Dustin McCollum Photography

Second Shooter

2012-01-17T08:00:00.003-05:00

I wanted to see what Rachel would do if I handed her a camera. Once she figured out you could see through the lens, she was hooked.

It's amazing how much she knows and can do now. I remember not too long ago, we were answering a questionaire for the doctor and one of the questions was "does your child know 10 words?" I could not even guess how many she knows now. Of course you have to watch every little thing you say, because she repeats everything.

Meredith- Sr Photos

2011-12-07T20:29:00.002-05:00

There was a farmer who had a dog...

2011-11-28T22:34:00.001-05:00

There was a farmer who had a dog..., a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Took this on a hay ride at the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago.

Deanna- Senior Photos

2011-11-20T21:00:00.002-05:00

Veterans Day (a little late)

2011-11-13T20:48:00.001-05:00

Veterans Day (a little late), a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

This is my grandfather. He served in WWII. He was in Europe during his time in the army. He received a purple heart and a bronze star while there.

Caboose

2011-09-30T23:06:00.001-04:00

Caboose, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Light painting at Greenhill Park in Salem, VA.

Shoes

2011-09-29T22:00:00.001-04:00

Shoes, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

from a recent engagement shoot

Tie Post

2011-09-26T20:45:00.001-04:00

Tie Post, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Vacation photo. Colonial Williamsburg, VA.

Surfers

2011-09-13T21:47:00.001-04:00

Surfers, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Surfing on a Sunday morning.

Sunrise 9/4/11

2011-09-08T22:23:00.001-04:00

Sunrise 9/4/11, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Sunrise at Virginia Beach this past weekend.

Roanoke River

2011-08-29T21:40:00.001-04:00

Roanoke River, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

I made some time to sneak off and take a few photos last night. I decided to go down to the river since I knew the sunset wouldn't be good because there were no clouds.

The river was low enough that I could actually walk down it part ways to get this shot. It was about a quarter mile off the Roanoke River Greenway in downtown Roanoke.

Poker Cards

2011-08-17T19:58:00.001-04:00

Poker, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Been a while since I posted. Band and school are starting back up, so that has taken a lot of my time. Hope to be a little more regular with the blog posting soon.

Cards laid out on a ship in Williamsburg, VA. I took this while on vacation this summer.

Lincoln Memorial

2011-07-25T21:58:00.001-04:00

Lincoln Memorial, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Reprocessing old photos again. This was from our trip to DC a couple of summers ago before Rachel was born. DC is a great place to visit, just be prepared to walk, a lot.

Church HDR

2011-07-21T20:33:00.001-04:00

Church HDR, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

I've been messing around with HDR a little lately. I love what it does to the clouds.

In case you don't know what HDR is, it stands for High Dynamic Range. Basically it's combining 3 different exposures (one normal exposure, one over-exposed, and one under-exposed) of the same image into one image.

Cliff Hanger

2011-07-09T14:28:00.001-04:00

Salem Fair, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Another ride at the Salem Fair.

Salem Fair

2011-07-08T13:53:00.001-04:00

Salem Fair, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

How I Shoot Fireworks

2011-07-03T14:10:00.011-04:00

With the Fourth of July being tomorrow, I though I would share how I photograph fireworks. It's relatively easy as long as you have a few essentials.

First, you obviously need a camera, but you also need to be able to access the manual settings on the camera itself. Some point and shoot cameras will let you do this as well.

Secondly, you need a tripod since you will be probably be shooting for at least 4 or 5 seconds.

Whatever lens(es) you have will work. But if you have more than one, you have some options as far as what you want them to look like. I shot the photo below with a telephoto lens. All you get is the firework itself, nothing else.

In this photo, I used a wide lens and got a silhouette of some of the trees in the shot.

Basically when you shoot fireworks, you want to have a long enough exposure to capture the trails of light. I usually start with my camera set up like this: Aperture- f11, Shutter speed- 4 seconds, ISO- 200. Then I vary up my shutter speeds to get different looks and combinations of fireworks. If you have a 10 second or so shutter speed you can get more than one firework in the same frame.

If you start there, you can adjust depending on what look you're going for. I used a 20 second exposure for the above photo. Be careful not to go too long or it could look messy like the one below.

