This photograph was last month at the Old Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. This is the 14th photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 99th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than 10 years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured a few months at Goblin Valley State Park during my last road trip through Utah. This is the 13th photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 98th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than 8 years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured a few months during my last road trip through Utah. This is the 12th photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 97th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than 8 years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured a few months ago at the Albuquerque Zoo. This is the 11th photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 96th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured during my most recent road trip to Utah. This is the tenth photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 95th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured two months ago in the Cook County Preserves of the Chicago suburbs. This is the ninth photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 94th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured on Utah's Bicentennial Highway during my road trip in August. This is the eighth photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 94th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than eight years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured just last month at the Lake Katherine Nature Center in Palos Heights, Illinois. This is the seventh photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 92nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured just last month at the water aeration station in Worth, Illinois. I've also been using this picture as my desktop screensaver. This is the sixth photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 91st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
Day 1: Omaha, NE
Day 2: North Platte, NE - Pioneer Village
Day 3- Laramie, WY - St Matthews Cathedral, Pedestrian footbridge, downtown
Day 4- Jackson, WY - Grand Teton National Park
Day 5- Jackson, WY - Grand Teton National Park
Day 6- West Yellowstone, MT - Yellowstone National Park
Day 7- West Yellowstone, MT - Yellowstone National Park
Day 8- West Yellowstone, MT - Yellowstone National Park
Day 9- Bozeman, MT - Montana Grizzly Bear Encounter
Day 10- Buffalo, WY - Zoo Montana; Little Bighorn National Battlefield
Day 11- Badlands National Park, SD - Cottonwood Ghost Town
Day 12- Sioux Falls, SD - 1880 Town; Porter Sculpture Park; Falls Park
Day 13- Iowa City, IA - Frank Gehry designed building
Day 14- Orland Park, IL
]]>This photograph was captured last month in Colorado Springs. My intention was to photograph the amazing Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy, but the Chapel is closed for renovation until 2027. Fortunately, I happened to see this blue building from my hotel--and found it to be an interesting subject. This is the fifth photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 90th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured just two weeks before it appeared as the Photo of the Day. This is the fourth photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 89th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured in June at the Cook County Forest Preserves in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. This is the third photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 88th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured earlier this year at the Tropic World exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo. This is the second photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 87th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured last month at the Brookfield Zoo. This is the first photo from my new Nikon Z9 camera to be recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 86th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured late last year. I positioned a small flashlight to the side of the butterfly to help bring out the texture of the wing. I used my Nikon 200 f4 Micro lens with an extension tube to get really close to the wing. Two of the pictures that I captured during that photo shoot were recognized with a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 85th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured late last year. I positioned a small flashlight to the side of the butterfly to help bring out the texture of the wing. I used my Nikon 200 f4 Micro lens with an extension tube to get really close to the wing.
This marks the 84th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
1- Fairmont Hotel
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 43mm f/8.0 1/80s ISO 64
2- Buffalo Bodega Complex
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 116mm f/8.0 1/25s ISO 64
3- Fairmont Hotel windows
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 48mm f/8.0 1/30s ISO 64
4- Main Street
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 70mm f/8.0 1/20s ISO 64
5- Bloody Nose Saloon
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 53mm f/8.0 1/10s ISO 64
6- Bullock Hotel
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 16mm f/8.0 1/60s ISO 64
7- Hickok's
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 14mm f/8.0 1/60s ISO 64
8- I don't want to turn this into a political post! But, a couple of the T-shirt shops definitely tried to stir the pot. T-shirts with a "stolen White House", extremely disturbing vulgarities toward Vice President Harris, "Biden Looney Tunes", Trump with his middle finger raised, etc. For retail stores, they definitely weren't trying to appeal to everyone!
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 200mm f/8.0 1/8s ISO 64
9- Another view of the Fairmont Hotel
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 16mm f/8.0 1/80s ISO 64
10- Bullock Hotel
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 14mm f/8.0 1/40s ISO 64
11- Wild Bill Bar
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 67mm f/8.0 1/20s ISO 64
12- Wild Bill Bar...site of the killing of Wild Bill Hickok
NIKON Z 7_2 --- 50mm f/8.0 1/30s ISO 64
A couple of other notes regarding my travels...
I stayed at the Hampton Inn on Main Street. This allowed me to walk to all of these locations at my convenience and to try to time the shots for the best possible lighting and with minimal crowds. During the offseason, the Hampton Inn was just $39 per night! The night after I left, the price went of to $215. The Hampton Inn is attached to a casino. I'm not much of a gambler, but they gave me $15 of "free play" when I checked in. I ran the free play through a slot machine and pulled $11 out of the machine. I then cashed out!
]]>This photograph was captured during my October road trip to South Dakota. This is the sixth time one of my photographs has won this contest since I migrated to mirrorless with the Nikon Z7ii camera. This is the second photo to be recognized as Photo of the Day from Panorama Point in Badlands National Park!
This marks the 83rd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
Here are my favorites, in no particular order:
A Winter Walk in the Orland Grassland
Sunset in the South Dakota Badlands
Extreme Close-Up of a Bobcat
Residence Hall at Illinois State University
Butterfly Wing
Wooden Wagon Wheel Repair Shop
Wisconsin State Capitol
Bond Falls
Youth Football
Endless Prison Cell Bars, Ohio State Reformatory
Happy New Year!
]]>You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with the pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor.
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes for a high cost per unit. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. However, the book isn't intended for general distribution. I like to create one for my own records--and family and friends occasionally order books as well.
This is the 14th annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created!
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This photograph was captured during my October road trip to South Dakota. This is the fifth time one of my photographs has won this contest since I migrated to mirrorless with the Nikon Z7ii camera.
This marks the 82nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured during my road trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in September. This is the fourth time one of my photographs has won this contest since I migrated to mirrorless with the Nikon Z7ii camera.
This marks the 81st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
It was surreal seeing this massive sculpture on the open high plains of Nebraska in the middle of nowhere. It was also a test for my first all electric road trip. I recently purchased a Tesla and drove it 3,000 miles on this road trip (more on that topic later).
This was the first trip that I took with an all electric vehicle. I purchased a Tesla just weeks before the trip. The Tesla performed well throughout the road trip...and driving an electric car on a long road trip can be the subject of another article.
Here was my itinerary for this trip:
Day 1: Omaha, NE (commuting day)
Day 2: North Platte, NE (Nebraska State Capitol, Pioneer Village)
Day 3: Cheyenne, WY (Buffalo Bill's Ranch, Wyoming State Capitol)
Day 4: Scottsbluff, NE (Scotts Bluff, Carhenge, Chimney Rock)
Day 5: Deadwood, SD (Fort Laramie, Register Cliff, Deadwood)
Day 6: Deadwood, SD (Deadwood historic Main Street, Spearfish Canyon)
Day 7: Rapid City, SD (Bear Country, Art Alley)
Day 8: Wall, SD (Badlands National Park)
Day 9: Wall, SD (Badlands National Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site)
Day 10: Pierre, SD (Badlands National Park, South Dakota State Capitol)
Day 11: Sioux City, IA (Native American National Scenic Byway, Yankton downtown)
Day 12: Orland Park, IL (commuting day)
This photograph was captured from Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was captured nearly 8 years ago with the Nikon D800 camera.
This marks the 80th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured in July at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. I arranged for private photography access to this fascinating building. In order to maintain sharpness throughout the frame, I used the "focus stacking" technique to create this picture. This is the third time one of my photographs has won this contest since I migrated to mirrorless with the Nikon Z7ii camera.
This marks the 79th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
When I visit such a location, I always offer to share any photographs I capture with the church. The church can then use the full resolution files for any purpose they wish--for no charge. So, I strive to do my best in presenting the church in the images.
Here are some of the pictures from my visit:
I, along with two other photographers, were granted access to the interior of the prison from 9am until 11am. At 11am, the prison opened to the general public. I was permitted to stay, so I ended up visiting for five or six hours.
Here are some images from my visit:
To view more of my photographs of the prison, please CLICK HERE.
The library was challenging to photograph. Harsh sunlight was shining through the windows. The sunlight not only made it difficult from a color perspective due to the mixed lighting sources (daylight vs. the warmer light from the chandeliers), but it also made balancing the exposure a challenge. I converted the picture to black and white in part due to the color issues.
I pay attention to symmetry in my photographs. No matter how carefully tried to align things, the picture continued to look unbalanced. The reason for this is that the tables were not centered on the floor. Notice how the tables are positioned such that they align with the second set of diamond tiles on the left, but the third set of diamond tiles on the right. If I were able to move the tables to the right, I could have aligned the tables with the chandeliers. But this was not to be. As I tried moving the first table, I quickly noticed that the weight was going to make this process a big effort. There are a lot of tables--and before long I would have attracted the attention of the librarian. The tables make a lot of noise when they slide on the tile. I had already moved some trash cans from the scene (although I missed some on the left).
So, I ended up shooting the scene as is. I like it, but not as much as if I had moved all the tables!
]]>This photograph was captured in June in Madison, Wisconsin. I was visiting the area while coaching my 14U travel baseball team in a tournament. I got away one afternoon to capture some photographs in downtown Madison. This is the second time one of my photographs has won this contest since I migrated to mirrorless with the Nikon Z7ii camera.
This marks the 78th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
A few years ago, I discovered this building and captured some exterior images of one of the wings:
This time, I entered the building in hopes of capturing some interior pictures. But, at least initially, that wasn't to be. I was told that I couldn't enter with any professional gear, including a tripod. I asked if I could take some photos with my camera--handheld. At that point, I stripped my gear down to its smallest size...my Nikon Z7ii (without grip) with one lens attached (the Nikon 14-24 S). No tripod. Security personnel said it was OK.
I was mostly interested in taking pictures of this contemporary staircase in the Richard Meier wing of the Art Center. I set my camera for a three frame exposure bracket (using high speed frame rate) and fired three snaps while trying to keep the lens as steady as possible. It helped that my Nikon Z7ii offers image stabilization. So, even though my lens didn't have vibration reduction--the camera did steady things. I was able to capture an acceptable photograph. Yes, that's a "Taco Pizza Slice" chandelier hanging from the ceiling!
I also captured this photograph of a corridor in the same wing of the Art Center. While composing this image, I placed a knee on the floor to gain a lower perspective. As soon as my knee touched the ground, I heard one of the employees approach me from behind. She shouted "now that's a professional photo shoot!" She told me to stop taking pictures as it was clear that I was a professional. I explained that I was cleared by security after I left my "professional" tools (mainly the tripod) in my car. I also said that just because I lowered myself to change the perspective doesn't mean that I'm a professional. I had no plans to sell these photos. She relented and I continued shooting.
Before leaving, I captured this photograph of a staircase inside the wing designed by architect I.M. Pei. The brutalist style of this wing contrasts with the contemporary wing designed by Richard Meier.
In the end, I found many interesting subjects to photograph during my short stay in Des Moines. CLICK HERE to view those images.
I arrived at the bridge about 20 minutes before sunset and set up my composition. I waited until 30 or 40 minutes after sunset, but the bridge lights never went on. My photo shoot was spoiled.
I left the site and checked into my hotel--the Hampton Inn. As I entered the room, I was shocked to see my own photograph hanging on the wall!
I submit my pictures to a number of photo stock agencies, so I assume that the Hilton purchased my photograph from one of those agencies.
What an incredible coincidence!
]]>This photograph was captured last month in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The barn dates back to 1908. It was one of the buildings within the headquarters of the Ringling Brothers Circus. The harsh light in this situation was a blessing. It created the shadows that make the lines of the barn stand out more.
This marks the 77th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured earlier this year at Lake Michigan in Michigan City, Indiana. I partially desaturated the image while editing it in Photoshop.
This marks the 76th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than seven years. Click here to view all of the winning entries.
This photograph was captured in 2014 during one of my most memorable road trips. CLICK HERE to read my blog entry about the challenging road conditions that I faced to capture this image!
This marks the 75th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
So, my migration plan is as follows:
- Just placed an order for the Z7ii.
- Once the Z7ii arrives, I plan to replace the 14-24 and 24-70 lenses with the S 2.8 versions. The S version of the 24-70 looks to be a significant improvement over my 24-70 (first version) and the 14-24 also looks to be improved (although that's tough to do against my 14-24). The filter options for the 14-24 S look to be a lot more convenient.
- I plan to keep my 70-200 F mount (latest version) and use it with the FTZ adapter.
- I plan to keep all of my other F mount lenses and use the FTZ adapter for now.
- I plan to keep my D850 for a while and use it for action photography with my long lenses. I suspect the D850 will outperform the Z7ii for action photography--sports and birds in flight.
- Within the next year, I expect the Z7ii to transition to my backup camera. It's possible that the Z9 (or whatever the model) will be my primary camera, but I'll wait to see the pricing and specs on that first. In any event, once the Z7ii moves to being a backup, I'll sell my D850 and two of my Holy Trinity lenses.
- I plan to keep the long telephoto primes for quite some time and use with the FTZ adapter. I will likely sell one or two of them (probably the 200 f2 and the 300 2.8) in time.
It's an expensive transition, but not as costly as it could be as I'm retaining all but two of my lenses. I have made the decision to stick with Nikon--mostly because I'm so heavily invested in the system, particularly the lenses.
I decided that mirrorless is going to be the future for me and that it's best to start making the transition now. I don't expect the Z7ii to outperform my D850 in terms of image image quality, but I do expect the S lenses to be superior to my F mount lenses...and will also appreciate the size and weight savings. As I'm making this transition, I think I'll be better positioned to take advantage of future advances with mirrorless technology...such as the ones we are already seeing with the most recent Sony flagship body.
So, that's the plan. I made the first step by placing an order for the Z7ii today!
So, here's the preliminary itinerary for this summer's road trip. This trip covers 8 states, 20 days and 3,500 miles:
Day 1: Des Moines, IA - revisit Iowa Capitol
Day 2: Omaha NE - Zoo
Day 3: North Platte - NE - revisit Nebraska Capitol, Buffalo Bill Ranch
Day 4: Scottsbluff, NE - Oregon Trail, Fort Laramie
Day 5: Cheyenne, WY - revisit Wyoming Capitol
Day 6: Cheyenne, WY - Botanic Gardens
Day 7: Laramie, WY
Day 8: Rawlins, WY - Wyoming Frontier Prison
Day 9: Jackson, WY - Grand Teton National Park
Day 10: West Yellowstone, MT - Yellowstone National Park
Day 11: West Yellowstone, MT - Yellowstone National Park
Day 12: Gardiner, MT - Mammoth Springs
Day 13: Bozeman, MT - Livingston, Montana Grizzly Encounter
Day 14: Helena, MT - revisit Montana Capitol, Gates of the Mountains boat tour
Day 15: Billings, MT - Zoo Montana
Day 16: Custer, SD - Mt Rushmore, Little Bighorn
Day 17: Wall, SD - Murdo, Badlands National Park
Day 18: Pierre, SD - revisit South Dakota Capitol
Day 19: LaCrosse, WI - Porter Sculpture Park
Day 20: Orland Park, IL
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This photograph was captured on an unusually warm December (2020) evening at Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Michigan.
This marks the 74th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph was captured five years ago at Mono Lake in California. I was practicing some newly learned post processing techniques and decided to revisit this photograph from the past.
This marks the 73rd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph was captured over a decade ago at Badwater salt pan in Death Valley National Park, California. Last week, I was practicing some newly learned post processing techniques and decided to revisit this photograph from the past.
This marks the 72nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This year, I decided to do something different. The book is a collection of my favorite photographs from the past decade. The process of selecting the pictures to include in the book helped me relive so many remarkable experiences. It really has been an amazing ten years of photography.
You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with the pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor.
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes for a high cost per unit. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. However, the book isn't intended for general distribution. I like to create one for my own records--and family and friends occasionally order books as well.
This is the 13th annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created!
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This photograph was captured last month at an office building near my home. I happened to notice the reflections--and went back home to grab my camera!
This marks the 71st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph was captured last month at the Old Joliet Prison. I live less than 30 minutes from the Joliet Prison and have always wanted to go inside the walls of this historic structure. But, the prison was closed for many years. Now that it is open for tours, I joined a photography tour--which enabled me to spend four hours on the grounds with limited visitors. Best of all, tripods were allowed.
This marks the 70th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph was captured earlier this summer. The plant lives right outside my front door!
This marks the 69th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph earlier this year at the Howell Nature Center in Michigan.
This marks the 68th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph was a couple of months ago at the Lake Katherine Nature Center in Palos Heights, Illinois. I was fortunate enough to see the baby mute swans (cynets) up close on two occasions.
This marks the 67th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
In any event, I found the subject to be interesting. So, I removed this one small section of the plant and brought it home with me to photograph it.
I quickly set up a miniature "studio" on my kitchen table. The studio included a small piece of white foam board as my background. I lit the background with a tiny flash (the Nikon SB R-200):
I then lit the plant with a somewhat larger flash (the Nikon SB-900). I handheld the SB-900 and aimed it through a diffuser. Both flashes were triggered remotely by the Nikon SU-800. The light output of each flash can be set directly through the SU-800--which is positioned on the hotshoe of the camera (Nikon D850). The lens was the Nikon 200mm f/4 Micro.
Here is the final result:
I captured the following images with my Nikon D850 camera, Nikon 200 f/4 Micro lens. I also attached Kenko extension tubes so that I could get even closer.
These swans were about a week old and so small that one could easily fit in your hand. The mother and father swans, on the other hand, are massive and quite intimidating!
Most of these images were captured from a distance of 9 or 10 feet. The swans were comfortable with me being at that distance as long as I stayed very low to the ground and kept relatively still.
This photograph was captured at White Sands National Monument during my recent road trip through New Mexico. Since my return from New Mexico, White Sands has been elevated to White Sands National Park. This is the fifth photograph from that road trip to win a contest.
This marks the 66th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This photograph was captured at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge during my recent road trip through New Mexico. This is the fourth photograph from that road trip to win a contest.
This marks the 65th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
When I started this photography website back in 2012, I never imagined that the site would attract this many viewers.
Another advantage of the internet is having the opportunity to share my photographs with people throughout the world. People from 157 different countries have visited my website.
Photography wouldn't be nearly as much fun if I didn't have a way of sharing the images with other people. So, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to view my photographs over the years.
]]>This photograph was captured at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge during my recent road trip through New Mexico. This is the third photograph from that road trip to win a contest.
This marks the 64th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
The Very Large Array is a radio astronomy observatory made up of 27 massive radio telescopes. Each dish is 82 feet across and weighs more than 200 tons. They are positioned along three arms of a track shaped in a Y configuration with each arm extending out 13 miles. So, in its widest configuration the telescopes extend 26 miles across. During my visit, the telescopes were positioned it the most condensed configuration.
Here are a couple of images from my visit. Note that I was very restricted on vantage point as the facility does not permit visitors to just wander around!
It's one of my favorite places. But, it can be a difficult place for photography:
- The park is not open to visitors until 7am and closes by 6pm...so photographers will most likely miss the best light around sunrise and sunset.
- I had to walk up to two miles in the sand with my equipment to get far enough away from the many footprints in the sand.
- If you aren't careful, it is easy to get disoriented. The sand dunes go on for miles and look the same in all directions. Fortunately, there are some "trails" with stakes for guidance. And, I had a map, cell phone and GPS. I didn't go very far from the stakes as people have died getting lost in this place.
- If it gets windy, there's a good chance you won't be able to see the stakes any longer!
During my visit, there wasn't much wind. Once I got about a mile out, I don't think I've ever experienced an environment as quiet as this one. It was a memorable experience. The place is otherworldly!
CLICK HERE to view the B&W images.
CLICK HERE to view the color images.
This photograph was captured at the Albuquerque Zoo during my recent road trip through New Mexico. This is the second photograph from that road trip to win a contest. And, both of those winning photos were from that same visit to the Albuquerque Zoo!
This was a very challenging picture to capture and the story of how I approached those technical challenges probably warrants its own blog post.
This marks the 63rd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
While I was photographing the sculpture, a truck drive approached me from the rest area parking lot. He was fascinated by the lens that I was using to capture closeup images of the roadrunner's head. I was using the Nikon 500mm f4 VR lens...which he thought was some kind of telescope. It was positioned on a tripod with a gimbal head--which makes it easy to maneuver. But, it also makes it look more like a telescope!
In recent years, a sizable percentage of these sales take place in countries outside of the United States. Over the past few days my photos were sold in the following locations:
- Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Toronto, Canada
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Sydney, Australia
- Bratislava, Slovakia
- Shinjuku-ku, Japan
- Selnika Ob Dravi, Slovenia
- Sopot, Poland
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Mumbai, India
- Chia, Colombia
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Warsaw, Poland
- Les Acacias, Switzerland
- Lima, Peru
- Milan, Italy
- Moscow, Russia
With such a high number of images being sold, it's a shame that the price of a digital download has deteriorated so much over the years!
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I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D850. As usual, the 14-24 led the way. But, three other lenses were used extensively...accounting for 20 to 23 percent of the images each. I used the Nikon 24-70 more than I usually do. And, the Nikon 500 f4 VR came in handy, especially when it came to photographing wildlife.
The Sigma fisheye accounted for just 5 pictures, but it's a very useful lens for me. It's a specialty lens that I don't use a lot, but when I need it there's nothing else that can do what it does. Here are a couple of images from this trip with the fisheye:
The 500 VR was essential to capture images like these:
This photograph was captured just last month at the Albuquerque Zoo.
This marks the 62nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This collection includes photos through December 1st, so it excludes the photos from my most recent trip to New Mexico.
Here are my favorites, in no particular order:
Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, GA
Burrowing Owl, Marco Island, FL
Regions Bank Building, Tampa, FL
Cleveland Arcade, Cleveland, OH
Skyline and Monongahela River from the Grandview Overlook, Pittsburgh, PA
Wren Building, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (oldest academic building in continuous use in the United States)
Avenue of the Oaks, Saint Simons Island, GA
Sunset over the Matanzas River, St. Augustine, FL
Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College), St. Augustine, FL
Amazon Milk Frog, Middleburg Heights, OH
One thing that I found interesting is that 2 of these 10 pictures were captured on the same day (#1 and #7) and that I initially had a third image from that day in this collection before I removed it in favor of another photograph!
Happy New Year!
]]>Please CLICK HERE to view my favorite images from this adventure.
This trip has kept me busy. Once the road trip came to a close, I had a lot of editing to do. So, most of my photography time was dedicated to this trip and very little to this blog.
I could easily write a blog entry about each one of the photos in this collection. Nearly every image presented a challenge of some kind...whether it be access, logistics, processing solutions and/or multiple exposures to address those challenges. Multiple exposures were used often for extending the amount of the frame in sharp focus and/or dealing with challenging exposures with extreme dynamic range.
I hope you have a very prosperous and Happy New Year!
Nikon 200 f4 Micro
]]>One feature that caught my eye was the ceiling in the lobby of the resort.
If you look closely, you'll see that this image isn't perfectly symmetrical. However, it was the best that I was going to get during that visit.
I had just finished setting up my camera. I was sitting on floor in the center of the lobby, had the lens focused and the camera set to bracket three consecutive exposures (to account for the dynamic range of light in the scene). Just as I was about to make further minor adjustments to the framing, security fast approached. As the security guard was explaining that photography is not permitted, I was silently clicking through the sequence of exposures with my cable release. Fortunately, the camera was in Live View mode--which meant that there was absolutely no indication that any pictures were being captured. The camera was dead silent.
Ordinarily, I would have studied the pictures on the back of my camera and continued to make minor refinements to improve the picture. In this situation, I was lucky to get a photograph at all!
]]>Here are some images of a two-month old baby with her mother:
I used just one strobe to light the subject(s)--the Paul C. Buff Soft Silver PLM umbrella with White Front Diffusion Fabric. This umbrella is 86" (or more than 7 feet) from tip to tip. That's a big umbrella! I positioned the main light just left of the camera. My intention was to use the very large light source and more centered positioning of the light to create very soft portraits.
I am always impressed with the quality and ease of use of the Buff products. Assembling this product is as easy as opening an umbrella.
I didn't recall capturing a photograph of my lighting set up, but upon reviewing the images I noticed that I did get a picture of the studio light after all:
This photograph was captured just last month at the Brookfield Zoo.
This marks the 61st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
As I entered the chapel in the early afternoon, there were about 15 people inside the chapel. I asked the attendant when it might be best to return with fewer people. He expected the chapel to be busy throughout the day and said that it would be best to return just before closing or right at the opening the following day. About five minutes after this conversation, the 15 people who were inside the chapel left...and I suddenly had the chapel to myself!
I thought that I might only have the interior of the chapel to myself for a few minutes, so I worked very quickly. After about 20 more minutes the attendant asked me if I wanted to get some shots from the balcony. The balcony was closed off to the the general public, but with his permission I captured images from this more advantageous viewpoint. During the time, I still had this incredible chapel to myself!
Once I had captured my last picture from the balcony, a large group of visitors entered the chapel. From then on, it was crowded with people.
I returned the next morning when the chapel opened. This time, a different attendant was on duty. As I went to set up a picture from the floor level, she began questioning me about why I was taking pictures. Access to the balcony was not an option. It was clear that photography during my return trip wasn't going to be nearly the favorable experience that it was during my visit the previous day.
So, it can sometimes pay off to visit a location more than once. And, I was very fortunate to be able to capture photographs of this magnificent cathedral during my visit to Pittsburgh.
During several of my architectural photo shoots, I used all of those lenses. Here's an example of four different perspectives (lenses) while shooting a staircase inside the Cleveland Public Library:
1- Sigma 15mm fisheye
2- Nikon 14-24 2.8
3- Nikon 24-70 2.8
4- Nikon 70-200 2.8
Day 1: Urbana, IL - Illini basketball game
Day 2: Springfield, MO - St. Louis Abbey
Day 3- Oklahoma City, OK - Tulsa
Day 4- Oklahoma City, OK - OKC National Monument, Skydance Bridge
Day 5- Tucumcari, NM - Blue Swallow Motel
Day 6- Santa Fe, NM - State Capitol, Old Santa Fe
Day 7- Santa Fe, NM - Pecos National Historic Site
Day 8- Santa Fe, NM - Bandelier National Monument
Day 9- Taos, NM - High Road to Taos
Day 10- Alburquerque, NM - Zoo
Day 11- Bosque del Apache, NM
Day 12- Bosque del Apache, NM
Day 13- Bosque del Apache, NM
Day 14- White Sands, NM
Day 15- White Sands, NM
Day 16- White Sands, NM
Day 17- Las Cruces, NM - New Mexico State University
Day 18- Roswell, NM - Carlsbad Caverns
Day 19- Liberal, KS - Cathedral of the Plains
Day 20- Kansas City, MO
Day 21- Orland Park, IL
I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D850. 62% of my photographs were captured using the Nikon 14-24 2.8 lens. The reason for this is that the vast majority of the pictures from this trip are interiors. I visited many impressive cathedrals and libraries along the way. The trip included stops in Cleveland, Buffalo, Harrisburg, Richmond, Raleigh and Pittsburgh.
The Sigma fisheye accounted for just 5% of the pictures, but it's a very useful lens for me. It's a specialty lens that I don't use a lot, but when I need it there's nothing else that can do what it does. Here are a few images from this trip with the fisheye:
This photograph is of a player who plays on the 12U travel baseball team that I coach.
This marks the 60th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Yet, I was reluctant to carry less. During many of the photo shoots, I used all four lenses.
Here's an example from the Pennsylvania State Capitol. From the floor of the rotunda, I started very wide and then worked my way up through the higher focal length lenses:
1- Sigma 15mm fisheye
2- Nikon 14-24 2.8
3- Nikon 24-70 2.8
4- Nikon 70-200 2.8 (at 70mm)
5- Nikon 70-200 2.8 (at 100mm)
6- Nikon 70-200 2.8 (at 165mm)
All of these photographs were captured without moving the camera. While it can be a burden to carry a lot of lenses, it was worth the load to have the ability to capture the scene with a variety of pictures.
I captured this image from an observation deck off Grandview Avenue above the Monongahela River. Thankfully, the observation decks are still open. The surrounding sidewalks off Grandview Avenue are mostly closed due to safety concerns. The sidewalks are breaking apart and pedestrians are warned not to step on them or risk falling quite some distance.
This observation deck provided a great view of the city. And, the clouds brought drama into the scene. My biggest concern was whether the storm would hold off long enough for me to capture the photograph in the best light. I could see the thunderstorm approaching from the northeast. You can probably see the lightning strikes at the horizon in the left portion of the frame. These are actual lightning strikes. I did not add them in Photoshop.
The storm did hold off. I was able to navigate the tricky drive back to my hotel before the rain started. My hotel was located near the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. You can see the Cathedral of Learning in the distance. If you move along the horizon from right to left it is the second building that you first come across...a 42 story academic building (the tallest academic building in the Western Hemisphere). I'll cover more about this amazing building in an upcoming post.
Once it started raining, it came down hard for hours. The severely saturated grounds were partially attributed to a freak accident that occurred in the metro Pittsburgh area a few hours later. A tree that was 80 feet tall fell through the roof of a house. A man was pinned down while laying in his bed and later died. Click here for that news story.
So here's the photograph:
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The trip will covered 22 days and 2,900 miles.
Day 1: Cleveland, OH - Cathedral of St. John; Public Library; City Hall; Arcade
Day 2: Buffalo, NY - St. Joseph's Cathedral; City Hall; St. Paul's Cathedral
Day 3- Syracuse, NY
Day 4- Cooperstown, NY - baseball tournament
Day 5- Cooperstown, NY - baseball tournament
Day 6- Cooperstown, NY - baseball tournament
Day 7- Cooperstown, NY - baseball tournament
Day 8- Cooperstown, NY - baseball tournament
Day 9- Cooperstown, NY - baseball tournament
Day 10- Harrisburg, PA - PA Capitol, Negley Park (cityscape); Cathedral of St. Patrick
Day 11- Gettysburg, PA - Historical Park
Day 12- Gettysburg, PA - National Cemetery
Day 13- Richmond, VA - VA Capitol; St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Day 14- Richmond, VA - City Hall; Maymont mansion; Hollywood Cemetery
Day 15- Williamsburg, VA - Colonial Willamsburg
Day 16- Williamsburg, VA - Jamestown; College of William & Mary
Day 17- Raleigh, NC - James Hunt Library; Wilson Library (UNC)
Day 18- Raleigh, NC - Duke University Chapel; Skyline (Boylan Bridge)
Day 19- Morgantown, WV - University of West Virginia; Mt. Airy (Mayberry)
Day 20- Pittsburgh, PA - Mount Washington; Heinz Memorial Chapel; First Presbyterian Church
Day 21- Pittsburgh, PA - Cathedral of Learning; Phipps Conservatory; St. Paul Cathedral
Day 22- Orland Park, IL
This photograph was captured during my road trip to Newfoundland last summer. I came across this scene at Petty Harbour in Newfoundland.
This marks the 59th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Imaging Resource's published an article about the winning entries from November. Apparently, all five winning photographs (the three prize money winners along with the two runner-ups) were submitted by photographers who had previously won the top prize (first place photograph) for a month. A section of the article covers my "Peeking Frog" photograph--which finished in second place for November.
To see the full article, click here.
I very much enjoy participating in these photo contests. There isn't any entry fee and the competition is strong. And, the cash (gift card) prizes are an added bonus...I've won a few thousand dollars doing this. Last month, I used my gift card to purchase a pair of Apple Airbuds!
]]>I then tried another approach. I had my Nikon 300 2.8 lens in my bag. When most photographers think about panoramas, they usually aren't envisioning using a telephoto lens. But, the 300 is one of the sharpest lenses that I own. And, it forced me to shoot many more images to cover the same scene. After stitching all of those exposures together, the resolution of the final image is far greater than the photograph that was captured with one frame and then cropped.
The stitched image consists of 14 vertical frames. The resulting file is more than 33,000 pixels across and nearly 7,000 pixels high. The file is almost 1.5 GB in size.
CLICK HERE to view the higher resolution image. This one is downsized to 24,000 pixels across to make it less time consuming to download and view. Be sure to zoom in and pan around when viewing this waterfront scene.
The priest leaves this church open all the time...and it is often unattended. When I entered the church, I was the only one on the grounds. After shooting for 30 minutes or so, I noticed that the lights were dimming. The priest had entered the sanctuary and turned off the lights--not knowing I was there.
When he saw me, he started apologizing for turning off the lights! He then asked me exactly how bright I wanted the chandeliers as he could adjust the dimmer (I didn't have access to that area).
The amazing thing about this interior is that this priest painted the entire space. Every inch of this church is covered with artwork...including the entire ceiling.
To view 19 photographs of this colorful church, please CLICK HERE.
This photograph was captured two months ago at the Brookfield Zoo. This is my fifth Photo of the Day winning entry from the Brookfield Zoo.
This marks the 58th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Here are a few from Tampa...
And a few more from Miami...
In addition to creating individual portraits, I used the images to produce a banner for the team:
This was a fun project. It was a daunting at first (because I have so little experience with portraits and lighting), but I was able to get a little help. I purchased a Photoshop layered template for the overall design. I then lit and photographed the players, inserted and sized them within the template, and adjusted the text and colors. The file was sent into a banner printing company...and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Most years, I keep the lighting very simple. This year, I tried something far more complex--five lights and a reflector! I also photographed a volleyball player during the photo session.
The setup consisted of the following:
- Main light was a large (47") octabox with Einstein strobe positioned camera left.
- One rim light was a gridded strip softbox with Einstein strobe positioned behind the subject to the left.
- Another rim light was a gridded strip softbox with Einstein strobe positioned behind the subject to the right.
- The green screen background was lit by a Nikon SB-900 flash unit fired into an umbrella.
- The hair light was a Nikon SB-800 suspended over the subject with a bungee cord.
- A large reflector was used to partially fill in the shadows on the subject.
- The camera was a Nikon D850 placed on a tripod.
Here are a few photographs from the session:
I would like to do more with the studio lights in the future. One thing of interest to me would be pet photography.
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So, I returned the next night to capture the picture. The challenge is that the pier isn't lit until the sky is very dark. By that time, the colors in the sky are mostly gone and the picture has too much contrast. The way that I approached solving this problem was to blend a couple of exposures. The first photograph was captured during sunset when the sky looked good to my eye. I then kept the camera in the same spot (mounted securely to my tripod) until well after sunset when the pier lit up. Later in post processing, I blended the two images. I used the original scene as my base picture and then brought the lights from the pier into the image. This way, I was able to light up the pier myself!
The softness of the water in the Gulf of Mexico is a result of a very long exposure. To accomplish that, I attached a ND (neutral density) to my Nikon 24-70 lens. My neutral density filters got a real workout during this road trip.
Not unexpectedly, I was told that I wouldn't be permitted to bring my tripod inside the museum. Also prohibited was my camera backpack. Since I had walked a great distance to get to the museum, I had no way of returning to my car to store these items. The security guard suggested that I use the storage lockers which were situated outside the building. As my gear is quite expensive, I was hesitant to do so. But, the security guard assured me that the items would be safe. He said that nothing has ever been stolen from the lockers in the history of the museum! I took a chance by storing my tripod along with three or four lenses in the locker--and everything worked out OK.
There were several challenges to overcome in photographing the staircase. First, the scene is very crowded. Not only are people constantly on the steps, but there's quite a crowd standing near the information desk right under the stairs. There's also a small cafe in the lobby which made it difficult to set up. Finally, a security guard is stationed at the top of the staircase. I was able to overcome most of these issues by being patient. I also revisited just before closing--and the security guard tended to wander away from his chair at that hour as very few new visitors were entering the building.
My next challenge was dealing with the wide range of light. Ordinarily, I would stabilize my camera with the tripod and bracket some exposures to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Since I couldn't use a tripod, I tried another approach. I set my Nikon D850 to a continuous burst of 9 frames per second with bracketed exposures (1 stop apart). With the frames blasting so quickly, I hoped that I could keep the camera steady enough to allow me to align the images later in post processing. Later, I used Photoshop to align the images...and it worked! The only downside of hand-holding the camera for these shots was that I had to raise the ISO setting to achieve fast enough shutter speeds. Instead of using the base ISO setting of 64 for the D850, I boosted the ISO to 800. ISO 800 is still very reasonable and fully capable of creating photographs of high image quality.
Here are a few photographs of the staircase:
I very much enjoyed my time on St. Simons Island. The highlight of my stay was a sunrise photo session at the Avenue of Oaks near the entrance to the Lodge At Sea Island Golf Club. I arrived at the location well before sunrise. I knew that it was expected to be a clear sky and that the scene would be destroyed for photography once the direct, harsh sunlight struck the oak trees.
So, I started shooting before sunrise. I like the photos, even though the light was a bit flat. I kept shooting through sunrise until the sun became too bright. My favorite picture of the morning was the one taken right as the sun rose over the horizon and gently lit small portions of the live southern oak trees:
I like the photograph for a number of reasons. First, I very much like southern live oak trees. Also, have a tendency to favor pictures that feature a vanishing point as it draws my eyes into the frame. Lighting is always important. And, the colors and textures are an added bonus.
This photograph was captured two months ago during my road trip to Florida. This is the second picture from that road trip to win a Photo of the Day. This photograph is a blend of images spanning about 45 minutes. I first captured the sunset and then waited until the pier was illuminated after dark. I later blended the two images during post processing. The tripod never moved during that 45 minute window.
Another element in creating this photograph was the use of a neutral density filter. This enabled me to use a long exposure of 25 seconds--which helped to smooth out the water and capture some motion in the clouds.
This marks the 57th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than six years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
During my road trip through Florida, I came across this challenge during my visit to the historic Ponce de Leon Hotel on the campus of Flagler College in St. Augustine. After persuading the security guard to allow me to set up my tripod and photograph the interior of the lobby dome, I captured a series of ceiling pictures. While reviewing the images on the screen on the back of my camera, I determined that it would be impossible to salvage the colors in a large segment of the frame due to the effect of bright daylight streaming in from a low angle through the entrance door. Segments of the ceiling were blown out...and very blue (due to the color of the daylight as compared to the interior lighting). No amount of exposure adjustments or highlight recovery would save the pictures.
So, I returned later that afternoon to inspect the interior again. The lighting was much more favorable in part due to the higher angle of the sun in the sky. I was also able to wait for cloud cover to further improve the image.
I returned again the next day to take another look at this interior. This time, not only did the daylight situation improve, but I also noticed that the interior lights did a better job of illuminating the ceiling. Once again, I repeated the entire photo shoot!
Here are the final images:
I don't often photograph people, but not because I don't enjoy doing so. At the fortress, there were many opportunities to capture portraits of reenactors in period attire.
I noticed this young girl inside one of the exhibit interiors. Of course, I didn't have any lighting equipment with me during my visit. So, I asked her if she would sit near a window. I thought that the light streaming in from that window would provide an excellent lighting source for this portrait.
As I first started capturing pictures, the girl was looking directly into the lens. I then asked her if she could pretend that I wasn't there...and just go about her knitting as if she wasn't being photographed.
This was the final result:
I granted permission and asked if she would send me a picture of the finished painting.
Here's my photograph...followed by Janet's painting:
Thanks to Janet for sharing this painting with me!
Earlier today, I noticed that I made my 723rd post since starting this blog. That's a lot of entries!
I guess this post makes it 724...
]]>The judges select the top five pictures from the 31 daily winners. This photo was the Photo of the Day on January 4th. The winning entries are then ranked: First, Second and Third Place along with First and Second Place Runner Ups. The first place picture is awarded with a $300 gift card.
Here's a larger view of the winning image:
This image was captured during my recent road trip through Florida. On the way to Florida, I stopped at Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island in Georgia. Driftwood Beach has been on my photography wish list for quite some time. I'm very glad I made the trip. It's a world class landscape location in my opinion.
]]>Andersonville was a Confederate prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. It was overcrowded to four times its capacity. It had inadequate food and water supplies and the prisoners suffered immensely. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held at the prison during the war, nearly 13,000 died.
The national cemetery at Andersonville contains 13,714 graves, of which 921 are marked "unknown".
In the summer of 1864, tens of thousands of Union prisoners of war were dying of thirst at Andersonville. Suddenly, a spring erupted from the ground within the stockade. The prisoners credited its appearance to divine intervention, and Providence Spring became part of the established lore of the Civil War.
After the war, the commander of the prison was tried for war crimes--and was executed.
I had this shrine mostly to myself during this visit, which was fortunate given how crowded St. George Street was with tourists. Here are a few photographs from the shrine:
This shrine also contains bone fragments from 18 saints--including the apostles Peter and Paul. I outlined the box that contains those bone fragments in yellow in the following photograph:
I do a lot of planning for my photo shoots before arriving in a new city. But, sometimes it is beneficial to just walk around without a plan just to see what I might see. On occasion, I'll stumble across an unexpected gem such as this one!
A guard was standing at the entrance to the Citadel. I asked him if it would be OK for me to capture some photographs of him standing there. What I didn't realize is that the guard is not permitted to talk, move or even change his expression. He just kept standing exactly as pictured while I reeled off about 40 exposures from different distances and angles!
This picture presented some technical challenges. My lens was positioned very close to the foreground leaves. So, even at a narrow aperture (f/16), it wasn't possible to get the entire scene in focus. Ultimately, I set the aperture to f/9--which yielded a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second and focused stacked a few shots. But, that didn't work either. The leaves in the front were blurred due to the wind at such a slow shutter speed.
So, I captured an additional exposure of just the foreground leaves at 1/250th and opened the aperture up to f/7.1 (just so that the ISO wouldn't have to go too high). The ISO ended up at 1000--which wasn't high enough to compromise image quality too much. Rather than use ISO 1000 throughout the entire frame, I applied it only to those leaves in the very front of the picture. The rest of the image is at ISO 64 (optimal image quality) at the slower shutter speed of 1/10th of a second. This mixing and matching of various apertures and ISO settings within the same photograph can help solve a number of problems out in the field!
Another consideration in a scene such as this (i.e., a lot of foliage) is to control the glare off all the leaves. Even in overcast conditions, the glare from the light hitting the leaves sucks color and contrast from the greens. I attached a polarizing filter to cut through the glare to enable to greens and yellows to pop more.
While capturing this image, I made sure to wait until some clouds covered the bright sunlight. This took a bit of patience, but this photograph wouldn't have been worth taking in direct, harsh sunlight. Direct sunlight introduces too much contrast into a scene like this one.
Creating photographs such as this one will often present challenges. I enjoy trying to solve photography problems like this by blending various exposures and using the appropriate filters. Sometimes it works...and the desired photograph gets produced.
]]>- Use slow shutter speed
- Make more precise compositions
- Blend exposures to solve a multitude of problems
- Maximize image quality by using base ISO settings and appropriate apertures
- Remove camera shake related to high magnification pictures (i.e., macro and super telephoto)
I purchased a high quality Gitzo tripod 11 years ago...the Gitzo 3540XLS Systematic 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod. I love the features of this tripod. It is rock solid, very tall, and relatively light for its size (being carbon fiber). When I bought this tripod for $750 back in 2007, I assumed that it would last a lifetime.
For years, I had no issues with this tripod. Then, about a year ago, it became increasingly difficult to lock the legs. The bearings were wearing out. This wasn't entirely unexpected as I have set the tripod up thousands of times. I sent the tripod into the repair facility in Chandler, Arizona. Unfortunately, Gitzo repairs can take quite some time. It took a week for the tripod to get from Chicago to Chandler (UPS Ground). It took another week for the repair facility to assess the repair. I approved the work immediately. It took about a week for the repairs to be completed and another week for the return shipment. So, $325 and a month later, I had my tripod back. I assumed I was good to go for another decade. Not so.
During my recent road trip to Florida, the tripod legs started to flop around. Despite tightening the screws with a wrench, the legs would loosen very quickly. This is particularly annoying when walking great distances with the tripod or when trying to make small adjustments to the positioning of the legs.
I called Gitzo for assistance and was told that the likely culprit was that the washers inside the upper joint were probably worn out. Unfortunately, I was having trouble removing the legs to get at the washers. The representative said he would order the parts so that they would be in inventory when I returned from my trip. They recommended that I send it into Chandler for repair. I knew that I was probably looking at another month without my tripod!
I sent my tripod to Chandler on the morning of December 26th. It arrived at the facility on January 3rd. The tripod was assessed on January 8th. I approved the repair in January 8th. For the past three weeks, the tripod is on a "parts hold" in Chandler. Most Gitzo parts are not in stock in the United States. The Chandler facility orders the parts from Italy...and the parts are shipped very slowly first by boat and then across the country to Arizona.
My parts were ordered on January 8th. I was told today that the parts haven't been shipped from Italy yet. They have no idea when they will be shipped, but said it will take at least a week to ten days to arrive in Chandler once they are shipped. Then, I'm looking at another week for the repair...and yet another week for the return shipment. So, I was told that the very earliest that I would get my tripod back would be February 18th or so...and that's if the parts get shipped from Italy tomorrow.
I was also told that the more likely scenario is another 4-6 weeks before the parts are shipped...which means that I would get the tripod back until early April. That's 3 1/2 months since I sent it in.
A comparable replacement Gitzo tripod would run about $1,200 today. I told the representative that having such an expensive tripod out of service for a few months (and twice within the past year or so) is totally unacceptable. It's not like I'm talking about maintaining something like a car. It seems to me that a tripod has relatively few moving parts for such extensive downtime.
I have no choice but to purchase a backup tripod! I refuse to buy Gitzo. I also don't want to make a large investment in a backup item that will hopefully see little use once my Gitzo is back in my hands. So, I bought the Benro TMA38CL Long Series 3 Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod. It gets great reviews and should serve my purpose for now. Once I get my Gitzo back, I'll continue to use the Benro in more challenging conditions--such as when the tripod needs to be submerged in salt water.
Gitzo tripods are great. But, if you plan to purchase one please be aware that servicing a Gitzo tripod is no picnic.
]]>Burrowing owls are quite small. This one is about 8 inches tall. These owls are about the size of a robin.
Eventually, I worked in very close with a lot of focal length. This image was captured with 700mm of focal length (500mm lens with 1.4x teleconverter attached)...and I was within an inch of the minimum focus distance. If I moved any closer, even an inch, the lens would no longer have been able to focus on the owl!
Fortunately, there was some cloud cover which provided decent light for this portrait.
I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D850. Almost 90% of my photographs were captured with one of Nikon's "Holy Trinity" of lenses--the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200. Of those three lenses, I'm finding the Nikon 24-70 to be the least sharp...even though it led the way for this trip in the number of keepers. The latest 70-200 lens is razor sharp. And, the 14-24 is typically my most used lens and is quite sharp as well.
The Sigma fisheye accounted for just 6% of the pictures, but it's a very useful lens for me. It's a specialty lens that I don't use a lot, but when I need it there's nothing else that can do what it does. Here are a few images from this trip with the fisheye:
When I arrived, a mass was underway. After sitting through that mass (and I've sat through countless services in the quest to photograph churches), I thought the interior would soon clear. But, about 40 people remained in the church and conducted some kind of ongoing service with prayer and song. After another 30 minutes, the church interior finally cleared.
I quickly started shooting--because often times the lights go out shortly after a service ends. One individual from the congregation was telling other people that I was there to "film" the interior. I'm not sure why she was saying that, but everyone assumed I was there in some official capacity after that, so I had a well lit church all to myself for more than an hour!
This panoramic was captured during my last visit in 2012. Back then, I was shooting with a D700. But, the resolution was high as this is an 11 frame stitch.
The crucifix is suspended from the rear wall of the sanctuary and weighs 4,200 pounds. It measures 23 feet in height. The two shadows on either side of the cross represent the two criminals crucified with Christ or the three persons of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
This statue of the Infant of Prague was brought to Prague in 1628. It was found in the ruins of a church. The infant is the Patron Saint of vocations, family life and travelers.
Vertical view of the nave
The front of the church displays sculptor Marton Varo's 30-foot-tall sculpture of the Annunciation, depicting the Archangel Gabriel greeting the Virgin Mary. It's carved in marble from Cave Michelangelo in Carrara, Italy. The 12 apostles are 18 inches tall and are fashioned from gilded-bronze colored gold.
Another perspective of the nave and sanctuary...
The 12 apostles are made of wood and range from 218-289 pounds and average 6 feet in height. They are surrounded by statues of Joseph and Mary.
Statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The baptismal weighs 3,500 pounds and was carved from a single block of white marble.
Fisheye perspective of interior
Choir loft and pipe organ speakers at the rear of the church
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This photograph was captured exactly one month ago during my road trip to Florida. Driftwood Beach was on my photography wish list for quite some time. I'm glad I was finally able to visit this amazing location on Jekyll Island in Georgia. It did not disappoint.
This marks the 56th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back five years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
1- Taken at 6:51 am...about 15 minutes before sunrise
2- What looked to be a very promising sunrise really fizzled out. This picture was captured at 7:13 am. I used a neutral density (ND) filter to just go with the flow and soften the scene since there weren't any dramatic colors or clouds.
3- By 7:17 am, the scene was not brightening at all. In fact, practically all of the color was getting erased. I used a stronger ND filter to try to salvage the photograph by going with a more minimalistic approach.
4- Things started to open up a bit by 7:22 am. There was enough interest in the clouds and some of the returning color, that I removed the ND filter for this last shot.
All four image were taken from the exact same spot with the camera secured to my tripod. You can get a lot of different looks within a very short window of time!
]]>One of the highlights of the year from a photography perspective was my 28 day road trip through the western portion of the United States. This road trip covered 6,428 miles by car (Prius), 460 miles by ferry (with Prius on board) and 245 miles by foot. It was tempting to include some pictures from two other trips during the year--Iceland and Cincinnati.
You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with the pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor. I also recommend selecting the Dust Jacket version of the preview (positioned under the book).
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes for a high cost per unit. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. However, the book isn't intended for general distribution. I like to create one for my own records--and family and friends occasionally order books as well.
This is the 11th annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created!
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This picture was captured in October, 2018 at a photography conference that I attended in Cleveland.
These are presented in random order:
Summary
Ice Cave, Iceland
Halifax architecture, Nova Scotia
Grainger Engineering Library, University of Illinois
Rocky Harbour Sunset, Newfoundland
Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia
Atlantic Puffin, Newfoundland
Diamond Beach, Iceland
Girl Knitting, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
Cincinnati Skyline
Overture Center, Madison, Wisconsin
That's a wrap for my past year of shooting. Now, it's onto processing the images from my recent Florida road trip!
I arrived at the B&B at about 6 pm after a long drive from St. Anthony. The drive was made longer by the rain and fog. I was tired when I walked into the B&B...and wanted to get settled in and find the nearest restaurant.
My host was very enthusiastic and started telling me about all of the things that I needed to see and do while in Codroy. I kept trying to explain that I probably had about two hours of light left in the day, and that I was tired, and that I had to leave early the next morning. But, she started telling me about how I should at least see the Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
My first question was "how far is that?" She said it was 7 miles away--but on a two lane road in the rain. I pointed out that it was unlikely that the church would still be open on a Wednesday night. So, she made a few calls and gave me an address to go to near the church to pick up the key!
Since she was going through so much effort, I felt somewhat compelled to at least see the church. I drove there and knocked on the door of the building in hope of getting the key to the church. The person who answered the door handed me a key--and said to just make sure to turn off the lights and lock up when I leave. When I returned to the building after my visit, nobody was there. So, I just left the key on the kitchen table and left. It sure was a trusting group of people that I was dealing with in Codroy!
I was surprised at the size of the church and the overall grounds. The cemetery is large and stretches all the way down to the Atlantic coast. Keep in mind that the village of Codroy has a population of only about 50 people!
It continued to rain the entire time I was there, so I broke out my rain protection gear for my Nikon D850 and 14-24 lens...here's a picture of that sophisticated piece of equipment. I hold it over my tripod/camera/lens while triggering exposures by cable release:
Here are a few more from my visit:
First, the lighting presented problems. I arrived at Signal Hill one evening and before I could compose a picture it started raining. The rain didn't stop until well after sunset. I returned the next morning to better, but not spectacular, light. The issue that morning was wind.
High winds are common at Signal Hill. During my photo shoot, I experienced a sustained 40-45 mph wind with occasional gusts that made it difficult for me to stand. I really wanted this particular shot, so I did my best to minimize camera shake in these challenging conditions.
My first idea was to block the wind with my body and my open jacket. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible as the wind was blowing directly into the lens.
This is a photo that I captured of Cabot Tower at Signal Hill. You will notice the stone walls surrounding the building. The next thing I tried was to position my tripod so that only the lens was peeking over the wall. Using this approach, at least the tripod wasn't getting hit with any wind.
This didn't work either. The wind was too strong and caused the camera and lens to shake enough to blur the images.
So, I then tried the following additional steps to improve the sharpness of the picture:
- I removed the lens hood. The lens hood for the 500mm f/4 lens is massive. It was acting like a sail in the wind. This helped.
- I increased the ISO so that I could use a higher shutter speed.
- I set the camera for rapid burst mode. Shooting at 9 frames per second improved my odds of getting one sharp picture.
- Of course, I waited for brief lulls in the wind.
After capturing a few bursts with the higher shutter speed, I noticed that approximately 1 in 20 pictures was sharp. I did this by carefully checking the photograph on the screen on the back of my camera--after zooming in to at least 100%.
Thankfully, my Nikon D850 isn't a film camera. This makes it well worthwhile to capture as many images as it takes to get the shot.
In the end, I captured a sharp image of the picture that I wanted. I wish the light would have been better. That's one of the greatest challenges of travel photography. I had to leave after that morning's photo shoot--whereas a resident of St. John's can return once the shooting conditions become ideal.
]]>I almost always try to capture photographs of places of worship that I come across during my travels. In fact, I have now photographed 223 places of worship! So, the Chapel at the Fortress of Louisbourg was an appealing subject.
A young woman was acting as a tour guide inside the chapel. I politely asked her if it would be possible to have the lights turned on for all the chandeliers. I explained that the interior of most buildings looks a lot nicer when illuminated.
She looked surprised and told me that lighting those chandeliers takes quite an effort. She explained that the chandeliers are not electric fixtures. Rather, they must be lit one candle at a time! She said that the chandeliers have not been lit for at least a decade.
So, I lit them just a touch in Photoshop...although in a rough and sloppy manner.
In Alabama, workers were placing a large tree on the stairs of the Capitol.
I was told that the tree would be lit for the first time on Friday night--a day or two after I was scheduled to leave Montgomery. One night, I decided to take a photograph of the Capitol's exterior despite the dark tree:
After capturing several images, I was pleasantly surprised to see the tree light up! Unfortunately, the Capitol's dome was still dark:
A few seconds later, the dome lit up. I captured a few bracketed long exposures while everything was lit...made a few adjustments to my settings...and began shooting some more pictures. The only problem was that the tree had gone dark during the time I was making those adjustments. Apparently, this was just a lighting test--so I guess I was fortunate to be shooting during the 30 seconds that the tree was lit that night! Here's my final image:
This year, my holiday card features one of my favorite photographs (and favorite experiences) of the year. The picture was captured inside of an ice cave in Iceland. The downside was that the ice cave wasn't nearly as isolated as I expected it to be. You can read all about it in one of my earlier blog entries.
At the risk of ruining the surprise for the recipients of my cards, here's the design for this year's card:
Front
Inside
Back
And, here's the original image:
I am sometimes asked why the card reads "Happy Holidays" rather than Merry Christmas. The reason is that I send these cards to a number of people--not all of whom are Christians. The card expresses my wish that everyone (regardless of their religious beliefs) enjoys the holiday season and has a happy New Year.
I use Vistaprint to produce these cards.
]]>During my recent road trip to Newfoundland, I visited two provincial capitol buildings--Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
Capturing interesting images of the interior of the Newfoundland capitol, the Confederation Building, proved to be challenging. One morning I entered the building with the intention to photograph the interior. This is permitted inside all of the state capitols in the United States and was also encouraged inside the Province House of Nova Scotia. While working my way through security, I was told that photography is permitted, but that I needed to be escorted through the building by a guide. The next tour was at 2:30 PM...so I had to return to the Confederation Building to capture the photographs.
I was pleased to see that I was the only person on the tour. This usually makes it very easy to compose pictures. The guide told me that photography was permitted. So, I began the hour long tour. The issue is that this building offers very little of interest other than the magnificent House of Assembly. So, I patiently waited until we entered the House of Assembly at the very end of the tour.
As I started to set up my tripod, the tour guide informed me that the House of Assembly was off limits for photography! I asked why that was since it was empty...the representatives were not in session during my visit. She said she didn't know and was just following directions. I asked if I could speak to someone else about getting permission for the photography. She called a manager in the Communications Department--but that call went into voice mail.
So after two visits and an hour long tour, I left the building without a single image.
Later that night, I received an email from the tour guide letting me know that permission was granted and that I could gain access to the House of Assembly at 8:30 AM the next day. I replied to the email to express my appreciation for that follow up and to make a couple of requests: (1) that the lights be turned on inside the room, and (2) that the door to access the center of the balcony area be unlocked.
The next morning, I met the tour guide in the lobby and we immediately went into the House of Assembly. The floor was off limits, but I had access to the balcony--or most of it. This next image shows the section within the room in which a perfectly symmetrical shot of the interior is possible. Note the section circled in red. That wooden door was locked. Unfortunately, nobody could find the key! So, I wasn't able to capture any of the more traditional perspectives of this beautiful room.
However, I very much appreciated how friendly and cooperative everyone was at the Confederation Building. While I was shooting, my guide asked me if I would prefer that the ceremonial mace be placed on the table as it would be if the assembly was in session. So, they brought it out and placed it on the table. The mace is circled in white.
Here are a few images from my photo session:
This photograph was last month at a photography conference that I attended outside of Cleveland. One of the presenters, Mike Matthews, brought a few frogs and reptiles with him. I was able to capture a photograph of the Amazon milk frog peeking over the petal of a calla lily. I am considering joining one of Mike's workshops next year.
This marks the 55th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back five years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
CLICK HERE to view the current collection of 57 photographs.
I also created a 2019 calendar featuring a dozen of these pictures. This calendar is currently offered for the low cost of $12.75. And, if you do a Google search for promo codes on Lulu calendars, you might even get it for less. I used the FWD15 promo code for 15% off my order earlier today.
CLICK HERE to purchase the calendar. There is a preview link below that calendar so that you may view the included photographs.
Here are a few favorites included in the calendar:
The Great Western Staircase is located inside the New York State Capitol. It is also known as the Million Dollar Staircase. It took an unheard of 14 years to build this staircase at a cost of more than $1 million back 1883. During the course of those 14 years, more than 500 stone cutters and carvers were brought in from Europe. One of their goals was to carve 77 famous faces into the sandstone walls of the staircase. The sculptors spent years, at a salary of $5 per day (a big salary back then), to sculpt some of the finest carvings in the world.
Toward the end of this massive project, the sculptors were then permitted to continue adding faces--but faces of their choosing. So, along with the prominent faces are faces of friends, family and others (sometimes someone they happened to see on the street)--all of which can be seen when viewed from the staircase.
From a photography perspective, I found this staircase to be very challenging. The light streaming in from the skylight and side windows can be very harsh. And, it can be difficult to set up compositions from the stairs. It's also tough to shoot anything symmetric as the light fixtures are positioned in the most symmetrical locations.
To view my photographs of the staircase, CLICK HERE.
As I entered the lobby, I asked an employee at one of the teller windows for permission to take pictures. Clearly, the Lincoln Bank Tower sees a lot of photographers. Without hesitation, the teller asked me to sign a form waiving my rights to sell any of the photographs.
As is customary, I first attached the Nikon 14-24mm lens to my camera. The 14mm focal length is ultra-wide and helps me capture as much of the scene as possible without using a fisheye lens. Here's my first shot of the ceiling with the 14-24:
I liked the picture, but wanted to capture even more of the scene in a single frame. Due to the difficulty of aligning such an image, I did not wish to try to stitch multiple exposures into a panoramic photograph.
Without moving the camera from the tripod, I swapped lenses. The following picture was captured with the Sigma 15mm fisheye lens from the same perspective:
Of course this is all personal preference, but I very much prefer the fisheye picture. I think including the murals on both sides of the frame really adds to the picture. I also like that the fisheye photograph includes more of the walls and lights.
I left the fisheye lens on the camera for a while longer and captured a couple of more shots before putting the 14-24 back on the D850:
This photograph was captured in July during my road trip to Newfoundland. This is the first picture from that road trip to be recognized in a photo contest. I recently posted a blog entry about this photo.
This marks the 54th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than four years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
I don't usually deal with such large files. This panoramic image is about 36,000 pixels wide. Although I have a high powered computer, it was slow to process the photograph and then exporting from Lightroom was giving me issues. In any event, here's the smaller version.
CLICK HERE to have a look around the Lunenburg waterfront with a higher resolution view. Please be patient while the image loads. Once the image loads, please take the time to zoom in and to pan around the file to view some of the details.
While walking along the waterfront, I captured this picture of some lobster cages. Can you find this in the high resolution panoramic of the waterfront? I can.
This photograph was featured in the May 10, 2012 edition of "Digital Camera World" in the United Kingdom as one of the 30 most beautiful photos of roads or highways. It was the lead photograph in that article.
The "Long Desert Highway" photograph was also recognized as an Editors' Choice pick by 500px. The Editors' Choice award is limited to the top .01% (1 out of every 10,000) of photographs submitted to the editors.
You never know where you will find the photographs that you captured. But, I certainly never expected a complete stranger to find one of my pictures literally blowing around the streets of Brooklyn!
]]>Day 2: Americus, GA - Andersonville National Historic Site
Day 3: Simons Island, GA - Avenue of the Oaks, Fishing Pier
Day 4: Jekyll Island, GA - Driftwood Beach; Historic District
Day 5: St. Augustine, FL - Basilica, Washington Oak State Park
Day 6: St. Augustine, FL - Flagler College; Marineland Beach
Day 7: St. Augustine Beach, FL - Pier
Day 8: St. Augustine, FL - Lighthouse
Day 9: Tampa, FL - Riverwalk, Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Day 10: Tampa, FL - Cityscape
Day 11: St. Petersburg, FL - Dali Museum; Marina
Day 12: Bonita Springs, FL - Ave Maria Oratory
Day 13: Bonita Springs, FL - Naples Pier
Day 14: Miami, FL - Convention Center, Brickell District
Day 15: Miami, FL - Cityscape; Design District
Day 16: Homestead, FL - Everglades National Park; Anhinga Trail; Long Pine Key Lake
Day 17: Melbourne, FL - Viera Wetlands
Day 18: Gainesville, FL - University of Florida; Butterfly Rainforest
Day 19: Forsyth, GA
Day 20: Marion, IL
Day 21: Orland Park, IL
]]>
To view more of my favorite pictures of ceilings, please click here.
Aligning ceiling pictures is very challenging. In order to see through the viewfinder, I'm usually laying on the floor and trying to slide underneath the camera (which is positioned on a tripod very low to the floor). It can take a while to line everything up--and in the meantime I often end up with a sore neck!
The good news is that my new Nikon D850 now makes this process easier. The D850 has a tilting LCD screen on the back of the camera.
Now, I am able to sit to the side of the camera and align the photo using the tilted screen.
I plan to continue looking up during my photography sessions.
]]>Just a little background on Elliston...a colony of puffins nests on the rock just off the coast. There's a short trail (about 1/3 of a mile) from the road to the edge of the cliff. From there, you can see the puffin nesting site. It's relatively close, but too far in my opinion to capture quality images of these rather small birds. They stand at just 8 inches tall.
Here's an iPhone photo of the area:
The hope is that a puffin (or several) will fly over to our side of the water. Between us and the nesting rock is a steep drop...and yes, people have died here.
So, I arrived one morning to photograph the puffins. I had visions of puffins everywhere...and all on my side of the water. But, after a couple of hours of waiting, there wasn't any indication that the puffins would land near me...or I should say, us. I gathered that part of the problem was that there were 30 or more people standing near me and that the crowd might be keeping the puffins away.
I returned the next morning at 5:45 AM...and was pleased that I was the only person there. But, by 9:30 AM the crowds were building and the light was getting very harsh...and not a single puffin made a move to my side of the water!
That night, I decided to go back for a third try. I arrived at 5:00 PM and found about 12 people there...no puffins. By 6:30 PM or so, everyone left except for one man. He was visiting from Switzerland...and was just finishing up some landscape photographs. I told him that people told me that on occasion puffins would fly over to our side...so he waited with me. We waited for about an hour when he told me that he reluctantly would have to leave because he was freezing...and that his jacket was back at his campsite about a mile away. I told him he could use my jacket...and he was very appreciative.
About 30 minutes later a single puffin fluttered over to our side and landed briefly on a rock. I captured a quick shot with my 300 2.8 VR...and it flew off. I was so happy to get a shot! He looked at the image and joked about how jealous he was that I got that shot...and that he only had a wide angle lens with him. So, I removed the 300 2.8 from my Nikon D850 and handed it to him. I told him he could use it for the rest of the shoot as it worked perfectly with his Niion D4. I then attached the 500 f4 to my camera--which was sitting in my bag. Yes, I carried a lot of weight!
A few minutes later, another puffin landed. Then another...and finally more than a dozen. We had a great time capturing portraits of these birds. At one point, he mentioned that he should have brought a teleconverter with him...so I reached into my bag and handed him a 1.4x teleconverter. He couldn't believe his good fortune...a jacket, a 300 2.8 VR and a TC...all saved his photo shoot! And, it was an amazing photo shoot for both of us.
Here are some of my images. To view more, CLICK HERE.
I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D850. More than 80% of my photographs were captured with one of Nikon's "Holy Trinity" of lenses--the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200.
An advantage of driving is that it is easier to bring long lenses along. Although the 300mm and 500mm accounted for just 13% of my photographs overall, they represent some of my favorites from the trip. The same goes for the Sigma fisheye pictures. Here are a few from the longer lenses:
There are a few advantages to visiting a church during a mass:
- I'm assured that the doors will be open.
- The interior will be properly lit.
- There will be someone there to talk with about getting permission to photograph the interior.
As a result, I've sat through hundreds of services (especially Catholic masses) over the past few years. I have now photographed more than 200 places of worship!
My experience at the Reykjavik Cathedral was unique in that the entire service was conducted in Icelandic. Unfortunately, I didn't understand a word throughout the entire mass. Once the service ended, I met with the pastor and asked if I could capture some photographs of the interior of the church. As with everyone I met in Iceland, he quickly transitioned to speaking perfect English. My request was granted.
The Reykavik Cathedral is a historic site that is located right next to Iceland's Parliament building. The pastor pointed out that his Lutheran church is the one that is called a cathedral...while the far larger Lutheran church (Hallgrimskirkja) is not designated as such. When I explained that I've photographed more than 200 places of worship, he said that he's certain that I've never visited a smaller cathedral.
Following is one of the pictures that I captured after the Icelandic service:
I arrived in Iceland a few days before the tour to explore Reykjavik. This ended up being a good plan as I had some of the best light of the entire trip during my first two days in Reykjavik. While in Reykjavik, I enjoyed walking the streets of the city and logged more than 40 miles of walking over a three day period. One of my favorite locations is the Harpa Concert Hall.
I visited the Harpa Concert Hall early one morning and captured photographs of the interior. It was nice having the place practically to myself. And, I never once had any issues using a tripod during my time in Iceland. I moved some chairs and tables from the open floor to clean up the frame before shooting this scene:
Here are some of the interior photographs:
And the abstracts:
And the exterior:
A view of the Old Harbor from the Harpa:
I also returned one night to see the show "Icelandic Sagas Greatest Hits".
]]>This is a count of independent visitors. When a visitor returns to view the site, it does not add to the count.
According to Google Analytics, visitors come from all over the world--and represent 157 countries and all 7 continents (including Antarctica)!
In the past few years, the website consistently attracts about 3,000 new visitors each month.
Thanks to all who come to this site to view my pictures. I hope you enjoy viewing the world through my lens.
]]>This photograph was captured in February during my trip to Iceland. I posted a blog entry about this photo shoot last month.
This is the fourth photograph from my Iceland trip to win a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 53rd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than four years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
One is named Mohamed and the other is Ali. Or, when the two names are put together it's Muhammad Ali!
It took more than two seasons for me to be able to tell the twins apart. Even now, I fail to properly identify one of the twins 25% of the time--and I have a 50% chance of being right if I just guess!
A couple of weeks ago, I captured pictures of the players on my team. After taking pictures of the individual players, I captured some images of the twins together:
Muhammad Ali.
I suspect that the wolves approached me that afternoon out of curiosity. I was probably the first visitor to their exhibit in a long while. In all my visits to the Brookfield Zoo, I have never seen it so empty. And it was a "free day" at the zoo. I arrived at the zoo just after lunch and my car was one of the only ones in the large north parking lot:
I wanted to capture some closeup portraits of the wolves, so I attached a 1.4x teleconverter to my 500mm lens. This gave me an effective 700mm of focal length on my Nikon D850. Here are a few of the photographs:
To give some perspective of how close I was to the wolves, that last picture is hardly cropped--it's 6,500 pixels across!
Visiting the zoo in the Winter has its challenges. It was 18 degrees and windy...and my fingers were stinging from the cold. But, not having to deal with field trips and large crowds makes it well worth any discomfort.
]]>Here are a few of my favorites from the visit:
Having lived in the Chicago suburbs for most of my life, it's kind of surprising how little time I've spent in nearby Milwaukee. This brief trip opened my eyes to some amazing architecture. I had no idea that Milwaukee City Hall was the tallest structure in the United States upon its completion. And, the dome of the Basilica (pictured above) was the second largest dome in the nation upon completion--second only to the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Not only did we have 2 1/2 hours of access to the exhibit before it opened to the public, but we were also allowed to use a tripod. The tripod provided me with a number of advantages:
- Use of long exposures (up to 20 seconds) to maximize image quality by leaving ISO at 64
- Ability to keep camera stable while holding a diffuser and/or foam board in my hands
- Easier to achieve precise focus on the smallest of details
- Able to use extension tubes for extreme macros without concern over camera shake
- Ability to shoot multiple exposures for blending in post (more about this below)
The only downside to this level of access is that it required me to leave my house by 5:30 am to get to the Chicago Botanic Garden on time!
For several of my pictures, I blended exposures using different aperture settings. Quite often, I would capture one image wide open and a second image at a very narrow aperture (f/22). During post processing, I start with the wide open exposure to achieve the soft, blurred backgrounds that could not be achieved with a narrow aperture. However, with the wide open exposure, I usually wasn't able to achieve enough depth of field to render the fine details of the flower in focus. So, I then stack the narrow aperture version of the picture on top of the wide open one--and brush the sharp detail into the frame only where I need it. In my view, this blending approach provides the best of both worlds--an overall soft, abstract photo with enough detail in the areas where more sharpness is desired.
CLICK HERE to view my pictures from the show.
Here are a few of my favorites:
All photographs were captured with my Nikon D850 camera and Nikon 200 f4 Micro lens.
]]>
One location that I hoped to photograph was the Sun Voyager sculpture. However, at sunset, people are lined up to take pictures of each other while they stand next to the sculpture. Many people stand right in front of the sculpture to capture selfies. It's a line of people that doesn't end until the light is gone and the photograph is no longer worth capturing.
So, I returned at sunrise.
The only problem is that the snow surrounding the sculpture had many deep footprints from visitors approaching the sculpture well before sunrise:
In my view, these footprints ruin the image. So, I cleared the footprints as best I could using Photoshop. Note how in the following picture I have activated the upper layer--the one in which I addressed the footprint issue:
And, here's the final image:
I returned the next day and captured a photograph of the sculpture that I like more--because I think the sunrise was more colorful the next morning:
This photograph was captured in February during my trip to Iceland. This was a memorable photo shoot. Before going to the beach, our photograph guide instructed us to be sure to always have an escape path from the ocean in case of a big wave. You don't want to have to retreat only to step against or onto a big chunk of ice. Fortunately, I heeded his advice.
After spending a fair amount of time composing this photograph, I was looking through the viewfinder when I suddenly felt an ice cold wave hit my shins. To my surprise, the water also rushed under the sand that I was standing on. I nearly fell as I quickly retreated from the water. I was also surprised to see the large piece of ice starting to slide toward the ocean. This is a dangerous beach and I was relieved to make it safely away from the water.
My waterproof boots were filled to the brim with freezing saltwater. Unfortunately, all of my other socks were back at the hotel and more than an hour away. Our photography guide generously offered to let me borrow a pair of his wool socks. Otherwise, I would have to spend the rest of the day with freezing, wet feet. It took me quite some time to get all of the dirt and sand off my wet feet before putting the dry wool socks on. Once we were back in the vehicle, I told the guide that I would return the socks that night, but that the best I could do was dry them with the hair dryer in the room since there weren't any laundry facilities there. He said that "proper" wool socks don't require washing--and that those socks had not been washed in a couple of years. Beggars can't be choosy, but I wish he wouldn't have told me that!
This is the third photograph from my Iceland trip to win a "Photo of the Day".
This marks the 52nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than four years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
I arrived at the church just before the doors opened at 9 am. When the church opened, I entered with about 25 other people. I saw it was going to be difficult to capture photographs of the interior of the church without having to contend with a lot of people in the frame. So, I decided to take the elevator up to the bell tower for the aerial view of downtown Reykjavik.
I enjoyed taking a number of pictures from the tower. It's a good thing that I visited the church first thing in the morning, because it wasn't long before it became very crowded. When I first entered the church, I thought that 25 visitors was a lot and that I could patiently wait for the scene to clear. But, that was not to be. The church became more crowded with every passing minute. Before long, at least 100 people were in the church at any given time.
The only way to get up to the bell tower is by elevator. Despite the $9 charge to use the elevator, by 9:30am there were at least 75 people waiting in line to take the elevator up to the bell tower. The elevator only holds 5 or 6 people, so people were waiting 30 to 45 minutes to go up to the tower.
I came back to the church later in the morning and it was even more crowded. I returned in the middle of the afternoon and it was worse.
So, I decided to talk with someone who worked at the church. I explained that I photograph a lot of churches--and that I was finding it impossible to take pictures inside the church with all the tourists. I asked if it would be possible for me to meet someone after the church closed--so that I could get a few pictures of the interior without anyone in the frame. To my surprise, my request was granted!
I came back to the church at closing (5 pm) and was permitted to shoot for 10 or 15 minutes with private access. That was sufficient time for me to get the bigger views of the interior of the building. I was able to capture pictures of the ceiling, sanctuary and pipe organ during the day--even with the crowd.
Later that night, I went back to the church for pictures of the exterior during the blue hour. The crowd was far worse than it was inside the church. Just when it looked like it was going to be impossible to get any pictures (people kept standing directly in front of my lens), I captured this image:
These pictures were taken on a cold weekday in February. I would hate to see how crowded this location is in the summer.
]]>The set up for these pictures was relatively quick and easy. The backdrop was a collapsible green screen--it pops open into a 4x6' panel. I used one strobe (Einstein) inside of a Buff softbox. I used a couple of my Nikon speedlights to illuminate the background. I asked a parent to hold a piece of white foam board on the shadow side of the player to provide a bit of fill. The entire photo shoot (10 players) only took about 90 minutes.
This was the first time I tried using the green screen. It sure made extracting the players an easy task...it took me less than 15 seconds to select and extract a player from the frame!
Here are some of my favorites. Please note that I did not design the poster template. I purchased the template (including the fonts) and then customized it for this shoot.
While in Iceland, I experienced some very unfavorable weather conditions--even for the Icelandic winter. I participated in a photography tour led by Tony Prower. It started on February 20th and ended on February 24th. Here is the weather forecast from the hotel:
Note the 100% chance of rain every day until Sunday. The tour ended Saturday night. One of the tour participants pointed out that just because the forecast calls for a 100% chance of rain for a day doesn't mean that it calls for rain all day. It just means that it is expected to rain at some point during the day. That's true...but here is the hourly forecast that typically appeared:
This was the first time I ever saw a forecast with a 100% chance of rain for each hour over a 48 hour time span. And, take a look at the consistent wind! So, we experienced sideways rain on a regular basis.
One day, we were shooting inside the ice cave at sunrise--so that photo shoot proceeded despite the weather. But, once that photo shoot ended at 10 am, we were unable to leave the hotel for the next 24 hours.
One might think that this is typical of Iceland in the winter. Iceland certainly has its share of adverse weather conditions, but this was an unusual streak of bad weather even according to the locals.
Here's how the weather forecast looked for the days after we left Iceland!
A few things helped offset the miserable weather:
- I arrived in Iceland three days before the start of the tour to explore Reykjavik. The light was good and I captured many pictures during that time.
- Despite the forecast, there were breaks in the sky for a couple of hours each day--and those breaks usually occurred near sunrise or sunset. Despite having only a few hours of shooting, those hours were productive.
- It's much better to have a dramatic sky than a clear, cloudless one.
In the end, I was pleased with the photographs that I captured during my visit. To view my favorites, please click here.
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This photograph was captured in February during my trip to Iceland. This was the very last picture that I took during that trip--it was captured at our last scenic stop before our guide dropped us off at the hotel near the airport. I rushed to get this image as the other tour participants were already back in the vehicle waiting for me. In the interest of full disclosure, this is a composite photograph (a blend of two separate pictures--the sunset and the horse).
