Kris Koeller's Blog

Only blogs of categpory: Photography

August 3, 2010 at 09:45 AM | 2 comments | 95 views | 4 mobile views | New York City, Photography
Madison Square Park

July 26, 2010 at 08:46 PM | 1 comments | 162 views | 12 mobile views | Photography, Yosemite, Geekdom
Camera Comparison - Nikon D80 vs iPhone 4

These two photos are nearly identical, though one was taken with my Nikon D80 and the other with an iPhone 4. Can you tell which is which?

July 13, 2010 at 04:58 PM | 1 comments | 105 views | 4 mobile views | Suki, Photography, US Travel
July 4th Weekend in Wappingers Falls, NY

This year we feted the famed Fong Family Fourth of July Festivities at the Fong Farm in far away upstate New York. The food, fun and fireworks were fantastic.

July 9, 2010 at 11:30 AM | 3 comments | 80 views | 9 mobile views | Photography
From the Photobooth

Great fun for $0.99.

July 9, 2010 at 11:10 AM | 1 comments | 37 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, New York City
Taking Vintagey-Looking Photos with the iPhone

April 24, 2010 at 01:35 AM | 7 comments | 15 views | 4 mobile views | Photography
High Above 6th Avenue

Our apartment in New York has a 40th floor roofdeck, a great vantage point from which to take pictures.

April 20, 2010 at 10:14 AM | 0 comments | 23 views | 3 mobile views | Photography
The Empire State Building

From the 40th floor roofdeck on our building in Chelsea. Nice day.

March 22, 2010 at 07:44 PM | 8 comments | 21 views | 3 mobile views | Photography
A Gray Day in New York City

The last three days were textbook-perfect, chamber of commerce kind of weather here in New York. Skies were clear, and the temperatures were 70-80 degrees. Today, however, it started to rain and its back to more typical weather for this type of year. A bit cool and gloomy, but still vibrant in the city. These were taken from 39th floor rooftop patio. ...

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January 14, 2010 at 08:30 PM | 2 comments | 15 views | 0 mobile views | Photography
Photo by Kris Koeller

Got an email from the editors of a series of online and iPhone city guides call Schmap. The team was compiling a guide of things to do in San Diego and wanted to add photos of such. Doing a search on Flickr.com, they came across one of my photos from our trip to the San Diego Zoo last fall, and asked if they could include the photo (royalty free) in their guide. Naturally, I was flattered and the photo includes attribution. Below is a screen shot of their online ad for th...

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May 13, 2009 at 02:44 PM | 4 comments | 12 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Yosemite, National Parks
The Story Behind the Photo

Probably one of the more challenging feats during the annual Yosemite trip is getting everyone in one spot for the group photo. This usually involves me finding a suitable location, and sending a runner, or photographer's assistant, to grudgingly gather weary campers on a Sunday morning. At this point most people are trying to break camp, and most of the ladies are appalled at an early morning photo after no shower for 3 days. However, the result is usually worth the effort and...

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January 24, 2009 at 11:13 PM | 1 comments | 8 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Banff National Park

Outside the Chateau Lake Louise, Lake Louise, Alberta.

January 13, 2009 at 03:09 PM | 1 comments | 15 views | 2 mobile views | Wine, Photography
Fun with HDR

High dynamic range photos were a big fad about two years ago. They tend to produce pretty fantastic, overly saturated photos that are high on effect and low on realism. HDR can also be used carefully to salvage otherwise over or underexposed photos, or to simply add some effect as in this self-portrait taken in Sonoma. It does give me that weathered, aged look appropriate for a guy of my "prestige." I'm beta testing a new product called HDRMAX, which seems to be much better than PhotoMatix...

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January 12, 2009 at 09:02 PM | 3 comments | 13 views | 1 mobile views | Photography
Unseasonably Warm Weather Continues

It hit 80 degrees in San Francisco today, setting a record. Its a bit too warm for my liking in January, though the balmy weather is nice. These were taken on the roof in the warm weather.

December 11, 2008 at 01:37 PM | 0 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Hawaii, Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Kailua Beach at Sunrise

In honor of today's severe weather event in Kailua, where the rains are expected to come down at the rate of about 3-4 inches per hour, I'm posting this shot from our trip to Hawaii over the Thanksgiving holiday. We went down to Kailua Beach at 5:45AM to watch the sunrise, but sadly it was quite cloudy. This is an HDR (high dynamic range) picture that is a digital composite of three separate photos shot at different exposure levels. Its a great way to bring out details in low-l...

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December 8, 2008 at 02:19 PM | 2 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
The Christmas Tree is Up!

Finally finished putting up the Christmas tree yesterday. There are two new feature ornaments: the New York City commemorative Bloomingdale's ornament, pictured below, and another of a camel to celebrate my unfortunate accident in Morocco.