For the finale, you need to use shorter shutter speeds so the photo doesn't become a big ball of light. This one was only 4 seconds and it was too long.

Anyways, if you're still reading by now, you must be interested so I hope this was a help.

Windmills

2011-06-21T22:13:00.001-04:00

Windmills, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

Windmill farm just north of Indianapolis, IN. There were hundreds of these things. Just wish I had more time here, but they were right along the interstate and we were just passing through.

I'm giving away a photo session

2011-06-09T22:13:00.003-04:00

In celebration of the beginning of summer, I'm giving away a free photo session. To enter, head on over to my facebook page- http://www.facebook.com/dustinmccollumphotography

These are some photos from a senior portrait session a couple of weeks ago. We did these in downtown Roanoke. I really like downtown for portraits. So many possibilities!

Art Museum

2011-06-05T15:08:00.001-04:00

Art Museum, a photo by dustinmccollum on Flickr.

shot these yesterday while downtown at the art show

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T15:51:00.001-04:00

Happy Memorial Day, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Senior Photos

2011-05-28T20:26:00.005-04:00

Shot these a couple of weeks ago at Explore Park. There was a whole lot there I did not know about. It's a shame they closed it down. It was a really neat place.

See more photos here- http://dustinmccollum.zenfolio.com/marilyn

Oh, and check out my new facebook page!- http://www.facebook.com/dustinmccollumphotography

Staircase

2011-05-25T20:51:00.001-04:00

Staircase, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

The staircase at Graceland. You weren't allowed to go upstairs. They said it was "private" to the family. I think they just didn't have anything up there, but that's just my opinion.

Beale St.

2011-05-24T17:32:00.001-04:00

Beale St., originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

It's been a while since I posted. I've been really busy lately. I've have several portrait sessions that I've been working on, and I just got back from taking my students from school to Tennessee.

Hope to post more soon now that it is a little less hectic.

Pink Flamingo

2011-05-16T20:20:00.001-04:00

Pink Flamingo, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

It must have been mating season, because these guys were acting crazy.

"Whoa, what was that?"

2011-05-15T15:26:00.001-04:00

Baby Baboon, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

This little guy was running from an older, very angry baboon.

Tiger

2011-05-14T21:38:00.001-04:00

Tiger, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Bamboo

2011-05-13T21:55:00.001-04:00

Bamboo, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Big Guy (with a poochy lip)

2011-05-11T21:41:00.000-04:00

Poochy lip, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Best photo of the gorilla I could get. He was sitting against the glass.

Stand in

2011-05-08T22:44:00.001-04:00

Stand in, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Rachel helping test out a photo location. She didn't seem to mind too much.

Little Guy

2011-05-05T22:09:00.001-04:00

Lizard, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Toothbrush?

2011-05-01T20:00:00.001-04:00

Toothbrush?, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Another shot of the Siberian Tiger from the zoo in SC

South Carolina Sunset

2011-04-30T10:22:00.002-04:00

South Carolina Sunset, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Sunset over a small lake near my parent's home. As of late, I've regained an interest in sunsets. I love all the color possibilities and the uniqueness of each one.

Elephant

2011-04-29T19:57:00.001-04:00

Elephant, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

these guys weren't moving very much. It was a little warm for them I guess.

Siberian Tiger

2011-04-28T22:31:00.001-04:00

Siberian Tiger, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. This one's my favorite from the day. The first time we passed this guy, he was sleeping. Not very interesting. Luckily, it was not very hot that day and the animals were actually moving around a little instead of hiding in the shade.

Trail Bridge

2011-04-25T16:14:00.001-04:00

Trail Bridge, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

on a trail at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC.

Sittin' in the Road

2011-04-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

Sittin' in the Road, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Lots o' Lines

2011-04-23T21:33:00.001-04:00

Lots o Lines, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Building in downtown Lynchburg

Clouds

2011-04-22T21:19:00.001-04:00

Clouds, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Clouds in Roanoke last week.

Sunset from Roanoke Mountain

2011-04-20T22:10:00.001-04:00

Sunset from Roanoke Mountain, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

End of the day

2011-04-19T20:25:00.001-04:00

End of the day, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Rollin' In

2011-04-18T21:07:00.001-04:00

Rollin' In, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Clouds moving across the valley this past weekend.