This marks the 51st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than four years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
The Hallgrimskirkja church is a major tourist attraction. At any given time, there were nearly 100 people inside the church. It was impossible to capture any photographs of the interior (other than ceiling shots) under those circumstances.
While I was inside the church with the huge crowd of tourists, I concentrated on taking pictures of the ceiling. For this particular image, I used a fisheye lens. The fisheye lens captures a very wide perspective--nearly 180 degrees. So, I was having difficulty even getting this picture without people standing in the corner of the frame!
Someone helped me by asking some of the tourists to step back for a moment while I took the picture--so that I could get a clear view of the ceiling. Once I captured the image, a couple of tourists asked if they could view the picture. So, I showed it to them on the back of my camera.
One woman said, "My God, it's beautiful!" Then, the woman standing next to her said, "It looks like a cockroach". I had to laugh. In my mind, this picture will forever be remembered as "the beautiful cockroach".
Unfortunately, I was only able to compose one picture. Capturing pictures such as this can be exceedingly frustrating. It took more than 20 exposures and 30 minutes for each sliver of the frame to free itself of tourists. During post processing, I blended the images (using a small area within each frame that I captured when it was free of people). Much of the time, there were people standing right in front of me. Keep in mind that I visited Iceland in February to avoid the crowds as it is far more crowded in the summer. Not fun!
Here's one of the pictures from that sequence of 20 exposures:
During the event, my goal was to capture images that:
- included the skater's face (hopefully with an expression)
- caught the skater in an interesting pose or during peak action
- filled the frame with the subject
- controlled the background--mostly by simplifying it
I've been impressed with the versatility of my new Nikon D850 camera. It's amazing that the camera can pump out such large files (48 megapixels each) at 9 frames per second. That high frame rate increased my chances of capturing peak action. I was also pleased with the auto-focus capabilities of this camera. I used the 21 point dynamic AF...and nearly every image was in sharp focus.
I set the exposure manually--using a shutter speed of 1/800th of a second, an aperture of f/2 and an ISO setting of 2000. My goal was to produce a file in which the histogram was pushed to the right in order to render the ice white. 1/800th was sufficient to freeze most of the action. However, I could have used a faster shutter speed to freeze the faster spins. Of course, setting the exposure in such poor lighting is a balancing act. Setting a higher shutter speed would have meant increasing the ISO--as the aperture was wide open for every image.
My post processing workflow was fairly basic. Most of the photographs required very little cropping. From there, I added some contrast (by moving the white and black points in Lightroom). I added a bit of vibrancy as well. The noise was manageable and I reduced noise by running every image through Nik Define software using the auto setting. I applied a curve to add contrast to the midtones in Photoshop...and finished by selectively sharpening the skater (using a high pass filter in Photoshop). For a few images, I extended the canvas to give the skater a little more breathing room from the edge of the frame. In some images, I extended the white background to eliminate distracting elements in the background. Most pictures took less than 2 minutes to process.
Here are a few of my favorites from the photo shoot. CLICK HERE to view more images.
The ice cave was an optional location offered as part of our photography tour. Since I was visiting Iceland in February and the ice cave is located about 275 miles from Reykjavik, I was expecting the location to be somewhat remote and free of crowds. Then, I received the following information from our tour leader:
"The regular ice cave has become very popular and has become busy in recent years. As you can imagine it can be difficult to do photography with 20 people around us in a tight space. I am trying to arrange an early tour with one of the companies. They will take us out at 07.00 when it is still dark. We could have the cave to ourselves for an hour before the crowds arrive. This special arrangement will cost $277 USD - $77 more than the standard tour that you have paid for."
The ice cave tour guide published the following warning:
"Please note! We will not be the only group visiting the ice cave. This has become incredibly popular winter activity in Iceland. Other tour companies bring guests to visit the cave which can cause it to be crowded. Please expect to share the cave with additional groups."
I found this information alarming for a few reasons:
- I didn't expect this ice cave to be so crowded given the time of year, the remote location and the high cost of getting there.
- The sunrise is 9:00 am in Iceland on that day. I was disappointed to learn that we would be inside the cave in the dark. No wonder it would be less crowded than during the day!
- I was surprised that the one hour photo shoot suddenly became even more expensive.
We met the ice cave guide in Jökulsarlon at 7:00 am (two hours before sunrise). Once our group was situated in his monster jeep, we started working our way up the Vatnajökull glacier in the dark and driving snow. The drive to ice cave was so unique that it made the whole experience worthwhile. After about 20 minutes or so, we reached the entrance of the ice cave.
Our guide parked the vehicle and then pointed out the various flags that were planted in the snow around the area. He warned that walking past the flags posed risks. The glacier has crevasses that aren't visible as they are covered in snow.
We were pleased that we did have the ice cave to ourselves--at least for a while. Tony Prower, our photography guide, assured us that the blue color of the ice would appear if our exposures were long enough. He was right.
The interior of this cave is quite small. We had just three photographers capturing pictures in there, and we had to take turns at times to get a shot as there wasn't enough room for everyone to compose their shots at once. Exposure times were long...so I ended up with just 10 or 12 pictures during the entire visit--which lasted just under an hour.
About ten minutes before sunrise, we heard the engines of approaching jeeps and knew we had time for just one more picture before more tourists entered the cave. Just then, we asked our ice cave guide to pose in the opening of the cave to give the photograph a sense of scale. I set my exposure for 30 seconds, but after 10 seconds passed the crowd started pushing their way past our guide to enter the cave--despite our request to just let us finish this one last exposure. So, I killed the exposure early...knowing that if I left the shutter open a few more seconds the model would blur.
Fortunately, luck went my way. The shorter exposure worked well for a single shot. I had initially planned for a 30 second exposure to properly exposure the ice...and then to take another 5 second exposure to properly expose the guide. I would then blend the two in Photoshop for a properly exposed picture throughout. But, if there was time for just one exposure, the 10 second one worked best. During post processing, I was able to recover enough detail and color in the ice, yet save the exposure of the guide.
Ten seconds later, about 25 people flocked into the cave. We could hear even more vehicles approaching. As we were escaping, there were so many people in the cave that there was barely room to stand. As our vehicle was heading back to Jökulsarlon, we saw even more vehicles heading toward the cave.
Thankfully, our photography guide knew to get us into the ice cave early. I can't even imagine the disappointment of having to share the experience with 50 or more people and not being able to get a single photograph--after all that it takes to make it to that remote part of Iceland at such cost.
This photograph is one of my favorites from the trip:
I've been shooting with the Nikon D850 camera since November. It features an impressive 48 megapixels of resolution. For this picture, I decided to push that by creating a panoramic photograph consisting of 14 vertical exposures. I then stitched the exposures together in Lightroom. The resulting photograph is 23,200 pixels wide by 7,100 pixels tall--or a whopping 165 megapixels!
To view a high resolution version of the above photography, please CLICK HERE. Note that this high resolution version is only half of the resolution of the original file. It's best to view it on a computer monitor and to zoom into the picture and pan around.
Can you see the tourist in the frame?
]]>Here are a dozen from the day:
1- I used the pregame warmups to practice my photography and dial in the settings. I haven't photographed baseball in a couple of years. The players don't wear their official uniforms until game time, though.
2- One thing is evident about college baseball (at least at the Illini games)--the players are having the time of their lives! It's obvious that everyone is having a great time. And that carries over into the stands. Cheap concessions and free admission add to the fun!
3- One of my first tasks was to get the obligatory "bat on ball" shot out of the way.
4- When I attached the 500mm lens to the D850, it made me feel like I was right in the middle of the action.
5- Can you see what happened here? Answer at the very bottom of this post.
6- This player put on his "rally glasses" in the top of the second inning. I guess it worked. Ohio State scored 5 runs that inning.
7- To shoot through the netting behind the plate, I removed the lens hood and placed the lens directly up against the net. Set the aperture to wide open and shoot away. Finally, just hope that a foul ball doesn't slam into the lens!
8- The home plate umpire called a nice game. I'm not sure that he's ever seen a 500mm lens pointed at him before, though!
9- The centerfield fence is 400 feet from home plate...plenty of distance to create nice, soft backgrounds.
10
11
12- The Ohio State pitcher put a little extra into this pitch.
So, here's what happened in #5. The batter tipped the pitch. It slammed into the catcher's face mask (knocking the mask away from his face). The ball then bounced back toward the hitter.
Granted, I haven't shot with a Nikon D5, yet. And, I'm not claiming that the D850 is as good as the D5 for sports. But, the auto-focus was snappy...I had very few photographs that weren't sharp. The high resolution files generate some stunning detail. The camera produced nice image quality even from the higher ISO settings that I sometimes had to use. It was an overcast day and rained a few times during the game. Overall, I was impressed with the performance of the D850. Now, I want to shoot more baseball!
CLICK HERE to view the high resolution version of this picture. This picture is best viewed on a computer monitor. You might have to give it some time to download. Note that this version is only 40% of the resolution of the original file!
Can you see the tourist? I've changed the color of his jacket to help him standout more.
]]>I was fortunate to have access to the interior of these theaters for a couple of hours. However, since the Madison Symphony Orchestra was set up in Overture Hall with valuable equipment sitting out, a representative of the Center was assigned to be with me while I was capturing pictures.
At one point, I was preparing to capture a picture with my fisheye lens from the balcony. The theater representative was sitting in the same row just a couple of seats to my right. She was surprised when I asked her if she wouldn't mind moving back a bit as she was in the frame! The field of view for this image was nearly 180 degrees:
Another oddity is that there are no aisles in the balcony--other than those on the far sides of the rows. So, whenever I wished to move forward or back a row for a different perspective, I had to walk all the way to the end of the row and back again! The omission of the aisles helps to improve the acoustics as well as to provide more seating capacity.
The D850's silent mode made it easier to shoot in the environment. I was set up near some students who were studying. When using the silent mode in live view, the camera makes no sound whatsoever. I had to keep checking to make sure that the images were recording on the memory card!
Until just a few years ago, I had never heard about the Palouse. While planning for this long road trip, I was looking for an interesting location to visit between Spokane and Crater Lake National Park. I decided to stay in Colfax, Washington to photograph the Palouse region of eastern Washington. During my stay in Colfax, I drove to the summit of Steptoe Butte three times--twice for sunset and once for sunrise. The haze from the local forest fires diminished my results from the two sunset photo shoots. But, luck prevailed for a few minutes just after sunrise one morning--and I was fortunate enough to create one of my favorite images of the trip.
This photograph was captured in February during my trip to Iceland. I posted a blog entry about capturing this image during a sand storm.
This marks the 50th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". A photographer is limited to one winning entry per month, so this series of winning images stretches back more than four years. Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This time, after I voted I peeked into the church for the very first time. I was surprised by the interior. Based upon the exterior of the building, I thought that the church would be quite small...and certainly not of this circular shape.
So, I asked if it would be OK for me to grab my camera and capture some photographs of the church. My request was granted...and I was able to get the church lit up for the photos.
At first, I attached my Nikon 14-24 lens and rotated the lens to its widest focal length--14mm. Here's that picture:
Then, I attached my Sigma 15mm fisheye to the camera to go even wider:
Of course it's personal preference, but I prefer the fisheye perspective. The frame extends to the edges of the pews rather than cutting them off and the fisheye emphasizes the roundness of the interior. I find that interiors such as this--with rounded edges--are ideal for the fisheye in that it minimizes the distortion that the fisheye introduces.
After a short while, I tried a different composition in the hope of introducing more depth into the frame. I left the fisheye lens on the camera:
Again, it's all a matter of personal taste, but this last picture is my favorite of the three.
So, I went over to my customary polling place to vote in this year's primary election and walked away photographs of another church. This was the 204th place of worship that I've photographed. Click here to view a listing of the first 203 locations.
]]>Late one afternoon, as we were driving to Vestrahorn Mountain (in the Stokksnes peninsula in Southeast Iceland near Hohn), the sky started to open up. Vestrahorn Mountain is one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. It reminded me very much of the Grand Teton mountain range. Vestrahorn is unique in that there is a black sand beach with sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean in the foreground. It makes for a world-class landscape location. I was relieved that we were going to have an opportunity to photograph Vestrahorn with some light. Unfortunately, as sunset approached the sky became too clear--no clouds at all.
The SUV had a sticker indicating that the rental company was not responsible for wind damage to the doors. The wind is so strong that one has to be very careful when opening a door. It's easy for the door to get caught in the wind. The wind is so extreme that our guide, Tony Prower, would park in such a way that the wind would be blowing from the front of the car to the back--to help avoid having the door swing open too quickly.
Tony parked the large SUV near the sand dunes. He warned us to wear eye protection. I assumed that he was concerned about the sun and glare off the beach. However, his concern was with how much sand was blowing in the gusting wind!
I left the SUV to start shooting by the sand dunes. Fortunately, the wind was blowing at my back--or this photo shoot would have been impossible. Sand was blowing everywhere. Without glasses, the sand would do major damage to one's eyes. Trying to stabilize the camera was a challenging task. I tried my best to block the wind by positioning the tripod in front of my body about chest high.
Changing lenses was not an option. Sand was getting into everything--my hair, my ears, my eyes. It was getting into the knobs of the camera and the tripod legs. I tried to keep my lens facing away from the wind as much as possible as I was concerned that the sand would damage the front element. The sound of the wind was deafening. I felt like I was fighting a war just to capture a few pictures.
It's such an incredible location that I kept shooting until the light was gone. Here are a couple of pictures from the photo shoot:
Once we returned to the hotel, I took the tripod into the shower with me to rinse the sand off. I also used an air blower to remove the sand from the camera body.
]]>This will be a 28 day road trip that will cover more than 5,000 miles. I will spend 9 nights in Nova Scotia and 10 nights in Newfoundland. Once I reach the eastern coast of Nova Scotia, I'll drive my Prius onto the ferry. The ferry will take 17 hours to cross the Atlantic before reaching eastern Newfoundland. Later, I'll return to Nova Scotia from western Newfoundland. The return trip is a 7 hour cruise. I'm hoping for calmer seas than what the ferry experienced in this video:
The logistics involved with planning this trip was more complicated than for my past road trips. In addition to making my usual Hampton Inn reservations, I had to make arrangements with 8 separate B&B's in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. I also had to make reservations for the ferry (for both me and my car) to get from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and back. I have rented a cabin for the 17 hour overnight trip to Newfoundland.
Here's a preliminary itinerary for this journey:
Day 1: Toronto, ON
Day 2: Quebec City, QC
Day 3: Saint John, NB
Day 4: Halifax, NS - Halifax skyline, Citadel, Halifax Library, Province House, various churches
Day 5: Peggy's Cove, NS - Sunset at lighthouse and cove
Day 6: Lunenburg, NS - architecture and waterfront
Day 7: Lunenburg, NS - churches and harbor
Day 8: Pictou, NS - Pictou harbor and Hector Heritage Quay
Day 9: Whycocomagh, NS - Cape Breton Highlands National Park; Baddeck lighthouse
Day 10: Sydney, NS - Louisnbourg fortress
Day 11: Ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland (17 hours)
Day 12: St. John's, NL - colorful houses of St. John's, Cape Spear lighthouse
Day 13: St. John's, NL - Signal Hill, Ferryland lighthouse
Day 13: St. Mary's, NL - Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve; Northern Gannets
Day 15: St. Mary's, NL - Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve
Day 16: Bonavista, NL - Village of Trinity, puffins of Elliston
Day 17: Bonavista, NL - Bonavista lighthouse, puffins of Elliston; harbor
Day 18: Rocky Harbour, NL - Gros Morne National Park
Day 19: Rocky Harbour, NL - Gros Morne National Park, Western Brook Pond boat tour
Day 20: St. Anthony, NL - fishing village
Day 21: St. Anthony, NL - L-anse aux Meadows Vikings settlement
Day 22: Channel-Port aux Bosques, NL
Day 23: Sydney, NS - ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia (7 hours)
Day 24: Bangor, ME
Day 25: Albany, NY - State Capitol
Day 26: Albany, NY - City Hall, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Day 27: Cleveland, OH
Day 28: Orland Park, IL
]]>One of the things I hoped to see while in Iceland is the northern lights--or the aurora borealis. Unfortunately, it was raining and overcast during much of my time in Iceland.
One night, while staying at the Hotel Smyrlabjorg in Skalafell, the sky opened for a short time and the northern lights made an appearance. Our guide, Tony Prower, was monitoring the aurora forecast and also had a view of the northern sky from his hotel room. Just before 11pm, Tony started knocking on our hotel doors so that we could get outside to capture photographs of the aurora.
This is the picture that I captured just steps from the hotel:
The strange thing is that even though I captured this picture, I really didn't get to see the northern lights. Although the camera's sensor recorded the aurora, it wasn't visible to the naked eye. I did see a white cloud that appeared to be brighter than it should be at night. But, I didn't see the green color. And, most of the people around me couldn't see it either.
I was pleased to capture the photograph, but it was a little disappointing that I didn't get to see the northern lights with my own eyes!
I do very little photography of the night sky, so I asked Tony what settings he would recommend. He said to start with ISO 1600 with a relatively wide aperture (I chose f/3.2) and to see if the shutter speed would be less than 30 seconds. The shutter speed for this shot was 25 seconds.
About 20 minutes after I captured this image, the wind picked up again to its customary 35 mph and clouds quickly covered the sky. It snowed for the next few hours. We never saw the northern lights again. Then again, I never saw the northern lights to begin with!
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In an image like this, my goal is the render both the foreground object as well as the far more distant building in sharp focus. The foreground object is very close to my lens...the tripod legs were touching the edge of the disk. To accomplish this, I captured two photographs...one focused on the foreground object and the second on the building. I later blended the two exposures in Photoshop to achieve sharpness from front to back.
Another method is to use a smaller aperture (f/22, for example) to extend the focus area. However, this foreground object was so close that even a narrow aperture wouldn't render everything sharp. Additionally, sharpness tends to fall off as the aperture becomes smaller due to diffraction. Also, unless your sensor is super clean, f/22 will reveal every single dust particle and make removing all of those spots a more tedious post processing exercise. So, I dial in the sweet spot for my lens (usually about f/8) and focus stack multiple frames. That way, I have the best of both worlds--the use of the sharpest aperture for my particular lens and an extremely wide area of sharpness.
]]>I participated in a photography tour of the southern coast of Iceland led by Tony Prower. I arrived in Reykjavik a few days prior to the tour to explore the capitol city on my own. The weather was challenging through most of the trip. We experienced rain and high winds the vast majority of the time. Fortunately, we usually had a couple of hours of decent light each day--which enabled me to capture some photographs.
I will be posting several blog entries in the upcoming weeks about some of the photo shoots in Iceland.
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This photograph was captured just a few weeks ago during my visit to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I posted a blog entry about the Great Hall recently.
This marks the 49th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
The lobby itself is impressive. More than 35,000 square feet of floor space is covered in teak wood. The entire allocation of teak wood coming into the United States from Thailand was allocated to this venue for a year.
Here are some favorites from my visit:
I was glad that a piano was left on the stage as it added a sense of scale to many of the pictures.
To view more photographs from my visit, please click here.
]]>First, there were a lot more people at the concert than I expected:
I decided to position myself on the stage at the back of the gym so that I could shoot from a higher perspective.
The next challenge was the positioning of the musicians. The band and orchestra are facing each other on the gym floor and the two don't play at the same time. So, when I'm photographing the band director (who is facing me), the musicians in the background are just sitting there--and it looks very unnatural. I had to watch the background closely and activate the shutter at the most appropriate times.
The biggest challenge was the busy backgrounds. When shooting with a middle aperture, there's so much going on in the frame that it's difficult to tell what the subject is. So, I used my Nikon 300 2.8 and set the aperture wide open. At f/2.8, the depth of field of acceptable focus is very narrow--which helps to isolate the subject. I sometimes call the 300 2.8 lens my "background eraser." Here are some images from the concert:
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This is the first picture from my "Wisconsin Architecture" trip to be recognized with a Photo of the Day. This photograph was captured late last year in downtown Milwaukee.
This marks the 48th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Unfortunately there are now less than 400 of these wolves in the world--and less than 150 living in the wild. The Brookfield Zoo has some (I'm guessing 8 or 9) of the 240 Mexican gray wolves living in captivity. Fortunately, the zoo is participating in a breeding program to try to save these wolves...and recently introduced a couple of the wolves back into the wild in New Mexico. The fact that the Brookfield Zoo is undertaking such an initiative make me feel better about capturing photographs of captive animals.
I really wanted to capture this image. I loved how the color of his eyes matched the color of the background. I liked how his fur was backlit and raised behind his body due to the strong wind. And, I liked how he was peeking over his tail. The problem is that he wouldn't look my way!
Fortunately, nobody was on hand to shoot the behind the scenes video. All I needed was for him to open his eyes and look at me. So, in addition to making all kinds of strange sounds (which weren't effective), I started dancing around--"Dances With Wolves"--and waving my arms (which was effective). So, he gave me a look...and I thanked him and moved on.
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When I visited, construction was taking place around most of the building. That, along with the fact that it was raining at the time, made capturing decent photos of the outside of the building nearly impossible. Although, the rain later paid dividends in enabling me to get better images of the interior of this historic building.
So, I was walking by City Hall on my way to the Milwaukee Art Museum on a rainy, cold and windy afternoon. Given how narrow this building is, I wasn't sure that it would be worth exploring the interior. I wrongly assumed that there couldn't possibly be much in the way of open spaces inside such a narrow structure. I was wrong.
When I entered the building, I was very surprised to see an open area from the lobby floor to the ceiling. This open space was surrounded by wrought iron railings. It's an amazing interior.
My only remaining challenge was waiting for the scenes to clear of people. In that first image, people were leaning over the railing and gazing at me--probably because I was laying on the lobby floor taking pictures! I hoped that the novelty of this view would wear off quickly, but it took a good 15 minutes or so before they backed away from the railing.
For the second and third images, I had to wait for a woman to walk out of the frame. But, she kept circling the scene (mounting steps on her Fitbit tracker)--so I had to time the shots when she circled behind me. Since these pictures are a blend of bracketed exposures, waiting for her to move behind me for each picture in the sequence tested my patience...especially because many of the times when she was finally behind me someone else would enter the scene!
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Security approached me as soon as I started to set up my shot. I was told that photography isn't allowed inside the library. I asked if it would be possible for me to capture a photograph of this staircase before packing up. I promised not to include any library patrons in the frame as that seemed to be the main concern. To my surprise, permission was granted for me to take a few minutes for this picture.
I found it challenging to align the camera for this picture. The tripod was positioned on the stairs with the camera just a foot or so off one of the steps. After trying unsuccessfully to get my body positioned under the viewfinder (like a gymnast), it dawned on me that the Nikon D850 features a tilt LCD screen on the back of the camera! So, I sat comfortably upright while focusing the lens and composing the photograph.
The D850 also offers a feature called "focus peaking". While focusing the lens, the area that is in focus turns red--so you know that you've nailed the focus precisely. You can also change the color of the focus peaking (for example, when you happen to be shooting a red subject). Once the appropriate railings turned red, I activated the shutter and captured my image.
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Earlier this month, I was disappointed to learn that tripods are completely banned in Lower Antelope Canyon now. When I visited Lower Antelope Canyon, I participated in the Photography Tour--which permitted tripods. Given the relatively low light in the slot canyon and the fact that I did a lot of exposure bracketing...the tripod was essential. Now, all Photography Tours have been cancelled--even during the "off season".
What's next? A ban on tripods throughout the country?
Note that Lower Antelope Canyon "has become too popular...to accommodate" the Photo Tours (tripods). Apparently, the same is true of a remote ice cave in Iceland that I'll soon be visiting. I recently received an email from our photography guide explaining that the ice caves have become so popular now that we need to hike there before sunrise in the dark and pay a premium to secure the space. Otherwise, he said that the place is so crowded that we won't be able to compose any photographs. The initial charge was $200 per person for the ice caves--and he requested an additional $75 for this private showing of the ice caves. Keep in mind that these caves are nearly 300 miles from Reykjavik and we'll be visiting in the middle of the winter! But, at least I can use my tripod!
]]>I enjoyed the experience. Figure skating is an ideal sport for photography. The costumes (dresses) are colorful. The young skaters are photogenic. And, there's action!
Figure skating can be a challenging subject to photograph. It's an indoor sport--which usually means dim lighting. Low light and fast action is a difficult combination.
I didn't want to deal with the meter potentially altering exposures as I moved the camera. So, I set the exposure manually. I went with a shutter speed of 1/800th, an aperture of f/2.0 and and ISO setting of 2,500. That exposure combination gave me a fast enough shutter speed to stop most of the movement, a shallow aperture to blur the backgrounds and a low enough ISO setting to minimize noise. Fortunately, I own the Nikon 200 f/2 lens as it's ideal for indoor sports. The f/2 aperture of this lens gathers twice as much light as a f/2.8 lens! In other words, had I selected a 2.8 lens, I would have had to boost my ISO to 5,000 to keep my shutter speed (1/800th) the same.
Here are a few images from the event:
I enjoyed the experience so much that I plan to shoot another figure skating competition in May.
All three photos were captured with the Nikon D850 and Nikon 14-24 2.8.
It's been a few weeks since I've been out with my camera. But, I've been spending a lot of time improving my editing skills. This year, I've been viewing the collection of video tutorials (the Masters Academy) by Ben Willmore. At the time of this blog posting, the annual subscription for this training was just $99. For that price, there are more than 70 hours of tutorials currently available...with more on the way.
So far, I've worked my way through all of the "Starting From Zero" tutorials and some of the "Essentials" videos. Although I've been using Photoshop for a few years now, I still learned a lot while working my way through these videos. The tutorials will continue to build and will cover more complex topics.
Clearly, it's important to capture good images to begin with. But, proper processing of the image is the other critical part of the process of creating good photographs. I think it's important to dedicate training time to both the capture and the processing aspects of photography.
]]>When purchasing a new camera, it takes a lot more than just the cost of the camera to make the transition. Several other accessories are also needed to realize the full potential of the new camera:
- The D850 uses XQD memory cards. To enable the camera to shoot at the highest 9 frames per second rate, I purchased a large (128 GB) high speed XQD card. My D800 used a CF card. So, memory cards (including the SD cards) needed to be replaced and/or upgraded to handle the bigger files and faster frame rate of the D850.
- Now that I had my XQD memory card, I needed to purchase a XQD card reader!
- The vertical battery grip for my D800 doesn't fit the new camera, so I purchased a new grip. It took months before the new grips were available...and the orders for the D850 grips still haven't been completely fulfilled.
- The vertical grip for the D850 takes a different battery than the D850 in order to achieve the greater power capacity for higher frame rates. These high powered batteries aren't cheap!
- What's even more expensive is the new charger required for charging the new batteries.
- Now that I had my Nikon D850 (with vertical grip) driven by the high powered batteries and high capacity memory cards, I needed a way to connect the gripped camera to my tripod's ballhead. That meant purchasing a new L-bracket! The L-brackets were just recently made available through a couple manufacturers--and I had a nightmare experience getting my new L-bracket to work with my ballhead. Ultimately, the Kirk bracket did the trick. More on that in a later blog entry.
I'm pleased to announce that after four months and quite a bit of money, my transition from the Nikon D800 to the D850 camera is finally complete! Now, it's time to get back out there to do some shooting.
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Wishing all of you endless photo opportunities in 2018...Happy New Year!
It's a challenge to select just ten pictures from a full year of shooting. These are ten of my favorites (in random order) from 2017:
Thanks for all for taking the time to read my blog and view my photographs over this past year.
Unlike most of my past books which compiled my favorite photographs from the entire year, this book features images from just this one trip.
You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with the pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor. I also recommend selecting the Dust Jacket version of the preview (positioned under the book).
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes for a high cost per unit. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. However, the book isn't intended for general distribution. I like to create one for my own records--and family and friends occasionally order books as well.
This is the tenth annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created!
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When I first started sharing photographs through my site, I expected most of the visitors to be family and friends. I had no idea that so many people would eventually view the photographs.
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog and view my pictures. I hope to share many new images in the upcoming years.
]]>My tripod is probably just over ten years old. Over the years, it's become increasingly difficult to tighten the extended legs. As I'm shooting, a leg will sometimes slowly collapse--which can be very frustrating. When tightened enough, the legs will hold--but it should only take an easy quarter turn to tighten the legs on this particular tripod.
I sent my tripod into the Chandler, Arizona repair facility via UPS Ground delivery. It took a week for the package to get there from Chicago. Once it arrived, I was promptly provided with a work order for tracking the progress of the repair through the website.
A week passed without any further updates on the progress of the repair. Apparently, the facility was shut down as an inventory was being conducted. Finally, I learned that the cone collets within each of the leg extensions needed to be replaced. Additionally, the leg locks were to be cleaned and lubricated, and a clamp replaced. For $200, plus shipping & handling, the tripod would be returned to like new condition.
Although the repairs weren't cheap, I determined that approving the repair (which extends the life of my tripod for another 10 to 15 years) was better than purchasing a new tripod. This tripod was $700 a decade ago...and is closer to $1,000 today. Given how often I use my tripod, it's not too surprising that it would require some maintenance. I estimate that my tripod's legs have been extended and collapsed at least 10,000 times over the past decade!
Now that I approved the repair, the next challenge was waiting to see if the replacement parts were in the Chandler facility. I was told that if the parts for my tripod were on hand--it would be about three days for the repair. Otherwise, parts would need to be ordered from Italy--and it would be about a month before the tripod repair was completed!
After not hearing anything for a few more days, I called the repair facility again. I was told that it looked like the parts would need to be ordered from Italy. But, just hours later I received a UPS tracking notice that my tripod was already on its way back to me and that it was fully repaired.
I was anxious to get my tripod back...so I was disappointed that it was sent via UPS Ground--especially considering that I was charged $35 for shipping! That meant another week of waiting. So, delivery was set for December 14th.
December 14th came and went...and my UPS tracking information showed that the delivery was still ON TIME. On December 15th I called UPS...the package hadn't been scanned since December 11th. Back then, the last time it was accounted for, it was just ten miles from my home address! So, it was now missing in action.
Last night (December 16th), the tripod was finally delivered at about 7:00 PM.
So, my tripod's repair journey took more than a month (and that could have been far longer if the parts weren't in Chandler) and just over $200...but I have it now and can finally get back out shooting!
]]>Out of curiosity, I just ran a count of my blog entries. Through today, I've posted 622 entries...that's a lot of articles!
So, what's my most popular blog entry? It was an entry that I made back in August of 2012 about my experiences with Prius Camping. That article has been read by 25,000 independent (repeat visitors don't get tallied) readers.
Thanks to all of the visitors for taking the time to read my ramblings!
]]>This is the third picture from my "Great Western USA Loop" road trip to be recognized with a Photo of the Day. This photograph was captured a few months ago at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada. CLICK HERE to view my blog entry about this photo shoot.
This marks the 47th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
The rain isn't ideal for the exterior shots...
But, it pays off inside the cathedral. Note the detail and colors contained within the stained glass windows. This is not possible when bright sunlight is streaming through the windows--even with extreme bracketing of the exposures.
I tend to check the weather forecast and look at the sky even when shooting inside.
]]>Although these cities are relatively close to my home, I have spent very little time in them. During my short stay, I was busy photographing several architectural sites. I came away from this trip with a much greater appreciation for Wisconsin architecture. Prior to this trip, I had no idea that Milwaukee City Hall was the tallest building in the United States at one time...or that the dome of the Basilica of St. Josephat was the second largest in the nation (behind the federal Capitol building in Washington, DC) at the time of its completion!
In the end, I photographed 7 locations. I'll post one photo from each location. To view the rest, simply click on the location title.
2- Overture Center for the Arts
At the end of a few days of shooting, I came away with 176 completed images! Click here to view my favorites from the trip. All of the pictures were captured with my new Nikon D850 camera.
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Take a look at the display cases with the flags in this photograph of the rotunda inside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing:
The flags are positioned just off the floor around the rotunda.
While preparing to capture of picture of the inner dome, I laid down in the center of the floor. Here's that image:
Note that the flag cases are visible in the edges of the frame. The perspective is super wide.
Last week, I was taking pictures inside Overture Hall in Madison, Wisconsin. My host was sitting a few seats to my right while I was capturing photographs of the theater from the balcony. She was surprised when I asked if she would mind moving back a bit as she was still in the frame!
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The Sigma fisheye is a great lens, but it's not one of the sharpest lenses to use along with the D850. For one thing, the fisheye introduces quite a bit of distortion (intentionally).
When I zoomed in at 100% to view the sharpness of the image, I was shocked that I could actually see the second hand on the clock that's positioned over the center post! The time is 11:22 and 38 seconds!
I have a feeling that I'm going to like this camera.
Here's how I captured this image:
I placed the camera on a tripod and took one exposure when the floor was as empty as possible. From there, I looked to the far left of the frame--and snapped another exposure once that segment was mostly free of people. Then, I shifted my attention to the next area of the floor and pressed the shutter when that area was mostly free of visitors. In the end, I took seven pictures--of seven different segments of the floor when each piece was mostly free of people. Then, I combined those seven pictures together in Photoshop--taking just the open portions of each of the 7 images. From there, my remaining cloning work was minimal.
But, I still had a problem. I didn't want to bracket all of these images! So, my blended exposure had a problem--the cornerstone in particular (which is illuminated) was blown out. Fortunately, I anticipated this at the scene and captured another exposure that was underexposed by a couple of stops...and then used that exposure to recover the highlights.
But, I still had one more problem! I noticed that the video board just below the cornerstone was blurry. The images on that screen keep changing...and sometimes has a video playing. With my 5 second exposures, the board was a mess. So, I boosted my ISO up, opened the aperture...and with the faster shutter speed (now 1/250th), I waited until the video board displayed an appropriate text (it now says "Generations of visitors from around the world have come here to envision our past, the present and the future."). I used that as my final blend in Photoshop--so that only that small piece of the frame is ISO 1,250 while the rest of the image is ISO 64. I suppose I should have done some noise reduction work on that video board!
To view a larger version of this image, CLICK HERE.
I also captured a vertical picture from this same spot as well as another photo from very close to the cornerstone.
By the way, my favorite part of this museum was getting to sit inside the actual bus that Rosa Parks was sitting on when she refused to give up her seat!
This is the second picture from my "Great Western USA Loop" road trip to be recognized with a Photo of the Day. This photograph was captured a few months ago at the Triple D Game Farm in Montana. To view more images from my visit to Triple D, please CLICK HERE.
This marks the 46th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
To take this photograph of the New York Life Insurance building, I had to keep moving back away from the building in order to remove some of the distortion that results from tilting the lens up. I wanted the lines to be as straight as possible in my in camera image. Before I knew it, I was standing well within the property of the Tucson Police Department.
A police officer saw me setting up my tripod and asked me what I was photographing. From where we were standing, the subject of my photograph wasn't at all obvious. I showed him the Live View image on the back of my camera. It was going to take me about 5 minutes to precisely line everything up before taking the final picture. He said that he would stand with my until I was done shooting--otherwise I would likely get hassled by other police officers to get off the property.
Once I finished taking this picture, the police officer left to begin his patrol.
Rand McNally purchased this image through a stock agency. The stock agency doesn't disclose the buyer of the images to me--which is why it often take a long time before I happen to see, if ever, how my pictures are being used.
Here's my photograph:
And here's how it appears on the cover of the atlas:
The road atlas is being sold through Amazon for $13.46. I think I'll be ordering one!
Before sunset, I captured some abstracts of the structure. Here's one of those images:
But, my main reason for visiting was to capture this building at night. At night, red lights illuminate the interior and shine through the windows. Or, at least I hoped the interior would get lit.
I arrived at the Brain Center about 30 minutes before sunset, scouted the various compositions and then set up for my first pictures. To my surprise, the building remained dark after the sun went down. Since I was there on a Saturday night, my concern was that the building might not get lit on weekends when the Center is closed.
After another five minutes or so, the lights suddenly went on. In my view, the red lights make a world of difference in these photographs.
While killing time waiting for the sun to set, I "checked in" to the Ruvo Brain Center on my Facebook page--as I often update my Facebook with my current location while on a photography road trip. Before long, some concerned friends left me messages asking if everything was OK!
I shared some of my Brain Center photographs on various photography forums. A common response was that anyone who looks at this building long enough will soon require the services of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brian Health!
]]>- I'm currently shooting with just one camera. I really need a backup, but don't want to buy a backup since I would like my existing D800 to take that role. I feel like I've been rolling the dice too much lately taking photography trips with just the one camera. Going to Iceland this winter without a backup is not going to be an option!
- I don't expect the images to look a whole different between the D800 and D850. But, I think it will be a bit easier to capture some of the images with the D850. I sold my D700 a while back...and really miss the higher frame rate for sports. The D850 will enable me to shoot youth sports with more keepers again.
- I'm hoping the D850 will have a quieter shutter as I shoot inside churches a lot.
- A more flexible LCD screen will help me when I'm laying on the floor under my tripod trying to line up shots of ceilings!
- I find it challenging to zoom in to focus manually with Live View with my D800. It's my understanding that the resolution is much better on the new screen...and that will make life a little easier.
- I often shoot wide to create straight lines (requiring cropping) in architectural images. The extra megapixels will provide extra cropping capability.
- I will enjoy ISO 64 as a base...I shoot a lot of longer exposures.
- I find the focus stacking feature of the D850 to be intriguing.
Those are the main reasons...but there is no bigger reason than needing the backup!
For those of you who track such things, I placed my order at 8:00am Central Time on August 24th through B&H Photo. I have no idea where I stand on the waiting list...just hoping to get my camera by the holidays!
]]>One house in particular was super colorful with bright turquoise walls and a red door. I timed my visit for what I hoped would be the best lighting. As soon as I had everything set up and was about to start taking pictures, the owner of the house arrived and started to park her car between me and the house. She noticed that I was taking pictures, so she offered to park down the street instead--but only if I would carry her groceries into the house from her car! She was just returning from shopping at Costco.
I agreed to this offer and went on to photograph the house, as well as several other houses in the neighborhood, for quite some time. To view my photographs from Barrio Viejo, please CLICK HERE.
Here are a few from the turquoise house:
This is the first picture from my "Great Western USA Loop" road trip to be recognized with a Photo of the Day. Until just a few years ago, I had never heard about the Palouse. While planning for this long road trip, I was looking for an interesting location to visit between Spokane and Crater Lake National Park. I decided to stay in Colfax, Washington to photograph the Palouse region of eastern Washington. During my stay in Colfax, I drove to the summit of Steptoe Butte three times--twice for sunset and once for sunrise. The haze from the local forest fires diminished my results from the two sunset photo shoots. But, luck prevailed for a few minutes just after sunrise one morning--and I was fortunate enough to create one of my favorite images of the trip.
This marks the 45th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D800. More than 75% of my photographs were captured with one of Nikon's "Holy Trinity" of lenses--the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200. Before leaving on this trip, I upgraded my Nikon 70-200 VR lens to the most current version. I was so impressed with the quality of this lens that I am now considering upgrading my Nikon 24-70 as well!
Initially, I wasn't going to pack the massive Nikon 500 VR for this trip. I didn't expect for that lens to get much use. But, I'm glad I decided to bring it. In the end, I used the lens to capture 88 photographs--and they were some of my favorite pictures of the trip. It came in handy for some wildlife images as well as landscape pictures (particularly from the summit of the Steptoe Butte in eastern Washington). Here are a few of the 500mm images from this trip:
This scene was captured at f/8...but I blended in an exposure at f/22 to create the starbursts. If I had selected f/22 for the entire scene, I would have lost sharpness due to diffraction. So, I only used f/22 for the street lights by blending them in using the "Lighten" blending mode in Photoshop. This way, I was able to get the best of both apertures in a single frame!
There were several challenges to getting this shot:
- This involved a cat and mouse game with security personnel! When I started to extend the legs of my tripod, security was on me in seconds. So, the tripod was out of the question. And, security was manning this area practically 24/7. After passing through this area many times, I noticed that there were very brief intervals when the scene was clear of security. I waited for one of those times to quickly set up the shot. I was only going to get one try at it--because once security tells you that you can't take pictures, it's not a good idea to keep shooting! In locations such as this, I assume that it is OK to shoot until I am told otherwise.
- The tripod was out of the question. Yet, I needed to stabilize the camera. These are 3 second exposures--and I needed to shoot a sequence of bracketed exposures to retain detail in the chandeliers as well as the shadows. Fortunately, I had my RRS multi-clamp with me. I clamped the ballhead to the marble railing and then secured my camera to the ballhead.
- Having the clamp is the only way to capture this picture. Even if I had been permitted to use a tripod, the tripod wouldn't have worked. I was using a fisheye lens--and with such a wide perspective I needed to position the lens over the ledge. The clamp allowed me to do this rather easily.
- The clamp allows me to take shots without attracting the attention of security quite so quickly. With the tripod, I had no chance. But, with the clamp I was able to stand up against the camera and activate the shutter by pressing on the cable release near my pocket.
- Even so, at one point during my sequence of shots I was approached by security. It's always the same conversation--do you have a permit to shoot? I reply by asking if that is necessary for photographs for personal usage (which these are). Security is always polite and asks that I stop shooting--which I do. But, while we were talking I was able to finish the bracket of exposures as I kept pressing the cable release.
- This scene is usually crowded at nearly any hour of the day or night. Since I was staying at the hotel, I kept an eye on the scene. The morning that I departed for my drive to Tucson, I left the hotel very early in the morning. To my delight, the lounge was mostly free of people at 6:00 AM! I was able to clone one person out and use my mirror trick to remove another person!
In the end, I was able to create this apocalyptic style picture of a large Las Vegas lounge.
Mission Accomplished!
]]>A year ago, my travels took me to this same location. That sunset looked to be a promising one, but as the sun approached the horizon a thick fog settled over the water. All color was removed from the sky and most of the photographers left the scene before the sun was fully set. This time was a different story and I was rewarded for revisiting this site.
This sunset presented many phases...each with different colors and contrasts. The full photo shoot lasted well over 90 minutes. At times, the tide rolled over my shoes. Despite getting my shoes filled with salt water, I wasn't going to move an inch until I had captured photographs of this sunset!
It started with mostly overcast conditions and a very cool, pastel look. I was pleased with the lighting:
Before long, the colors deepened and the orange color intensified near the horizon. I didn't expect it to get much better than this:
Then, the sky started radiating with color that was reflecting on the beach all around us. This lighting was beyond anything I have ever experienced:
Then, the clouds started to break up. This made for a more dramatic looking sky:
The scene softened a bit just before sunset:
I kept shooting after the sun dropped below the horizon:
For my parting photograph, I stepped to the side of the pier for a different perspective. The camera sensor was able to pick up more of the light and color than I could see with my eyes. It was practically pitch dark during this exposure:
I suspect that these photographs would look great printed on metal!
To me, the most amazing thing about this photograph is how considerate the pedestrians were. This picture was taken on a weekday morning on a busy intersection in downtown Los Angeles. As I was getting ready to take this exposure, nearly 15 people stopped in their tracks so that I could capture this picture. I wasn't expecting this type of considerate behavior in such a big city!
Here's a photograph from across the intersection that I captured to give the viewer a perspective of the entire building. All of my other pictures from the photo shoot are architectural abstracts.
One challenge with capturing this photograph was dealing with the expanse of dull, ugly pavement in the bottom of the frame. My approach was to capture some traffic blurs using long exposures to add some interest to the scene. This required several exposures (later blended together in Photoshop) because traffic was so light. Just my luck...this was the only section in all of Los Angeles with light traffic!
The rest of my pictures are architectural abstracts. Here are a few of my favorites:
Given the colorful subject matter, I captured very few B&W photographs that night. But, B&W is still a viable option here:
There were numerous architectural sites of interest in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to the Petersen Automotive Museum, I visited the Disney Concert Hall, Broad Museum, Los Angeles City Library, Bradbury Building and Union Station.
It took a great deal of luck to capture this image. There were at least a hundred people on this bridge at any given time. My strategy was to take an exposure, then wait for various patches within the frame to free up of pedestrians before taking the next exposure. After four of five exposures, I was able to clear up most of the frame by selectively blending these images in Photoshop. There was still a group of people left toward the back of the bridge (it's a killer when they just stand there)--and I removed them by using the cloning tool.
My next challenge was the dealing with the length of these exposures--15 seconds each. After I would finish my third or fourth "people eraser" exposure, someone would walk close to my camera and cause the bridge to vibrate...so, it was time to start all over again!
By the time I finally started to get a few good exposures in a row, the sky was getting very dark...losing all color and bringing too much contrast into the scene. I shot a 2 second exposure at the end to bring back some detail in the sundial and the floor lights...as they were getting blown out now.
A local photographer from Redding approached me during my photo shoot to say I would have to wait for a very long time to capture this photograph. Apparently, he's not overly familiar with technique of blending exposures during post processing for removing people from the scene.
This morning, I sat down to process the whole mess--never expecting it to end up being an acceptable image. While it's not the greatest image in the world, I'm very pleased with the result!
Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24 2.8
]]>I found this very tiny flower while walking around my neighborhood. I recently posted a blog entry about this photo shoot. I captured this picture inside my mini studio in the kitchen.
This marks the 44th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Fortunately, the RRS Multi-Clamp enabled me to secure my camera and capture shots in certain situations where the use of a tripod wasn't possible. I carry this small piece of equipment in my camera bag at all times.
I just started processing photographs from my journey. During just the first day of shooting (in St. Paul, MN), the clamp allowed me to capture two pictures that would otherwise not have been possible.
PHOTO #1
This image of the Minnesota House of Representatives required the clamp. Access was restricted to the chamber floor by a tall gate. This gate was about 7 feet tall. I clamped the camera to the top of the gate in a position that allowed me capture a symmetrical image of the chamber. The camera was so high that I couldn't see through the viewfinder, so I used the Live View feature on the D800 to align the lens. Here's how the set up looked:
And, here's the processed photograph:
So, why was stabilizing the camera so important?
- The chamber is dark. My base exposure was 1.3 seconds at f/9 at ISO 100. Nobody can hold the camera steady for 1.3 seconds. And, I try not to boost the ISO settings as that compromises image quality.
- This photograph required bracketed exposures to retain detail in the highlights. I captured the same image with a shutter speed of 1/8 second to tame the highlights.
To illustrate the benefit of bracketed exposures, take a look at the very best exposure that I could generate with a single click. If this is all I could capture, I wouldn't bother taking the picture:
PHOTO #2
Later that day, I visited the Sunken Garden at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory. As with the above situation, I wanted to bracket my exposures inside this greenhouse. I also needed a rather wide depth of field for this picture.
The Conservatory prohibits the use of a tripod. So, out came my RRS Multi-Clamp!
It wasn't long before I was approached by a staff member of the Conservatory. She told me that tripods weren't allowed. I pointed to my tripod...which was laying on the ground next to me...and said that I read the policy and was using the clamp so as to avoid getting in the way of other visitors. After a short hesitation, she acknowledged that I was in compliance of the rules as written. I was permitted to continue shooting!
Later in the trip, I captured some of my favorite photographs by using the clamp. It helped me position the camera over the edge of railings to capture pictures of interesting staircases. Now, the clamp isn't cheap. But, it's worth the extra money to me to secure my camera and lens while it's hanging over a railing!
The clamp also lets me shoot in such a way as to not attract the attention of security as quickly as when I am using a tripod. I stand very close to the clamp and camera so that it appears as though I am just standing against the railing while looking over a scene.
]]>This long road trip covered more than 7,500 miles (7,634 to be exact) and 16 states (IL, WI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA, CA, NV, AZ, TX, NM, OK, KS, MO, IA).
At one point, I was just miles from the Canadian border. Later in trip, I was only yards from the Mexican border. At one point, waves from the Pacific Ocean rolled over my feet while I was photographing a sunset.
The Prius burned 146 gallons of gas over the entire trip (52.4 mpg). The cost of fuel was $356. The price per gallon of gas varied from as low as $1.87 in some of the Midwestern states to nearly $4.00 per gallon in Los Angeles.
CLICK HERE to view my daily itinerary.
Now comes the task of processing all of the images. I will likely be editing pictures into the Winter months.
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I am seeing symmetry everywhere I look--even with these doors at the Ohio Statehouse!
With all of this focus on symmetry, I began to wonder why it is that viewers generally find symmetry to be an attractive element within a photograph. Certainly, it brings a sense of order to the image. Could it be that human beings find beauty in symmetry because our own bodies are symmetrical?
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After a long drive, I pulled into an Oregon gas station and got out of the car to stretch my legs and pump the gas. As I approached the pump, an attendant ran up to me and asked for my credit card. He informed me that I was not allowed to pump my own gas. I told him that I didn't realize I had pulled up to a full service pump--and that I would move my car. He replied that there wasn't a self-service gas station in the entire state!
So, as I stood right next to him, he swiped my credit card and then handed it back to me. He then filled my tank while I stood right there. When I asked him why this was necessary, he told me that it was all about job creation. I don't intend for this photography blog to contain political posts, but I can't understand how putting people to work providing a service that I don't want or need (with the resulting higher price of gas) can be a good thing in the long run.
Later, I learned through Wikepedia that a "1951 Oregon statue banning self-service gasoline lists 17 different justifications, including the flammability of gas, the risk of crime from customers leaving their car, the toxic fumes emitted by gasoline, and the jobs created by requiring mini service."
Another thing I learned while traveling through Oregon is that the state doesn't have any sales taxes. The total charge for a large Diet Coke off the $1 Menu at McDonald's was exactly $1.
My aunt and uncle happened to be attending a conference in Eugene, Oregon while I was in Oregon. So, I drove to Eugene to meet them for breakfast. When my uncle picked up the check after breakfast, I told him that I would gladly pick up the sales tax!
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This lesson came in handy during my recent trip to Hawaii. One night I was photographing the sunset from Waimiea Beach on the North Shore of Oahu. I, along with about ten other people, walked a bit past a "no swimming" sign to set up for the sunset. As a result of my experience at Baker Beach, I no longer lay my backpack on the sand. My backpack was on my back.
During my time at Waimiea Beach, I was fascinated with the big waves. Until then, I never saw waves that high. I'm sure they get higher there, but these waves exceeded 30 feet. After a while, I started concentrating on getting photographs of the sunset--which was taking place to my far left. Apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to the ocean.
Suddenly, I heard a lifeguard shouting over a speaker system that everyone better move back because a big wave was approaching. I looked to my right toward the ocean and was stunned to see what appeared to be a wave of about 30 feet quickly approaching the area where all of us were standing. I grabbed my tripod and sprinted away from the sea. The wave came crashing down and then fizzled out several feet behind me. If I hadn't moved so quickly, my equipment would have been soaked with sandy saltwater for sure. Most likely, I would have lost my camera and tripod. Worse yet, I could easily have been swept out to sea.
The lifeguard then told everyone that it wasn't safe to walk in areas where the sand is smooth. He said to stay in areas with a lot of footprints. He also told me that if I get swept out to sea that I shouldn't fight the wave...just go with it and it would be possible to return to the shore later. Given the power of the waves and the cold temperature of the water, this advice wan't overly comforting. It only reinforced why I should stay well away from the water!
Then, the lifeguard announced that he was leaving for the night. The sun had set and his shift was over. He said that if anyone got pulled into the sea by a wave, someone on the beach should call 911.
I don't think my photograph of the big waves of Waimiea Beach do the waves justice, but here's one that I captured some time before the big one made me sprint away from the scene:
I found this leaf right outside my front door. I wasn't expecting it to be a very interesting subject, but it suddenly became more interesting when viewing it through my macro lens. I recently posted a blog entry about this photo shoot. I captured this picture inside my mini studio in the kitchen.
This marks the 43rd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
In fact, the last time I set up the studio lights was for last season's portraits. As a result, I had some difficulty getting the Cyber Commander to synchronize with the receivers. In other words, I was unable to set the device up in such a way that I could control the power of the strobes from the camera using the commander. Although it's been several years since I purchased the kit from Paul C. Buff, I decided to try calling the company. To my surprise, my call was answered promptly by a knowledgeable representative who was able to address my problem in minutes. Now, that's great customer service!
Here is one of my favorite pictures from the session:
After posting a few pictures on photography forums for critique, I received questions about how this photograph was lit. So, here was my set up:
For the background, I unfolded a 5'x7' Botero collapsible background and clipped it to some netting inside one of our batting cages. I lit the background with an Einstein strobe and placed a red gel on the strobe. The main light was an Einstein strobe placed inside a large softbox. I asked a parent to hold a large piece of white foam board at an angle that provided fill light. Fill light is even more important when the subject is wearing a baseball cap!
CLICK HERE to view more images from the photo session.
]]>This image was captured during my tour of the state capitols. At this point, I've photographed 49 of the 50 state capitols. My next and final state capitol is Juneau, Alaska. To view some of the favorite capitol photographs, please CLICK HERE.
This marks the 42nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
After capturing some rather boring pictures of the leaf, I took a much closer look using my Nikon 200 f/4 Micro lens. Before long, I concentrated on a section of the leaf near where the stem meets the leaf. The "scene" reminded me of a river of yellow flowing between two very steep green hills.
I've always liked the color combination of green and yellow. I held a small Nikon flash unit behind the leaf to help bring out the colors and the texture of the leaf.
At first, I made sure to line up the stem so that it was aligned vertically. However, that straight line led to a boring composition. In the end, I decided to let the line run diagonally through the frame--which almost always leads to a more interesting and dynamic composition.
Out of this single, ordinary green leaf, I created a series of pictures from a photo shoot that lasted about 90 minutes! It paid off to take a closer look.
To view more images of this leaf, as well as some other photos of a pine tree and grass, please CLICK HERE.
]]>So, I decided to bring a couple of the subjects inside. This eliminates the wind and allows me to more carefully compose the pictures as well as to control the lighting and backgrounds. To accomplish this, I quickly set up a little studio on my kitchen table!
Here's what it looks like:
#1: Nikon D800 Camera
#2: Nikon 200 f/4 Micro Lens
#3: Nikon SU-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander (to trigger #4)
#4: Nikon SB-R200 Wireless Remote Speedlight with Diffuser
#5: Wimberley Plamp
#6: Scissors (to trim unwanted pine needles)
#7: Foam Board (white on one side and black on the other)
#8: Gitzo Tripod
#9: Pine Tree Branch (my subject)
Truth be told, the flash unit (along with the commander to trigger it) probably wan't necessary for creating these pictures. I haven't used these pieces of equipment for a while, so I thought it would be helpful to get the practice with them.
Here are a few of the images of this subject:
And, here's an image of another subject using the same set up with the foam board flipped to its reverse black side:
This image was captured during my last trip to the Brookfield Zoo. I recently posted a blog entry about this particular photograph.
This marks the 41st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Macro photography allows a photographer to capture images of ordinary things in a way that is not ordinarily seen.
These visitors originate from 157 countries and represent all 7 continents (including Antarctica).
The internet makes it possible to share my photographs with so many people from around the World. I hope you enjoy the images half as much as I enjoy creating them.
]]>My "Sandy Beach" photograph was awarded Third Place for the month of March, 2017. CLICK HERE to view the winning entries as well as all the daily winners for the month.
Later in the week, I came across these small purple and white flowers. I'm told that these are called Indian hawthornes. These flowers are the same size as the pear blossoms.
So, are you wondering how tiny these flowers really are?
To provide a sense of scale, I took the next picture with my iPhone. And, no...I don't have a giant hand!
To view more of my images of these tiny flowers, please CLICK HERE.
To create these images, I used my Nikon D800 and Nikon 200 f4 Micro lens. I also used extension tubes for many of the photographs. A solid tripod also came in handy as there's no way that I can hold the camera steady enough at such a high magnification.
]]>This image was captured during my trip earlier this year to Oahu. This is the second photograph to win a photo contest from my trip to the island.
This marks the 40th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Below is a portrait of Sophia, a female orangutan that often poses for me during my visits:
One challenge with zoo photography is controlling the backgrounds. Fortunately, many of the exhibits at the Brookfield Zoo feature backgrounds that more closely match a natural environment. One approach that I use is to wait until an animal enters an area of the exhibit with an acceptable background before taking any pictures.
When the distance between the subject and the background increases, it's far easier to create background blur. Background blur places more emphasis on the subject--which is a good thing. Using a wide aperture also helps blur the background. I used my Nikon 300 2.8 VR lens for this image. I opened the lens all the way (f/2.8) to create this look for the background. At f/2.8, the Nikon 300 2.8 lens is an ideal "background eraser"!
Another challenge with zoo photography in indoor exhibits is the lighting. I try to use the lowest ISO setting possible to maximize image quality. However, it's also important to select a fast enough shutter speed to create a sharp photograph. For this image, I pushed the limit by selecting an ISO of 500--which resulted in a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second at f/2.8. 1/60th is pushing it. Many photographers don't like to use shutter speeds slower than 1 over the focal length of the lens--which in this case would be 1/300th.
By using a slow shutter speed of 1/60th rather than let's say 1/500th, I'm able to use an ISO of 500 rather than an ISO of 4,000. Additionally, by using an aperture of f/2.8 instead of let's say f/4 (which is still fast), I'm able to save another stop of light. At f/4 and 1/500th, my ISO would have been 8,000 (hardly worth bothering to take the picture with my D800).
Creating a sharp picture would be nearly impossible at 1/60th with a 300mm lens without incorporating further tools. Of course, a tripod is essential. Having my camera locked down on a solid tripod allows me to shoot at lower shutter speeds for maximum image quality. I also used a Nikon SB-900 flash unit. That short burst of light helps freeze any movement at this lower shutter speed.
CLICK HERE if you wish to view more images from my photo shoot.
]]>My only problem while shooting at the PCC was the sun! I visited the Center on three separate days, and each day the sky was clear. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. This might sound ideal for the ordinary visitor. But, this direct sun is a photographer's nightmare. The lighting is very harsh. Shadows go black and highlights get blown out. It's particularly unappealing when taking pictures of people--and people were my primary subjects at that location.
During my first visit, I selected a location where I could capture pictures of the Canoe Pageant with a clean background. However, the sunlight was so harsh and the shadows so dark that most of my pictures weren't worth the time to process them. I returned for a second time in hope of some cloud cover. Earlier that day, the sky was cloudy and the light was soft and diffused. But about 15 minutes before the Canoe Pageant started (it starts at 2:30 PM every day), the clouds cleared and the sun once again made the light impossible to manage. My approach was to only take photographs during the brief time that a canoe entered some shade cover. This severely limited my photo opportunities.
Following is one of the images that was captured in this unappealing light:
On my third visit, I used a very different approach. This is an approach that most portrait photographers would probably have thought of to begin with! My approach was to set up in a location where I was shooting directly into the sun. That way, the light would be even on the faces and people wouldn't be squinting while looking toward the bright light. This approach worked well for me.
Here are a couple of examples of how I used backlighting to create more appealing images in the same conditions that the above picture was taken:
This solution worked for me. I only wish I had thought of it sooner.
]]>Here's my itinerary with some of the photo shoots:
1- Minneapolis, MN - Mall of America
2- Minneapolis, MN - MN State Capitol, Como Park Zoo
3- Bismarck, ND - ND State Capitol
4- Billings, MT
5- Helena, MT - MT State Capitol, Cathedral of St. Helens
6- Kalispell, MT - Garnet Ghost Town, St Francis Xavier Church
7- Kalispell, MT - Triple D Game Ranch
8- Kalispell, MT - Triple D Game Ranch
9- Spokane, WA - Manito Park. Gonzaga University
10- Colfax, WA - Steptoe Butte
11- Colfax, WA - Palouse
12- Crater Lake, OR - Discovery Point
13- Crater Lake, OR
14- Redding, CA - Sundial Bridge
15- Fresno, CA - Crocker Art Museum, St John's Cathedral (exterior)
16- Los Angeles, CA - the Broad, Petersen Automobile Museum, Getty Center
17- Los Angeles, CA - Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles Central Library, Union Station
18- Oceanside, CA - Mission, Oceanside Pier
19- San Diego, CA - Scripps Pier
20- San Diego, CA - La Jolla Cove
21- Las Vegas, NV - Ruvo Brain Center
22- Las Vegas, NV - City Center, Arts District
23- Las Vegas, NV - Neon Museum, Stratosphere
24- Tucson, AZ - Mission San Zavier del Bac
25- Tucson, AZ - Saguaro National Park, Barrio Viejo
26- Tucson, AZ - University of Arizona, Sonora Desert Museum
27- El Paso, TX - Mission Trail, Scenic Drive Overlook
27- El Paso, TX - Mission Trail
29- Amarillo, TX - commute day
30- Wichita, KS - Keeper of the Plains, downtown Wichita
31- Keokuk, IA
32- Orland Park, IL
One of the photography decisions to make when shooting these orchids is to select an aperture. Like many of the photographers, I wanted a narrow depth of field. It's a challenge selecting an aperture in which the front orchid is in sharp focus while the other flowers drop out of focus. If I went with a wide aperture, the front flower wasn't in focus enough for my liking. But if I narrowed the aperture, the background became too sharp.
Here's how I solved this problem. I used two apertures! I used the extremely narrow aperture of f/20 to ensure that the front orchid is entirely in focus. Then, I used a nearly wide open aperture (f/4.2) to allow the background to drop out of focus and become less distracting. This approach involved taking two exposures--one at each aperture:
Then, I layered these two frames in Photoshop:
Note that the f/4.2 layer is my base and that the f/20 exposure is placed on a layer above that. From there, I painted in the f/20 sharpness (white reveals, black conceals) on the mask to the right of the f/20 layer. The end result is that the front orchid is sharp at f/20 while the remainder of the image is soft at f/4.2. In my mind, I ended up with the best of both worlds!
Here's the final photograph:
In recent years, I feel that the zoo experience has diminished. Perhaps it's that I'm gaining a greater appreciation of the price that's being paid by a wild animal being held in captivity. Most animals yearn to be free. And, animals that know nothing other than captivity (that's even sadder) eventually lose their purpose for being--they no longer practice the productive skills that they utilize in the wild.
Zoos serve a purpose. Zoos are critical for educating people on the necessity of preserving our wild places and our wild animals. But, when I see a majestic lion or bear pacing endlessly in a small loop (as I did today)--I feel sorry for the animal that is paying the price for our education. Also during my visit today, I was saddened to see a giant anteater pacing in a tight circle for nearly 15 consecutive minutes. I feel even sadder for the animal after I've witnessed how much this contrasts with how they behave in the wild.
But, let's make the assumption (a valid one) that zoos play an important role in educating the public and in promoting conservation. Even so, I would like to see our zoos allocate more space to the animals and a bit less to the people. Earlier this week, I visited the Brookfield Zoo--and noticed that many of the recent renovations are all about the people and very little about the animals. For example, the biggest money right now is being spent on expanding the entrance road and stations into the zoo. Other recent initiatives that are evident are the restroom renovations and event spaces.
As I walk around the Zoo, I notice many exhibits that have been closed for quite some time--or have transitioned into something else (not allocated to animals). For example, the old bear exhibits have sat empty for many years. A while back, the Zoo covered these empty exhibits with colorful plywood. The baboon island has been empty for years--and will eventually be replaced with something else I suppose. The jellyfish exhibit disappeared in favor of a peacock statue after thousands of jellyfish died there. The Pachyderm House sits half empty--and there hasn't been an elephant housed in that exhibit for years. The old Reptile House has been converted into administrative offices.
So, as you look at the map of the Brookfield Zoo, you'll notice that most of it is RED...those are areas devoted to people activities: parking lots, a carousel (really?), restrooms, parks, restaurants, concession stands, an event area, playgrounds, fountains, etc. The area where the captive animals are free to roam are colored in YELLOW. WHITE represents areas within box that are not controlled by the Zoo.
So, what percentage of this area is allocated to the animals? Maybe 5-10% of this already relatively small area in the western suburbs of Chicago? How much of the Zoo's property is dedicated to parking? Maybe 20%? I think we can do better than this.
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This image was captured during my trip earlier this year to Oahu. This photograph was captured early in my trip and was the first beach that I visited on the island during my two week stay.
This marks the 39th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
This was not a typical photography trip for me. I almost always take road trips. It's been years since I boarded a plane. And, this was my first time in Hawaii.
Hawaii was not always what I expected. In many ways, it exceeded my expectations. At times, it fell short of being a paradise for me. Following are some random thoughts about things that surprised me:
- I expected everything in Hawaii to be very expensive and much higher priced than on the mainland. So, I was surprised that I could order the hotdog and soft drink at Costco for the same $1.50 that its priced here in Chicago. The two taco special at Jack in the Box was just $1.09!
- Gas was priced a bit higher than where I live in the Chicago suburbs. But, $2.95 per gallon in Honolulu wasn't nearly as expensive as I was expecting at a time when gas in Chicago was priced at $2.49.
- I didn't expect to see cars with out of state plates in Hawaii! A car parked next to me had California plates.
- While visiting the Honolulu Zoo, I was shocked to see people of all ages completely ignoring the sideways rain that was coming down (or should I say across). Families with young kids, grandparents and many others were walking through the zoo as if it wasn't even raining. Only a few people carried umbrellas. People were soaked, yet continued to leisurely view the various exhibits.
- Having worked at the global headquarters of McDonald's Corporation for many years (and several years ago), I was surprised when I entered the restroom of a McDonald's restaurant somewhere just outside of Waikiki. It was a rather large restroom without privacy barriers of any kind. Generally, the toilet is surrounded by some kind of stall. Yet, this wasn't the kind of restroom where one can lock the door for privacy.
- I was stunned by the traffic. Having lived in Chicago, I thought the reports of bad traffic in a city like Honolulu must be exaggerated. They're not. I experienced the most horrendous traffic imaginable--and that includes my trip to Los Angeles. This heavy traffic was not isolated to Honolulu. I experienced long delays while driving on the far west side of the island as well as on the North Shore. By long delays, I'm referring to 45 minutes to drive 5 or 10 miles. I think the most frustrating drive was the 2.3 mile drive from the State Capitol to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ("the Punchbowl"). That 2.3 mile drive took 45 minutes due to lane closures! Thankfully, I was on the island long enough to make some adjustments and eventually worked around some of the traffic and parking challenges.
- Many of the locations that I visited were overrun with crowds. At Pearl Harbor, I took the Navy tour of the USS Arizona Memorial. Every 15 minutes, a boat leaves for the memorial with about 200 people. When the boat arrives at the memorial, 200 people enter the memorial as 200 people exit to board for the return trip. That's a lot of people on a relatively small platform. And, that's not a lot of time to be out there. The USS Arizona Memorial is a national cemetery. I expected it to be a very touching experience--and to a certain extent, it was. But, experiencing it for such a short time with that many other people diminished the experience. It was disturbing to see so many people snapping selfies, laughing and generally having a great time right over the burial site of over 1,100 sailors. The ranger on site shook his head and said that most people are far more interested in getting a selfie than learning anything about the men who died there.
- During my research, some photographers recommended that I visit the small surfing town of Haleiwa. It was suggested that I enjoy the best shave ice on the island at Matsumoto Shave Ice. I envisioned taking a leisurely walk through a town with a lot of character and capturing photographs of some interesting people. As I approached the town on a Monday afternoon, the traffic came to a halt. There were so many cars heading into Haleiwa that there simply wasn't enough parking to accommodate them. I was determined to try the shave ice, so I circled a parking lot for 10 or 15 minutes until a space freed up. Then there was the long line at Matsumoto's. I didn't bother trying to get any photographs of the town. There were so many people on the sidewalks that it would have been nearly impossible to stand still for a minute to capture a picture. And, the streets were so packed with traffic that it was a challenge just crossing the street!
- Never before have I seen a parking fee for a scenic overlook on a highway. While driving northeast from Honolulu, I noticed a scenic overlook sign for the Nuuanu Pali Lookout. I decided to pull over to take a look. I parked my car and took the very short walk to the overlook. It was raining, so I didn't spend more than 30 seconds there. As I was walking back to my car, I noticed a kiosk to my left. I was surprised to see that it was a parking fee station. As it turns out, there is a $3 fee to park the car at the scenic overlook! Then, I noticed that a woman was walking by the cars and writing down license plate numbers. So, I'm expecting to get a $75 ticket any day now.
- I experienced something early in my trip that I never experienced before. While driving on the very wide H1 highway (I believe it was 14 lanes across 15 miles outside of Honolulu), I was stuck in very slow traffic. All lanes were moving at about 5 mph. To my left, I noticed a young boy of about 12 years old trying to get my attention. I wasn't sure why he was waving toward me--perhaps there was an issue with my rental car? As his car moved even with mine, the boy leaned out the window and gave me the finger (his middle finger). In the meantime, what I assume was his father (the driver) was doing the same thing. To this day, I have no idea why they would do that. There was nowhere to go in that traffic, so I couldn't possibly be driving too slow. And, I've never seen a kid at such a young age do something like that--especially along with an adult! And no, it wasn't the shaka sign!
- Parking can be a challenge in Honolulu. I discovered an inexpensive parking lot near Ala Moana Park. After parking, I attempted to make payment. Credit cards are not accepted. Fortunately, I was carrying enough cash...five singles for the $5 fee. I was surprised to see that the cash box had such a small opening for depositing the payment. The circle was a small fraction of the size of a cigarette butt. So, I started rolling my first dollar bill as tightly as possible, yet it wouldn't fit through the opening. After laying it on a flat surface and rolling it even tighter, I was able to deposit the first dollar. I only had four more to go!
- I stayed at a Hampton Inn for some nights. The facility was brand new and was very comfortable. Having stayed at well over 100 Hampton Inns over the years, this was the first one that is located inside a mall. It shares its parking lot with mall visitors. This made it challenging at times to find a suitable parking space.
- I didn't realize that there was such a high rate of vandalism on the island. I was warned by many to leave nothing in my rental car. Some suggested that I leave the windows open so that vandals wouldn't break them. I was told repeatedly that nothing should be left in the trunk. This situation was most inconvenient for photography. Typically, I keep a lot of heavy gear in my trunk. In Hawaii, I had to pick and choose which lenses to bring with me for the day and then leave the rest of them at the hotel. Most of my lenses weigh a couple of pounds each...and one weighs closer to 7 pounds. So, having to carry everything all the time isn't fun. As a result, I lost out on some good photographs because sometimes the lens that I needed was at the hotel.
- Betsy, a Honolulu resident who sat next to me on the long flight from Chicago to Honolulu, dedicated hours during the flight helping to fine tune my itinerary. She recommended some great photography locations, interesting stops, events and restaurants throughout Oahu. Without her help, I would have never experienced the Chinese New Year Parade in Honolulu's Chinatown or the Hawaii Plantation Village--two of the many highlights of my trip.
- While visiting the Hawaii Plantation Village, I met one of the long-time volunteers who has conducted tours for more than 40 years. She is in her 80's now. After my tour, she insisted that I sit down inside the visitor center and eat a home-cooked dinner that she prepared. She kept saying how much she enjoys cooking for people. She even packed some desserts in zip lock bags to go--so I would have something for later at the hotel. This worked out perfectly as I enjoy eating food that's prepared by others! The meal was excellent.
- Gary was my tour guide at the Hawaii Plantation Village. When I arrived at the Village, I was the only one there. So, I received a personal tour. Gary told me that we could do the 2 hour (long) or the 30 minute (short) version of the tour. I told him that maybe we could see how it goes. The tour lasted 3 hours! His goal was to make sure that I gained a better understanding of Hawaii during my stay.
- While shooting a sunrise at Sandy Beach in Honolulu, I met Chantel, a talented photographer currently working on a 365 project. As part of this project, Chantel is photographing every sunrise of the year! Throughout my time on Oahu, she kept in touch and provided me with recommendations for the best sunrise and sunset locations. She helped me immensely by steering me to locations where I had the best chance of success. Specifically, I learned to stay further south to avoid the cloud covered areas of the northeast portion of Oahu.
- Many people went out of their way to help me get my pictures throughout my trip. I photographed 5 churches. In some of those churches, someone stayed after hours to allow me to capture photographs without people in the frame. And, they lit the church to my liking. One historic church was closed for renovation, yet I was allowed to enter and shoot alongside the construction workers to get my pictures of the interior.
- The employees at the Hawaii State Capitol helped me gain access to capture images inside the House chamber. This was particularly challenging due to security surrounding the opening of the legislative sessions that week.
- A man introduced himself to me while I was taking photographs of the Laie Hawaii Temple. He is living with his wife in Laie for the next several months as part of a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Specifically, they volunteer their services at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I ran into him again while visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). He showed me around the center, introduced me to some of the performers and joined me for dinner at the PCC's luau. My experience at the Polynesian Cultural Center was enhanced greatly by this.
- The drivers in Honolulu were courteous. As a tourist, I often needed to make late lane changes to get over to an exit. Never once did I hear a horn blow. Never once did anyone not let me into a lane.
In my next post, I'll share some of the unusual things that I experienced while on Oahu--some good, some not so good and some very trivial.
I arrived at the Banzai Pipeline just after sunrise to view the competition. Not knowing anything about surfing, I was pleased to see that the waves were very high. However, as time passed, I was surprised that nobody was in the water. I asked the lifeguard when the competitive event was going to start. He explained that it was cancelled due to "disorganized" waves. Apparently, the choppiness of the sea made it impossible to surf that day.
The next day, I tried my luck at Sunset Beach. I was pleased to see surfers in the ocean. I was there quite early, so the event organizers were still setting up. One of the announcers for the event told me that the surfers at Sunset Beach were going to be "way out there" and that it would require a large telephoto lens to photograph the event. I thought I came prepared with my Nikon 500mm f/4 lens--but that wasn't nearly enough! So, I attached the Nikon 1.4x teleconverter--which gave me an effective focal length of 700mm. And, that really wasn't enough! I couldn't even see the surfers with my naked eye. If nothing else, the magnification of the 700mm lens permitted me to better view the action. And the action was thrilling.
Fortunately, my Nikon D800 has a high resolution sensor. This allows me to crop the frame somewhat without losing too much image quality. Also, the waves were so massive that I decided to frame the entire wave rather than trying to isolate the surfer. This permitted me to retain more of the original file--which also improved the image quality.
I utilized a few tried and true long lens techniques to create sharp images with such a long focal length. First, I secured the lens to a stable tripod. Next, I rested my left hand on top of the lens to help minimize any vibration. Then, I selected a fast shutter speed. When I view the high resolution version of the image below, I can read the print on the surfboard:
The event's announcer told me that I would have better luck the next day at the Banzai Pipeline. He said that the action was much closer to the beach. So, I once again arrived at the Pipeline at sunrise the next morning. The weather seemed suitable to me, but once again I know nothing about the sport. I didn't see anyone at the beach. After wandering around for a few minutes, I came upon this sign:
And with that, my surfing photography came to an end. I was leaving for the airport later that day. Of the three events that I attended, only one took place--and that was the one with the surfers positioned far out into the sea.
To view more of my surfing photographs from Oahu, please CLICK HERE.
]]>My first stop was Plains High School. This building now houses the visitor center for the historic site. While at the school, I stood in one of the classrooms where Jimmy Carter was a student:
From there, I walked down the street and saw Billy Carter's gas station:
Jimmy Carter's boyhood home and family farm are located just a couple of miles outside of town. This is the boyhood home:
And this is the store that the family operated on the farm:
On the way back into town, I stopped by the Lebanon Cemetery where members of the Carter family are buried--Jimmy Carter's mother, father and brother:
Downtown Plains looks just like it did more than 100 years ago:
The Carter Presidential Campaign Headquarters was housed at the Plains Train Depot on Main Street:
I've visited five presidential historic sites over the past couple years--Truman, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and now Carter. What made this last trip so special was that I saw President Carter on consecutive days in his hometown!
While visiting Main Street in downtown Plains, I went into one of the stores for a peanut butter ice cream cone. As I left the store, I heard a familiar voice. It was the former President:
He was speaking at a small gathering in honor of local veterans and police officers. His speech was followed by presentations by the major and chief of police. The population of Plains is only about 600. The event reminded me of something from Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show...in a good way.
The next morning, I attended Jimmy Carter's Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church. The former President was most impressive. Jimmy Carter is 92 years old now. He spoke on a complex topic for 45 minutes--never stumbling over a word and never once referring to any notes.
One of the things I enjoy about traveling is that you never know what you'll get to see. Seeing President Carter on consecutive days was a pleasant surprise and a highlight of this road trip.
]]>Every so often, I check the shutter count on my Nikon D800. I purchased my camera back in 2012. It's five years old now--which is an eternity in this digital age of photography. Yet, the D800 still produces state of the art images today. And, its 36 MP sensor provides excellent resolution compared to cameras introduced far more recently.
The Nikon D800's shutter is rated for 200,000 exposures. By checking the actual shutter count, I get a ballpark idea of how much life is left in my camera's shutter.
To do this, I upload a recent picture to the following website:
https://www.camerashuttercount.com/
I think it's best to upload a RAW file. For Nikon, I upload a NEF file. Sometimes this data is stripped out of certain jpeg files and therefore won't be visible. Here's the result from my camera:
After 5 years, I've clicked my shutter 85,647 times--that's just over 40% of its expected life. At this rate, my shutter should still be clicking well past the year 2023! However, I'm certain that innovations will prompt me to replace my camera far sooner than that.
