Category Archives: Photography

Click on the title of the blog post to view the entire entry.


All articles related to photography, photos, and still images

Youth Boys Campout on the Farm // Friday Feet

December 5, 2008 – 10:00 pm · Popularity: 21%

This week my Friday Feet post is a little different.  We had the boys youth group out to have a campout, cookout, and whatever else they do at that age.  Being Friday I used this opportunity to get a Friday Feet shot in with some of the guys before they ate.  It was absolutely pitch dark but those are my feet in the middle and Rusty Hutson’s one foot stuck in the side, Heath to my right with socks on, and everyone else that stuck a foot in at the time.

Friday Feet

The boys play this sort of cruel version of a game that no one over the age of 25 should play called catch the flag.  I was given the “easy” task of guarding our teams flag (this is pitch dark night at 30* by the way) and when someone came by I was to “get” them.  After several sprints, tackles, and sumersalts that this body hadn’t done in a while I was exhausted.

The food was great.  They brought out some fraternity grill on a trailer and cooked all night until we were all full.  Breakfast was a different story.  I learned you need to cook a normal portion times 10 for these guys, but it was all great fun.

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

The Chair of Simplicity

November 28, 2008 – 7:00 am · Popularity: 21%

Red Chairs at the Farm

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Star Trails, the North Star, and a Cold Night with the Tree Swing

November 26, 2008 – 5:48 am · Popularity: 24%

If you have been following the progress of our tree and tree swing, it now has just about no leaves on it at all, so last night I decided to take advantage of the very dark night out here and do a long exposure of the tree showing the North Star.  This shot was a single frame, 3 hour exposure with another 3 hour noise reduction process.  I started the exposure when I went to bed and it finished around 4am.  Showing star trails are a little easier with a film exposure but this one turned out pretty good. The tree looks like it is leaning over to the side because it was shot with a 14mm lens pointed almost straight up at the sky.  I am actually standing about 5 feet or so from the tree.

You can just see the North Star behind the right side of the tree.  I couldn’t actually see it when I setup the tripod and I was just shooting for somewhere close to the center of the frame.  Missed it to the left by a little but close enough.

The North Star Trails

The tree is the same one you see in the previous posts, here, here, here, here, and even here.  Some day I will put all the tree shots together in one post.  It is pretty neat to me to see the changes in one single location, sort of like a very long time lapse.  For those of you still wondering, no, I did not sit out there all night with the camera, I just set the exposure time to 3 hours and hoped that a deer or other large animal didn’t tip over my tripod.


By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Epson Perfection V500 Scanner and Some Velvia Film

November 25, 2008 – 9:24 am · Popularity: 24%

I have a hate hate relationship with scanners.  I have had scanners of all types and none have been anything worth keeping and not throwing out the window at any nearby target.  I started long ago with an HP slide scanner, actually one of the better performing scanners specifically designed to scan slides.  Since I shot almost all Fuji Velvia 50 or a Kodak 100 positive film back then, the slide scanner was something I was really excited about.  It cost a fortune, worked ok, for a while, game mediocre results, and I ended up scanning only a hand full of slides.

Fast forward about 10 years and 5 scanners.  My current scanner, the Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner, is supposed to be a great one for scanning all kinds of film, 35mm negatives, positives, 120, just about the only thing it can’t do is wet scans.  But, results, up to this point (I have had this scanner almost a year now) have been dismal, until yesterday when a friend and fellow photographer (Jak) told me to try a few different settings and software.  I do this every so often, try again and get lousy results but this time I started messing with the color profiles and other areas and it didn’t turn out so bad.

Deborah Kayaking in Ohio

This was a scan of an original Velvia 50 transparency taken back in May 2002 of Deb kayaking on Lake Erie in Ohio exploring the coves.  Contrast is a little bit high but this is how it came out of my scanner, far better than any I have tried before.  The shot below shows the sharpness at 100%, not bad for a scan on a scanner I thought didn’t work.

Deborah Kayaking in Ohio

Like most things, it takes practice to get it right.  This scan was straight out of the scanner, no post processing corrections (hense the artifact above Deb’s head).  A polorizer would have also helped here but as I remember, I was in my kayak trying to hand hold a very expensive camera while trying not to tip over like a turtle thus ending my photography as I knew it at the time.  I will try to get some other dated scans done and post them periodically.

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Brett Younker Joins Band for Encounter Finale // Photos

November 21, 2008 – 11:51 am · Popularity: 13%

Last night was the grand finale of sorts for Encounter with Grace Campus Ministries.  There is one more left but they had everyone come last night to what turned out to be an incredible night of music, worship, and reflecting.  Brett Younker joined the band last night to lead a few songs with Daniel Bashta (who just got back from China two days ago) and the two together were great.  Brett led worship last year and for several years prior to this year and many people told me how great it was to see him back in Auburn.

Here are a few of my favorites shots of Brett from last night.