Sunset 4/16/11

2011-04-17T21:42:00.001-04:00

Sunset 4/16/11, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

I wanted to get on the parkway to shoot the sunset from Roanoke Mountain, but they shut the parkway down. I don't know if that was because of the marathon or the storms. The view of the sunset from Mill Mountain is obstructed by trees so I found the best alternative, a parking garage.

Fried up

2011-04-16T22:26:00.001-04:00

Fried up, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Part of yesterday's dinner.

Bloom

2011-04-15T22:37:00.001-04:00

Bloom, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

I fought with the wind today to try to get a shot of a single dogwood bloom. Only managed to get one relatively sharp shot.

Will have to try this in the morning again before the sun gets high enough to shine directly on the tree.

Dogwood Blooms

2011-04-14T21:27:00.001-04:00

Dogwood Blooms, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

The dogwood tree in my front yard is in full bloom now.

Giggles

2011-04-13T21:12:00.001-04:00

Giggles, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

I don't remember what was so funny, but love the expression. This one's from her 18 month old set we did last weekend.

Lynchburg Memorial

2011-04-12T22:13:00.001-04:00

Lynchburg Memorial, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

A memorial in Lynchburg, VA (sorry I don't remember exactly what it was called). I added the grain and "old school" feel in Lightroom 3.

Faux hdr

2011-04-11T19:32:00.001-04:00

Faux hdr, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Not a real hdr image. I messed with the sliders in Lightroom to give it a more "painted" look.

This was taken at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway between Roanoke and Bedford.

Architectural

2011-04-10T22:20:00.001-04:00

architectural, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

another of the building in Lynchburg.

Symmetry

2011-04-09T21:17:00.001-04:00

Symmetry, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Quick stop in downtown Lynchburg as I was passing through the other day. This building is currently under renovations as are many buildings there.

Tugboat

2011-04-08T22:07:00.001-04:00

Tugboat, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Bath time Buddies

2011-04-07T21:20:00.001-04:00

Bath time Buddies, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

What's a bath without toys!

Wired

2011-04-06T21:01:00.001-04:00

Wired, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

YMCA!

2011-04-05T19:52:00.001-04:00

YMCA!, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

from a Bar Mitzvah reception at Hotel Roanoke at the end of last summer. Lots of fun!

Grillin'

2011-04-04T22:09:00.001-04:00

Grillin', originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Nice weather today = cooking dinner on the grill. Too bad tomorrow's going to be cold again.

18 months old

2011-04-03T21:28:00.001-04:00

18 months old, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Rachel will be 18 months old this week. It's amazing how fast things are moving with her. You don't really believe everyone when they tell you how quick it goes until it's actually happening.

"It's indecent to meet boys at the footbridge!"

2011-04-01T22:39:00.001-04:00

Arboretum at JMU, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Borrowed quote from "The Music Man" (1962 version).

This is the arboretum up at James Madison University.

Have some cake

2011-03-31T21:53:00.001-04:00

Have some cake, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Close up of the cake my mom did for my brother's wedding.

Please Take a Seat

2011-03-30T22:07:00.001-04:00

Please Take a Seat, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Little Feet

2011-03-29T21:45:00.001-04:00

Little Feet, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Tiny feet. She's been in these for a while now. Kind of messed up Lori's planning with summer and spring shoes. We had to go out and get new Easter shoes because the one's we bought originally will still be too big.

Ready for Bed

2011-03-27T21:37:00.001-04:00

Ready for Bed, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

In for a landing

2011-03-26T20:55:00.001-04:00

In for a landing, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Seagull landing in the water. Chesapeake, VA.

Night Shot

2011-03-25T20:30:00.001-04:00

Night Shot, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Shot this while out shooting the "supermoon" last week. At Explore Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Daddy's Girl

2011-03-24T21:38:00.001-04:00

Daddy's Girl, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Getting ready for bed the other day.

Little Runner

2011-03-22T22:08:00.001-04:00

LIttle Runner, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Running to her swing in the front yard.

Night River

2011-03-21T21:32:00.001-04:00

Night River, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Roanoke River from the bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County. Would have been better if I would have remembered my remote to keep the shutter going longer than 30 seconds. Maybe I can try this again another time.