One other encouraging note...several years ago, the shutter in my Nikon D300 failed. A failed shutter mechanism didn't end my camera's life. Nikon replaced the shutter for about $300 and my camera continued to perform like new for many more years.
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This image was captured during my last road trip through Three Southern Cities. I recently wrote a blog entry about capturing this photograph in the rain in Louisville, Kentucky.
This marks the 38th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
About fifteen minutes before sunrise I started taking pictures. For the first picture in the sequence I set the camera for a long exposure. The long exposure helps to smooth out the water.
Just before sunrise, the clouds cleared enough at the horizon to allow the sun to appear. I captured a second exposure right at that moment. For this exposure, I dramatically underexposed the shot so that the sun wouldn't completely blow out that portion of the sky. I also selected an aperture of f/20 for this frame to help reveal the sunburst.
A few minutes later, I was thrilled to see that the sunlight was radiating into the clouds above. The golden reflection in the water also made its appearance. So, I captured a third exposure to include these critical elements into the scene.
Finally, I captured a fourth exposure of the darker clouds in the sky. Here's the final image:
And here's a basic illustration of how the four exposures were used within the frame:
I used Photoshop to blend these four images. Basically, each of the exposures is placed onto its own layer. A black mask is applied to each layer and then a white brush is used to reveal the appropriate segments of each picture. Of course, it's important that all four pictures are aligned. My camera was secured to a solid tripod during the entire photo shoot.
Without using the power of post processing, I would be limited to selecting just one picture to capture the scene. I would probably select the frame when the sun first appeared on the horizon. To help illustrate the power of blending the moments in time, following is the file (straight out of camera) of that one picture. Of course, I would do some basic adjustments (i.e., brightness, contrast, etc.) to this file--but without using multiple exposures I would lose the smooth water and the light rays on the clouds. For me, the light rays on the clouds is the most important element of the photograph!
The Nikon 500 VR got more action than usual due to the subject matter. I needed all the focal length that I could get while taking pictures of the surfers at the North Shore. Of the 72 pictures captured with the 500mm lens, 22 of them were taken with the 1.4x teleconverter attached--giving me a focal length of 700mm for those shots. I also used the 500 VR for several of the portraits that I captured at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
The Sigma 15mm fisheye saw very limited use. But, I'm glad I had it for one shot in particular. It is the only lens that I own that provides a wide enough view to include the entire House of Representatives chamber in one frame:
I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D800. I've been using this camera for just about 5 years now. That's an eternity in the digital age of photography. Yet, the Nikon D800 is still state of the art. It is as capable as practically any dSLR on the market today. I'm hoping that Nikon introduces a new camera in 2017 that will even better meet my needs. It's Nikon's 100th anniversary, so many people expect to see an innovative product announced sometime this year.
]]>After a while, one of the better surfers approached me. He told me the more advanced surfers were at a beach further south. He recommended Lower Trestles because professional surfers were practicing there for an upcoming competition. The only downside was the beach is about a mile from the parking lot. The distance wouldn't ordinarily be an issue for me, but walking part of that distance in loose sand wasn't much fun with the 500mm lens over my shoulder.
I enjoyed watching the surfers at Lower Trestles. Even to my untrained eye, it quickly became apparent that the surfers were quite talented. One surfer in particular, stood out. I was later told that his name is Jeremy Flores. He is ranked as one of the top surfers in the world and came in from France for the competition. Here's one of the pictures that I captured of him:
I also captured some images of another surfer who stood out to me. Later, I learned that his name is Masaki Kobayashi.
One of the challenges that I faced was my camera. I use just one camera these days and that's the Nikon D800. It's a wonderful camera (particularly for the main subjects of my trip--architecture and landscapes), but it's not designed for action. The camera creates high resolution pictures--and those take a while to push through the camera. As a result, the frame rate during a burst is very slow. During this photo shoot, I took just one exposure at a time and hoped that my timing was good enough, and lucky enough, to capture the right body position, expression and peak action. With a faster camera, such as Nikon's new D500, the chances of coming away with a strong image increase due to the frame rate. It's more likely to get the right shot when you have 10 chances in a second.
In any event, I was pleasantly surprised with the pictures that I came away with that day while using my Nikon D800. Of course, I would prefer a faster camera body for surfing. But, I don't shoot surfing often enough to justify the purchase. My hope is that Nikon will soon offer a successor to the D800 which will include a faster frame rate as well as other improvements. I've been shooting with the D800 for five years now and anticipated that the new camera would be announced last Fall--but that didn't happen. Hopefully Nikon will announce a great new camera for the year of its 100th anniversary (2017)!
To view more of my surfing photographs, please CLICK HERE.
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Unfortunately, my research wasn't accurate. From the bridge, most of the city was blocked by two other bridges. Despite walking the entire length of the Big Four Bridge, I wasn't able to find a composition worthy of activating the shutter. The bridge itself is an interesting subject, but it was so crowded with pedestrians that I could hardly even set up my tripod for a shot. I ended up walking back to the hotel with nothing--and that was a shame because the sunset over the city was stunning!
The first lesson here is that it pays to do some advance scouting. Had I been to the bridge earlier in the day, I would have known not to position myself there at sunset. There is a much better vantage point for the cityscape on the Indiana side of the Ohio River...and it's much easier to access. But, I arrived in Louisville late in the afternoon and didn't allow enough time for proper scouting of this shot.
The good news is that I was staying in Louisville for the next night as well, so I had a chance to learn from my mistake. The challenge with the next night is that there wasn't the same dramatic sunset. In fact, it was raining most of the night.
I drove over to the vantage point on the Indiana side of the Ohio River and captured this photograph in what was light rain at the time:
Then, I drove over to the Big Four Bridge. My hope was that the rain, which was becoming increasingly more intense, would keep most of the pedestrians away. In the end, this picture of the bridge was much better in the rain than it was the night before. The rain cleared the scene of people. It also added some mystery to the shot with the fog around the lights. I also like the colorful reflection on the concrete floor. In my opinion, the rain helped make this image far more interesting.
The rain was coming down pretty hard while I was taking pictures on the bridge. I used a simple tool to protect my camera and lens--an umbrella!
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Straight On
From the Side
Vertical From Above
Fisheye from the Side
Horizontal from Above
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This unusual looking structure is located on the campus of the University of California-San Diego in La Jolla, California. The library was name in honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel--better known as Dr. Seuss.
This is the fifth picture from my Missions of California Road Trip to win a photo contest.
This marks the 37th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
Since this was a scene I definitely wanted to capture, I arrived on site about 2 hours before sunset. I wanted to ensure that I could set my camera up in a certain position (dead center to the pier for perfect symmetry) before other photographers secured that relatively small area on the beach. My first challenge was parking. After driving around for 15 minutes, I finally found street parking a few blocks from the pier.
I arrived on site about 90 minutes before sunset. To my surprise, there was already a small crowd of photographers set up right where I planned to be! About 12 photographers with tripods were clustered in a very small space. After I explained that I drove to San Diego from Chicago and had just one night to capture this picture, one of the photographers was kind enough to allow me to set up right next to him--so that the tripod legs were practically intertwined with my camera positioned approximately a foot above his.
Now that my camera was positioned where I wanted it, it was just a matter of waiting for about an hour for the light to develop. Just as the light was beginning to improve, a photographer stepped in front of all of us to hold a photo shoot with a family! Fortunately, our small crowd of photographers protested loudly--so she blocked the view for only 10 minutes or so. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for other people to stop walking through the frame.
Since I was shooting very long exposures, I wasn't overly concerned with people walking through the frame--as long as they kept moving. The exposure was so long that they wouldn't make an impression on the sensor, unless they stood still for too long. And, they usually stood still for too long.
While shooting a three minute exposure, a curious man stopped in front of us (about 2 minutes into my exposure). The crowd of photographers packed in so tightly attracted his attention. So, he started shooting pictures of us with his phone--and with a flash. Having him shooting flash pictures right into my lens from four feet away ruined any chance I had of capturing the scene in the optimal light.
By now, the clouds were covering up the sunset! Most of the photographers in the group were disappointed with the lack of a sunset and ended up not taking any pictures at all. Since I was only going to be at Scripps Pier that one time, I kept shooting. I figured that I would create a black & white photograph if necessary. But, my hope was to be able to coax some subtle colors from the scene during post processing. Here's the final image:
Before arriving in Cheyenne, I learned that the Wyoming State Capitol is closed. It's closed until 2019. When they close these buildings, they close them for a long time!
Denver was on my route, so I revisited the Colorado State Capitol. I visited this building two years earlier in 2014. At that time, the chambers (both House and Senate) were closed for renovation. I planned to capture images of those two rooms. To my surprise, the chambers are still closed for renovation! So, I took the opportunity to photograph some familiar scenes in new ways.
Minnesota is another state capitol that I must revisit. It was the first capitol that I happened to photograph. At the time, I had no idea that I would undertake a project to photograph all 50 state capitols. So, I only have one exterior picture of the Minnesota State Capitol. I attempted to revisit this building in 2015, but this capitol is also under construction. Fortunately, it will soon open to the public again in January, 2017.
]]>Mission San Antonio de Padua is located about 20 miles west of Highway 101. To enter the mission, visitors need to pass through a military base called Fort Hunter Liggett. If you ever plan on visiting, be sure to have proper identification or you'll be asked to turn around when you approach the gate. In my case, I carried both my driver's license and a passport.
When I arrived at the mission, I was welcomed and given a brief tour of the grounds and the retreat. I was shown to my room...a simple, but clean, room that reminded me very much of my dorm room from years ago.
Once I got settled in, I explored the mission grounds. This mission is one of the oldest of the California missions. It was the third mission established in California and was founded in 1771. The large property appears very much as it did more than two hundred years ago. It's one of the only missions that allows visitors to get a glimpse into what mission life was really like back in the day.
As I entered the massive, old church, I was disappointed to see that it was dark. Fortunately, my host granted my request and lit the church to my satisfaction for a series of photographs.
One remarkable thing about my visit is that I was the only visitor on the grounds! When I arrived, two women were working in the office/gift shop. By 5:00 PM, they told me that they were leaving and wouldn't return until about 7:30 AM. At that point, I was on my own...at least for a while.
At first, I took advantage of having access to the grounds after hours. I had access to the dining room, courtyard and church. Without special access as an overnight guest, I couldn't capture many of the mission scenes in the best light--the colorful light that accompanies sunset.
I must admit that once the sun went down, things began to feel a little eerie. I was alone on this large complex. I didn't have internet or cell service on my phone. During my entire visit, the organ music continued to play from the church. Even walking down the long and empty corridor from my room to the restrooms felt strange. The only other living creature at the mission was Rosario, the black cat who lives there.
I prepared myself for a restless night. Like most of these very old complexes, this mission has a reputation of being haunted. It attracts ghost hunters. Just as when I was inside the abandoned Manteno Insane Asylum (which also attracted ghost hunters from around the country), I'm not nearly as concerned about the ghosts as I am about the people that the facilities might attract!
In any event, about 30 minutes after the sun went down, I saw a car working its way up the road towards the mission. The retreat now had two more guests--an author and a writer who were working together on a project covering the California Missions. Having a couple of more people occupying some rooms within the retreat put my mind at ease enough for me to get a good night's sleep!
]]>The reason it is so challenging to get enough of the tombstones in focus is that the depth of field is relatively narrow, even at the narrower apertures, when using a lens with a longer focal length. Let's take a look at the 300mm 2.8 lens for a moment:
- If one focuses a 300mm lens at a distance of 100 feet, the depth of field for acceptable sharpness ranges from 86 to 119 feet when using an aperture of f/16. Even with this relatively narrow aperture, only the tombstones that fall with those 32 feet will be in focus. Any tombstones closer than 86 feet or further than 119 feet will look blurred.
- I usually avoid selecting an aperture as narrow as f/16. Lenses aren't as sharp at that aperture. A wider aperture, such as f/8, will generally produce a higher quality image. But at f/8, the depth of field for acceptable sharpness is narrower--from 93 to 109 feet, or just 16 feet!
The lesson here is that even when a very narrow aperture is selected, it's impossible to get all of the tombstones in a large portion of the cemetery in focus.
Last month, I visited the Chattanooga National Cemetery. This time, I used a different approach. For the photograph shown below, I used my Nikon 300mm lens and set the aperture at f/11. I took three exposures of the scene. I focused on a tombstone in the front of the frame for the first image, a tombstone in the middle of the frame for the second image and a tombstone in the back of the frame for the third image. During post processing, I blended the three images so that the tombstones throughout the entire frame are sharp! To accomplish this, I secured my camera to a tripod to minimize the chance of introducing camera movement between exposures.
Here's the final image:
Of course, not all images must be sharp from front to back. Sometimes it's desirable to focus on one section of the image while letting the rest of the picture fall out of focus. I used this approach for this next shot--which required just one exposure:
The more I shoot, the more I find value in capturing multiple exposures and then blending them during post processing to solve a number of challenges.
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I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D800. Nearly 90% of my photographs were captured by one of Nikon's "Holy Trinity" of lenses--the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200.
]]>Once mass ended, I waited until nearly everyone left the church. As the scene cleared, I set up my tripod and prepared to shoot. Just then, the lights went off! So, I walked toward the sanctuary and hoped to find someone who might consider lighting the church for the photographs. Fortunately, somebody was there and granted my request to turn on the lights. They gave me about ten minutes.
I then walked to the St. John's Cathedral (open 1905). To my disappointment, the church was closed. The doors were locked.
Fortunately, the office was open. I asked if it would be possible to take pictures inside the church. My request was granted. I had access to the church for more than an hour. And, the lights were adjusted to my satisfaction! It's always a pleasure to have an amazing site like this to myself for an extended period of time:
Of course, I captured many more pictures of these two churches. I wouldn't have bothered if the interiors were dark.
This image was captured during my last road trip at Joshua Tree National Park in California. I camped inside the park, so I had convenient access to this scene as the sun was rising.
This is the fourth picture from my last road trip to win a photo contest.
This marks the 36th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
To read more about how I eliminated all of the people from the frame, please click here.
Since I didn't encounter any resistance, I proceeded to move closer to the registration desk:
Eventually, a security guard approached me and asked to see my credentials. Of course, I didn't have any credentials. I explained that I was on a photography road trip and found Caesar's Palace to be an interesting subject. To my surprise, he started giving me ideas of other things to shoot inside the facility!
So, I worked my way to the Forum Shops:
Once again, a security guard approached me. I explained that I already received "permission" to shoot. He immediately got on his phone to check this out. Within a few minutes, he confirmed my permission to shoot and apologized for bothering me. My experience at Caesar's Palace is not the norm. Later in the trip, I would be told many times (and even while standing on sidewalks outside of buildings) that photography is not permitted.
Caesar's truly was a palace for photographers that day!
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Here's the ornament design that was sent to production:
I donated the photograph to the fundraising effort. My compensation will include a couple of Christmas ornaments!
Capturing a picture like this required planning--particularly since I had never been to this area of Des Moines before. Here are some things that went into creating this picture:
- This picture was taken just after sunrise. Sunrise on July 16th is at 5:55 AM. So, I arrived at the location by 5:30 AM. To do this, I stayed at a nearby hotel. It was just a five minute drive from the hotel to the University Avenue bridge.
- I scouted this location the day before. So, I knew how to get to the location quickly, where to park, and where to set up on the bridge.
- Once I was set up, I had to time my exposure to take place when the bridge was still. Fortunately, traffic was light this early in the morning. When cars cross the bridge, enough vibration is created that it almost always ruined the shot.
- Another unusual challenge was that there were thousands of tiny birds flying in front of my camera. They were coming from underneath the University Avenue bridge and would swarm up into the frame--ruining the shot. So, not only did I have to time my exposures for a vibration-free bridge, but I also had to wait until the frame was mostly clear of birds. I was not able to get any pictures without any birds, so some had to be removed in Photoshop.
- Another consideration was timing the picture to minimize the traffic on the bridge included in the frame.
- This final image is a blend of a few exposures. The sky had a bit more color in it early on--so one exposure captured that. The buildings looked best when the sun first hit the horizon--so a second exposure captured that. And, the trees along the river lit up last. So, a third exposure brought those trees more into play.
So, a lot more goes into the seemingly simple shot than first meets the eye!
]]>On average, I paid $2.15 per gallon. Today, gas is even cheaper! So, my final gas bill came to $268.00, or just $8.37 per day, for the entire trip. Some of the hotels in Los Angeles and San Diego cost nearly that much for a night. With the Prius economy and lower gas prices in general, the cost of gasoline is no longer a major expense--even for trips that cover thousands of miles over several weeks.
Here's photo of the Prius in camping mode at Joshua Tree National Park in California. Prius camping places me in the most ideal locations for photography at the lowest possible cost.
This image was captured during my last road trip at the historic Mission Inn in Riverside, California. Although the Mission Inn isn't one of the 21 California Missions, it's an interesting architectural site of its own right. Fortunately, I stayed overnight at the Mission Inn and was able to gain access to this staircase. I was walking around and exploring different areas within the Inn when I came across this scene.
This is the third picture from my last road trip to win a photo contest.
This marks the 35th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past few years.
The World Series still feels like a dream. People told me that if the Cubs ever won the World Series, it would fall short of my expectations. That wasn't the case--it far exceeded my expectations. Before long, I'll be hoping for a repeat!
From a photography perspective, I captured my very first picture at that game back in 1968. My uncle gave me a camera loaded with some black and white film--and my first exposure was a picture of Wrigley Field from the first row of the upper deck.
- Day 1: Louisville, KY
- Day 2: Louisville, KY
- Day 3: Chattanooga, TN
- Day 4: Chattanooga, TN
- Day 5: Chattanooga, TN
- Day 6: Plains, GA
- Day 7: Savannah, GA
- Day 8: Savannah, GA
- Day 9: Savannah, GA
- Day 10: Savannah, GA
- Day 11: Knoxville, TN
- Day 12: Orland Park, IL
Following are some potential photography subjects and/or activities:
Louisville
- Cathedral of the Assumption
- Old Louisville neighborhood
- Cityscape from Big Four Pedestrian Bridge
- Louisville Slugger tour
- Louisville Palace Theatre
Chattanooga
- Cityscape from Walnut Street Bridge
- St. John's Episcopal Church
- Lookout Mountain
- Chattanooga National Cemetery
- Tennessee Aquarium and River Gorge cruise
- Hunter Museum of American Art
- Chattanooga Zoo
Savannah
- Historic District
- Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
- Wormsloe Historical Site
- Tybee Island and Light Station
- Cockspur Island
- Bonaventure Cemetery
- It stabilizes the camera...which creates the sharpest possible image.
- A stable camera allows for blending multiple exposures--which is essential for HDR photographs.
- It permits longer shutter speeds for creative effects such as long exposure photography.
- Longer shutter speeds allow for lower ISO settings...which maximizes image quality.
- Longer shutter speeds also introduce flexibility with aperture settings (i.e., smaller apertures are available for greater depth of field).
- A tripod helps in locking down a composition and ensuring that lines are straight.
- A tripod allows me to use my heavy lenses more easily.
The tripod is so important to my photography that I won't bother shooting certain interiors when a tripod is prohibited.
The problem is that tripod restrictions are becoming stricter each year. Over the past year, I've been told that photography with a tripod is banned not only in certain interiors, but also when photographing exteriors. Last year, I was informed that tripods were prohibited anywhere on the Harvard campus!
During my last photography road trip to the Missions of California, I was prohibited from using my tripod in some unexpected places. While taking pictures of the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, I was told to put my tripod away when I was caught taking pictures of the building from the sidewalk. In Las Vegas, I was told to stop shooting the City Center buildings as I was taking pictures from a walkway across Las Vegas Boulevard! Of course, the restrictions are for worse when shooting interiors.
My approach is to have everything ready to go. I set up quickly and grab a few shots before security approaches me. But, this game I play with security takes quite a bit of the fun out of photography.
Just when I thought that photography restrictions couldn't get any worse, I came across this sign in San Juan Capistrano, California. This home faces a public road. Under the current laws of the United States, photographers can still take pictures while standing on public property. Yet, this homeowner placed this sign on the front gate of his property! Apparently, photographers must stage photo shoots there. But, I have no idea why. The home didn't attract my eye at all and wasn't particularly well maintained.
To read my first impression of this product, please CLICK HERE. To view my blog entry about my experiences with this product after the first six months, please CLICK HERE.
Here's how my sensor looked after returning from the trip:
It looks like a complete mess. In reality, it's not nearly as bad as it appears. More spots are visible at small apertures. So, when cleaning the sensor, I shoot at f/16 against a uniform, white background (my computer monitor). If I were to shoot at a wider aperture, which I almost always do in the field, not nearly as many spots are visible. Also, within Lightroom's "Visualize Spots" feature, the slider can be moved from left to right to adjust the tolerance of the view. In the shot above, the slider was set to the most extreme setting--making everything visible.
In an attempt to clean the sensor, the first thing that I did was to activate the automatic sensor cleaning option on the Nikon D800. That usually helps, but doesn't always take care of all the dust. The next thing I tried was to blow the particles from the sensor using a rocket air blower. Finally, I took a minute to apply the Sensor Gel stick to the sensor. Here's the result:
That's much better! But, those few spots remaining spots still bothered me, so I tried again:
This attempt is That's slightly better, but notice that while some of the spots are removed, new ones have appeared. That's what tends to happen to me as I keep trying to clean the sensor--it sometimes doesn't get any better. Sometimes it gets worse!
So, I lowered the tolerance setting on the sensor spot view in Lightroom to a more reasonable level. I think the sensor is clean enough for me for the time being. Thankfully, there's no need for me to take the camera into APS to have the sensor wet cleaned.
Note that the "Visualize Spots" box is checked (bottom of picture) and that the slider was moved slightly left from the right edge of the range. This feature appears in the Develop Module when using the Spot Removal Tool.
While it won't clean everything that might stick to a sensor, the Sensor Gel stick is easy to use and has done the job for several sensor cleanings for me. It's not cheap, but certainly a lot less expensive than taking the camera in to have the sensor cleaned. The breakeven point is under two cleanings.
]]>You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor. I also recommend selecting the Dust Jacket version of the preview (positioned under the book).
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes the per unit cost very high. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. Often times, promo codes are available through a Google search to lower the cost by 15 to 25%. I used the promo code FAM40 (available through October 18th) for a 40% discount!
This is the ninth annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created. I'm tempted to create books that cover subjects such as the State Capitols, Places of Worship and the California Missions in the future.
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This image was captured along the Des Moines River during my recent road trip from Chicago to California and back. I stayed in a hotel in downtown Des Moines and had easy walking access to this bridge and other interesting sites.
This marks the 34th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past three years.
I used just one camera for the entire trip--the Nikon D800.
Given the number of architectural images that I captured, it's not surprising that the ultra-wide Nikon 14-24 was the workhorse once again. My Nikon 24-70 saw far more use than it usually does. The fisheye, micro and longer prime lenses served as specialty lenses for this particular journey.
One might question why I bothered to carry a lens that only contributes 2 to 3% of my total pictures for the trip. In this case, they were used to capture images that my other lenses aren't capable of capturing. Here are a few examples:
Sigma 15mm Fisheye
No other lens of mine is capable of including this entire circle within the frame.
Nikon 200 Micro
I don't have any other lenses that can focus at such a close distance.
Nikon 300 2.8 VR1
I don't have a lens that's any sharper than this one.
Nikon 500 VR
I brought this rather cumbersome lens along just in case I came across any California surfers. I'm glad I had it with me.
One of the most interesting sites that I came across during my trip was Salvation Mountain. Salvation Mountain is a very colorful place near Niland, California. It's basically in the middle of nowhere! For this photograph, I selected a wide angle focal length (29mm) and positioned the lens very close to the mailbox. Since the mailbox is so close (maybe a foot away) and the mountain so far from the lens, it's not possible to have render both of those things as tack sharp with one exposure. The solution is take take two or more exposures.
First, I took an exposure with the lens focused on the print on the mailbox. Then, I took a second exposure with the lens focused on the print on the mountain. In Photoshop, I opened both images and stacked the file with the background in focus on top of the picture with the mailbox in focus. Once the pictures are layered, I made sure to align them. With both layers selected, go to Edit >> Auto Align Layers >> Auto.
I applied a mask to the top layer--the one with the background in focus. Within the mask, I painted with black over the mailbox and surrounding foreground. Remember that white reveals and black conceals. So, by painting with black, I concealed the background focus--leaving the bottom layer to render the mailbox in focus. The end result is that the entire frame is in sharp focus.
Here's the final image:
In the digital age, this wasn't so problematic. Whenever shooting a clear blue sky, particularly at high elevations, I remove the polarizer and then adjust the tone and color of the sky to my liking during post processing.
During my last road trip, I was faced with a different challenge. I was shooting some old rusty cars at the Bodie Ghost Town in the high Sierras. I wanted to use my polarizer to bring out more color in the cars, grass and buildings (by minimizing the glare from the bright sunlight). But, from past experience I knew that the polarizing filter would destroy the sky by turning it practically black.
Since I've been experimenting with so many different blending techniques in Photoshop lately, I came up with this solution:
#1
I took two pictures of this scene. The first was shot without a filter. The second was fully polarized.
No filter
Fully Polarized
Of course, both pictures were taken with the camera secured to a tripod to eliminate any movement between exposures.
#2
Then, using Photoshop I was able to take the best parts of both pictures.
I placed the fully polarized picture in a separate layer on top of the first photo. Then, I masked out the sky (painted it out in black) so that everything except the sky is polarized.
The effect might seem subtle, but this approach enabled me to apply a filter effect selectively within a scene to enhance the colors and bring out more contrast right where it was needed.
Here's the finished product:
As I approached the church, I couldn't help but notice the large tree in front of the building. My goal was to create a photograph that featured the tree as the main subject with the church as a background object to give scale to the tree's massive size.
The tree is big, but not nearly as big as it appears in the picture. I used the following techniques to exaggerate the size of the tree:
- Objects appear larger the closer they get to the lens. Objects appear smaller the further they are from the lens. In this case, I moved as close as possible to the tree--until it nearly filled the frame. As I moved closer to the tree (with my feet, not the zoom of the lens), the church became smaller in the frame relative to the tree.
- I used a very wide angle lens (a 16mm focal length) to enable me to get very close to the tree while still including the entire tree in the frame. If I had selected a narrower focal length, I would have had to back up to include the whole tree--diminishing the size of the tree and enlarging the size of the church relative to the tree.
- The lower the lens, the taller the subject appears. The higher the lens is positioned, the shorter the subject appears. I positioned the camera as close to the ground as possible--for two reasons: (1) it made the tree appear taller; and (2) it helped create some separation of the lower right tree branches against the more distant background. If I positioned the camera at four feet above the ground, the lower right branches of the tree would drop below the distant horizon.
In my opinion, the picture gives the impression that the tree is massive (almost redwood-like). It appears as if it would take out the entire church if it were to fall on the building!
The morale of the story is to move your feet and to try different perspectives (up and down) to create a more unique shot.
This image was captured at Lake Tahoe during my recent road trip from Chicago to California and back. My first challenge in creating this picture was finding this location! The road runs well above the shoreline, so the rock is not easy to spot. The other challenge was parking. People were parked along the highway for at least a mile in each direction of this area. As night approached, the parking opened up. Once I parked, I had second thoughts about making the very steep decent from the road to the lake. With the help of a hiking pole, I finally made it.
I used an extremely long exposure to capture this image. The shutter was open for 14 minutes!
I also practiced some newly learned processing techniques. Those techniques include new methods for dodging and burning, using luminosity masks to control the light more precisely and color channels to tweak the colors. Additionally, new sharpening and noise reduction methods were applied to this image. I'm relieved that the picture met this test!
This marks the 33rd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past three years.
I recently returned from a long road trip. I left Chicago to drove to California in mid-July and returned 32 days later. Most days started with an early morning photo shoot, some midday scouting of possible locations and an evening shoot. I also had to work the 7,000 miles of driving into that time period!
I would like to dedicate this blog entry to outline the 24 hour period which started on the first day of my trip. This day is fairly typical of a photography day for me on the road.
1:00 PM:
Arrived in Iowa City from my morning drive from Chicago. Visited the Old Capitol Building. Walked the campus of the University of Iowa and captured images of the Pappajohn Business Building. Drove to Des Moines.
3:30 PM:
Checked into the hotel in Des Moines. Walked a mile along the Des Moines River to scout locations for cityscape photos. Lighting was not the best, so I used a long exposure to add some interest to the sky for the following image. Then walked a couple of more miles to view the Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge to prepare for my evening photo shoot.
7:30 PM:
After dinner, I returned to the bridge. I captured a number of images before sunset and kept shooting through the "blue hour". The following picture was taken at 9:30 PM.
10:30 PM:
Time to upload the files to my laptop. Captions were added to each image in Lightroom. GPS coordinates were added as well. Files were backed up on two external hard drives. All batteries recharged.
Midnight:
Time to go to bed and hopefully get some sleep!
5:00 AM:
Left hotel to arrive at the University Avenue bridge for a dawn cityscape. Fortunately, University Avenue is just ten minutes away. Got set up on the bridge and kept shooting from 15 minutes before until 30 minutes after sunrise. Sunrise is 5:54 AM.
7:00 AM:
Return to the hotel for a shower and breakfast. Check out of hotel.
8:00 AM:
Arrive at the Des Moines Art Center before the lighting gets too harsh. I enjoyed the site, so I kept shooting for about an hour.
9:30 AM:
Drive to the Iowa State Capitol. The lighting is no longer ideal for outdoor shooting, but I intend to shoot interiors now. I stay at the Capitol for over an hour.
11:30 AM:
Drive to the Salisbury House. I scouted this location earlier this morning when I was over at the Art Center. My intention is to tour the site. I captured a few photos as well.
1:00 PM:
I enter my car in the parking lot of the Salisbury House. It's time to move onto the next city and Day #2 of this 32 day journey.
It can be an exhausting process. During this 24 hour period, I logged 10 miles of walking (according to my Fitbit), slept for just 5 hours, drove a few hundred miles, and captured numerous images (more than 30 keepers).
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Although this picture appears to be a straightforward simple shot, I thought I would share what was involved in creating it.
The Carmel Mission was very crowded. The parking lot was full and people were parked up to four blocks away from the mission. Hundreds of people were wandering the grounds. To capture this image without tourists, I waited for a long time before the scene finally cleared (for the most part):
I waited until the other section of the frame opened up and shot the next couple of images:
By blending the three images together and selecting just the open areas of each frame, I was able to create a picture free of people.
The next thing that bothered me was the open door of the basilica. To close the door, I used the Mirror Trick. The mirror trick is something that I use often to clean up photographs. To read more about it, click here for one of my past blog entries on the subject.
I didn't have the luxury of shooting this scene in the best light. Sometimes with travel photography, I have to take what I can get. I decided to convert the image to black & white using Nik's Silver Efex Pro software.
It's not the greatest image in the world, but I think the adjustments (removing people, closing the door and converting to B&W) helped make the photography more presentable.
]]>Blending Methods:
#1: High Dynamic Range: This is the one I use most often. It helps to address wide ranges of light within a scene to better control exposing for both the shadows and the highlights.
#2: Focus Points: Sometimes subjects are positioned both very close and very far from the lens. It's makes it almost impossible to have everything in the frame in tack sharp focus even when selecting a narrow aperture setting. Narrow aperture settings also diminish image quality due to diffraction and reveal any sensor spots that might exist. So, I'll select my f/8 aperture for optimal lens performance and make multiple exposures--with various segments of the frame in focus for each exposure. Later, I blend them in Photoshop.
#3: Polarization: Using a circular polarizer can help bring out the colors in a scene by removing glare. Typically, skies go dark blue and the white clouds pop as well. While shooting in the mountains of California, applying a polarizer usually makes the sky look unnatural--the sky gets way too dark. Yet, I wanted the full effect of the polarizer on the foreground (i.e., foliage, rusty cars at the Bodie Ghost Town, etc.). So, I captured two exposures--one polarized for the foreground and one without the filter for the sky. Then, the two get blended in Photoshop for the best of both worlds.
#4: People Eraser: While shooting the interior of several Las Vegas hotels, I wanted to capture the scenes without people in the frame. This is nearly impossible given how crowded these locations get. By waiting for a relatively slow time, and capturing several exposures in which people are positioned in different portions of the frames, I'm able to eliminate everyone during processing by stacking the pictures into layers and using masks to select the appropriate portion of each exposure for the final image. This method was a savior throughout my last photography trip!
#5: Exposure Times: I've been experimenting with long exposure photography. I like the effect that very long exposures can have on moving water and clouds. However, sometimes I want the water to blur but to freeze the clouds. So, I'll take two exposures and blend them later to isolate the long exposure effect to just one portion of the frame.
#6: Moments in Time: Lately, I've been locking my camera down on a tripod for extended periods of time--such as an hour or two. That way, I can capture various points of time for later blending. For example, while I was in San Diego I captured a picture of the skyline a twilight. But, the windows of the buildings weren't lit brightly until the sky went completely black about 45 minutes later. So, I captured that as well. Later, I can blend in the office lights with the twilight shot to effectively turn the lights on! This approach came in handy in other situations as well--such as capturing exposures of a landscape from just before sunset (for foreground detail) in addition to a "blue hour" sky for later blending. While shooting the fountains of Bellagio, I blended water positions from various segments of two different water shows into one frame!
After a while, I started combining the various blending approaches. For example, I might shoot exposures to account for expanded focus (#2) as well as selective polarization (#3). Or, I might expand the dynamic range by using HDR (#1) while removing people from the scene (#4). The possibilities are endless. Having these tools available helps me revolve many of the challenges that I face in the field.
I will expand upon each of these blending approaches in future blog entries. But, here's an example of an image where I combined HDR with the People Eraser. The Grand Entrance of the Venetian Hotel is a busy place, but you wouldn't know it by viewing this image:
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But, there is no substitute for the cable release when it comes to very long exposures--more than 30 seconds. Once the shutter speed exceeds 30 seconds, it can't be selected in camera. Rather, the shutter speed must then be set to Bulb and triggered by pressing the shutter and holding it down until the exposure ends. The cable release allows you to press the shutter without touching the camera...then lock the shutter down through the mechanism on the release.
Years ago, I got burned when my cable release malfunctioned during a trip. I was quite far from the nearest city with a camera store--Moab, Utah. I headed right to the camera store when I arrived in Moab to buy the cable release. The sign on the door indicated that they were closed for the season and would reopen four months later in April! A man from a nearby general repair store said that he could perhaps try to repair the cable. The issue was that the labor would far exceed the $5 that I paid for that third party release!
Since then, I bought the genuine Nikon MC-30 cable release. It's more durable.
Not wanting to chance it, I brought a backup cable release (one of my leftover third party cheap ones) with me on this latest 32 day road trip as well.
My Nikon MC-30 served me well for nearly three years. But, three weeks into my trip it failed! Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring a backup. Unfortunately, the backup was dead right out of the box! Once again, I was without a cable release. And, I had some long exposure photo shoots on my itinerary.
The next day, I visited Samy's Camera store in Santa Barbara. They had a suitable cable release. It was a third party brand and they charged me $35--seven times what I would pay for a comparable one on eBay. I asked the sales person if he thought the release would hold up for the next two weeks until I got home. He said it it certainly should.
Naturally, I treated this third cable release with kid gloves. I was careful to never stress the cord. When activating the shutter, I made sure to press it down softly. With one day left on the trip, the cable stopped working!
Now that I'm home, I ordered another Nikon MC-30. Actually, it's a new and improved model...the MC-30A. Let's hope it lasts as long as my MC-30 did!
]]>Just over two years ago, I visited the Colorado State Capitol. I created the following picture of the Grand Staircase:
I like the picture, but this time I tried something different. I stepped aside and came up with this picture:
Again, it's not that one picture is necessarily better than the other. But, by moving over just a few feet the results are very different.
While planning my road trip, I mapped it out such that I would go through Denver. When I last visited the Capitol over two years ago, I wasn't able to photograph the chambers as they were under renovation. This time, I planned to capture pictures of both chambers to add to my collection. As I approached the chambers, I was stunned to see scaffolding and tarps--both chambers were still closed! They will reopen sometime next year.
However, I took the opportunity to try to improve upon my previous photographs of the building by trying different perspective and lenses. Once again, the fisheye lens got a workout as well.
I'm glad I made the stop in Denver. Besides the Capitol, there were several interesting sites within walking distance--including two cathedrals, City Hall, the Art Museum and some awesome downtown architecture. I came away with a lot of images during my morning in Denver.
]]>Here's an example from Day #1 of my trip. I photographed the Grand Staircase before in the Iowa Capitol back in 2013. This is the image from from three years ago:
This image is symmetrical. It's balanced and provides a clear view of the impressive mural (titled "Westward").
I returned to this location last month. Since I had already captured the above image, I was determined to try something new. Here's what I came up with this time:
By moving from the center to the left of the staircase, I'm able to create two very different images. It's not that one image is necessarily better than the other. But, I find that the second image conveys a greater sense of depth. It makes me feel more like I'm actually there--which contributes to a more interesting composition in my opinion.
So far, I've only processed photographs from the first day of my 32 day road trip from Chicago to California and back. As I go along, there are many more examples of this approach to capturing interiors in a variety of ways.
]]>There were some challenges. The museum is crowded so it takes some patience to wait until the scene clears. Glass panels are placed above the railings to prevent the many young visitors from climbing over the railings. Without setting up a ladder, it's impossible to avoid shooting through the glass. The reflections in the glass present more challenges. Finally, the museum frowns upon tripods. I was only able to get a couple of exposures using a tripod before security asked me to put the tripod away. Without the tripod, I was forced to boost my ISO (compromising image quality). Removing the tripod from the equation also prevents me from creating high dynamic range (HDR) images.
The museum has a policy which prohibits the use of tripods. However, when I became a member of the museum, I was told that the tripod policy is very loosely enforced. I was encouraged to give it a try and to stop using it only after being confronted by security. So, that's what I've done. I usually get in about a half hour of shooting with the tripod before having to put it away. My approach is to start photographing exhibits that are away from the main hall (less security presence) and then gradually work my way towards the center of the building.
Here are a few pictures of the staircases:
The risk with calling ahead is that the request to photograph a location might be declined; whereas I can almost always get a few good shots before being asked to leave certain places! But, if permission is granted in advance, I can take all the time I need to get better pictures. Whenever possible, it's always better to get permission.
During my road trip to South Dakota, I called a number of places to ask permission to do some photography. Representatives from three of those locations returned my call and ultimately allowed me to photograph the interior of the buildings. I didn't receive any response from three other locations.
The first place I visited was the Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City, Iowa. I'm glad I called in advance. My request to photograph the interior of this beautiful theater (which opened in 1927) was promptly granted. The theater was closed on the morning of my visit, so if I hadn't called in advance I wouldn't have been able to enter the building. Instead, the representative from the theater was there right on time (9am on a Monday) to open the door for me. Not only was I granted access, but the theater was then lit for me and I was able to direct when the drapes were to be open or closed depending on what I was shooting. My visit lasted more than two hours and was one of the highlights of my trip. Please CLICK HERE to view images from my visit.
My next location was the St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The cathedral is open for visitors, so I would have been able to enter without advance permission. But, it wasn't lit. Fortunately, I made arrangements weeks in advance to meet a church representative at 3:00 pm on a Monday--and he adjusted the lighting to my satisfaction. If the interior of the church isn't lit, it's not worth photographing. With the lights on, it's a stunning subject! CLICK HERE to view more images of the Cathedral.
The third location that I called well in advance was the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Please CLICK HERE to view the photos from that visit. I was told that I could photograph the interior, but that the church would be open to other visitors. So, the recommendation was to visit early in the morning while the church would be relatively empty. So, I entered the church at 6:30 AM on a Monday. An order was placed to have the church lit for photography just before my photo session. I was welcomed into this church and had an enjoyable visit.
I think there are few things that helped me gain this level of cooperation. First, I called well in advance. Then, I offered to provide the original digital images to the church/theater free of charge. They are free to use these images for anything they wish (i.e., website, programs). I also send a link to my website and pictures from other similar venues. In some cases, my portfolio was reviewed before the request was granted. While I was visiting one of the venues, the representative told me that she had heard of me and was familiar with my work. I replied that there must be another photographer out there with the same name then!
One of the churches declined my initial request on the grounds that commercial photography isn't permitted. I asked if it would help if I promised not to sell the pictures. My request was then granted. Two of the three venues have requested the digital files from me and plan to use them in publications. They were very appreciative--just as I was. Everyone wins when these requests are handled properly!
]]>- It stabilizes the camera...which creates the sharpest possible image.
- A stable camera allows for blending multiple exposures--which is essential for HDR photographs.
- It permits longer shutter speeds for creative effects such as long exposure photography.
- Longer shutter speeds allow for lower ISO settings...which maximizes image quality.
- Longer shutter speeds also introduce flexibility with aperture settings (i.e., smaller apertures are available for greater depth of field).
- A tripod helps in locking down a composition and ensuring that lines are straight.
- A tripod allows me to use my heavy lenses more easily.
The tripod is so important to my photography that I won't bother shooting certain interiors when a tripod is prohibited.
The problem is that tripod restrictions are becoming stricter each year. Over the past year, I've been told that photography with a tripod is banned not only in certain interiors, but also when photographing exteriors. Last year, I was informed that tripods were prohibited anywhere on the Harvard campus!
As I prepare for my upcoming road trip to California, I purchased two tripod alternative items which come highly recommended and which are supposedly effective at stabilizing the camera:
The first is the Multi-Clamp from Really Right Stuff. This clamp will attach to a variety of surfaces--tables, chairs, railings, doors, etc. In my testing, it easily locks down my gripped Nikon D800 with Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens. My Markins M-10 ballhead quickly screws into the clamp to provide a quick release option to the clamp. The advantage is that this small item is definitely not a tripod--so unless security tells me "no clamps" I should be good to go!
The second item is a very tiny tripod from Really Right Stuff. The tripod is just 6 inches in length--but accommodates my Markins ballhead and easily locks down my gripped Nikon D800 with Nikon 24-70 lens. This tripod fits into my camera bag or pocket. It quickly assembles on top of a table or on the floor. Although it is clearly a tripod, I can't imagine security walking up to me and telling me to put this tripod away!
Armed with these two new camera stabilization tools, I'm hoping to counter some of the tripod restrictions that I'm likely to encounter on my upcoming trip.
My first picture was taken using conventional settings for this sunny day: shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, f/8, ISO 100
The shutter speed of 1/500th of a second freezes the choppy water of Lake Michigan and stops the clouds. I like the image, but experimented further by slowing the shutter speed down to allow more movement within the frame.
This next picture combines three frames using various shutter speeds. For the boats in the harbor (which are quite small in the frame), I used the above picture at the 1/500th shutter speed. Then, I slowed the shutter speed to 45 seconds to allow enough time for the clouds to blow across the frame. Finally, I selected a 5 minute shutter speed to completely smooth out the water in the lake. Here's the combined result:
During the conversion to black and white, I boosted the contrast and did some dodging and burning to create more depth within the skyline:
It's not that one image is necessarily better than the others--but there's no question that the results are quite different even though the pictures were taken at nearly the same time and from the same position (the camera was locked down on a tripod).
I was able to achieve such a long exposure (5 minutes) on a bright summer day by using a very strong neutral density filter. In this case, I attached a 16 stop ND filter to my Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens.
I hope to experiment with similar techniques during my upcoming trip to Mono Lake in California.
]]>Although the area is under construction, I still captured some interesting images of this iconic structure. The following image could probably only be captured during this construction time. Ordinarily, this park would be packed with people. That night, there wasn't a single person on the lawn. The park is fenced off for the construction with just one opening to access the park from the north. And, the bulldozers and other heavy construction equipment aren't visible as they are positioned over the hill from where I was standing.
Thankfully, I had an ultra-wide angle lens with me. It took the entire span of my 14mm focal length with a full frame sensor to get this enormous structure to fit into the frame! After all, the Gateway Arch is 63 stories high.
During my last road trip through South Dakota, I stayed in Wall for two nights. Wall is a convenient place to stay when visiting nearby Badlands National Park. My motel was just a short walk from Wall Drug. One afternoon when the light was particularly harsh, I visited Wall Drug. I brought my camera in case there was anything interesting to photograph inside the store.
My visit to Wall Drug was worthwhile for a few reasons. To my surprise, I was permitted to photograph the interior with my tripod. The complex is massive and includes far more than just a drug store. And, I practically had the place to myself as it was the off-season. Photographing the interior would be far more challenging during the summer as Wall Drug attracts more than 2 million visitors each year!
Here are a few pictures from my visit. My motel was located right next to the granary down the street.
I had no idea that I would add to my list of "Places of Worship" at Wall Drug...
There are games, historical displays (museum) and restaurants as well...
All that being said, it's still a tourist trap!
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Of all my photography road trips, this one has been the most complicated one to plan. Unfortunately, I'm traveling during the summer when these locations are both crowded and expensive. During the summer, sunrises are earlier and sunsets are later. At this point, I now have lodging reserved for every night of this trip. The rest of the more detailed planning (i.e., best time to shoot specific locations, planning for parking, etc.) is done on a daily basis. It's just too overwhelming to deal with all of the details for a 32 day trip at once!
Here's my itinerary:
- Des Moines, IA
- Omaha, NE
- Denver, CO - Colorado State Capitol
- Grand Junction, CO
- Las Vegas, NV - Visit Family
- Las Vegas, NV
- Las Vegas, NV
- Lee Vining, CA - Mono Lake
- Lee Vining, CA - Bodie Ghost Town
- Carson City, NV - Lake Tahoe
- Fremont, CA - Missions
- Fremont, CA - Missions, Stanford University
- San Juan Bautista, CA - Missions
- Jolon, CA - Missions
- San Luis Obispo, CA - Missions
- San Luis Obispo, CA - Hearst Castle
- Santa Barbara, CA - Missions and Courthouse
- Oxnard, CA - Missions
- San Gabriel, CA - Disney Concert Hall, Presidential Libraries (Reagan & Nixon)
- San Gabriel, CA - Botanic Garden, Churches, Griffith Observatory, Beaches
- Riverside, CA - Mission Inn
- Los Angeles, CA - Piers
- San Diego, CA - Missions
- San Diego, CA - Zoo, Geisel Library
- San Diego, CA - Mormon Temple, Beaches
- San Diego, CA - Visit Family, Mission
- Palm Springs, CA - Salvation Mountain
- Joshua Tree, CA - Joshua Tree National Park
- Gallup, NM
- Pratt, KS
- Independence, MO - Truman Presidential Museum and Historic Site
- Orland Park, IL
This image was captured just over a month ago at the Tropic World exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo. The cotton-top tamarin is a challenging subject to photograph due to the low lighting conditions of the indoor exhibit. The tamarin is also tiny--weighing less than one pound!
This marks the 32nd time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past three years.
During past trips, I was able to keep current on these tasks. I used a power inverter in my car to keep everything charged. And, I would usually import images on the laptop while sitting in the parked car somewhere.
During my last road trip to the Desert Southwest, I visited McDonald's to accomplish these tasks with ease. In recent months, I've noticed that many of the McDonald's restaurants have power outlets next to the booths. All of the restaurants offer free Wi-Fi.
So, I visit a McDonald's during an off hour in the middle of the afternoon (when the light isn't optimal for photography). While I'm working on my photos (captions, adding GPS coordinates, etc.) on my laptop, my laptop and camera batteries are being charged. The fast internet connection also enables me to look up information to help me with my captioning as well as to do research for the next day's travel.
By the time I leave the restaurant, I'm all caught up and ready to continue with the trip: electronics charged, images imported, photos backed up, emails read, etc.--all with ease and in comfort!
]]>You never know when you'll come across a S-curve while shooting. I happened to notice two of them in State Capitol buildings--the first in Kansas and the second in my home state of Illinois. I think the S-curve significantly strengthened the composition of these photographs:
It was my first time visiting Sioux Falls. It quickly became apparent how the city got its name. The Big Sioux River practically runs right through the downtown area!
This photo was taken from the observation deck at Falls Park.
Since I hadn't set up my Einstein studio lights in a year, it took me a while to figure out how to get started. Before long, two of the strobes were triggering at what I thought were the appropriate settings. I placed one strobe inside of a large softbox and positioned it to the left of my camera (my main light). I fired another strobe into an umbrella and faced it towards the white seamless paper background. I used a large piece of white foamboard for my fill. It was kind of nice having complete control over the lighting--which is very different from shooting landscapes!
I used the Nikon D800 for all of the shots. I alternated between the Nikon 70-200 2.8 and the Nikon 200 f/2 throughout the photo shoot. Both lenses are excellent, but the Nikon 200 f/2 is in a league of its own. It might be Nikon's sharpest lens.
For camera settings, I used an aperture of f/8 for every picture for ultimate sharpness. I used a shutter speed of 1/250th--which is fast enough to remove all of the ambient lighting. The ISO was set at the base level of 100 for the D800--which is optimal for image quality. The strobes were set to generate the appropriate amount of light for the right exposure at those camera settings.
Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot:
It's always a lot of fun spending time with these nine year old players. And, this photo shoot was no exception.
To view more of the images, please CLICK HERE.
]]>Earlier this year, this photograph was also selected as an Editor's Choice by the Dreamstime photo agency. I captured this image while killing time waiting to enter Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona. The power plant is located directly across the road from the Lower Antelope Canyon entrance.
This marks the 31st time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past three years.
At the last second, I decided to pack some camera gear in hope of capturing some images of the event. Given the higher security levels in recent years, I packed light. The following items easily fit into a small shoulder bag (the Think Tank Urban Disguise):
- Nikon D800 with grip removed
- Nikon 14-24
- Nikon 24-70
- Nikon 70-200
I didn't chance carrying a tripod or any of my longer lenses.
Signs were visible as we entered the parking lot warning spectators that backpacks or bags are not permitted inside the building. My approach was to carry this relatively small shoulder bag into the venue. If questioned, I would show the security personnel that I only had camera gear. If I was unable to enter with my gear, I would return the bag to the car.
To my surprise, there was no security presence as I entered the Redbird Arena. I simply walked to my seat with my gear. If I had known that, I would definitely have brought my 300 2.8 and tripod with me!
During the ceremony, I worked my way to the back of the arena so that I could capture some photographs of the event. While I was there, all three (sometimes referred to as the "Holy Trinity") lenses came in handy.
As always, I enjoy shooting ultra wide with my Nikon 14-24:
Believe it or not, this next picture of my nephew receiving his diploma was taken from the same distance as the image above--but this time with the Nikon 70-200. And, the following image was cropped significantly. The D800 has such high resolution that cropping becomes a much more practical possibility:
The Nikon 24-70 offered a nice perspective as well:
And, the Nikon 24-70 was useful for some snapshots outside of the arena after the ceremony:
Everything looks just a little more extraordinary to my eye at 14mm:
Overall, it was great being at this significant family event. Having such a light and portable photography kit made it possible to capture memories of the occasion.
There are two popular slot canyons to visit near Page--Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. Upper is most popular, although Lower is highly visited as well. Both are located on Navajo lands. Unfortunately, visiting either canyon can be a trying experience. The management is disorganized and the canyons are severely overcrowded. The dream quickly became a nightmare.
When I first arrived, I was disappointed that the canyons were closed due to the possibility of flash floods. After the long drive to Page, I didn't want to leave without seeing the canyons. Fortunately, the canyons opened again the next morning. I visited the Upper Antelope Canyon first.
Visitors are only permitted to use a tripod on the photography tour. As a tripod is critical for my photography, I decided to pay the extra amount to join that tour. I panicked a little when the first two tour companies that I visited in town informed me that the tours were sold out for the next month. However, several tour companies (too many) are granted access to the canyons--so it was just a matter of time before I found one with an opening.
I arrived at the Upper Antelope Canyon at 7 AM--an hour before it opens--to buy a ticket to that day's photography tour on site. I was charged an $8 Navajo Reservation entry fee just to pull into the lot to ask a question. I was told that there was one opening left for the tour. The charge was $80. The sign indicated that credit cards are accepted. As I started to hand over my credit card, I was told that it would be $80 cash--or no tour. To my relief, I had the $80 in cash--which isn't always the case. The tour was set for 11 AM.
I came back to the site at 10:30 AM. The first thing that I noticed was 20 people were being turned away from an earlier tour despite having reservations and having already paid. The tours were overbooked! I was told that they didn't have a guide for our photography tour, but that we could join the regular group--despite paying three times as much as everyone else! In the end, the guide made sure that we stayed in front of the regular group, could set up our tripods and had the first attempt for any pictures.
The Upper Antelope Canyon was a zoo. This slot canyon is only about 200 yards long--and there were hundreds of people there. One photographer later told me that I should have just lagged behind and captured some shots as the group moved ahead. That would have been impossible as there wasn't any gap between our group and the one behind us. It was packed shoulder to shoulder throughout the entire canyon!
Fortunately, our guide was able to hold back the crowds for a few seconds in order for us to get some photographs. He was acting like a left offensive guard in a football game--trying to buy the quarterback (or in this case the photographer) enough time. I actually had to treat this like I was shooting a sporting event. I increased my ISO so that I could reduce the shutter speed enough to have a better chance of getting a picture without people walking through the frame.
Here is one of my better images from the Upper Antelope Canyon:
While the Lower Antelope Canyon wasn't a picnic, it was far superior experience than the Upper Antelope Canyon. The photography tour started at 9 AM. For the first hour, it was far less crowded. We were able to take our time composing photographs. And, I was able to set my camera with the appropriate settings for landscape photography without worrying about long exposures. At about 10 AM, the Lower Antelope Canyon became just as crowded as the Upper Antelope Canyon was the day before and the photography was basically over. But, I was able to capture far more keepers in the Lower. Here are a couple of my favorites:
The Upper Antelope Canyon tour concentrated on light beams. During the summer months, the sun is better aligned with the slot and strong beams of light shine down onto the canyon floor. To help make the beams more visible, the guide continually throws handfuls of sand and dust into the air. Personally, I didn't like the high contrast and harsh light conditions very much. I much preferred the diffused, soft, pastel colors of the Lower Antelope Canyon for my photography.
Although both canyons will try one's patience, I prefer the Lower over the Upper!
]]>The colorful parakeets are very small. A parakeet will easily fit within your hand. On average, the parakeets are 6 inches tall.
The parakeets are also fast and fidgety. They rarely stay in one place for long. I had many failed attempts at capturing pictures of these birds due to having a blurred parakeet in the frame.
Controlling the background is also challenging within the exhibit space. My goal was to seek clean backgrounds in order to highlight my subject. It takes patience to wait for a parakeet to perch on a bare branch that offers an uncluttered background.
Controlling the depth of field is another challenge. At first, I selected a wide open aperture (f/2.8) to help minimize background distractions and to help account for the relatively low lighting inside the exhibit. However, at f/2.8 the depth of field was so shallow that only a small portion of the bird was in focus. When I locked focus on one of the eyes, the feet were blurred. As time went on, I narrowed the aperture for greater depth of field. This meant that I had to be even more careful about the backgrounds. A narrower depth of field also results in a higher ISO setting (sacrificing a bit of image quality) to maintain proper exposure. At some point, I settled in on an aperture of f/7.1. This rendered more of the parakeet in focus while adequately controlling the background distractions and maintaining a reasonably low ISO setting for proper exposure.
The lower feathers of the parakeets extend so far away from their bodies that it's impossible to have the entire bird in sharp focus--regardless of the aperture setting. That would require focus stacking, which wasn't practical for most of these photographs. I did, however, use a focus stacking technique to save one of the photographs. The following photograph was initially ruined because the parakeet on the left lifted one of his legs very quickly during the exposure--creating a distracting blur. I captured a second photograph and then replaced the shaky leg with the steady leg in Photoshop.
I used my Nikon D800 camera, Nikon 300 2.8 VR lens and Nikon SB-900 flash unit throughout the visit.
To view six other images from this photo shoot, please CLICK HERE.
]]>This photo was captured late last year during my road trip through South Dakota. For more information about this particular photo shoot, please click here to view that blog entry.
This marks the 30th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view all of the winning entries over the past three years.
In another long exposure picture taken during that same outing, I extended the shutter speed to nearly 20 minutes!
I learned a few things while taking this picture:
- The long exposure introduces an almost surreal effect by smoothing everything out. During the exposure, the conditions alternated from overcast to direct sunlight. The variety of lighting within the same exposure introduces a very different look--even in the buildings.
- Of course, the clouds moving through the frame during the long exposure really smoothed out the sky.
- During this exposure, many cars and pedestrians passed through the frame. As long as they don't remain in the same spot for a long period of time, they won't make an impression on the sensor. In this image, a car parked on the curb for the last 5 minutes of the exposure. That car had a ghost like appearance. I did a relatively poor job of removing it in Photoshop.
- The exposure took a long time. If the exposure isn't accurate, 20 minutes is a long time to wait for a second attempt!
- Perhaps a 5 minute exposure would have accomplished a similar look. I will have to experiment more.
As a point of reference, here's the same scene from a few minutes earlier:
Again, it's not that one photograph is necessarily superior to the other. But, it's fascinating to me how much different the two pictures look simply from changing the shutter speed.
Last week, I practiced the technique at the Victory Baptist Church in Mokena, Illinois. It was a cloudy afternoon. The clouds were moving quickly across the sky in windy conditions.
Here's my first picture. It's taken with a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second--plenty of speed to freeze the clouds:
Then, I extended the shutter speed to 104 seconds. The longer exposure provided plenty of time for the clouds to move across the frame:
It's not that one of the photographs is necessarily better than the other. However, I find it fascinating that these two pictures look so much different despite being captured within seconds of each other--using the same camera, lens and vantage point. The only thing that changed was the shutter speed.
I will post more information in a future blog entry about how how I use neutral density filters to create long exposures. I'm relatively new to long exposure photography. With further practice, I hope to be able to more consistently create interesting results.
]]>My website has now been active for just over nine years. During that time, my welcome message on the main page of my site included the following statement:
"Now, more than 160,000 people from 157 countries (and 6 continents)--including Pakistan, Tanzania, Iran, Ukraine, Sudan and Cambodia--have browsed through the pictures on this site. I am anxiously awaiting my first visitor from Antarctica!"
Last month, a visitor from Antarctica viewed my photographs! So, welcome Antarctica!
Now, onto the North Pole...
During my last photography trip, I wasn't just moving distracting items from the scene. I was also moving things that prevented me from setting up my camera for the best vantage point!
When capturing interior dome photographs, it's critical to position the lens directly under the center of the dome for a symmetrical image. If the lens isn't positioned in the center of the floor, the ceiling surrounding the dome will not appear as a circle. Instead, the circle will stretch more into the shape of an oval. I like to capture the ceilings using a variety of perspectives. However, I prefer to capture at least one picture with the dome in the shape of a circle.
Positioning the camera in the center of the floor isn't always an option. In many state capitols, a monument or state seal surrounded by ropes is positioned in the center of the rotunda floor. However, in Memorial Hall of the Massachusetts State House, there were a number of flags on stands in the center on the floor. So, one by one I moved the flags out of the way. Since I was using a wide angle lens, I was surprised that even after moving the flags a considerable distance they were still in the frame! I kept moving the flags further from the center until I had some clear shots:
I also captured some photos from the side (which resulted in a more oblong inner dome appearance). I like this perspective as well:
This image was captured with a 1.4X teleconverter attached to my 500mm lens--yielding an effective 700mm of focal length:
The amazing thing about this image is that it isn't cropped! This is straight out of the camera--with the exception of adding a touch of sharpening since I shoot RAW images that are soft (no sharpening applied in camera) until sharpened in post processing. Oh...and I did remove a small bolt like structure that was positioned on George Washington's head.
The blue sky was enhanced slightly by using a circular polarizing filter. I applied just a touch of polarization (by rotating the filter about a quarter of the way) since the clear sky was already quite blue. I find that too much polarization, especially with blue skies at higher elevations, will turn the sky almost black. It's an unnatural look.
I used two of my telephoto lenses, the 300mm and 500mm, to create a number of closeup pictures of the faces of the presidents on Mount Rushmore--both individual and group portraits. Later, I used the 500mm extensively while visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial. I'll share more about my experience at Crazy Horse in a future blog entry.
]]>This time, I happened to walk to the back of the building. From the back, the scene is simplified. From there, it's all about the geometry. I ended up taking several different pictures--all from the same vantage point and with the same lens.
Here's one of the images from the session. I liked the nearly perfect symmetry:
To achieve this level of symmetry, I made some modifications using Photoshop. Here's the original image:
The original image is symmetrical, but that tree on the right bothered me. The image isn't nearly as clean with the bare branches extending through the sky and in front of the building. Rather than go through the tedious process of cloning out the branches, I applied what I refer to as the Mirror Trick.
Click here to view a blog entry that I posted a while back about how to use the Mirror Trick.
Not only did the Mirror Trick clean up the frame, but it helped make the picture perfectly symmetrical!
Finally, I thought the conversion to black and white simplified the image even further. Hopefully, all that's left are the lines, the geometry and the symmetrical shape (now highlighted in white) that I wished to feature.
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I captured this image of a Navajo power plant while waiting for my tour of Antelope Canyon to start. This power plant is located across the highway from Antelope Canyon just outside of Page, Arizona.
The cloudy sky is what made the shot for me. The smoke was pouring out of the stacks at a high rate. The cloudy sky in the background gave the appearance that the smoke was filling the sky. Of course, I visited this location to photograph the amazing slot canyons. But, sometimes it pays to look around--photographs can appear where they are least expected!
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Australia
- Japan
- Germany
- Bulgaria
- Italy
- Slovakia
- France
- Brazil
- India
- Netherlands
- Thailand
- Switzerland
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Russia
- Sweden
- China
- Greece
- Spain
- Austria
- South Korea
- Romania
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- Belgium
- Serbia
- Malaysia
- Hungary
- Finland
- Turkey
- Hong Kong
- Czech Republic
- Mexico
- Norway
- Taiwan
- Philippines
- New Zealand
- Ireland
- Ireland
- Portugal
- Israel
- Slovenia
- Macedonia
- United Arab Emirates
- Argentina
- Ukraine
- Colombia
- Lithuania
- Vietnam
- Croatia
- Puerto Rico
- Egypt
- Kenya
- Saudi Arabia
- Chile
- Iran
- Pakistan
- Estonia
- Venezuela
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Sri Lanka
- Latvia
- Peru
- Algeria
- Luxembourg
- Bangladesh
- Costa Rica
- Cyprus
- Belarus
- Mongolia
- Oman
- Ecuador
- Georgia
- Kuwait
- Moldova
- Iceland
- Kazakhstan
- Malta
- Curacao
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Qatar
- Tanzania
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Domican Republic
- Honduras
- Nepal
- Cambodia
- Nigeria
- French Polynesia
- Uruguay
- Armenia
- Barbados
- Bolivia
- Ethiopia
- Faroe Islands
- Jersey
- Paraguay
- Reunion
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Andorra
- Macau
- Sudan
- El Salvador
- Syria
- Kosovo
- Zimbabwe
- Albania
- Botswana
- Cuba
- French Guiana
- Guernsey
- Guatemala
- Isle of Man
- Iraq
- Liechtenstein
- Lesotho
- Mozambique
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Solomon Islands
- Senegal
- Uzbekistan
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Bermuda
- Brunei
- Bahamas
- Bhutan
- Belize
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Cape Verde
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Jamaica
- Cayman Islands
- St. Lucia
- Montenegro
- St. Martin
- Madagascar
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Northern Marina Islands
- Martinique
- Maldives
- Papua New Guinea
- Palestine
- Rwanda
- Suriname
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Uganda
- St. Vincent and Grenadines
- Zambia
Thanks to one and all!
]]>Here's my preliminary itinerary:
- Kearney, NE
- Grand Junction, CO
- Las Vegas, NV - Visit Family
- Las Vegas, NV
- Las Vegas, NV
- Lee Vining, CA - Mono Lake
- Lee Vining, CA - Bodie Ghost Town
- Incline Village, NV - Lake Tahoe
- Sonoma, CA - Missions
- Fremont, CA - Missions, Stanford University
- Salinas, CA - Missions
- Salinas, CA - Missions and Point Lobos
- San Luis Obispo, CA - Missions
- San Luis Opispo, CA - Hearst Castle
- Santa Barbara, CA - Missions and Courthouse
- Los Angeles, CA - Disney Concert Hall, Griffith Observatory
- Los Angeles, CA - Missions and Presidential Libraries (Reagan & Nixon)
- Los Angeles, CA - Botanic Garden, Churches, Missions, Beaches
- Los Angeles, CA
- Carlsbad, CA - Missions
- San Diego, CA - Zoo, Geisel Library
- San Diego, CA - Mormon Temple, Beaches
- San Diego, CA - Visit Family, Mission
- Salton Sea, CA - Salvation Mountain
- Joshua Tree, CA - Joshua Tree National Park
- Gallup, NM
- Pratt, KS
- Independence, MO - Truman Presidential Museum and Historic Site
- Orland Park, IL
My plan is to visit each of the 21 Missions of California during the summer of 2016. In addition to the missions, there are several other interesting locations included on my itinerary:
- Las Vegas
- Mono Lake
- Bodie Ghost Town
- Lake Tahoe
- Point Lobos
- Disney Concert Hall
- Griffith Observatory
- Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
- Nixon and Reagan Presidential Libraries (and maybe even Truman on the drive home)
- San Diego Zoo
- Geisel Library
- Scripps Pier, La Jolla
- Salton Sea
- Salvation Mountain
- Joshua Tree National Park
- And More...
This is a trip packed with photo opportunities as well as opportunities to visit family along the way. I'm dedicating nearly a month to complete it--including the drive from Chicago and back. Soon, I'll be sharing a more specific itinerary as part of this blog.
]]>
Here's the final photograph:
In some photography forums, viewers asked if I made any edits to the picture during post processing or if this result is straight out of the camera. I always shoot RAW, so edits are a way of life. But, I made a few more edits than I normally do while working with this particular file.
Here's the out of camera picture:
And here are the edits that were applied to the original file to get to the final result. First, I imported the RAW file into Lightroom and made a few quick adjustments:
- Shifted image to introduce a tilt
- Cropped image
- Brought down the Highlights a bit (-7)
- Introduced a black point (-24)
- Added a touch of Vibrance (+5)
- Added Lens Correction (Auto)
- Corrected Chromatic Aberration (Auto)
- Exported to Photoshop
Within Photoshop...
- Cloned out the vertical branch
- Removed the flash reflections from the eyes
- Removed the blue cast on the fur
- Adjusted the Hue of the background color to a deeper green
- Used the Multiply blending mode to selectively darken the background, the branch and portions of the fur
- Added Gaussian blur to the background
- Exported to Lightroom
In Lightroom:
- Sharpened image
- Exported jpeg
So, how much time did all this take?
From beginning to end (from import to export) took me about ten minutes. I liked the capture enough that I thought it was worth the ten minute investment.
]]>I decided to use this technique on a much smaller scale (i.e., just two images) to extend my depth of field of focus while taking a picture of two lions at the Brookfield Zoo. For this image of the lions, I used my Nikon D800 with the 300 2.8 lens. The lions were positioned back into a relatively dark enclosure of the exhibit which required a longer exposure. At an ISO setting of 400 and an aperture of f/3.5, my shutter speed was just 1/160th. I can get sharp images at 1/160th with the 300mm lens since it is mounted to a tripod.
After taking a shot, I checked the image on my camera's LCD and noticed that the lion was in focus--but the lioness wasn't in focus. At f/3.5 I didn't have enough depth of field to get both lions in focus. I considered using a narrower aperture such as f/11 to extend the depth of field, but that adjustment would take away approximately 4 stops of light. To offset the loss of the 4 stops, I would have to increase my ISO from 400 to 6400 (resulting in a significant loss of image quality) or slow my shutter speed to 1/10th of a second--or go with some combination of the slower shutter speed and higher ISO.
Rather than make those sacrifices, I used a modified focus stacking technique. I locked the camera down on the drop and captured one exposure with the lion in focus. I then captured a second frame with the lioness in focus.
While processing the images, I used the lasso tool to make a loose selection of the head of the lioness from that second frame where the lioness was in sharp focus. I moved that selection onto the first frame (where the lion was in focus). I positioned the in-focus lioness head over the out of focus lioness head in a separate layer. I then applied a white mask to the lioness layer and used a black brush to remove some of the areas around the edge so that only the head of the lioness was replaced with the sharper version. Using this quick and easy approach, I was able to render both lions in focus without having to make destructive in-camera adjustments to my ISO or shutter speed selections.
I wish I had known about this method when I captured this image of a baby gibbon a few years ago. I think the image would have been stronger if the mother was in sharper focus.
The technique of blending more than one image with various focus points is a powerful tool. I've also used it in the past for architecture and landscape images. But, this was my first time using it with lions!
]]>
There was a sign in front of what looked like a pile of junk that read:
"Midwest's Largest Bicycle Sculpture...And Possibly the World"
My guess is that this claim is probably true. It's the first bicycle sculpture that I've ever come across.
I started taking pictures of the sculpture and ended up staying for quite a while. I switched back and forth between a wide angle and telephoto lens in hope of capturing a variety of images. The light was constantly changing. Most of the time the lighting was very dull. At times I was shooting in a light rain. Some light broke through the clouds every so often.
It's not Mount Rushmore, but the sculpture made for an interesting stop along the way.
This time, I visited in November. Upon entering the city, it was obvious that crowds would not be a problem. The hotel where I stayed, the Hampton Inn, lowered its rate from $175 in October to $39 a night during my stay in early November!
After checking into the hotel, I walked down Main Street in the late afternoon light. For the most part, the street was clear of parked and moving cars. There were only a few pedestrians on the sidewalks. It was a perfect opportunity to capture pictures of the historic architecture without a lot of distractions in the frame.
Just before sunset, I drove up to the historic Mount Moriah Cemetery located high above Deadwood. Many historical figures (e.g. Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane) are buried here. The cemetery attracts a large number of tourists. There's a large parking lot, an admission booth and fencing to ensure that crowds remain some distance from the more visited tombstones.
When I arrived at the cemetery, the admission booth was closed and my car was the only one in the parking lot. Walking through this quiet old cemetery by myself on a crisp November evening while searching for the historic burial sites made this a more memorable experience than if I had been there with a large crowd of tourists. I captured a few images at the cemetery:
There are a lot of advantages to visiting locations such as Deadwood in the off season.
The size of the state's House of Representatives surprised me. There are 400 house representatives in this relatively small state. The population of New Hampshire is just over 1.3 million. So, each legislator represents just 3,300 residents. This makes New Hampshire the most represented state in the country--and possibly the world. As a perspective, each legislator in California represents 465,000 residents.
Representatives Hall is also the oldest chamber in the United States still in continuous legislative use. The House of Representatives has met in this chamber since 1819.
It was somewhat uncomfortable shooting this interior on a hot summer afternoon as the chamber does not have air conditioning!
The staff at the New Hampshire State House treated me well. When I first came across this chamber, I saw signs outside indicating that visitors are not permitted to step inside the room. The chamber was also dark--except for the harsh sunlight streaming through the windows. After I explained that I had just three state capitols left on my list to photograph, I was allowed to enter Representatives Hall. The employee was unable to turn the lights on, however, as the switches were inside of a locked box. So, he called maintenance and someone came by to adjust the lighting to my preference. They also lowered the blinds for all of the windows to reduce the dynamic range of exposure within the room. I wish all of the state capitols were so accommodating!
There's a terrace on the upper floor of the library with a view of downtown Madison. A few things attracted my eye to this scene--the reflection on the tile floor, the sky and the positioning of the person sitting in the corner facing the skyline.
From a photography perspective, a few considerations immediately came to mind:
- There are a lot of strong lines in the frame. I made sure to square the camera so that the lines are perfectly straight.
- I wanted to position the man using the "Rule of Thirds" for a stronger composition. This was more challenging than it appears because I was tempted to include a lot more of the skyline to the man's left--but there was another distracting element (a loose chair) just left of the frame. So, I positioned the man to the left and featured more of the skyline to his right.
- When I first viewed the image through the lens, I was standing. From a standing position, there is no spacing between the buildings and the ceiling. By lowering my perspective (sitting on the floor), I was able to create that spacing--which I think is important to the composition.
- I wanted to retain the details in the clouds, the blue color in the sky and the details in the pattern of the ceiling. So, I chose to bracket the exposures by shooting five frames at one stop apart. Of course, this required the use of a tripod--which I almost always carry with me. The risk in shooting multiple exposures is that the man might move between shots. However, if the man had moved a little during the exposures, that can usually be handled easily by selecting a high setting to reduce any ghosting while blending the images through Lightroom's HDR function.
- I also worked very quickly. Scenes like this can suddenly change--especially when there's a subject in the frame who might be curious about why the shutter is clicking so rapidly in his direction!
In the end, I like the finished image. It's one of those images that you can't plan for. It's an image that you might happen to come across if you stay open to some possibilities and have your camera available and ready to go.
]]>
The best light (and sky) came on a very cold and windy evening. There was a wind advisory with winds blowing at 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph. What made it worse was that the temperature was in the 30's.
A couple of years ago I faced similar windy conditions while shooting from the Panoramic Point Overlook in Badlands National Park. At that time I could see the lens vibrating from the wind. My approach back then was to try to stabilize the lens by resting my left hand on the barrel. I also activated the VR (vibration reduction) feature on the lens. And, I boosted the ISO setting so that I could use a higher shutter speed. Needless to say, the camera was secured to a tripod and I activated the shutter by using a cable release with the mirror locked up. To my disappointment, when I returned home and started processing the images I noticed that most of them weren't tack sharp.
This time I tried a different approach. Like before, I placed the camera on a tripod. I also boosted the ISO--but this time I raised it from the base setting of 100 to just 200. Then, I lowered the tripod so that the camera and lens were positioned about chest high. I placed my body very close to the camera and did my best to block the wind from reaching the camera. Even so, it was evident that some of the exposures were ruined because of camera shake. But, my percentage of keepers was far higher. And, I took at least two pictures at a time to improve my chances of getting a sharp one.
Here are a couple of pictures from that photo shoot:
One of the benefits of visiting a location like this during the off season is avoiding the crowds. While shooting sunrises and sunsets, I had the overlooks to myself and my car was the only one parked in the large parking lots:
Often times, I would simply park on the road when I spotted something of interest. Sometimes my car would be parked for 30 minutes or more on the Badlands Scenic Loop road without a single car passing by. I was slowly tracking this bighorn sheep and eventually captured this image with the tripod positioned behind my car on the Scenic Loop road:
Over the course of my visit, I was fortunate to get some nice lighting for a couple of the photo shoots. You can view more of my color images here and the black and white images here. Here are a few of my favorites:
Minnesota was the first state capitol that I visited. I took a few photographs and ended up keeping just one image of the exterior of the building. At the time, I had no idea that I would be taking on the project to photograph every capitol building.
So last month I decided to revisit the Minnesota capitol. During the planning stages, I learned that the Minnesota State Capitol building is undergoing a three year restoration and repair project. The building is closed to visitors until 2017!
Since I wanted to also visit my nephew at St. Cloud University, I proceeded with my trip to Minnesota despite the closing of the state capitol building. In its place, I photographed the interior of two beautiful churches--the Basilica of St. Mary and the Cathedral of St. Paul. My next visit to the capitol building will have to wait for a couple of more years.
I was excited about the possibility of capturing this picture. But, there were challenges. First, the fox was sleeping. Next, the lighting was very flat and dull as the sun was blocked by some thick clouds. Finally, the crop was so tight that there was very little room for error.
My hope was for the fox to wake up while I was still there. And when he did wake up, I needed the fox to keep his same position. I wanted the animal to simply open his eyes.
The combination of a gripped D800 and 500mm lens is very heavy and quickly becomes difficult to handhold. So, I attached the camera/lens to my tripod. This helped make the waiting game more manageable.
I set this shot up about an hour before the park was scheduled to close. After 30 minutes, the fox was still sleeping! It was getting later in the afternoon and the lighting was excellent. All I needed was for the fox to open his eyes.
This was the last day of shooting on my South Dakota road trip. During the course of a road trip like this, I know that I will capture quite a few good images. I also know that I will only have the opportunity to capture a handful (if I'm lucky) of outstanding images. I thought this picture of the red fox had a chance to be one of those outstanding images--one of the top three or four images of the 11 day journey. So, I would wait until the park closed in order to get this shot.
After the 30 minutes, the fox opened his eyes and looked up at me. I fired a couple of shots and hoped that at least one would be in focus. Fortunately, it was tack sharp!
Over the past ten days, I've watched several excellent videos from KelbyOne. Many of these classes covered general photography topics:
- Taming Natural Light by Erik Valind
- Bill Fortney's Olympic Park
- Long Exposure Photography by Matt Kloskowski
- Photographing the Moon, Stars and Milky Way by Jennifer Wu
- The Art of Digital Photography by Jay Maisel
- Architectural Photography by Richard Riley
- Photographing Cityscapes by Matt Kloskowski
- Secrets to Photographing the Best Dog Photos Ever Taken by Kaylee Greer
- Inspirational Interview with Professional Dog Photographer by Kaylee Greer
Then, I viewed a couple of course on some more technical aspects of Photoshop.
