A Walk in an Alternate Reality with Infrared {New Braunfels and San Antonio Infrared Photography}

Some animals can see in the ultraviolet and infrared spectrum. That's amazing to imagine. Our eyes are made to see only the colors of the rainbow -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. But on one end of that spectrum is ultraviolet and on the other end is infrared.

It's true that some flowers have much more complex detail in them than we can see with our eyes. But the creatures that feed on those plants or fertilize those plants see them totally different than our eyes see them. I found a cool demonstration here. There are some photos with a slider so you can see how humans see these object versus how certain animals see them.

The infrared camera can pick up subtle difference in fabrics and objects that appear to us as the same color. I see it usually in clothing. But it can also be seen seen in the environment. Foliage can appear in varying shades of white and flowers can reflect different patterns.

Today I wanted to showcase some of our infrared landscape images.

These first four images were taken at the old Aquarena Springs. It was once one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. In these images it appears ghostly and dreamy. Sadly, the old Sky Spiral was torn down a few years ago and these images were probably one of the last ever taken of it. Students had a nasty habit of sneaking to the top and falling to their death so it was a danger.

The replica of the San Xavier mission is still there on the hillside. Hopefully, those hiking trails will be reopened some day.

This is an image of the Red Brick Inn in Gruene.





This is probably my most favorite infrared image. It hangs on the wall outside my bedroom so I pass it every day. This was taken at the Very Large Array in New Mexico. on one of our cross country road trips. Jayme outdid himself on this one.





And this Monument Valley image is Jayme's favorite infrared image, which was taken on that very same road trip during a sandstorm. You can read more about that road trip on my previous blogs here and here, where I'll show you some visible light images that I took of these same locations.





This image was taken on another road trip, this time through D'Hanis, Texas. It's an amazing abandoned church that we love to stop at for photos from time to time. Here's my blog with some images in visible light.





This one is the back side of the Gruene Mansion Inn, a popular spot for photos.





The next five images were taken at Paradisus Punta Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic. We were there for a destination wedding -- which was amazing, I must add.

This is an image of the J.C. Kellam building on the campus of Texas State University.





And last, but certainly not least is an image of the famous Chicken Ranch in La Grange. This place is special to us because Jayme has been in the midst of writing a book about this place. You'll see me blog about this quite a bit more in the future because he has a contract in his hands as I write this to publish the book through a major publishing house. If you can't wait, we self-published Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch a couple of years ago to showcase our photography of the ruins. Both mine and Jayme's photography is featured in there, including some more infrared.



Next I'm going to share some infrared images of weddings we've captured through the years.

Lisa On Location Photography

The Reason I Was Sore All Weekend: An Engagement Session That was Worth the Pain {New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, San Antonio Wedding Photography}

When Liz booked me for her wedding she mentioned that she worked for the Canyon Lake Gorge giving tours. I got super excited imagining all the cool bridal photos we could get. Although she decided not to take the wedding dress down into the gorge, she did decide to take her fiance and make it an unusual engagement session. I'm sure Jacob is grateful for that (I say in my most sarcastic voice).

We sweated our bottoms off walking and climbing through this amazing place! But first I emptied my camera bag of all but the most necessary equipment. And if you know me, you know it was still pretty full. I took down two camera bodies (I always have an extra in case of a malfunction), my 70-200 f 2.8 L, my 24-105 f4 L, three Canon 600 EX-RTs plus a transmitter (because I'm all about lighting), a Cheetah stand and extra batteries of course. It sounds like a lot but it's really the bare minimum. I was limiting myself to two lenses throughout the session (gasp) and I found myself wishing I'd brought my macro along for this shot.



I used the backpack straps on my bag for the first time ever (I usually just wheel it around) and can I just say, ouch! It was actually a pleasant walk into the gorge, but with my gear and the couple carrying their own changes of clothing and shoes, it seemed longer than it should have. The temperature was actually nicer than it could have been. It was in the 90s of course -- this is September in Texas -- but it was only low 90s to start with it. It got higher the later in the morning it got, but we started out okay.

This was my fourth time out to the gorge -- the most recent trip being a catalog shoot for a clothing designer. The previous times were shoots for the art on the wall of the former Schobels Restaurant, which is now River Hofbrau in New Braunfels. I can say with all certainty that even though the gorge is constantly changing, it's still a workout and will always be a workout to get in and out of it.

But the sweat and tears (well maybe it was actually sweat in my eyes and not tears) were worth it.

This couple was a lot of fun to hang out with and I know their wedding next month will be just as exciting (although hopefully not as sweaty).



Lisa On Location Photography

It's all about color

HDR attempt
Originally uploaded by lisablaschke

I've been reading a few good books lately. Okay, yes, I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse series and am loving the mush it is turning my brain into, but I'm also reading up on HDR -- high dynamic range -- photography as well as a fascinating book on digital color correction. I decided to play with some of what I've learned and make an attempt at creating some images in HDR.

This is a barn I came across on the way to Cuero the other day, I loved the color of the rust on the roof as well as the clouds and the sky. I think I was being bitten by fire ants at this exact moment. Mental note to self, wear closed toe shoes on road trips.

HDR is a process of taking 3 or more images bracketed in rapid succession and merging them into one. This allows you to bring out details in the shadow areas and details in the highlighted areas in the same image, when otherwise you might be forced to choose the areas that are more important to you -- like should you expose for the details in the clouds or the details in the shadow of the roof? I want my cake and eat it too, so I'm going to go with both.

I also used some of this technique on a bride I shot the other day at the Capital building in Austin. I can't wait to share the results with you, but that will have to wait a few weeks. I can't run the risk of the groom seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding ;-)

Some secrets must be kept!