their team poster for this year. Instead of just grouping the team together, I thought it would be fun to do an action collage. The Diamond Club ordered a large banner for display, so be on the look out for it at the games and at school.

More poster and design samples can be seen here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p153201373

Queensland 20

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:48:56 GMT

Here's a sample of a recent shoot with Cole Queensland's race car. We shot this in a somewhat small space using a rather unique lighting setup. Not wanting the same old shot of just another race car, I wanted to make it as dramatic and interesting as possible.

More samples from the shoot can be seen here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p44555370

Downtown Rochester

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:44:16 GMT

With the full moon coming with warmer weather, I thought I'd try to get a photo of the moon rising over downtown. After a lot of scouting, I found a location that worked well enough for the first time effort. Next time I would like to get further away and use a longer lens, which would take greater advantage of compression and make the moon look even bigger. This was a 15 second exposure at f/18.

More photos from the session can be seen here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p212534234

World of Outlaws

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:12:14 GMT

I've been reviewing some of last years racing photos as this season approaches as I'm always trying to improve. I look at what I liked, what I didn't like, what settings I was using for the shots, the angles that stand out to me, and try to build off of those shots. This is a sample with Kerry Madsen from the WoO show at DCS this past Fall that stands out to me. Shooting tight is a nice change up from the way a car is typically shot, the camera panning/shutter speed, the driver's eyes... for a racing portrait shot, I really like this one.

And of course, if you're a WoO fan, my photos from this race can be found here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p83674917

Eagle Fishing

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:59:41 GMT

I had a Monday morning without any commitments, so I packed up the long lens and set out to find some eagles along the Mississippi. Not only did I find several to shoot, but I also got to see them fishing. Here's a sample, shooting at 800mm, stopped down to f/6.3, ISO640, 1/2000, with a custom set white balance.

Male House Finch

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:55:05 GMT

This past weekend, I spotted a male house finch sitting on the railing of the deck. With the great light of the setting sun, I couldn't resist trying to get a shot through the kitchen window.

Time Lapse Video sample

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:29:54 GMT

Here's a brief sample of the time lapse work that I've done. I shot this one last summer at sunset as the fog rolled in. Near the end, as twilight meets night, you can see an airplane take off from the Rochester Airport. Time permitting, I would like to do a lot more time lapse videos this season.

I've built my own variable speed, timed slider rail system so the camera moves anywhere from a few inches to a few feet over the course of the timed exposures, I just need to work it's use into my free time.

Waves of fog

Moto

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:41:12 GMT

Here's one of my favorite moto shots from last season. There's a number of things that stand out to me - such as the head on angle, Dave being at the peak of the jump, the tunnel effect with trees on both sides of the frame, and of course the colors.

Summer revisited

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:16:02 GMT

With the winter that just won't end, I find myself looking at some of the landscape photos that I shot last summer. Here's one of my favorites, taken under Stone Arch Bridge along the banks of the Mississippi. I love night shooting, but this would have been better had I shot it at sunset. I'll have to go back and give it another try. :)

Tiger Sports banner

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:09:22 GMT

I was looking through my high school sports photos recently and thought it would be fun to put together a collage with a few of the shots. It's heavy on the abstract, using photos that I've taken inside the gym as well as the football field with the lights on as background elements. I also used textures to give it an edgy, post modern feel.

More of my posters and prints can be seen here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p153201373

Wasmund 52w

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:58:46 GMT

I'm way behind on getting updates posted here as I've been crazy busy. Here's a sample from a recent shoot with the 52w. Taken in the Wasmund shop, I wanted to create a shot that was dramatic as possible. Because I didn't have a lot of room to work, I only shot the right side of the car. The lighting was handled with two of my studio strobes, both with gridded modifiers to control the spill. I shot from the ground level with an ultra wide, using the distortion as an element of the composition.

You can see more from the shoot here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p590639

Bald Eagles

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:16:37 GMT

I've been wanting to spend some time shooting eagles, so on a recent sunny day with no commitments, I decided to explore the Mississippi shore line to see what I could find. With patience, I was able to get 30 or so 'keepers' that I was happy with. I shot this with my 300 f/2.8 with a TC-2eIII teleconverter, making it 600mm f/5.6. I shot wide open to keep the shutter speed high as I was hand holding and this lens doesn't have vibration reduction. I also wanted to keep the ISO as low as possible to keep the detail as fine as possible in the feathers. Next time I will experiment with a drop in polarizer and see if I can extract more detail out of the white feathers on their heads. I took some fabulous detail shots of a few eagles sitting in the trees when stopped down to f/8.