- Introduction of Photoshop LAB Color by Dan Margulis
- Mastering Channels and Masks in Photoshop CS5 by Corey Barker
At the end of the ten days, I viewed all of the courses that I was interested in for now. I've viewed 50 or 60 of the others in past years. Since I cancelled within ten days, all of the training was free! KelbyOne is offering a free ten day trial period right now.
The next step in my self-training this winter is to read two more books about Photoshop:
- The Photoshop Workbook: Professional Retouching and Compositing Tips and Techniques by Glyn Dewis
- The Way of the Digital Photographer: Walking the Photoshop post-production path to more creative photography by Harold Davis
If nothing else, the Kelby Training courses are very inspirational. I found the images from a couple of the photographers to be particularly outstanding--Kaylee Greer and Jennifer Wu. I now follow those photographers on social media. It also inspired me to explore long exposure photographer in more depth. So, I plan to "go long" with some very powerful neutral density filters--including a 16 stop filter that's on its way. I can't wait to get out shooting again!
]]>A couple of years ago that all changed. It's coming up on four years now since I bought my Nikon D800 camera. This year, I sold my back up camera (Nikon D700). It's been more than two years since I purchased a lens--the Sigma 15mm fisheye. My computer (a Think Pad) is in its fourth year and still going strong. My standalone version of Photoshop has served me well since 2010--so I haven't moved to Adobe's subscription model yet. I haven't purchased any plug-ins for a few years now. Unfortunately, I haven't participated in any workshops for the past couple of years as all of my trips are self-planned.
For the upcoming few years, I don't expect to buy any lenses or software. I am interested in upgrading my camera once Nikon introduces something along the lines of a D900. My D800 is great--but it could be more of an all purpose camera for me if it offered a faster frame rate. At some point, my computer will likely need to be replaced.
2015 was almost a spending free year--until a few weeks ago. During my last photography trip, the zipper on my Think Tank backpack failed again. It was repaired twice already. So, I replaced it with a newer version of a Think Tank bag. Spending $200 for the entire year on photography is a very low amount for me--and knock on wood, it's been that way for two consecutive years!
]]>On the day of my visit, the conditions were ideal for photography. The weather was pleasant--it was warm and there was very little wind. The light was nice--just enough cloud cover to diffuse the light much of the time. The young animals were active. There were no obstructions (i.e., cages, bars, glass) between the visitors and the animals. And, there were very few visitors.
I thought that afternoon at Bear Country, USA provided one of the best photo shoots of animals that I've had in quite some time. Click here to view some of the animal portraits that I captured that day. Here are a few of my favorites:
While I was shooting, one man approached me and started talking about photography. We were talking about what an outstanding opportunity it was to have access to photographing these young animals in that environment. Yet, he was far more interested in the gear than the pictures.
Most of his questions centered around my gear. He kept making comparisons between his Canon gear and my Nikon gear. Honestly, I don't find discussions about the brands to be very interesting as I know that outstanding images can be captured using either brand. The differences between these two large companies is negligible in my mind. For a while, Nikon has a slight advantage in certain areas before Canon recaptures the lead. Then, Nikon leapfrogs ahead again--and so forth. I would recommend going with one of the two brands and just sticking with it.
The most shocking think to me was that he was capturing the pictures of the animals with his iPhone. He left his top end Canon gear in the car because he didn't feel like carrying it through the park!
What good is it to own high quality gear if you aren't going to take pictures with it?
]]>The day started very early in Deadwood. I left the hotel in Deadwood at 5:45 AM for a sunrise photo shoot outside of Bear Butte State Park. From there, I drove directly to Bear Country, USA.
The reviews of Bear Country were mostly positive, but several stated frustration with the crowds. The first, and largest, section of the park is a wildlife drive-through area. The reviews pointed to traffic jams with travel times of up to two hours to proceed the few miles through this section. I had visions of the nightmare that I experienced while visiting the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park in Texas a couple of years ago. But, my South Dakota visit took place during the off season. I saw just two cars during the entire drive-through wildlife experience.
The photography opportunities were limited during the drive-through experience because it is required to have the car windows up at all times. I proceeded quickly through this section of the park as I was mostly interested in the "Babyland" area at the end of the loop drive.
"Babyland" did not disappoint! First, the exhibits were ideal for photography. There were no obstructions (i.e., cages, fences, glass) between the animals and the visitors. Tripods were permitted. And, there were several exhibits and a variety of interesting young animals to photograph.
I arrived at the park at 10:00 am and kept shooting until 4:00 pm! Capturing good photographs was very challenging...so I stayed for several hours to improve my chances of getting several factors to come together into the frame at once: nice lighting, a good pose and expression. Most shots had to be timed for the lighting as often times the sunlight was very harsh and with too much contrast. I would usually wait until a cloud passed in front of the sun before shooting for a softer look. Waiting for the right pose also took some time. These young animals were sleeping much of the time or facing away from the lens. But, every so often I would catch a good pose and expression under nice lighting.
To view more of my portraits of these young animals, please click here.
By the time I was done shooting at Bear Country, USA, Reptile Gardens was closed. Reptile Gardens will have to wait until next time.
]]>I decided to make the most of my visit to the Wildlife Center. I rented a Safari Camp Tent. By staying inside the park at the Foothill's Safari Camp I would have access to the site before it opened to the general public and during the best morning light. I also allocated time for the "Scenic Drive" and purchased a special camera support bean bag for the car window.
Since Fossil Rim was a late addition to my Texas trip, I left Miami, Oklahoma at 5am in order to arrive at the Center in time for some afternoon shooting. The sun sets very early in January.
The first thing I did was drive the Scenic Drive. The narrow road runs through open Texas land for about nine miles. It was a promising start as my car was the only one on the road initially. I saw a herd of antelope in what looked a lot like an African landscape. But, I wasn't able to frame any photographs of the antelopes as the road didn't provide a good perspective and visitors are not allowed to leave their vehicle.
To my dismay, about a half mile into the drive I noticed a long line of cars stopped on the road. Most of the visitors purchased "feed bags" and were feeding the animals. Of course, these "wild" animals have become accustomed to being fed from the cars. So, they are constantly approaching the cars. I didn't purchase food, yet I had several animals approach my car and lick the windows. I guess it's great fun for the kids, but not so much for photographers hoping to capture natural images of the wildlife. I found the whole thing sickening as these animals seemed reduced to begging for food purely for the entertainment of the visitors. But, I knew the facility had some animals that must be truly wild--lions, tigers and rhinoceroses. So, I was still looking forward to what was ahead.
It would end up being a very long wait before I saw a tiger! The people with the feed bags think nothing of parking on the road and feeding the animals for up to 20 minutes while a line of 30-50 cars just sit there in frustration behind them. I was particularly frustrated because I had already driven over 400 miles to get to the park before starting the Scenic Drive. Most of the Scenic Drive involved sitting in my parked car waiting for people to finish feeding the animals. It took over three hours for me to drive the nine miles!
About six or seven miles into the drive, I entered the section where the lions and tigers are housed. At this point I wasn't surprised to find them housed in cages behind cyclone fencing. Despite the fact that these animals are secured in cages, I was restricted to remain inside the car for "my own safety". I had no chance of getting any pictures of these animals through the fencing. The Brookfield Zoo offers a far better experience for a photographer as well as better exhibit space for the big cats!
Needless to say, my experience at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center was disappointing. Basically, it's an expensive traffic jam!
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During my recent trip to Minnesota, I stopped by the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. A staircase inside the building caught my eye. I climbed to the top of the staircase to capture this photograph:
There was no way for me to capture this perspective while using the tripod. The only way to gain this perspective--which allowed me to see the steps leading all the way down to the floor--was to extend the camera out far past the railing. As you can imagine, it can be unnerving to be holding an expensive camera and lens that far over the railing! Note that the railing which is in contact with my waist appears at the bottom of the frame.
To accomplish this, I use the Live View feature on my Nikon D800. Live View allows me to view the image through the LCD screen on the back of the camera. With the camera in my outstretched arms, it's not possible for me to look through the viewfinder.
Other considerations for a shot like this include boosting the ISO in order to generate a fast enough shutter speed for handholding the camera. In this case, I selected an ISO setting of 400. That gave me a shutter speed of 1/80th of a second at an aperture of f/8. At such a wide focal length (14mm), it's not difficult for me to capture a sharp image of this scene at 1/80th of a second without a tripod. Of course, if it was possible to use the tripod, I would have dialed in an ISO setting of 100 and let the shutter speed take care of itself--which would have been 1/20th of a second (too slow for handholding).
Just a day later, I used the same technique to capture another staircase image--this time at Centennial Hall on the campus of St. Cloud University in Minnesota. The settings for this next shot were more extreme. Because this staircase was much darker, I had to boost the ISO all the way up to 2,500 while opening the aperture to f/5. Even with these aggressive settings, I pushed the limits with the shutter speed at 1/40th of a second.
Sometimes, it's either ditch the tripod or don't get the shot at all!
]]>While planning my photo shoot, I was surprised to learn that the grounds at Mount Rushmore opened at 5:00 AM. That early opening meant that I could be at Mount Rushmore for sunrise! Sunrise was at a far more convenient time on the day of my visit (October 31st)--7:28 AM. So, I arrived at the memorial at 6:45 AM. My car was the only one parked in the first level of the parking garage. As I walked toward the monument, I did see a park ranger somewhere near the entrance. That was the last person that I saw for the next 90 minutes or so.
Often times, I enjoy shooting in the soft light just before sunrise. This is my first shot from that morning--taken about 30 minutes before sunrise:
I made sure that I was ready for the first rays of golden light to strike the mountain--and I wasn't disappointed. This picture was not altered in Photoshop--it's exactly as it appeared that morning:
Here's my camera set up on the Grand View Terrace...again, I am the only one standing on this large viewing platform:
A short while later, I walked the Presidential Trail to get closer to the monument. I didn't come across a single person while walking the 1/2 mile trail:
In past years, I have been unable to capture an image of the Avenue of Flags without a lot of people in the frame. During my last visit, there were so many people in this area that I couldn't even set my tripod up! This time I was able to capture the image with minimal patience. It was mid-morning by the time this picture was taken, so I only had to wait for three or four people to clear the scene:
I spent three or four hours visiting Mount Rushmore that morning. That's far more time that I've dedicated to the area in past visits, but it was well worth it. It gave me time to capture a lot of photographs, walk the Presidential Trail, and visit the Museum and Visitor Center. I returned later that night to see the illuminated faces--but I wasn't thrilled with that lighting:
There are certainly drawbacks to visiting during the off season. It was cold (mid 30's). And, some attractions are closed for the season--like the Sculptor's Studio and the Evening Lighting Ceremony. But, it was well worth it. It's an unforgettable experience to witness Mount Rushmore without the crowds!
Back in 2010, I participated in Raymond Barlow's very first photography tour. This tour of Newfoundland included just three participants and Ray (our guide). While walking around Brigus Harbor, we came across a man by the name of Max Clarke.
Max was clearly very proud of both of his boats. He spent a good deal of time showing us the engine that's featured in the video. And, he invited the four of us onto his larger boat ("Sugar"), where his wife (named Sugar) served us hot tea and cookies. Max was very entertaining, had a lot of great stories and was very hospitable. I seem to remember something about him telling us how the Canadians defeated the United States in some battle a couple of hundred years ago. In any event, it was a memorable experience.
Yesterday, one of the tour participants forwarded a Land & Sea video story about Max Clarke from August, 2015. CLICK HERE to see the film. Having no knowledge of engines or boats, I had little appreciation for what Max was showing us at the time. Now, watching the video gives me a greater understanding of what he accomplished.
Here are few photographs that I captured during our visit. Max was so involved in telling his stories that he didn't appear to be aware that I was shooting--and I was just a few feet away from him with a wide angle lens!
- One of my first steps during the planning process is to preview how the sun will be hitting the subject at various times of the day. I use Rick Sammon's Photo Sundial app to accomplish this. By viewing the scene through the Sundial, I determined that arriving before the 7:32 AM sunrise would be an ideal time on the morning of my visit (November 2, 2015).
- Finding the specific location is another key step. This is made more challenging when arriving on location in the dark. Google Maps has certainly made this process a lot easier. I located the barn using Google Maps at the GPS coordinates of N44 30.736, W103 20.834. I then plugged those coordinates into my GPS unit and estimated the driving time from my hotel in Deadwood. The location of the photo shoot is 25.5 miles from the hotel (or about 45 minutes). The first segment of the drive is through mountain roads that were under construction, so I allowed just over an hour for the drive. My plan was to check out and leave the hotel by 5:45 AM...which also built in some time for scraping the ice off my car's windshield!
- The weather is another important factor. When traveling, I usually only get one or two chances to shoot a subject. It takes some luck to be at a location when the weather is cooperating. Sometimes the light doesn't permit any decent photographs. Other times the light is acceptable. On rare occasions the light is exceptional.
I started watching the weather forecast for the Bear Butte area a few days prior to the shoot. The forecast was not promising. On the night before the shoot, the forecast called for overcast conditions with a 90% chance of light rain. Given the small chance of shooting in acceptable conditions and the amount of effort required to check out of the hotel in time to arrive at the location before sunrise, I canceled the photo shoot. I stayed up late watching TV and planned a different photo shoot for an afternoon in Rapid City.
It was about 5:30 AM when I woke up and decided to reach for my phone to check the weather forecast one last time. To my surprise, the forecast had improved. There was a window of time around sunrise when the skies might open up enough for some light to hit the barn. I started moving very quickly to get packed and out of the hotel in about 15 minutes! The employee at the front desk of the Hampton Inn even handed me a breakfast bag on my way out!
My GPS unit led me right to the barn. I ended up shooting the scene for over an hour. I captured some images in the soft light before sunrise and also in the more direct and warm light just after sunrise. I kept shooting until the light became too harsh.
Here is one of the images of the barn from the photo shoot:
One might wonder why anyone would go through such effort to capture a picture. For me, it's about more than getting the picture. It was an amazing experience to witness this sunrise while standing alone on the South Dakota plains. If it wasn't for photography, I doubt that I would have had this experience. And, it's just not the same to see the barn in the middle of the day.
To view more images from the maze, please click here.
Shooting in the maze is very challenging. For one thing, it is nearly impossible to capture an image without having me (and my tripod) reflected in the mirrors. Here is one of the unedited images straight out of the camera. Note how I can be seen in various parts of the frame. Most times, my reflection is far more distracting than in this image.
Next, the mirror maze is a popular attraction within the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It's difficult to capture a frame that's free of visitors.
It's also very dark inside this exhibit. This means that a long exposure is required--which increases the chances of someone walking into the picture. Additionally, the colors change and cycle through from blue to red to green. Given the slow shutter speed that's required in the dark conditions, it's not easy to capture the photograph before the color changes. I boosted my ISO to 400 to try to combat those problems as the higher ISO setting enabled me to choose a faster shutter speed.
I was fortunate to get as many pictures as I did before security made me pack up my tripod!
]]>On a typical day, the following lenses were placed in my backpack: (1) Nikon 14-24; (2) Nikon 24-70; (3) Nikon 70-200 VRII; (4) Nikon 105 VR; and (5) Sigma 15mm Fisheye. The first three lenses are often referred to as the "Holy Trinity". That trio of lenses covers the focal lengths from wide to narrow (14mm through 200mm). All three lenses are fast (f/2.8) and sharp.
During the road trip, I considered 314 images to be keepers. Those are the images that I processed. The Holy Trinity of lenses accounted for 76% of these photographs. The 500 VR was used extensively on the last day of the trip for capturing animal portraits at Bear Country, USA in Rapid City. It also came in handy for some close up shots of Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. I probably shouldn't have bothered carrying the Nikon 105VR in my bag as I didn't capture a single picture with it this time.
While walking down the streets of Columbus, Indiana I came across a similar situation. There's a long, narrow corridor in an office building--and I really liked how the light was casting shadows along the walls. I love taking pictures of corridors! My problem is that the scene was just out of my reach. I could see it clearly enough through the clear door, but a locked door stood between me and the photograph!
I came up with a plan. I figured that if I waited long enough, an employee might exit the building and leave the door open long enough for me to enter. After about ten minutes, that's exactly what happened.
I'm very good at setting up my tripod quickly. Within 15 seconds, I had the camera secured to my tripod and quickly blasted five bracketed exposures. Within another 10 seconds, I noticed a person entering the frame from the very back of the corridor. I planned to wait until the employee passed through the scene--but as she approached a little closer I noticed that she was a security guard.
Of course, I was asked to leave the building. But, I'm grateful that I had my 30 seconds to capture one of my favorite images from that road trip!
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Here's one of the images I captured from this vantage point:
I like the result, but my hope was to capture another photograph of the skyline from a higher vantage point. That way, the buildings that are currently blocked by the bridge also become visible. Fortunately, I noticed a parking garage behind me that stood at least 40 feet higher than this vantage point along the water.
I trekked back around the condominium building and walked up the open ramp of the parking garage to get the shot. As I was walking up the ramp, I noticed a man standing in the lot and assumed that he was a resident. Later on, it became apparent that he was part of the condominium's maintenance crew. I was about 30 feet from the edge of the lot facing this scene when he asked me what I was doing. It should have been obvious what I was doing given that I had a tripod with the camera on it positioned over my right shoulder. But, his tone seemed friendly enough, so I started telling him about how I was down by the water shooting before I noticed how I might be able to get this higher vantage point to capture the picture of Hartford.
He said that the condominium complex is private property. I realized that and said that I had no intention of entering the building and that I was just hoping to grab a quick shot from where I was by then standing on the parking lot.
I asked if would be OK to take a quick picture and then I would be on my way. I figured that taking a photo of the skyline couldn't possibly do any harm. To my surprise, he then told me that I am not permitted to take pictures of the skyline from the parking lot. I honestly thought he was kidding. He asked me what the residents might think if they saw me taking pictures of the buildings. I thought they might think I was taking photographs of downtown Hartford--I guess I just didn't understand his point. He said that if I was a resident or an invited guest, it wouldn't be a problem. But, given that I am just a tourist, no photographs would be permitted. And, he wasn't kidding!
]]>I arrived at the New Jersey State House in Trenton early in the morning. After shooting some images outside of the building, I entered the State House. Security would not allow me to proceed past the initial holding area until 10:00 am, which was the time of the first guided tour. So, I sat there for nearly 30 minutes waiting for my guide to arrive.
I could hardly believe my luck. I was the only person on the tour as I walked with the tour guide into the rotunda area. Then, the guide told me that I would be joining a large group of about 25 people for the tour. She apologized for the group being late and said that she was expecting them at any minute. At this point, I was positioned inside the rotunda--so I began shooting. My plan was to capture as many pictures as possible before the crowd arrived. While I had the rotunda mostly to myself, I quickly lined up images of the inner dome and the stained glass windows. Fortunately, it was a late arriving crowd. I had nearly 15 minutes of shooting time before they started filing into the rotunda.
At that point, the tour began. It was nearly impossible to create any images with such a large crowd gathered in a relatively small space. Eventually, we made our way into the chambers--first the General Assembly and then the Senate chamber. While the guide was presenting information about each chamber, she positioned herself directly in front of my lens, making it impossible to capture any images at all. In the meantime, I carefully positioned the camera on the tripod and tested the camera settings. Within seconds of the guide moving out of my way, I activated the shutter. In general, I had no more than 30 seconds because the reason for the guide's movement was to go to the next room. My pictures usually involved seven bracketed exposures with each exposure averaging about 5 seconds. The guide was usually asked me to keep up with the group as the last frame was being exposed--so not much room for error!
On a side note, some of the questions from the crowd were quite alarming. One woman asked if New Jersey had a State House like the one we were touring for each congressional district. There are only 12 districts in New Jersey--but that would still be a significant expense to maintain that many State Capitol buildings in just one state!
Click here to view 13 of my favorite images from the visit. Keep in mind that I only had time to shoot about 17 pictures in total!
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Instead, I selected a small section of the facade while framing the image. I find that zooming into a small area of the scene will often result in a more interesting photograph.
To keep the lines straight, it helps to back away from the building. As one moves further from the building, the amount of vertical distortion is reduced. The issue here is that there is a cyclone fence located directly across the street from this relatively tall building. Fortunately, there was an open gate along the fence which allowed me to enter a baseball field across from the residence hall. So, I attached a telephoto lens and moved back quite a distance before capturing this shot:
To measure (and correct) for any color issues with the skin, I first open the file in Photoshop. I then open the "Info" palette (Window>>Info). Once the Info palette is open, select the "Color Sampler Tool". Then, drop a color sampler control point or two on representative portions of the skin on the face. Note the Color Sampler point #1 on his forehead just above his left eyebrow:
Next, convert the RGB values inside of the Info palette to CMYK percentages by clicking on the little eyedropper on the left side of the readings. The readings should for the selected sample should now appear as CMYK percentage values. For this control point, the cyan reading is 11%, the magenta reading is 48% and the Yellow reading is 74%:
Before proceeding, I refer to a few guidelines for reading an average caucasian's skin tone:
- Take a reading of the cyan value. Magenta should be about double the value of cyan.
- Yellow should be about 1/3rd to 1/5th higher than magenta.
- Yellow and magenta should be about equal for babies and young people.
In the above photograph, the yellow value is too high as compared to the magenta reading. So, my instinct is correct--the skin is too yellow! My next step is to make some adjustments to the color curves to correct the skin tones. Before getting started with those adjustments, I create a Curves adjustment layer. I then select the Blue channel within the Curve.
Then, I select the portion of the curve that represents my first control point and drag the curve up (more blue, less yellow) until the yellow reading drops closer to the magenta reading:
Next, I make an adjustment to the same portion of the curve, but this time I open the Red channel and drag it down (less red, more cyan) until the cyan reading reaches about half of the magenta value. At this point, the cyan is just under half of the magenta value. And, the yellow value is 20% (1/5th) higher than the magenta value. Based upon these relationships, we know that Zimmer's color is now typical for a caucasian skin.
The skin color now looks accurate to me--and far better than in the original image. And, the numbers bear that out. If you are not yet satisfied, you can always drop more Color Sampler points on different portions of the skin and use the same method for correcting each area. Also, if you don't like what's happening to the color of the background, feel free to mask it off in the layer.
I've used this method quite often when skin tones need correcting. Once you get the hang of it, you can accomplish the steps quite quickly.
]]>When I photograph sunrises, I like to get to the location at least 30 minutes before sunrise. This gives me time to set up, and I usually prefer the quality of light before the sun actually rises.
Another thing I try to do is to scout the location in advance. The day before my photo shoot, I drove to the top of the mountain and selected my vantage point. The classic photograph from Cadillac Mountain includes slabs of granite in the foreground with the bay and islands in the background.
To reach the top of the mountain in time, one needs to leave very early in the morning. Sunrise was at 5:07 am, so I left the campground at 4:15 am--and that was cutting it close. To my surprise, the traffic became congested as I approached the road that leads to the summit! A caravan of cars, nearly bumper to bumper, worked their way up the winding mountain road.
When I arrived at the summit's parking lot, there were only a few open spaces left. Before long, the lot was filled and people were parking along the road. To my disappointment, there were so many people at the summit that I couldn't set up my tripod on the spot I selected during my scouting. There were hundreds of people scattered around the summit by 4:45 am! My conservative estimate is that at least 500 people were there, but I wouldn't be surprised if the number was closer to 1,000 people. It amazed me that there were so many people out and about at 4:45 am, including numerous families with small children. This is not the type of experience that we envision as landscape photographers.
I moved forward to a new vantage point that eliminated all of the tourists from the frame. Unfortunately, that meant sacrificing the granite foreground. But, I was still pleased with this image that I titled "First Light":
Later that morning, I was taking pictures in the nearby town of Bar Harbor when a couple of people approached to ask me if I had been on the summit for sunrise. They shared the following picture with me--a rare photograph where I'm the subject! This is an image of me moving from the spot that I scouted the previous day to the area where I captured the "First Light" photograph displayed above:
You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor.
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes the per unit cost very high. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. Often times, promo codes are available through a Google search to lower the cost by 15 to 25%. I used the promo code TIME25 for a 25% discount.
This is the eighth annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created. I always wonder if I'll capture enough decent photographs in the upcoming year to keep this streak alive! I think my next books will center on State Capitols and Places of Worship.
]]>This photo was captured in August during my road trip through the Capital Cities of the Northeast.
This marks the 29th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view the other 28 winning entries over the past three years.
When working with photo stock agencies, you tend to come across your photographs in some unexpected places!
- Events in which the action is reasonably far away
- Compressing landscapes and removing unwanted elements from the frame
- Portraits of larger animals, particularly at the zoo
EVENTS:
My 500VR lens got a workout at the reenactment activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War battles at Gettysburg. The lens enabled me to get a closer view of the action. It compressed the battlefield--helping to make the scene appear more congested. Finally, the narrow field of view helped to keep unwanted elements (e.g., spectators, cars, etc.) out of the frame.
Other events where the 500VR is beneficial include air shows.
LANDSCAPES:
The 500VR helps to simplify and compress landscape images. The narrow field of view also enables me to select just a small portion of the landscape to feature in the photograph.
ANIMAL PORTRAITS:
The 500VR lens lets me fill the frame when photographing larger animals at the zoo. The extended reach of the lens means that little or no cropping of the frame is required during post processing, which yields higher image quality.
BIRDS:
And, let's not forget the birds. It's a great lens for photographing birds.
Personally, I think it makes it easier to create more interesting photographs when shooting at the extremes of the focal length scale. I find myself shooting at either the 14mm (my widest lens) or the 500mm (my narrowest lens) focal length for a high percentage of my shots.
]]>While taking photographs at the zoo, my approach is to watch an animal's behavior for a while--sometimes up to 30 or 40 minutes. If an animal is sleeping, I usually visit another exhibit and return later. If an animal is exhibiting an interesting behavior, it will usually cycle through those behaviors repeatedly. This makes it more likely to capture an action at a peak moment.
For example, I noticed how this Alaskan brown bear would dive into the small pool of water, then swim to the other side, get out of the water, walk around the perimeter of the large exhibit, and then dive back into the pool of water--starting the cycle all over again. During the first cycle, I was observing and didn't capture any pictures. I was more prepared for the second round, but missed on the timing of these challenging shots. The third time was a charm:
There was no fourth time. But, if I had stayed for another 45 minutes, I bet that the bear would have repeated the cycle again!
]]>Day 1- Sioux City, IA
Day 2- Sioux Falls, SD: St. Joseph Cathedral, Falls Park, Zoo
Day 3- Wall, SD: Badlands National Park
Day 4- Wall, SD: Badlands National Park
Day 5- Wall, SD: Badlands National Park
Day 6- Custer, SD: Custer State Park
Day 7- Custer, SD: Wind Cave National Park
Day 8- Deadwood, SD: Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial
Day 9- Rapid City, SD: Bear Butte, Chapel in the Hills
Day 10- Des Moines, IA
Day 11- Orland Park, IL
This 11 day trip will cover approximately 2,300 miles. I won't be leaving for about a month, so hopefully the weather will hold up.
]]>I arrived at the cemetery at dusk. I had difficulty finding the tomb. There aren't any signs pointing the way. I wanted to find the tombstone before dark so that I could capture a few photographs. Fortunately, a man was walking his dog through the cemetery and was able to help me find it.
The burial site is surprisingly unassuming for a President of the United States. Only the small flags in front of the tombstone give any indication that a person of historic significance is buried here. There are many other tombstones in the vicinity that are at least as large as this one. The low key treatment might in part be due to the general consensus that Franklin Pierce was one of the nation's least effective Presidents.
Pierce suffered his share of tragedies. All three of his sons died in childhood. The first died in infancy and the second of disease at age four. A few weeks after his election to the Presidency, the family was riding on a train that crashed. Pierce and his wife survived the accident, but Pierce's eleven year old son died in the crash. Pierce, his wife and two sons are all buried at this site.
This picture presented some challenges from a photography perspective. I could only back up a few feet from the tombstone, so a very wide angle lens was required. I used my Nikon 14-24 lens at the widest focal length. Also, I was shooting into the setting sun, so I bracketed five exposures (one stop apart) and blended them together during post processing to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.
The parakeets are a challenging subject to photograph. They are quite small at about 6 inches tall. They are also fast and fidgety. And, they are housed in an indoor exhibit where light levels aren't the brightest.
I noticed that one of the side walls is painted in a color that nearly matches that of some of the parakeets. So, I focused my lens on a ledge and waited for a parakeet of the right color to land. Sometimes, the ledge was busy with several parakeets at once. Other times, the parakeet was facing away from the lens. After waiting for a while, a parakeet of a matching color assumed the pose that I was looking for.
Sometimes, the real subject of the photograph is the color!
When composing such an image, it's important to view the scene from various perspectives. In this case, I ended up positioning the camera very close to the floor to ensure that as much of the reflection is included in the frame as possible.
Another aspect to consider is the high dynamic range included in this scene. Obviously, the chandeliers are very bright while other sections of the corridor are quite dark. To retain details in the highlights and shadows, I captured seven exposures (one stop apart) and blended them during post processing to create a HDR (high dynamic range) image.
I enjoy taking pictures of corridors with vanishing points. While I would have photographed this corridor without the reflection, I think the shiny floor and the strong reflection improves this photograph significantly.
I'm glad they mopped the floor before I arrived!
The camera is in perfect operating condition. It is also in excellent cosmetic condition--although does have a minor scratch on the pop up flash cover. The camera has 70,500 shutter clicks. In addition to the camera body, I'm including the following two items (which sell for nearly $400 if new):
- MB-D10 Vertical Grip - $200 new (item shows some cosmetic wear, but works flawlessly)
- Kirk L-Bracket - $180 new (item shows some cosmetic wear, but is solid like most Kirk products)
The camera ships in its original gold box and comes with its unused D700 strap and manuals. This is one of Nikon's legendary cameras and is super fast with included vertical grip. The last time I used the camera was on May 1st for a tennis photo shoot. Click here to view those action shots.
I'm asking $1,100 for the camera, vertical grip and L-bracket. This includes PayPal fees and shipping within the continental United States.
Please contact me at [email protected] or at 708-846-1466 (cell) with any questions.
Glenn Nagel
]]>Wikipedia defines the blue hour as:
"The blue hour is the period of twilight each morning and evening when the sun is a significant distance below the horizon and the residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue hue. This effect is caused by the relative diffusability of short blue wavelengths of light versus the longer red wavelengths. During the blue "hour" (typically the period is about 40 minutes in length), red light passes straight into space while blue light is scattered in the atmosphere and therefore reaches the earth's surface. Because of the quality of the light, this period is treasured by artists. Photographers call it sweet light."
Here's an example of how the blue hour impacts a photograph. This was my last photo shoot from my recent trip through the Capital Cities of the Southeast.
Sunset was 4:08 PM in Charleston, West Virginia. With all of the cloud cover, there wasn't much of a sunset to photograph. At 4:16 PM, the sky was still gray. I was beginning to doubt whether any colors would appear at all that night:
At 5:31 PM, the scene became much more colorful in large part due to the blue hour:
I experienced the blue hour several times during this trip. Here's one from Atlanta:
And here's another one from Charleston, South Carolina:
Finally, here's a recent one from Providence, Rhode Island:
On a typical day, the following lenses were placed in my backpack: (1) Nikon 14-24; (2) Nikon 24-70; (3) Nikon 70-200 VRII; (4) Nikon 105 VR; and (5) Sigma 15mm Fisheye. The first three lenses are often referred to as the "Holy Trinity". That trio of lenses covers the focal lengths from wide to narrow (14mm through 200mm). All three lenses are fast (f/2.8) and sharp.
During the road trip, I considered 492 images to be keepers. Those are the images that I processed. Of the 492 pictures, all but 25 were captured with one of the Holy Trinity lenses. The Holy Trinity of lenses accounted for 96% of all of my photographs!
Of course this distribution will change dramatically if I schedule a photography trip with an emphasis on wildlife. Then, the distribution would skew heavily in favor of the telephoto lenses--and I would also bring my 500 VR into the equation.
But taking pictures on the Harvard campus was not an easy task. For one thing, I've never experienced such severe access restrictions before. Months before my campus visit, I requested permission to take pictures inside the Widener Library. The response was that photography is not permitted inside the library--even without a tripod. Furthermore, photography of any kind is prohibited in any building on the Harvard campus. I was also told that tripods are not permitted anywhere on the campus--not even outside while shooting the exterior of buildings.
When I arrived on campus, I found the restrictions to be even more severe than that. As I approached the security screening station inside the Widener Library, I was told that not only couldn't I take pictures inside the building, but that I wasn't allowed to enter the building even without a camera. This held true for all of the buildings that I approached--including Memorial Church and Sever Hall. Even as part of one of the guided tours, we were not permitted to enter any of the buildings--which greatly diminished the tour experience.
That being said (or written), I could easily understand why Harvard University needs to put these restrictions in place. Before long, the University won't allow visitors to step foot on campus. Part of the reason is that the campus was just packed with tourists. It was so crowded that it literally reminded me of how the crowds were the last time I visited Disneyland. One of the pictures I attempted to capture was an image of the statue of John Harvard in the Harvard Yard. This was a frustrating experience as there was a very large crowd waiting to take pictures of the statue. The approach I took to get one quick picture was to have my brother stand next to the statue for a second to clear the crowd--then he backed away for the scene to clear.
If crowds were permitted to view the interior of the Widener Library or the Memorial Church, the buildings would be swarming with people. It would also require constant maintenance as the carpeting would get beat down in a very short period of time.
I thought that maybe I just happened to visit on an unusually crowded July day, so I returned the next day. It was just as crowded during my second try.
MIT, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as crowded. And, all of the buildings were open and accessible for photography. To view my images from these campuses, please CLICK HERE.
]]>During my visit to the Massachusetts State House, I was pleased to see that the chambers were open and lit. It's more difficult to capture those images when the chambers are locked and accessible only through the guided tour. Better yet, I was the only one in the chamber. In fact, I was probably the only visitor in the entire building at that time.
So, I set my tripod up and took the following image for starters:
I like the image, but it's taken from the side as you can see by the position of the podium on the right side of the frame. In most of the capitols, I end up temporarily moving certain obstacles such as ropes, stands and signs from the scene. I always put them back in place after the picture is taken.
In this Senate chamber, there was a security guard standing to my right. At first, he warned me about the tripod. He pointed out that someone might trip over one of the tripod legs. I replied that I shoot with a tripod all the time and that I would immediately move the tripod if anyone entered the chamber.
After I captured a few images from the side, I tried moving to the back center of the room to get the more conventional perspective. The problem was that I couldn't quite get positioned there. There was a rope hanging between two temporary stands about three feet from where I needed to be.
In nearly every capitol that I visit, I simply unhook the rope, move into position to get the shot, and then hook the rope back into position. Since the security guard was in the room with me, I thought it would be good to ask. So, I asked him if it would be possible for me to move over three feet for a few seconds to grab that one picture. He said that messing with the rope would not be possible. And that was the end of the story! It's always a little frustrating when things like this happen after driving 1,100 miles to get to a site.
]]>While visiting the Delaware State Capitol, or Legislative Hall in Dover, it was nearly impossible to achieve symmetry while creating the chamber shots. Take a look at how off balance the House of Representatives chamber looks from the center aisle:
The center aisle is shifted far to the right within the frame. The reason for this is that of the 41 representatives, 25 are Democrats and just 16 are Republicans. Since there isn't much additional space within the room, the large percentage of Democrats causes the center aisle to shift to the right of the frame. If there had been 4 or 5 more Republicans, I could have achieved symmetry within my photograph.
I experience a similar issue in the Senate chamber. 12 of Delaware's 21 state Senators are Democrats. So, my picture of the Senate chamber also lacks symmetry:
One way around the symmetry challenge is to ignore it and shoot from a different perspective:
From this perspective, it's more difficult to determine how many Democrat and Republican representatives there are in Delaware. And, it can make for a more interesting picture as well.
So, I drove to APS (Authorized Photo Service) in Morton Grove, Illinois. After explaining the issue, the first APS employee I met said that I would need to leave both the camera (Nikon D800) and the grip so that a technician could determine which item was causing the problem. I suggested that we take the grip and attach it to a working D800 to help isolate whether the problem related to the grip. I didn't like the idea of leaving my camera again after just getting it back from Nikon's service center in Melville a couple of days ago.
Next, a technician was called to the counter so that I could explain the problem to a more experienced person. I handed the camera with grip to the technician. He briefly touched the grip, handed the camera back to me and said that the problem was fixed!
Sensing my confusion, he told me that there is a small lock switch right next to the shutter button on the grip. He simply moved it out of the locked position. Apparently, when it's locked the shutter and other controls cannot be activated. My Google searches relating to how to fix a grip that isn't responding didn't yield such a solution.
I've been using the grip for more than three years and never knew that the grip had a lock switch! I must have accidentally knocked it into the locked position at some point during my last day of shooting on my road trip through the Capital Cities of the Northeast. I doubt that this lock feature is something that I'll ever willingly use.
My camera and grip are now working perfectly. Learning that the solution was so simple was somewhat embarrassing. On the other hand, the good news is that the grip didn't require a repair!
]]>In addition to my camera, I experienced issues with three other pieces of gear during my recent road trip through the Capital Cities of the Northeast! Another component that caused some problems was my Really Right Stuff (RRS) BH-55 ballhead. More specifically, the quick release clamp was sticking. At first, it was rather alarming. I was taking pictures of the Van Wickle gates at Brown University when I decided to flip my camera into the vertical position for a few more shots. The camera would not release from the clamp--so it was stuck to the tripod! Although I could flip the lever open easily enough, the clamp itself was not responding. Fortunately, RRS has excellent customer service. I called RRS right then. The representative explained that I should shift the camera back and forth with some force to pry it loose from the clamp. I was able to eventually remove the camera from the tripod. The representative also referenced this helpful video from the RRS website regarding this issue. After I returned home, I followed the video's instructions and the ballhead seems to be working properly now.
So, two down...two to go. The next issue I had was with my camera's MB-D12 vertical battery grip. I find the vertical grip to be an important tool for my photography. It looks like this:
By attaching this grip to the bottom of the camera, a second shutter button and autofocus controls are located in an easily accessible position when shooting vertically. Other benefits to the grip include more battery power, a faster frame rates, and more balance when shooting with heavier lenses. On the last day of my trip, the grip still provided power to the camera--so I know it was properly connected. But, none of the other controls respond at all. So, it's off to Authorized Photo Service (APS) in Morton Grove tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that the problem will be resolved by cleaning the contacts...but I haven't had any luck getting the grip to work by cleaning it.
As a side note, the vertical grip works great with a L-bracket. The L-bracket looks like this:
With an L-bracket attached to the vertical grip (and the camera), you can easily attach the camera to a tripod in either a horizontal or vertical position, and the lens will maintain the same relative position.
The fourth item which caused issues for me during the trip is my Gitzo tripod. The legs now require more force to tighten. If I don't take extra care to tighten the legs enough, the legs slowly slip down while I'm shooting. I called Gitzo and was told that this issue is common after a tripod has been used extensively for years. The bearings begin to wear down. The more surprising thing is that the estimate for this maintenance is about $350. So, I'm just taking more care during tightening at this point. But, before long I'll need to deal with the issue.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the zipper on my Think Tank Airport Acceleration v2 backpack also failed recently! Think Tank told me that the zipper tends to fail after five years or so when used extensively. Fortunately, a local shoe repair store repaired the zipper for a relatively low cost.
]]>It started with an early breakfast at the Hampton Inn in Warwick, Rhode Island. I then drove into Providence in time to enter the Rhode Island State House as soon as it opened. I spent a couple of hours taking pictures of the interior of the State Capitol building before taking the guided tour of the building.
Since the legislature was out of session, security allowed me to park my car in the lot that is normally reserved for state representatives. I decided to leave my car in that parking lot all day and walk to my other destinations within Providence.
My next stop was City Hall. Providence City Hall is an impressive building. I spent a couple of hours taking photographs of the interior--and climbed countless steps during that visit. During my photo shoot, I was approached by a long-time employee who works in the city's archival department. He was incredibly cooperative and opened the City Council chambers so that I could capture pictures inside that room as well.
After City Hall, I worked my way over to the campus of Brown University. One of the first buildings I entered was the First Baptist Church in America. This church was founded in 1638 by Roger Williams and is the oldest Baptist Church congregation in the United States--hence the church's name. The current building was opened in 1774. I was welcomed into the church and provided with private access to the sanctuary under the condition that my pictures would not be made available for sale.
From there, I climbed the hill to the Providence Athenaeum. This historic building was opened in 1836. This was the only building during the entire road trip in which a tripod wasn't permitted.
My next stop was another library on the campus of Brown University--the John Hay Library. The library was opened in 1910 and was named for the private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.
The Van Winkle gates are across the street from the John Hay Library. The side gates remain open throughout the year, while the center gates remain closed except for two occasions each year. At the beginning of the academic year, the center gates open inward to admit students. At the end of the second semester, the gates open outward for the Commencement Day procession.
It was now 2:00 pm, so I stopped for lunch at the Chipotle restaurant on the campus of Brown University. From there, I walked over to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) library for a brief photo shoot.
I was fortunate to have a thunderstorm come through the area. The light after the storm was exceptional, so I started captured pictures of just about anything in front of the lens--including this vacant art deco tower.
It was fun creating some architectural abstracts as well:
The light was exceptional--here's one looking into the hills of Providence in the direction of Brown University:
I stopped at Panera Bread near Waterplace Park for dinner. I needed the rest, but also wanted to stay downtown to capture some night shots--especially of Waterplace Park. I had scouted this location off the Martin Luther King, Jr. bridge the previous night. Unfortunately, I missed the WaterFire. That's when fires are lit on all of those structures in the river. I would have had to stay in Providence for another three weeks to see that--and photography would have been more challenging then as the event typically draws about 40,000 visitors.
Then, it was about 8:30 pm and I climbed back up the hill to the parking lot at the State Capitol. As I was placing my backpack into the car, I noticed that the dome was illuminated with red, white and blue lights. So, I grabbed my equipment and walked around the building to capture this view:
By the time I returned to the hotel, I was exhausted. It was nearly 10:00 pm. According to my Jawbone fitness band, I had walked 12 miles. My shoulders were aching from having the camera gear on my back for nearly the entire 13 hours. Only later did I realize that the post processing would take longer than the time it took to capture the images!
First, this is a rare pose for Lincoln in that he is standing. He almost always preferred to be depicted as sitting. According to the guide, he was somewhat self conscious about his height given that he stood 6' 4" tall in an era when the average man was far shorter than that. He probably would not have approved of this portrait, but had no say in the matter as the artist didn't paint it until a few decades after Lincoln's death.
The guide also mentioned that subjects would often pose with one arm behind their back. The reason for this is that painters would charge substantially more for a painting if the limbs were to be included. The addition of arms and legs added to the cost. Hence the expression, "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg."
Now that I've visited all 48 state capitols within the continental United States, I've probably seen more portraits of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington than most people will ever see!
After I captured a few images, I mentioned how unusual it is these days for photography to be permitted inside a place like Veldeer's. The employees at Veldeer's were surprised that anyone would object to photography. They asked me why others would have a problem with someone taking pictures. They said that people like taking pictures at Veldeer's as it's considered to be a tourist attraction.
So, I was able to capture a series of images inside the store/factory. These pictures were taken with the camera secured to a tripod. Several of them are comprised of multiple exposures blended to create high dynamic range photographs. Click here to view the images from this photo shoot.
Here are a few images from Veldeer's. It's not everyday that one has an opportunity to photograph a wooden shoe factory!
It's not surprising that my Nikon D800 is beginning to experience a few issues. I purchased it as soon as Nikon made it available about 3 1/2 years ago. My camera has 70,000 actuations now and I have done nothing to maintain it other than sensor cleanings. During this trip, the pad on the back of the camera that moves the autofocus point within the frame stopped working on occasion. Also, the autofocus failed to work on a few occasions. Of course, after capturing thousands of images over the past three weeks and making countless lens changes in the field, the camera needs a good cleaning as well.
Given this, I was pleased that Nikon has offered to clean and inspect my camera for free! I received the following offer from Nikon in a recent email:
Not only will Nikon clean and maintain my camera, but the shipping is also covered both ways.
When I first received this offer, I was skeptical. I've been using Nikon equipment for years and never received an offer like this before. I thought maybe this was a scam in which someone was trying to collect a bunch of cameras. But, it's a legitimate offer. I checked with other photographers who have already taken advantage of this offer. And, the serial number that's referenced is correct and the shipping address is accurate as well.
This is a perfect time for me to send my camera in for repair. I have thousands of pictures to sort through over the upcoming weeks, so I probably wouldn't have been shooting very much in the near future. Thanks Nikon!
]]>This photo was captured just two ago on a brief photography trip that I made to St. Louis. This photo was recently featured in the Image Talk column of Apogee Photo Magazine.
This marks the 28th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view the other 27 winning entries over the past three years.
I like the Think Tank bag best because it holds so much gear in a relatively small space. Most times, I carry the following in the bag with room to spare:
- Nikon D800 with grip
- Nikon 14-24 2.8
- Nikon 24-70 2.8
- Nikon 70-200 2.8
- Nikon 105 VR
- Sigma 15mm Fisheye
- Several filters
Although I have to remove some lenses, the bag is capable of holding my 500 VR. This amount of storage comes in handy when traveling as the bag is designed to fit into the overhead compartment of an airplane.
While taking pictures in the South Carolina capital city of Columbia, my Think Tank bag finally failed me. I was photographing the interior of the South Carolina Supreme Court building when the zipper of the backpack somehow got off track. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the bag zippered up. Since I had some heavy gear in the bag, it was going to be a major task carrying all of it without being able to strap the backpack onto my back. I wasn't looking forward to walking more than a mile back to my parked car with 25 pounds of cumbersome gear in my arms!
To my surprise, the courtroom security guard came to the rescue. He worked on my bag for quite some time. After ten minutes or so, he somehow got the zipper working again. And his repair has stood the test of time so far--the zipper is still working like when it was new. I was grateful as not only did it make the hike back to the car a lot more comfortable, but I still had a couple of weeks left on my photography trip through the Southeast.
Here's the last shot that I captured in the courtroom before the zipper gave out:
]]>
For a brief time, there were two window washers to choose from. Before long, the man on the left reached the ground. His work was done. I was left with just one window washer for the next 30 minutes or so.
This was an unexpected photo subject for me. I enjoyed taking pictures of this activity. It was like watching an adventure sport!
Later, I learned that this kind or work typically pays between $15 and $25 per hour. There's no way I would get up there for anywhere near that level of pay--or any amount of pay for that matter!
I used the Nikon 70-200 2.8 and the Nikon 300 2.8 for this photo session.
It's easy to dial in a slow shutter speed to create a long exposure at night. It's more challenging during the day. In the bright conditions, even the narrowest aperture and lowest ISO setting results in a shutter speed that's too fast to create the blur.
I used the following steps to blur the traffic:
- Used a very narrow aperture (f/20). This minimizes the amount of light that reaches the sensor.
- Set the base ISO of 100 to minimize the sensor's sensitivity to light.
- Attached a neutral density (ND) filter to my lens. This reduced the amount of light reaching the sensor by about 7 stops.
The resulting shutter speed was nearly a full second (0.8 seconds)...slow enough to create the blur. For more blur, I would extend the shutter speed to taste. This would be accomplished by using a stronger neutral density filter. Or in the case of my Vari-ND filter, I simply rotate to filter to strengthen the effect (anywhere from 1 to 8 stops). I also have a 10 stop ND filter.
Another factor in the equation is the speed of the traffic! When the traffic is inching along, it takes a far longer shutter speed to create blur. If the cars are speeding along at 60 miles per hour, a much faster shutter speed will still blur the vehicles. Fortunately, the LCD screen on the back of the digital camera provides instant feedback so shutter speed adjustments can be made instantly.
The key to creating a photograph like this is the ND filter. Without it, it's not possible to set the camera for a long enough shutter speed without overexposing the image.
As I approached the display, it became apparent that the jigsaw puzzle pattern was painted on a door. The door was dedicated to raising awareness of autism:
I then noticed that there were several other painted doors nearby, including this one that recognizes the recent winners of the 2015 Stanley Cup:
By the time I was done, I compiled a collection of 20 images of the "Doors of Oak Forest"! From a more technical perspective, I used the Nikon D800 and the Nikon 70-200 VRII for all of these pictures. I placed the camera on a tripod and set the aperture to f/8. The ISO was set at the base 100 for the D800 and I let the shutter speed take care of itself.
Please click here to view all of the images from my visit.
]]>When I entered the church from the bright daylight, the interior of the church appeared to be pitch black. I could hardly see anything. So I asked if there was any possibility to get the lights turned on inside the church--or if there was a better time to visit when the lights would be on. I was told that the lights (and he was referring to the floods) are only turned on during mass. Since photography is prohibited during mass, it's impossible to take pictures with the lights on. In time, as my eyes began to adjust to the dark interior, I gradually could see more. And, it always amazes me what my camera sensor can see if the exposure is long enough!
In the end, I was pleased with the photographs from the Basilica. Click here to view 16 images from the cathedral.
While walking around the Basilica, I estimated that there must be a million mosaic tiles in the church. My estimate was low. In fact, there are 41.5 million glass tiles in the Basilica in more than 7,000 colors. The tiles cover 83,000 square feet. It's the largest collection of mosaic tiles in the world!
Day 1: Somerset, PA
Day 2: Annapolis, MD
Day 3: Annapolis, MD
Day 4: Dover, DE
Day 5: Trenton, NJ
Day 6: Philadelphia, PA
Day 7: Hartford, CT
Day 8: Providence, RI
Day 9: Providence, RI
Day 10: Boston, MA
Day 11: Boston, MA
Day 12: Boston, MA
Day 13: Concord, NH
Day 14: Augusta, ME
Day 15: Augusta, ME
Day 16: Acadia National Park, ME
Day 17: Acadia National Park, ME
Day 18: Acadia National Park, ME
Day 19: Montpelier, VT
Day 20: Montpelier, VT
Day 21: Cleveland, OH
Day 22: Cleveland, OH
Day 23: Orland Park, IL
I like to spend a couple of days in the cities. That way, I can visit more local attractions than just the Capitol building. As you can tell by the itinerary, I also plan to visit some "non-Capital" cities--such as Philadelphia and Cleveland. I've always wanted to photograph the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia and I've already been granted permission to photograph the interior of the Cleveland Public Library. I've also dedicated three days for landscape photography in Arcadia National Park, Maine.
This trip covers 23 days and just over 3,000 miles. Once I return, I will have visited all of the State Capitol buildings in the Lower 48 states!
]]>As always, Google is my friend. It didn't take long to discover how to upload my digital files to Instagram. At this point, it's a little cumbersome--but manageable. The images on Instagram always appear in a square format. So, if my picture isn't square (and most of them aren't), I first open it in Photoshop. I add to the "canvas size" usually using a white background. I then crop the image to be square--which leaves a white background around the picture. Since Instagram uses a white background, the image then appears in the original dimension.
Here's an example of one with the extended white canvas to make the square crop:
In order to get my image into Instagram, I email the picture to myself. When I open the email on my iPhone, I save the photo. From there, it's just a matter of opening the Instagram application and selecting a photo that I previously saved on my phone. Since I've already processed the photograph to my liking within Photoshop, I don't use any of the filters that Instagram offers.
My hope is that Instagram will open a wider audience for my images. Part of the enjoyment of creating photographs is in sharing them. So, if you are an Instagram user, please consider "following" nagel_photography!
]]>Please click here to view the article.
Apogee Photo Magazine viewed many of the images on my website before selecting a photo to feature in "Image Talk." Of the more than 20,000 pictures on my site, they selected a photo that I captured just last month! Here's a copy of that image:
More recently, I've added libraries to my list of sites to photograph. CNN recently featured several of my library photographs in the Travel section of its website. Click here to view some of my favorite library images.
The first library that I photographed was my local library--the Orland Park Public Library.
Subsequently, I've visited the Seattle, Salt Lake City, Lexington, San Antonio, Denver and St. Louis libraries.
My visit to the Seattle Central Library helped me realize how libraries can be amazing architectural subjects. While I was in that library, there must have been at least 8 other photographers there. I took my time working my way up as the floors spiral ten stories into the air. There's an abundance of bright colors. And, there's plenty of glass which offers stunning views of downtown Seattle.
After reading the reviews, I made sure to visit the Salt Lake City. As with Seattle, the Salt Lake City Public Library is very contemporary and is an impressive structure. Unlike Seattle, I was able to use a tripod while capturing pictures inside the Salt Lake City Library.
Later, I visited the Lexington Public Central Library in Kentucky. This library houses the largest ceiling clock in the World as well as a five-story high pendulum.
The San Antonio library houses an impressive two-story Chihuly sculpture called the "Fiesta Tower":
The Denver library also has an impressive lobby area:
Most recently, I visited the St. Louis Public Library:
The libraries that I've mentioned so far in this blog entry are all public city libraries. However, I've also visited several state law libraries and university libraries which are at least as impressive (and will be the subject of a future blog entry).
So, which library wins the "Battle of the Libraries" in my view? My sentimental choice is Orland Park. But, I'll have to go with Seattle in this one!
]]>This photo was captured exactly one month ago on a brief photography trip that I made to Holland, Michigan.
This marks the 27th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view the other 26 winning entries over the past three years.
The St. Louis Zoo is also "photographer-friendly". Tripods are permitted and photography is encouraged.
I spent much of my time taking pictures of the Bactrian camels. I thought the pair of camels made for an interesting photograph. The challenge was getting both of them to look into my lens at the same time!
This photo was captured just a few weeks ago during a tennis practice at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. It's one of very few sports pictures that Imaging Resource has selected as one of its Photo of the Day winners. And, it's the first time that one of my sports photographs has won a photo contest of any kind.
This marks the 26th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view the other 25 winning entries over the past three years.
This was a very brief visit. I arrived in Holland at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, May 12th and left Holland at noon the next day. Despite the short trip, I captured a relatively large number of images. Click here to view my favorites from the trip.
When I first planned this trip, I intended to arrive in Holland on Thursday and to return on Friday. I made reservations at the Hampton Inn for Thursday night. Then, I remembered that I had a prior commitment for Thursday and rescheduled my trip for Tuesday. The Hampton Inn was sold out for Tuesday night. So, Prius camping came to the rescue!
Prius camping provides me with a great deal of flexibility. I can spend the night practically anywhere with very little advance planning. It allows me to get close to interesting locations like the Grand Haven Lighthouse for more convenient access. For example, I was able to photograph the lighthouse late one night (sunset was after 9:00 PM) and to return before sunrise the next morning (arriving at 5:30 AM).
Prius camping also makes a trip like this incredibly affordable. The cost of making this trip amounted to less than $40--and that included gas to cover 450 miles, tolls, food and the $10 admission fee to the tulip garden. The result of such an inexpensive trip is the addition of more than 30 photographs for my website and more than 75 images added to my stock portfolio.
Here are some of my favorites from this $40 trip:
In all of these buildings, the lights were turned on to make the photographs more appealing. I was also allowed access to the balconies of all three churches. While I was taking pictures inside the Pillar Church, the oldest building in Holland, I was asked if it would be alright for the organist to practice while I was there. He was concerned that his presence might negatively impact the images! I figured that I was a guest at the church and had no right to prohibit the organist from getting his practice session in--but it was very nice of him to ask.
Following are a few images from these churches. Please click here to view more photographs of the churches of Holland.
I now have photographs of 129 places of worship displayed on my website. Click here to view a list of these places of worship. Click here to view some of my favorite pictures of churches and other places of worship.
Following are some pictures of a large field of tulips without anybody in the frame. Capturing this picture would have been impossible during the festival. This particular location, Veldeer's, is crowded with hundreds of people walking through this field during Tulip Time. During my visit, I was the only person there for the first two hours of my visit. Then, four or five people finally arrived.
On the other hand, the Tulip Time Festival provides other interesting opportunities for photography. There are parades, a carnival, concerts, demonstrations and even fireworks. So, next time a visit to Holland during the festival will provide a whole new shooting experience.
During the evening, I took a drive north to visit the Grand Haven Lighthouse. I wasn't optimistic about my chances to get good photographs of the lighthouse as the sky was overcast and dull. But, as I was driving to Grand Haven the sky began to clear at the horizon.
Once I arrived, I immediately started shooting. I was happy with some of the images, but as time passed the conditions kept improving. So, I kept shooting. Thankfully, we live in the digital age. If I had been shooting film, this would have been a very expensive night.
Once the sun started to set, the light became far more interesting. I always enjoy including multiple sources of light within a frame. In this image, my first thought was to include the warm light of the setting sun. A little later, the white lights along the pier illuminated. Then, the red lights in the lighthouses activated.
It took many tries to get everything to come together. Finally, I captured the following elements within a single frame:
- I had only a few minutes when all three light sources were "on" at the same time: the setting sun, the pier and lighthouse lights.
- There are two structures on the pier: the Inner Light and the Entrance Light (in the background). The Inner Light rotates and is visible every second. The Entrance Light rotates more slowly. My goal was to time the exposure as both the Inner and Entrance Lights were visible.
- The waves were crashing into the pier now and then. I waited until a wave hit the pier in the right portion of the frame to strengthen the composition. More challenging is trying to time the crashing wave with the rotating Inner and Entrance lights!
- Thanks to the cold and windy conditions, the pier didn't attract a large crowd on this night. A few people walked to the end of the pier and back. But, it was relatively easy timing this to avoid having people in the frame.
After more than 100 attempts, I finally nailed it! Here's the final image:
After capturing this image, I went on to create several other photographs of the Grand Haven Pier and lighthouses. I'll share some of those in a future blog entry.
I noticed this row of pink tulips planted on the center island of the road that enters the mall. I saw that the street would provide a clean backdrop for the tulips. I moved the camera into a higher position and then closer to the tulips to ensure that the pavement would cover the background. I didn't want the grass in the background to intersect with the line of tulips. One of the challenges was getting into position quickly enough to take a picture during a rare lull in the traffic! Here's the image straight out of the camera:
After importing the file into Adobe's Lightroom 6, I made the following edits:
- Adjusted the white balance by pointing the WB eyedropper tool on the gray curb
- Reduced the exposure slightly (-0.12 stops)
- Reduced the highlights slightly
- Made a curve adjustment to create a black point within the frame
- Made lens corrections for chromatic aberration and for the lens profile
- Cropped the image
Then, I sent the image to Photoshop to make some additional edits:
- Selected the background (using the Select > Color Range tool)...and then painted the selection using a blue brush
- Applied a couple of Nik Color Efex filters (Foliage and Pro Contrast) to add some pop to the image
- Copied the layer and applied the Soft Light blending mode at a reduced opacity
- Cloned some areas around the edges for a cleaner border
After applying all of the above adjustments, here's how the image looks:
CLICK HERE for higher resolution image
Then, I created a second version (which I prefer) with some texture applied to the picture. Here are the steps that I used to create the final photograph:
- Opened the above image in Photoshop
- Opened one of my texture pictures in Photoshop (see below).
- Selected the entire texture picture (CTRL A in Windows)--then copied the entire picture as a new layer above the tulip picture
- Used the overlay blending mode for the textured layer and reduced its opacity to 35%
And, here's the final textured photograph!
CLICK HERE for higher resolution image
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When viewing all of these photos, you'll note that I took great pains to ensure that each frame is perfectly straight with a level horizon. The forum member suggested that I play with and add some tilt to some of the crops. Sometimes, shooting a subject on an angle makes the image more dynamic--which is particularly helpful with action shots.
I revisited some of the images and adjusted the crops. I like the affect. I also like how the treatment adds diversity to the collection of photos from the session. And, I suspect that the players will like some of the tilted shots more than my original crops!
Here's an example of two images--one with a straight horizon and the other with an intentional tilt:
The lessons that I learned from this are: 1) straight images are not necessarily better; and 2) be open to critique as it will likely improve my photography!
The photo shoot was scheduled for 3:30 PM on a Friday. I hoped for clouds as I don't like the high contrast images that result from harsh sunlight. The practice started out with a clear sky and some difficult lighting, but eventually some clouds diffused the light and led to more appealing pictures.
My goal was to create "sportraits". To me, a "sportrait" is a portrait of an athlete captured while they are playing a sport. My goal is to produce a tack sharp image in which the player's face is clearly visible, the expression is appropriate, and the ball is in the frame.
The keeper rate for this kind of session is quite low. I set the camera for a very wide aperture in order to blur the background as much as possible. The downside of this is that the field of acceptable focus is very narrow which leads to more out of focus frames. Also, the ball isn't in the frame for very long. Finally, the poses and expressions are very awkward in a high percentage of the frames. In the end, I shot 2,000 frames. 250 were keepers. I thought about 130 were worth editing.
To maximize the success rate, I used a few approaches. First, I looked for the court with the cleanest background. A few of the courts had blue windscreens along the fence--so I shot in that direction. Without the windscreen, the backgrounds would have been cluttered and the pictures would have been a mess. Next, I set the camera for a high shutter speed to stop the action (usually about 1/5000th of a second). I used the rapid burst feature of my Nikon D700 to achieve a high frame rate of approximately 8 frames per second. This can be achieved by inserting eight AA batteries into the battery grip.
Since this was a practice, I positioned myself on the court. Sometimes, I was just behind the net with tennis balls flying a few feet over my head (and my lens). In part because I was in the middle of the action, the players didn't always hitting the ball as hard as they otherwise might--which didn't result in realistic images. It's challenging getting players to move as if they are playing in a real match. Fortunately, all the players were cooperative and polite--and a pleasure to work with. Occasionally, the action resembled that of a real match.
After the images are captured, it's time to process them. I found that the highlight and shadow recovery sliders within Lightroom 6 were very helpful when processing many of the images from this photo shoot. Many times, I cloned out extra tennis balls that were laying in the background. Sometimes, I added some blur to the background. A few times I moved the tennis ball to a more appealing position within the frame. I almost always added a vignette to direct the viewer's eye to the subject of the picture--the player.
CLICK HERE to view 25 images from the photo shoot.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Initially, I hoped to capture a baseball team photo during this time. The overcast lighting would have been perfect for that subject. This kind of lighting produces low contrast--which makes it ideal for being able to see a face under the bill of a baseball cap. Unfortunately, the team was missing a player so the team photo will need to be taken at a later date. Hopefully, I won't be dealing with harsh sunlight during the replacement date!
Since Tinley Park is just a few miles from where I live, it would have been best to just pack up the gear and return in better lighting conditions. But, I got caught up in the compositions and didn't place enough consideration on the light. As a result, I spent an hour or so taking a variety of pictures that are mediocre at best.
As my post processing skills improve over the years, my chances of saving some of these mediocre files improve. But, regardless of editing skills, I've learned that nothing replaces a quality file that's captured at the time of the exposure. Trying to save photographs in Photoshop is kind of like "putting perfume on a pig."
When I was younger, I played the trumpet. During one of my music lessons, I added some "vibrato"--a bending of the pitch up and down while holding a note. My instructor stopped me immediately. He said that adding a vibrato isn't necessarily a bad thing. But, it's not a good thing at all to use the vibrato to try to cover up the inability to create a pure tone. You need to start out with a quality tone before playing around with special effects. I think this applies to photography. I must strive to create a quality file straight out of the camera in order to consistently produce better photographs.
Here's one of my images (straight out of the camera except for the crop) from my Tinley Park session:
I think it's really dull. So, I made some adjustments during post processing to create this picture:
I think it's improved. But, this kind of "Photoshop lighting" will never match the real thing. On a side note, there's no way that the above image would be accepted into any of the microstock agency portfolios. The extent of the post processing manipulations has all but destroyed the image quality at the detailed level.
For comparison purposes, here's an image from my previous photo shoot of the Orland Park Train Depot with very few edits in post processing:
One good thing about my visit to Tinley Park is that I have a better understanding of the compositions that I like for my return visit in better light.
This photo of the infant gorilla, Nora, was captured recently in the Tropic World exhibit of the Brookfield Zoo.
This marks the 25th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view the other 24 winning entries over the past three years.
My first approach was to use a very narrow aperture setting (f/22). However, the sign in the foreground was so close to the lens (about 2 feet away) that it wasn't possible to get both the sign and the school in focus even with a small aperture setting. This became apparent while checking the display on the back of the camera.
Focus stacking provides a couple of benefits. First, it makes it possible to create an image with both a sharp foreground and background. Next, it allows for a wider aperture setting (such as f/8 in this picture). Most lenses perform best at the middle aperture settings. As a result, not only is the image sharp from front to back, but the overall image quality is higher than it would be if I had settled for the f/22 setting.
CLICK HERE to view a larger (1,800 vertical pixels) resolution version of this image.
To read a previous blog entry about how I go about stacking the images, please CLICK HERE.
To view more photographs of the school, please CLICK HERE.
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To read more about this, click here.
]]>In North Carolina, the state supreme court is across the street from the capitol building. The first time I tried to enter the building, the doors were locked. The next morning I was on the capitol grounds so I tried again. This time the door was open.
After I entered the small lobby area, I asked the security guard if I could enter the courtroom for a few pictures. He said that the courtroom was closed. Court was not in session.
I explained that I prefer an empty courtroom since photography is almost never permitted when the supreme court justices are present. He replied that he thought the courtroom was undergoing renovation and that visitors would not be permitted that day. He suggested that the state seal in the lobby might make for an interesting subject.
I thanked him for the suggestion and went on to take a few photographs in the lobby. Although that isn't what I had in mind.
After a few minutes, the security guard had a change of heart. He called out to me that maybe he could escort me up to the courtroom. We could see if the room was under renovation or not. And, if I made it quick, he would give me time to capture a few photographs.
With the security guard standing next to me, I took a couple of horizontal photos and one vertical picture of the courtroom. It was a little more time consuming than it sounds as each of the three photographs consisted of seven exposures to create images with greater dynamic range. After the 21 exposures, he mentioned that we better head back down to the lobby as he couldn't be away from his station any longer.
On the way to and from the courtroom, I learned that the security guard has an interest in photography. He showed me a picture of the courtroom that he captured. His picture was far superior to mine as his photo has the justices posed behind the bench! It was his interest in photography that drove him to figure out a way for me to get my picture of the courtroom in the limited time that I was there.
While I'm sure that the lighting fixtures in the courtroom are energy efficient, they certainly don't provide that warm lighting that is present in so many courtrooms throughout the country.
While shopping for groceries at our local Jewel-Osco, I noticed some flowers for sale near the entrance to the store. The purple irises caught my attention. I like the combination of the colors (blue/purple and yellow). I also like the complexity of the structure of the petals. I am able to create more compositions of an iris than of some of the other flowers such as the daisies or carnations.
So, I purchased some irises. One of the advantages of buying flowers is that I can then take them inside to photograph. Taking pictures of flowers indoors is much easier as there is no wind to deal with. Also, I can arrange the lighting in any way that I see fit.
I created a mini studio in my living room:
- Clamped the stem of the iris and positioned the flower on my dining room table.
- Positioned a piece of white foamboard on the back of the table to serve as my background.
- Set up three Nikon SB flash units:
- 1- main light through small softbox (camera left)
- 2- fill light handheld (camera right)
- 3- flash placed behind flower and positioned to light the background (foamboard)
- Place camera on a tripod.
With the iris stabilized by the clamp and my mini studio providing my choice of lighting, I captured a variety of photograph of a single iris. I also changed the color of the background by adding color gels to the background flash unit. Later, I changed the backgrounds again for a few of the images through Photoshop.
CLICK HERE to view 9 pictures of the iris.
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Many times, I'll observe an animal at an exhibit in the Brookfield Zoo--waiting for the animal to assume a particular pose or behave in an interesting way for a good photograph. This waiting game can take quite a while. It's not unusual for me to observe an animal for 30 or 45 minutes before some photo opportunities present themselves.
Other times, I give up after a while. A good percentage of the time, the animal will suddenly begin doing something worthy of a photograph at the exact time that my camera/lens was packed! I watch the animal as I remove the camera/lens from the tripod, place the camera in the pack, fold up the tripod, zipper up the bag, etc. Many times, I have to put everything back in place to capture a few images. Fortunately, I have a lot of experience with my tripod and can get everything up and ready to go in about 15 seconds!
This experience is not limited to animals in captivity. The most memorable experience with a wild animal was when I captured some photographs of a burrowing owl in Marco Island, Florida. I knew that these owls burrow in yards in the residential areas of Marco Island, so I drove 45 minutes to Marco Island in hope of photographing the owls. When I arrived, I could see mounds in lawns throughout the neighborhoods--which I assumed housed the owls. Yet, I never saw an owl!
Finally, I decided to observe one of the largest and more promising looking mounds for a while. I secured my camera and large telephoto lens to my tripod and composed an image from a very low vantage point. The best way to achieve a clean background is by using a wide aperture and selecting a vantage point where the background is a good distance from the subject. By getting low, I avoided having more ground placed in the frame--which is closer to the subject than the distant field. Also, getting low makes this very small bird look more imposing. He stands at less than 12 inches tall!
Now, all I needed was an owl! Since I already invested 90 minutes into a round trip drive and another 20 minutes into finding a promising mound, I figured that I would allow 30 minutes for an owl to appear. After 30 minutes, I finally gave up. I assumed that the owls had abandoned the burrow--or that they were resting and might not appear for several more hours. So, I packed everything up and walked back to my car--which was parked relatively close to the mound.
As soon as I placed my bag back in the car, I heard noises coming from the mound area. Seconds later, the tiny burrowing owl appeared!
While behind the car, I quietly got all my gear back in place. Then, I slowly worked my way toward the owl. I thought he would probably duck back into the burrow as soon as I got close enough for some shots. Instead, he let me get very close--and put on a good show for about 20 minutes of shooting.
Last week, I photographed the baseball game between the Southern Illinois Salukis and the Fighting Illini at Illinois Field in Urbana. Fortunately, clouds diffused the sunlight for much of the game.
Another benefit of diffused light is that it's easier to control certain colors such as bright red or orange. When the sun shines on an orange jersey, it's easy to blow out the reds and lose all detail in the jersey.
So the next time you're shooting baseball (or football for that matter), pray for clouds!
]]>General admission is just $8 for the Shedd Aquarium, but one must spend at least $31 to purchase a package which included the "Jellies" exhibit (my main reason for visiting). It becomes more costly as a visitor adds more attractions--plus the parking fee.
I found that it's more economical to become a member. Over the past year, I have held an annual membership to five Chicago area locations:
- Brookfield Zoo
- Museum of Science and Industry
- Shedd Aquarium
- Adler Planetarium
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
The annual membership fee is usually cheaper than visiting a location more than once. And, it usually allows me to bring a guest as well.
Groupon also helps keep the cost down. Let's take the Adler Planetarium as an example. The price to enter the Planetarium is $35 per person if one wishes to view the "Destination Solar System" exhibit. So, one visit for two people is $70. An annual membership runs $89 for one person and one guest for the year--just $18 more than it would cost two people for a single visit. Through Groupon, I paid $59 for an annual membership--or $11 less than the cost of a single visit for me and a guest!
One other factor in favor of the membership route is that the annual fee is generally tax deductible. I was surprised to receive a letter from the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust and the Shedd Aquarium acknowledging the full value of my membership fee as a tax deductible contribution. This would not have been the case if I had paid a single daily admission fee.
By going the membership route, I can visit a location several times without thinking about the entrance fee. As a result, I will visit Brookfield Zoo several times throughout the year. Sometimes, I stop by an exhibit for just an hour or so in an attempt to capture some interesting photographs and then leave. There is no incremental cost for my visits to the zoo as the membership includes both the admission and parking fees.
The membership also helps me visit when the locations are least crowded. Since I am not paying an admission fee, I always make sure to avoid visiting on "free" days. This improves my chances of capturing pictures with fewer people in the area.
The slopes of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina retained some nice colors. Fellow photographer, Earl Evans, guided me to an excellent vantage point for viewing the iconic Lynn Cove Viaduct.
Before this trip, I wasn't at all familiar with this iconic structure. Soon afterwards, I realized that this scene should have been more familiar to me.
After a full day of photography, we returned to our cabin located just a few hundred yards from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I grabbed my well worn Rand McNally Road Atlas from my car so that we could better plan the next day's activities. To my surprise, I noticed the scene on the cover of the atlas for the first time:
The road atlas from the year before featured the Linn Cove Viaduct:
It really is a small world!
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I practically live on a baseball field. Between managing a 14U travel team and a Fall baseball team, I coach more than 100 games a year. And, that number of events doesn't count the practices! But, it's been a long time since I photographed a game.
One of my favorite perspectives for shooting baseball is behind the catcher. By using my Through the Fence trick, it's possible to capture interesting images of the pitcher. However, during the game I was having some trouble getting tack sharp images. So, I immediately went through the following checklist:
- Was my lens pressed close enough to the backstop? Yes it was.
- Was my shutter speed fast enough to stop the action? Yes, it was. My slowest shutter speed was 1/2000th of a second. Most shots were faster.
- Was my ISO setting low enough to avoid image quality issues? Yes...the highest ISO setting was 400.
- Was I introducing camera shake? No...I activated Vibration Reduction and later placed the camera on a tripod.
Yet, my percentage of tack sharp images still wasn't high enough.
Then, it dawned on me. I was manually focusing on the pitcher before he delivered the pitch. If he was in the set position, I focused on the leg that was closest to home plate. But, many of my images were captured after the pitcher took his stride to the plate. Many of the pitchers take a stride of approximately six feet.
I used a 500mm lens at an aperture of f/4. From 120 feet away, my depth of field is just 4 feet. So, when the pitcher strides six feet towards the batter (and me), he is striding right through the depth of field for acceptable focus. He is no longer rendered sharp at the point of delivery. If an image isn't tack sharp, I simply delete it.
Fortunately, I diagnosed the problem quickly and captured several sharp pictures of the action that afternoon.
I drove the short distance to our local golf course--the Silver Lake Golf course. I take the green grass appearing through the melted snow as a sign that Spring is right around the corner. Thankfully, all of the snow in our area should be melted by tomorrow.
To view more pictures from yesterday's photo shoot, please click here.
After wandering into a couple of the nearby churches with a fellow photographer (David Brown), I searched the internet to learn more about the churches along capitol square. I found this website to be a valuable resource as it references 8 of these churches. I visited 7 of the 8, and captured pictures inside 5 of them. Following is a list of the five churches that I photographed.
1: Christ Church on Capitol Square
2: Church of the Good Shepherd
3: Edenton Street United Methodist Church
4: First Presbyterian Church
5: Sacred Heart Cathedral
I was welcomed by everyone I met at these churches. The doors to three of these churches were locked, yet someone always came to the door when I knocked. In every case, I was granted full access to the church. And, I was permitted to light the church for the images. The amount of cooperation that I received far exceeded my expectations. In return, I offered to donate any pictures that I captured to the churches for unrestricted use.
I'm pleased that representatives from two of the churches have visited my website and contacted me last week to request copies of the images. These images will most likely appear on the programs and websites of the churches. It's always nice to see my images going to good use.
To view a collection of my favorite images from the Churches of Raleigh, please click here.
]]>It's also a fun way to share pictures. Viewers may express appreciation for an image by "liking" or by marking an image as a "favorite". A pulse rating is calculated for each picture based upon the number of viewers who voted for the image (with a "favorite" vote receiving more points than a "like" vote).
Timing also impacts the pulse rating. If an image doesn't gather enough votes quickly enough, it begins losing ground as points are deducted over time. After 24 hours, so many points are deducted from the pulse rating that it's nearly impossible to overcome with additional votes--which in turn opens the Popular category to fresh images on a regular basis.
Cumulative scores are computed for photographers--not just individual pictures. The following three categories are shown for each photographer on the site: 1) affection, 2) views and 3) followers. Affection is an indicator of how many times viewers have liked images within the photographer's portfolio. Views represent how many times pictures have been viewed within the portfolio. Followers quantify how many other 500px photographers "subscribe" to view new images posted by a photographer.
Earlier this week, I surpassed the 15,000 affection score. My pictures have been viewed more than 300,000 times. And, over 700 other 500px photographer are currently following my 500px portfolio.
Sometimes it can be difficult to measure an intangible like affection. But, with 500px it's a precise number--like 15,244!
For those interested in joining 500px to share some of your own work, you have very little to lose. A basic membership is free.
]]>In the past few weeks, people contacted me about two of my pictures--and both of those pictures were captured in 2009 (six years ago)!
1- The Jazz Guitarist
On the morning of February 21, 2009, I visited the "Saturday Morning Market" in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. The main reason for my visit is that I really enjoy the lemon square pastries offered by one of the vendors. But, I brought my camera along. The "Gulf Coast Jazz Quartet" was performing that morning. I decided to compose a tight shot of the musician's hands on the guitar.
Last week, the guitarist sent me an email. He wrote that he enjoyed viewing the image and thanked me for capturing it. He didn't say how he discovered the picture after six years--but I suspect it was through a Google search.
2- Bungalow Dog
We were walking back to our car through Wrigleyville after a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds on April 23, 2009 when we came across this scene. As soon as I saw the dog in the window framed by the classic Chicago bungalow, I knew that I wanted to capture the image. Thankfully, I had my camera with me. The challenge was that a lot of people were leaving the park at that time and many were walking right in front of the building. So, I had to wait until the scene momentarily cleared--and hope that the dog would remain posed. Fortunately, I captured the photograph.