Brett Younker at Encounter

Brett Younker at Encounter

Brett Younker at Encounter

Brett Younker at Encounter

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Last Round of 5 Year Old Expired Kodak BW400

November 20, 2008 – 9:48 am · Popularity: 12%

I got back the last of my expired rolls yesterday.  This time it was on the Kodak BW400 (consumer version, not professional grade) film that was also about 5 years old.  The grain is pretty significant and the scans are not all that great as far as color correction goes, but then again, for 5 year old expired film, it’s not bad.

This first shot was out my front door during a tornatic rain storm we had just a few days ago.  Hard to believe it was 75* with thunder, rain, wind, etc and yesterday it was below freezing.  I like this particular shot, the grain of the age of the film is covered up by the image itself.  The Auburn Basketball game was from last week, not 50 years ago.  You can see Jeff Lebo on the sidelines among other current Auburn Basketball players.

Kodak BW400 Expired Film

Deb on Kodak BW400 Expired Film

Auburn Basketball Game

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

What Kodak GC 400 Looks Like After 5 Years in a Camera

November 18, 2008 – 11:24 am · Popularity: 13%

I recently shot a few rolls with an old film camera that had a roll half exposed.  As far as I can tell, the film had sat in this camera for 5 years.  The time stamp on the first half of the film reads 11-12-03 so that is almost exactly 5 years to the day.  Kodak GC 400 is a pretty grainy film to begin with and a consumer film that was sold mostly in Wal-Mart and other retails stores.  Surprisingly the color is not all that bad.  The first image was one a took a few days ago of my desk, the second is one me and my old ride.  Had to be a while back, I still have some hair.

Scott Fillmer\'s Office

Scott Fillmer

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Next Edition Photography Business Card Photo, Over the Top?

November 17, 2008 – 10:16 am · Popularity: 15%

I should have my next edition business cards in the mail any day now.  I usually print them in very small packs of 100 at a time, probably because I can never make up my mind what I want to show on my card.  This time I went with something a little different.  This is a photo I took with the help of b/ a few months ago and turned out to be one of my favorites of the day.

Light painting is something really fun and easy to try if you have a few simple things like a camera, tripod, and a light source.  We did this round of light painting with a sparkler.

Front Pic of Scott Fillmer Business Card

What do you think?  A little over the top for a photography business card?  Well, I ask, but they are already printed and on their way to me.  I was looking for something unique, related to my faith (think I got that one), and photographically challenging.  Not going to show the back side right now but when I get them in I will take a pic of the cards themselves.

The verse I chose goes along with the theme for 2009 for our church (illuminate), but I really like the overwhelming number of scriptures that talks about “light” and this photo is taken in darkness with only the crosses showing “light”.

John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The image itself was one of several I really liked (see Light Painting Photography is Thinking Outside the Box, I Think? for others from that day), none of which we ever used for the intended purpose, but it was still fun, and different.  You can still just see my shoes at the bottom of the image as I walked across the scene, but I think the image of the three crosses is a powerful one to me.

By Scott Fillmer | Also posted in Business, Faith | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

The Birmingham Airport a Musician and a Bunch of Cameras

November 17, 2008 – 5:40 am · Popularity: 12%

This past Wednesday I spent most of the day with a fellow photographer friend of mine Stephen DeVries and his crew on a photo shoot for Jäk’s soon to be released new album.  I finally got to start looking at the edit for that day and here are the first two.  Stephen shot 35mm digital, medium format (120 film), and a large format 4×5 Polaroid and some video, while Amelia Strauss and I shot some behind the scenes stuff.  The first below is Stephen at work, the second is Amelia in one of her hats of the day.  More to come, stay tuned.

Stephen DeVries Photography

Amelia Strauss Photography

By Scott Fillmer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Auburn vs Georgia in Final Football Game of 2008 Home Season, Looses 13-17 // Photos

November 15, 2008 – 3:31 pm · Popularity: 16%

The game was much better than I would guess many expected, but Auburn had a chance to win the game at the end with 15 seconds to go on the 14 yard line with 3 plays to punch it in and just couldn’t do it (see AP story).  No help from the refs in this game and all there is left of the 2008 season is the Auburn vs Alabama game on November 29th.

Here are some of the photos from the game today.  I am in the process of uploading the remainder to my gallery.  You can check the Auburn vs Georgia 2008 gallery later today and it should be completed some time tonight.  In the mean time, here are 4 photos from today’s game vs Georgia.  The one shot below is Mario Fannin scoring the first touchdown of the game as he dives into the endzone.

Auburn vs Georgia Mario Fannin Touchdown

Auburn vs Georgia 2008 Football

Auburn vs Georgia 2008 Football

Auburn vs Georgia 2008 Football

It seemed like a long season this year, and at this point the program can probably use a break.  I hope to see Tommy Tubberville back next year but this was a tough season for any coach.

By Scott Fillmer | Also posted in Journal | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)