Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 20 May 2008 10:20:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 en I’m Back http://matt.mattster.com/2008/03/25/im-back/ http://matt.mattster.com/2008/03/25/im-back/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:05:41 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2008/03/25/im-back/ Well, if anybody actually reads this, you may have not have been since there hasn’t been much activity as of late. I’ve been gone for the last couple months, but I’m back now, so I’ll be getting back to my photography (and with it this site) shortly.

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2008/03/25/im-back/feed/ Finally Snowing http://matt.mattster.com/2008/01/01/finally-snowing/ http://matt.mattster.com/2008/01/01/finally-snowing/#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:51:56 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2008/01/01/finally-snowing/ CIMG0737Happy new year!

It finally snowed this afternoon. Albeit the snow came from a pressurized air/water system and through some metal nozzles, but at least we’re adding to the white stuff. The last couple weeks have been unseasonably warm, so the opportunity to add get some snowmaking in has been sorely needed. The snow is still soft in places, and hard in others, but at least it’s coming along now.

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]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2008/01/01/finally-snowing/feed/ Cloud Watching http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/30/cloud-watching/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/30/cloud-watching/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:43:20 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/30/cloud-watching/ MBA_7493And8More_tonemapped_PM_DE_1_PSThere were really some fantastic clouds out yesterday that gave the sky a lot of texture and let the sun through just enough to get some amazing HDR photos. Almost all my shots worth looking at were HDR, which just goes to prove how sweet the technology really is.

These all come from the Blue Ridge Parkway (yet again), this time going as far south as mile 22 before turning around. I had planned on doing a little more hiking than I did, but due to it being a Saturday and nice, most of the trails I wanted to go on were more crouded than I cared for. Plus I don’t have my normal little backpack with me for carrying my camera gear, which just makes it a bit of a pain to lug.

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]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/30/cloud-watching/feed/ An Office With a View http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/27/an-office-with-a-view/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/27/an-office-with-a-view/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:41:49 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/27/an-office-with-a-view/ Office View

I got to the top of the ski lift and saw this over to my left. Good snow, good views, and warm weather all makes for a good day. I would have liked to get some bracketed shots to play with in HDR, but the Casio point and shoot doesn’t do that quite as easily as the D200.

Wintergreen Sunrise CIMG0698 CIMG0699 CIMG0700 CIMG0701 CIMG0706

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/27/an-office-with-a-view/feed/ Geotagging Made Easy(er) http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/25/geotagging-made-easyer/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/25/geotagging-made-easyer/#comments Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:25:37 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/25/geotagging-made-easyer/ MBA_7149If you look carefully at any of my photos on Flickr, you may notice that most of them are geotagged — embedded with the GPS coordinate where they were taken. Up until now I’ve done this manually, and it sucks. I can never be exactly sure of where I was when I took a lot of pictures (such as when I’m hiking or in a place without landmarks visible from satellite imagery). Yesterday, though, I went out with an early Christmas present that I bought myself.

Actually it should have just been a purchase, but thanks to Fed Ex it didn’t arrive when it should have, so it became an early Christmas gift. Anyways, it’s a Trackstick, a handy little gadget that looks like an oversized USB flash memory key. Powered by batteries, it records my GPS tracks. Add those into locr, and I can now automatically geotag where I was when I took pictures. Much more convenient, and accurate. To test it out I went back to the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday and took some pictures with it in my pocket.

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]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/25/geotagging-made-easyer/feed/ Blue Ridge Parkway, Northern End http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/23/blue-ridge-parkway-northern-end/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/23/blue-ridge-parkway-northern-end/#comments Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:23:06 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/24/blue-ridge-parkway-northern-end/ Happy holidays! I went out for a little drive around the northern end of the BRP, from the beginning atop Afton Mountain to Raven’s Roost at mile 11. The pictures from along the way are mostly all made with the assistance of a C-PL (circular polarizing) filter; some of them are processed for HDR in Photomatix. I hope you enjoy the pictures from Raven’s Roost, as taking them was a little precarious. Usually when I go there it’s been with climbing gear, and to get down without it is a bit difficult (especially in sneakers and carrying a DSLR camera). Fortunately it seems to have been worth it.