Earlier this week, the owner of the dog contacted me. She learned about this picture while reading an article about Chicago real estate. The article featured this image--and gave me credit. From the credit, she was able to find my website along with my contact information. Click here to view the article from February 24, 2015.
I've always liked this picture. In fact, a framed print of this photograph hangs on the wall inside my condominium. So, I very much appreciated that the owner of this dog provided me with more background about this scene. Here's what she wrote:
"Her name (the dog) is Zora. We lived there for approximately 5 years. Cubs fans named her "Wrigley" and would film her and take pics often as she laid there in the sun, watching the fans foot traffic, in what we deemed her superman pose with her arm/arms out. That was my first apartment with her, and first in Chicago. Been in Chicago ever since. I've since had to make sure we've had big windows with a street view so she can do her people watching that she grew so accustomed to on Sheffield. Thank you for capturing this shot. She is getting old now, almost 12, so it's very sentimental."
Most of my time was spent photographing desert plants. I found this small flower at the end of a thorned stem to be interesting. The flower is about the size of one of my fingernails!
I found the subject of this second photograph to be interesting as well, mostly because of the soft colors and the positioning of the bulbs.
Unfortunately, I don't know the name of either of these plants. Although identification signs are placed in the ground to identify each plant, there are so many plants and signs that I often had trouble telling which sign belonged to which plant!
For these two pictures, I elected to use a black background. This was not accomplished using Photoshop. Rather, I held a small piece of black foam board behind these plants. The black foam board separates the subject from what would otherwise be a distracting background. It simplifies the image and focuses the viewer's attention on my primary subject--the plant.
]]>This photo was captured a couple of months in the Mirror Maze of the "Numbers in Nature" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
This marks the 24th time that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Click here to view the other 23 winning entries over the past three years.
Often times, photography isn't permitted inside libraries. I believe the reasoning is that some library patrons are not comfortable being photographed and that the photographer can be a distraction in an otherwise quiet and peaceful setting. I usually just start shooting and hope that I won't be approached. In the case of the Nashville Library visit, I was fortunate to shoot for about 20 minutes before being told that photography wasn't allowed without a permit.
I asked how to go about getting a permit. The public relations employee was very helpful and issued a permit within about 15 minutes. She said I now had full access to photographing the library--provided that I agreed not to sell any of my images. I agreed to those terms.
Now that I had permission to shoot, I could take my time and set up my tripod in a number of interesting locations. One of the more interesting areas is the main staircase at the back of the lobby.
For the longest time, the problem with composing this photograph (and many others to follow in this area) was that a man was standing next to the piano while reading. Given that there are comfortable chairs and reading rooms everywhere--I assumed that he would soon move out of the frame to another location. So, I photographed other sections of the library instead--the main lobby, the large reading room, some closeups of artwork, etc. When I returned to the staircase area about 45 minutes later, the piano man was still standing there!
I set the tripod up for this image about 15 feet from where he was standing--while he's standing at the back of the piano facing the camera. Yet, he still doesn't move! Of course, I have no right to ask him to move--so it's a waiting game.
After quite some time, he eventually moves to an area right of the frame and places the book on a railing--and keeps reading from there. I was then able to capture the above image along with several others in this general area.
Photography can require a lot of patience at times. Either that, or a lot of time in Photoshop removing unwanted elements!
I find that using the Better Beamer along with my Nikon SB-900 flash unit provides some significant advantages for this kind of wildlife photography:
- It provides fill lighting which helps minimize dark shadows that would otherwise exist from the overhead lighting.
- The short duration of the flash burst helps to freeze action and sharpen the image.
- It adds some pop to the colors in the frame.
- It introduces a catch light in the eyes of the subject which helps bring life to the image.
Setting exposure with the Better Beamer is simple:
- Set the camera's exposure as you ordinarily would if you weren't using flash.
- Set the SB-900 to TTL (through the lens metering) mode.
- Dial in an appropriate amount exposure compensation in the flash depending upon the amount of fill flash desired. I usually start with -1.3 EV and adjust from there.
- Set the zoom at 50mm on the flash unit.
The Better Beamer is portable and easy to store in my camera bag. I attached the SB-900 to a RRS (Really Right Stuff) flash bracket when using a long telephoto lens to ensure that the light does not get blocked by the lens. The Better Beamer attaches to the flash bracket in seconds.
Here is an example of an image recently captured using this approach:
That's the unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service. During my last road trip through the Capital Cities of the Southeast, I made it my motto for a few photo shoots!
The first stop on my trip was Nashville, Tennessee. Unfortunately, my day in Nashville was filled with cold and rainy conditions. For much of the day, the temperature was in the mid-30's--just above the point where the rain didn't transition to snow. Since I had just one day there, I decided to try to overcome the conditions and shoot in the rain.
In some ways, the rain is an advantage. By taking pictures in less than ideal conditions, the subjects are rendered in a way that is somewhat out of the ordinary. These subjects have been photographed under bright, sunny conditions countless times.
Here are a few from Nashville:
The weather during my time in Charleston, South Carolina was also miserable. The rain was coming down hard while I finally found parking in a garage downtown. The forecast was for rain all day, so I was hesitant to walk out of the covered garage. It was also very cold outside.
Since I had just one day to take pictures in the historic downtown of Charleston, I opened my umbrella and started walking. In the end, there were times when the rain let up or stopped for a while. While the skies remained overcast, I concentrated my efforts on subjects more suitable for the conditions. I find that subjects can become more colorful under diffused lighting.
Here are a few from Charleston:
Several of my photographs from Nashville and Charleston were captured with my camera and tripod positioned under my umbrella! Another tried and true strategy for capturing pictures during adverse weather conditions is to select indoor subjects--and there were plenty of those to choose from in these two cities.
Florida State University
While walking the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, I was on the lookout for an iconic image of the gateway to the campus. I wasn't sure what the area was called, so I tried looking over the campus on my phone using Google Maps to locate it. After a few tries, I eventually found what I was looking for--Westcott Plaza.
I wasn't sure what time of day would be best for photographing the plaza. But, it was getting late in the day so I drove to the site in hopes of getting a shot at sunset. While there, I learned a few things. The subject is backlit late in the day. Parking is challenging. And, the plaza is packed with people! I left without taking a single exposure.
Based upon what I learned, I planned a return trip for sunrise the next day. My reasoning is that the plaza should be empty at sunrise on a Sunday morning. I also knew of a good parking spot from the night before. I checked an app called "Photo Sundial" by Rick Sammon to determine how the light would be hitting the building at sunrise that morning--and everything looked good to go.
The next morning I arrived at the location on schedule and captured the following images. It was just lucky that the fountain was operating and illuminated that early on a Sunday morning:
I arrived at the visitor center at about 1:00 PM. Unfortunately, it was a very cold and overcast day. I hoped that the skies would clear by sunset. In the meantime, I upgraded my scheduled tour to the extended "Behind the Scenes" tour. I figured it was best to be indoors as much as possible. And, I'm also interested in Thomas Jefferson.
Before taking the shuttle from the visitor center to the Monticello, I enjoyed my time at the museum and the theater. The complex is much larger than it was when I first visited Monticello in the early 1990's.
At some point, I had about 30 minutes to kill before my shuttle ride to Monticello. I decided to walk through the forest behind the visitor center to capture a few photographs of the foggy woods. While I was shooting, I was surprised to see two security guards walking toward me.
They asked me what I was doing. I explained that I was killing some time before my tour started and thought the forest might be a good subject given the foggy conditions. I also pointed out that I had checked the photography policy on the Monticello website and had also confirmed that policy at the visitor center. The policy states that photography is not permitted inside the Monticello, but is permitted on the grounds. I also explained that the forest where I was standing was a shuttle ride away from Monticello--and that this forest shot could have been taken practically anywhere in the Appalachian Mountains--and doesn't really scream Monticello in any way!
The security guards conceded my point regarding the above forest photograph. But, they advised me not to take photographs of the building--even of the exterior. Yes, photography is permitted they said--but not with a camera that looks as professional as mine!
After more discussion, they said I could take pictures of the exterior of the building as long as I didn't sell them. After I agreed to that (after all, commercial photography is prohibited by policy), they continued to advise me not to post them on my website--even if they aren't for sale! That, I didn't agree to.
This image of Monticello was captured just before sunset. Obviously, the fog never lifted. In fact, it just kept getting thicker. But, I think the foggy conditions provided me with a more unique picture of this iconic building. Although I captured just a few pictures during my afternoon at Monticello, I enjoyed the tour immensely and walked away with a couple of pictures that I liked as well.
The middle of the day isn't usually the best time for photography. While in Montgomery, I used some of this time to try to find a location for my cityscape shot later that night. Google Maps is a powerful tool for locating good vantage points. Several locations looked promising. However, none of the initial locations that I identified panned out. I've marked two of these locations on the map below (#1 and #2).
After failing to find a suitable location on my own, I stopped by the Montgomery Visitor Center. The woman at the information desk was very helpful and gave me a few more ideas. She thought that the Capitol Oyster Bar (#3) might provide the perspective I was looking for. She mentioned that there was also an abandoned tower a little further down the river that might be good.
So, I went to the Oyster Bar. That location didn't work either. The vantage point was too low. I had a great view of the river, but the downtown area wasn't visible enough.
I noticed an overpass behind me. I drove back and forth on that highway over the bridge. The vantage point looked good (#4). But, there was no place to park the car. The highway was busy and traffic was moving fast.
I noticed that there was a very small church located just off the exit ramp (on Lenora Street). My next task was to determine if it was safe to access the bridge. I did a dry run of the walk up the exit ramp and to the middle of the overpass. The shoulder was wide enough for me to feel reasonably safe--but I also knew that I didn't want to be on the bridge for long. The other task was to determine if the area was safe enough. The area around the church was rundown. In the end, I determined that the area was mostly industrial and that the place area would be vacant during my short stay.
I left downtown Montgomery about 20 minutes before sunset to drive to the church. I parked and quickly walked to the spot on the overpass that I scouted hours earlier. I captured three or four frames (timed between bridge vibrations from traffic) and then quickly walked back to the car.
Here is the image:
Was it worth it? I thought so. At least it's not a photograph that every photographer who visits Montgomery will have!
]]>I've found the fisheye to be particularly useful when photographing architecture. The lens yields a 180 degree angle of view. That's significantly wider than the 114 degree angle of view offered by my Nikon 14-24 lens at its widest focal length.
This ultra-wide field of view enables me to capture more of the interiors that I visit. Often times, no other lens will capture the entire inner dome of a State Capitol building. As an added bonus, the fisheye lens is most suitable when photographing subjects that are round or feature curves.
I found that I needed my fisheye to capture the entire stadium from this vantage point:
Sometimes, I like to use the fisheye to introduce curvature to make the scene look more wacky or otherworldly:
After shooting with the fisheye lens for more than a year now, it's become an important tool for me that is always in my camera bag. The lens is compact and very light. It's amazingly sharp. And, it rarely has any issues with flare--even when shooting directly into the light.
I house many of my latest fisheye photographs in a separate collection within this website. CLICK HERE to view more of my fisheye pictures.
]]>Alabama State Capitol
As I was shooting pictures of the Capitol's dome from the floor of the rotunda, I noticed that a couple of the murals were practically blown out due to the bright light streaming in from the windows:
I tried a couple of approaches to deal with this. First, I spent quite a bit of time on the rotunda floor waiting for clouds to pass over to diffuse the light. Also, I tried bracketing multiple exposures to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. But, the light was so bright on the murals that there just isn't enough information to capture in that section of the picture--no matter how much I bracket my exposures.
I returned later that afternoon only to experience the same problem. I would have gone back at night, but the building closes before sunset. However, I did return the next morning and captured a much better image under very overcast skies along with a bracketed exposure:
Georgia State Capitol
I visited the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on a very bright, sunny day. My access to the House and Senate chambers was very limited. The doors were locked. I was fortunate that an employee opened the door to the balcony for me. But, I was only able to shoot for a few minutes while the employee stood by my side. So, I had to deal with the harsh sunlight without the option of returning for more favorable conditions.
This is the best image of the House of Representatives chamber that I could create under the circumstances:
Creating this image required bracketing seven exposures each one stop apart. However, the light coming through the shutters is still very harsh. On the other hand, the Old Supreme Court chamber is located in a different wing of the Capitol and does not receive this direct light. I find the lighting in that image to be much more appealing as the light is much softer and more even throughout the frame:
Throughout the trip, I found that sunlight often had a big impact on the quality of my interior shots. While photographing churches, people would often mention to me how the church is most beautiful when the sunlight shines through the stained glass windows. While the stained glass windows certainly look nicer when they are lit, strong sunlight usually makes the windows too bright--removing most color and details from the glass. I prefer a bright and overcast day when taking photos inside most interiors with windows to the outside.
]]>After returning from another photo road trip with countless lens changes, I again reached for the Sensor Gel to clean the sensor of my Nikon D800. Once again, I am pleased with the results.
Before:
And after:
There are still a couple of faint sensor spots visible after the cleaning. While the sensor isn't perfectly clean, it's certainly acceptable--particularly given that I'm testing the cleanliness at f/16 and with a low tolerance setting on Lightroom's "Visualize Spots" tool. Sometimes it pays to know when to stop cleaning the sensor. Further cleanings might make matters worse.
If nothing else, the Sensor Gel has postponed the time when I'll need to take the camera into APS for a more thorough, professional cleaning. That's well worth the cost of this product in my opinion.
]]>The Challenging Church
While visiting the South Carolina State Capitol, I decided to take a look inside Trinity Episcopal--which is located across the street from the Capitol. Fortunately, the front door to the church was open. I was immediately impressed with the beauty of the interior of the church. Unfortunately, the church was dark and I was unable to find the lights (which ultimately was a good thing). I began searching the rather large church campus for someone who might be able to help me.
After several minutes, I finally met a custodian. He had no idea if photography was permitted and wasn't about to help with the lights unless the pastor granted permission. Before very long, the pastor approached the building from the parking lot. Usually, when I ask to photograph a church, the pastor or priest quickly grants permission. In this case, it was clear that the pastor was very uncomfortable with my request. He also mentioned to me that the entrance to the church was intended to be locked.
I explained to him that I photograph churches from all over the country. I've photographed well over 100 places of worship without issue. I handed him my business card so that he had my contact information. Surprisingly, he continued to look at me with a lot of uncertainty.
I asked him what his concerns were about my photography. He replied that a couple of years ago a photographer captured images of the interior of the church--and later sold some of the pictures. I have no idea why this would cause so much concern, but I asked if it would help if I promised not to sell any of my pictures. I also told him that I always offer my pictures to the church for free--and that the church may use the images in any way they see fit (website, programs, etc.). At that point, he agreed to let me take pictures inside the church for as long as I wanted. And, he made sure that every light in the church was on!
Nearly every church that I visit is cooperative when it comes to my photography. Two of the churches from this last trip went above and beyond.
Atlanta's Oldest Church
The oldest church, and the second oldest building in downtown Atlanta is the Catholic Shrine to the Immaculate Conception. The church was saved from destruction during the Civil War when Father O'Reilly appealed to General Sherman to spare the church during the burning of Atlanta.
This church was locked when I arrived. However, there were several homeless people being fed in the basement of the church. I entered the basement and asked if it would be possible to photograph the church's interior. My request was met with enthusiasm--and I was granted permission to photograph the church for as long as I wanted...and all the lights were turned on.
As I was leaving, they asked if there was anything else that they could do for me. I said I would like them to direct my cash donation to meals for the homeless. In the end, I had a fantastic experience and the church received a donation and free photographs. Everybody won!
The Churches of Raleigh
All of the historic Churches of Raleigh were amazingly cooperative. It's hard to say which of the five churches that I photographed was the most enjoyable to visit, but my experience at the Church of the Good Shepherd was unique. The receptionist was eager to share information about the history of the church--particularly about the many stained glass windows. About 45 minutes into my photo shoot, she approached me and said that I obviously had a great appreciation of the church's architecture--so she presented me with a gift! It was a coffee table book titled "A Vision Realized: Stories in Stained Glass of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd". As she handed me the book, she said "Merry Christmas"!
As was the case in Atlanta, I felt that a cash donation to the church was very appropriate here. And, I was pleased to see that this church was also doing the hard work of feeding many homeless people. So, this donation was also earmarked for that very worthy project.
Once again, everybody won!
I parked by the bridge about 20 minutes before sunset. There was already one photographer set up at the location. When I started to initiate a conversation with him, it was quickly apparent that he could speak very little English. He was visiting Atlanta from Brazil. I speak no Portuguese. By flashing his fingers, he was trying to ask me how long it would be before the light would be good for pictures. He also indicated that his goal was to capture the traffic streaks of the cars by moving his hand in a sweeping motion across the highway. He would flash both hands at once to indicate ten minutes. Two times meant 20 minutes.
I opened and closed both hands four times to indicate 40 minutes. While it was only 20 minutes until sunset, the light gets much better several minutes after that. Once the sun goes down, the sky darkens further which reduces the dynamic range of light in the frame. This reduced contrast helps boost the colors. There's also the added bonus of a deep blue sky ("the blue hour") after sunset, but before the sky goes completely black. Once the sky goes black, the contrast increases once again and all the color is eliminated from the sky.
To achieve those long traffic streaks, it helps to have some traffic. It was to our advantage that the office buildings would be lit on a weekday with the sunset time so close to regular working hours. Given my past experiences driving through Atlanta, I figured that traffic flow wouldn't be a problem in downtown Atlanta on a weekday at 5:15 pm. But, it was!
The problem that we experienced was that there was very little traffic. In fact, it seemed that there was more traffic on the overpass than on the main highway! The overpass traffic caused the bridge to vibrate. That vibration introduces camera shake--which reduces the sharpness of the image.
Capturing this photograph becomes a timing game. Can I initiate a long exposure as I see traffic approaching from both sides of the highway? And, can that exposure be timed during a lull in traffic on the overpass?
After several attempts, I was able to capture a number of very sharp images. The long exposure time helped exaggerate the lines. It doesn't take very many cars to create long streaks during a 13 second exposure. I made sure to check the sharpness during the photo shoot by zooming into a 1:1 magnification view using the LCD panel on the back of my Nikon D800 camera. If the print on some the downtown signs was sharp, I knew I would be in good shape.
Here is one of the images from that photo shoot:
Later I learned that this was the vantage point of the opening scene of the television series "The Walking Dead".
- Select the base ISO setting of 100 to achieve optimal image quality
- Stop the lens down to maximize the depth of field.
- Expand the dynamic range by bracketing exposures.
- More carefully compose the image and ensure that the lines are straight.
Without the tripod, some of these images become snapshots--at best.
In certain locations such as museums, I expect that the policy will not permit tripods. However, during my recent trip to the Southeast, I was surprised and disappointed by a few of the locations at which tripods were prohibited.
Surprise Situation #1 - The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site:
I assumed that tripods would be prohibited inside the Visitor Center. However, I did not expect to be told to put my tripod away while shooting outside in the Peace Plaza. It was about 4:00 PM on a weekday and I was the only person at the plaza. I was composing a photo of the Eternal Flame when I noticed a park ranger approaching me. He informed me that tripods weren't permitted and asked me to fold it up immediately. I asked him my why tripods weren't allowed outside as this was the first time I encountered such a policy within a National Park site. He said that the tripod looked "too much like a weapon" and that "this is the America we now live in". So, it's OK to walk around with something that resembles a weapon--but it's not OK to place a camera on it to make it obvious that it's a tool for photography?
Surprise Situation #2 - The North Carolina State Capitol
As I entered the North Carolina State Capitol building, I was surprised when the security guard told me that it was OK to carry the tripod into the building, but not OK to place the camera on top of it to take photographs. The reason this is so surprising is that North Carolina is the only capitol with a tripod restriction of the 39 capitol buildings that I've toured so far. I revisited twice more--hoping that a combination of a different security guard and entering the building during a quiet time might change the outcome. During my second attempt, I was the only person in the building--but the tripod was still not permitted. It was frustrating to try to capture images of the chambers by hand--when my tripod was sitting on the floor right by my side.
Shocking Situation #3 - Angel Oak Tree Park
This one takes the cake! I arrived at Angel Oak Tree Park as soon as the gates opened on a Monday in mid-December in hopes of capturing some nice images of this massive oak tree outside of Charleston, South Carolina. Things worked out as planned as I was the only one at the nature park. I immediately got set up and started taking bracketed exposures of the tree. The tree was backlit, so multiple exposures would help extend the dynamic range of the light that the sensor could capture. Also, the scene wasn't very bright, so I was using relatively long exposures to keep my ISO setting low for better image quality--too long for me to handhold the camera.
To my surprise, tripods aren't permitted at the nature park. This was the first time that I have ever experienced a situation where tripods weren't allowed in an outdoor park--a forest! Someone speculated that the reason for the policy is to protect the trees against root damage caused by the impact of the tripod legs. That reason sounds absurd to me. My tripod weighs about three pounds with the weight spread among three legs. I weigh closer to 200 pounds with the weight spread between two legs. If tripods are banned, why aren't people banned?
Fortunately, I didn't learn about the tripod policy at Angel Oak Tree Park until after I was done with my shooting. So, the biggest tripod surprise of the trip wasn't a disappointment at all!
I started from the chamber floor:
Then, I backed up several feet to include part of the corridor as it enters the chamber:
Finally, I backed up a little further, propped the doors open and captured an image with yet another frame:
I like each of the three photographs, but I think the third one offers a more unique viewpoint. I try to view scenes from a variety of perspectives.
This particular sequence of images reminded me of one of my favorite broadcasters of all-time. I listened to Jack Brickhouse announce countless games for the Chicago Cubs. And, he is well known for his homerun call: "Back...back...back...Hey-Hey!!"
]]>You may CLICK HERE to view a full preview of this year's book. It's most effective to view the images with pages of the book expanded to fill your monitor.
I use Blurb to create my books. I'm very pleased with the quality of the product--from the binding and paper to the image quality. Producing such a small quantity of books makes the per unit cost very high. I make these available for purchase at the base cost from Blurb. Often times, promo codes are available through a Google search to lower the cost by 15 to 20%.
This is the seventh annual "A Look Through My Lens" book that I've created. I always wonder if I'll capture enough decent photographs in the upcoming year to keep this streak alive! I hope that there will be another book for 2015. At some point, I plan to create a book dedicated to the State Capitol buildings.
]]>
One way of creating depth in a photograph is to include foreground, middle and background elements within the frame. I saw an opportunity to accomplish just that during my visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Probably the most impressive display of tulips was located right at the entrance station to the park. I positioned myself on one side of the street and focused on the tulips that were planted on the center island of the road. With the camera positioned very low to the ground, I was able to eliminate the street from view.
While composing this picture, I made sure to frame the center island tulips with the tulips planted in the bed directly in front of me. I also included enough tulips from across the road to frame the top of the image. By using a very wide aperture (f/2.2), only the tulips planted on the center island remain sharp, while the tulips in the foreground and in the background are blurred. This narrow field of sharpness also helps focus the viewer's attention on my primary subject.
Because f/2.2 is such a wide aperture, it enables a faster shutter speed (1/800th)--even at the low base ISO of 100 (for optimal image quality). However, since this is a stationary subject, I secured the camera/lens to a tripod, locked the mirror up and pressed a cable release to eliminate any camera shake.
However, tripods are not allowed in certain caverns--especially the ones that are accessible only through a guided tour. I think the concern is that photographers with tripods will get in the way of the tour participants and slow things down.
Rather than take the elevator down to the main cavern, I decided to walk through the natural entrance and hike the 1 1/4 mile, well maintained path, 800 feet down to the main cavern. I'm glad I did as there is much to see along the way.
As I was approaching the natural entrance, a ranger greeted me and asked to see my entrance pass. He asked me if I planned to take the 1.5 hour Kings Palace tour later that day. I asked him if I would be able to use my tripod on that tour. He replied that tripods are not allowed, but since he was leading that tour and the crowds were so thin, he might be able to make an exception. He said that if I made it back up to the Visitor Center by 2:00 pm, I could check with him again about the tripod before the tour got started.
It took me a few hours to work my way through the natural entrance and down to the main cavern as there was much to photograph. I reached the lower elevators by 1:45 pm and quickly made my way back to the Visitor Center to check in with the ranger. He granted permission for me to shoot with the tripod!
Although there were only about 250 visitors in the Caverns that entire day (which I guess is a very low number), there were still enough people on the guided tour to make photography difficult. Of course, most people were oblivious to my camera. They would walk in front of the lens toward the end of very long exposures or would destroy my pictures by flashing the scene in the middle of my exposure.
The ranger noticed the difficulties that I was experiencing. He approached me and suggested the following solution. The ranger would lead the group. I would be the trailer. So, as the entire group would leave one room to enter another, the ranger would let me trail behind to have the cavern to myself for five or ten minutes. Then, I would catch up and we would repeat the process through the four rooms included in the tour! This allowed me to capture images that only other rangers would have access to capture.
At the end of the tour, the ranger temporarily forgot that I was trailing the group--and nearly locked the gate at the exit of the last room. If I hadn't caught up just in time, or the ranger hadn't remembered me, I would have spent the night 800 feet below the ground in complete darkness!
Once the tour was over, I spent a couple of more hours in the main cavern. As the cavern neared its closing time (5 pm), it became evident that I was the only one left down there. A ranger was doing one last sweep of the trail. He came up behind me and told me it was time to leave. We walked for ten or fifteen minutes together towards the elevators while he allowed me to stop occasionally for a few last photographs. Then, the two of us got on the elevator and left an empty Carlsbad Caverns behind for that December evening.
Most recently, I visited the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix:
Although this kind of looks like a capitol building, it really isn't! The Arizona Capitol building with the bronze dome is now a museum. Various functions of government once took place in this building, but the building with the bronze dome on top now serves strictly as a museum. To me, considering this building to be a State Capitol building seems like cheating!
Technically, the Old Arizona State Capitol is part of the capitol campus. That tall building just behind it is the Arizona State Capitol Executive Tower. And the Senate and House of Representative chambers are housed in the buildings to the left and right of the Old Arizona State Capitol.
I wasn't permitted to enter the Executive Tower. Fortunately, I was allowed to enter and photograph the two chambers:
Another drawback of the Arizona State Capitol is that the front of the building is blocked by a lot of stuff--palm trees, monuments, posts, the street, etc. This isn't at all typical of the capitols that I've visited. Most make sure that the building is prominently displayed.
Although I enjoyed my visit, I must rank the Arizona State Capitol as 30th out of the 31 capitols that I've visited so far. I apologize to Nevada for continuing to hold the bottom slot.
]]>It was the "Jellies" exhibit that prompted me to visit. It's my understanding that this special exhibit will only be in town for the next couple of months, so I made plans to get there in time.
The jellyfish are fascinating to watch. However, capturing good pictures of these creatures isn't very easy! In order to get some decent pictures, I had to overcome these obstacles:
- Of course, the jellyfish are housed behind glass. Typically, I position the lens directly against the surface when shooting through glass to minimize reflections. That conventional approach doesn't work for these jellyfish because the aquariums are very narrow. The jellyfish are usually just inches from the glass--so they are too close if the lens is positioned against the glass. In fact, they were closer than the minimum focusing distance of my Nikon 24-70 lens. Using a macro lens doesn't work either. They are so close that one jellyfish is larger than the frame with my Nikon 105 VR lens.
- The exhibit is dark. For many of the photographs, I had to dial the ISO up to 4,000. Even with that high setting, the aperture was wide open (f/2.8) at relatively slow shutter speeds.
- The creatures are moving. This movement requires a certain minimum shutter speed in order to capture reasonable images.
- No tripods are allowed in the Shedd Aquarium. Although, a tripod wouldn't have helped in this situation as the movement of the jellyfish prevented me from selecting slower shutter speeds.
- Flash photography is prohibited in the Shedd Aquarium.
- The exhibit can be very crowded. Kids think nothing of stepping in front of a photographer. Several times, people banged into my lens as I was looking through the viewfinder to take a picture.
Here's how I tried to deal with the obstacles:
- I positioned myself a foot or two from the glass while shooting. This isn't ideal, but I kept an eye out and minimized reflections. I took care of some minor reflections in Photoshop during post processing.
- The high ISO setting definitely impacts image quality. Fortunately, these pictures don't include a tremendous amount of detail. I used noise reduction in Lightroom during post processing to minimize some of the noise.
- I went with shutter speeds as slow as 1/50th of second during the session.
- I planned my visit during the least crowded time of the year. I visited on a weekday in mid-November and avoided the "free days". For a time, I had the exhibit to myself. Then, I patiently waited for a few field trips to pass through before continuing to shoot.
Here are some of the images. To view the rest, please click here.
2014 will conclude with a December road trip to the Capital Cities of the Southeast! This trip will cover 8 capital cities (Nashville, Atlanta, Montgomery, Tallahassee, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond and Charleston). There will also be other stops along the way, including Charleston, South Carolina and Charlottesville, Virginia. In the end, I will travel more than 3,000 miles and stay in Hampton Inns for at least 20 nights on this journey.
2014 was another great year for travel. The year consisted of four photography trips: Texas, Desert SW, Smoky Mountains and the SE Capital Cities. By the end of the year, I will have been on the road for 70 nights. Most days, I start my morning with an early breakfast in the lobby of the Hampton Inn. There are usually a number of other people eating breakfast--dressed in business attire and preparing to leave for work. I'm always thankful that I no longer travel for business. It's much more fun to be traveling as part of a photography trip.
If everything goes according to plan (and the weather and road conditions cooperate), the map of State Capitols that I've photographed will expand from this:
To this:
Next July, I have preliminary plans to visit many of the Capital Cities of the Northeast. Eight months from now, there's a chance that I will have photographed all the State Capitol buildings in the Lower 48! Then, onto Hawaii...
To view my favorite State Capitol pictures to date, please CLICK HERE.
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Unfortunately, I didn't visit Colorado at a good time. The State Capitol was experiencing significant reconstruction during my visit. I postponed my visit once before as I was aware that the dome was under repair for a few years. When I learned of the completion of that work, I thought it was safe to visit. But, much of the interior was torn up. Scaffolding was present throughout both the Senate and House of Representatives chambers and much of those rooms were covered with drop cloths. The public had no access to the chambers.
At first, it looked like I would have to settle for a photograph of the exterior of the golden dome as well as one of the staircase in the rotunda:
However, I always participate in the guided tour when I visit a new Capitol. During my tour of the Colorado State Capitol, I picked up a valuable tip that saved the day for my photography. The tour guide told us about Ralph Carr, a former governor of Colorado. Carr stood up for rights of Japanese Americans--who were being discriminated against after Pearl Harbor was attacked in World War II. Many historians believe that Carr's unpopular stance promoting racial tolerance ultimately cost him his political career.
So, how did this story of Ralph Carr save the day for my photography? I also discovered that a building located across the street from the Capitol was named in honor of Carr--the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center.
While I was walking around the Capitol grounds, I decided to take a look inside the Judicial Center. I was stunned by the beauty of the modern architecture of the building. And, I was pleasantly surprised that the security guard granted me full access to the building. For the next couple of hours, I photographed amazing architecture: the rotunda, two courtrooms, and a staircase:
Whatever disappointment that I felt during my visit to the Colorado State Capitol building was more than offset by the amazing photo shoot that followed at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center.
]]>For a while, the chances for a colorful trip looked very promising. Many sources, including websites dedicated to autumn colors (such as the Foliage Network), predicted peak colors during my stay in the mountains. Sadly, this wasn't the case.
Although the science of predicting autumn colors is not all that advanced, we know that high winds aren't helpful. And, torrential rains are another negative factor. Both heavy rains and high winds started storming through the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains the day that I left Chicago for my two day drive to the cabin that we rented off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, North Carolina. It was still storming when I arrived at the cabin!
By the time I arrived, the damage was mostly done. A good portion of the leaves had blown off the trees at the higher elevations--where the colors were vibrant. Yet, the leaves had not yet become colorful at the lower or most middle elevations in the area. We drove more than an hour south to Asheville--but the colors were mostly dull there as well.
Fortunately, there was one area along Grandfather Mountain where the color was retained enough to allow for a nice, autumn photograph! This is a picture of the iconic Linn Cove Viaduct:
I would like to thank Earl Evans, a photographer friend of mine, for guiding me to this location and to such an effective vantage point for composing this image. Please click here to view Earl's website.
Although the colors didn't cooperate overall, there are always things to photograph. In the Great Smoky Mountains, I concentrated on images that didn't require a lot of color from the leaves--such as with images captured during twilight:
And, interiors don't require much in the way of autumn colors:
Timing a trip to a distant destination to coincide with the arrival of peak Fall colors takes some luck. The more trips that I take to capture Fall colors, the better chances that I have of capturing it. So, I plan to keep trying for optimal Fall colors in the upcoming years.
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There's not much light in many of the exhibits, so a tripod is almost a necessity for getting good images. Fortunately, I was able to enter the museum with my tripod in hand without being questioned. The woman at the information desk said that the policy states that tripods are not permitted--but that the policy is loosely enforced.
I used my tripod during most of the morning. I collapsed the tripod during my time in the Omnimax as photography isn't permitted in theater. Then, I used my tripod again during the early part of the afternoon.
Just as I was getting ready to leave, I had my tripod set up to capture one last picture of the following scene of a 40 feet indoor tornado inside the "Science Storms" exhibit:
I was prevented from taking a second shot of this scene by a security guard who asked me to put my tripod away. Fortunately, my first photo of the "Science Storms" exhibit was acceptable. Even better, I had several hours of photography with my tripod before being asked to put it away.
In fact, the timing couldn't have been any better. The no tripod policy wasn't enforced until a few seconds before I was planning to finish taking pictures for the day! Although, this doesn't bode well for my next visit.
Edit: I made my next visit a few days later! This time, I was aware that my use of the tripod needed to be very strategic. I waited until the very end of my visit before attempting to capture a photograph of the "Christmas Around the World" exhibit. Before moving into a more visible position in the center of the floor, I made sure that my camera settings were accurate and that the camera was placed securely on my tripod. I then quickly moved into position and had just enough time to grab a couple of images. Security was very quick...and that was the end of my shooting for my return visit. But, once again my timing couldn't have been much better.
While in Columbus, I climbed the tower at Mill Race Park to capture an image of the city. Since purchasing the Nikon D800, I rarely shoot panoramic photographs. The resolution of the D800 is high enough that I usually have enough pixels to create a decent panoramic image from just one shot!
But, I decided to create a panoramic image of downtown Columbus from the tower:
To better appreciate the power of using multiple frames to create a panoramic image, I am providing the following link to the version that is nearly 17,000 pixels across. This higher resolution version was created by taking five vertical photographs across the scene and then stitching them together in post processing.
CLICK HERE to view the higher resolution file.
Once you've opened the file (be patient as it might take some time to load), your internet browser should allow you to zoom in and out. I find that when I zoom in enough it's possible to read the street signs. So, zoom in and take a look around downtown Columbus!
]]>Here's the original image:
The lobby is painted in a shade of purple which the client believes clashes with the red color of the shadowing in the above image. So, I asked the client to provide me with the color of the paint in the lobby. Fortunately, the client was able to provide specific color information from Sherwin Williams:
After opening the original image in Photoshop, I created a new layer to record my color adjustments. From there, I clicked on Image >> Adjustments >> Replace Color. In the upper Selection box, I grabbed the eyedropper and selected the reddish color of the shadowing color:
After making that selection, I then entered the Replacement color information. I did this by entering the RGB values (from the Sherwin Williams paint chip) in the Replacement color box (R-98, G-63, B-84). At this point, any reddish color throughout the entire image is replaced with the new Mature Grape color:
I applied a black mask to the layer to remove the effect and then used a white brush to paint the replacement color selectively over just the shadowing areas of the frame. Note how the shape of the white area in the black mask mirrors the shadowing area of the picture:
At this point, the color of the shadowing matches the paint of the lobby's interior precisely--making this very large print coordinate more naturally in this interior space.
]]>Capturing this photograph involved getting up at 4:30 AM, driving for over an hour from my hotel in Moab to the trailhead, and hiking a 1/2 mile or so. The trail was lit only by my headlamp!
This marks the 22nd time in the last 24 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>In the end, I drove my Prius 2,075 miles. The car used 37.8 gallons of gas--achieving an average of 54.8 miles per gallon. That's not bad considering that a fair amount of mileage was in the mountains. The cost of gas has been declining in recent months. At $2.85 per gallon, my total cost for gas on this trip was $108!
Just over $100 for gas to cover over 2,000 miles--not bad at all.
]]>Please CLICK HERE to view my favorite images of Places of Worship.
My latest count indicates that I've visited and photographed 113 churches and other places of worship to date:
During my most recent road trip, I was fortunate to visit some very impressive churches. The one that impressed me the most was the North Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana. The church is unique in that it is shaped as a hexagon. Much of the structure is positioned under the ground. There is a massive steeple that towers 19 stories above the roof!
I was pleased that the doors were open for me to enter the church. The interior is designed like nothing I've ever seen before. The interior of the church is also shaped like a hexagon with the altar in the center of the floor. Various offices are positioned around the church across from the interior hallway.
Nobody was in the building when I entered. The lights were off, but fortunately there were instructions on the wall for turning on all of the lights! I spent about 30 minutes photographing the interior of the church. I didn't see anyone in the building during my stay.
Here are a few images of the interior:
I decided to create my first photo calendar for 2015 using Lulu. This calendar measures 13.5" wide by 19" high and features 12 (13 if you count the cover) of my favorite images. I ordered one for starters so that I can assess the quality of the product.
CLICK HERE to preview and/or purchase of the calendar. A preview of the entire calendar is available for viewing. I've priced the calendar at base cost. In other words, I've elected not to make this a profitable venture.
If you are interested in purchasing the calendar, please note that promo codes are usually available for Lulu. The promo codes tend to change over time. I found a 15% discount code rather quickly by performing a Google search.
If I like this calendar, I might create additional versions in future years. I'm thinking it would be fun to create a calendar featuring the State Capitols or Places of Worship.
]]>In 1911, this first Lincoln Memorial was built on the hill where the Lincoln cabin was located:
The 56 stairs leading up to the monument represent Lincoln's age at his death:
Inside the monument is a log cabin. For years, it was thought that this cabin was the actual Lincoln family cabin. Recently, science took some of the fun out of this notion by proving that the logs are dated shortly after Lincoln's birth:
The interior of the monument features 16 windows, 16 rosettes on the ceiling and 16 fence poles representing Lincoln being the 16th President of the United States.
]]>Day 1: Nashville, TN
Day 2: Nashville, TN
Day 3: Atlanta, GA
Day 4: Montgomery, AL
Day 5: Montgomery, AL
Day 6: Tallahassee, FL
Day 7: Tallahassee, FL
Day 8: Charleston, SC
Day 9: Charleston, SC
Day 10: Columbia, SC
Day 11: Columbia, SC
Day 12: Raleigh, NC
Day 13: Raleigh, NC
Day 14: Richmond, VA
Day 15: Richmond, VA
Day 16: Charlottesville, VA
Day 17: Charlottesville, VA
Day 18: Charleston, WV
Day 19: Charleston, WV
Day 20: Orland Park, IL
Most of the time, I like to spend a couple of days in the cities. That way, I can visit more local attractions than just the Capitol building. As you can tell by the itinerary, I also plan to visit some "non-Capital" cities--such as Charlottesville, Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina. Hopefully the weather and road conditions will cooperate long enough for me to leave and return to the Chicago area. Winter road conditions are always unpredictable.
]]>For this image of a green-winged macaw, I secured my Nikon D800 camera and my large Nikon 500VR lens to a Wimberley gimbal head and a Gitzo tripod. This, along with some other techniques which I will describe in a moment, allowed me to acquire a sharp image at the relatively slow shutter speed of 1/30th of a second!
In addition to using a tripod and stable gimbal head, I used the following additional techniques to help keep this image sharp:
- Activated the vibration reduction (VR) feature of the lens
- Used fill flash to add a short burst of light (which helps freeze the subject)
- Used a very wide aperture which allows for the fastest possible shutter speed
- Boosted the ISO to 640 in order to achieve the 1/30th shutter speed
- Captured several images quickly--since I realized that only one in three might be tack sharp
- Waited until the subject was reasonably still before pressing the shutter
Let's say that I didn't concern myself with shutter speed and instead just set the shutter speed at 1/500th (since the rule of thumb is to set the shutter speed for 1 over the focal length of the lens to achieve sharp images). At 1/500th, I would have reduced my exposure by about four stops relative to 1/30th. To get those four stops back, I would need to boost my ISO from 640 to 10,000 to maintain the same exposure! Even with the D800, ISO 10,000 is not a pretty sight!
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But, whenever I tried to get him to loosen up, he remained very stiff in front of my camera. This next shot is the best "smile" that I could coax out of him.
Perhaps he's self conscious about his teeth? Or, I suspect it's more my fault than his. It's the photographer's job to make the subject comfortable during a photo shoot.
Using the cloning tool in Photoshop, I was able to remove the scaffolding.
The above image was taken a couple of hours before sunset. My goal was to capture the image with more directional and warmer light. So, I returned to the overlook about 30 minutes before sunset to try again.
Fortunately, the light overall was far more directional and definitely warmer. Unfortunately, the sun sets a bit too far north in the summer for the light rays to hit the ruins. The ruins are blocked to the north by a mesa. The warm light was just missing the ruins!
The only saving grace is that I had the above image on my sensor from earlier. And, that's the best image that I was going to capture like this during this time of year--particularly once the reconstruction was completed in Photoshop.
]]>During mid-October, I'll visit Tennessee and North Carolina to photograph the Fall colors. Here's my preliminary itinerary for this 10 day trip:
Day 1- Knoxville, TN
Day 2- Boone, NC
Day 3- Boone, NC (Blue Ridge Parkway)
Day 4- Boone, NC (Blue Ridge Parkway)
Day 5- Cherokee, NC (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
Day 6- Cherokee, NC (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
Day 7- Gatlinburg, TN (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
Day 8- Gatlinburg, TN (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
Day 9- Columbus, IN (Various architectural sites)
Day 10- Orland Park, IL
Hopefully, I'll create enough good pictures to stay busy processing images until my next trip begins. During December, I will tour the Capital Cities of the Southeast for 20 days. Included in this journey are eight Capital Cities: Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. I will visit Charleston, South Carolina and Charlottesville, Virginia along the way. I'll share that preliminary itinerary as the trip draws nearer. Fall colors come first!
]]>During my most recent photo trip, the Desert Southwest Road Trip, I used the Prius as a camping vehicle for 19 of the trip's 23 nights. I learned that some adjustments were necessary to make the new Prius as comfortable as the previous Prius for camping.
When the front and rear seats are folded down, the previous Prius provided a flatter sleeping surface. With the new Prius, I wasn't able to get the sleeping surface flat enough. Although I am using some throw pillows and a 3" thick mattress, there was still a noticeable bump in the area below my back--and this made sleeping very uncomfortable. After a few days on the road, I finally came up with a good solution to this problem. I stopped by a Home Depot and had a piece of 3/4" thick plywood cut to fit the passenger side of the car. The plywood is just over 6 feet long and about 23" wide. It provides a solid base under the mattress. With the plywood in place, the sleeping surface was perfectly flat and very comfortable.
Knowing that the Desert Southwest would be very hot in the summer months, I brought my Prius tent along. Surprisingly, most nights were cool enough so that the tent wasn't necessary. But, it came in handy on four or five nights for allowing a nice summer breeze to blow through the cabin. The image below was captured at a campground in Topeka, Kansas:
If you look at the rear side windows of the car, you'll notice a new item that I introduced for this trip--screen windows! Basically, this is some mosquito netting that is stitched into the shape of a big sleeve. With the door open, the netting slides over the window. It's held in place by the closed door and the magnets on the outside of car door. The windows can roll up and down without disturbing the netting.
Unfortunately, the Heatshield window coverings from the my old Prius did not fit the new Prius. So, I ordered replacements. Here's a photo of the new Prius with everything in place--window coverings, screen windows and the tent!
A couple of nights were too hot even for the tent and screen windows to do any good, so I used the cabin temperature control feature available through the Prius--setting the cabin temperature for 77 degrees and letting the Prius maintain that temperature mostly by using the electric motor.
So, I'm happy to report that Prius camping lives on through Generation III.
]]>One afternoon, I made a scouting trip to the location. I sometimes do this so that I won't be surprised when I arrive in the evening when the light is more favorable. One thing that I learned is that while the overlook is relatively easy to access, it does require a hike of about 3/4 mile is some sandy conditions. It's not located right next to the parking lot.
I found it surprising that there wasn't a more structured overlook. Basically, the sandstone outcroppings just end. You must walk right up to the edge of the cliff to see the river. It's a little scary as there are no railings. The distance from the ledge to the Colorado River is about 1,000 feet. It's like being on the observation deck of the John Hancock building without any railings or windows!
What makes this even more dangerous is that you can't see how much sandstone is underneath you. If you get too close to certain sections of the edge, you might be standing on sandstone that is just a few inches thick and unable to support your weight. That happened to a tourist a few years ago and he tumbled hundreds of feet to his death.
I am absolutely amazed that more people don't die at Horseshoe Bend. While I was there, several kids ran right up to the edge. Some kids sat with their legs hanging over the edge. A few photographers stood within a foot of the edge while looking through the viewfinder.
I found it difficult to frame a shot. Without getting too close to the edge, I couldn't include the bottom portion of the river in the frame. In the end, I secured my camera to a tripod. I crawled to a point about three feet from the edge and reached out to place my tripod as close to the edge as possible. From there, I used the Live View on the back of the camera to frame the shot. I used a cable release to trigger the shutter. Although my camera was right on the edge, I was able to stay a reasonable distance away.
I was concerned about the possibility of my camera somehow falling over the cliff. It's not as if something like that has never happened to me before! I held onto one of the legs of the tripod so that the camera wouldn't move--especially when the wind gusted.
I started shooting about 20 minutes before sunset and continued shooting for about 30 minutes after sunset. The only images that I processed were the very last ones. I find it amazing how today's digital sensors can record such detail and colors despite the fact that the conditions were so dark. In fact, it was so dark when I took this picture that it was challenging finding my way back to the car! This image consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. The shutter speed was as slow as 8 seconds to allow enough light through the lens to record the image.
]]>
The Grand Staircase is an interesting subject. The mural is 20 feet wide and four stories tall! I wanted to capture an image of the staircase and mural. However, as you can see from the original image (straight out of the camera) below, there were some unwanted objects within the frame on the staircase: posts on stands, a pile of rope, etc.
As always, the first thing I tried to address the clutter issue was to physically move the unwanted objects out of the frame. In this case, moving everything was going to take too much effort. The posts were heavy, the pile of rope was cumbersome and all of the items needed to be moved a good distance and then returned to their original place. So, I employed my "mirror trick" instead.
I bracketed a few more exposures so that more detail would appear in the highlights and shadows. Next, I used the following approach to remove the unwanted objects:
- Since the left side is cleaner than the right side of the frame, I started by cloning out the stand on the left side of the staircase. This was relatively easy to do.
- Once the left side was clean, I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool in Photoshop to make a selection which included an area surrounding the left post/stand. I then placed that selection on a new layer.
- Using that selection, I used the Free Transform function to "Flip Horizontal" that area. By flipping (or mirroring) the selection, it will fit much better on the other side of the frame.
- The next step is to Move the selection over the similar area on the right portion of the staircase. The flipped selection now appears on top of the messy original area on the staircase.
- Of course, the mirrored selection doesn't fit precisely in place over the messy section, so I once again use the Free Transform function--but this time Warp is the chosen tool. By slowly dragging a few of the anchor points within the selection, I was able to replace the original area with the selection with minimal effort. And, I can't really tell that the area has been manipulated even when the area is magnified.
Here's the completed image with everything cleaned up and put away:
Since I was driving a Prius, which is a very low clearance vehicle, I drove into Chaco from the north. I was told that the road from the south required a high clearance vehicle, but that the northern route was usually suitable for a passenger car. From the north, I exited highway US 550 about three miles south of Nageezi onto CR 7900. From there, the first 8 miles of the road is paved. The next 13 miles is a dirt and gravel road, and the final 4 miles are not maintained and very rough.
The conditions were dry, so driving into the park didn't present much of a problem. For the last four miles, the road is so rough that I had to drive slowly--usually about 5 miles per hour and never exceeding 10 miles per hour. But, with a little patience, I arrived at Chaco with a dusty Prius.
Because the park isn't nearly as accessible as most others (i.e., Mesa Verde), the location was free of crowds. The Chaco Canyon is filled with amazing ruins. Most times, I had the ruins to myself. I also participated in numerous ranger-led tours during my three days in the park. Most times, there were just a few of us on a tour.
Another factor that keeps the crowds down is that there are no services available at Chaco--no food, no gas, no ice, no cell service, no internet and no lodging other than the campground. I brought enough food for a few days. My Prius rarely needs gas. And, I had a cooler of ice which melted after the first day.
Here's my brand new Prius at the Chaco campground. Please forgive the poor image quality--I still haven't figured out how to work the camera on my iPhone!
Note the overcast conditions in the above picture. Once I arrived at Chaco, it started to rain. Chaco receives very little rain. But, it was the monsoon season and it was raining or overcast during the vast majority of the time I was there. This was bad for two reasons. Photography was difficult for much of the time in the rain. And, the road leaving the park was becoming a problem!
I spent the better part of my first two days in the park scouting for good photography subjects. When the light finally broke through the clouds, I was able to get in the right spots quickly and capture enough pictures to salvage the visit from a photography perspective. Here are a few of my favorites:
Then came the time for me to leave. On the morning of the third day, I started driving on the northern road. The first mile was tedious--very bumpy and once again I was driving at about 5 miles per hour. After that, the mud started getting deeper. And, the road was becoming as slippery as if it was covered with ice. Large vehicles had passed through earlier, so the ruts in the mud were very deep--so deep that my Prius could easily get stuck in them. Soon enough, my car was stuck with the tires spinning in the mud. Fortunately, the tires gained enough traction when I put the car in reverse that I was able to back out and then return to the park.
The mud at Chaco isn't like anything I've experienced before. It's like a thick glue. I was told that if I had kept driving, the mud would pack the tire wells to the point where the tires could no longer rotate. It's also very slippery. It's easy to slide off the road. Without cell or internet service, I was looking at a long walk in that muddy mess.
I went into the visitor center to try to plan my next move. The ranger told me that the road can be impassable after rain and that I would just have to wait it out. He said that I should probably try again in the afternoon once the mud had a chance to "bake" for a while. He also said that there was more rain in the forecast! It was looking like I might be at Chaco for a lot longer than I had planned.
The ranger told me that maybe I would be like him. He stayed for 28 years! Actually, I was impressed with the enthusiasm of all of the rangers at Chaco. They all love the place and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
A few hours later, I once again tried to leave the park. This time, the mud had dried just enough for my car to power through it.
Although I certainly had my challenges at Chaco, it will always be a special place to me. The canyon is beautiful, the ruins are fascinating, the rangers are enthusiastic--and I felt like I had the place all to myself. But, next time my Prius is going to sit this one out.
]]>
It had been just a few months since my last visit, so I was surprised to see that this old structure is now fully renovated--new roof, modern windows, etc. A new business has moved into this large facility. Of course, it must be considered to be progress to transition an old, empty, rundown building into a fully functioning building. Yet, in some ways it's sad to lose the last remnants of this large campus and one of my favorite photography locations in the area.
This photograph was taken in Tucumcari, New Mexico during my recent Desert Southwest Road Trip. CLICK HERE to read more about the logistics behind this image.
This marks the 22nd time in the last 23 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>
The reviews were very positive regarding this motel. And, in my judgment those reviews are accurate. The motel is very clean and reasonably priced.
I arrived in the middle of the afternoon. While checking in, I had two questions for the owner. Was he going to turn on the sign? Would he leave the vintage automobile parked under the sign? He replied that he turns on the sign every night. Also, he always parks a car in front of the office so that higher vehicles won't pull under and potentially damage the sign.
After shooting for a while in downtown Tucumcari, I made sure to get situated in time to capture a twilight image of the motel. If I were to wait much longer, the sky would go completely black and the scene would lose a significant amount of color and detail. So, I began shooting just after sunset.
Getting into position to shoot this motel at twilight in the small town of Tucumcari took a lot of planning, so I was disappointed by what happened next. Just as I was about to start shooting, a vehicle (SUV) pulled up behind the vintage car. For the longest time, he left his headlights on and they were positioned to shine directly into my lens. Then, he left the car parked there and entered the lobby--where he stayed talking to the owner for at least 45 minutes (until well after I packed up and left).
I also had to deal with another challenge. A white car pulled up next to the blue motel door just behind the vintage car. It was a modern white vehicle and ruined the scene in my opinion. What made it worse is that the motel guest kept walking up behind the vintage car and looking into my camera. He seemed curious as to what I was doing and it took for what seemed forever for him to leave the frame.
Now, I had very little flexibility with my composition. I kept moving the tripod up and down, left and right, to minimize the distraction of these two vehicles that didn't really belong in the scene. Notice how I've mostly blocked the SUV by positioning it behind the vintage car. At the same time, I kept moving left to use the sign to block the white car parked just left of the motel. My positioning was within an inch or two of where it needed to be to take care of both vehicles at the same time.
A final challenge was dealing with a blinking neon sign. I made sure to open the shutter while the sign was fully lit. For this five frame HDR photograph, the sign was fully lit for each of the five exposures. Fortunately, I was aware of this issue during the photo shoot.
I shouldn't complain too much. I was fortunate to get some nice weather and lighting in Tucumcari for this photograph. And, I was very pleased with how the picture turned out as well as with my stay at the historic Blue Swallow Motel.
]]>Click here to view the news release.
One of the things I like most about this image is that it was captured just a few miles from my home in Orland Park, Illinois.
The cost of my last 23 day Desert Southwest Road Trip was a bit higher. Rather than camping every night, I stayed in hotels for four of the nights. I also incurred higher entertainment costs than in previous trips. The cost of the trip was just under $1,200, excluding food. With food, it came to just under $1,500. Here is a breakdown of the costs by category:
Lodging ($561)
Most of the time, I camped (Prius camping) in private or national park campgrounds. I stayed at a Hampton Inn in Denver for a night and another Hampton Inn for two nights in Phoenix. I also stayed at the Blue Swallow Motel on Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico.
Gas and Tolls ($378)
My new Prius achieves great gas mileage. This trip covered 5,155 miles. The Prius averaged 56.0 mpg over the entire trip.
Entertainment ($199)
Entertainment consists mostly of park and tour fees. Nearly $140 was allocated to tours of the Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons. I toured the Missouri State Penitentiary with a former warden of the facility. Entrance fees to several parks are included in this total: Natural Bridges National Monument, Chaco Canyon Historical Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park along with the related tours of the ruins. I also visited the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri.
Ice ($22)
Most mornings, I purchased a bag of ice for the cooler in my car.
TOTAL ($1,160)
In addition, the cost of food throughout the trip was $327.
How do I know these costs so precisely? I simply enter each expense on my phone as it is incurred using an application called "Travel Budget". I do it more out or curiosity than anything else.
While many people think it costs thousands of dollars to take a 23 day trip to so many amazing locations, the fact is that it can be done for a very low cost. Keep in mind that there would have been a cost to stay home as well (gas, entertainment, utilities, etc.)!
If past history is any indication, it won't be long before sales of the photographs from this Desert Southwest Road Trip eliminate the cost of the trip entirely.
]]>The subject of this image is a White-crested Laughing Thrush. This bird was photographed in the free fly area of the Perching Bird House.
1/50th, f/2, ISO 125
I think the very narrow depth of field directs the viewer's attention to my subject by making the bird the only sharply focused area within the frame. The shallow focus zone also helps blur out what otherwise would be a very distracting background of branches and leaves.
The wide open aperture also allows me to select a lower ISO setting--which in turn maximizes image quality. By comparison, if I had selected an aperture of f/8, the ISO setting would have increased to 2000 to maintain the same exposure. While ISO 2000 might still generate a salvageable picture with today's digital sensors, the image quality is not nearly as high as with ISO 125.
The use of my Nikon SB-900 flash unit also helped this image. The viewer's attention is once again directed to the bird due to the added illumination from the strobe. And, the short duration of the flash burst helps freeze any motion (from the bird or from camera shake) to provide a sharper image. Finally, the added light helps in that I can select a lower ISO setting.
The bird's position in the frame provides for a strong composition. The branch provides a leading line to direct the eye to the bird. And, the bird has plenty of space in the direction that it is looking within the frame.
I'm glad that I live so close to the Brookfield Zoo. It makes it easy to go out and practice shooting--rain or shine. There are interesting subjects to photograph in both the indoor and outdoor exhibits. Here's another entirely different image from yesterday that I captured with the Nikon 200 f/2:
Click here to view samples of images that I've captured using a fisheye lens over the past several months.
Earlier this week, the fisheye came in handy. I took a tour of Wrigley Field. While waiting for the tour to start, I captured an image of the outside of the ballpark. The entrance is decorated to celebrate the 100th anniversary of baseball at Wrigley Field. Here's the photograph using the Sigma 15mm fisheye lens with my Nikon D800:
As a perspective, I captured a similar photo from the same vantage point four years ago. This next photo was taken at an ultra-wide 14mm focal length:
Although I like both photos, the only way to include the entire stadium in the frame is by using the fisheye lens. In certain situations (like this one), I also like using the distortion that the fisheye provides to bring more curvature into the building.
I've found the fisheye to be particularly effective when shooting circular subjects such as the inner dome of a State Capitol. With circular subjects, it's nearly impossible to detect any fisheye distortion, yet the fisheye is often the only way to include the entire dome in the frame.
The distortion of the fisheye can also make certain scenes look strange or quirky. I used this feature to help make my neighbor's Christmas decorations look a little more whacky. Note that the curvature of the sidewalk is entirely the product of fisheye distortion.
The more I use the lens, the more I learn how to see things from a fisheye's perspective.
]]>The following image was captured at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The large petrified log is located very close to my lens. The logs in the background are quite distant. One approach to dealing with a situation like this is to select a very narrow aperture such a f/22. The downside of the narrow aperture is that images are typically not rendered as sharp at such an extreme f/stop. Also, the depth of field isn't great enough at f/22 to render the entire frame sharp in this case.
The other approach, which I used here, is to take one photo with the focus on the log in the front of the frame and another photo with the focus on the logs in the back of the frame. Then, the two (or more) exposures can be blended together in Photoshop to render the entire frame as tack sharp.
I use the following method to accomplish this:
- Open up both images in Photoshop.
- Copy the entire frame of the image with the sharp foreground onto a new layer on top of the image with the focus on the background.
- With both layers selected, Auto-Align the layers (Edit >> Auto Align Layers >> Auto).
- Once the layers are aligned, add a black mask to the top layer (the one with the foreground in focus).
- With a white brush, paint over the black mask to reveal the foreground objects as sharp.
I used this approach many times to extend the area of focus while using an optimal aperture (f/8) for overall image quality. Here's another example of a focus stacked image with the rocks in the foreground situated just inches from my lens:
The above image of the Great Kiva at Casa Rinconada consisted of ten images. First, the focus was set on the rocks in the foreground and five exposures were captured to create a high dynamic range (HDR) picture. Then, the focus was set on the back wall of the kiva with another five exposures for a second HDR image. The two HDR images were then focus stacked. In the end, it took ten frames to render the entire image sharp as well as to extend the dynamic range to provide details in the shadows and highlights of the photograph!
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One of the things I like most about my Nikon D800 is its croppability. This advantage comes into play most often when taking photographs of wildlife. I think this image of a Golden Weaver helps illustrate this advantage.
Here's the out of camera (OOC) image from the D800. It's not cropped at all, so the dimension of this file is 4,912 pixels wide by 7,360 pixels high (or 36 megapixels):
In my opinion, this image is much stronger when cropped. The cropped version guides the viewer's eye to the subject of my photograph in the most basic way possible--by making the subject larger within the frame.
This is a significant crop, yet the remaining file is still quite large. The cropped version measures 3,772 pixels wide by 4,715 high (or 18 megapixels). As a perspective, if I had captured this same picture with my Nikon D700 the original file before cropping would have been only 12 megapixels!
This photograph was captured with a 500mm f/4 lens. I left the aperture wide open at f/4 and selected a very slow shutter speed of 1/40th of a second. The ISO was 800. As a perspective, if I had stopped down to f/5.6 and gone with a reasonable shutter speed of 1/320th of a second, the ISO would have increased to an astronomical 12,800 to achieve the same exposure. At that ISO level, my post processing treatment would have been to just delete the image from the card!
Croppability helps to keep the ISO down. If I had instead elected to use my Nikon 1.4x teleconverter to achieve more reach, my ISO would have been 1,600 to achieve the same exposure (due to the narrower aperture required). Not only does the higher ISO setting negatively impact image quality, but so does the addition of another piece of glass (the teleconverter). Also, my depth of field becomes wider with a narrower aperture--which diminishes my creative intention of blurring the very distracting branches behind the bird.
While many people tend to mention how the larger files make it possible to create bigger prints, I think the advantages of "croppability" extend far beyond that.
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One of the things I find appealing about this image is the eye contact. The antelope is making a connection with the viewer. I'm often asked how I get animals to look into my lens. In some ways, it's easier than one would think. It's mostly a matter of just waiting until the animal looks in my direction! I try to attract the animal's attention by making noises, waving my arms or triggering my flash unit. In the zoo, these tactics aren't usually very effective. The animals are immune to these methods given the number of visitors, particularly kids, who walk by the exhibits all day. In the end, it just takes patience.
]]>I envisioned a shot from the interior of the kiva at the Spruce Tree House ruin. However, the line to enter the kiva was always at least 25 people deep. At any given time, the kiva was packed with people. There was no way that I could squeeze into the kiva let alone set up a tripod to capture an image in the dark space.
It was a challenge to photograph the ruins without having massive crowds of tourists throughout the frame. This image provides some perspective on the crowd as it approached the Cliff Palace ruins in front of me:
In the above photo, one tour is approaching the ruins while another is exiting from the other side. If the ranger who is leading the trailing tour waits a bit before moving into the area with the ruins, a photographer has a brief window of time to capture some photographs without tourists in the frame. Sometimes, there is no window of time because one group enters the area before the other group leaves. Other times, the photographer might get up to a minute or two. On average, the ruins might be unobstructed for 30 seconds every 30 minutes.
It takes some patience, but by waiting 60-90 minutes, I was able to get several shots within about two minutes of shooting time! At times, a few stragglers would remain in the frame from the previous group, but they were easy enough to remove in Photoshop. Fortunately, the weather cooperated during those couple of minutes of shooting time.
Often times, I think our world has become too crowded. There's a good possibility that overpopulation and the resulting demand on limited resources is why these dwellings were deserted--and why they look they way they do today.
]]>Here's an example using a recent photo from the Kansas State Senate Chamber. The camera has more or less rendered an accurate color for the light from the chandeliers. But, the light streaming in from the windows is rendered as blue. Notice how blue many of the desk tops and leather chairs appear. While your eye naturally corrects for these various light sources, the camera sensor doesn't.
Correcting a photograph with multiple light sources can be challenging. Some photographers just give up and convert the picture to black & white! However, I discovered a very fast method for taking care of this common problem:
- Open the image in Photoshop and create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer.
- Select a blue area of the frame (I chose a desk) and drag the saturation slider all the way down. The blues will now be removed from the entire frame.
- Add a black mask to the adjustment layer. Remember that black conceals the adjustment while white reveals it.
- Brush with white over the areas of the frame where you want to remove the blue cast...desk tops, leather chairs, windows, etc.
- The beauty of this is that the saturation remains for all of the other key areas (as well as blue in the untouched areas), but the blue cast is quickly removed from the area where it doesn't belong.
I find the final photograph more appealing for two reasons. First, the blue cast is removed. Next, I bracketed a few more exposures to bring out more details in the highlights and shadows of the frame.
My most recent 23 day road trip included two photos sessions in Antelope Canyon. As many photographers know, the slot canyons are very dusty. What makes it worse is that the Navajo guides like to throw sand and dust into the air to accentuate the light beams.
Obviously, my sensor was going to require a good cleaning after this long trip--especially since I tend to change lenses frequently in the field. Here's how my sensor looked when I returned home from the trip:
The above photo shows my sensor at f/16 with the dust spots highlighted in white. An effective way to view sensor spots is to shoot something that's bright white (like a blank white page on my computer monitor). Then, bring the image into Lightroom and activate the cloning tool (upper right). From there, the "Visualize Spots" feature appears at the bottom left of the image. Check that box and move the slider to the right to see the spots more clearly.
While this sensor is clearly dirty, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be! But, it needed cleaning. And, it required more than an air blower or sensor brush is capable of accomplishing.
My days of wet cleaning the sensor are probably over. So, I decided to try a new product called the Sensor Gel Stick. Click here to view the product along with an instructional video. While it's not cheap at $50, it would be a bargain if it works!
After a few minutes of cleaning my sensor with the Sensor Gel Stick, here's my sensor now at the same camera settings:
That's the cleanest my sensor has been since I last returned from APS. I'm a happy photographer!
During the trip, I captured 448 images which I considered to be "keepers" and which I processed. Following is the distribution of the photos by the lens:
Of course, the lens selection is correlated with the subject matter. The subject matter during much of this trip was architecture. I visited five State Capitols (Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona and Illinois)--all of which called for wide lenses for the vast interiors. I also visited many Indian ruins. I chose very wide focal lengths most of the time for those locations.
I did not take photos of wildlife this time. If wildlife was a subject, the distribution would have shifted towards longer focal lengths.
I took only 12 pictures with an aperture wider than f/8! The majority of my pictures (303 of them to be exact) were shot at just two apertures--f/8 and f/9. This also relates closely to the subject matter that I concentrated on during this trip.
In case you are wondering how I compile all of this information, Lightroom makes this very efficient. I temporarily created a Collection called "Road Trip" and included all of the photos from my trip in that collection. If a photograph consists of multiple exposures, possibly due to it being a high dynamic range (HDR) image, I only include the top image so as not to skew the totals. This is accomplished by "stacking" the images--having only the finished image on top with the others filed in the stack underneath the lead photo. Once the collection is created (which took me 30 seconds), I use the metadata filter to view the photos by various attributes: aperture, lens, focal length, shutter speed, etc.
The 14-24 was a workhorse during this trip. When I first purchased the lens, I wasn't comfortable shooting at such wide focal lengths. I hardly used the lens for about six months and contemplated selling it. Finally, I forced myself to start using it...and in time I started seeing things from a wide angle perspective. As more time progressed, I found that I really enjoy how the lens allows me to create photographs that are more out of the ordinary than a "normal" focal length might offer.
I purchased the Sigma 15mm fisheye lens last year. It's a specialty lens and suitable for a very limited number of subjects. However, I am very pleased with the lens. When the right situation presents itself, there's nothing quite like the fisheye lens. I think the 29 fisheye images that I created is a good number. Some of those pictures would not have been possible if I wasn't carrying that lens. To view more photographs that I've made with the Sigma fisheye, please CLICK HERE.
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While considering the scene, I envisioned a couple of things that I thought would improve the final photograph. The first thing needed to be done before I pressed the shutter. This garage door faced the main road that runs through Alamogordo. This section of the main road was under construction. There were some road signs that need to be moved so that I could capture a clear view of the garage!
Next, the image straight out of the camera (SOOC) appeared dull--lacking in color and contrast:
Using Lightroom to increase the Vibrance and applying Nik Color Efex Pro 4's Tonal Contrast filter helped give this image some much needed pop.
]]>Sometimes I wonder if I'm not drawn to using the longer lenses simply due to their cost. The long prime lenses cost a fortune, so I try to use them whenever I possible can!
Last summer, I visited Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park. I spent far more time in the valley than I wanted to, mostly because of the "bison jams" on the road that connects the Lake Area to the Canyon Area inside the park. Bison herds tend to gather in Hayden Valley. The herds constantly work their way onto the road. These massive animals tend to just stand on the road. There's no way to drive around them, so at times it would take up to 90 minutes to travel just 20 miles in this section of the park.
One night, I decided to stop at a pullout to kill time while waiting for the bison to move. I captured the following image with my 500mm lens attached to the Nikon D800:
I like the photograph, but wish that just a few bison would have worked their way into this portion of the valley!
At first, I captured images of the Salt Lake Temple from the outside. There are two reflecting pools nearby.
I wasn't sure what to expect as I entered the Tabernacle. But, I was told that I was free to take as many photographs of whatever I wanted--a message that was repeated in every building that I entered! Unlike so many other venues, my tripod wasn't a problem either. Later, I would return to the Tabernacle on a free guided tour. The building has a fascinating history and amazing acoustics. While all of us sat in the back pews, the guide stood at the podium. She slowly tore a single piece paper. Then, she dropped a pin on the floor. We could hear both of those things very clearly!
Next, I came across the Assembly Hall. Once again, I was greeted by a missionary who encouraged my photography. The Assembly Hall was relatively crowded, but the building cleared as soon as the Organ Recital started at the nearby Tabernacle. This provided me with an opportunity to capture photographs of the Assembly Hall without anybody in the frame. My plan was to take some pictures and then to join the Organ Recital in progress. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the Tabernacle doors are locked once the recital starts to avoid distractions. So, I missed the recital--and would later miss my opportunity to hear the Tabernacle Choir!
While visiting the Assembly Hall, a missionary told me about the LDS Conference Center located across the street from Temple Square. Apparently, the LDS Conference Center houses the largest auditorium in the World. The building has a park on its roof and a waterfall on its side. It's a stunning building. I was a little hesitant to visit since a guide is required to access the building. Later, I would learn why the guide was necessary.
I entered the building and asked if I could view the auditorium. Before long, a guide was assigned to me and two other visitors. The guide brought the three of us to the viewing area. The auditorium is certainly impressive, but the perspective from the viewing area isn't the best for photography. I asked if it would be possible for me to move down to the floor.
The other two visitors left. I now had a personal guide for the rest of my visit. I suspected that my guide, a former bishop in the church, would try to "convert" me! My guide was clearly very proud of the facility. Mostly, he provided information about the history and architecture of the site.
Next, he asked me if I would like to go up on the roof of the building. The roof houses a beautiful park--including trees and grasses and lots of water. While up there, I captured a photograph of downtown Salt Lake City:
He then showed me an overwhelming amount of beautiful and historic paintings and sculptures. These paintings are just hanging on the wall with little evident security--hence the guide.
During my nearly 3 hour visit, I asked several questions about the Mormon religion. Or, as I learned during my visit, the religion is better referred to as the Latter Day Saints. I'm always interested in different religions and was (probably still am) ignorant of the Latter Day Saints. As I asked these questions, my guide (a prior bishop of the Church) always started his reply by telling me that the only reason he was talking about the religion is because I was asking. He said it wasn't the purpose of the tour to "push" his religion--but that he would be happy to discuss it if that was my preference. I enjoyed my visit with the guide very much. He respects my religious views and I respect his--and we had a great time that afternoon in Salt Lake City.
After my visit to the LDS Conference Center, I returned to Temple Square and went to the Visitor Center to learn some more about the religion. Like all of the other buildings I visited, the Visitor Centers (there are two on the Square) are immaculate. It requires a great deal of attention to keep everything so clean. For example, I noticed that people came by to clean the outside water fountains on a regular basis.
As my visit to Salt Lake City was coming to a close, I was disappointed that I didn't have time to capture photographs of the city from the top of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Office building. I was told that a guide would take me anywhere in the office building that I wished--and that once again I was free to take photographs of whatever I wished.
I was also disappointed that I wasn't able to stay in Salt Lake City for one more day as the Tabernacle Choir was performing (for free) the next day at the LDS Conference Center. Maybe next time...
In situations like this, my first approach is to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photograph by blending a number of bracketed exposures. When the range of light varies more, I bracket more exposures. Sometimes I end up with as many as 9 exposures bracketed one stop apart when producing a HDR photograph.
Yesterday, I photographed the interior of the historic St. Patrick Church in Lemont, Illinois. The range of light in the frame was significant. The following image is the best single exposure that I could achieve. It's not terrible, but note how the highlights in the chandeliers and windows are partially blown out:
Next, I bracketed 7 exposures and then blended the exposures together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photograph. The result is better, but I was hoping to retain more color and detail in the stained glass windows:
Finally, I tried a new approach that I recently learned by viewing Jimmy McIntyre's tutorial on blending exposures with luminosity masks in Photoshop. Click here to view that tutorial.
As the tutorial instructed, I made an additional exposure of the scene that was significantly underexposed. Yet, this highly underexposed frame represents a reasonable exposure for the very bright highlights:
From there, I placed the underexposed frame on a separate layer on top of the HDR frame in Photoshop. I used Jimmy McIntyre's luminosity masks to enable the darker windows and chandeliers to replace the blown out ones in the HDR photograph. The result is that the chandeliers and stained glass windows now retain far greater details and color than in the original image:
Of course, this is a matter of taste. I prefer the final image over the others. Yet, some people may say that the last image looks unnatural. Over time and with enough practice, my blending skills within Photoshop should continue to improve.
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Click here to view my favorite capitol pictures. Click here to view the images categorized by state. Please note that I am still on the road and won't have my most recent four Capitols available for viewing for several weeks--Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.
I also plan to revisit some of the capitol buildings that I first visited as part of this project. I have very few images from my home state capitol of Illinois! And, I have just one exterior photograph of the Minnesota Capitol. Over time, my understanding of how to approach a capitol photo shoot has changed--and hopefully improved!
]]>I always enjoy when a photograph of an area near my home is recognized. This image was captured recently (in June) in the Cook County Forest Preserves just north of where I live in Orland Park, Illinois.
This marks the 21st time in the last 22 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>This photograph was captured less than a month ago at the Saieh Hall of Economics on the campus of the University of Chicago. The building was recently renovated. It was open for just a day or two when I visited for this photograph.
This marks the 20th time in the last 21 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>My second stop involves a relatively short drive of 220 miles to Topeka, Kansas. In Topeka, I'll visit my 29th capitol--the Kansas State Capitol. While in Topeka, I plan to visit the First Presbyterian Church of Topeka--which is known for its Tiffany windows. Hopefully, the church will be open on Tuesday.
After that, I'll work my way to Denver, Colorado for a short visit to the Colorado State Capitol. From there, I will be following a flexible itinerary through parts of southern Colorado, New Mexico, southern Utah and northern Arizona. Phoenix will be my most distant destination before working my way back to Orland Park in mid-August.
I won't be posting any images for a while now as I don't post process photographs while on the road. When I return home, I hope to have a vast collection of pictures to share from this trip.
Click here for my rough itinerary.
]]>Day 1- Jefferson City, MO (Missouri State Capitol)
Day 2- Jefferson City, MO (Missouri State Penitentiary)
Day 3- Topeka, KS (Kansas State Capitol)
Day 4- Hays, KS
Day 5- Denver, CO (Colorado State Capitol, Basilica, Judicial Center)
Day 6- Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO
Day 7- Farmington, NM (Aztec Ruins National Monument)
Day 8- Chaco Culture National Historic Park, NM
Day 9- Chaco Culture National Historic Park, NM
Day 10- Farmington, NM (Bisti Wilderness)
Day 11- Farmington, NM
Day 12- Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Day 13- Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Day 14- Natural Bridges National Monument, UT
Day 15- Page, AZ (Horseshoe Bend)
Day 16- Page, AZ (Antelope Canyons)
Day 17- Phoenix, AZ (Arizona State Capitol)
Day 18- Phoenix, AZ (Basilica, Roosevelt Row)
Day 20- Gallup, NM (Route 66)
Day 21- Tucumcari, NM (Blue Swallow Motel)
Day 22- Miami, OK
Day 23- Springfield, IL (Illinois State Capitol)
Day 24- Orland Park, IL
By the end of this trip, I will have visited every state capitol west of the Mississippi River with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska. Preliminary plans have me visiting Honolulu this winter.
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It was the color green that attracted my eye to this scene. Whenever I take pictures in a forest, I hope for overcast conditions. The clouds diffuse and soften the light. The soft light brings out the colors. Sunny conditions introduce too much contrast--and the scene is rendered far too harsh.
For this image, I secured my camera to a tripod. Stabilizing the camera allowed me to use a long 1 second exposure. The long exposure made it possible to use the camera's base ISO of 100 for maximum image quality. It also provided the flexibility to use a narrow aperture (f/10) to maximize the depth of field. Without the tripod, I would have had to make sacrifices and compromised image quality.
I also used a cable release to trigger the shutter. The mirror was locked up as well to minimize camera shake.
I attached a circular polarizing filter to my lens. This filter minimizes reflections which helps remove the sheen from the foliage. This in turn deepens the colors throughout the image.
For those wondering if post processing plays much of a role, here's a look at the picture straight out of the camera (SOOC):
From here, I adjusted the white balance, added contrast, a vignette, applied a couple of Nik Color Efex filters and sharpened the image.
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- The items rolled in the plastic sleeves are the window coverings for my new Prius. With the help of the attached suction cups, these Heatshield sunshades snap into place to block light and provide privacy while camping in the Prius.
