A New Year, A New Goal

I started this year with a goal. I was going to really focus on my photography and try to take better and weirder photos. And with that came one condition: don’t post any of them on social media. I’ve never been that good at social media anyway, so keeping my images to myself was no challenge. However, in keeping this promise to myself, I seem to have completely neglected my website. This website has always been a tool for me anyway, kind of a way to organize the things I think are special. That is why I’ll be completing my yearly website clean-up soon. Since I won’t be posting my photos to Twitter or Instagram, I’ll need the website to look as good as it can so that when I show it to people in person, it doesn't look like a total mess.

In the spirit of renovations, I think I’ll use today as an excuse to post some of the still-life images I’ve taken over the winter. Below is a collection of various experiments that I’ve done since the start of the year.

First is an image of a mule cup I took on a wavy copper backdrop. The goal here was to experiment with a new form of still-life backdrop. I created this effect by filling a tub with water and combining it with a metallic copper acrylic ink. After swirling the ink around a bit, it produced the effect shown above.

I was pretty happy with the result; however, I felt that the mule cup was a bit difficult to work with being as reflective as it was, so I decided to try again with something else.

Above, you see two images of a perfume bottle taken on a similar liquid copper background. This one was a lot more fun to shoot, and I was much happier with the results. The labels were recolored in post-production.

The next two photos are attempts at a flower still life. I was experimenting with backgrounds again, this time with wallpaper. The first image used fake flowers and a combination of paper stock from a craft store. The final result came out better than I could have hoped for. This was also the first still life project I shot using my grandpa’s old Nikon 50mm lens.

The second image is of a real bouquet of roses that I put together myself. I will admit I'm not the best at arranging flowers, but it didn’t come out that bad. The background is vintage 1970s wallpaper I bought on eBay and taped to a piece of cardboard. I will say that I like the background a lot better than the subject. I definitely need to find a use for it in the future.

These are just a handful of images I took at the beginning of the year. I definitely have a lot more ideas for the future. If you'd like to stay informed, you’ll have to keep an eye out on the blog, as I won’t be posting to social media anytime soon. Thank you so much for your time. Have a wonderful day.

Crimson Park - Infrared Nature Photos June 25th 2020

I have been having a lot of fun with my IR camera over these past few months. With all this free time and wonderful weather I cant think of a better time to shoot.

The following images are the result of my recent trip to Triadelphia reservoir. I am really happy with the way these turned out. The first image I like to call “Crimson Park”, and it might just be my new favorite. The second photo titled “Dreamland Blue” was taken in the same location as one of my first IR photos from 2015. It’s really interesting to see how much things have changed since then, both the location itself, as well as my skills with IR photography.

In addition to the photos above, ill also include some of the images that didn’t quite make the cut. A few of them are really neat, I just need to work out some kinks with them.

I had a lot of fun taking these photos. I hope you all are staying safe during these hard times. Have a wonderful day.

- Nick

Infrared Nature Photos - May 2nd 2020

It seems as if the first week of may is destined to be my infrared week. For the past three or so years I have taken my converted Canon T5 out as soon as the weather breaks and the leaves emerge from their slumber. This year is no different, however due to restrictions caused by Covid-19 I am unfortunately forced to remain home during this wonderful weather. It is times like this that I am forever grateful that I live on an exceptionally beautiful property. I figured if I was stuck home this year I might as well make the best of it.


The following images were taken yesterday May 2nd and processed using Affinity Photo. I used the same techniques disused in my last post. I feel as if I came out with some amazing images. I decided to be a little more creative with my subject matter. Usually when taking infrared images I tend to focus on large scale landscapes. This time I decided to focus on some more intimate close-ups. I hope you all enjoy the images. Stay safe during these trying times.

"Hark The Angels Have Arrived" - An Angelic Photo Composition.

After a considerably long absence, I have finally found the time to get back into my still life. For a time I have been suffering from a bit of “artist’s block”. I just haven’t been able to come up with a clear idea in my head. That all changed last week when I was suddenly struck with the greatest idea, flying paper angels. Yes, it was so simple. 


For the better part of four months now I have been trying to do something with a few of the really old books I have lying around. For a while I was trying to make something that kind of resembled and alchemist's workshop. After a few months of that going nowhere I decided to scrap that project and use the props to create something different. The idea was simple, lay a book out on a table and make some angels come out of it. I wasted no time, as soon as the idea was in my head I set out to get supplies. 

In total, I think I spent two days looking for the right books. The main book in the center of the image is my 19th century edition of the New Testament and Psalms. If you are interested in the books themselves, I cover them in detail in my upcoming post on my other website http://topshelfbookclub.com. The other three are some equally old books I found at my favorite used bookstore. Once I had the main element, it was time to find some angels. The angels I used were from several clipart sites I found using google. The most prominent being, freepik. I cut each angel out using an exact-o knife and strung them up using some thin sowing thread. The candle sticks and the glassware were all found in goodwill.

The trickiest prop to get though would have to be the wooden table. I made the table from several scraps of reclaimed wood that I found in the woods behind my house. I spent an entire morning pulling apart what appeared to be a wrecked pool deck with nothing but a crowbar and a hammer. This was probably the most fun part of the entire project. 