The entire collection can be found here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p22388668

Tigers 2K13 Xbox 360 Game Cover

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:35:41 GMT

Another project that I did simply for the fun of it. It's a fun way to showcase a few select action shots from the Stewartville Boys Varsity Basketball team. I did a lot of abstract work for more eye candy, and there's great deal of fine details buried in the design.

To see more samples of prints and posters that I've made, click here: http://www.gulbransonphoto.com/p153201373

Fender Telecaster

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:17:04 GMT

For a fun project, I borrowed Tim Hyke's Fender Telecaster for some creative photography. I wanted to make it look like the guitar was waiting just off stage by using dramatic, hard studio lighting, controlled highlights and shadows.

Ice Storm

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:04:20 GMT

We got an ice storm over the weekend - never a good thing, but always a good photo op! I had my son help me get this shot by holding one of my studio strobes below the branches so I'd be firing it straight up. It's a 400w/second strobe that was about 2' below and set to 1/8 power. I shot this during the early afternoon, but to get the dramatic lighting, I was at 1/250, 85mm, ISO200, f/3.2, with a 3 stop neutral density filter for minimal DOF. The blue was created by setting a custom white balance. The blue helped accentuate the ice and over all cold feel to the shot.

Rochester Fire Dept

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:40:01 GMT

I was recently doing some photography work for the Rochester Fire Dept, shooting on location inside Station 1. When I wrapped up for the day, I took this wide angle shot of the Engines. Not only is it an interesting shot from inside an area that's rarely open to the public, but I also enjoyed the peacefulness of these Engines waiting for their call. It's stark contrast to how we normally get to see them.

Making an impression

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:17:36 GMT

As the Ice Hawks team photographer, I get to shoot from unique locations. Here's one of my favorites from the players bench that I took during starter introductions. Each week, the Ice Hawks invite a local team of kids to welcome the starters to the ice. In this shot, Derek Moser gets high fives from the kids while under the spot light - and that light was reflecting directly off his pads and into the kid's faces. The low ambient and strong rim lighting combined with the faces with the expressions of awe makes for a very dramatic shot. I know these kids won't soon forget this experience!

Minnesota Air National Guard

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:30:34 GMT

When the Minnesota Air National Guard, 133rd Air Lift Wing was practicing touch and go's at the Rochester Airport, I thought I'd get some practice in as well. I put a 2x converter on my 300mm f/2.8 making it a 600mm f/5.6, giving me a lot of reach for tight shots that I prefer. I shot this at 1/320 as to give some motion blur on the props. I would have like to have had a slower shutter speed for even more motion blur, but I was hand holding a 600mm lens that doesn't have vibration reduction.

Epcot IllumiNations

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:56:59 GMT

Knowing that Epcot has a great fireworks show each night, I brought my tripod along on my trip to Florida. Fortunately, I didn't get much hassle from Disney's security. I set up to the left of the World Showcase main entrance near the Mexico pavilion, with this particular image of globe opened up before the grand finale. Shooting 8 second exposures, ISO200, f/11, I got some great shots. Well worth bringing the tripod!

35,000 feet over Florida

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:43:21 GMT

On my recent Sun Country flight from Florida, I couldn't resist trying to take some low light photos out of my window. We had just leveled off from our Orlando departure with the pilot telling us that we were at 35,000 ft. To get the exposure that I wanted that would show the big dipper on the horizon, I had use a 2 second exposure when shooting at f/2.8 and ISO5000. To top it off, there's 3 panes of glass in the window that all were reflecting the lights from inside the cabin back to the lens. To control the reflections, I covered the window with a sweatshirt. Hand holding a camera for a 2 second exposure is a real challenge, let alone on a commercial jet. I guess that's part of why I like this shot so much - it was just plain hard to get.

Topar Offroad Products Ad

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:40:18 GMT

Topar Offroad Products is using one of my shots of Luke Wilder from the Team Northstar Offroad photo shoot for their latest ad.

Lion King

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:20:58 GMT

A shot from the Lion King production at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Always a great show!

NASA VAB

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:07:56 GMT

On a recent trip to Florida, I stopped by the Kennedy Space Center and got to spend some time shooting inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This is where the Saturn V rockets and Space Shuttles were assembled before being moved to the Launch Pad. What an incredible structure!

New addition!

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:54:39 GMT

Just an FYI, I decided to add a blog to my photography site for those who don't subscribe to my regular updates Facebook.