- The white fabric is no see um mosquito netting. This netting will be fitted for the side windows of my Prius and then sewn into sleeves that will slide over the windows. On warm nights, this netting will make it possible to roll the windows down for better ventilation while providing protection against mosquitoes and other insects. I will share photos of how these sleeves work once this trip is underway.
- The box standing in the back holds specially made gaiters. These gaiters strap around the calf and cover the leg from the ankle to just under the knee. These "Rattlers Brand" gaiters offer snake protection in an area of the body most subject to snake bites. They are a precautionary measure that I plan to use while solo hiking out to a remote Indian ruin in southern Utah. Although the odds of getting bit by a snake are very low, those odds are a little higher while hiking on a more remote trail in this area of the country during the summer months. Getting bit by a rattlesnake while two miles away from the car would not be good. Next, I'll have to figure out how to protect my arms!
​I wonder what other strange items I will be buying before I leave for this adventure!
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This colors and textures of this garage door caught my eye as I was driving through Alamogordo, New Mexico. But, a road construction sign located directly in front of the garage door ruined the scene. So, I carried the sign out of the frame before capturing this picture.
2
I came across this stable for the Lexington mounted police, but the scene was ruined by a police vehicle (cart) parked inside the building. I asked the officer if he would mind moving the vehicle.
3
I noticed the repeating chandeliers in the mirror of the reception room of the Kentucky State Capitol, but two chairs were positioned where they blocked the bottom portion of the frame of the mirror. Although the area was roped off, I worked my way over there and moved the chairs. Once I captured the shots, I returned the chairs to their original position.
4
While touring the Old Capitol building in Frankfort, I asked the tour guide if he would help me slide a donation collection stand and box out of the frame. He agreed to do so, which helped clean up this image.
5
In the St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (Cincinnati), there were signs positioned on the stairs leading up to the altar warning visitors that the sanctuary is off limits. I temporarily removed the signs since they blocked details from the scene which would have been difficult or impossible to recreate in Photoshop.
Sometimes it's just easier to remove items from the frame using the old-fashioned physical method!
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I've been driving the new Prius for about a week now. This Prius is bigger than my last one. It is more powerful. And, it gets better gas mileage. This morning, I filled the gas tank for the first time. The car achieved 65 mpg for its first 500 miles. With a bit more practice, I'm projecting that I will reach 70 mpg on an upcoming tank.
I'll need to make some adjustment to continue using the Prius as a camping vehicle:
- The front seat no longer folds down flat to the back seat. So, my new method is to push the front seat all the way forward toward the dashboard. Then, I place a large plastic crate with two pillows on the passenger side rear floor (to even the sleeping surface). From there, I lay the sleeping pad and bag from the back of the front seat to the end of the car--which allows for plenty of room for me (and I'm 6'3" tall).
- Unfortunately, my customized window coverings no longer fit the new vehicle. So, I purchased new Heatshield shades for the front sides, back sides and rear windows. At $35 per section, the total cost of the window coverings came to $105 plus S&H. If anyone is interested in the shades for the older Generation II Prius (2004-2009 models), I am selling those for $65 (including shipping and handling). They are in excellent condition and will serve any Prius camper well. (Edit: Items are now SOLD)
- Fortunately, my front windshield covering and my Prius tent still fit the new car.
- I ordered some mosquito netting and magnets so that I can leave my windows open during warm nights during my upcoming photography trip to southern Utah.
I will post another entry (along with photos) with another update once I start my Prius camping again this summer.
]]>To get this shot, I manually set the focus by selecting an area on the track where I thought the horses would eventually pass. As the horses approached, I positioned the lens for my composition and began firing as the horses entered the frame. My only regret is that I couldn't move just a bit more to my left as I didn't want the "N" of the Arlington sign to blend into the finish post. But, there was another spectator pressed up against my left side.
Some other settings also helped to improve my chances for a successful photograph:
- I used a super fast shutter speed of 1/5000th of a second to freeze the action.
- I selected the Nikon D700 for its fast frame rate. With the AA batteries inserted, I set the camera for its highest speed burst (about 8 frames per second) to have more frames to select from.
Finally, I wanted to make it appear as though my photograph captured the winning horse as it crossed the finish line, so I used Photoshop to clone out the flying dirt that appeared within the right edge of the frame from the horse that actually won the race.
]]>- One Einstein strobe
- 24" Lastolite Ezybox (small softbox)
- 5x7' Collapsible Background
- Lightstand
To my surprise, it took me very little time to set up. Within a few minutes, I positioned the boy in front of the backdrop and started shooting. Here are a few images from this brief session:
For these portraits, I positioned the light subject left at about 45 degrees. I placed the subject in an area with some window light to the right for my fill. The backdrop was placed about three feet behind the subject. That's all there was to it!
I also own a portable battery that provides power to the strobe--so I don't even need to be near an electrical outlet. This portable studio can be set up at anywhere!
]]>Unfortunately, my plans for Prius camping for this upcoming trip are now in jeopardy. Fortunately, I am still alive to make the trip!
Last weekend, I was coaching my 13U travel baseball team at a sports complex in Naperville, Illinois. As I was leaving the park after the game, I was stopped at the light waiting for the signal to turn green so that I could turn right on Washington Street--a street with a speed limit of 45 mph and a lot of traffic flowing at 45-55 mph.
Suddenly, the driver of a car driving northbound on Washington Street (to my right), made a fast move into oncoming traffic as he entered the intersection. Witnesses later reported that this driver had been driving recklessly for the past mile or so. As he entered the intersection, witnesses say that he passed a car that was waiting to make a left into the park--and passed on the left of the car into oncoming traffic. As a result, the car was proceeding head on into a GMC Sierra truck as the truck was approaching the intersection.
All I saw was the blur of the car from my right moving into the intersection. My immediate thought was that he was making a left turn into the park going at nearly 50 mph! The truck driver then slammed on his brakes in an attempt to avoid a head on collision.
I heard the screeching of the brakes and sat there helplessly as this big truck was sliding toward me. I moved as far over to the passenger side of the car as possible and braced for impact. Due to the very fast reactions of the truck driver (who drives a semi truck for a living), he was able to slow the vehicle down from 45 mph to about 20-25 mph before slamming into the passenger side of my Prius. The Prius absorbed much of the impact while it was pushed up and over the curb and into the parkway.
Everything slowed down for me during those few seconds. It felt more like 5 minutes while I heard the screeching of the brakes, smelled the burning of the rubber of the tires, heard the air bags open up and felt the initial impact of the truck against my car. I expected the truck to keep moving all the way through my car--and was surprised to feel my car stop moving and find myself able to walk away from the accident. The paramedic on the scene told me that he didn't expect a good outcome for me when he saw the position of the vehicles while he was approaching the scene.
In any event, the situation turned from life threatening to just a major hassle. My car was towed away and is still sitting in a Naperville municipal lot (at $75 per day storage fees) until an insurance adjuster inspects the car. I'm being told that the car will most likely be totaled. In the meantime, I'm renting a car (another daily cost). And, I will probably purchase a new vehicle (a Prius, of course) in the next week or so.
The blue book value of my Prius is nowhere near the real value to me. Despite its 9 years and 175k miles, the car is in excellent condition and would easily last another 2-3 years and 75k miles. Yet, I'll probably be compensated only to the extent of about $3,500.
The good news is that the driver of the car that caused the accident will most likely be held accountable for all of the damages (to all three vehicles). There are at least four witnesses to his reckless driving and he was the only driver ticketed by police at the scene.
The best news is that I get to see, and photograph, more days!
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This photograph was captured back in July, 2012 in Grand Teton National Park. I hiked to the top of the Lunch Tree Hill trail behind the Jackson Lake Lodge before sunrise hoping to get a good panoramic photograph of the mountain range. Instead, the entire valley was filled with thick fog. I waited nearly two hours for the fog to lift. The fog never lifted enough for the mountain range to become visible, but the foggy trees consolation image saved the day!
This marks the 19th time in the last 20 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>The Mud Geyser area is particularly foggy and is located just south of Hayden Valley. Boardwalks make it easy to navigate around the geysers. Early one morning, I captured the following image of the fog (more likely it's steam) from one of the boardwalks:
A few minutes later, I was startled to see a massive bison standing too short of a distance behind me. I think he was attracted to the warm temperature of the Mud Geyser area. It was scary to be standing there alone with nothing between me and a large wild animal. Fortunately, the bison was content to continue grazing and paid little attention to me. I slowly backed my way out of the area.
In Yellowstone National Park, you must always watch your back. I recently viewed photographs of grizzly bears walking along the boardwalks just a few hundred yards away from the Old Faithful Inn!
]]>Recently, I participated in a macro photography workshop in the Adirondack Mountains with Steve Gettle. One of the things that I learned is how useful a circular polarizer can be when capturing macro images of foliage. The polarizer helps to remove the sheen from the leaves which deepens the contrast and color.
Nearly all of my lenses have a 77mm filter thread. Given the expense of a circular polarizer, I keep just one in my bag and transfer it from one lens to another as needed. The problem that I faced during the workshop is that my 105VR macro lens has a 62mm filter thread. So, for the time being I had to manually hold the filter over the lens--which is far from ideal.
I was faced with two choices to solve the problem. I could purchase a circular polarizer with a 62mm filter thread for my macro lens at a cost exceeding $100. Or, I could buy a 62-77mm step up ring to enable me to use my 77mm filter with my 105VR lens. I opted to go with the step up ring, but ordered it through eBay for less than $5.
Here's one of the images that I captured from the workshop using the 105VR with a circular polarizer. Next time, I'll have to remember to keep the photograph without the filter--as the difference in contrast and color is quite significant.
The Living Coast
Inca Tern
Chirping Gull
Humboldt Penguin
Habitat Africa! The Savannah
Taveta Golden Weaver
Reptiles and Birds House
Green Winged Macaw
Bali Mynah
White-Crested Laughing Thrush
Black Curassow
Indian Lake
White Trumpeter Swan
Formal Pool
American White Pelican
General Grounds
Peacock
]]>One of the pictures that appealed to me was of the inside of a tulip. I faced several challenges in attempting to capture the picture.
- First, it was very windy, so the tulip was moving around quite a bit. So, I treated the situation somewhat like I would a sporting event. I boosted the ISO to 1600 to give me the opportunity to shorten the shutter speed (1/160th of a second). Also, I attached a clamp to the stem to minimize the movement of the flower.
- Next, it was nearly impossible to achieve enough depth of field given how close I was positioned to the tulip. I selected a narrow aperture (f/16), but that wasn't even enough to get the entire tulip into sharp focus. Bracketing photographs wasn't an option because of the movement. Of course, it goes without saying that using a tripod is key for photographs such as this one.
​After addressing some of those challenges, I wasn't pleased with the image as viewed from the screen on the back of my camera. The colors were rather dull. So, I grabbed a flash unit out of my camera bag and set the unit to trigger remotely. I handheld the flash unit behind the flower so that the petals could be backlit. By adding some light through the petals, the colors began to pop!
I really need to start saving the "bad" images rather than immediately deleting them from my storage card. That way, viewers can see the dramatic difference between the photographs taken with an without the flash.
Last week, I visited the kangaroo exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo. While capturing this closeup portrait, I selected the widest aperture on my 300mm lens (f/2.8). This kangaroo is a small animal (no more than 4 feet tall) and he was positioned about 30 feet from me. So, I figured that the depth of field would certainly be wide enough to get both the eyes and the nose in focus.
I was wrong!
The eyes are razor sharp, but the nose is not in focus. This crop might help make this easier to see:
I checked the display on the back of my camera immediately after capturing this image and noticed the problem. I narrowed my aperture to f/5.6 and then to f/7.1. That solved my depth of field problem, but the kangaroo never made eye contact with me again!
I found it hard to believe that the depth of field wasn't adequate to get both the eyes and nose of this kangaroo in focus. He's such a small animal and he was positioned a good distance from the lens. But, I failed to account for two factors:
- This kangaroo has a very long nose! That can be seen better in profile.
- The depth of field is surprisingly narrow given the lens and aperture that I chose.
To check the depth of field, I referred to an online depth of field calculator. I also have a DOF calculator on my phone. I should have used it! After entering in the various factors (i.e., camera, lens, aperture, distance), the calculator does in fact confirm the very narrow depth of field for acceptable focus--0.25 feet, or only 3 inches of depth!
Unfortunately for me, this animal's nose extends more than 3 inches from his eyes. And, the kangaroo never gave me a second chance to capture his portrait.
But, it's always good to keep shooting. The more I shoot, the more issues like this come to light and stay top of mind. So, the next time I shoot in a similar situation, perhaps a family pet, I don't plan on making the same mistake again.
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This photograph was captured back in December, 2012. This photo is somewhat unique in that it was taken from the back of the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. It's no wonder that the back of the church faces the street!
This marks the 18th time in the last 19 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>I asked if it would be OK for me to enter the church. I was told that I could photograph the interior of the church for no longer than five minutes! Given how quickly I can set things up, I figured that should be enough time to capture a couple of decent images of the building. However, I didn't count on having five people standing in front of my camera while discussing the logistics of an upcoming wedding.
Fortunately, the scene cleared within about three minutes. I was able to capture a couple of photographs after the two minute warning!
I think the ceiling is one of the more interesting features of the Saint James Cathedral:
I'm not sure why I wasn't permitted more time in the church--especially considering that I was the only one in the building once the five others left. But, I was appreciative to get five (or rather two) minutes rather than nothing!
]]>This year, I volunteered to capture pictures of the youngest travel baseball team in our organization. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 8 year old players. To my surprise, the players were very easy to work with. Nearly every player was comfortable in front of the camera and took direction well. They were also able to produce a natural smile "on demand"! It was fun interacting with the players.
It had been almost a year since I used my lighting equipment. But, the Einstein strobes are very intuitive to work with. It took me just ten minutes or so to get the strobes in position and calibrated. Following is the lighting setup that I used for the session:
Here is the equipment that I used:
- Nikon D800 camera
- Nikon 70-200 VRII lens
- Einstein E-650 Flash Unit (3)
- 47" Octabox
- Umbrellas (2)
- White Foamboard (reflector)
- Savage Seamless White Background Paper (9 feet wide)
- Nikon SB-900 flash on boom stand (for hairlight)
The Nikon SB-900 was set to SU-4 mode so that it would automatically fire anytime the other stobes were activated. I set that strobe on manual at 1/16th power.
Here are a few images from the session:
To view more photographs, please CLICK HERE.
]]>My approach is to identify a photo of interest and then ask myself what appeals to me about that image. If I can understand what makes the photograph interesting to me (e.g., color scheme, selective focus, etc.), I am more likely to be able to incorporate those techniques into my own photography.
I also observe post processing techniques that are incorporated into some of the photographs. I am able to replicate some of the techniques using my existing post processing skills. But, viewing many of the photographs motivates me to improve my Photoshop skills so that one day I might be able to create stronger photographs.
EXIF information is provided for most photographs. I find it interesting that many of the most popular images are captured using relatively inexpensive gear. Once again it goes to show that the most important aspect of photography is the vision of the photographer--and not necessarily the gear.
Another fun aspect of the website is that I will post photographs to see which ones attract enough votes to reach the popular status. I currently have 244 images on the site. One of the images reached the #1 spot on the site, while another reached #2 for a time. Several have reached the popular category. If you are interested in sharing some of your own images on the site, it's easy to get started and free of cost.
This is the image that I captured (straight of of the camera) in the Cook County Forest Preserve outside of Chicago one afternoon. I underexposed the shot to avoid blowing out the highlights from the sun.
During post processing, I applied the "Midnight" filter from the Color Efex Pro 4 collection:
After editing, the image appears to me as though it was captured during the evening. Many viewers think that the light now originates from the moon rather than the sun! In fact, one photography forum member commenting about how impressive it was that the photograph holds so much detail for a night image. The photograph's title of "Midnight in the Woods" helps to lead viewers to that impression.
Before entering the facility, my first goal was to capture a photograph of the exterior of the greenhouses. At first, my vantage point was quite close to the building. In my opinion, not enough of the top of the greenhouse was visible from that perspective. So, I started walking further away.
As I moved further away from the conservatory, other buildings started to appear over the top of the greenhouses. So, I moved closer until none of the buildings in the background were visible. As it turned out, I was now dialed in at 38mm with my Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens.
Now that my vantage point was set, I placed my camera on a tripod and made sure it was level to the horizon. I used the Virtual Horizon feature of the Nikon D800 camera to ensure that the frame was perfectly aligned both horizontally and vertically. As a result, the conservatory landed higher in the frame than I wanted (which I addressed in post processing).
My next challenge was to wait until some of the crowd dispersed from the front of the building. Waiting for people to move out of the frame took quite a bit of patience. To be sure that I was ready for the opening when it occurred, I took some test exposures and verified that my settings were accurate. After several minutes of waiting, there were a few seconds of opportunity when the scene was mostly clear. Unfortunately, the woman sitting on the bench with the bright pink coat wasn't going anywhere. She sat on the bench with her daughter just looking at the front of the conservatory for at least 30 minutes! But, she would also be taken care of during post processing.
So, here's the original image straight out of the camera:
During processing, I made the following edits:
- Cropped the image so that the conservatory was positioned better in the frame.
- Reduced the exposure by 1/3rd of a stop.
- Darkened and saturated the blue sky.
- Removed some of the glare from the greenhouse glass.
- Filled in the bare spots in the lawn.
- Removed the woman with the pink coat and her daughter.
- Removed the trash bins and the blue sign on the left.
- Sharpened the image and removed a few sensor dust spots from the sky.
Here's the finished product:
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Over the past several months I approached Chicago as if it was another one of my photography trips. During this process, I've visited a number of locations for the first time. And, I've revisited other locations that I haven't visited since I was a kid. I've also gained a much better appreciation of the city.
I have always enjoyed the view of the Chicago skyline from the Adler Planetarium. From there, it's the classic view of the city with Lake Michigan in front. Since then, I've discovered a great view of the city from the south. Yesterday, I scouted some positions along the lake to photograph the city from the north. Earlier this week, I came across a fantastic view of the city from the west.
So, here's my West Side Story. There is an 8-story parking garage located directly next to the Rush University Medical Center just off the Eisenhower expressway. If you go to the top level of the garage, you will be rewarded with an unobstructed view of the city. It also makes for a great panoramic. I plan to return to this location under a variety of lighting conditions. I particularly wish to capture this image at twilight with the office buildings lit up on a weeknight.
As always, the use of a tripod will help make the photograph as sharp as possible:
This photograph was captured back in November, 2011. The picture became more popular after I applied some newly learned post processing techniques to the original file a few months ago.
This marks the 17th time in the last 18 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
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CLICK HERE to view the entire article.
When I created this website just over 7 years ago, I never dreamed that the photographs would be viewed by so many people. Today, this site welcomed its 100,000th independent visitor! In other words, the 100,000 count does not include return visits from the same person. These 100,000 viewers reside in 139 different countries and 6 continents.
I doubt if my interest in photography would be as strong as it is if I didn't have an outlet to share my images. I appreciate all of the visits and hope that viewers will continue to monitor my website for new pictures.
]]>When I first entered the library, it looked nothing like I had envisioned. It was interesting, but not that much different from our local library here in Orland Park. There was a rather high ceiling, but I could not find a ceiling clock or pendulum. After a brief conversation with a librarian, I learned that I was at the wrong branch. I was at the Tates Creek branch and I needed to be at the Central library location!
The rotunda of the Central library is impressive. Anticipating that security would soon tell me to stop shooting, I quickly set up my tripod and began capturing images of the ceiling clock. These photographs take some time and patience. Most require multiple exposures so that I can later blend them together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Individual exposures may require as long as 30 seconds. And, occasionally I have to wait for curious visitors who are looking down from the railings to get bored and leave the scene.
I was able to capture this photograph before being approached by security:
As I was preparing to shoot some images of the pendulum, a security guard approached me. He said that he assumed I had clearance to take photographs, but needed to see my permit. I explained that I was visiting from out of town and didn't have a permit. I went on to explain that I recently captured images of the Seattle and Salt Lake City public libraries and was only hoping to add Lexington to that collection. I emphasized that I had no intention of including any patrons in the photographs.
He told me that he would see what he could do. He asked me not to take any more pictures until he bounced the situation off of the facility manager. Fifteen minutes later, and with my parking meter time counting down, I was beginning to lose patience. After all, the chances of the facility manager letting me take photographs with the tripod were remote. A few minutes later, the security guard came into view and was walking towards me. I lifted my hand up and rotated my thumb up and down--trying to get an early indication of whether I was going to have a photo shoot or not. To my surprise, his thumb was up! He told me that I was free to shoot throughout the library for as long as I wanted, so long as I didn't include patrons or employees in the frames. He said that if I was approached by anyone else, to tell them that I had permission to shoot and that they could check with security.
I spent another hour shooting at the library. During my first ten minutes of shooting, I was approached by three more employees who told me that photography wasn't permitted in the library! I told them that my photo shoot was cleared through security. I captured some pictures of the pendulum and some images of the rotunda from the fifth floor. It wasn't easy, but I tried my best not to include anybody in the shots.
I arrived in Iowa City about an hour before sunset and drove directly to the Capitol. The golden lighting couldn't have been much better on the golden dome of the Iowa Capitol:
It's good to be on location when the building is illuminated against a colorful sky. When the sky is completely black, the scene gains too much contrast and most of the color gets lost. This photograph was captured the next morning just before sunrise:
I arrived in Carson City early in the evening last August--in time to photograph the Nevada Capitol before dark.
I was glad I made it there that evening as this image would not have been possible the next morning. Capturing a photograph of this building is very challenging because of all of the trees positioned directly in front of it. In the morning, the entire scene is backlit.
I also had two tries at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre. During the evening, the front of the building was nicely lit:
But, the photograph of the South Dakota Capitol was more dramatic the next morning as a thunderstorm rolled in during sunrise:
I wanted a picture of the dome of this capitol, but the flag pole was in the way. To lower the perspective of the flag, I needed to get further away from the building. To get this next photograph, I drove three blocks away and put a more powerful lens on my camera. The flag pole dropped out of view:
Of course, the more tries that you get to shoot a scene, the better the chances are to capture the photograph. That's what makes shooting around where you live so advantageous.
The viewer, a former Little Rock resident familiar with the school, made the following comment:
"Your photograph is much better than the real building, in my opinion. It's like what they say about Playboy centerfolds...the pictures look much better than the real models."
During my first several years of taking pictures, I heard just the opposite. People would comment how a photo can never capture the beauty of the real thing. Now, viewers of my photos in various internet photography forums are saying that some of the photographs make the subject look better than the real thing.
Progress? I hope so.
]]>- They are very tiny. These primates weigh just one pound!
- They are fast and fidgety. A photographer almost needs to anticipate what they will do to get the picture.
- Their bodies contain both bright whites and dark blacks. This is a recipe for a challenging exposure!
- The exhibit in indoors and not particularly well lit.
To combat these challenges:
- I used a wide open aperture (f/2.8) to maximize shutter speed.
- I used a Nikon SB-900 flash unit along with a flash extender to bring more light to the scene.
- I pre-focused on branches near where the animal was heading so that the camera could acquire focus faster.
- I checked the camera's LCD display to ensure that none of the highlights were blown (no "blinkies").
- I used Lightroom's "Highlights" and "Shadows" sliders to reveal more detail.
- I applied Color Efex Pro's "Detail Extractor" filter to bring out more detail in the animal's face.
In the end, it's really difficult to create a good photograph of the tamarin. But, making the effort should help make me a better photographer.
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To improve my chances of capturing this photo, I used the following approach:
- Secured the camera/lens to a tripod.
- Pre-focused on the stump and left the focus there.
- Set the aperture at f/8 to provide enough depth of field to keep both birds in focus.
- Used high speed continuous burst mode--more frames means more chances of getting an acceptable image.
- Set the shutter speed at 1/2000th of a second.
Since the image was already framed with the camera locked down on a tripod and the focus was set, I didn't even need to look through the viewfinder to take this picture. I simply waited for the birds to enter the frame and then initiated a continuous burst of frames. Using this approach, an acceptable image was created every so often. With today's digital technology, I just deleted the frames that didn't work out.
The thing that surprised me about this photo is the remaining blur of the wings at such a fast shutter speed (1/2000th). I thought that shutter speed would freeze the wings. In the end, I don't mind the amount of blur as it portrays motion. But, those wings must have been moving at near hummingbird speed for movement to be present at 1/2000th!
]]>During my many visits, I have captured pictures of most of the animals in the zoo. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to photograph one of the monkeys inside the Tropic World exhibit for the first time! Based on the signage, I initially thought this was a Capachin Monkey. Now, I'm awaiting a more accurate identification of this primate.
The monkey acknowledged this milestone with a respectful salute!
A few month back, I returned to the site for what was most likely my last visit. There is a new housing development going up across the street and it won't be long before this structure is demolished.
The hospital is located in Manteno, Illinois and was abandoned in the early 1980's. At one time, over 8,000 patients were housed in the facility. With a staff of less just over 200 people, the facility had a reputation for inadequate care. Stories of patient abuse surfaced--and hundreds of patients died during their "treatment". This building is well known to "ghost hunters" around the country. Visitors report hearing screaming--and some insist that they've seen ghosts.
I wasn't too concerned about the ghosts for two reasons. First, the building has deteriorated so much that I practically felt like I was outside in many of the rooms! Next, HDR Efex Pro2 has the "Ghost Reduction" feature--which I set at 100%.
My biggest concerns were meeting up with a less than desirable character in there (and possibly interrupting a drug deal) or having a section of the roof fall on me.
I brought my Nikon D800 camera, Nikon 14-24 2.8 lens and Gitzo tripod with me into the building. All of the photographs consist of multiple exposures blended together using HDR Efex Pro2 software to create high dynamic range (HDR) images. HDR was critical here as most of the scenes had a combination of bright highlights from the windows along with dark shadows in the building. Here are a few of the images:
Fortunately, I lived to blog the story!
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This photograph was captured earlier this year in the Old Mississippi State Capitol building in Jackson, Mississippi.
This marks the 16th time in the last 17 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day". Of those, 5 of the 16 pictures are staircases!
]]>While visiting the Iowa Capitol, I hesitated slightly before answering that question from the Iowa State Capitol tour guide. One of the other tourists quickly reminded me that "Iowa" is the correct answer.
Iowa certainly has an impressive State Capitol and I enjoyed my visit to Des Moines very much. However, it's not my favorite Capitol building. In my opinion, the Iowa Capitol tries a little too hard to be majestic. It features a little too much shiny gold and has a few too many light bulbs inside the interior dome--probably more appropriate for a theater marquee. And, is it really necessary to try to outdo the other Capitols by having five domes instead of just one? Although, I must concede that the Law Library of the Iowa Capitol is one of the most impressive rooms inside any State Capitol.
Most of the State Capitols have much in common. Generally, there is a grand entrance, an impressive rotunda, a beautiful interior dome, murals depicting important events in the history of the state, a Senate and House chamber, a Supreme Court chamber, interesting sculptures, etc. On the other hand, the Capitols are also unique. For example, New Mexico doesn't have a dome and looks more like a contemporary art museum. North Dakota resembles a large office building. Nebraska has interesting corridors below the ground floor.
My least favorite Capitol to date is a relatively easy choice. In my opinion, Nevada is the least impressive of the buildings that I've photographed so far--although I enjoyed my visit to Carson City as a whole. The Nevada State Capitol building is very small. It's so small that it no longer houses the Senate, House or Supreme Court Chambers. Those chambers were moved to a different facility. The original House and Senate chambers are still located on the upper floor of the Capitol. But, one was sitting empty while the other housed a few exhibits. I was hard pressed to create a set of interesting photographs during my visit to the Nevada State Capitol.
Given that I find each Capitol to be unique, it's difficult to choose a favorite. However, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Kentucky and Montana are certainly considerations. Others were very enjoyable to photograph--Michigan, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Oregon.
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In earlier contests, Canon printers were awarded for the prizes. This time (like the month before), the third place prize is a $100 gift card from Adorama.
As I entered the building, I asked the security guard if the chambers were open to photography. He told me that photography was prohibited in the chambers while the legislature was in session. However, he said that if I checked with a tour guide it might be possible to get into the chambers for a few minutes since congress was on break. Congress wouldn't be reconvening for a couple of hours.
The woman at the information desk was extremely helpful when I informed her of my goal of photographing all of the state capitols and that I would only be in Jackson for the day. She said that she would do her best to get me into the chambers. There was another security guard positioned just outside the Senate chamber. She explained to him what I was doing and he very reluctantly said that I could enter the chamber--but only if nobody else was in there. He left to check the room. Several minutes later, he returned to tell me that I could have five minutes for photography. He walked me inside and pointed out a very small space where I had to stand. I didn't even need the full five minutes as the space that I was restricted to offered no chance to capture a picture of the room. Fortunately, the stained glass dome of the Senate chamber was directly over my head, so I was able to get one picture from there:
According to the woman from the information desk, the security guard gave her a hard time about asking permission for me to enter the chamber. He told her to never do anything like that again! I said that I would understand if she didn't want to help me gain access to the House chamber. But, she said that it couldn't hurt to try.
The security guard outside of the House chamber was more cooperative. He told me that I could have ten minutes to shoot and that I could walk wherever I wanted within the room. At first he told me that I couldn't use my tripod, but he changed his mind when I explained that I needed it under such low light conditions and that it was hardly a safety hazard given that nobody else was in the room.
Although the representatives were on break, the room was filled with clutter from the morning's working session. For the most part, I didn't like the photographs as I'm far more accustomed to shooting empty chambers with clean desks. I relied on my fisheye lens to emphasize the ceiling and place less emphasis on the floor area:
When the legislature is in session, access to the chambers isn't the only issue. The corridors and rotunda are crowded with people. It's nearly impossible to capture images, especially multiple long exposures for HDR, without having someone walk in front of the camera. It took a long time to capture this next image of the rotunda--and yet there were still several people in the frame:
One saving grace was that Mississippi's Old Capitol building is still standing. I visited the Old Capitol the next morning and captured many photographs of the beautiful interior of that building without anybody in there:
When I returned to the hotel after my visit to the Mississippi Capitol building, the first thing I did was check to see when the legislature was scheduled to be in session for my next two locations--Alabama and Tennessee. It turned out that sessions were scheduled to begin the next day for both of these states! Fortunately, Arkansas was not in session. So, I cancelled my hotel reservations for Montgomery and Nashville and made a new reservation for Little Rock. That turned out to be a wise choice as I had the Arkansas Capitol to myself. And, I enjoyed several other locations while visiting Little Rock as well.
Often times, I like to view the photos that are currently the most popular on the site. Usually, I find those photos to be inspirational. They teach me more about composition and make me think about the processing methods used to create such images. Click here to view the most popular photos right now.
I am pleased that my 500px portfolio surpassed an "Affection" rating of 10,000 points yesterday. Since I started participating, three of my photos led the way by reaching the first page of the popular category. Here are the three most popular images in my portfolio:
Dog in Flight (reached #1 status on September 1, 2011):
Long Desert Highway (ultimately made it to the second highest rated photo):
Claws (reached a #7 ranking at one point):
Opening a basic 500px account is free. If you haven't tried it yet, you might enjoy uploading a few of your favorite images.
]]>On the other hand, photographers often strive to select a slower shutter speed for certain subjects. A slower shutter speed provides the photographer with an opportunity to lower the ISO setting--which in turn tends to maximize image quality. A slower shutter speed can also give the photographer more flexibility with the aperture setting--which in turn opens up more options for controlling the depth of field for sharpness with the frame.
Yesterday, I tested some limits of how slow I could set the shutter speed while still creating tack sharp images. Keep in mind, if I simply held the camera and fired off frames, a shutter speed of 1/500th would be the guideline. This first image was captured at 1/80th of a second:
The next two photographs were captured using a 1/40th of a second shutter speed:
And now for the grand finale! This last photograph was captured at an unbelievably slow 1/8th of a second:
So, how can one create sharp photographs at such slow shutter speeds? I used the following approach:
- Secure the camera to a tripod.
- Use a sturdy ballhead or gimbal head.
- Use flash to "freeze" subject movement.
- Wait for the subject to remain relatively still.
- Use good long lens technique--gently roll your finger over the shutter button and lay your left hand on top of the lens to minimize vibration when the mirror pops up.
Good luck out there!
]]>The woman agreed to light the church, but indicated that she would set the lights using a 15 minute timer. So, I was under time pressure to capture my photos! I decided to take as many of the larger scale images as I could while the lights were on and then concentrate on the closer subjects (e.g., stained glass windows, small sculptures) after the lights went off.
Given the rush, I determined that bracketing seven exposures (at one stop apart) should provide enough dynamic range to capture details in both the highlights (particularly the stained glass windows) as well as the shadows. For added insurance, I dialed in a negative two stop exposure compensation before starting my sequence of shots. I also checked my histogram to ensure that the least exposed picture in the sequence didn't have any "blinkies" (blown highlights).
Once I returned home and processed the images, I was disappointed that I didn't capture as much detail in the stained glass windows as I wanted. Given the extreme dynamic range in the scene, I should have gone with at least 9 exposures and dialed in more negative exposure compensation as well. Although there is some detail in the stained glass, it's not enough in my view:
Later that day, I visited the Bond Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago. This time I wasn't rushed. And, this time I went with nine exposures in a scene with less dynamic range than the one at St. Mary of the Angels. The result is much richer detail in the stained glass windows with detail also retained in the brightly lit chandeliers:
The lesson for me here is that I'm no longer in the film days...digital exposures are cheap! It doesn't make sense to travel to a location and then not create an acceptable image in order to "save" a few exposures. It's better to bracket extra exposures in the sequence and then delete them during processing than it is to fall short and end up with an inferior photograph. And, just because the LCD screen isn't blinking with blown highlights doesn't mean that the sensor has captured all of the fine detail in the bright areas of the frame.
Fortunately, I learned this lesson in Chicago (close to home) before traveling to San Antonio to photograph the Missions. All of my photographs of the Missions of San Antonio captured enough dynamic range for the viewer to see all of the colors and detail of the stained glass inside the churches.
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This photograph was captured a couple of months ago in the Rookery Building on LaSalle Street in Chicago. Please click here for the "Story of the Staircase".
This marks the 15th time in the last 16 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
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In the past, I've received Canon printers as the prizes. This time, the third place prize is a $100 gift card from Adorama.
After receiving my sensor loupe, I was able to quickly locate the dust on my sensor. Using a sensor brush, most of the dust was easily lifted from the sensor. Any remaining particles were removed with a couple of swipes using the very expensive Visible Dust Sensor Clean swabs.
My confidence began to rise as I successfully completed a second sensor cleaning before leaving for my Texas Road Trip in early January. While in Texas, I shot for 17 consecutive days...thousands of images...hundreds of lens changes in the field. I follow all of the tips about minimizing the risk of dust--changing lenses with the camera facing down, turning the camera off before removing the lens, etc. Yet, needless to say, my sensor was a mess by the end of this 17 day journey.
When I returned home, I attempted to clean my sensor. As expected, the view through the sensor loupe revealed a lot of dust. I used the sensor brush to try to lift the particles. Many particles were removed, but a few remained. I decided to use a Sensor Clean swab. At $3 a pop, I hoped to to minimize the number of swabs. After the first try, a few dust particles stubbornly remained. I went back to the sensor brush. But, this time I accidentally touched the side of the chamber with the brush before it made contact with the sensor. The result was a sensor with something (oil?) smeared all over it!
So, it was back to the Sensor Clean swabs. I used eight of those in total ($24) and still didn't have a clean sensor. I still had some of the much cheaper Copperhill Pec Pads (which only cost pennies each) left over from past cleanings, but for some reason I could not get the solution to stop smearing across the sensor.
Before risking damage to my sensor, I decided to go back to APS to have my sensor cleaned. I drove up to the Morton Grove facility, paid $45, and waited while a technician cleaned my sensor. He was able to get my sensor clean and reported that there was no damage. He also informed me that both Nikon, and APS, advise that I don't touch the sensor again. He said that cameras come into the facility all the time with scratches on the sensor--and that a scratched sensor often means a trashed camera or very expensive repair.
I mentioned that I shoot a lot--and that if I never cleaned my own sensor I would probably be visiting APS every month. At $45 a shot, and with a 70 mile round trip drive--that's not happening.
So, my next experiment will be with a brand new cleaning tool. It's called the "Sensor Gel Stick". It looks easy enough to use and does not involve any cleaning fluids. If I struggle with the gel stick, I can always bring my camera back into APS!
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Position the camera as low to the floor as possible. The lower vantage point increases the amount of the dome that appears in the frame. I find that using the Live View feature on my Nikon D800 camera makes life a little easier.
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Position the camera directly under the center of the dome. This isn't as easy as it appears. I found that making slight adjustments to the tripod legs can make this process less frustrating. In some Capitols, it's impossible to get to the center of the floor as there might be a monument or gated state seal on that section of the floor. In other Capitols, you can move to a lower floor and shoot through the opening in the center of the main floor.
-
The fisheye lens can be your friend while shooting domes. If anything, the fisheye lens makes the circles more circular so that very little distortion is evident. Most other lenses will not allow you to capture enough of the circle in the frame.
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Keep shooting while you have the opportunity. You never know when hundreds of grade school kids on a field trip will surround your camera and appear along the edges of the frame. Also, be on the lookout for all of the people who like to look over the railings to look at the crazy photography laying on the floor.
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Always shoot multiple frames. It's safer to bracket the exposures as the dynamic range is often greater than it first appears. I usually end up processing a high dynamic range (HDR) image when it comes to domes.
-
I like to photograph the dome first before moving onto the other areas of the building. I find dome photography to be the most tedious part of shooting the interior of a Capitol building!
I probably have photographs of more than 100 domes so far. Here are just a few of them:
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Later, I prepared for a night picture of the building. I prefer to capture the night images before the sky gets too dark. At twilight, the sky takes on that deep blue color which I prefer over the jet black sky. Just as the color in the sky was about where I wanted it to be, a spotlight at the top of the tower lit up. I couldn't believe that it was positioned directly at me (and my camera lens)!
At first, I tried moving further away in hopes that maybe the light wouldn't appear to be as bright. That didn't work. My only remaining choice was to go with the flow. So, I selected a very narrow aperture (f/14)--a much higher f/stop than what's required for the depth of field in this image. This narrow f/stop promotes the scattering of the light. It helps create a star-like burst of light.
Here is the resulting image:
I arrived at twilight to photograph the bridge. My plan was to capture images of the bridge as it was illuminated under a dark sky. I started shooting early and continued making pictures until the bridge was fully lit:
I like the picture, but my concern is that the blue color of the bridge looks fake. The reality is that the bridge is lit with blue lights--and this is exactly how it appeared to my eye. But to someone who wasn't there, I suspect that viewer would think that I was having trouble managing the colors during post processing!
So, I ended up using the photograph that I captured about ten minutes before this one. The bridge was just beginning to be lit and there is a bit more color in the horizon:
Of course, choosing between these two images is a matter of personal preference. I wonder if you agree with my choice of using the second one in my Texas collection of images.
While laying on the floor of the Arkansas State Capitol, I captured this photograph with my new Sigma 15mm fisheye lens:
I usually don't like removing a lens with the camera faced up since that increases the chances of getting dust on the sensor. But, since I was indoors and it was such an effort to get everything lined up, I left the camera on the tripod and carefully exchanged the Sigma 15mm fisheye for the Nikon 70-200mm lens.
I zoomed to the 92mm focal length to frame the chandelier inside the dome. Here's that image:
Unfortunately, the closer view reveals that the chandelier isn't completely centered inside the circles. :(
Often times, I find it helpful to look at a scene through a variety of lenses. You never know for sure what you'll see.
]]>My first approach is generally to dial in a smaller aperture (f/16 or smaller) to maximize the depth of field. In this case, even a narrow aperture isn't sufficient to keep everything tack sharp. Also, selecting very narrow apertures can introduce image quality issues due to diffraction. Lenses usually perform their best in the middle aperture ranges.
For this photograph, I decided to go with one of the sharpest possible apertures on my lens--f/8. With the camera secured to a tripod, I carefully focused on the statue and triggered the shutter. Then, I shifted focus to the buildings across the river and took a second exposure. Later, in Photoshop, I blended the two images...selecting the sharp statue from one frame and the sharp background from the other frame. The composite image yields sharpness throughout at f/8!
This is an effective trick that I really should utilize more often.
There was also a duck at the San Antonio Zoo that I couldn't identify:
Since I liked the portrait of this duck, I wanted to be able to identify it for captioning. So, I found a zookeeper, showed him a picture of the duck on the LCD panel on the back of my camera, and asked him if he could identify the duck for me. To my surprise, he said, "he not one of our's". Apparently, this duck, along with many others, just happened to land in the zoo. He's actually wild and will soon be leaving the zoo. It's a Black-Bellied Whistling Duck and is native to Texas.
Click here to view nine other photographs from my visit to the San Antonio Zoo.
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Looking at the map, the quickest way for me to move the number up will be to take a trip the Northeast. And, the Southeast is going to require an extended visit. The next time I travel West I'll take I-70 and knock out those four remaining states. I'm not certain if I'll ever get to Hawaii and Alaska. It's a shame that I didn't start this project until after I spent some time in Juneau!
Click here to view my State Capitol photographs. The most recent ones (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas) will be added over the next few weeks as they are processed.
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This photograph was captured a couple of months ago Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.
This marks the 14th time in the last 15 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
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This image was captured with the Nikon D800 and Sigma 15mm fisheye lens.
Capturing a photograph of this staircase presents some challenges. First, tripods are not allowed inside the building. So, the camera must be handheld in relatively low light conditions. I ended up using a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second with a relatively wide aperture of f/5.6 at ISO 3200. That isn't much light! Next, one is not permitted to leave the lobby area while visiting the building. Unfortunately, the staircase starts on the second floor and continues up to the eleventh story. You cannot see much of the staircase from the lobby--certainly not enough to bother taking a picture of it.
The only way to gain access to the staircase--other than becoming an employee within the building--is to take part in one of the tours of the building. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust provides tours at noon on weekdays. Tours are limited to 12 people. I registered for a Wednesday tour as the tour includes a stop in the Burnham Library on Wednesdays.
During the tour, the guide spent about 5 minutes at the bottom of the staircase. While he was continuing with his presentation, I sat on the staircase and fired as many exposures as I could within that time. With the challenging exposure, I wanted to make sure that I came away with at least one sharp, properly exposed image!
Fortunately, I was happy with one of photographs from that visit. Recently, the picture did quite well on the 500px website--making it to Page 2 with a ranking of #26 in the world. That's my highest ranked photo on that website since "Claws" reached #7.
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- Mastering Curves: Adjusting Tonality by Ben Willmore
- Mastering Curves: Correcting Color by Ben Willmore
- Photoshop Tricks for Beginners by Calvin Hollywood
- Bill Fortney's Olympic Park by Bill Fortney
- Color Adjustments and Manipulations by Calvin Hollywood
- Travel Photography Post Processing by Scott Kelby
- Landscape & Travel Photography Series, New Zealand by Trey Ratcliff
- Landscape & Travel Photography Series Post Processing, New Zealand by Trey Rafcliff
- What Makes a Great Sports Photo by Peter Read Miller
- Exploring Digital Photography by Rick Sammon
- The Business Side of Photography by Rick Sammon
- A Guide to Street Photography by Zack Arias
- The Art of Photography: Straight from My Camera by Zack Arias
- Live Action Horse Racing Photography by Dave Black
- The Business Side of Dave Black--Get Paid Shooting What You Love by Dave Black
- Mastering Selections on Photoshop CS5 by Dave Cross
- Action Flash Sports Photography by Dave Black
- The Art of Photography: The Inspirational Series by Peter Hurley
- Mastering Headshot Photography by Peter Hurley
- The Art of Photography: The Specialty of Not Specializing by Rick Sammon
- The Art of Photography: Capturing the Moments People Share by Cliff Mautner
- Copyright Essentials for Today's Photographer by Jack Reznicki
- Model Releases for Photographers by Jack Reznicki
Most of these courses take about an hour to complete. I find it convenient to view the classes. Not only can I watch from the large monitor of my desktop computer, but Kelby Training offers an app through iTunes that makes it easy for me to view the classes on my iPad.
Even though I took Ben Willmore's courses about Curves in Photoshop last year, I found it very beneficial to view the courses again. Having another year of Photoshop experience helped me better absorb the materials. Gaining a better understanding of how to apply Curves has greatly improved my photographs over the past few weeks. I feel tempted to go back and process many of my older images again!
Dave Black's class about horse racing photography has motivated me to plan a trip to the Arlington Race Track this summer. Until now, I didn't realize that photography was permitted at the races.
Kelby Training gives me an opportunity to practically look over the shoulder of the masters at work--all for just over $1 per class!
]]>Now, I like Think Tank's customer service as much as the bags!
After years of use, the front buckle on my Think Thank Airport Acceleration bag cracked. This made it difficult to secure the hip belt of the backpack. I tend to carry a lot of weight in my bag, so the hip belt is critical to help take some of the load off my shoulders. It also keeps the bag closer to my bag so that it doesn't bounce around when I walk.
I called Think Tank's customer service line in hopes of getting a replacement part in time for my January trip to Texas. That trip will include a lot of walking with the backpack.
Think Tank assured me that they would be able to replace the part. To my surprise, they offered to replace the part free of charge. And, I received the part the very next business day.
Now that's customer service!
For the first few years, I used Nikon's Capture NX for the bulk of my post processing. Subsequently, I transitioned to using Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop. Although I've dedicated a significant amount of time to learning the processing programs, it seems like one could spend a lifetime and still not master all of the capabilities of a program like Photoshop.
Fortunately, I kept the original raw file for every photograph that I have. So, I can go back to images that I captured five or six years ago and process them again from scratch--without losing any image quality. This allows me to process images again with more current and powerful software. Also, I can apply additional years of editing experience to images captured years ago.
Yesterday, I took a look at an image that I captured in Newfoundland in 2010. Here is the original image straight out of the camera:
I like the image, but find it to be lacking in contrast (rather dull). I'm not fond of all the power lines in the woods in the background either. With a little processing, I ended up with this image which I then posted on my website:
I like this edited image much better. The power lines are removed. And, the image has a bit more pop to it.
Yesterday, I revisited this image. I pulled up the original raw file and processed the image from scratch. I wanted to:
- Bring more contrast (pop) into the image
- Bring the true red color back to the buildings as the color had shifted to orange when I warmed the image during my initial edits
- See more detail in the clouds and more blue in the sky
Granted, I might have gone a little overboard with some of these recent edits. But, here's the latest version:
After a few days (when I'm not so close to this photo), I will revisit the most recent version to determine if my edits went too far or not. My initial impression is that it is an improvement--particularly in the sky and shoreline. And, the buildings are now red. But, I might have to bring the saturation down in the buildings. However, I can't make that determination now--that will need to wait a few more days!
]]>This year's book is now available for viewing. You may flip through the pages of the entire book if you wish. Be sure to click the preview to full screen before viewing.
Click here to see all six annual books.
I've already started creating photographs for next year's edition!
]]>I was pleasantly surprised by my experience at Jiffy Lube. Since the trip involved Prius camping, my car was packed with valuables that I needed throughout the trip--including all of my camera gear and other electronics. I wasn't looking forward to turning my car over to someone and having it out of my sight. The oil change at this Jiffy Lube was so fast and convenient that it was easier than stopping for gas! I never had to get out of my car. Within ten minutes, the oil was changed and I was on my way--all for $19.95. That's about half the price of my typical oil change back at home.
After the oil change, I drove back to the hospital. The hospital was the Oregon State Hospital with the Museum of Mental Health housed in the front section of the historic building.
I entered the building about twenty minutes before it was scheduled to close. During the twenty minutes, I had an interesting conversation with two of the museum employees. They shared some of the history of the mental hospital. They talked about how the building was the site of the filming of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and how Nurse Ratched had recently visited the museum.
One of the employees showed me a photography book that he found interesting. I was amazed at the quality of the photographs contained in the book and plan to order the book in the near future. The book is called "Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals" by Christopher Payne. I enjoy taking similar images at the Manteno State Mental Hospital, but have a long way to go before reaching the fine art quality of Payne's photographs.
Since the museum was closing, I was told that it didn't make sense to pay the admission fee. But, I was encouraged to take a quick look around. I spotted an old organ in the corner of one of the rooms and asked for permission to photograph it.
Given how accommodating the employees were, I offered to pay the admission fee as I was leaving. The woman at the desk asked me if I was over 50 years old. When I told her that I was over 50, she gave me the good news that I had saved a dollar on the fee for reaching that milestone. I told her that I would rather pay the extra dollar if that meant I could be younger than 50!
]]>One of my photography books pointed out that the Palmer House management may not allow you to shoot if you come in with a big camera or tripod. It suggested that you can usually get away with handholding a smaller camera and that with a small camera you have a better chance of not being hassled. So, I went with my tried and true method of "shoot first and answer questions later". I located a vantage point above the staircase on the north side of the lobby, quickly set up my tripod and started firing away.
The problem is that the lobby was rather crowded. I was interested in capturing a number of exposures so that I could blend them together later during post processing to create a high dynamic range photograph. The high dynamic range image would allow me to retain more details in the light fixtures in particular. By the time I reached my third or fourth exposure, someone would usually walk right in front of the camera. I didn't have much before it appeared that security would become an issue.
As I anticipated, it didn't take very long before a security guard approached me. He asked me what I was doing. When I started to explain that I hoped to capture a few photos of the lobby, he stopped me to elaborate that his question was regarding my choice of lens, how many exposures, and so forth. The security guard said that he was just getting interested in photography.
With that implied permission to continue, I then spent the next 20 minutes waiting to get better shots--shots that were more carefully framed and with people positioned in a better way throughout the scene.
I use a cable release for the vast majority of my photos. The cable release helps ensure that pictures are as sharp as possible by removing one of the factors that contribute to camera shake. With the cable release, it is no longer necessary to touch the camera when making an exposure. Simply pressing the shutter button can cause enough camera movement to reduce sharpness.
For years, I purchased very inexpensive third party cable releases off of eBay. These cable releases cost less than $5. The problem was that they would usually fail after a few months of use. Of course, they tend to fail at the worst possible times.
One of my third party cable releases stopped working while I was shooting long exposure images in Capitol Reef National Park. I was hundreds of miles from the nearest camera store. When I finally arrived in Moab, my first stop was the town's only camera store. To my surprise, the store was closed for the Winter! While in Moab, I asked about cable releases in another store. The clerk said that they didn't sell the product, but offered to find someone in town who might be able to repair the wiring. A repair didn't sound like a good idea to me for an item that cost less than $5 to begin with! So, I finished that photo trip without a cable release.
After that, I started carrying a back-up cable release with me. But, after ongoing failures I finally decided to try the more costly Nikon cable release. Another photographer assured me that the Nikon one was much more reliable.
The Nikon cable release is much more reliable. I used this cable release for the past two years without incident until yesterday. Somehow, it appears that the pins were bent--and the cable release no longer works.
When I got home, I placed an order for another Nikon cable release. Most of the major vendors that I typically use are charging about $60 plus shipping costs for the MC-30. Supposedly, that's a 45% discount from the normal price!
But, for those who are willing to wait, some vendors on eBay are selling the same cable (new in box) for just $20 with free shipping--a savings of more than $40 on a $60 item. The only catch is that shipping is very slow at approximately three weeks.
Since, I still have a few of those $5 third party cable releases on hand, I should be OK for the next three weeks until my Nikon one arrives!
EDIT: Since I drafted this blog entry, the cable release arrived. It arrived in a little over one week from China! So, the wait wasn't all that long.
]]>I went with this photo for this year's card:
Here's the overall card layout:
Inside view:
Back view:
Happy Holidays!
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This massive plant (lower left) in the Desert Room of the Garfield Park Conservatory is called a Century Plant. The Century Plant is said to bloom once a century. In fact, it blooms after a decade or two of growth. When it is ready, it sends up a single 30 foot stalk which produces an impressive bloom. So much energy is spent growing this flower that the plant dies shortly after.
I'll have to plan a return visit when the Century Plant blooms--although that might not be for another decade or two!
Click here to view the other 13 photographs from my visit.
]]>The church is located in the woods off a two lane road in Lemont, Illinois. The entrance to the church isn't obvious and the speed limit on the road is 55 mph. So, unless one is looking for the church it is very easy to miss.
I'm glad that I found this church. The church was built in 1833, which is quite old for any building in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. In fact, St. James is the oldest parish in northern Illinois still functioning at its original location. The stones used to build this church came from the same quarry as the stones used to build the Chicago Water Tower.
At first, I was disappointed to find that the doors of the church were locked. Fortunately, the deacon was in the office in another building on the grounds. He kindly agreed to open the church for me, but asked me to wait until he finished an errand. Twenty minutes later, I was standing out in front of the church in the freezing cold weather thinking that maybe he had forgotten about me. But, soon after that he opened the church doors and turned on all of the interior lights for my photo shoot.
About five minutes into my photo shoot, the deacon started showing me photographs from more than 300 other Catholic churches in the Chicagoland area. As we were looking through the pictures, I was typing notes into my phone so I could later recall these opportunities for future architectural photography subjects. After twenty or thirty minutes of browsing through photos, the deacon announced that he had another commitment and needed to lock the church up in about five minutes. So, my total time behind the camera was limited to about 10 or 15 minutes! However, he invited me back to take pictures once the church is fully decorated for Christmas--which I understand is an amazing sight.
Please click here to view 15 of the images from this session.
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This photograph was captured during my long road trip from Chicago to the Pacific Coast at Bandon Beach in Oregon on August 10, 2013.
This marks the 13th time in the last 14 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>This scene presents an interesting photography subject. However, bright sunshine and lingering tourists made capturing a good image very challenging. Bright reflections (specular highlights) appeared all over the cars. And, there was too much harsh contrast in the scene as well.
Fortunately, there were some clouds in the sky that afternoon. So, I waited until the clouds moved in front of the sun while the remaining tourists were on the other side of the cars. The specular highlights were tamed and a better photograph was then a possibility.
More often than not, I find that the diffused light that cloud cover provides helps make better photographs.
]]>Initially, I didn't want to go anywhere near the sensor as I was afraid of doing permanent damage to my camera. After all, the camera manufacturers warn people not to ever touch the sensor. Of course, activating the automatic sensor cleaning function on my camera doesn't involve any risk. And, eventually I gathered the courage to expose the sensor and to use a Giottos Rocket Air Blower to keep my sensor relatively free of dust particles.
But, there came a day when neither the automatic sensor cleaner nor the air blower would remove the particles from my sensor. So, I resorted to the dreaded wet cleaning method. This method requires applying a cleaning solution to a pad and then wiping the pad directly across the sensor.
After my first swipe of the sensor, I reattached the lens to the camera, captured an image at f/22 and then inspected the results on my computer. My sensor was still an absolute mess. So, I tried again...and again...and again. After 15 attempts, the sensor was actually getting worse! The biggest challenge is not being able to see the particles on the sensor and the delay in getting feedback on the results of the cleaning attempt (i.e., having to take an image, upload it, and inspect it on the computer after each try).
So, I brought my camera into APS (Authorized Product Service) in Morton Grove. APS did a nice job cleaning my sensor for $45 while I waited. This is a much better deal than using Nikon's Service Center in Melville. Nikon charges more for a cleaning and requires that my camera be shipped to New York. When using Nikon, I'm usually without my camera for the next two to three weeks. Yet, using APS is also a hassle--from the 60 mile round trip drive through the city to the hour long wait while the sensor is being cleaned. Worse yet, my sensor was dirty again three months later!
So, after shooting with digital cameras for the past 7 years, I decided that I finally needed learn how to clean my own sensor. One tool, the Visible Dust Quasar Sensor Loupe 7x has made the cleaning process possible for me.
Here's a summary of my first attempt at cleaning the sensor using this loupe:
- Used loupe to view sensor. Noticed several dust particles.
- Used the air blower to try to remove the particles and viewed the sensor again...only three dust spots remained.
- Used a sensor brush to try to carefully lift the three particles...and quickly viewed the sensor again.
- Two of the spots must not have been dust particles, because they smeared...as I could easily see by viewing the sensor with the loupe.
- I then applied a cleaning solution to a pad and wiped the sensor with the pad. By viewing the sensor with the loupe, I could see that the smears were now spread thinner and across more of the sensor.
- I wiped the sensor a second time with a new pad (another $3). The smears were even thinner now.
- One last swipe with a wet pad left my sensor clean with the exception of one new dust particle.
- A final blowing of the sensor with the rocket blower cleared that last piece of dust.
I now have a clean sensor! The sensor solution and swabs aren't cheap, so my sensor cleaning process came at a $9 cost (3 wet pads). But, I completed the job in less than 15 minutes. This was a much better driving to APS or shipping my camera to Nikon. Either of those approaches is far more costly and results in weeks of downtime for my camera or a long drive to APS.
Most of the time, it should take less time to clean my sensor and at a lower cost. The vast majority of the time particles are more easily removed by using just the air blower...or perhaps the brush. The wet cleaning method will generally be an exception--to be completed twice a year and with fewer swabs for each cleaning.
]]>
My plan was to connect my Markins M-10 ballhead to the Bogen Super Clamp. My camera would then attach to the ballhead as it usually does---making it easy to maneuver it into the desired position. The entire setup could quickly be clamped to a nearby post or railing. The use of a tripod will most likely not be permitted during several of my upcoming photo shoots (e.g., John Hancock Obvervatory, the Rookery, etc.)--so this more creative solution might help me resolve the problem of stabilizing my camera.
Of course, I hardly placed my tripod on the ground before security informed me that the tripod wasn't permitted. I couldn't even carry it with me in the museum. It had to be checked!
But, I had my back-up plan in place. It wasn't quite as easy as I envisioned to get the clamp in a convenient spot, but eventually I got it there. I was able to squeeze off many photographs while getting all of the benefits of having the camera secured in place--low ISO setting of 100, multiple exposures for building HDR images, narrower apertures for greater depth of field, etc.
As my photo shoot was coming to a close, I was once again approached by security. This time I was told that "clamps are not permitted in the museum"! I was also told that I could not lean over the railing even when hand-holding the camera. Fortunately, I already captured all of the photographs that I intended to capture for the session.
This photograph was captured at the Kentucky State Capitol building in Frankfort on October 30, 2013. Unfortunately, I titled the picture as "Granite Staircases" even though the staircases are actually marble! It is one of my first photographs to be recognized with an award within less than a month of its capture.
This marks the 12th time in the last 13 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>| # | City | State | Name |
| 1 | Flagstaff | Arizona | Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel |
| 2 | Goldfield | Arizona | The Church at the Mount |
| 3 | Davenport | California | St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church |
| 4 | San Francisco | California | Holy Virgin Cathedral Russian Orthodox Church |
| 5 | San Francisco | California | St. Francis of Assissi Church |
| 6 | Santa Clara | California | Mission Santa Clara |
| 7 | Air Force Academy | Colorado | Cadet Chapel |
| 8 | Ave Maria | Florida | Ave Maria Oratory |
| 9 | Fort Myers | Florida | Beach Baptist Church |
| 10 | St Augustine | Florida | Our Lady of La Leche Chapel |
| 11 | Arco | Idaho | Baptist Community Church |
| 12 | Boise | Idaho | St John's Cathedral |
| 13 | Buckley | Illinois | St John's Lutheran Church |
| 14 | Chicago | Illinois | Bond Chapel |
| 15 | Chicago | Illinois | First United Methodist Church |
| 16 | Chicago | Illinois | Fourth Presbyterian Church |
| 17 | Chicago | Illinois | Holy Name Cathedral |
| 18 | Chicago | Illinois | Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple |
| 19 | Chicago | Illinois | Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica |
| 20 | Chicago | Illinois | Rockefeller Cathedral |
| 21 | Chicago | Illinois | Saint Adalbert Church |
| 22 | Chicago | Illinois | St James Cathedral |
| 23 | Chicago | Illinois | St Mary of the Angels |
| 24 | Chicago | Illinois | St. Adalbert Church |
| 25 | Chicago | Illinois | St. Mary of Perpetual Help Church |
| 26 | Chicago | Illinois | St. Procopiuys Church |
| 27 | Frankfort | Illinois | Green Garden United Methodist Church |
| 28 | Frankfort | Illinois | Heritage Baptist Church |
| 29 | Grant Park | Illinois | First Regular Baptist Church |
| 30 | Hinsdale | Illinois | Grace Episcopal Church |
| 31 | Homer Glen | Illinois | Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church |
| 32 | Joliet | Illinois | New Canaan Land Christian Church |
| 33 | Manteno | Illinois | St Joseph Catholic Church |
| 34 | Matteson | Illinois | Believers Church |
| 35 | New Lenox | Illinois | Peace Lutheran Church |
| 36 | Oak Park | Illinois | Unity Temple |
| 37 | Orland Hills | Illinois | The Church on the Hill |
| 38 | Orland Park | Illinois | Calvary Church |
| 39 | Orland Park | Illinois | Christ Lutheran Church |
| 40 | Orland Park | Illinois | Lightpost Church |
| 41 | Orland Park | Illinois | Twin Tower Chapel |
| 42 | Palos Heights | Illinois | Moraine Valley Church |
| 43 | Palos Heights | Illinois | Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church |
| 44 | Palos Park | Illinois | Peace Memorial Church |
| 45 | Peotone | Illinois | Immanuel United Church of Christ |
| 46 | Rantoul | Illinois | St. Malachy's Church |
| 47 | Richton Park | Illinois | Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church |
| 48 | Springfield | Illinois | Central Baptist Church |
| 49 | Tinley Park | Illinois | Tinley Park United Methodist Church |
| 50 | Tinley Park | Illinois | Zion Lutheran Church |
| 51 | Western Springs | Illinois | Grace Lutheran Church |
| 52 | Wilmette | Illinois | Baha'i Temple |
| 53 | South Bend | Indiana | Basilica of the Sacred Heart |
| 54 | Covington | Kentucky | Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption |
| 55 | Georgetown | Kentucky | John L. Hill Chapel |
| 56 | Emmitsburg | Maryland | Immaculate Conception Chapel |
| 57 | Alba | Michigan | Alba United Methodist Church |
| 58 | Cheboygan | Michigan | St. James Episcopal Church |
| 59 | Cross Village | Michigan | Redpath Memorial Presbyterian Church |
| 60 | Good Hart | Michigan | St. Ignatius Catholic Church |
| 61 | Grayling | Michigan | Hartwick Pines Chapel |
| 62 | Harbor Springs | Michigan | Holy Childhood Church |
| 63 | Mancelona | Michigan | United Methodist Church |
| 64 | Helena | Montana | Cathedral of Saint Helena |
| 65 | Lincoln | Nebraska | St. Paul United Methodist Church |
| 66 | Beatty | Nevada | Hilltop Christian Church |
| 67 | Virginia City | Nevada | St. Mary's in the Mountains Church |
| 68 | Albuquerque | New Mexico | San Felipe de Neri Church |
| 69 | Golden | New Mexico | San Francisco de Asis |
| 70 | Las Trampas | New Mexico | Church of Santo Tomas Del Rio de Las Trampas |
| 71 | Picuris Pueblo | New Mexico | San Lorenzo Church |
| 72 | Ranchos de Taos | New Mexico | San Francisco de Asis Mission Church |
| 73 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Cristo Rey Church |
| 74 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Loretto Chapel |
| 75 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | San Miguel Chapel |
| 76 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Santuario de Guadalupe |
| 77 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | Scottish Rite Temple |
| 78 | Santa Fe | New Mexico | St Francis Cathedral |
| 79 | Socorro | New Mexico | San Miguel de Socorro |
| 80 | Oneonta | New York | First Presbyterian Church |
| 81 | Inuvik | NW Territories | Igloo Church |
| 82 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh |
| 83 | Salt Lake City | Utah | Cathedral of the Madeleine |
| 84 | Salt Lake City | Utah | Salt Lake Temple |
| 85 | Salt Lake City | Utah | The Tabernacle |
| 86 | Teasdale | Utah | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints |
| 87 | Torrey | Utah | Torrey Log School and Church |
| 88 | Grand Teton National Park | Wyoming | Chapel of the Sacred Heart |
| 89 | Grand Teton National Park | Wyoming | Chapel of the Transfiguration |
Of all of the places of worship that I've visited, here are the...
Most Unique
Igloo Church, Inivuk, Northwest Territories, Canada
Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Cadet Chapel, Air Force Academy, Colorado
Oldest
San Miguel Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico
St. Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Most Accommodating
Several churches compete for this category. However, the people in three churches in particular went above and beyond to ensure that I could capture photographs of the interiors.
Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church, Homer Glen, Illinois
Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City, Utah
San Lorenzo Church, Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico
Least Accommodating
Only a few places of worship prohibited photography or made it very difficult.
Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois
Basilica of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, South Bend, Indiana
Favorite Exterior
San Francisco de Asis Mission Church, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
I plan to visit many more churches in the near future!
]]>First up was the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue. I deleted those fisheye images since I didn't like the extreme distortion of the vertical lines for this particular subject. I found the Nikon 14-24mm lens more to my liking for this photo shoot:
Next up was Water Tower Place. The fisheye certainly brought more content into the frame:
My last stop of the afternoon was the Museum of Contemporary Art. The fisheye really came in handy for this location. The extremely wide perspective (180 degrees) of this lens enabled me to capture images of the staircase that otherwise would not have been possible:
Although I've only been shooting with the lens for one day, I'm pleased with the purchase. I expect the fisheye lens to be a highly specialized lens--one that isn't suitable for 99% of my pictures. But, for the 1% of situations where the fisheye shines, there isn't any other lens that will fit the bill. If nothing else, it's going to be a lot of fun.
Although the 14mm focal length certainly provides a very wide perspective when used with a full frame sensor, I'm finding many situations where an even wider perspective would be helpful--especially while shooting the interiors of many of the places of worship and state capitol buildings that I've visited.
So, I just ordered a Sigma 15m fisheye lens. This lens will provide an extremely wide perspective. The perspective is so wide that distortion will make keeping lines straight challenging or impossible at times.
Some have suggested that a better solution than purchasing a lens would be to stitch multiple exposures into a panoramic image to extend the scene. The issue that I have with the stitching approach is that I'm already blending 5 to 7 exposures to create a high dynamic range photograph as it is. If I were to then stitch three such images together, I'm now looking at 15 to 21 exposures to make a single photograph. Not only does that number of exposures add to the capture and processing time, but things tend to change within the scene over time--such as people entering or leaving the frame. Then, there's the issue of storing that many files on a regular basis.
I understand that getting good images from the fisheye lens will take practice. I hope that the experience I've gained over the past two years shooting at 14mm will accelerate my learning curve. I hope to be sharing some interesting fisheye photographs in the near future.
]]>Even though I take pictures quite often, I'm not immune to making similar mistakes. During this last photography trip to the Pacific Coast and back, there were two occasions where I forget about my settings:
#1)
The last picture I shot one day was on the St. John's Bridge in Portland, Oregon. The pedestrian walkway on the bridge was too narrow for me to use my tripod. So, when I captured this image of a latch on the other side of the bridge, it had to be handheld. Given the longer focal length and the windy conditions, I increased the ISO from 100 to 800. Here's the image:
This image on the bridge wasn't the problem. The problem was that I forgot to change my ISO back to 100 after the shot. The next morning, I captured a series of images both inside and outside the Oregon State Capitol in Salem--and they were all captured at ISO 800! Here's one of those images:
Of course, ISO 800 isn't the end of the world with the modern sensors. But, it's an unnecessary compromise in image quality for no reason considering that all of the Oregon State Capitol photographs were captured with the camera secured to a tripod.
I went back and captured all of the Oregon State Capitol photographs again at ISO 100. But, I couldn't capture the outdoor photographs again as the lighting conditions had deteriorated.
#2)
While shooting the Salt Lake Temple, I attempted a HDR photograph consisting of three exposures. What I failed to realize at the time is that I had turned off the bracketing feature before starting the sequence. Fortunately, after four or five series of "bracketed" photographs, I checked the histogram on the back of the camera and noticed that the exposures were all identical. I then activated the bracketing feature and kept shooting. This error didn't hurt me at all as the light continued to improve, so the previous bracketing sequences would have been deleted in any event.
Having captured over 4,400 exposures on this trip, this was the extent of the errors I made with my settings. By making it a habit to always reset the camera/lens after every series of photos, the possibility of error is minimized. These are the default settings that I dial in after every shoot:
- Reset ISO to base (100 on the Nikon D800)
- Turn VR OFF
- Check to see that bracketing is OFF and that the increments are set for one stop apart
- Set mode to Aperture Priority
- Set mode dial Mirror Lock Up
- Set aperture to f/8 (that's my default)
First, when taking pictures of the Capitol dome interiors, I'm usually laying on the floor in an awkward position trying to get everything aligned with the camera positioned on a tripod. Sometimes, the camera is so close to the floor that I can't even use the viewfinder. I rely on the Live View feature of the Nikon D800. Then, I usually take multiple exposures to create a high dynamic range image.
While taking this picture of the statue of Abraham Lincoln underneath the dome, I was having trouble capturing consistent colors. It seemed that the color of the dome was changing from shot to shot. At first, I figured I could just deal with it later by adjusting the white balance settings during post processing. But, this wasn't a white balance issue!
Over the next two hours or so, I went on to shoot several other rooms within the Capitol building. I forgot about the color issue that I experienced on my opening shots within the rotunda until later when I participated in the formal tour.
During the formal tour, the guide explained how the lighting of the dome's interior is programmed to slowly change colors. I then noticed how the color of the dome slowly transitioned from brown to green to blue to pink. To create my high dynamic range photographs, I am blending five to seven exposures together. These exposures are captured over a period of time during which the color of the dome is changing. When I blend the exposures, I never know what color I am going to get! For this particular photograph, I ended up with pink.
Day 1- Miami, OK
Day 2- Glen Rose, TX (Fossil Rim Wildlife Center)
Day 3- Austin, TX (Texas Capitol, Auditorium Shores)
Day 4- San Antonio, TX (Missions Historic Park)
Day 5- San Antonio, TX (Missions Historic Park)
Day 6- San Antonio, TX (Alamo, San Antonio Zoo, SA Central Library)
Day 7- Rio Grande Valley (San Juan Basilica)
Day 8- Rio Grande Valley (Santa Clara Ranch)
Day 9- Rio Grande Valley (Santa Clara Ranch)
Day 10- Baton Rouge, LA (Louisiana Capitol)
Day 11- Jackson, MS (Mississippi Capitol, Old Mississippi Capitol)
Day 12- Little Rock, AR (Old Mississippi Capitol, Governor's Mansion)
Day 13- Little Rock, AR (Arkansas Capitol, Old State House)
Day 14- Little Rock, AR (Clinton Presidential Library, Central High Museum)
Day 15- Orland Park, IL
Of course, this trip includes more visits to State Capitols (4 of them to bring my total to 27). It also includes churches, a college campus, libraries and other landmarks. While in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border, I'll be hiring a guide to assist me in capturing photographs of some Texas wildlife---mostly birds and small mammals.
Most recently, I added a one night stay at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. The facility is known as a top destination for wildlife photographers who aren't able to travel to Africa. I'll be staying in a "tent" near a watering hole for early morning wildlife photography. Overall, the trip covers just under 3,500 miles--a cakewalk compared to most of my recent journeys!
Unfortunately, Prius camping will not be part of this adventure. The early sunset times (before 6:00 pm) during January are not conducive to spending extended times in the smaller space. Instead, I'll be at my favorite lodging chain (Hampton Inn) for 10 of the 14 nights. Then, 1 night at Fossil Rim and the remaining 3 nights at the Guesthouse of the Santa Clara Ranch.
]]>Most of my photography trips are very hectic. Let's just take a look at one day (Wednesday) of this short trip:
- Drive from Georgetown to Frankfort, Kentucky to arrive at the State Capitol building at 8 am
- Take photographs of the interior of the Capitol from 8 - 10 am
- Participate in a 90 minute tour of the Capitol from 10 - 11:30 am
- Capture pictures of anything I missed in the Capitol from my earlier photo shoot
- Walk around downtown Frankfort in the rain
- Visit the Thomas Clark Center for Kentucky History
- Take a guided tour (one on one) of the Old Capitol building in Frankfort from 1 - 2:30 pm
- Visit the Frankfort Cemetery and locate Daniel Boone's grave from 3 - 4:15 pm (note that this took longer than expected as the road to the grave was temporarily closed due to a funeral)
- Drive to Lexington
- Walk the grounds of the Lexington Arboretum
- Grab a quick dinner
- Visit the Mary Todd Lincoln home (only the exterior as the building closed at 4 pm)
- Drive to Georgetown
- Walk the Georgetown College campus and photograph the interior of the Chapel and library from 7 - 8 pm.
- Return to the hotel and begin uploading all of the day's images, entering captions and GPS information and backing up everything on an external hard drive from 10 - 11 pm.
This is a fairly typical day for one of my photography trips. Some trips provide more challenging days. During my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, the days started much earlier (as sunrise is was a couple of hours earlier in the summer) and ended much later. Then, there's all of the post processing after the images are captured.
Once I return home from one of these trips, I feel like I need a vacation!
Here is an image from each stop along the way during this Wednesday in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky:
State Capitol
Thomas Clark Center for Kentucky History
Old Capitol
Daniel Boone's Grave
Lexington Arboretum
Georgetown College
St. Petersburg, Florida
San Francisco, California
St. Bride's, Newfoundland
Olympic National Park, Washington
Viera, Florida
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park
Yet another from Yellowstone...
One of my favorite and most unusual landscape photographs was captured at the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. What made this photo different was that the "foggy" or misty conditions that occurred in the middle of the day--due to its geothermal source.
Until my visit to the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, I was welcome to photograph the interior of every church and temple that I've visited. Upon entering the Baha'i Temple, I was told that photography was permitted in the building--with the exception of the temple! In other words, I was free to take all the pictures I wanted of the "visitors center" and corridor leading to the restrooms! I respect the fact that the temple is private property and that I have no right to photograph the interior. However, this is the first time I've experienced such a policy in a house of worship.
It's very frustrating to be standing at a location with a camera in my hand, but not be allowed to press the shutter.
The woman who greeted me told me that there was no need to be disappointed. In 45 minutes, the gift shop would open and the most beautiful postcards are available for just 49 cents. This wasn't what I hoped to hear after driving for 90 minutes through city traffic to reach the temple. Basically, the Temple is a 3 hour round trip drive from my home in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.
So, I captured a couple of images of the exterior and then drove home.
If it is true that "it's what's on the inside that counts", then I wish I was able to capture photographs of the inside of the Baha'i House of Worship!
]]>I was excited about the opportunity to capture some pictures of the cub. However, unlike most of the exhibits at the Brookfield Zoo, there's thick glass or netting separating the animals from the visitors at this exhibit. Most of the other exhibits use moats for this purpose, which makes it possible to capture high quality images since there are no obstructions between the lens and the subjects.
I chose the lesser of two evils and decided to shoot through the glass rather than the netting. My approach was to remove the hood from the lens which allowed me to press the lens as close to the glass as possible. The following image (as it appeared straight out of the camera) is the best picture I could produce through the glass:
The cub is certainly a very cute subject. But, the thick glass robbed the image of almost all of its contrast. And, the image isn't nearly as sharp as it would have been without having all that glass placed between my lens and Everest!
So, I tried to salvage this photograph during post processing. In Lightroom, I made the following global adjustments:
- Cropped the image slightly
- Applied some noise reduction to offset the effect of a higher ISO setting that I need due to handholding this shot
- Sharpened the image
- Adjusted the white balance
- Reduced the highlights dramatically
- Added quite a bit of contrast
- Set a black point
- Removed chromatic abberation
Once those adjustments were made, I brought the image into Photoshop to apply some more selective adjustments. These adjustments were brushed only onto Everest's face:
- Applied some Detail Enhancer (Nik filter)
- Applied some Tonal Contrast (Nik filter)
- Applied some Pro Contrast (Nik filter)
- Brightened his eyes
- Blurred the background a bit more
- Converted the image to B&W using Silver Efex Pro2
- Added structure to the fur on the face
After all of these adjustments, I liked the photograph enough to post it on my website and to share it on Facebook and some photography forums. But, I knew that none of the adjustments would "fix" the image quality issue. Image quality must be achieved at the time of capture. Post processing is best for enhancing images. It rarely is able to fix a broken image. Therefore, I wasn't surprised in the least when the stock agencies quickly rejected this image for image quality considerations.
Here's the final result:
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SEATTLE
Unfortunately, conditions were not very good for photography when I finally reached the Pacific Northwest. While in Seattle for three days, I never saw Mount Rainier. Each morning I was positioned at an overlook that I previously scouted for a sunrise--only to walk away with no images due to thick fog. I experienced the same thing for most sunsets. After I left Seattle for Olympia (about 65 miles south), the Weather Channel on my iPhone indicated that the weather was finally clearing for the day in Seattle--so I drove back to Seattle and finally captured some nice cityscapes from Alki Beach.