Supermoon?

2011-03-20T20:29:00.001-04:00

Moon 3/19/11, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

So is it "supermoon" or "super moon" (with the space)? I don't know. I keep seeing it both ways. Anyways, I know there are a bunch of these photos out there from last night. This is mine.

Cable Ties

2011-03-18T16:34:00.001-04:00

Cable Ties, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Remnant

2011-03-17T08:55:00.001-04:00

Remnant, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Pieces of an old boat dock?? In an inlet off the Elizabeth River.

Tree Reflections

2011-03-14T20:09:00.001-04:00

Tree Reflections, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

This is upside down from the original orientation.

Just runnin'

2011-03-12T21:47:00.001-05:00

Millie Dog, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Running for no reason at all really. She's a quick one though.

Spiral

2011-03-10T22:58:00.001-05:00

Spiral, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Quick shot this morning in the rain.

Morning Light

2011-03-09T19:22:00.001-05:00

Morning Light, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Took this at Garst Mill Park before work one day last week. I love the bridge over the creek.

Saturday Morning

2011-03-07T20:49:00.001-05:00

Saturday Morning- 2, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Hanging out last Saturday morning while Mommy was at Zumba class.

Rising from the ashes

2011-03-05T22:33:00.001-05:00

Fire!!, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Took this a few months ago. I didn't notice at first, but someone told me it looks like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I think I agree.

City Lights

2011-03-05T08:51:00.001-05:00

City Lights, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Fire Escape

2011-03-03T21:47:00.001-05:00

Fire Escape, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

I spent last Saturday in Harrisonburg, Virginia for All-state band auditions. I had a while to wait while the kids auditioned so I walked around downtown a little. Seems to be a neat little town.

Softbox sample

2011-03-02T21:11:00.001-05:00

Zoe 2/27/11, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

A few weeks ago, I made a bracket for my new softboxes that I got from Adorama. I was posting a picture on my flickr stream of the bracket and wanted to include some samples of stuff that I shot with it. I haven't really shot much with them yet, so I grabbed the first available subject. Just happened to be Zoe. We went outside and shot a few. This is one.

I like the look that underexposed ambient light gives. It's not very often I can do this since I don't have any large strobes with enough juice to overpower the sun. The clouds were just right though.

uhhhh

2011-03-01T20:30:00.001-05:00

uhhhh, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

She looks so thrilled, doesn't she?

Rockin' Chair

2011-02-27T22:04:00.001-05:00

Rockin' Chair, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

This one's from Christmas break. She's already changed so much since then. Her hair looked nice in this picture even though it hadn't been cut yet. Not sure how that happened since this was the end of the day, and it's usually a wreck then.

Legal Barrier

2011-02-26T22:02:00.001-05:00

Metal Fence, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Outside a law firm in downtown Roanoke.

Star in the Fog

2011-02-25T21:55:00.001-05:00

Star in the Fog, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Another fog photo from yesterday. I have so many shots of this thing, I tried to find new angles. I think I found one with this.

Twins

2011-02-24T19:52:00.002-05:00

Twins, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Took a quick trip up the mountain this afternoon before dinner. I wanted to get some photos of the trees in the fog. It was almost too foggy for my autofocus. It struggled a bit at times.

Rachel Eyes

2011-02-23T20:27:00.001-05:00

Rachel 2/17/11, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

It's been a while since a posted a picture of Rachel. We had a little time outside the other day since the weather was nice. I love her eyes in this shot.

Bicycle Dude

2011-02-22T22:25:00.001-05:00

City Biker, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

This guy was really bookin' it when he passed me the other day. Panning and a slower shutter speed made the background streak too, giving the photo more of a sense of motion.

Light Up

2011-02-21T19:40:00.001-05:00

Light Up, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

Something a little different from yesterday's afternoon photo excursion in downtown Roanoke.

City Buildings

2011-02-20T20:53:00.001-05:00

City Buildings, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

I shot this from the top of one of the parking garages downtown. I hadn't been walking around downtown Roanoke in a long time. It was nice to get out and not really know what you were going to take pictures of.

