Snaps and Frames

• Tagged Apple Computer, Apple Inc., Apple Store opening, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Spokane, Steve Jobs

After waiting impatiently for two weeks, my new Nikon D3s DSLR camera arrived at my newspaper today. The camera has been touted as the low light, low noise king and I wanted to test it out. This photo of my daughter and her friend was shot at ISO 6400 on my living room floor lit by the incandescent lamps in the room. I am blown away at the low noise quality of the files coming from this camera. It will be a game changer for me. No longer will I be limited by low light. New photo possibilities await.

• Tagged duncan gardens, flowers, formal gardens, manito park, Spokane

I live just a few blocks from this formal garden and am always amazed at how colorful it is this time of year. In a few weeks gardeners will pull everything up and prep the beds for winter. I used a Nikon 70mm-200 set at about 150mm. It was raining and I didn’t think I would get this type of color from my RAW file–but I did. The lens is having some focus issues. It is soft on the right half of the frame. Two years ago this lens and my camera popped out the back hatch of my SUV going 30-mph. Both miraculously survived–though my heart almost stopped. I think it is just now dying. Time for a trip to Nikon for repair.

• Tagged balloons, Colin Mulvany, Riverfront Park, Spokane, The Balloon Guy

I’ve seen this man in the park many times, but passed him by without much thought. On this day, the newspaper needed a daily feature photo. On my photo hunt, I took a walk through Riverfront Park. I spotted the balloon man sitting alone on a bench, but didn’t think there was a moment to be had. But like many times before, a photograph will suddenly present itself. The young girl with her parents was also walking by. He called her over and began making a princess outfit out of balloons. I backed up with my telephoto lens and just made snaps.

• Tagged Colin Mulvany, cycling, Spokane, SpokeFest

This was an experiment that really fails as a news photograph, but I like it anyway. My eyes are drawn to the swish and slur of color. I wish it could have been a touch sharper on the riders face. I am trying to take more risks with my photography, which I hope will make me a more creative photojournalist. This was shot with a 85mm 1.4 lens wide-open, panning with a half second exposure.

• Tagged Colin Mulvany, Colville National forest, counter culture, hippies, Rainbow family

I had been camping for a few days with a group of Rainbow Family members. It was about 7 a.m. when I wandered in the Montana Mud camp kitchen, It was dark under the trees, but I followed a shaft of warm light that led me to these sleeping Rainbows. I quickly searched for a composition, settling on this spot shot with 14 mm wide-angle lens. I like the dog is this snap. In all but one shot he was turned away. This photo led the front page. It is one of my favorites this year. I think I like it because it is pure. The subjects’ were unaware, making it a real moment.

A raindrop strikes a puddle in downtown Spokane Thursday, May 27, 2010 Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Rain makes most people put their cameras away. I usually do too. On this rainy slow news day, I decided to play around with a 60 mm macro lens that had been stashed in the pool lens closet forever. I made this shot lying in a street gutter shooting the drops of rain hitting a puddle. It was dark, the light was flat and I was getting wet. I used a small LED panel light to help bump the camera shutter speed high enough to freeze the drop. The yellow in the photo is the reflection of the panel light in puddle. I shot a hundred or so exposures and only this one stood out. I think pedestrians that walked by at the moment must have thought I was nuts. I did look like a drowned rat by the time I got back to the newspaper.

• Tagged baseball, birds, Spokane Indians baseball

I was shooting a Spokane Indians baseball game from up in the press box behind home plate. I like this spot because it gives me a clear high-angle view of all the bases. The free hot dogs are a plus too. I use a 300 mm 2.8 lens with a doubler to pull me close to the action. As I was sitting there waiting for the free hot dogs to arrive, er, something to happen, a small bird landed on the backstop net for a fleeting moment. I shot one snap–because I was bored–and It ended up being a better picture than the sports photo that ran in the newspaper.