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
It was a long trip, so I was optimistic that things would improve. I had three days planned for Olympic National Park. On the first day, I visited Hurricane Ridge, but the haze was so thick I couldn't see the mountain range. Once again, no images. The next day I planned to photograph the Sol Duc waterfalls and then one of the primitive beaches on the Pacific Coast. I was thinking how the diffused light of a hazy sky would be a good thing for the pictures of the waterfalls, but that morning there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the direct light and high contrast made it difficult to capture good images of the waterfalls and surrounding old growth forest. It was the worst of both worlds--thick fog along the coast all day...but, hard light with high contrast in the inland forests!
One of the rangers told me that the forecast was for fog on the coast for the next three or four days. I replied that some fog could be a good thing for sunrises and sunsets. Diffused light is generally much better than a clear sky for the colors. He smiled and said that this isn't that kind of fog. This is the kind of fog where you can't see the water! And, he was right.
Over the next couple of days of mostly unproductive sunrise and sunset attempts, I did capture a few images at Rialto Beach when the fog temporarily lifted enough that I could see the water and the nearby seastacks...but that was about it. It was time to move south to the Oregon Coast!
OREGON COAST
Let's just say that the conditions along the Oregon Coast weren't much better than in Washington. So, I cut that portion of the trip short and drove inland to Salem to photograph the state capitol. The next morning I met my aunt and uncle for breakfast in Eugene. When they asked me where I was headed next, I told them that I didn't know! Initially, I hoped to spend two nights at Crater Lake. But, reports indicated that the smoke was so thick at Crater Lake that visitors couldn't see the lake! I checked the Crater Lake webcam on my phone later that afternoon and saw this:
Fortunately, my travel plans are always flexible, so I revised the rest of the trip right then. I scrapped Crater Lake. I decided to give the Oregon Coast one more try--this time Bandon Beach. After that, I would drive south to Sacramento, then stop in Carson City and Salt Lake City on my long journey home. This ended up being a very good revision to the trip! I finally had some good light for photography one night at Bandon Beach, and there was an abundance of interesting subjects to photograph in Sacramento and Salt Lake City.
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
When I planned this trip, I envisioned capturing several great landscape images of the amazing beaches along the Washington and Oregon Coast. I scouted four impressive overlooks for cityscapes of Seattle. I expected to come away with excellent images of the lush rain forest at Olympic National Park. In the end, I captured very few of the photographs that I set out for when I left Chicago.
But, by no means was this trip a bust. I immediately began to seek out subject matter that was more suitable for the conditions. Here are a few of the adjustments that I made along the way.
While in Yellowstone, I tried to use the fog to my advantage.
I visited places such as the Wolf & Grizzly Discovery Center, where diffused light was appropriate for the subject matter.
I concentrated on more macro images--where the diffused light is an advantage or where I can control the light.
I photographed many interiors--including ones that I had no intention of visiting while planning the trip.
Other interiors included 9 state capitol buildings, a prison and several churches.
And, every so often during the course of this 27 day trip, the light would cooperate!
In the end, this was one of my most productive photography trips.
Silverback Spirits is a start up company. I wish the owners, Denver and Christine Riggleman, the best of success and hope to see this photograph on bottles on the shelves of our local stores in the near future! Click here to follow the company's progress on Facebook.
Often times, subjects are positioned in front of busy and distracting backgrounds. A narrow depth of field helps eliminate distracting backgrounds by blurring them. Some photographers refer to the super-telephoto lenses with very wide apertures as "background erasers"!
Wide apertures also allow more light to enter the lens--which results in faster shutter speeds to achieve the desired exposure. Fast shutter speeds increase the chance of getting sharp photographs, especially when the subject is an animal that is moving.
While visiting the Brookfield Zoo, I used a wide aperture to isolate this orangutan in the Tropic World exhibit.
It's the narrow depth of field that contributes to the three dimensional appearance of this image. I selected an aperture of f/2 for this photograph. A depth of field calculator (available for free through a quick Google search) tells me that the depth of field for this photograph was about 9 feet. I used a 200mm lens at f/2 from a distance of about 100 feet from my subject. This means that the acceptable field of sharp focus starts at about 5 feet in front of the orangutan and ends at about 4 feet behind her. That tree in the background is probably 70 feet behind the orangutan--well beyond the four feet within the focus range--which is why it appears so soft. Clearly, the more distance between the subject and the background, the greater the blur.
I captured this photograph of a snow leopard cub earlier this week at f/2.8 with a 300mm lens:
Then, like so many other RVers, I became familiar with the acronym...
N O P
Or, No Overnight Parking!
I first discovered NOP at a Walmart location just outside of Portland, Oregon. I was nearing the end of a long drive and had not made any plans for the night. So, I pulled up the closest Walmart Supercenter on my GPS unit and found one that was located about 30 miles away. When I finally pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that there weren't any RV's in the parking lot. I also noticed the NOP (No Overnight Parking) signs on nearly every light post.
Apparently, NOP is becoming more common at Walmarts throughout the country. One reason is that local ordinances are passed that prohibit the practice so that local campgrounds might benefit. Smaller towns want to encourage RVers to pay $50 or $60 a night to pull into a campground rather than let them park for free at Walmart. Another reason is that some campers abuse the privilege. They take up too much space, make too much noise and leave a mess.
Unfortunately, I had to move on until I found a Walmart that permitted camping. That experience led me to discover a tool to combat NOP. It turns out that there is an app called the "Walmart Overnight Parking Locator." This app maps out all of the Walmarts near a location and indicates whether overnight parking is permitted or not. The user can also review notes from campers who have recently stayed at various locations. In fact, based upon my camping experiences during this trip, I contributed reports about some Walmart locations which now appear in the app.
I found this app to be an invaluable resource whenever a Walmart location was a convenient resting point along my long journey.
One encouraging note is that the New York Times recently (September 27, 2013) published an article about camping at Walmart titled "Paradise, Paved".
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Despite capturing thousands of photographs at the zoo during many visits, I haven't had success in past contests. In part, I'm sure this is because only three photographs are recognized each year. And, I never know what the judges are looking for.
This year I'm taking a different approach. Everybody seems to like baby animals, so maybe a baby will win!
I captured this photograph of a sloth bear cub this past May.
This photograph was captured at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in May, 2013. It was one of the first images captured with my new Nikon 200 f/4 Macro lens.
This marks the eleventh time in the last twelve months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>
I borrowed an extension tube to get a closer perspective of a daisy. Here's the original image without tubes:
The use of just one extension tube allowed me to get in much closer. Extension tubes can also be stacked to allow the lens to move in much closer.
I found the extension tubes to be such a powerful tool that I ordered a set once I returned home. Unfortunately, many brands of extension tubes will not work properly with my Nikon 105VR macro lens. Nikon's own brand of extension tubes will not allow one to adjust the aperture of the 105VR! The Nikon, as well as many other brands, will only work properly with lenses that have a manual aperture ring.
However, the Kenko extension tubes do provide the ability to adjust the aperture as well as provide auto-focusing capabilities. Since the tubes are hollow and don't contain any optical elements, I elected to save some money and purchase them through eBay rather than B&H Photo (my usual vendor).
]]>- Convenience of camping close to the locations of my photo shoots
- Flexibility of being able to make travel itinerary changes on the fly without having to make reservations
- Comfort of sleeping in "my own bed"
- Control of the cabin temperature (ability to set thermostat for the night)
- Very low cost of travel (the total lodging cost of this 27 night trip was $257!)
Quite often, I get questions from readers about my Prius camping experiences. Hopefully, this blog article will address some of those questions. Here are a few of the more common ones:
WHERE DO YOU PARK?
When considering where to park (camp) for the night, I consider two things about the location. Is the location safe? And, is it legal to park in the location? Generally, most public (state and national parks) and private campgrounds meet those requirements. On occasion (when the campgrounds are full), I will park behind a lodge or visitor center inside of a national park. Also, many Walmart stores offer free overnight parking for recreational vehicles. Here's a picture (iPhone) of my Prius camped in Port Angeles, Washington--just north of Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.
I will share more information about my Walmart camping experiences in a blog article in the near future.
WHERE DO YOU GET CLEANED UP?
Almost all of the campgrounds provide restroom and shower facilities. Obviously, Walmart stores do not. However, public showers are available for a fee inside or near most state and national parks. During this last trip, there were several state parks in Washington and Oregon that provided a shower for just $2.00.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PRIVACY?
As you can see from the photo that I shared above, sunshades are applied to every window on the Prius to provide privacy and to darken the interior of the cabin. With just a little practice, I can snap all of these shades in place in just a couple of minutes. They attach to the window with suction cups. When I first purchased the sunshades, it never dawned on me that it would also be useful to have one for the hatchback. I added the hatchback one for this last trip and that extra shade blocked a significant amount of annoying overhead lighting.
DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH ROOM?
People wonder how there is enough room in the Prius for someone as tall as me (6'3") to sleep comfortably. With nearly 9 feet from the rear of the interior to the dash, there is more than enough room! I can stretch my arms as far as possible over my head and still not reach the front of the car. Here's a view of the interior. Note how I use only the passenger half of the car for sleeping. This makes the process of setting up the car for sleeping very convenient--and less than a five minute process.
HOW DO YOU FLATTEN THE SEATS?
I get this question quite often. It's probably easiest to show how this is done through pictures. First, the front seat on the passenger side is moved all the way forward toward the dashboard. Then the front passenger seat is reclined all the way back until it's flat against the rear seat. This requires removing the headrest from the seat.
The rear passenger seat is dropped forward until it connects with the top of the front passenger seat. Again, this requires removing the headrest from the rear seat as well.
At this point, the rear passenger seat rests about 18 inches higher than the front passenger seat. So, something must be placed on the front passenger seat to level the sleeping surface. I use two floor throw pillows.
Then, a mattress (I use a Thermarest) and sleeping bag will lay perfectly flat over the length of the interior.
DO YOU USE YOUR PRIUS TENT?
In a prior article, I shared some information about my purchase of a customized tent for the Prius. During my last trip, I only used it for 2 of the 27 nights. It was good having it for the two nights I camped at a KOA in Salt Lake City. Those were warm nights--and the tent allowed for a nice breeze to enter the vehicle. Most nights were cool enough that I preferred to close the hatchback rather than use the tent. And, the tent wasn't practical for security reasons when the Prius was parked at Walmarts or other comparable locations.
Overall, I find that the Prius offers many benefits to the traveling photographer. After sleeping in the Prius for over 60 nights during the past two years, I would have a hard time buying anything other than a Prius for my next car.
OTHER PRIUS CAMPING ACCESSORIES:
Some other products that recently came to my attention from Altegra. Click here to visit the Altegra website to view the compact canopies that can make the Prius camping experience even more enjoyable.
]]>During my last photo trip, I visited the Cathedral of the Madeleine Roman Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. During my first visit, I was pleased to find that the doors were open that morning. Upon entering, the beauty of the interior of the church was immediately evident. But, I was disappointed that the church was not lit. The church was so dark that I didn't bother taking any photographs.
I checked the schedule and learned that a mass would be held that night. So, I returned to the church in hopes of capturing some photographs of an illuminated interior once the mass ended. As I entered the church, a priest met me in the foyer. He told me that I would be permitted to take pictures in the church once the mass was over. He invited me to enter the church and participate in the mass until then.
Not being Catholic, it wasn't my intention to sit through a long mass. It was interesting for a while, but an hour passed and there was no end in sight. The program indicated that communion was yet to come. As it turns out, it was an extraordinarily long mass that night in celebration of the 104th anniversary of the church.
I didn't want to miss that night's sunset as I only had two nights to spend in Salt Lake City. So, I reluctantly decided to give up on the photo shoot of the church. As I was leaving, the same priest met me once again in the lobby. I explained that I needed to leave for the night. I asked if it might be possible to return the next day for the photo shoot.
The priest told me that nothing was scheduled at the church for the next day. But, he kindly offered to meet me at the church the next morning. He said he would open the doors and turn on all the lights. We agreed to meet at 10:00 am.
The next morning I arrived at the church at 9:45 am. The doors were open, but the interior was dark and there was no sign of the priest. I started shooting some photographs of the staircase to the bell tower. At 9:55 am, there was still no sign of the priest. I walked around the outside of the church for few minutes and reentered at 10:05 am. It was an amazing sight! The church was fully lit and organ music was being piped in. I had the church to myself for two hours--and I never did see the priest!
Here are a few photographs from the session:
From the Capitol, I couldn't help but notice a golden bridge shining in the distance. It was the Tower Bridge--a vertical lift bridge constructed in 1935 to cross the Sacramento River. The bridge made for an interesting subject, but getting a good perspective was challenging. A traffic light and signs were located directly in front of the bridge and the downtown traffic was constantly passing under the bridge.
I decided to go with an ultra-wide angle lens (the Nikon 14-24) so that I could get situated almost directly under the bridge. This position took the traffic lights and signage out of play. The downtown traffic was another issue. That simply required patience. After fifteen or twenty minutes, there would be lulls in the traffic--especially when the traffic light behind me turned red.
My approach was to preset the camera for exposure and approximate focus. When there was a lull in traffic, I would run to the middle of the road, set down my tripod, and quickly snap five or six frames and then run back to the curb. I would repeat this process four or five times until I had two or three acceptable frames.
There was an artist sitting along the sidewalk by the bridge. He was drawing the bridge and watching me make these runs. After my second run, he yelled to me, "Cheating death again?" Apparently, he felt that the act of running into the middle of the street and back in downtown traffic was more dangerous than I did!
Here is one of the images from the photo shoot:
Yet, over the past few weeks two viewers have used the word "apocalypse" to define my style of photography. I'm not sure whether to be insulted or flattered!
One viewer pointed out that just 2 of the 103 photographs displayed from my last photo trip include people in the frame. Click here to view that set of images.
The reason for the lack of people in the frames is that the primary subject matter during this trip was architecture and nature. In fact, it usually requires a great deal of patience to wait for the scene to clear of people while shooting large interior spaces such as churches or capitol buildings. With wildlife, people aren't likely to be in the same frame as a grizzly bear or gray wolf!
My intention is to only include people in the frame is they belong there. In the following image of the bronze grizzly bear in front of the Governor's office in the California State Capitol, I wanted to include the guard. Governor Jerry Brown was in his office and I thought that the guard added interest to the scene. In my first exposures of this scene, the guard was trying to be courteous and was standing just outside of the frame. So, I have several photographs of the scene without the guard. Later, when the guard entered the scene, I captured more exposures and selected this one as a keeper.
In this next image of a yellow escalator in the Seattle Central Public Library, I waited until people entered the frame before pressing the shutter. I didn't think the escalator itself was an interesting enough subject to warrant an exposure without the people.
Looking at my entire portfolio, there's no question that I favor landscapes, wildlife and nature photographs over portraits or other images of people. I suppose maybe I do have an apocalyptic style!
In the end, I captured 724 photographs from this trip. Following is the distribution of pictures by lens:
The Nikon 14-24 was my most frequently used lens during this trip. Since I photographed several interiors of capitol buildings and churches, I reached for the lens that offered the widest possible perspective most often. It also came in handy for several landscapes.
Some ask if it is really worth the bother of bringing the massive Nikon 500 VR along on a trip like this for just 18 photographs. Or, if it's really worth the hassle of having the carrying the highly specialized Nikon 200 f4 Macro lens to create only 29 pictures. In my opinion, it's well worth the effort. Some of my favorite images were created with these two lenses.
For example, the "Wolf Eyes" photograph is one of my top three favorite images from the trip. It would not have been possible to capture this photograph without the long reach of the Nikon 500 VR:
One of my other favorites from the trip was a closeup of a red hibiscus that was captured with the Nikon 200 f4 Macro lens:
Typically, on a trip like this I expect to produce hundreds of technically acceptable and good images. But, it's never assured that any "favorites" will be created. So, when I see something that has the potential to be what I consider an excellent image, I really want to make sure that I have the right lens available for the task at hand.
To photograph this tiny redwood, I selected my Nikon 70-200 VR2 lens. The zoom lens provided flexibility to frame the tree quickly and precisely. To maximize image quality, I set the Nikon D800 camera to the base ISO setting of 100. I went with a f/11 aperture to get the entire tree in focus. The resulting shutter speed was 1/25th of a second.
Since this is a stationary subject and the shutter speed was relatively slow, I secured the camera/lens to a tripod, locked the mirror up and pressed a cable release to ensure maximum sharpness. Here was the initial photograph:
I thought the image could be improved during post processing if I did something about the chipped plexiglass backdrop. So, I selected the backdrop color in Photoshop and painted over it with a light blue brush. Then, I applied a gradient to the backdrop. Finally, I removed the pot from the frame. My goal during post processing was to make the redwood tree appear as though it was outside with a clear, blue sky in the background.
However, as the trip progressed, the pipe organs kept getting bigger and bigger. Next up was St. Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church in Virginia City, Nevada. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture any acceptable images of that pipe organ as it was temporarily draped in plastic to protect it from a leaking roof.
Then, there was the pipe organ in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Roman Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Utah:
But, the biggest ones were yet to come. This next photograph is of the pipe organ in the Assembly Hall of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah:
And, within just a few hundred yards or so, the pipe organ in the Tabernacle was the most impressive one I had seen to date:
But, the grand finale was yet to come. To my surprise, there was another even larger pipe organ across the street at the LDS (Latter Day Saints) Conference Center Auditorium! This pipe organ has 7,667 pipes.
One of the reasons I selected the laptop is that it's capable of running as much as 32GB of RAM. Before upgrading, I was only using two of the memory slots and each slot had 4GB of RAM. After the upgrade, I am now using all four memory slots with 8GB of RAM in each slot--effectively quadrupling the RAM!
I know very little about computer hardware. Yet, the procedures to replace and add memory to the laptop were relatively simple for me to perform. First, I visited the Crucial.com website and ran the Crucial System Scanner Tool. The tool diagnoses the memory currently in the computer and outlines alternatives for upgrading. When I first ran the tool, the report indicated that I was using two memory slots with 4GB in each slot. It then presented several upgrade alternatives, including adding 4GB to the two remaining slots, or adding 8GB to the two remaining slots, or replacing the existing memory and going with 8GB in all four slots for the maximum memory. I elected to go with the maximum. Here's how the report looks after I maximized the memory:
Once the memory chips arrived, my next challenge was inserting the cards into the slots in the laptop. There is a small cover on the bottom of the laptop that unscrews to reveal two memory slots. That part was easy. I became more concerned when I realized that the keyboard must be removed to access the other two memory ports. However, YouTube is my friend! I located a couple of YouTube tutorial videos that demonstrated how to accomplish the task--and it was easier than I anticipated.
In the end, I acquired 32GB of RAM for $240 and less than five minutes of my time. Now, post processing pictures is far more efficient and enjoyable. And, I can run other programs at the same time. Now, I can even listen to music from iTunes while I work!
]]>Late last year, I visited the state capitols in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Just prior to that, while driving to Yellowstone, I visited the buildings in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. Over this past Winter, I took day trips to the state capitols in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. I visited the capitol building in my home state of Illinois a couple of years ago.
A few years ago, I visited the Minnesota state capitol. Although that capitol is included in my total count of 21, I'll need to revisit that building. Back then, I didn't have my approach refined yet, and the only decent shot I have of the Minnesota building is of its exterior.
That's a lot of capitol buildings! 22 down, 28 to go!
During this upcoming Winter, I plan to take short trips to Kentucky and Tennessee. Also, a trip to the Northwest would enable me to visit several state capitols in a reasonably short amount of time. After all, I have visited many of the more remote buildings--the ones that are spread hundreds of miles apart from each other.
Many of the pictures are available for viewing by clicking here. I'm still processing images from my most recent trip, so pictures from the most recent 5 capitols won't be available for a few more weeks. Hopefully, the ones I'm currently processing will my best ones!
During the first morning of the workshop, I came across this scene:
I captured the image with my 300 2.8 lens, but then cropped it heavily during post processing. I would have preferred to use my 500 to retain the full image size with improved quality.
Later, we came across this waterlily. The vantage point was from a road above the scene and a super-telephoto ended up being the right tool for capturing this image. Fortunately, Steve Gettle let me borrow his 600mm lens so that I could take this picture:
The next time I drive to a location, my 500 is coming with me!
I know that my travels are very economical. But, I was curious about exactly how much it would cost for such an extensive journey, so I purchased a travel expenditure tracking app called "Travel Budget" for my iPhone. Each time I made an expenditure, I took a few seconds to enter the amount on my phone. After tracking every dollar of spending, I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the cost is for such a trip. All said and done, the nearly month-long trip cost less than $1,000:
Gas and Oil Changes
The Prius does quite well with gas mileage. Even with gas prices hovering around $4 per gallon for much of the trip, the total cost for gas and oil was $596 to cover 7,500 miles.
Lodging
Lodging for 27 nights totaled $257. My "Prius camping" approach makes staying at locations very convenient and economical. I've posted blog entries in the past about Prius camping and plan to share more of the things that I've learned about Prius camping in future blog entries.
Entertainment
Entertainment costs totaled $84. That doesn't sound like much, but it included admission fees to the following attractions:
- Boise Hawks baseball game (Chicago Cubs Minor League affiliate)
- Historic Idaho State Penitentiary
- South Dakota's 1880 Town
- Makah Cultural Museum, Washington
- Ecola State Park, Oregon
- Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, West Yellowstone
- Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
- Volunteer Park Conservatory, Seattle
- St. Mary in the Mountains Catholic Church, Virginia City (donation)
- Parking fees in Seattle, Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Portland
Entertainment costs were partially offset by $25 in winnings at the Black Jack table in Wendover, Nevada!
Ice
The cost of ice came to $16 for the trip.
TOTAL COST: $953, or $35 per day
I am often asked why food costs are not included in the total. My reasoning for not including the cost of food in my travel budget is that I would incur the same food costs if I had remained at home. There is no incremental cost of food as a result of a trip like this. But, for those who are curious, the total cost of food for this trip was $460.
The bottom line is that a long journey like this doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg. Over the course of the 27 days, I experienced many things and captured thousands of photographs. $1,000 seems like a small price to pay for such an experience!
]]>Surprisingly, the Las Vegas in New Mexico originated decades before the one in Nevada. And, one of the appealing things about Las Vegas, New Mexico is its architecture. The city of 14,000 residents lists over 900 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
Here are a few images from my visit:
As I went into the train station to consider photo possibilities for some interior shots, I came across a man waiting for a train. He explained that he had come across hard times, lost his car and that he needed to travel across the state to land a job at a resort working in a kitchen. His problem was that he could save a significant sum of money by purchasing his ticket in advance. However, this required the use of a credit card--which he didn't have. Given that he didn't have a credit card, his only option was to pay by cash on the train with the resulting cost being nearly double that of the advance ticket.
At first, I was hesitant to try to help him because the whole thing felt like some sort of a scam. Why would a business charge someone nearly double to pay by cash rather than credit? But, after talking to him for several minutes, I decided to take a chance and purchase his train ticket on my credit card. After all, he was offering to reimburse me on the spot with cash.
Then, it dawned on me that my wallet was in my car which was parked nearly a mile away. So, I told the man that I would go back to my car, drive back to the station and then purchase the advance ticket with my credit card.
Later, I purchased the ticket, he handed me the cash and I was on my way. In the end, it wasn't a scam...and he was very grateful to save $50 on the ticket.
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I'm often asked how I am able to capture photographs of large interior spaces with nobody in the frame.
To some degree, it just requires patience--simply waiting until the floor is clear, or at least clear enough that the remaining stragglers can be cloned out in Photoshop. But, the most effective method for me is waiting for a tour to begin. Once the tour starts, many of the people follow the tour guide as he/she walks the entire group to some other room within the building.
This method also served me well when I photographed Chicago's City Hall during the Architectural Open House last October. There were at least 75 people in the corridor until a tour started...then they all temporarily left to follow the tour guide as she took them to the second floor.
- Using a narrow depth of field (larger aperture) to keep the subject in sharp focus while rendering everything else in the frame out of focus.
- Selecting a subject in which its color differentiates itself from the rest of the elements in the frame.
- Shifting the point of view so that unwanted elements (clutter) are removed from the background.
- Allowing the subject to take up a larger space within the frame by moving physically closer or using a longer focal length.
My recent trip to Gettysburg involved implementing most of these techniques. During the reenactment event, I photographed some reenactors at the Union camp one afternoon. These portraits can be challenging due to the harsh light and distracting elements.
For this photograph, I...
- Moved closer to my subject
- Used a longer focal length (86mm)
- Got down low to remove some background elements
By taking a step back, more of the clutter is evident (photo courtesy of Earl Evans, a fellow photographer at this event):
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This photograph was captured at the Rockford AirFest show in July, 2010. I've been accused of moving the jets closer together using Photoshop, but I can assure you that this image was not manipulated in post processing!
This marks the tenth consecutive month that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>My first solution was to try to time the capture as a cloud would pass in front of the sun. This can be challenging, especially when it's important to also manage the background and to press the shutter while it is temporarily free of spectators walking through it! Here's one of the rare ones that worked (although in large part due to the patience of the woman in the frame):
One solution is to simply get the subject out of the sun. The tents in camp provided that opportunity.
In the above portrait, one final touch was adding some bounce flash. I bounced some light (-1.7 stops EV) from my Nikon SB-900 into the overhead white canvas of the tent. This helped even out the exposure a bit--and added a catch light into the eyes for some of my subjects.
]]>During my most recent trip to Albany, I had a few hours available before beginning my drive to Cooperstown. So, I clicked on the nearby "Things to Do". The Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in Kinderhook, New York caught my eye.
I was just 30 minutes from the site, so I decided to give it a try. Without Trip Advisor, this location would never have entered my mind. Once I arrived, I signed up for a tour of President Van Buren's Lindenwald "mansion". As a result, I captured some interesting photographs:
AT CAPTURE:
For most interiors, I capture multiple exposures to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. By varying the exposures, it's possible to retain details in both the highlights and shadows. For the highest image quality (especially given that I'm shooting multiple frames), I always secure the camera to a tripod. I use the Mirror Lock Up feature of the Nikon D800 along with a cable release to minimize the risk of any camera movement. The Virtual Horizon feature makes it convenient to align the lens properly both vertically and horizontally. Aligning the lens is critical to keeping the lines straight, especially with ultra-wide angle lenses.
Sometimes, the subject will move up or down too much within the frame as a result of the lens being aligned with the horizon. Since I don't own a tilt-shift lens, I rely on the cropping capabilities of the Nikon D800's sensor to help deal with this issue.
I shoot raw files and set the camera to its base ISO (e.g., 100 in the case of the D800). If time permits (and there aren't a lot of people entering the frame), I will also activate the camera's long exposure noise reduction feature.
MULTIPLE FRAMES:
Typically, I take five exposures of an interior scene with the camera in Aperture Priority--varying the shutter speeds for each exposure by one stop. If the scene presents a more extreme dynamic range, I will increase the number of frames to nine. Many times, this approach also requires dialing in some negative exposure compensation. For the image in the sequence with the shortest exposure, I check the histogram to ensure that details are retained in the highlights (i.e., windows, lamps). If the highlights are still blown out (i.e., blinking on the camera's LCD panel), I start over and dial in more negative exposure compensation until the "blinkies" go away.
Here's the sequence of five exposures from the Montana State Capitol rotunda. Shutter speeds range from 1/4th of a second (far left) to 4 seconds (far right). Note that negative exposure compensation was dialed in until some color and detail started to appear in the upper stained glass windows in the frame on the far left:
CREATING THE HDR IMAGE:
To create the HDR image, I first bring the raw files in to Lightroom. In Lightroom, I apply two adjustments: white balance and lens correction. For white balance, I usually use the white balance eyedropper tool and look for something that should be neutral gray in the frame. For lens correction, I apply the default setting for lens correction by enabling profile corrections and removing chromatic aberration. From there, I export the images as tiff files to HDR Efex Pro 2.
From here, I check the Alignment, Ghost Reduction and Chromatic Aberration boxes and the click on "Create HDR". Then, the following screen appears:
Typically, the only thing I do here is to move the "Tone Compression" slider to the right as much as necessary to reveal enough detail in the stained glass windows. Most times, I don't move the slider at all. Sometimes, it's helpful to drop a "Control Point" on a small area within the frame (e.g., a window) and then adjust a slider or two (e.g., exposure) to reveal even more detail in the highlights. Then, I click on Save. I now have one blended TIFF file to work with.
BASIC ADJUSTMENTS:
I bring this blended TIFF file back into Lightroom and begin processing the photograph just as I would any other non-HDR picture. Typically, I take another look at the white balance, adjust contrast to taste, perhaps add some clarity and sharpen the image. I don't crop the image at this point since the lines might require further adjustments in Photoshop--and I need all the frame space I can get before playing with the lines!
FINISHING TOUCHES:
Once I've finished my Lightroom adjustments, I bring the file into Photoshop CS5. My first step in Photoshop is to clone out any unwanted sensor dust spots or unwanted people! Then, to ensure that the lines are straight, I use the Perspective Crop tool. For more information about using this tool, please refer to my earlier blog posting titled "Evolution of a Picture". Once the lines are straight, I crop the picture.
For nearly every photograph that I process of interiors, I apply at least four of the Nik Color Efex Pro 4 filters. These filters are applied as masks within Photoshop, so that I can apply the effect selectively to the appropriate areas within the frame and so that the opacity can be tweaked to apply just the right amount of effect to keep things looking realistic. Here are the four filters that apply most often:
- White Neutralizer- helps to ensure accurate colors
- Pro Contrast- almost always gives the photo that extra pop (and doesn't mess with the highlights and shadows that we've worked so hard to control)
- Brilliance & Warmth- the "Perceptual Saturation" can sometimes be very interesting, especially when applied selectively within Photoshop by using masks
- Detail Extractor- I always apply this one selectively by painting the effect into only portions of the frame. It works great on stained glass windows!
Once I've applied the Nik filters, I save the finished file. Voila!
When I first entered the chamber, I was overwhelmed! I quickly moved to the center of the balcony, set up my tripod and began shooting. I can set up my tripod in less the 15 seconds now!
Since the room was dark, this photograph required very long exposures (up to 30 seconds). I wanted to bracket my exposures using five separate images so that I could later blend them during post processing to retain more detail in the highlight and shadow areas of the frame. The tour guide had just enough patience to allow me to get through the five exposures.
Here was my initial capture (with the upper chandeliers outlined in purple):
Note how with this single exposure, the highlights surrounding the lower lights are completely blown out (void of any detail). Also note how the upper chandeliers (outlined in purple) are not lit.
My first goal was to bring back more detail in the lower chandeliers. I accomplished that by utilizing additional frames with less exposure than this one. By blending those other exposures into this one (using HDR Efex Pro software), far more information becomes visible near those lower lamps. In the image below, you can now see the individual globes that make up each lamp.
Dealing with the unlit upper chandeliers is another challenge. I asked the tour guide if the chandeliers could temporarily be lit. I had success at other venues with such requests, so I thought I would give it a try! She explained that the upper chandeliers require very specialized and expensive bulbs, so those lights are always turned off unless the House is in session. She went on to explain that photography is prohibited when the House is in session, so basically the photograph that I was seeking is impossible!
So, I brought the blended image into Photoshop, selected a white brush, zoomed in on the chandeliers, and began painting each bulb with that white brush. Eventually, I turned all the lights on!
During my visit, a woman who entered the cemetery tried to convince me that she was experiencing paranormal activity. She told me that her camera had burned through three sets of batteries while she was shooting photos during her stroll to the cemetery. I told her that I had been shooting for 90 minutes on the grounds without any battery issues. I had to wonder why she would have brought so many batteries to a site which requires only a five minute walk from the parking lot. The fact is that most people visiting the graveyard come convinced that they will experience something extraordinary--so they do!
I also met a man at the cemetery who was removing trash. I ended up talking with him for fifteen minutes or so. He was very familiar with the grounds, having lived near the cemetery since the early 1960's. He told me a lot about the history of the site. He talked about how beautiful the grounds were many years ago; how families visited the cemetery and had picnics near the grounds; and how he swam in the pond next to the cemetery when he was a boy. He also talked about how the cemetery became more remote when a local road closed and how the isolated cemetery shortly became overrun by vandals.
Over the years, vandals dug up graves and toppled and destroyed most monuments. Even the cemetery sign is constantly stolen. In part, the lack of respect that these vandals showed at the burial grounds led to the creation of many of these ghost stories. While many local residents are convinced that the grounds are haunted, the groundskeeper that I talked with said that he hadn't seen a single event out of the ordinary in over 45 years--and he's visited the grounds on most of days over that span of years.
One of the biggest challenges from a photography perspective is that there isn't much left at the site. Most of the stones have been stolen. The original sign which arched over the entrance is long gone. There's just a handful of broken tombstones laying in the dirt and weeds.
Rather than finding myself frightened or fascinated during my visit to this legendary cemetery, I found myself angry at the vandals who showed such little respect to the departed and sad for the families who buried loved ones at the grounds. The groundskeeper told me about a 90 year old woman from Wisconsin who recently came to the cemetery to pay what she thought would be her last visit to her departed sister's gravesite. I can only imagine what she thought when she entered this graveyard.
This photograph was captured at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois on February 25, 2013.
CLICK HERE to view a blog posting of mine regarding this particular photo that I posted last month.
This marks the ninth consecutive month that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
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To view the other nine photo tips, please CLICK HERE to visit the Macari's of Oak Lawn blog.
Following are the "tips" I provided for each image:
Road to Nowhere: This photograph is a view of Highway 374 looking towards Death Valley National Park from Beatty, Nevada. I chose a telephoto lens (300mm focal length) to compress the scene in order to make the distant mountains more significant. I waited for the truck to enter the frame to introduce some scale into this vast image.
Night Flight: This photograph was captured at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge I visited the refuge in December as the sandhill cranes usually select the refuge for their winter home. I intentionally underexposed this picture as I wanted the cranes to be a silhouette, the colors to deepen in the sky and a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the movement of the birds.
]]>While it's always easier to see photo opportunities while visiting new places, it's important not to forget all the interesting subjects that are readily accessible very close to home. In my case, I rarely visit the city of Chicago--even though it is located only 25 miles from my home! And, it's amazing how many interesting subjects are located even closer to where I live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.
For example, the Tinley Park train station is located within three miles of my home. I've driven by this station countless times, but never took the time visit the site. Last week, I parked at the station and entered the building for the first time. I found the interior of this structure to be a very interesting architectural subject. Without my interest in photograph, I probably would have never taken the time to explore this local attraction.
This image was captured with my Nikon D800 and Nikon 14-24 2.8 lens. The photograph consists of five exposures blended together using Nik HDR Efex Pro2 software to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.
I am also pleased that one of the project managers who helped build this facility came across these photographs and is placing an order for a number of prints for the Village offices!
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At most events, dealing with Will Call isn't a big problem. However, I anticipate the probability of a major hassle for this event. First, the event is expected to draw tens of thousands of spectators. It's likely that the lines will be very long and disorganized. Next, I'll be with my 12U baseball team in Cooperstown on July 4th--over 300 miles from Gettysburg. I plan to stop in Harrisburg to photograph the Pennsylvania Capitol building on my way to Gettysburg. But, Will Call closes at 6 PM on July 4th. This forces me to accelerate my plans and to skip the Harrisburg portion of my trip.
Literally minutes before placing my order for tickets, I received the following message from a fellow member of a photography internet forum (the Fred Miranda Forums) who I have never met:
"As it turns out, I will not be able to attend this year's Gettysburg Reenactment, so if you have any use for some tickets or know someone who might use them, I'll send them over. I have General Admission 4th through the 7th and Grandstand for the 5th and 6th am and pm on both. I'm in Chicago this week Tuesday through Thursday so I'm sure we could connect easy. Let me know if you can use them, free of course."
I replied immediately as securing these tickets in advance allows me to avoid the whole Will Call situation and also gives me more time on July 4th in Cooperstown and Harrisburg. Given that the Fred Miranda Forum members live all over the country, and the world for that matter, it is highly coincidental that this Wisconsin resident would happen to be arriving in Chicago for business on the day before I am leaving for the trip!
We then determined where to meet to exchange the tickets. I assumed that I would be driving downtown, dealing with heavy traffic, parking in some expensive lot and meeting this individual in some office building--which would have all been worth it! Instead, he is spending the day at the Original Rainbow Cone--one of the oldest ice cream parlors located on the south side of Chicago. Coincidentally, this is a place that our family visited quite often when I was a kid--and a convenient place to meet.
My Cooperstown/Gettysburg photography trip is off to a great start!
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This photograph was captured at the Howell Nature Center in Howell, Michigan on January 13, 2013 during one of Steve Gettle's "Bird of Prey" photography workshops at that location.
CLICK HERE to view a blog posting of mine regarding this particular photo that I posted a few months ago.
This marks the eighth consecutive month that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>Thankfully, I brought my tripod and a Nikon SB-900 flash unit with me. This enabled me to shoot at relatively slow shutter speeds--which in turn allowed me to lower my ISO setting for higher image quality. The slow shutter speeds were also made possible by the subject matter. The reptiles in these images remained almost perfectly still during the exposure.
This photograph of a Nile crocodile was captured at 1/8th of second, f/11, ISO 160
This image of an African spurred tortoise was captured at 1/40th of a second, f/9, ISO 500
In my opinion, a tripod is one of my most important pieces of equipment. It enables sharper images and higher image quality. The tripod also allows me to make more precise decisions about compositions.
]]>Day 1: Mitchell, SD
Day 2: South Dakota Capitol and Badlands National Park, SD
Day 3: Devils Tower, WY
Day 4: Yellowstone National Park, WY
Day 5: Yellowstone National Park, WY
Day 6: Yellowstone National Park, WY
Day 7: Boise, ID
Day 8: Boise, ID (Capitol and Old Idaho Penitentiary)
Day 9: Seattle, WA
Day 10: Seattle, WA
Day 11: Olympia, WA
Day 12: Olympic National Park, WA
Day 13: Olympic National Park, WA
Day 14: Olympic National Park, WA
Day 15: Cannon Beach, OR
Day 16: Cannon Beach, OR
Day 17: Salem, OR -- Oregon Capitol
Day 18: Eugene, OR -- Dinner with relatives
Day 19: Bandon, OR
Day 20: Crater Lake National Park, OR
Day 21: Crater Lake National Park, OR
Day 22: Crater Lake National Park, OR
Day 23: Salt Lake City, UT
Day 24: Salt Lake City, UT -- Utah Capitol
Day 25: North Platte, NE
Day 26: Lincoln, NE
Day 27: Des Moines, IA
Day 28: Orland Park, IL
]]>Recently, I decided to visit the Holy Name Cathedral. The church is located just a short walk west of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. My first challenge was finding parking. I had erroneously assumed that the church would have a parking lot, but that was not the case. So, I located an open spot on a curb a few blocks away. The parking meter was $4 per hour and parking was limited to two hours.
The interior of the church is beautiful. I was anxious to start shooting as soon as I entered the church. But, for some reason there was a man on his knees in the center aisle. He would scoot on his knees a few feet and the stop, spread his arms wide open and look up to the ceiling. Then, he would scoot another few feet and repeat the process. I decided to patiently wait for him to work his way out of the frame. After all, I had little choice in the matter if I wanted any photos of the interior of the church. But, after 15 minutes or so, about 60 or 70 other people entered the church. A mass was about to start!
I observed the mass and communion--which lasted about 45 minutes. Once the service ended, nearly all of the visitors left the church. But, there was one older woman remaining. Like the man I saw earlier, she was on her knees in the center aisle! Her routine was different than his. She would face towards the left pews, go down to her knees and pray for 30 seconds. Then, she would slowly rise, walk down the aisle three rows of pews and repeat the process. Eventually, she worked her way nearly all the way to the back of the church and was on the floor just three or four feet from my tripod. Then, she started working her way back toward the front of the church! To my surprise, the security guard noticed what was happening and asked me if I wanted him to take care of the situation. I told him that I would wait a while longer as I didn't wish to disturb her. I suspect that the security guard thought I was visiting the church on official business. About ten minutes later, the woman left the church.
At this point, I had just 30 minutes left in the church before I needed to get back to my car. I captured the following photographs:
​On April 2, 2013, the judges narrowed all of the international entries down to 97,974 photographs in the First Round of the competition:
I was pleased that all ten of my entries made it through the First Round of the competition:
On June 7, 2013, Nikon narrowed the field to the top 3,159 photographs (eliminating nearly 97% of the First Round photographs). Fortunately, one of my photographs, "Whimsical Staircase" survived the cut:
The Second Round voting will conclude on June 27, 2013. For now, I'm still alive!
This photograph symbolizes much of what I enjoy about photography. Without photography, I would have walked right by the scene without noticing the tracks. Quite possibly, I wouldn't have even gone outside on a cold, Winter afternoon in the first place! With photography, I enjoyed viewing several of these tracks from various perspectives--and ended up creating a whole series of images from a small area of the parking lot. I'm sure it looked to strange to people who were driving into that parking lot to see me laying on the ground with a camera and tripod taking photographs of who knows what!
To my surprise, I submitted this image to a few photo stock agencies. It was accepted and is one of my best selling photographs!
Nikon D700, 1/60th @ f/11, ISO 200
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By using this green screen as the background, it makes it much easier later during post processing to select the subject and replace the background. If we had used white or black seamless paper, as in past years, it is far more challenging to isolate the subject in Photoshop since the players all have shades of white or black throughout their uniforms, hair and skin. Fortunately, our team doesn't have green uniforms. And, none of our players have green skin!
It helps to keep the green screen smooth. Otherwise the selections become more complicated as shades of black enter the background in the creases of the screen. However, after a little practice, I was able to isolate the players from the background within a few seconds while using Photoshop.
Once the player is selected, it is easy enough to move him to another background image. During this process, I applied a few different backgrounds. First, I applied a plain gray background:
Then, I applied an image of a blue, cloudy sky:
Finally, I used the following image that I captured a few years ago while visiting Tropicana Field in Florida:
I combined the photograph of the stadium seats with the picture of the player. Then, I converted the image to black and white (sepia tone) using Silver Efex Pro2 software to create the following composite photograph:
I am by no means an expert in creating composites, but this final image was the most popular picture from the day. Since then, other parents have been asking for composites. I've created some others using a tunnel at Wrigley Field as the background:
Each month, the top three Photos of the Day are awarded a Canon printer. This is the seventh consecutive month that one of my photographs was recognized as the Photo of the Day.
However, I really wanted to capture some photographs of the sloth bear cubs. The cubs were born in January of this year and were recently introduced to the outdoor exhibit space. So, I risked a May visit to the zoo. Unfortunately, the cubs never came outside during this visit. I returned to the zoo a few days later. This time, the cubs made an appearance about 30 minutes after my arrival.
The bigger challenge was dealing with the crowds. As I entered the zoo, I said to the employee at the entrance that I was guessing there had to be a hundred school buses in the parking lot. He corrected me and said that there were 168 school buses out there! Given that most of the school buses hold 75 students, there were at least 12,000 kids running around the zoo--not to mention the ones who were visiting outside of the field trips.
Taking photographs under these conditions is not easy. Kids are running under and into the tripod while screaming at the top of their lungs. As a result, I had to grab the tripod at the most inopportune times--missing several peak moments. After a couple of hours, I was able to capture a number of keepers, including these three photographs:
The setup for this shot was simple. I sat the baseball on a desk and lit the subject with a desk lamp. My camera (Nikon D800) was secured to a tripod. I selected a macro lens--the Nikon 105VR. I also stacked three Kenko extension tubes between the lens and my camera to enable to lens to focus from a closer distance.
For shots like this--where the subject isn't moving--I always set the camera for mirror lock-up and use a cable release to trigger the shutter. That way, I remove the possibility of any camera vibration from pressing the shutter.
I wanted as much of the baseball to be in sharp focus as possible, so I selected a very narrow aperture of f/29. Using this small aperture, a shutter speed of 0.6 seconds was required to achieve the desired exposure at the base ISO setting of 100. I always use the camera's base ISO setting for stationary subjects in order to maximize image quality.
Since this is an old baseball, I wanted the emphasis of the picture to be on the texture of the seams and the cover of the ball. To highlight the texture, I moved the light (the desk lamp) to the side of the baseball. By side-lighting the subject, every little piece of elevated leather cast a shadow--making the baseball's cover appear rough. If I had moved the light to the front of the ball and lit it from the position of the lens, the light would have filled in most of the shadows and made the baseball appear smoother.
I used Lightroom 4 to process the raw file initially. The Clarity slider in Lightroom helps emphasize the texture. Then, I applied the Tonal Contrast filter within Nik's Color Efex Pro 4 plug-in. Generally, I first apply the default Tonal Contrast filter to the photo and then later dial down the opacity of the filter as appropriate. I also apply filters to the picture selectively by painting the effect into certain areas of the frame.
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At first, I secured my camera/lens to a tripod and dialed in an appropriate exposure (1/40th @ f4, ISO 800). Here is the result:
Then, I added some fill flash (TTL -1EV) using my Nikon SB-900 speedlight along with the Better Beamer. The flash allowed me to increase my shutter speed slightly (to 1/50th) and to reduce my ISO by one stop (to 400). Additionally, fill flash reduced the contrast within the frame by filling in the shadows. This allows for more detail--particularly in her hands and the fur along her shoulder:
Of course, the amount of contrast desired in the photograph is a matter of personal taste. I happen to prefer the second image. One method of increasing the contrast is to reduce the amount of fill flash. Or, I can always increase the contrast while processing the photograph. Reducing contrast during post processing is a much more difficult task than increasing contrast. So, having the second image as a starting point provides me with much more flexibility during post processing.
It's just a simple dandelion; yet I used three flash units to create the photograph:
- My main light is a Nikon SB-900 positioned camera right and placed inside of a Lastolite EXYBOX softbox. The speedlight was set for TTL -1EV exposure.
- My rim light is a tiny Nikon SB-R200 speedlight positioned behind the dandelion camera left and facing the subject. This speedlight was set for TTL +1EV exposure.
- My background light is another Nikon SB-200 speedlight positioned camera left. This speedlight was set for TTL -1.7EV. I placed a blue gel over this light and faced it towards a small piece of white foam board in the background.
- All three lights were then triggered remotely using the SU-800 wireless transmitter.
I used the Nikon D800 camera and Nikon 200 f/4 Micro lens for this picture. The exposure is 5 seconds, f/20 at ISO 100. Given that the room was quite dark, any shutter speed faster than 10 seconds removes any trace of ambient light--leaving the flash units to provide the entire exposure. Of course, the camera/lens is secured to a stable tripod.
Changing the gel color of the background light quickly provides a different background color with very little effort:
But, I prefer the blue one as I think it looks more like the dandelion is being photographed in front of a clear, blue sky.
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I noticed this ice-covered marker while walking on the South Pier off Silver Beach in Saint Joseph, Michigan. It was well after sunset and I could barely see the structure! I attempted to auto-focus by positioning the focus point on one of the blinking red lights at the top of the marker. I used the Nikon D800's Virtual Horizon feature to level the camera since I could barely see the horizon.
For exposure, I selected a middle aperture of f/8 to ensure that the pier marker would be sharp. I had to boost my ISO to a manageable 400 to keep the shutter speed at 30 seconds. As always, I set the camera for Mirror Lock Up and used a cable release to trigger the shutter without risking vibration. And, I set the Long Exposure Noise Reduction to ON to minimize any noise that might get generated from heat building up on the sensor from a long exposure.
Given that I couldn't see any colors or details with my eyes in the darkness, I was surprised to see what the camera had captured during this long exposure. Later, I added the moon (which I photographed on a separate evening) to add some interest and balance the composition within the frame. I also used a Photoshop brush to paint in the red light flares at the top of the monument. I think the final image takes on a surreal, otherworldly look:
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Also, the place was packed with tourists. I literally had to wait in line to secure a spot along the wall to have a clear view of the falls! I estimated that the wait was 20 minutes before I could position myself for a shot. Even then, I had people bumping into me and kids crawling under my tripod throughout the shoot. This did not make for the most pleasant landscape photography that I've ever experienced.
In any event, I eventually captured a few images with this one being one of my favorites:
In the morning, things were entirely different. I shot from the same location, but this time I was one of the only ones there. There wasn't another person within 20 yards of me!
There are also some interesting views from the American side of the falls. These were taken in the morning as well:
Niagara Falls is a spectacular location for photography. If you visit, I think you'll find the morning shoots to be far more enjoyable than the evening ones.
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Later, the picture was selected as a winner by Hallmark in its "Your Greeting Card Competition". As a result, the card became available for online purchases.
After six months of so, Hallmark assesses the level of interest in the online cards before determining which ones will be offered for sale in stores around the world. Yesterday, Hallmark notified me that my card was selected for in-store sales and that the card will be available in stores after June 21st. In addition to a $500 check, Hallmark also sent me the original pre-production flat:
I'm not very fond of the way that Hallmark elected to display the photo on the card. But, I suppose they are the experts! This is my second card that was chosen by Hallmark for in-store sales.
This photograph was captured just before sunrise on January 23, 2012. I camped very close to the shore of Long Pine Key Lake in Florida's Everglades National Park--so close that you would see the campground in the distant trees if I hadn't cloned out most of the vehicles from the frame. I arrived at the campground the afternoon before taking this photograph and noticed this scene while walking a few of the trails that surrounded the campground.
I woke up early the next morning and walked around the pond with a flashlight in the dark to this spot which I scouted from the day before. I hoped to catch a few breaks during this photo shoot. Ideally, there wouldn't be any wind so the water would be still for better reflections. I also wanted a morning fog and some great color. Fortunately, I got all three of those things on that winter morning in the Everglades!
This marks the sixth consecutive month that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".
]]>The weather remained dry and warm until I arrived in Alamogordo, New Mexico. I stayed in Alamogordo for a few days while visiting nearby White Sands National Monument. The day I arrived in Alamogordo, there was high winds (in excess of 40 mph) and rain.
Windy conditions were a blessing. The ranger at White Sands told me that it had been several weeks since the area experienced high winds. Without wind, the footprints from visitors remained in the sand. Photographers had to hike great distances in the sand to reach a point where the sand was clear of footprints! After those strong winds (which served as footprint erasers), I was able capture photographs like this one of clean ripples in the sand just a few feet from the road:
However, while it was raining, my opportunity to capture photographs was limited. I ended up looking for things around town that might benefit from the diffused light. One thing that caught my eye while driving through town was this colorful garage door with the three (or is it twelve) screened windows:
Another subject that benefited from diffused light was the inside of this rocket engine located outside the New Mexico Museum of Space History:
The rocket engine closeup would have been nearly impossible to shoot if bright sunlight was bouncing off the metal.
The weather in Chicago is always suspect during the early part of the Spring baseball season. Often, it is cold and windy. Rain is also usually a part of the mix. But, so far this season has been the most challenging in terms of the weather. For most of April, all baseball activities have been cancelled due to continuous rain.
Earlier this evening, I did a field assessment at one of our parks. I knew that there was no chance that the fields would be playable by tomorrow. I am more interested in determining if the fields might have a chance to be playable at all during the weekend--or at least by early next week. Things aren't looking good!
Usually, when conditions are wet I take my teams out to a grassy soccer field called Cachey Park. The idea is that at least we can practice throwing drills and maybe take a few fly balls. But, that's not happening this year either.
Earlier today, the Brookfield Zoo announced that it will be closed due to the weather for only the third time in its history! Before long, I'll be needing a boat to get to the park.
Just as I was about to leave, I decided to push my luck a bit. I asked one of the woman who was working the tortoise exhibit if she would mind if I took some photographs of the turtles. Before I knew it, she was picking up various turtles (some of which weighed more than 60 pounds) and positioning them on a table for me. After a few shots, some of the other workers expressed interest in having their pet turtles photographed. Seeing the willingness of the participants, it wasn't long before I had one person grab a black tablecloth and another standing behind the turtles with a black cloth. Effectively, I created my own little studio at the crowded Reptile Fest with my Nikon D800, 105VR macro lens and one Nikon SB-900 flash unit!
Here's the original photograph:
In Photoshop, I made a few significant adjustments:
- I removed the pedestal from the frame.
- I altered the color of the sky and applied the new color as a gradient. To accomplish this, I used the Nik Color Efex Pro 4 "Bi-Color" filter and the masked the color from the plane.
- I applied a Radial Blur filter to each propeller to give the illusion of movement.
And, here's the final image. Maybe this isn't the best image in the world, but I think it is much improved from the initial capture.
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Subsequently, I received numerous questions about whether vignetting would occur if a second filter was stacked on top of the Circular Polarizing filter. Recently, I purchased the Fotodiox ND32 filter. So, I was finally able to perform some tests regarding the vignetting with two filters stacked on the 14-24 lens. All images were captured using f/8 at ISO 100 with the Nikon D800. Here are the results:
No Filters @ 14mm (baseline)
One Filter (CPL) @ 14mm
Two Filters (CPL & ND32) @ 14mm
Clearly, the vignetting becomes a significant issue with two filters at the widest focal length. My next step was to determine the widest focal length that could be used while keeping the vignetting at an acceptable level.
Two Filters (CLP & ND32) is clean @ 24mm:
Two Filters (CPL & ND32) introduces some vignetting @ 17mm:
At 16mm, the vignetting is becoming an issue:
But, it's not all that bad @16mm after making a vignetting correction in Lightroom 4:
Vignetting is more pronounced at 15mm, of course:
But, somewhat improved after correcting for vignetting in Lightroom--especially if the image is to be cropped away from the edges at all:
Based upon these results, I will probably try to shoot at the 16mm or higher focal lengths if I ever stack two filters together on the Nikon 14-24. For most of my photography, I will only be using one filter. And, with one filter vignetting is not a concern at all.
The last, and only, time I visited Gettysburg was in 1994. Back then, I was shooting Kodachrome slide film. Here are a few images from the event that I scanned 15 years later:
With nearly 20 more years of shooting experience and far superior gear, I hope to capture a number of improved images this time around!
I learned of this spectacular location by reading the Nikon Cafe photography forum. I was inspired by another Chicago area photographer, Frank Angileri, who shared some photographs from a recent trip that he made to the lighthouse. He also provided me with sound advice on how to approach the photo shoot. Most importantly, Frank cautioned me about staying safe out there on the ice!
I arrived in Saint Joseph at about 3:00 PM. My plan was to start by walking to the end of the North Pier to take some close, wide angle, photographs of the outer ice-covered lighthouse. However, as Frank warned, to reach the second lighthouse, one must first walk around the first lighthouse. But, the narrow path on the side of the first lighthouse was covered with solid ice. Additionally, the wall of the lighthouse was covered with ice. And, there are no railings!
Given the freezing temperature of the water and the distance of the lighthouse from the shore, the chances of surviving a fall into the lake are slim. As Frank mentioned, "it would not end well." So, with a heavy backpack containing my camera, four lenses and a tripod on my back, I decided not to risk the walk around the first lighthouse and turned back.
Here's a picture of the two lighthouses on the North Pier:
Fortunately, there is another pier, the South Pier, which provides some excellent views of the lighthouses. So, I drove over to Silver Beach and walked down the South Pier. I enjoyed shooting the lighthouses for a couple of hours in some nice late afternoon light. However, my favorite photographs came after the sun went down!
A few accessories helped make the icy conditions more tolerable. First, I quickly strapped some Kahtoola MICROspikes over my boots to help with my traction. Also, I like to wear mittens that fold down to reveal finger-less gloves to keep my hands warm while giving me the ability to work the camera with my fingers.
I was hoping that the ice-covered lighthouse would light up while I was there. And, I wanted to photograph an illuminated lighthouse before the sky got too dark. The camera's sensor is capable of recording some great colors well after sunset. But, the images lose color and get far more contrasty when the sky goes completely black. I usually like to shoot for about 20 minutes after the sun goes down.
At sunset, the light in the window of the lighthouse went on. It was flashing and quite dim. The light would go on for a second, then off for three seconds, then back on for another second. I wasn't sure what to expect, but decided to try a few exposures. Since I had my tripod, shutter speed wasn't an important consideration. I first set my camera for a sharp, middle of the road, aperture (f/9). Then, I selected the lowest possible ISO (closest to the camera's base ISO of 100) for the highest possible image quality. In this case, ISO 160 was the setting for a shutter speed of 30 seconds. As always, I set my camera for Mirror Lock Up and used a cable release to minimize any vibration. And, I also set my Long Exposure Noise Reduction to ON to minimize any noise associated with heat building up on the sensor from such a long exposure.
I wasn't expecting much at first, but was pleasantly surprised when I saw the image appear on the LCD panel on the rear of the camera. I was expecting the window light to get blown out and appear as a bright overexposed ball. But, because the light was dim and only stayed lit for about 8 seconds during the exposure, the light appears soft and warm in the photograph.
While processing this image, I decided to make it a composite. Earlier, I had photographed a full moon. I blended that image of the moon with this image of the lighthouse to create a composite image that contained both subjects in the same frame.
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To measure (and correct) for any color issues with the skin, I first open the file in Photoshop. I then open the "Info" palette (Window>>Info). Once the Info palette is open, select the "Color Sampler Tool". Then, drop a color sampler control point or two on representative portions of the skin on the face. Note the Color Sampler point #1 on her face:
Next, convert the RGB values inside of the Info palette to CMYK percentages by clicking on the little eyedropper on the left side of the readings. The readings should for the selected sample should now appear as CMYK percentage values. For this control point, the cyan reading is 13, while the magenta reading is 50:
Before proceeding, I refer to a few guidelines for reading an average caucasian's skin tone:
- Take a reading of the cyan value. Magenta should be about double the value of cyan.
- Yellow should be about 1/3rd to 1/5th higher than magenta.
- Yellow and magenta should be about equal for babies and young people.
In the above photograph, the magenta value is too high as compared to the cyan readings. So, my reader is correct--the skin is too pink! My next step is to make some adjustments to the color curves to correct the skin tones. Before getting started with those adjustments, I create a Curves adjustment layer. I then select the Red channel within Curves:
Then, I select the portion of the curve that represents my first control point and drag the curve down (less red, more cyan) until the cyan reading increases to a more reasonable level...in this case I stopped at 23. Why did I stop at 23? For one thing, I noticed that at the 23 level, the magenta reading (47) is about twice that of cyan.
Next, I make an adjustment to the same portion of the curve, but this time I open the Blue channel and drag it down (less blue, more yellow) until the yellow reading is a little higher than the magenta value. Since this is a young girl in the picture, I did not raise the yellow very far above the magenta level.
The skin color, at least for this portion of her face, looks accurate to me. And, the numbers bear that out. If you are not yet satisfied, you can always drop more Color Sampler points on different portions of the skin and use the same method for correcting each area. Also, if you don't like what's happening to the color of the background, feel free to mask it off in the layer.
I've used this method quite often when skin tones need correcting. Once you get the hang of it, you can accomplish the steps quite quickly.
]]>Since then, I've been looking for ways to make my Prius camping experience even better. I discovered that a company called Habitents created a product specifically designed for the Prius camper! For me, the biggest advantage of this product is that it converts the Prius into a tent--allowing the summer breeze to freely enter the car while the netting keeps the bugs out. Additionally, it opens up the interior space. The following image, courtesy of Habitents, illustrates how the tent opens up the sleeping area:
I ordered my Prius tent on Wednesday and it arrived on Saturday. When it first arrived, I wasn't sure if the package was large enough for the tent. The tent easily packs into a stuff sack which fits in the car's glove compartment!
I then tested the tent by attaching it to my own Prius. I was impressed with the ease of assembling the tent. The tent was securely attached to my Prius in less than five minutes. I'm sure that this process will become even faster after doing it a few more times.
So far, I'm pleased with the purchase and look forward to camping in the Prius during two photography trips this summer.
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This follows winning entries in each of the previous four months:
November 5, 2012: Dog in Flight (First Place)
December 3, 2012: Orangutan Pose (Runner Up)
January 8, 2013: Labor of Love
February 26, 2013: Lighthouse Ice Sculpture
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Sometimes vertical distortion is unavoidable or even desirable. This photograph of the interior of the dome of the Michigan State Capitol was captured at the 14mm focal length. I was forced to tilt the camera up to get all of the elements within the frame. As a result, you'll notice that the outside arches are tilting dramatically toward the center of the frame.
While I found the vertical distortion to be tolerable in the above photograph, the vast majority of the time I try my best to eliminate distortion. The most effective method for minimizing vertical distortion is to keep the sensor plane parallel with the subject; that is, do not tilt the camera up or down at all relative to the subject.
This next picture was also captured at the 14mm focal length. I was careful to align the sensor plane so that it was parallel to the back wall of the Senate chamber. Note how the lines are relatively straight throughout the image:
The biggest issue with keeping the sensor plane parallel is that the subject might then fall higher or lower in the frame than you desire. A tilt-shift lens certainly would help resolve that issue. However, I haven't yet been able to justify purchasing a tilt-shift lens. For one thing, they are expensive. Then, they are available only in fixed focal lengths--so I might need three of them! Finally, they would take up room and add to the weight in my already heavy camera bag for a very specialized use. Having said all that, there might come a day when I find that I really need one!
In any event, the way that I deal with the tilt-shift issue is to take advantage of the cropping flexibility offered through the massive Nikon D800 files. I simply crop the top or bottom of the frame to suit the image--and usually end up with a file that is still much larger than the uncropped file generated by my Nikon D700!
Here's another example of the parallel approach using a horizontal orientation of the House of Representatives chamber:
Years ago, I noticed that the best photo opportunities often presented themselves at the moment just after I put all my camera gear away. For example, I might be observing an animal for an hour or more at the Brookfield Zoo. After deciding that enough time had passed, I would pack up and get ready to leave--only to see the animal exhibit a behavior that would have made for an incredible picture!
This happens when shooting sunsets as well. In past years, like so many other photographers around me, I would pack up and leave the scene the moment the sun dropped below the horizon. But, the digital sensor has the ability to record some incredible colors even after the scene is quite dark to our eyes. Some of my best photographs were captured well after the sun disappeared from the sky.
In recent years, I've tried to continue photographing a scene for at least 15 minutes after I ordinarily would have planned to leave. This practice has given me an opportunity to capture many of my favorite photographs.
Last month, I attended a "Bird of Prey" workshop led by Steve Gettle at the Howell Nature Center in Michigan. The photo shoot took place on a rainy afternoon. During the shoot, the rain gradually increased in intensity until just a handful of photographers remained. At some point, I noticed that I was the last photographer shooting! Fortunately, one of the volunteer handlers was patient enough to allow me to take a few parting shots of a Great Horned Owl in the rain. As it turns out, the very last image that I captured (and the last photograph taken by anyone at the workshop) was one of my favorites from the trip!
You never know when you'll come across a S-curve while shooting. Recently, I happened to notice one in an unlikely place--the interior of the Michigan State Capitol building. I think the S-curve significantly strengthened the composition of this photograph:
When I arrived at the church early in the day, I was disappointed to see that the back of the church was backlit. I was having trouble envisioning a decent composition--probably because the colors were completely washed out by the bright light shining in my face. Reluctantly, I worked my way to the front of the building.
I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of the front of the church. After waiting nearly 30 minutes for a car that was parked right in front of the church to move, I captured the following image:
Moving a bit closer yielded this next image:
Although the church was open, unfortunately photography is prohibited inside the building.
My hotel room in Santa Fe was about a 130 mile round trip drive from this church, so I had no intention of returning to capture any pictures from the back of the church. However, I ended up spending about three hours taking photographs at the Taos Pueblo, which is located only 10 miles or so from this church. That gave me the opportunity to stop by the church one last time during the late afternoon before driving back to Santa Fe for the night.
When I arrived back at the church about an hour before sunset, the back of the building took on an entirely different look from earlier that day. Composing interesting photographs became quite easy. Here is my favorite image from the shoot:
Once again, it is important to arrive at locations at a time of day when you have the best chance of getting some nice light. In this case, the back of the church receives its best light last in the day, while the front of the church is best photographed in the morning. In the middle of the day, I tend to put my camera away for a while--or to shoot one of the many interesting church interiors in this area of the country!
For me, the least desirable picture was the one I captured just before noon. The contrast is greatest at that time with darker shadows (which isn't necessarily a bad thing):
A couple of hours before sunset, the image becomes less contrasty and the colors begin to warm up:
But, my intention was to capture an image featuring the luminaria (lights) on the adobe walls. The luminaria is a small paper lantern (usually a candle placed inside a paper bag) which is used to decorate some buildings in New Mexico and some neighboring states during the holiday season. The luminaria on this building is electric lights inside hard plastic containers.
The best way to capture this kind of lighting is to arrive at dusk--just before sunrise or after sunset. Since I was not going to be in Santa Fe that night, my only chance was to arrive at the location about 20 minutes before sunrise. For the best results, it's best to shoot before the sun is in the sky. But, it is also important that there is some light in the sky. Otherwise, the sky goes black and more detail is lost in the building.
Unfortunately, most of the best photographic opportunities occur at the most inconvenient hours!
One night while I was walking in downtown Santa Fe, I captured the following photograph of the St. Francis Cathedral.
I tried to maintain as much detail as possible in the highlights and shadows of the frame by taking multiple exposures and blending them together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photograph.
The next night, I took another photo of this church about 30 minutes earlier than my initial attempt. There was a little more light in the sky and the sensor wasn't challenged as much to retain details throughout the image:
Although the church isn't lit as dramatically in the second image due to the artificial light having less of an impact, I prefer the second image for the color in the sky and the details visible throughout the frame. Of course, your preference may vary.
At the end of each month, three of the daily winners from the month will be awarded Canon photo printers. So, I have about a 10% chance of landing another brand new printer. Imaging Resources has already shipped two printers to me in the past two months!
]]>While shooting pictures inside the Indiana Capitol in Indianapolis, I came across a scene which I call "Extreme Symmetry". This scene is not only symmetrical from a horizontal perspective; it is symmetrical from a vertical perspective as well. It's symmetrical looking from East to West and again from North to South. This is a rather large interior space, so the architect must have taken great pains to ensure that the design was symmetrical.
On a side note, capturing this image was quite challenging. I lined everything up while laying flat on my back in the center of the floor. In the meantime, at least 50 kids sat all around me as they listened to a tour guide as part of a grade school field trip. Fortunately, the Nikon D800 offers Live View. Live View makes things a little easier as it is difficult for me to get down low enough to see through the optical viewfinder for a picture like this one.
This afternoon, I learned that my "Orangutan Pose" photograph was Imaging Resource's Runner-Up for the month of December out of the 31 daily winning entries. This time, the prize was yet another new professional photo printer--the Canon PIXMA MG822!
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While visiting the Wisconsin Capitol building in Madison, I noticed a contemporary building with all glass walls. Out of habit, the first thing I did was to reach into my bag for my circular polarizing filter. This is the first image that I captured. Note how the filter has eliminated most of the reflections from the glass--which allows the colors to deepen:
Here's how the image appears without the filter:
Without the filter, the reflections are more pronounced and much of the color from behind the glass is removed.
Both images are acceptable and some viewers will prefer the first version while other viewers prefer the second version. However, I was envisioning a different shot that would not utilize the filter:
I chose this final vision without the filter because the primary thing that attracted me to the scene and prompted me to pick up my camera was the reflection!
- Lightroom 4 In Depth Developing and Editing Your Photos by Matt Kloskowski
- Conquering Midday Light by Lindsay Adler
- Mastering Curves: Adjusting Tonality by Ben Willmore
- Mastering Curves: Correcting Color by Ben Willmore
- Creative Compositing: Professional Techniques for Composite Photography by Joel Grimes
- Creative Compositing Part 2: Putting it Together in Photoshop by Joel Grimes
- A Week With Jay Maisel in Paris by Jay Maisel
- High School Football Photography by Dave Black
- Environmental Sports Portraiture: Action Sports Photography by Bill Frakes
- Photographing the Making of an Athlete by Bill Frake
- Career and Lifestyle Portraiture by Bill Frake
- Painting With Light: A Unique Approach by Dave Black
- Light Painting: Illuminating Models by Dave Black
- Painting Grand Landscapes by Dave Black
- Capturing the Modern Family Portrait by Tamera Lackey
- Outdoor Lifestyle Photography by Erik Valind
- Simple Lighting Techniques for Photographers by Tony Corbell
- Setup, Shoot, and Photoshop: Creating a Commercial Photography Package by Jim DiVitale
- Commercial Photography Lighting and Photoshop: Shooting Clear and Reflective Objects by Jim DiVitale
- Composition Made Easy by David Ziser
- Perfect Posing Techniques for Wedding Photographers by Jerry Ghionis
- Essential Gear for Sports Photography by Bill Frakes
Most of these courses take about an hour to complete. I find it convenient to view the classes. Not only can I watch from the large monitor of my desktop computer, but Kelby Training offers an app through iTunes that makes it easy for me to view the classes on my iPad. One way I get through so many videos is by watching while working out on the treadmill!
I've been using Lightroom 4 with Photoshop CS5 for the past year, so I found the course by Matt Kloskowski to be a helpful review of all of the features included in the Develop Module of Lightroom. The courses by Ben Willmore gave me a much better understanding of how to use Curves within Photoshop.
One of the main reasons I was excited to get started with my month's subscription was to view the compositing courses by Joel Grimes. Joel provided detailed instructions on how he accomplishes his gritty sports composites. I plan to try my hand at the technique this Spring when I shoot my youth sports portraits.
Watching Jay Maisel is always a pleasure. Last year, I watched two other courses by Jay Maisel through Kelby Training. I find his work to be inspiring. More importantly, his perspectives on photography always challenge me to improve.
I never really put much thought into light painting. Dave Black's courses on light painting has me excited about the possibilities. In the third course of the series, he demonstrated how to paint landscapes in two locations in Grand Teton National Park that I visited a few months ago. I wish that I had been familiar with this technique before I visited the park as his results are amazing.
Kelby Training gives me an opportunity to practically look over the shoulder of the masters at work--all for just over $1 per class!
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Technician: "a photographer who is only interested in the technical aspects of the game"
Craftsman: "a photographer who is trying to do it as well as he can"
Artist: "a photographer who says that once you look at his work you will look at the world in a different way"
Jay's comments challenged me to think about what category might best describe my own photography.
I don't consider myself to be a Technician as I am only interested in the technical aspects of photography to the extent that understanding those aspects will enable me to capture my vision. I don't necessarily enjoy looking at and/or purchasing the latest gear unless I think it will help accomplish my photography goals.
One day, I hope that my photography will evolve to the Artist category. I hope that my pictures will someday encourage others to see the world in a new and different way.
For now, I would categorize myself as a Craftsman as I continually strive to improve my skills in a wide variety of areas within photography. However, besides striving to improve my technical expertise in photography, one of my goals is to create a greater number of images that will evoke more of an emotional response from viewers.
What category do you think best describes you as a photographer?
]]>Nikon received my camera on January 24th. My camera was returned to me via UPS Overnight delivery this morning. I was pleased with the turnaround time for this repair.
Nikon performed the following steps on my D800:
- Adjusted the autofocus operation
- Checked the "communications" throughout the camera
- Cleaned the sensor
- Cleaned and checked all other aspects of the camera
Since the camera is still under warranty, the above services were completed free of charge. Because of the sporadic nature of my autofocus issue, I won't know for a while whether the issue has been fixed. But, if nothing else, at least my camera has been thoroughly cleaned and checked.
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]]>While taking photographs at the Santa Fe National Cemetery, I started with the Nikon 24-70mm lens. Here's the scene when viewed through the 50mm focal length:
I liked the photograph at 50mm. That focal length shows the scene as I saw it with my eyes at the time. Next, I decided to try viewing the same scene with my 500mm lens. The super-telephoto lens does a great job of bringing the tombstones much closer together. And, by bringing the tombstones closer together, it portrays that the cemetery is very crowded.
Both photographs were taken from the same location. By changing focal lengths, the photographs take on an entirely different look!
Usually, I use either two or three small Nikon flash units to light the action:
- One unit (SB-900) is placed on the camera and bounced into the ceiling. It is used as the Master unit and triggers the other remote unit(s). I usually set the flash on Manual at about 1/4 power and set the flash head at a 50mm zoom. Sometimes, I use the much smaller and lighter SU-800 to trigger the other strobes in the gym. The SU-800 also then frees up my SB-900 flash unit to be used off-camera.
- A second unit (SB-800) is placed on the left side of the court just off the baseline. It is also set at 1/4 power and bounced into the ceiling at a 50mm zoom.
- Sometimes, I'll also use a third unit (SB-600). It is placed on the right side of the court just off the baseline. The power is set at 1/8th and positioned to feather the light across the court. The idea behind this third flash is to add a little more depth and pop to the shots as otherwise they may appear to be a little flat with just bounced light.
Obviously, two or three pocket sized flash units will not provide sufficient power to light an entire gymnasium. So, I use the ambient light to the extent possible and let the flash units supplement the existing light. My first step is to set a manual exposure in the camera that will underexpose the scene by approximately two stops. So, if a good exposure without any flash requires ISO 3200 at 1/250th at f/2.8, I will adjust the ISO setting down to 800--which effectively underexposes the image by two stops. Then, I add flash. I adjust the flash power manually until it properly exposes the subject. Typically, this requires a power setting of 1/4. Sometimes, it requires more power (1/2); sometimes, it requires less power (1/8). With digital, just check the LCD panel and histogram on the back of the camera and adjust accordingly.
A typical exposure with flash ends up being 1/250th at f/2.8 at ISO 800. Without the flash units, the ISO would have been 3200 with the same shutter speed and aperture. More importantly, without flash, it takes a faster shutter speed (probably more like 1/1000th) to freeze the action. Please CLICK HERE to read my earlier blog entry about how flash can be helpful in freezing action at very slow shutter speeds.
White balance can be a challenge in such venues. I usually use a WhiBal card and take some readings at various locations around the court. Regardless, the cycling lights can cause the white balance to constantly change. Again, flash provides a huge benefit in dealing with this issue. By using flash, which emits light with a color temperature approximately like daylight, you mitigate most of the white balance issues that exist by relying solely on the cycling tungsten or florescent lighting in the gyms.
The Nikon system makes it relatively easy to trigger remote flash units. I use one of three approaches to accomplish this:
- Position the SB-900 flash unit on camera and program it to act as the Commander to control the remote units
- Position the SU-800 on camera and use it to control and trigger all of the remote flash units
- Place a Radiopopper transmitter on the camera and Radiopopper receivers on the remote flash units. These radio transmitters will trigger the flash units reliably from great distances and do not rely on line of sight.
Here is a diagram of how the flash units are positioned:
And, here are some photos of how the flash units are clamped (Bogen Super Clamps) above the floor in the gym:
Here are a few pictures from some very dark grammar school gymnasiums using this approach:
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For these shots, I was positioned about a foot from the baseline and almost directly under the basket. This position would not be permitted in anything other than a recreational game in which I knew the officials! There were several times when I was forced to bail from my position as a player was about to land on me.
When taking pictures like this, I find that it's important to get really low. If the lens is positioned close to the floor, it makes the players look bigger and more imposing. It also maximizes the space between the player and the floor when they are jumping.
Indoor gymnasiums are typically not well lit. This one is lit better than most due to all the windows--which provides its own challenges. However, for these action shots I try not to let my shutter speed drop below 1/1000th. That required ISO settings of 2000 or higher in this gym with the lens nearly wide open. At night, the ISO settings exceed 6000 to achieve the desired shutter speed. As a result, I tend to favor B&W conversions as they hide much of the image quality issues that exist in the pictures.
I use the camera's manual mode to set exposure for basketball. This is even more critical here because of the bright daylight shining in from the windows. Just a small shift in view causes the exposure to change dramatically. If the meter emphasizes the window light too much, the players get underexposed. So, I usually aim the lens for an area of the court that is neutrally lit--and lock that exposure in manually. I'll check the histogram occasionally to make sure that the lighting hasn't changed too much. During this photo shoot, the light levels dropped from one game to the next and I had to increase my ISO accordingly.
]]>While visiting Las Vegas, New Mexico (that's right, New Mexico!), I found this to be true while taking pictures of the historic train depot. When I first approached the subject, I captured the picture while standing up. Notice how insignificant the train tracks are in this version:
A few minutes later, I tried looking at the scene after positioning my camera about two feet off the ground. I much prefer this version of the photograph as the train tracks make the image more interesting to me:
When I'm doing a lot of shooting with the camera just a foot or two off the ground, I bring a pair of knee pads. I bought a pair of cheap knee pads from Home Depot and they really come in handy when kneeling in stones like these.
While shooting in New Mexico last month, I experienced sporadic issues with auto-focusing. As always, I would position one of the auto-focus sensor points on my subject and then release the AF-ON button to lock the focus. I program my camera so that the AF-ON button is the only thing that activates auto-focusing. Pressing on the shutter button does not activate focusing.
On a few occasions during my trip, the camera would continue attempting to focus even after I released my finger from the AF-ON button! The sensation was almost as if vibration reduction was continuing to operate. The lens would make a rattling sound and then typically focus on something other than my subject.
At first, I suspected that my new Nikon 24-70 lens was the culprit. But, the problem occurred a few times with my Nikon 14-24 as well. And, neither of these lenses offer vibration reduction.
So, my D800 is off to Melville once again. Fortunately, the camera is still covered under its warranty. And, if I'm fortunate Nikon will clean my dirty sensor before sending it back to me. I'll be shooting with my back-up D700 until the D800 returns.