I decided to only take one lens with me, my 50mm 1.8. There were several times when I wish I had my wide zoom, but having only one focal length forces you to get creative sometimes. I think I might do this again sometime with just a telephoto lens and see what happens.

Radio Tower

2011-02-19T12:44:00.001-05:00

Radio Tower, originally uploaded by dustinmccollum.

This is at Mill Mountain. I only got one keeper from this trip because some homeless guy kept following me and talking to me, so I left. I think I will go back and try some more sometime soon now that it is a little warmer and you can feel your fingers while you are outside at night. It would be interesting to see if I could get some long star trails here too. I don't know if that would be possible here though because of all the street lights.

Everyone (including me) seems to only take pictures of the city or the star while up on the mountain. So I wanted to try something different. This was the result.

Tree shots

2011-02-17T22:02:00.001-05:00

Blue Heron?

2011-02-15T20:05:00.008-05:00

Came across this really cool bird on one of the boardwalk paths at Swan Lake. He (or she, I don't know) was very calm. I was able to get about 20 feet away before he moved. I wanted to get some of him in flight too, but when he flew off he went towards the sun so all I got was a silhouette.

I couldn't decide if I liked the color or black and white version, so I posted both. I like the background separation that the black and white gives, but I also like the colors of the feathers on the bird.

Stale Bread and a Picnic Saturday

2011-02-13T20:07:00.012-05:00

We went to visit my parents for the weekend. Before we leave, we try to clean up a little so the house is not a wreck when we get back. While cleaning, Lori was getting ready to throw out some old bread and asked me if there was anywhere we could take Rachel on Saturday to feed some ducks or something since we knew the weather was supposed to be nice. I remembered Swan Lake in Sumter, SC (about 45 minutes from my parent's house). So we decided to go there for the day.

The weather turned out to be really nice. We were excited to spend the day outside, and especially for Rachel since this winter has left us confined to the indoors. We get there, get unpacked, get to the gate, and see this sign.

Well that stinks. So we can't feed the birds now. Last time I went we fed them like crazy. We figured they either got really overweight or just became too aggressive towards people. So here we are with stale bread that we can't feed the birds. Oh well, we still walked around and had a great time. I spent a lot of the time taking pictures and my parents enjoyed spending the time with Rachel.

This swan may have been resting on some eggs. She (I assume "she") stayed like this as we walked by. Didn't seem to be bothered by anything. I did try to keep a little space though. You never know when one of these birds is going to go psycho on you.

Taking in the landscapes. Got several more I will share later.

There were several different kinds of swans and other birds there. There was even a really cool Blue Heron I got some cool shots of. I'll share those later as well.

This little guy needs a thought bubble.

I end this post with a bit of irony. We packed a picnic lunch to eat while we were there. We lug everything out of the back of the car, and trek on over to the picnic benches. We get things set up, and it is then that my mom realizes we didn't pack the bread for the sandwiches. Poop! Off to McDonald's.

.....more to come

Tree in a Field

2011-02-10T22:20:00.001-05:00

Shot this from a country road in the mountains of Montgomery County, VA.

New River

2011-02-09T21:51:00.002-05:00

Somewhere near Radford, VA. Probably couldn't get back to this spot if I wanted to. It involved many random turns. GPS on the phone helped me find my way out. Yet another nice thing about smart phones.

Dirt Road

2011-02-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

Took this just driving around. Car's a little dirty now.

Boardwalk

2011-02-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

On the road...

2011-02-06T13:20:00.002-05:00

Took my kids from school to district band this weekend. Took a few pictures while I was out at lunch one day. These were taken in Christiansburg, VA. It was cloudy and cold pretty much the whole time we were there.

January Sunrise

2011-02-02T17:03:00.002-05:00

This was the sunrise Sunday in Virginia Beach. There were more clouds this time so the sunrise was a little more colorful than when I went last year (link).

I would have loved to have done some long exposures with the waves coming in, but I got to the beach too late for that. I didn't realize how bright it would be even before the sun came up. Guess I've been too used to the mountains.

The Hilton

2011-01-31T20:21:00.003-05:00

The Hilton Hotel at VA Beach.

Early Morning Flight

2011-01-30T21:02:00.004-05:00

Sunrise at Virginia Beach this morning.