Once I had all of my little goodies ready, it was time to put everything together. The resulting image is composited from several images. The main sources of light were my two soft boxes and my trusty off camera flash. The background however, is an old landscape of mine that was swapped in to give off more of an angelic glow. The only thing that really bothers me though is that background. If I could do this again I would have chosen a better setting. 

It took a considerable amount of time to combine all these images together. I was especially happy though, that I got to learn a few new photoshop techniques. Overall, I am really happy with this image. It gives off a warm feeling of happiness and joy that I relate to listening to piano music in church. Quite the change from my original intention of making an alchemist’s dungeon. 



After finishing up my original image I decided to use some of the leftover props to shoot a little still life. I call this one, “A Bowl Full Of Apples”. 

Well, that’s what i’ve been up to as of late. I had a lot of fun making these images. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do. Have a safe and happy day everyone. I will see you the next time I get back to the studio. 

[Photo] "A Drink Of Amber - Study"

I recently got into the studio to do a little study for an upcoming project. Since I have been out and about doing other projects as of late it felt nice to get some one on one time with my camera. I wanted to do something with this really cool looking glass skull i’ve had lying around for a few months now. The resulting image is a study of an idea I’ve been throwing around lately.

I will definitely make some improvements over the next few weeks, however the base idea is pretty cool. I will post an update when the final project is complete. In the mean time, enjoy what im going to call “my first draft”.

A Drink Of Amber - Study.jpg


[Photo's] - Memorial Day IR Walk.

This weekend I took a little vacation. I only managed to take a few photos, but I had a lot of fun taking them. I hope you all enjoy.

Here is a "Picture Of a Bedtime Story" - 3/1/18

Here is a picture that i've had in my head for quite some time now. As I was looking through my local craft store in search for a valentines day present; I stumbled upon this familiar looking glass case. As soon as I saw it sitting on the bottom shelf I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I've always loved fairy tales and other little fables. I admit I have a large collection of books that I read every night before I head off to sleep. This image is a combination of multiple items that remind me of bedtime stories. Now this particular piece is meant to tell a story, however that story is up to the imagination of the viewer. 

As for my usual technical explanation. I shot this against a black backdrop using a single soft box and my off camera flash. 

Personally I had a lot of fun taking this image and I hope you enjoy it. 

As always feel free to leave any feedback you want. I hope you all enjoy and have a great day. 

New Photos - Winter 2017

Here is a collection of photos I took all through the winter of 2017. I haven't had much time in the studio for the past few months due to various circumstances, however im hoping to get back in the swing of things sometime soon. 

The first is a recent project. Here is a simple product shot of some Pomegranate juice. I have always wanted to do a project with a pomegranate, and I may revisit this shot in the future to maybe add some splashes or something cooler. This could be the start of an interesting set of product shots, so expect more in the future. 

The second set of images is a little project I made for someone very special. Over the past few months this person has been struggling with severe depression and was even hospitalized for an entire month due to various different conditions. During her stay she informed me about Project Semicolon, this set of images was my way of providing support. 

The final composition is made out of about a dozen different shots of different colored liquid frozen in mid air. We achieved this result by applying food coloring to heavy cream and tossing it in the air, freezing the image with my flash. This project was incredibly fun to shoot, and we had a lot of fun producing the raw images. I will include the final image as well as two of the best raw images in the slideshow below. 

Infrared Nature Walk - 5/3/17

Today I decided to take my new modified infrared camera out for a test run.

Every image shown below was shot in infrared using a modified Canon T5 and processed in Photoshop and Lightroom. 

I am still trying to perfect my processing technique, as a result some images may look better than others. One thing I noticed during processing was the amount of possible results. It seems like you have to be very precise with your adjustments, otherwise you will end up with a completely different result.

I may or may not revisit some of these images in the future, however I am happy with the results for the time being. 

I hope you enjoy the images. As always any feedback is always greatly appreciated. 

Click on any image to enlarge. 

[Photo's] - Cards and Dice - 1/18/17

For todays project I wanted to focus on the theme of dice and playing cards. The goal was to create a few simple images that could be used as some kind of backdrop in the future. I wasn't trying to be too serious with this project, it was mainly just for fun. 

The following images are what I came up with. 

Watch Photography Study - 12/28/16

Today I decided to practice some watch photography techniques. The main goal of this project was to create an image that would resemble a magazine ad for a wrist watch. 

The setup for this shot was pretty simple. I attached my watch to a tripod and placed my camera directly above it. As for the lighting I used a single flash which was diffused by a white sheet. Additional light was provided by a flashlight held at arms length in various positions to fill in additional details. 

I ended up with around five shots with lighting set for specific areas of the shot. The shots were then combined in Photoshop in order to create the final image.

There are two different versions of the final image. One with just a plain black background, and the other with a fabric background superimposed in the background.

This project was a lot of fun, and I intend to expand upon it in the coming weeks.

As always any feedback is greatly appreciated. I hope you all have a great day and a great new year.  

Final Image With The Fabric Background.

Final Image With No Background.

"The Energy Of The Forest" - Photo Manipulation - 10/12/16

Today I decided to experiment with some new photo manipulation techniques. The goal was to create an image of a jar radiating what would appear to be mystical energy. The entire purpose of this project was to gain experience with creating artificial light sources during post production. 

Overall I am very pleased with the resulting image and hope to use this technique in future projects. 

If you are interested in a tutorial on how I achieved this effect, feel free to leave a comment down below. As always any feedback would be greatly appreciated.