December 1, 2008 at 04:35 PM | 0 comments | 10 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Hawaii
Thanksgiving in Hawaii - Pictures Posted

Spent the holiday week in Hawaii, staying with John and Carey at their new house in Kailua. Click here to view the pictures.

November 11, 2008 at 12:57 PM | 0 comments | 7 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Paris, Europe
Highlighted Travel Photos: Notre Dame

Since I finally got around to posting pictures from Paris, here's one from the top of Notre Dame. This was my third trip to Paris and on each of the previous, it wasn't possible to go to the top of the church due to construction. The view here is toward Monmarte. It was a bit of a gray day, but I also desaturated the color and warmed up the white balance.

November 5, 2008 at 06:07 PM | 0 comments | 11 views | 2 mobile views | Europe, Paris, Photography
Paris, France - April, 2008: Pictures Posted

Hi, I finally got around to posting the photos from our trip to Paris earlier this year. Pictures are in the 'photos' section above...

October 17, 2008 at 12:00 AM | 0 comments | 8 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Taking Great Photos with Your iPhone

Snapping a quick photo on the go is pretty easy and convenient with the iPhone, and the quality is decent in well-lit, outdoor settings. I downloaded an app called "CameraBag" that applies filters to the photos to make them appear as if they were shot with different makes and models of vintage cameras. The results are impressive. Below I've included the original, and the various versions. The app costs $2.99. The Original Unedited iPhone PhotoThe Vintage Helga Filter (wit...

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October 8, 2008 at 06:45 PM | 0 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Africa, Photography, Morocco
Pictures Posted: Marrakech, Morocco

Catching up on all my photos, I finally posted the Marrakech photos today. You can see the photos by clicking this link. Enjoy!

October 6, 2008 at 05:23 PM | 3 comments | 8 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
After-Prom Pictures Posted

The photos for Tod Vedock's After Prom are posted here. Enjoy!

October 1, 2008 at 05:57 PM | 0 comments | 11 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Food - Tagine of Chicken

I listen to a weekly podcast on photography, and one of the episodes had a rather long piece on photographing food. At the time that seemed a bit much, rather pointed for a general program on taking pictures. I suppose there are niche photographers who make a decent living photographing food for magazines, such as Real Simple, 7x7 and Food & Wine (each of these, by the way, feature excellent photography). But since food is such an amazing and integral part of travel, I thou...

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September 30, 2008 at 02:04 PM | 7 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Portraits

Earlier I talked about the 50mm F1.4 "prime" lens and its use. One of the things its best for is portraits. Its narrow depth of field means you do have to step back a bit, but it does a great job in low light and focuses quickly. I prefer taking people pictures when they don't know they're being photographed. You can never say, "act natural" and expect that to happen. People might get annoyed, but the pictures are more candid and natural....

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September 26, 2008 at 02:44 PM | 0 comments | 8 views | 2 mobile views | Spain, Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Stuck at the Madrid Airport

Due to a missed flight connection, we lost a day of trip to the Madrid Airport. A shiny, smoky new facility with an appalling selection of restaurants and little else. In hindsight, we should have made the hour-long trip by rail into the City, but frankly Madrid itself is only marginally more interesting. Instead of watching the sunset over Morocco, we watched it set over an empty international terminal, while some crazed psychotic was being moved from his plane, beaten and tas...

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September 23, 2008 at 05:09 PM | 0 comments | 10 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Wide Angle Lens

One of the new lenses I brought on this trip was a Takina 10-24MM wide angle lens. This is not a fish eye, the radically wide lens that produces those round-ish looking photos that seem to go around the photographer. A 10-24 is simply much wider than your standard kit lens or the zoom I usually carry. A wide angle is useful for landscapes, or capturing the entirety of a scene but not from very far away. In this shot, I was able to get most of the building's two towe...

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September 19, 2008 at 01:25 PM | 0 comments | 7 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: Prime Lenses & Depth of Field

Preparing for this trip, I brought along three lenses. I usually travel with one, but this time I had my 18-200 zoom, my new 10-24 wide angle and a new F1.4 prime. A prime is fixed-focus lens, meaning it has no zoom. It has a very large aperture (opening), that allows it to take great photos in very low light and focus quickly. Prime lenses are typically used for portraits, and when dialed all the way to F1.4, they have a very narrow depth of field. For example, you...

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September 18, 2008 at 01:05 PM | 0 comments | 7 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Barcelona
Highlighted Travel Photos: Boqueria in Barcelona

Barcelona's Boqueria market is the largest food market in Europe. Acres of really good food, displayed in a very intricate and interesting way.

September 17, 2008 at 12:51 PM | 2 comments | 11 views | 2 mobile views | Spain, Barcelona, Photography
Highlighted Travel Photos: The Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain

I decided to send out a few selected photos from my trip, one a day for the next few days. If you don't want to get these updates, you can update your kriskoeller.com account preferences here. What am I looking at: This is the entryway to the Sagrada Familiar cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. The entrance is lit by two columns of stained glass. In the morning, the colors are amazing. ...

