PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK SUYDAM

Wind Power; Saybrook, IL

Nick Suydam — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 03:39:00 +0000

Wind turbines spin in a farmer’s field on a cold winter evening in Central Illinois.

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Grain Elevator, Maquon, IL

Nick Suydam — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:17:29 +0000

As the full moon rises, it silhouettes the vintage grain elevator in Maquon, IL.

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Across the Illinois River After Dark

Nick Suydam — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 03:04:01 +0000

The I-74 / Murray Baker bridge in Peoria, IL rises over a fog-shrouded Illinois River on a cold winter night.

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Knox County Highway 18

Nick Suydam — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:35:18 +0000

Knox County Highway 18, just north of Yates City, is coated with ice as the sun is about to set on a cold winter evening.

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Railroad Bridge in Fog

Nick Suydam — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 05:21:48 +0000

With our wildly fluctuating temperatures in Central Illinois lately, we’ve had our share of foggy days and nights. And I love shooting in fog. One such evening was this past Monday, when I headed towards the Illinois River after work. This is the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad’s massive Illinois River lift bridge shrouded in a dense bank of fog hanging over the water.

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Late Night in Yates City

Nick Suydam — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:57:04 +0000

It’s last call down at the local bar. Just before they turn out the PBR sign hanging out front, an empty BNSF grain train rumbles through Yates City, on its way back to North Dakota for a reload.

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The Magic of Tilt Shift Lenses

Nick Suydam — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:38:32 +0000

I’ve been considering purchasing a tilt shift lens for quite some time, mainly because I’ve grown tired of the distortion caused by my wide angle lenses when shooting subjects like buildings, or really, anything. The price has kept me away, which is why I decided to rent one from Borrow Lenses a few weeks ago just to try it out. Spoiler alert; I do believe I’ll be purchasing one for myself shortly.

I received my Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5II and figured I’d put it to work on some buildings. No place in Central Illinois has more historic and interesting buildings than Springfield, so that’s where I ended up. Let’s get right to the examples. First, we have Abe Lincoln’s home. This is a National Historic Site, and several blocks around Abe’s old home have been restored to appear just as they did in his day. At a few locations I took photos, one with the TS-E and one with my Canon EF 16-35mm L II (which is a very good lens in its own right, and has very low distortion for a wide angle). I’ll present both below for comparison.

Tilt shift photo:

Wide Angle lens at approximately 24mm for comparison:

You can immediately notice that nice straight lines of Lincoln’s home in the top photo, and the definite distortion provided by the wide angle comparatively. This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been looking for, as I hope to begin shooting more architecture soon.

A tilt shift lens also allows you to play with the focal plane a bit, as has become popular as of late. This ‘tiny miniature’ effect can be mimicked in Photoshop, but it just doesn’t have the same look provided by a real lens.

Some other photos from my outing with the tilt shift lens are below:

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Machine Shed, Smithshire, IL

Nick Suydam — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:33:54 +0000

This is not the first time I’ve photographed this old machine shed that sits out by itself on the county highway just south of Smithshire, IL. But I just couldn’t pass it up this time with the brilliant sunset happening on the horizon. This photo is an HDR, created from eight different exposures to show more of the colors in the scene than a normal photograph would.

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Union Grove Farm

Nick Suydam — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:26:17 +0000

Near the small town of Union Grove, IL is this old farm with classic red buildings. It made for a nice photo prop on a warm summer evening as the sun set and a few clouds rolled in.

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Calamus, IA 52729

Nick Suydam — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 03:01:59 +0000

I’ve decided to break out a bit from being so Central Illinois-centric with the Post Office project. To get back in the swing of things, here is the rural post office in Calamus, IA, Zip Code 52729. Calamus is a town of about 450 people west of Clinton right along historic US 30.

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