MBA_6326 MBA_6439And8More_tonemapped_PM_1_CR MBA_6461_CR MBA_6485 Rolling Hills MBA_6591 MBA_6644 MBA_6658 Long Way Down MBA_6706And8More_tonemapped_PM_TC_1_CR MBA_6719 MBA_6745_CR MBA_6780 MBA_6826_CR MBA_6894And8More_tonemapped MBA_6918And8More_tonemapped_PM_DE_1 Bad Soil MBA_6966And8More_tonemapped_PM_DE_1

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/23/blue-ridge-parkway-northern-end/feed/ Scotia Range http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/17/scotia-range/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/17/scotia-range/#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:35:08 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/17/scotia-range/ Sunset over Scotia RangeIt was cold, windy, and there was snow on the ground, but all that and a few flurries didn’t stop us from going to the range for the afternoon. In addition to getting a good sunset picture, I experimented around with high-ISO, high-speed shots trying to see what we could get in the way of flying brass. It probably would have been better earlier in the day with more light, but the results were still interesting. Still, as a reward for braving the cold, we had the range all to ourselves.

MBA_5958 MBA_5972 MBA_6013 MBA_6031 MBA_6040 MBA_6047 MBA_6054 MBA_6064

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/17/scotia-range/feed/ Another boring night http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/12/another-boring-night/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/12/another-boring-night/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:41:19 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/12/another-boring-night/ Front Street

We had one call last night. Philipsburg is pretty dead at night, but Front Street stays lit. This was the view during the early morning hours. The shot is a tone mapped HDR, processed through Photomatix.

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/12/another-boring-night/feed/ Exploring Philipsburg http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/10/exploring-philipsburg/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/10/exploring-philipsburg/#comments Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:54:52 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/10/exploring-philipsburg/ Glowing HazeI was working Saturday night and nothing was going on, so when I saw this scene outside the station I thought I’d get to work on photographing it. The result is an HDR image that took some patience to get — the D200 bracketing only supports exposures up to 30 seconds, and in order to adequately capture the darker areas I had to do exposures up to two minutes.

Thankfully I’ve got a Nikon MC-36 multifunction remote that makes taking these longer exposures much easier, so I other than having to sit around and wait, the process wasn’t too difficult. Check out Flickr for the original LDR images, they aren’t too shabby, either.

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/10/exploring-philipsburg/feed/ Afternoon sunset http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/07/afternoon-sunset/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/07/afternoon-sunset/#comments Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:18:36 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/07/early-afternoon/ After getting off my normal sleep schedule yesterday to get up photograph the sunrise, I ended up taking a nap before going out in the early afternoon to see the end of the day. A quick trip up to the top of the Fraser Street parking garage managed to give me some decent views, though a large crane did get in the way.

MBA_4852And8More_tonemapped_PM_1 MBA_4906And8More_tonemapped_PM_1 MBA_4913 MBA_4942And8More_tonemapped MBA_4969And8More_tonemapped MBA_5073And8More_tonemapped_PM_1 MBA_5081 MBA_5081 Sunset over State College MBA_5199And8More_tonemapped

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/07/afternoon-sunset/feed/ Early morning in State College http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/06/early-morning-in-state-college/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/06/early-morning-in-state-college/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:14:35 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/06/early-mornings-in-state-college/ For whatever reason I tried to sleep last night. I should have known that was a stupid idea from the beginning — I ended up waking up around 5:45 or so. Getting up at that hour did give me the chance to at least get a few good photos. I started at the pond by Services Road (off East College Avenue), then made my way up to the south side of Medlar Field and finally back down Porter Road to the Center for Sustainability.

Waking Up MBA_4678 MBA_4703 MBA_4712 MBA_4722 MBA_4750 MBA_4802 MBB_1536 MBB_1540 Snowy Solar Array

]]> http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/06/early-morning-in-state-college/feed/ Hello world! http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/04/hello-world/ http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/04/hello-world/#comments Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:20:09 +0000 Matt Bisgaier http://matt.mattster.com/2007/12/04/hello-world/ The obligatory first post to make sure this this actually works. Stay tuned for some good photos, stories, or whatever else I think to put up here.

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