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May 19, 2008 at 05:06 PM | 0 comments | 15 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Touristy Pictures from San Francisco - Posted

I posted a group of photos from this past weekend. Jessica's childhood friend Sharon was visiting from New York for her first ever visit to San Francisco. We did all the typical touristy stuff. Enjoy the photos!

Included link: View the pictures online here!

May 3, 2008 at 03:55 PM | 0 comments | 13 views | 2 mobile views | Geekdom, Photography, Yosemite, National Parks
Beautiful day at Yosemite (iPhone Photo)

Unbeatable weather, unbeatable view.

March 3, 2008 at 06:24 PM | 0 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Wine
More Mendocino Pictures

Today I posted the pictures I took in Mendocino. The weather was for the most part perfect. It poured down rain while we were eating lunch, but otherwise it was fine. Bright, sunny conditions usually make for good photos, but I was struggling a bit with exposure control and as a result many of these are a bit dark. I was able to get down to the beach in time for sunset and I'm really pleased with how some of those shots came out. Also, the new adjustment tools in Aperture 2.0 make fine-tuning...

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Included link: Pictures from our weekend in Mendocino...

December 31, 2007 at 05:34 PM | 1 comments | 19 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
Farewell, 2007...

2007 went out brilliantly in San Francisco, with a rarely spectacular sunset. Looking forward to an exciting 2008, although why I think it will be exciting is uncertain. I never would have predicted the things I did in 2007 this time last year, so I guess that's what makes it exciting. I'm working on my new years' resolutions at the moment, some of which I'll share. I will be announcing the DailyKPK, 365 blog postings in 2008, one every day. Bookmark the RSS feed and check in from t...

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July 31, 2007 at 01:25 PM | 0 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Asia, Photography, Cambodia
Angkor Wat Pictures Posted

The pictures from Angkor Wat, Cambodia have been posted. There is a small set and a large set depending your bandwidth preferences.

Included link: Click here to view pictures of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

July 16, 2007 at 12:46 AM | 4 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Asia, Hong Kong, Photography
Pictures Posted: Hong Kong

Pictures from my trip to Hong Kong, Lantau and Macau are now posted.

Included link: Click to view pictures of Hong Kong

July 15, 2007 at 03:55 PM | 4 comments | 22 views | 2 mobile views | Asia, Kyoto, Photography, Tokyo
Tokyo and Kyoto Pictures are Posted

I'm starting to post pictures. The first two sets from Tokyo and Kyoto are now live. Thanks to Matt Poehler for passing along his photos.

Included link: Click here to view kriskoeller.com photo albums...

May 13, 2007 at 10:56 PM | 0 comments | 12 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, National Parks, Yosemite
Yosemite 2007: Pictures Posted!

Check out the Yosemite photo album. If you attended and want to post your pictures, please let me know.

April 17, 2007 at 10:58 PM | 0 comments | 13 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Wine
Sonoma Wine Tour Photos Posted

Now that my taxes are done, I finally posted the Sonoma Wine Tour photos.

January 27, 2007 at 09:44 AM | 0 comments | 22 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, Hawaii
Hawaii Sunset Picture: More Studies

This is an artificial sunset, taken about 3:30 in the afternoon. Clearly the sun is bright and high on the horizon. However, by saturating the color and reducing the exposure, you can create a sunset like effect. Although, the sun itself makes the scene a bit implausible. The adjusted photo is below. Click on the picture to see the original, untouched photo: Click to see the original

September 24, 2006 at 05:11 PM | 0 comments | 9 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
The Big Sur Coastline

Just got back from a terrific weekend of camping in Big Sur, California...

September 24, 2006 at 05:08 PM | 0 comments | 10 views | 2 mobile views | Photography
The Big Sur Coastline

Just got back from a terrific weekend of camping in Big Sur, California...

September 13, 2006 at 12:10 AM | 0 comments | 10 views | 2 mobile views | New York City, Photography
View from the Top of the Empire State Building

uptown from the empire state building...

July 24, 2006 at 11:05 PM | 0 comments | 16 views | 2 mobile views | Yosemite, Photography, National Parks
Yosemite 7 Group Photo

this year's group photo...

July 23, 2006 at 08:39 PM | 0 comments | 16 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, National Parks, Yosemite
Yosemite 7: Bear Photo

while enjoying the splendor of yosemite, we happened upon this critter...

November 19, 2005 at 05:10 PM | 0 comments | 11 views | 2 mobile views | Photography, New York City
Autumn in New York City

Autumn in New York is amazing. Its that brief period of tolerable weather in between the unbearable heat and the miserable cold. Though its been both unseasonably warm and unseasonably wet, at least by local standards, its still quite brilliant.

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