]]>I selected a slow shutter speed (0.8 seconds) to smooth the moving water of Niagara Falls. To accomplish this slow shutter speed, I selected a low ISO (100) and a narrow aperture (f/11). As the sun rose, narrower apertures were required to retain the slow shutter speed due to the increased light. At some point, even the narrowest aperture won't allow for such a slow shutter speed. Then, the photographer is forced to use a faster shutter speed or to use a neutral density filter to reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor.
In this next photograph of the Lower Yellowstone Falls, I wanted a faster shutter speed to partially freeze the movement of the water. The faster shutter speed portrays more power from the Falls. I selected a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second. By using a neutral density filter, I kept the aperture at a sharp f/8 at the base ISO setting of 100.
In this picture of the St. Mary Falls at Glacier National Park, I selected a shutter speed that would render movement in the falls but also show some detail in the pools below the falls. In this case, a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second did the trick:
In this next image of a man-made waterfall at the Worth Water Reclamation District in the Chicago suburbs, a shutter speed of 1/30th kept some detail in the rapidly falling water and even more detail in the slower moving water below:
In this last photo of waves crashing up on Baker Beach in San Francisco, the last thing that I wanted to do was to smooth the water. So, I selected a faster shutter speed of 1/200th of a second.
Selecting your preferred shutter speed is a matter of experimentation and personal preference. Slow moving water requires slower shutter speeds to render motion blur than rapidly moving water. Moving water that is further away in the frame requires slower shutter speeds to portray motion blur than water that is very close to the lens.
In the digital age, it is much easier to create what you are intending. I shoot the same scene at a variety of shutter speeds. The images can be viewed instantly on the camera's LCD screen. Or, you can view the images later and select the ones that work the best.
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Often times, a photograph such as this one requires multiple post processing steps. As you can see from this initial picture straight out of the camera, this image required relatively extensive processing!
My first priority is to capture enough details in both the highlights and shadows. So, I took four more exposures--varying the shutter speed by a stop. In the end, I had this image along with a frame one stop overexposed, a frame two stops overexposed, a frame one stop underexposed and another frame two stops overexposed. I blended the five exposures together using Nik's HDR Efex Pro 2 software to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.
My next priority is to achieve straight lines. At the time of capture, I try my best to keep the lens perfectly aligned. I rely on the Virtual Horizon feature of the D800 to help me get there. Keeping a wide angle lens perfectly aligned minimizes distortion. As a result, you'll notice that I end up with too much of the brick floor in the foreground. Thankfully, the high resolution of the D800 file allows me to crop this frame while retaining a large file. However, despite my best efforts, I was not pleased with the lines in this image:
I use the Crop Perspective tool within Photoshop to straighten the lines. To use the tool, select the Crop tool while temporarily avoiding entering values for the Width and Height. Then, draw a crop around your image. I tend to start by selecting the entire image. Once a crop box is drawn, the Perspective box will appear. Click the box to activate Perspective. Finally, I then drag the two horizontal and two vertical lines into the frame individually to ensure that each line is perfectly straight. Then drag them back out and enter to apply the change.
Now that the lines are straight, I proceed with an ordinary crop. This step removed the distracting brick floor in the foreground.
My next priority is to fix the challenging white balance (color) issues. In this building, there is a substantial amount of daylight streaming in from the windows. And, there is also a significant amount of florescent interior lighting--which is throwing a green cast over much of the frame. Mixed lighting sources in the same frame can be a challenging problem. To correct the colors, I create a new "Color" layer. Then, I select my desired color from a segment of the image and paint that color over the problem area. For example, in this image I selected the color of some bricks that appeared to have accurate colors and then applied that color to the bricks with the strong green cast. For more details on how to do this, please CLICK HERE to review my blog posting on this topic.
With some of my Foreign Language Building images, I turned on the lights with Photoshop. CLICK HERE to read more about how I accomplish this. In this case, I simply selected a brush using the color of one of the lights and then painted the white light within some of the other lamps.
After working through these steps, I ended up with this finished image:
I then tried a longer focal length to compress the scene. After applying the same post processing steps as with the first image, the result was this next image--which is my favorite of the two:
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At the end of each month, three of the daily winners from the month will be awarded Canon photo printers. So, I have about a 10% chance of landing another brand new printer. Imaging Resources has already shipped one new professional photo printer (the Canon PIXMA Pro 9000) for the November 5, 2012 photo.
]]>Given my limited time in the city, my best chance for this kind of lighting was just before sunrise. I braved the freezing temperature and arrived at the Inn about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. Fortunately, the lights were on! Here's the image that I captured:
Note that there are a few issues with this initial capture. In an attempt to keep the highlights from blowing out, the building is underexposed. And, the sky is overexposed in my opinion. To solve those issues, I exposed two more frames--one exposed a stop brighter and another a stop darker--and then blended the three images using Nik's HDR Efex Pro 2 software to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.
Once the exposure was corrected, I then moved onto dealing with the faulty lights. Note that two of the bags are not fully lit (circled in red). Using Photoshop CS5, I eliminated the upper bag as I didn't like how close it was positioned to the bag above it. Then, I lit the lower bag by cloning one of the other bags in the frame over it.
Sometimes, using Photoshop to turn on a light can improve a photograph!
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Sometimes, my goal is to remove unwanted objects from the background. However, in this case, I wanted to show the setting of the store and to include the mountains in the background.
To accomplish this, I moved further from the building. I captured the next photo from across the street and changed the lens on my camera from the 14-24 to the 70-200. This next image is captured at an 82mm focal length. Note how the mountains are now prominently displayed in the frame. The longer focal length also helps compress the elements in the scene.
Changing lenses isn't always a good substitute for moving my feet! Zooming in and out with my feet is a technique that I use quite frequently.
At first, I gave the Auto White Balance setting on my Nikon D800 a chance. Here was the result:
Note that I held a WhiBal card in front of the painting. The WhiBal White Balance Reference Card is very helpful for obtaining accurate colors in photographs. To correct the colors in this image, I use the White Balance Eyedropper Tool within Lightroom. Simply click the tool on the gray area of the card. The colors throughout the image are then color corrected almost instantly.
Here's the finished, color corrected image:
Color correcting images in this manner is a fast and easy process. Probably the most difficult part of the process is remembering to shoot an extra exposure with a gray card in the frame!
Many years ago, I captured a photograph of the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Grand Teton National Park using Kodachrome slide film. Slide film does not offer a great deal of dynamic range, so I had to choose an exposure that would retain details in the highlights (the mountains and sky) or the shadows (the interior of the church). I chose the highlights, so the interior of the chapel went dark.
I recently revisited this scene with my digital camera. This time, I captured five photographs. For the first image, I selected an exposure that would underexpose the mountains and sky slightly. This exposure so happened to be 3 stops below (-3 EV) what the matrix metering of the camera was recommending. From there, I captured four more exposures with each exposure being two stops more exposure than the previous picture. By the time I reached the fifth image, there was plenty of detail in the shadows to work with. My camera is securely mounted to a tripod throughout this process.
I then blend the five exposures using Nik's HDR Efex Pro2 software. Once I have a single blended image, I run the photo through my normal post processing steps in Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS5. Here is the finished image:
Many times, I'll create a HDR image even though it isn't absolutely necessary given the exposure range. I find that the image quality can be higher with HDR in some cases. Rather than make significant post processing adjustments to raise the shadows and darken the highlights (which introduces noise and other artifacts), the HDR image retains full detail in those areas without the need to stretch the pixels.
An example of this was a recent photograph I captured of the Notre Dame hockey arena. After adjustments in Lightroom, the single exposure was able to retain details in the highlights and shadows. But, the HDR image retained far higher image quality throughout the photograph--particularly in the dark ceiling.
Although the dynamic range of the sensor in the Nikon D800 is amazing, I still find myself using HDR techniques under more challenging lighting conditions.
]]>While sitting in one of the lodges, a photographer was advising me exactly how each of these iconic images should be captured. First, he explained how the landscape at Schwabacher's Landing must be composed. He quantified the distance that I needed to hike down the trail--and pointed out that I would know exactly where to stand as there are three holes worn in the ground near the water where the tripod legs are to be placed! He then described precisely how the Moulton barn should be framed.
All of this advise got me thinking about how challenging it is to capture these unique scenes in a way that is different. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of reproducing the same images that were already on display on postcards in all of the stores. Yet, I realized that portraying these scenes in a unique way would be challenging, if not impossible. And, that it would still be fun to photograph some of these amazing sites with my own camera.
I realize that my photograph of the John Moulton barn is much like many others. I decided to bring some foreground (sagebrush) into the frame and widen the focal length to add some additional environmental perspective. Although I wasn't particularly pleased at the time, I now think that the early morning rain and the more dramatic sky added significantly to this photograph.
Tropic World is one of my favorite indoor exhibits. Tropic World is a massive indoor exhibit space that houses a variety of primates. The exhibit is in part lit by a glass ceiling--which provides soft, diffused daylight that is ideal for photography!
An Afternoon Nap
Angry Gorilla
Posed Orangutan
Colorful Character
Silverback
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At the end of December, three of the 31 daily winners from the month will be awarded Canon photo printers. So, I have about a 10% chance of landing a brand new printer.
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Yesterday, I received a call from Hallmark notifying me that another one of my dog photographs was selected. This one will appear in Hallmark's online store. If it makes the next cut, like the "Dog in Flight" photograph did, then it will be sold in stores.
This photograph was captured while I was walking in San Francisco. I asked the owner of the dog if I could take some pictures--and he gladly complied.
At first, I tried to align the image and focus using the optical viewfinder. Needless to say, this is not the safest thing to do for your eyesight. Fortunately, my Nikon D800 offers Live View. So, I was able to align and focus by looking at the image in the LCD panel on the back of the camera rather than having to look directly into the sun.
One of the benefits of participating in photography workshops is learning new techniques. This technique of shooting into the sun to create more interesting images is one that I plan to use in my photography moving forward.
Nikon D800, 14-24 2.8, 14mm, f/10, 1/200, ISO 200
I used my Nikon D800 for all of the photographs. I used two lenses for the session--the 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8. For lighting, one Einstein strobe was attached to a 47" Paul Buff Octabox and served as my main light. For the photographs with a white seamless paper background, I used a second Einstein strobe to light the paper. A large piece of white foamboard was used for my fill lighting.
All photographs were processed first in Lightroom 4. The adjustment brush did an amazing job in allowing me to quickly select the white seamless paper. From there, I selectively increased the exposure as necessary to get a clean white background. I then brought the images into Photoshop where I applied at least two Nik Color Efex filters. First, I added added the Pro Contrast filter. Second, I used the White Neutralizer filter to ensure that my whites were really white. Finally, I converted a number of the images into black & white using Nik's Silver Efex Pro software.
]]>- Des Moines, Iowa
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
- Helena, Montana
- Bismarck, North Dakota
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Madison, Wisconsin
I stopped in three of these cities to take pictures of the state capitol buildings.
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Helena, Montana
Bismarck, North Dakota
I think it would be an interesting project to photograph all 50 of the state capitol buildings!
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Day 1: Salina, KS
Day 2: Colorado Springs, CO --Garden of the Gods
Day 3: Colorado Springs, CO -- Air Force Academy
Day 4: Santa Fe, NM -- Old Santa Fe, Pecos National Historical Site
Day 5: Santa Fe, NM -- Churches of Santa Fe, Capitol Building
Day 6: Santa Fe, NM -- High Road to Taos
Day 7: Santa Fe, NM -- Architecture of Las Vegas, NM
Day 8: Santa Fe, NM -- Turquoise Trail, Tent Rocks
Day 9: Albuquerque, NM -- Petroglyph National Monument
Day 10: Albuquerque, NM -- Albuquerque Zoo, Old Town
Day 11: Socorro, NM -- Bosque del Apache
Day 12: Socorro, NM -- Bosque del Apache
Day 13: Socorro, NM -- Bosque del Apache
Day 14: Alamogordo, NM -- White Sands National Monument
Day 15: Alamogordo, NM -- White Sands National Monument
Day 16: Alamogordo, NM -- White Sands National Monument
Day 17: Carlsbad, NM -- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Day 18: Amarillo, TX -- Cadillac Ranch, Route 66 Historical District
Day 19: Tulsa, OK -- Oklahoma City National Monument, Capitol Building
Day 20: Springfield, IL -- Visit Friends
Day 21: Orland Park, IL
I've documented only a few of the areas of interest for each location. I'll also be carrying the "Photographing the Southwest - Vol. 3 - A guide to the natural landmarks of Colorado & New Mexico" book by Laurent Martres throughout my trip. I've found the books by Matres to be an excellent resource.
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Whenever I'm shooting a subject that requires precise alignment, I activate the virtual horizon and then adjust the camera until the horizontal and vertical arrows are centered. This really comes in handy when shooting architectural subjects with an ultra-wide lens. The following images of the interior of the Pachyderm House at the Brookfield Zoo were captured at a 14mm focal length. If the lens wasn't perfectly aligned, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to correct the distortion of the lines in the image at such a wide focal length.
]]>As much as I enjoy my zoo visits, it can be depressing at times to think about how the animals have lost their freedom and are destined to live the rest of their lives in relatively small exhibits.
One of my favorite subjects at the zoo are the endangered Mexican gray wolves. I've captured pictures of these beautiful animals in the Winter snow, the early Spring and in the colorful Fall. Here's one of my recent favorites:
Today, I learned some good news about the Mexican gray wolf. One of the endangered wolves will be leaving the Brookfield Zoo to be introduced to the wild! Please click here to read more about this remarkable story from the Brookfield Zoo.
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While processing the image, I thought that the lion's eyes looked flat. Here's a closer look at his eyes:
So, I brightened his eyes by applying a "screen" mask in Photoshop. First, I duplicated the layer. Then, I selected "screen" as the layer blend mode. Since I only wanted to brighten the eyes, I applied a layer mask in black (black conceals the mask). Then, I selected a white brush (white reveals) and removed the black mask just from the eyes. Finally, I reduced the opacity of the layer to 36% to make the adjustment more natural as the eyes looked fake and manipulated at 100%.
Here's a close up of the eyes after screening:
Again, the change is subtle. But, I think it improves the photograph.
There are many methods of brightening eyes in Photoshop. As of late, I find the screening mask to be a quick and easy fix for most situations.
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As many owners of the 14-24 are well aware, Nikon did not design the lens to accept filters. The lens does not have filter threads! After returning from my Yellowstone adventure, I decided to research my options for modifying my 14-24 to allow for the use of filters. I learned that Fotodiox is the only provider that manufacturers a filter kit for the 14-24 that accommodates both a neutral density and polarizing filter.
I started by ordering the WonderPana 145 Essentials Kit. This kit includes a filter system holder, a pinch lens cap (more on that later) and a circular polarizer. If satisfied with the system, I plan to purchase a neutral density filter later. The kit is not cheap--although is is cheaper than the alternatives. Currently, the kit is available for $320.
I've found very few reviews on the internet about this kit. So, although I've only had the kit for a few hours, I thought it might be useful to some if I shared my initial observations.
Ease of Use
The kit has four components: the filter system holder (2 components), the lens cap and the polarizing filter. Not being mechanically inclined, it took me several minutes to figure out how to attach the holder to the lens! But, once I saw how it worked, I can now easily attach or remove from the lens within seconds. Here's how it works:
First, take the filter holder element with the red grip and slide it onto the lens from the bottom. Yes...that means that the lens must be removed from the camera in order to attach this piece. It slides easily up to the built in lens hood of the 14-24.
Then, take the other filter holder element...
Slide it over the front element of the lens and screw it into the red grip element...
Now, the filter element is securely attached to the lens...
I've read reports on the internet of users who complained that dealing with the filter threads and the lens cap is a major pain. However, it appears that Fotodiox improved the threads as attaching the circular polarizer was no more difficult than it has ever been for any of my other lenses. And, the lens cap has been redesigned to be a simple pinch cap rather than the screw on variety of past versions.
Clearly, the filters are large. Yet, I don't have any trouble finding space for the lens with the filter attached in my Think Tank Airport Acceleration bag. But, the front element of the 14-24 with holder now rivals that of my 200 f/2!
Overall, I would rate the ease of use to be excellent--and much better than I anticipated.
Build Quality
The build quality of the components was more solid than I expected. I don't anticipate any problems with the build quality under normal usage.
Vignetting
One issue that I wanted to test immediately was whether the filter would vignette at 14mm. Based upon my initial shots from a few hours ago, I didn't notice any vignetting. I always apply the automated lens correction feature within Lightroom 4 for the lens. So, it is possible that any very minor vignetting was eliminated through that step.
Image Quality
So, why use a polarizer on an ultra-wide lens? I don't intend to use the polarizer to darken skies as I'm certain that unacceptable banding would occur in the sky. I intend to use the filter on the 14-24 to slow shutter speeds, remove reflections from water, reduce glare from foliage and help deepen colors.
A concern of mine is whether placing a relatively inexpensive polarizing filter in front of the 14-24 will compromise image quality to an unacceptable degree. Since I've only had time to capture a couple of photos so far, the jury is still out on this. I captured a couple of quick shots this afternoon using the 14-24 with and without the polarizer.
Again, my first concern is vignetting. I don't see ANY vignetting in these images at 14mm.
Next, although it is subtle, I think that the photo with the polarizer has deeper, more saturated colors. I'm assuming this is a result of the reduced sheen from the foliage. From these two photos, I don't see any negative impact to the image quality from the filter.
You can take a look for yourself. The two images were taken consecutively using the same camera settings. I used f/11 at ISO 800. (ISO 800 was a stupid mistake...I forgot to dial the ISO down to the base 100, and it is the first time I've forgotten to do that all year!) The shutter speed was 1/125th for the image with the polarizer and increased to 1/400th when the filter was removed. The Nikon D800 was secured on a tripod and the camera was set for mirror lock up with a cable release. Here are the images with links to the full sized (7,360 by 4,912 pixels) photos.
With Polarizer
CLICK HERE for full sized image.
Without Polarizer
CLICK HERE for full sized image.
Again, this is just a quick preliminary review based upon having the filter kit for two hours. I plan to update the review with better quality images once I have a chance to get out there more with it.
]]>When I created this site five years ago, I never expected it to grow to this extent. Thanks to all who have taken the time to view my photographs.
The most viewed photograph on my site is one titled "Pier Twilight". It was captured at the Fort De Soto Gulf Pier in Tierra Verde, Florida in February of 2009. Over 8,500 visitors have viewed this photo. I also have a framed print of this photograph hanging in my house!
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As the new year approaches, the idea of capturing enough images to fill one of these books is overwhelming. But, over the past five years, I've capturing a steady stream of pictures through the year. Travel certainly helps!
Here a first draft of this year's book. You may preview all the pages of the book if you wish. You may also wish to expand the view to full screen. If you notice any errors (typos), please let me know before I send the book to print!
As you can see, I use Blurb to create my books. My books are created using Blurb's premium paper and I have been pleased with the quality of the printing and binding. Blurb's Booksmart software makes creating a photo book quite simple. It took me just six hours to create this book from beginning to end!
]]>- Oriental Theater
- Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University
- Civic Opera House
- City Hall
- Apollo's 2000 Theater
- Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica
- First United Methodist Church (Chicago Temple Building)
- St. Adalbert Church
- Thalia Hall
- Chicago Cultural Center
While photographing these locations, I found a wide angle lens and tripod to be critical tools. Nearly all of my pictures were captured with the Nikon D800 and Nikon 14-24 2.8 lens. And, nearly all of the pictures were high dynamic range (HDR) images that consisted of five exposures. Although the D800 files offer a more dynamic range than previous sensors, I found that the HDR images retained even more detail in the highlights and shadows. For example, in the images of City Hall, the HDR versions retained detail in the shiny marble arches, whereas the single frame version with the best overall exposure failed to retain such detail.
Here are a few of my favorites:
The repeating arches was my favorite subject to photograph at the fort. To create the final image, I captured 15 frames and utilized the following software: Photoshop CS5, Nik Color Efex Pro and Nik HDR Efex Pro.
First, I captured an image of the scene with a single exposure:
Then, I took four more images of this scene. I ended up with five total exposures--one properly exposed, two underexposed images (by one and two stops) and two overexposed images (by one and two stops). I blended the five exposures using HDR Efex Pro software to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photograph. I applied the Tonal Contrast (Nik Color Efex 4) filter to the arches and floor as well.
Fort Jefferson is surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and a small beach:
I was disappointed that the large steel doors at the end of the arches were closed as they blocked the view of the beach and the water. I located another window in the fort that provided an open view of the scene:
I captured nine exposures of this scene to create a high dynamic range image and then removed all of the people from the scene with the cloning tool in Photoshop:
Finally, I copied the scene from the window and applied it to open the door at the end of the arches!
I was attracted to this image because of the reflection of the clouds in the windows of this office building. Within seconds of releasing the shutter, an employee from the office quickly approached me. I pointed out the clouds and the reflections. The employee was not impressed and demanded that I get off the property. So, I moved a few steps back to the public sidewalk where I am free to shoot all the photos I want. Thankfully, I still live in a free country!
I wanted to capture an image of this attractive neon sign in Tinley Park. After capturing the image, the manager of the restaurant quickly approached me and was clearly very angry. I pointed out that I found the signage to be an interesting subject and that I was compiling a collection of night photographs from my Chicago suburb. He said that customers would be hesitant to visit the restaurant if they saw me taking photographs. Interestingly, there wasn't a single customer in the restaurant! Once again, it was easy for me to move just a short distance before I was standing on public property where the manager had no right to restrict my photography.
For the most part, I had no problems shooting pictures at the Illinois State Fair. The only exception was while shooting in the carnival game area. After capturing this image of a wall of balloons, I was told that no further pictures would be allowed in that area of the Fair. I suspect there was concern that I might document some of the practices that make it difficult for customers to win those games! The good news is that photography was allowed throughout all of the rest of the massive Fair.
I was shooting some closeups of Spring flowers one Sunday morning in the parkway of an industrial park. To my surprise, a car pulled up next to me as I was capturing this photograph. My camera was secured on a tripod and the Nikon 105VR lens was just a short distance from the branches of the tree. The driver indicated that he owned one of the buildings in the park. He wanted to know what I was shooting. Clearly, I was taking pictures of the flowers (from just a few feet off the curb of the public road). He accepted that explanation and allowed me to finish the shoot.
Fortunately, not all of my shoots involve irate owners. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped to take a photo of an auto repair shop off Route 66 in Joliet. After taking the first picture, the owner quickly approached me. When I explained how the old cars and signage attracted my attention as I was driving by, the owner was flattered and told me that several other photographers have taken similar photos of the site. She told me to shoot all the pictures that I wanted and even gave me a new baseball cap with the Dick's logo on it!
After being approached numerous times, I have employed some new strategies to ensure that I get the shot.
First, I try to get permission. Before shooting some pictures of my local library, I secured a media pass from the Village. This gave me free access to shoot whatever I wanted at the library one afternoon.
I was interested in taking some pictures inside of a local lamp store. Of course, I approached the owner and asked if that would be OK. He welcomed me into the store and granted permission for me to shoot as long as I wished.
A priest of a local church granted permission for me to shoot photos of the interior of the building. While I was taking pictures, he left the site completely and trusted me to turn off the lights and close the doors behind me!
Most times, I just shoot and answer questions later. First, I look at the scene and determine exactly what spot I will be shooting from. Then, I select a lens and attach it to the camera. I preset the camera so that only minimal adjustment will need to be made once I get to the spot. Finally, I move to the spot and start shooting very quickly. After my first few shots, I continue to work the scene until I get approached. By the time I get approached, if I'm approached at all, I usually have the shot(s) stored on my memory card.
After shooting several images at the Grainger Library at the University of Illinois, I was approached by a librarian and informed that photography is not allowed in the building. I quickly complied by putting my camera away, but not before capturing this image:
I had the same experience at the Main Library on campus:
Not that this is the greatest photograph in the world, but it is an example of another technique that I use to capture images very quickly. I preset the camera and captured this picture from my car window in just seconds:
My most common technique is to shoot in public locations. For example, photography is allowed and encouraged at the Brookfield Zoo. The Zoo even hosts an annual photography contest. Photography is allowed in most government buildings and in the state and national parks. It can be a relief to shoot in places where photography is allowed.
Before leaving for my next photography trip, I planned to investigate ways of attaching mosquito netting to the open windows of the Prius. However, today I discovered what appears to be a more attractive solution! Not only does this provide all the ventilation that one would want, but it also opens up the cabin space significantly. I plan on purchasing one of these before the next road trip.
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This year, I chose a photo that was taken very early in the year in Everglades National Park. This image appears on the front of the card in a glossy format:
Following is an image of the card layout from the Costco website:
Here's a closer view of the inside of the card. I prefer the more generic "Happy Holidays" over "Merry Christmas" since I can then use the same cards for family and friends of any religion. And, sometimes I don't know the religious views of certain coworkers.
And here's a view of the back of the card:
I like how a touch of fill flash makes the color of the frog more vibrant. The flash also provides light that is very close to the temperature of daylight. This helps override the lighting in the exhibit which throws strange color casts onto the subject. One of the challenges with using a relatively small flash on this subject is that the light reflects off the shiny frog and leaves some hot spots on the subject--regardless of how low the power of the flash is set.
Here's the original image:
Note the white hot spots on the legs and portions of the head:
After using the clone tool to remove the hot spots, the frog now appears like this:
And, here's the final photograph. The revisions are subtle, but I believe that they improve the image:
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Having thick glass positioned between the camera and the subject certainly doesn't help the image quality! But, there are some things that can be done to create an acceptable photograph:
- Press the lens (in this case the Nikon 105VR) directly against the glass. This is one of the rare times that I remove the lens hood to allow the lens to get closer to the glass.
- Don't tilt the lens. Getting the face of the lens parallel to the glass reduces the amount of glass between the subject and the lens.
- Select a portion of the glass that is mostly free of smudges and scratches.
- Using a tripod is almost impossible for these shots, so I activate the vibration reduction (VR) feature on the lens.
- Not only is the lighting in these exhibits quite low, but the lamps create some very unusual color casts which can be challenging to correct in Photoshop. Therefore, I light the scene with a flash unit (e.g, Nikon SB-800). The flash is positioned off-camera to reduce the chance of creating reflections on the glass. I hold the flash unit well off to the side of the lens. Directional lighting can also bring more depth to the image. And, the flash provides light that looks much like daylight--which helps keep the colors looking natural.
I never know exactly what kind of photos the judges are looking for in this contest. The winning photos of the past offer little clue as they are all over the place. And, the aspect ratio is limited to 4x5. Very few of my zoo photos fall within that aspect ratio.
Now that all of my excuses are out of the way...here's my entry for this year's contest:
It's certainly sharp enough! Hopefully, it stands a chance.
If you see a crowd gathered by a geyser, chances are that it will erupt in the near future. While I was visiting, there were several well informed viewers who understood what to look for as indicators of an impending eruption for each geyser. They would radio others and before long a large gathering of people would be on hand to witness the eruption.
For this shot of the Beehive geyser, a man was sitting in a lawn chair on the boardwalk near the geyser. Although the geyser's next eruption was classified as "unpredictable", he noticed indicators that the geyser would erupt within 15 minutes. He warned me that if I stayed near him, I wouldn't just get sprayed--I would get drenched! Keeping in mind that this sulfur water would do a number on my lens, or glasses for that matter, I moved away from the geyser and included the gathering crowd in the frame to provide some perspective.
The other resource I used to photograph eruptions was the Old Faithful Visitor Center. At the center, eruption predictions (posted as a range of time) are posted for five geysers: Old Faithful, Castle, Grand, Daisy, Riverside and Great Fountain. Some geysers have predictions with a relatively narrow span of time--such as Old Faithful. The predictions for eruptions of the Grand geyser, for example, fall within a four hour range. I waited for 90 minutes to witness this magnificent eruption of the Grand geyser:
Riverside geyser's prediction range falls within about an hour. This eruption occurred in the last five minutes of that range, just before sunset--but just after the shadows from the trees started to fall on the cone of the geyser. However, I was rewarded with a rainbow:
One last resource that I used during the trip was the Geyser Hotline! You can call the Geyser Hotline at 307-344-2751. The hotline announces current predictions of the eruption times for those five geysers.
First, I cloned the insect out of the photograph. Then, I dabbed the distracting elements with a purple brush to make them less noticeable. Here's how I accomplished this in Photoshop.
I duplicated the original layer and designated the duplicate as a "Color" layer.
I then selected the Brush tool and picked a foreground color that exactly matched the purple of the flower.
Finally, I brushed just the brown and yellow areas of the inside of the flower. Here's the finished product:
The Prismatic Spring is one of the most spectacular locations I have ever seen. It looks like a rainbow lake!
While I was photographing the spring, hundreds of other tourists were walking the boardwalk. It was so crowded, that it was difficult to find an open second when the boardwalk wasn't shaking from walkers.
In the midst of that large crowd, one man carrying a Nikon camera approached me and asked if he could borrow my prized 14-24 lens! He said that he was visiting from China and had only a few more minutes at the spring--so he didn't have time to hike to his car for his 14-24. He was with a small group of people who had a flight to catch in Salt Lake City.
To be honest, I was very hesitant to grant his request. For one thing, the 14-24 is an expensive lens. And, I am far more careful with expensive optics than most photographers. Also, I just met the man--and there was little to stop him from getting lost in the crowd or simply walking away with my lens.
He must have sensed my hesitation, because he quickly offered his Nikon 24-70 lens as collateral! He pointed out that the two lenses were priced approximately the same. And, he said that if he were to walk away with my lens, I would have one of comparable value in its place. Little did I know that my own 24-70 would be destroyed just a few days later in an accident at Glacier National Park!
As it turns out, the man from China was to be trusted. He enjoyed using my 14-24 for a few photographs. He then asked if I would take some photos of him with his group in front of the Prismatic Spring. I gave him a business card before he hiked back to his car. So, it's very likely that he will be reading this blog entry at some point!
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For this image of the Fishing Hole at the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, I used a neutral density filter to reduce the exposure by eight stops. The shutter speed of 25 seconds helps smooth the water and give the photo an otherworldly look.
I use the Singh Ray Vari-ND filter. This variable filter allows me to dial in the intensity of the filter from two to eight stops. I simply set the ISO and aperture on my camera--and then rotate the Vari-ND filter until I achieve my preferred shutter speed! When using very wide angle lenses, vignetting is something to keep an eye on as the edges of the filter may enter the frame and darken the corners of the photo. The variable neutral density filter is expensive. But, you also need to consider that it replaces multiple filters in your bag.
As the story goes, years ago fishermen would catch fish in the lake and then dip them into the Fishing Hole to cook. The water inside the cone is boiling! The national park service no longer allows Fishing Hole to be used as a cooking device.
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Here's a closer look at the picture:
I always keep a WhiBal card in my camera bag for just such situations. I simply hold the card near the subject and take a picture.
Then, I pull this image into Lightroom, my post processing software, and click the white balance eyedropper tool on the gray card within the photo. Here is the result:
Not perfect yet, but much improved after one quick click.
I found Verderber's book for Yellowstone to be particularly helpful. He advises the photographer to "be at Artist Point Overlook on a clear morning at precisely 9:45 am. At that exact moment, the cloud of mist at the bottom of the falls turns luminous as though lit from within by the northern lights...by 9:55, the mist at the foot of the Lower Falls has become a complete, shimmering rainbow!" He also provides time spans for the rainbow from some other vantage points including Uncle Tom's Overlook and Lookout Point.
Using this information, I positioned myself at the Artist Point Overlook one morning and the Lookout Point the next morning at the recommended times. As promised, the rainbow arrived right on schedule!
Sometimes, it pays to do a little research!
For the third morning, the weather forecast was for clear skies with a zero percent chance of precipitation. Although I was hoping for some clouds to add drama to the sky, I was relieved that at least I could expect to get a sharp image in the early morning light. As I approached the lodge, I became alarmed to see that although the skies were clear, a thick fog made it impossible to see the lake or the mountains! I assumed that the fog would eventually lift--and prepared to wait it out.
Quite some time passed and the fog wasn't going anywhere. So, I started shooting photos of trees in the early morning fog. Although I didn't get the pictures that I intended, I walked away with some photos that I liked just as much, or more. This happened on several occasions during the trip. I refer to these situations as "take what they give you."
On that third morning, I finally left the scene after over two hours--and the fog never did lift.
I captured the above photo 26 years ago (in July, 1986) with Kodachrome slide film during a camping trip. Since then, the framed print was displayed on the walls of my living room for over 20 years!
Back in the days of film, the only EXIF or GPS information was what I happened to write on the slide mount! All I remembered was that this picture was taken at Yellowstone Lake. When I planned this most recent trip to Yellowstone, I hoped to revisit this scene, but had no idea where it was as Yellowstone Lake is very large.
While driving from the Grant Village campground to Fishing Bridge, I recognized this scene from the road. Driving east, it was just a short distance past the Bay Bridge campground and the Gull Point Drive. There is a pullout on the lake side of the road, and I stopped for some photos. Actually, I liked the scene so much that I stopped on three different occasions (two sunrises and a sunset).
Below is one of the images from my recent trip that closely matches the perspective of the older shot. I was amazed that the treeline hasn't changed very much in all those years.
Later, I was treated to some spectacular clouds from this same pullout:
Gas
($350)...the trip covered $5,500 miles. The Prius averaged 52 mpg for the trip--106 gallons. The average cost for a gallon of gas was $3.45.
Lodging
($200)...the trip covered 21 nights of Prius camping. Nine nights were free. Twelve nights averaged $16 per night.
Food
($0)...I did not allocate any cost for food as the total expense during the trip amounted to less than if I had stayed home. Most of the food for the trip was purchased in advance from Costco. While in the national parks, I ate in the cafeterias for most dinners and some breakfasts, but the cost of those meals was no more than what I would ordinarily spend at home. No incremental cost.
Ice
($35)...keeping food cold was an ongoing expense. Ice was purchased for about 18 of the days at an average of $2 per bag.
Entertainment
($45)...my trip included three tours. 1 hour tour of the Wyoming Frontier Prison, 1 hour tour of the Chateau de Mores, and a 2 hour Many Glacier boat tour. Most of my "entertainment" was photography related--and I already own that equipment. I already own a pass for the national parks, so there were no entrance fees.
Total Cost
($630)...the total cost of the 22 day trip amount to just over $600! This excludes the cost of the 24-70 lens that now resides in a valley in Glacier National Park. The bottom line is that the trip was less expensive than if I had stayed home.
Seventeen Sunrises in Amazing Scenery...Priceless!
Click here to view the photos from the trip.
]]>- North Platte, Nebraska
- Rock Springs, Wyoming (Capitol Building, Frontier Prison)
- Grand Teton National Park, Gros Ventre campground (Moulton barn, Schwabachers Landing)
- Grand Teton National Park, Gros Ventre campground
- Grand Teton National Park, Colter Bay (Oxbow Bend, Jackson Lake Lodge)
- Grand Teton National Park, Colter Bay
- Grand Teton National Park, Colter Bay
- Yellowstone National Park, Grant Village (West Thumb, Old Faithful)
- Yellowstone National Park, Bridge Bay (Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Hayden Valley)
- Yellowstone National Park, Grant Village
- Yellowstone National Park, Bridge Bay (Yellowstone Lake)
- Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful (Geyser Basins)
- Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Springs (Mammoth Hot Springs)
- Kalispell, Montana
- Glacier National Park, Rising Sun (Wild Goose Island, St. Mary Falls, Logan Pass, Hidden Lake)
- Glacier National Park, Rising Sun
- Glacier National Park, Many Glacier (Swiftcurrent Lake, Boat Tour)
- Helena, Montana (Cathedral of Saint Helena, Capitol Building)
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Painted Canyon Overlook)
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Scenic Drive, Chateau de Mores)
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin (Capitol Building)
- Orland Park, Illinois
Click here to view the photos from the trip.
]]>While parked at the visitor center at Logan Pass, I decided to walk a short distance along the historic "Going-to-the-Sun" road. A roadside waterfall had captured my attention. I tossed my backpack over my shoulders and began walking.
Before I reached the falls, I noticed another scene that appealed to me. It was a large, bare granite mountain peak with a forest of trees along its base. However, I didn't want to set my tripod up on the narrow road. And, there was only a small amount of stable ground to the side of the road. Eventually, I found a small area on the valley side of the roadside barrier where I could safely stand:
Once my footing was secure, I took my backpack off and prepared to rest it on the ledge. As my backpack was nearing the ledge, the zipper began to open from the side of the bag and the lens leaked out from the bag. Apparently, I had not zippered the bag entirely the last time I closed it. I watched in horror as the lens dropped onto the stones next to my feet. But, the worst was yet to come. The lens kept rolling beyond my reach and quickly accelerated as it bounced along boulders on its way down into the valley! Thankfully, I had enough sense not to reach for the lens as I would most likely have fallen along with it.
As devastating as this was, it could have been much, much worse. The zipper continued to unravel and three more lenses (14-24 2.8, 70-200 VRII and the 105 VR) as well as the camera (Nikon D800) began slipping away as well! I firmly pressed down on the backpack against the ledge and closed the zipper on the bag to prevent any further loss.
As sickening as this whole experience was, I had some fortunate events that helped to offset most of it:
- I was nearing the end of my 21 day trip, so at least I had my 24-70 available for the vast majority of my photo shoots.
- I didn't lose the camera or a single image.
- I previously purchased an insurance policy for my camera gear which covers accidents. I submitted my claim and I'm waiting for the settlement figure. However, my agent estimates that I'll be reimbursed for the initial cost of the lens ($1,550). I have already ordered and received my replacement lens from B&H Photo--and the lens is now priced at almost $1,900. My circular polarizer was also attached to the lens.
- At a photo shoot the next morning, I met a photographer who was using all of the same Nikon gear that I own. We met on three or four occasions for photo shoots and he generously offered his Nikon 24-70 to me for these shoots. It was with that borrowed 24-70 lens that I captured the following image of the St. Mary Falls at Glacier:
Although I realized that the lens could never have survived such a fall, I hiked down into the valley on three occasions to search for it. I thought it might be helpful for insurance purposes if I could produce more solid evidence that the lens was damaged. I was also curious to see the extent of the damage. However, I never found the lens. It was probably lodged in some rocks or vegetation.
So, if you are ever in Glacier National Park, take a look around the valley by Logan Pass and you might just find a Nikon 24-70 lens!
UPDATE (August 20, 2012): My insurance company reimbursed me for the original cost of the lens ($1,550).
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The obvious advantage to using the Prius rather than a more traditional RV is the lower cost of fuel. For most people, a larger savings is the lower cost of lodging (see campgrounds section below). During my recent trip, my Prius averaged an overall 54.0 mpg for the 5,500 mile journey. In Yellowstone National Park, the slower speed limits enabled the Prius to improve its gas mileage to nearly 63 mpg!
The fuel tank read half full after traveling 457 miles in the parks. Please keep in mind that it usually takes only 10 or 11 gallons to fill the tank when the low fuel indicator warning lights.
Convenience
An equally, if not more, important benefit is the convenience that Prius camping provides to outdoor photographers. In Yellowstone, the sun rises at 6:00 am in July and doesn't set until 9:00 pm. I usually arrive at the location by 5:15 am to set up and to capture some shots before the sun rises. Often times, these locations are 30 minutes or more from the nearest lodging. With the Prius, I am often situated just minutes away! During this last trip, I experienced 17 consecutive sunrises.
During the trip, there were a few occasions when the campgrounds were full when I arrived. Having the flexibility to sleep in the Prius provided an easy solution to this problem (more on this later in the "Campgrounds" section below).
Comfort
Comfort probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think about sleeping in the car! However, I'm rather tall (6'3") and find the Prius to be quite comfortable for sleeping. To create the most room, I slide the front passenger seat all the way forward toward the dashboard and then push the seat back until it touches the back seat. Then, I push the back passenger seat down until touches the front seat. I use two floor pillows to flatten things out in the area where the back seat meets the front seat. This creates a flat space that is nearly nine feet long!
When traveling alone, I leave the passenger side of the car as shown throughout the day. There isn't any set up or take down time involved. Even when it is raining in the morning, I simply move over to the drivers seat and get started. I met one person who was hooking up his RV at the campground who told me how envious he was of my mini-RV! During the day, I use the pull cover to hide the entire trunk area from view when the car isn't being used for sleeping. As you can see, I use a Thermarest mattress and a sleeping bag along with two pillows.
Initially, I planned to stay at Hampton Inns (my usual lodging choice) while outside of the national parks. But, the thought of checking in and carrying many of my things to/from the car seemed like a hassle--especially considering that I would only be at the hotel for about 6 or 7 hours! Instead, I opted for continuing to "sleep in my own bed." In fact, I actually slept better in my Prius throughout the trip than I do at home. Although, I'm not sure how much the 4:45 am wake up times impacted that!
Temperature Control
Another surprising benefit of the Prius is that you can control the cabin temperature during the evening. This is possible because the hybrid battery, rather than the gas engine, supplies most of the power. When the battery runs low, the gas engine kicks on for a few minutes to regenerate the battery. When the battery is charged the gas engine turns off. During this trip, I only used this feature once--and that was because the temperatures were too high in North Platte, Nebraska (90 and humid)! So, I set the cabin temperature to 72 degrees for that night. In Yellowstone, the temperatures were in the upper 30's at night. Yet, it was warm enough inside the car--especially with the sleeping bag (which is rated for zero degree temperatures). During past trips, I found it necessary to turn the heat on once the outside temperatures dropped into the mid-20's. For this trip, I purchased a portable carbon monoxide alarm--just in case the gas engine didn't turn off as it should and carbon monoxide were to become a problem.
Campgrounds
During the vast majority of the trip, I parked the Prius in formal campgrounds. In Grand Teton National Park, I stayed at Gros Ventre and Colter Bay campgrounds for two nights each. In Yellowstone, I camped at Grant Village and Bridge Bay for two nights each. During some nights, the Yellowstone campgrounds were full. So, one night I "camped" behind the Old Faithful Inn. This was advantageous as there are no campgrounds within 15 miles of Old Faithful. Yet, I was able to practically see the geyser from my Prius. This made it much easier to be out on the trail capturing photos at 5:15 AM. Here is an image of the Prius parked at the back of the parking lot at the Old Faithful Inn:
Walmart was another convenient option along the way! Most Walmarts allow RV's to park overnight in the parking lot. The idea is that campers will most likely purchase food, ice and other supplies while they are there. I "camped" at four Walmarts during the trip--and all of those experiences were a pleasure:
- Rock Springs, WY
- Kalispell, MT
- Helena, MT
- Eau Claire, WI
At each of these locations, there were plenty of other campers in the lot. Here's my Prius RV at Walmart:
Security and Privacy
In some ways, the Prius offers more security than other forms of camping. In Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, campers are required to store all food in bear boxes--as bears were visiting the campgrounds at night. Sleeping in a hard vehicle certainly offered more peace of mind with grizzly bears roaming nearby!
In general, it's more secure to camp in established campgrounds. When staying in areas outside of formal campgrounds (such as the parking lots at Walmart or other visitor centers and lodges), it's best to camp in a larger group (as the photo above illustrates). I also keep the windows closed and covered, the doors locked and the alarm system activated.
For this trip, I purchased some custom window coverings from the store at the Prius Chat website. They attach very quickly and precisely to the windows with suction cups. The window covers provide privacy and keep the interior of the car very dark. I sometimes used the window coverings to darken the car while uploading pictures from my storage cards to my laptop in the middle of the day!
Showers
In most private campgrounds, restrooms and showers are available to the guests. However, there were times during this trip that I parked on consecutive nights outside of formal campgrounds or in primitive campgrounds without showers. In the national parks, a listing of available shower facilities is usually available at the entrance gate. Many times, there are public shower facilities within the national park. The Grant Village shower facility in Yellowstone charged $3.50 for a shower, for example. Or, some private campgrounds offer showers for a fee. I haven't tried any of the public shower facilities outside of the parks as I rarely go two nights in a row outside of established campgrounds with showers. However, I understand that several truck stops offer showers for about $7.00. The Grant Village shower facility is immaculate. The employees clearly take pride in keeping the facility very clean...and the guests responded accordingly by taking extra care to keep things clean.
When not staying in a formal campground, I stop at a rest area or a visitor center to use the restrooms for brushing my teeth. If a visitor center isn't convenient, I keep a large bottle of water in my car and use that water to brush my teeth.
Power
One issue with car camping is that there are so many items with batteries that need to be recharged (camera, laptop, etc.). In the hotel, I usually charge batteries at night. To address this issue, I purchased a power inverter from Costco for about $40. This adapter plugs into the car to provide a power outlet. While driving, I recharge batteries for my camera, electric toothbrush and razor, laptop, phone, iPad, etc.
Accessories
Those who have camped before will probably already own many of the camping accessories. The amount of items somewhat depends upon the length of the trip and whether you plan to cook or not. Here is a list of items that I brought on my trip. I quickly discovered that it is far more efficient to place each item in the same location within the car throughout the trip. It makes it much easier to locate things and makes the whole experience far less frustrating. So, I will also list where the item was stored.
Sleeping
- Sleeping pad (left unrolled on passenger side of car)
- Pillows (passenger side on sleeping bag)
- Sleeping bag (left unrolled on sleeping pad)
Eating
- Propane stove (trunk side well, drivers side...see photo below)
- Propane (trunk side well, drivers side)
- Pot, utensils, dishwashing soap (trunk side well, drivers side)
- Lighter (side panel storage, front driver seat)
- Cooler (front passenger seat...between sleeping pad and dashboard)
- Vitamins (clear storage box in trunk, passenger side)
- Food and snacks for 21 days (Rear seat, drivers side...two clear storage boxes...see photo below)
- Soft drinks (rear floor, drivers side)
Photography
- Laptop (secret storage...see photo below)
- Card reader (secret storage)
- Two external hard drives (secret storage)
- Camera and lenses (trunk, drivers side)
- Back up camera (secret storage)
- Gimbal head (secret storage)
- Photography books and maps (between cooler and sleeping pad)
- Tripod and ballhead (trunk, drivers side)
Cleanliness
- Toiletries (separate pouch stored in duffle bag with clothes)
- Towels (rear seat, drivers side)
- Large water bottle (rear floor, drivers side)
- Shower shoes (trunk side well, passenger side)
- Tide detergent pods (rear floor, passenger side)
Power
- Power inverter (glove compartment)
- Chargers for razor, phone, iPad, camera, laptop, toothbrush, etc. (clear storage box, trunk, passenger side)
Clothes
- Clothes (rear seat, passenger side...on top of sleeping bag during the day)
- Coats (rear floor, passenger side)
- Rain gear (rear floor, passenger side)
- Hat (front seat, passenger side)
- Gloves (pouch, behind drivers seat)
- Boots (trunk, drivers side)
Security
- Carbon monoxide detector (glove compartment)
- Window panels (front floor, passenger side)
- Windshield sunscreen (trunk, under mattress passenger side)
- Garmin GPS unit (glove compartment)
- Cell phone (center console)
Entertainment
- iPod (center console)
- iPad (front, drivers seat at night...serves as alarm clock)
Secret Storage in trunk near spare tire
Food storage (note position of cooler as well)
Cooking center (stove, pot, utensils)
Disadvantages
There are many advantages to Prius camping. Clearly, there are also some disadvantages. There is limited space, so Prius camping is most likely limited to solo travelers. The limited space also means that you probably won't want to spend more time than you have to in the vehicle. This wasn't an issue during my last trip as the sunset was a 9:00 pm and the sunrise at 6:00 am. But, during my trip before this one, the sun was setting at 6:00 pm and not rising until 7:30 am--and that's a lot of time to kill outside in the dark!
Another disadvantage is that the Prius is a low clearance vehicle. This makes it difficult to leave the main roads. My Prius suffered some damage (scratches) while navigating the dirt road down to Schwabachers Landing in Grand Teton National Park. Then again, a large RV is even more limited in this regard.
Maybe this renovation is in my future? :)
One method I use to get action shots of more players is to take them during practice. If I'm provided with access to the field, I will take several images of players during the warm ups before the game and also between each inning. This photograph of a softball pitcher was taken while she was warming up between innings. I was positioned right next to the catcher for this image. I used a shutter speed of 1/1250th of a second to freeze the action and a very wide aperture (f/2) to isolate the pitcher by blurring the background. I had to boost my ISO setting to 1600 given the early evening lighting. I took care to shoot from a vantage point that would not include players standing in the background--which would have given information to the viewer that this was a practice pitch.
When shooting youth sports, I almost always shoot from a low perspective. Generally, I shoot from both knees. This helps make the subject appear more imposing within the frame. It doesn't take long before my knees become sore while shooting from this position. I purchased an inexpensive pair of knee pads from Home Depot to make it more comfortable to sustain the stance.
Ultimately, I used three frames of a sequence to create the following image in Photoshop:
I visited the Ava Maria Oratory in Florida on a Sunday afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised that there was so little auto and pedestrian traffic around the church. So, I simply waited until the scene was clear before pressing the shutter!
I used the same approach while shooting the Our Lady of La Leche Chapel in St. Augustine, Florida. There was nearly an endless stream of people streaming in and out of this chapel. Finally, just one woman remained as she sat praying in one of the pews for several minutes. I started shooting (this is a multiple exposure HDR) the second she left the chapel as another large group was approaching the chapel from the walkway.
Sometimes, it isn't practical to wait until everyone leaves a scene before releasing the shutter. While visiting Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas National Park off the coast of Florida, I wanted to capture a photograph of the repeating arches within the fort. However, two people continued to linger in the back of the scene. Later, I simply removed them by using the cloning tool within Photoshop. This is my most common method of dealing with stray pedestrians in a scene.
Another method that can be effective in removing people who are moving through a scene is to use a long shutter speed. The longer the shutter speed, the more the people will blur. If there is enough blur, the people will begin to ghost out of the scene entirely. I used this technique (with a three second exposure) to remove most pedestrians from the Venice Fishing Pier in Florida. A few stationary people remained in the frame, so I took care of them with the cloning tool.
The amount of blur is a matter of personal preference. And, the appropriate shutter speed will depend upon the focal length of the lens and how fast the water is moving. Things are so much easier with digital cameras as it is now just a matter of experimenting with a variety of shutter speeds and reviewing the images on the camera's LCD panel to determine which effects are preferable.
One challenge is achieving long enough shutter speeds. Sometimes, there is simply too much light to allow for shutter speeds of several seconds--even with the ISO set to the base level and with the narrowest of f/stops. The use of a neutral density and/or polarizing filter will reduce the amount of light entering the lens. Of course, it also helps to shoot waterfalls on a cloudy day as there is less light to begin with.
For this image, I used a Singh Ray Vari ND filter. The Vari ND allows the photographer to dial in the strength of the ND filter. To achieve a shutter speed of 8 seconds, I dialed the ND filter to near its maximum power (using about 7 stops of effect). I also went with a narrow aperture of f/13 and the base ISO of 100 for the Nikon D800.
This image of a man-made waterfall was captured at Lake Katherine in the Chicago suburb of Palos Heights:
Such as the one fan with the big green hair in a crowd of Rays' fans at Tropicana Field...
Or, this one red impatien in a full frame of green leaves...
Or, this single red pepper on a pile of sweet yellow peppers...
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While visiting Traverse City, Michigan, I drove to the Old Mission Lighthouse on a cold and rainy morning. When I arrived at the lighthouse, I was disappointed to see that the structure was under construction. Before getting back in the car, I noticed these leaves on the pavement:
During one of my visits to the Brookfield Zoo, I captured very few images that were worth keeping. Then, I noticed these autumn leaves on the blacktop next to my car as I was getting ready to leave. The thing that attracted me to this scene was how the color of the parking lot stripe precisely matched the color of the leaves!
This technique also provided an interesting perspective for volleyball! I captured this image of a volleyball serve from the track that circles the gym from above.
I used the same technique to capture a different perspective of two fans before a game at Chase Field in Phoenix.
I used a variety of techniques to render more abstract versions of this scene. First, I simply panned using a slow shutter speed. The use of a neutral density filter helped to slow the shutter speed down enough (1/4th second, f/10, ISO 100):
Then, I rotated the lens around the tripod collar while shooting three frames as part of a multiple exposure image (same exposure as in the panned photograph above):
Next, I zoomed the lens in and out during the exposure while also shooting three frames as part of a multiple exposure image (once again keeping the exposure constant):
I ended up with three different abstract takes on the flower bed of zinnias!
For the following photograph, I manually set the exposure on the camera (1/200th, f/18, ISO 200) to ensure that the ambient light in the room would not contribute to the overall exposure. Without flash, this image would be severely underexposed. Then, I introduced a flash unit (Nikon SB-800) and manually set the power of the flash to provide the desired exposure. Since the flash duration is so short (probably about 1/10,000th of a second at a low power setting), the moving subject gets stopped in its tracks!
This technique also comes in handy when shooting certain sports in poorly lit gymnasiums. For this volleyball image, I manually set the camera so that the ambient light was underexposed by approximately two stops (1/250th, f/3.2, ISO 400). Without flash, this image would have been quite dark. Then, I manually set the power for the bounced flash to achieve my desired exposure. This required setting both a Nikon SB-800 and Nikon SB-900 at 1/4 power. Since the strobe is contributing significantly to the overall exposure, it is sufficient to freeze the action. Even at the relatively slow shutter speed of 1/250th, the volleyball and player are quite sharp.
During this upcoming trip, I hope to capture many scenic locations in the best possible light. My Prius RV concept should make getting to some of these remote sites a little more convenient. Minimizing driving time is critical when attempting to capture photographs at 5:30 AM!
A zebra:
A flower:
A needlepoint:
Please CLICK HERE to view more than 30 other Amazing Circles.
Now, let's take a recent picture and turn it into an Amazing Circle.
Open the image in Photoshop
Crop the image so that the frame is square
Select Filter, then Distort, then Polar Coordinates, and then choose Polar to Rectangular, then click on OK
Select Image, the Image Rotation, then 180 degrees
Select Filter, then Distort, then Polar Coordinates, and then choose Rectangular to Polar, then click on OK
We now have an Amazing Circle!
Nikon D700, Nikon 24-70 2.8
To create this abstract image, I secured the camera (Nikon D700) and lens (Nikon 70-200 VR2) to a tripod. I then panned the camera vertically during a relatively long exposure to add the blur to the image. After several attempts (good thing we are in the digital photography age!), I settled in on a shutter speed of 0.3 seconds to achieve this effect given the speed of my pan.
Nikon D800, Nikon 24-70 2.8, 1/60th @ f/8, ISO 1600
The shutter speed for this picture was 3 seconds. During the exposure, I rotated the lens at different rates--checking the LCD panel to see which effect was most effective. Finally, I used multiple exposures to add another element to this abstract image.
One of my favorite subjects to photograph is oil and water. I'm always surprised at the abstract scenes that develop when viewing oil floating in water.
To create this picture, I first filled a glass pie plate with warm water. Then, I poured a small amount of vegetable oil into the water. To add color, I placed the plate on a sheet of wrapping paper. Finally, I lit the scene with an ordinary desk lamp.
I used the Nikon D700 along with a macro lens (Nikon 105VR). As always, I secured the camera to a tripod--which allowed me to use a very slow shutter speed (1/4th second), base ISO (200) and a wide depth of field (f/11).
]]>Here is the original picture:
Within Lightroom's Develop Module, I dropped the Highlights (-71) and boosted the Shadows (+69):
Further, I added some Clarity (+24), dropped the Luminance of the Yellow (-51), Green (-10), Aqua (-18) and Blue (-35) channels, applied some sharpening and enabled lens correction. Then, I brought the image into Photoshop CS5 for further retouching: cloning out the posts, selectively applying the Color Efex Detail Enhancer filter, adding a touch of the Topaz Adjust Vibrance filter (30% opacity), converting the image to B&W and reducing the opacity (90% opacity) slightly to let a little color bleed through and finally applying a frame and text.
- Adjusted the auto-focus operation
- Upgraded the firmware (to address the LCD blackout issue)
- General check and clean (including sensor cleaning)
I was pleased with the turnaround time of less than two weeks. Since the issues I was experiencing with my D800 were so sporadic, it will be a while before I know for sure whether the problems are fixed. But, I'm glad to have my camera back!
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I then opened the image using the Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in for Photoshop. I applied one of the presets called "#36 Antique Plate":
With a few final tweaks in Photoshop, here's the final result:
Here are a few of my favorite photos from the visit. All of these pictures were captured with the Nikon D800 and Nikon 14-24 2.8 lens:
Since posting the images, I've received a number of questions about the location of this site. The above photographs were captured at the building located near the intersection of Ironwood and North Grove Street in Manteno, Illinois. I first noticed this site while putting on the 15th green of the Manteno Golf Club! Please note that a visit to this site poses some risks. The building has stood vacant for nearly 30 years. And, many times a "No Trespassing" sign is posted on the grounds.
Following are a few photos from the earlier days of the hospital:
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Now, I'm more careful to ensure that my data is protected. First, I store all of my images on an external hard drive--a Seagate 3TB external hard drive. I have a second Seagate 3TB external hard drive positioned next to the primary drive--and that's used for back ups. I use Microsoft SyncToy to synchronize the files between the drives. Unless I am in the process of backing up the data, I leave the second hard drive unplugged to minimize risks such as a power surge or virus attack.
I'm not comfortable having just one external drive as a back up. Also, having the backup drive located right next the primary drive introduces the risk of losing all the data if something should happen at the site--such as a fire. So, I maintain a third external hard drive as my second back up. That third drive is secured off-site in a safe deposit box. Every three months or so, I back everything up on the third drive and return the drive to the bank. If anything should happen to my on-site drives, I can rest assured that all of my data is safe in that off-site location.
In the unlikely event that all three hard drives fail, I upload many of my jpg files to my website. As a last resort, I can download those jpeg files as needed.
]]>I like to store my images using a basic file structure organized by date. All of my files are stored on external hard drives. They are first placed in a folder titled "My Pictures". Then, there is a folder for each year within the "My Pictures" folder:
Within each year, there is a folder for each shooting date (Year-Month-Day):
Then, the files for each image are stored within the date folder:
Within each image, I embed detailed metadata. Information contained within each file includes the location (along with GPS coordinates), title, caption, date, camera settings, lens, etc.
With all of this detailed information included within the file, I can use a search engine (such as Adobe's Lightroom) to quickly locate an image based upon filters. For example, I might view just those photos with the words "Abandoned", "Building" and "Manteno" in the file--and just those images will appear within less than a second. Once I see the image of interest, I note the date of capture and can quickly access the original file using my folders as they are sorted by date.
I can also use the search engine on my own website to quickly locate images. For example, let's say that I am interested in viewing something as specific as photos with stairs that cast shadows. By entering "shadow stairs" in the search box, six images appear. Once again, by clicking on the photo, I can view the capture date and quickly access the original file since my files are organized by date:
I hope this helps!
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Although a recent firmware update is reported to address the rear LCD problem, I thought it made the most sense to send the D800 into Nikon's Service Center in Melville for a thorough check while the camera is still under warranty. In the meantime, I'll be shooting with my Nikon D700. Hopefully, Nikon will make the repairs quickly and get the camera back to me soon. I already miss it!
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And, the Cubs beat the Padres by a score of 5-3 to improve its season record to 17-32!
One of the challenges of baseball portraits is dealing with the shadows that are cast by the beak of the cap. Other sports photographers have asked me how I overcome this obstacle. For this portrait session, I approached the lighting like this:
- I use a large softbox (a 47" octabox) along with an Einstein strobe for my main light. This light is set to properly expose the subject for f/8 at ISO 100.
- The main light is positioned very close (within three feet) of the player. A general rule for lighting is that the light will become softer as it gets closer to the subject. I like to get the light really close--so that it spreads to cover more of the area underneath the hat.
- For fill light, I position a large piece of white foam board on the opposite side of main light. The foam board bounces some of the light from the key light back into the shadow side of the subject. To adjust the key to fill ratio of the lighting, I simply move the foam board back and forth until the shadows look reasonable to my eye.
- I position another Einstein strobe in a stripbox over the subject's head. This light is set for f/5.6 and is used to separate the subject from the background. The narrow softbox helps to direct the light in such a way that it doesn't spread light onto the black background.
- Black seamless paper is used for the background. The beauty of the black background is that it requires no lighting.
One way of dealing with scenes containing both bright highlights and dark shadows is to take multiple frames of the same scene--exposing for the shadows in some of the frames and for the highlights in other frames. In post processing, these images can be combined in such a way to render details in both the shadows and the highlights. I usually use software to more easily blend multiple exposures to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photographs. My latest software of choice is Nik HDR Efex Pro.
Yesterday, I was confronted with an scene of extreme contrast. This scene of the Manteno State Hospital ruins was captured at high noon. The bright overhead sun was casting dark shadows everywhere! Here is what my camera recorded given my best single frame exposure:
Note that his image would have been much worse if I wasn't using the Nikon D800. The Nikon D800's sensor at ISO 100 has an amazing dynamic range.
However, by taking four more exposures (2 stops underexposed, 1 stop underexposed, 1 stop overexposed and 2 stops overexposed) and blending them to create a HDR photograph, the dynamic range is greatly improved:
I always secure the camera to a tripod when creating high dynamic range images. And, once the HDR image is generated from the software, I touch it up using both Lightroom and Photoshop--that is, I add back a bit of contrast and selectively burn and dodge areas within the frame.
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- United States
- Italy
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Australia
- France
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Russia
- Belgium
- India
- Switzerland
- Brazil
- Poland
- Singapore
- China
- Romania
- Greece
- Finland
- Denmark
- Hong Kong
- Austria
- Norway
- Portugal
- Malaysia
- Japan
- Czech Republic
- Croatia
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Turkey
- South Korea
- Egypt
- Israel
- Philippines
- Saudia Arabia
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- United Arab Emirates
- Bulgaria
- Thailand
- South Africa
- Slovakia
- Taiwan
- Argentina
- Slovenia
- Luxembourg
- Serbia
- Ukraine
- Colombia
- Lithuania
- Vietnam
- Chile
- Georgia
- Morocco
- Latvia
- Jordan
- Macedonia
- Pakistan
- Estonia
- Iceland
- Peru
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Greenland
- Dominican Republic
- Barbados
- Venezuela
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Moldova
- Puerto Rico
- Algeria
- Iran
- Malta
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Ecuador
- Guyana
- Belarus
- Jersey
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Lebanon
- Macau
- Palestinian Territories
- Uruguay
- Albania
- Angola
- Guatemala
- Iraq
- Namibia
- Panama
- Virgin Islands
- Netherlands Antilles
- Azerbaijan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Costa Rica
- Honduras
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Saint Lucia
- Mongolia
- Mauritius
- Reunion
- Syria
- Aruba
- Aland Islands
- Bermuda
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Belize
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Cyprus
- Djibouti
- Faroe Islands
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Haiti
- Isle of Men
- Cayman Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Montenegro
- Myanmar
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Maldives
- New Caledonia
- Nicaragua
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Paraguay
- Sudan
- Tunisia
- Tanzania
- Uzbekistan
- British Virgin Islands
- Yemen
- Zambia
Thanks to one and all!
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But, I try not to ignore some of the more interesting details that surround me during the event, such as this old Berghaus pipe organ:
Including a variety of images within a collection will usually make the set more interesting for viewers (wide versus close, colorful versus monochrome, etc.).
During my last visit to the University of Illinois, I captured a few pictures of the Alma Mater statue. The sculpture is located in the heart of the Illinois campus on the corner of Wright and Green Streets. The 82 year old statue will soon be removed for repair work and will not return until May, 2013--just in time for the the graduating class of 2013 to take photos by this famous sculpture.
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"Digital Camera World", marketed as "the world's best dSLR magazine", published my "Long Desert Highway" photograph in an article about road and highway photography. Here's a link to the article from the May 10, 2012 edition of the this publication from the United Kingdom:
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/05/10/in-pictures-30-beautiful-photos-of-roads-and-highways/
I'm told that getting published in this magazine is a real honor. Or, should I say honour? :)
During my last two trips, I've used the Prius as a "mini-RV" to gain easier access to remote locations for sunrise photo sessions. Clearly, the Prius offers a gas mileage advantage over any other camping vehicle. While driving the flat highways of Florida, my 2006 Prius achieved over 60 miles per gallon!
Surprisingly, there is plenty of room for sleeping comfortably in the Prius. The distance from the dashboard to the back of the vehicle is nearly 9 feet long. I purchased a 3" thick Thermarest sleeping pad that fits perfectly into this space.
In contrast to tent camping, the Prius offers far better protection from the elements--and from bears! Also, I am able to set the thermostat on the Prius to control the cabin temperature. One night in western Wyoming the outside temperature was 18 degrees, but the Prius maintained the cabin temperature at 68 degrees all night. The hybrid battery powers the heating system with the gas engine acting as a generator when the battery power falls below a certain level. So, the gas engine might kick on for a few minutes every 20 minutes or so, but then it shuts down once the battery is charged. This system works for cooling as well as heating.
I purchased a power inverter which provides an electrical outlet in my Prius. This allows me to recharge my laptop and camera batteries from my car.
Most camps offer modern restroom and shower facilities.
Prius camping makes it much more convenient and economical to capture photographs that are far from any motel. To capture this image of the Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, one must arrive at the site at least 30 minutes before sunrise. It takes well over an hour to reach the parking lot from Moab, the nearest town. Then, there's a half mile hike in the dark. It's much more convenient to reach this site from the national park's campground which is located just two miles away!
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The first thing that caught my eye was a historic water tower. This structure was built in 1892 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The Western Springs Train Depot was across the street from the water tower. I found the interior of the train station to be an interesting subject as well.
It's amazing how many interesting places there are within just a few miles of my home.
However, I photograph many subjects where the depth of field decision is not as critical. In these situations, I'm not attempting to isolate anything by using a narrow depth of field. And, I'm not faced with a subject that demands an extraordinary depth of field. For these subjects, I almost always set the aperture to f/8. Most lenses are sharpest when stopped down somewhat from their widest settings. And, f/8 yields the sharpest possible images for me when depth of field is not an overriding concern.
Here are some example of images where I selected an f/8 aperture:
1: "Bungalow Puppy" - this scene is relatively flat and does not require an extraordinary depth of field to keep everything sharp from front to back.
2: "Buckingham Fountain" - in this scene, the water fountains are far enough away that f/8 will carry the field of focus from the fountains to the skyline without any trouble.
3: "Illinois Farmhouse" - this scene does not contain any foreground elements that require a narrower aperture than f/8.
4: "Sandy Shells" - once again, the elements within the scene are positioned relatively close to each other, so f/8 is appropriate.
Sometimes, selecting a f/8 aperture will result in a slow shutter speed for proper exposure. I use a tripod to enable the use of very slow shutter speeds to remove any concern about camera movement.
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I keep the following chart in my camera bag so that I know where to focus to maximize the amount of area in the frame that will be sharp for typical landscape and architectural scenarios:
With a 14mm lens attached to a camera body with a full frame sensor (e.g. Nikon D700), the hyperfocal distance is 2.7 feet at f/8. So, if I wish to have everything sharp from 2.7 feet to infinity, I would focus at a point that is 2.7 feet from my lens. For a little more depth of field, I would stop the aperture down to f/16 and focus at a point that is 1.4 feet from my lens to achieve sharpness from 1.4 feet to infinity.
If I'm shooting with a 50mm lens, f/8 will keep everything sharp from 34 feet to infinity. A smaller aperture (e.g., f/16) extends the range of acceptable focus from 17 feet to infinity.
Why is this important? If I wish to have everything in sharp focus in a landscape that has a foreground subject (e.g., flower) positioned 3 feet away from the lens, I need to focus on a point that is 2.7 feet from the lens (at f/8 with a 14mm lens). If focus on a point further away, the foreground subject would no longer be in focus.
By knowing the hyperfocal distance, I'm less likely to select a narrower aperture than is required to achieve the desired depth of field. Higher f/stop numbers (i.e., greater than f/8 or f/11) typically result in less overall sharpness due to the effects of diffraction. So, selecting the most appropriate aperture will result in the sharpest possible photographs.
Earlier today, I captured an image inside the historic train depot in Western Springs, Illinois. The fixture located at middle and far right of the frame was located three or four feet from my lens. Since I was using a 15mm focal length, I knew that by focusing on that fixture (about three feet away) and using a f/8 aperture would ensure that everything from the fixture to the back of the depot would be sharp.
1: Scotty's Castle (Death Valley National Park, California)
2: Grainger Engineering Library (Urbana, Illinois)
3: Illini Union (Urbana, Illinois)
4: Illini Union (Urbana, Illinois)
All of these images were enhanced with an ultra-wide perspective using the Nikon 14-24mm lens attached to a FX body (Nikon D700 or Nikon D800).
1: Turret Arch Through North Window (Arches National Park, Utah)
2: Historic Fort Jefferson (Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida)
3: Our Lade of La Leche Chapel (St. Augustine, Florida)
4: Fort Point (San Francisco, California)
5: Pachyderm House (Brookfield, Illinois)
And, here's another one from a college baseball game from a couple of seasons ago:
And yet another one from a high school baseball game from last season:
I use the following approach to capture clear images when shooting through a fence:
- Place the lens as close to the fence as possible.
- Remove the lens hood.
- Position the lens in the center of an opening in the fence.
- Select the widest possible aperture to blur the corners. I use f/2.8.
- Use a long focal length. I used a 300mm focal length for these photos.
The longer focal length combined with the selective focus will remove any indications of the fence in most cases!
]]>Yesterday, I was using my Nikon D800 during the game. I was not shooting in burst mode. Rather, I was capturing just one picture at a time. And, that's what made capturing this BOB photo so unsual!
Here's the 100% crop view (actual pixels):
Clearly, a fast shutter speed is necessary to stop a baseball that is moving at 90 mph. For this shot, I set the shutter speed at 1/6400th of a second. To achieve such a fast shutter speed, I boosted the ISO setting to 400 and opened the aperture all the way (f/2.8).
]]>Participation in the individual photo session is optional. I shoot pictures entirely for fun—and this is a good excuse for me to dust off my studio flash units (which I use very infrequently)! For anyone who is interested, I will fill the following time slots based upon a first-come, first-served process:
3:45 - 4:00 pm: Connor Baker
4:00 - 4:15 pm: Ryan Peters
4:15 - 4:30 pm: Ricky Kwak
4:30 - 4:45 pm: Aaron Gaspardo
4:45 - 5:00 pm: Connor Duesing
5:00 - 5:15 pm: Danny Hickey
5:15 - 5:30 pm: Christian Galindo
5:30 - 5:45 pm:
5:45 - 6:00 pm: Josh Groundwater
6:00 - 6:15 pm: Ian Welgat
6:15 - 6:30 pm: Matt Davis
*************
Here are more details:
The photos will be taken at the OYA Office on Friday, May 25th. I will set up a small two or three lights studio at the office.
Players should arrive in full uniform—and bring both the red and gray jerseys. Players should also bring any equipment that they would ordinarily bring to a game: glove, bat, catcher’s gear, etc.
We will set up three or four poses for each player: hitting, pitching, catching, etc. You can add to these if you wish. I will process and retouch these after the shoot. Once I’ve had time to process the images, the pictures will be available on my website for viewing.
Some photos will be processed in black & white or a desaturated look.
If after viewing the images you wish to order any prints, you may do so through this website. I do not release any of my digital files. I will also provide an option for you to purchase additional items through a third party fulfillment company—such as magazine covers, buttons, magnets, tickets, etc. for anyone who are interested.
Photography website: http://www.nagelphotography.com/
Warriors’ photos: http://www.nagelphotography.com/warriors
Please don’t hesitate to call me with any questions or comments.
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It can be challenging to obtain slow shutter speeds in bright daylight conditions. Unless appropriate compensations are made, the photograph will end up being too bright (overexposed). For this image, I used the following steps:
- Lowered the ISO setting to the camera's base ISO of 100
- Narrowed the aperture to f/20
- Attached a variable neutral density filter (set to 8 stops)
- Attached a polarizing filter to reduce the light by another 1 1/2 stops
- Secured the camera to a tripod to minimize camera movement
1: 14mm
2: 14mm
3: 18mm
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1: 14-24 2.8 (@ 14mm)
2: 24-70 2.8 (@ 50mm)
3: 70-200 (@ 170mm)
4: 105 VR
5: 300 2.8 VR
And, here's the 100% crop:
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The Nikon D800 offers a few features which makes it easier to compose and focus the camera when it is positioned so low. First, there's the Virtual Horizon feature. This feature makes it easy to ensure that the camera is positioned perfectly level. Then, there's Live View. Live View lets you compose the image using the LCD screen on the back of the camera without having to carry a right angle viewfinder. You can also use Live View to focus the lens more precisely (while zooming into the image) than a right angle viewfinder would allow.
Of course, shooting from a high vantage point will also add interest to many photographs.
]]>The Old
and The New
1: First picture from just inside the doors
2: Next image from just inside the doorway a few feet back
3: And a few more feet back
4: And, a few more feet back
- Slows me down so that I can carefully consider the composition
- Eliminates camera movement which results in sharper images
- Can shoot at very slow shutter speeds
- Widen the depth of field when needed
- Select lower ISO settings for improved image quality
- More precision with HDR and panoramic images
Given all the benefits, I find myself using a tripod for well over 90% of my photographs! And, the more often that I use the tripod, the more proficient I become at getting it set up quickly and in tight spots! Now, I can set up my tripod and have my camera ready to go in less than 10 seconds!
For a tripod to be useful, it must be stable and able to handle the weight of the gear. My first tripod was a very inexpensive one. I quickly learned that it wasn't preventing camera shake, so I upgraded my tripod. Although the second tripod was better than the first, it was cumbersome and still not very stable. My third tripod was a monster--very stable, but too difficult to carry very far. Finally, I purchased the ideal tripod. Although it was expensive, it will be the last tripod that I should ever have to buy. It's the Gitzo 3540XLS Systematic 6X Carbon Fiber tripod with a Markins M-10 ballhead. The tripod is stable, relatively light and can be adjusted so that it is very low to the ground or very tall (which is convenient given that I'm 6'3" tall). All of my gear is Arca-Swiss compatible, so I can attached lenses or cameras to the tripod within seconds. I also have a L-bracket on my camera to make shooting vertical compositions very easy with the tripod. I wish I would have read Thom Hogan's tripod article earlier as it would have saved me a lot of money and hassle!
Yesterday, I faced a situation which challenged my ability to position the tripod. I was on the fourth flight of stairs at the Illini Union. The photograph of the staircase from above required that my new D800 camera hang over the railing. At first, I tried handholding the shot. But, I realized that using the tripod would allow me to get enough depth of field and that I could also lower the ISO setting to maximize image quality. So, I adjusted each leg of the tripod to a different height on the stairs to get the camera into proper position.
The owner then invited me to take as many photos of the interior of the store as I wished. I learned that Benko Lamps (7400 S. Harlem Avenue) has been in business for 63 years! The store is filled with lamps--all designed by the owner and custom made at the location. It was refreshing to see someone who has so much passion and pride in his work.
Here is one of the photos from the session:
One way to analyze the Nikon D800's resolution capabilities is to view an image using a 100% crop. The following picture displays a portion of the above image at the pixel level detail. The crop represents just a tiny section of a distant portion of the image near one of the chandeliers:
You can even read the price tags hanging from the chandeliers in this crop. Given the prices of some of the items, I'm thankful that I didn't knock any fixtures over while dragging my tripod and camera gear through the store!
Here's one from today's visit to the Orland Park Public Library. Nikon D800, 0.3 seconds, f/11, ISO 100
The cropping capabilities of the D800 allow me to achieve straight lines at the time of capture without necessarily having to purchase expensive tilt-shift lenses. Following is an example of how I applied this method while capturing an image of a historic farmhouse which was built in 1834 in Palos Park, a southwest suburb of Chicago.
This next scene is straight out of camera. For this image, my objective was to place the top of the tall trees within the frame while keeping the farmhouse straight. If I attempted to get the top of the trees into the frame by tilting the lens toward the sky, the farmhouse would no longer be straight--it would look it was falling backwards. Instead, I positioned the lens so that it was perfectly level to the horizon and then backed as far away as necessary to keep the trees within the frame.
Finally, here's the finished photograph after converting it to sepia using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 software:
Some may wonder why I don't correct any distortion during post processing. If the distortion is within certain limits, I often use the Perspective Crop tool within Photoshop CS5 to straighten lines. But, when the degree of distortion is more dramatic, using post processing tools to correct the distortion can severely damage image quality. It's best to not move pixels around very much during post processing if the goal is to preserve image quality.]]>
When capturing photographs of animals at the zoo, my goal is to eliminate any evidence that the animal is in captivity. I try to accomplish this by carefully studying the background throughout the entire frame and changing my perspective when necessary to manage the background elements. Another common technique is to use a very narrow depth of field to blur the background. Many of my zoo photographs are captured with the lens wide open (i.e., with the lens set to its widest aperture).
Earlier this week, I captured a photograph of a peacock at the Brookfield Zoo. By getting close to the bird and using a very narrow depth of field, there is no indication that the picture was taken at the zoo. The downside to this is that most of my zoo photos are closeup portraits that lack a sense of the surrounding environment. For environment photographs, I plan to visit Yellowstone National Park in the next year or two!
The following photo was captured with the D800, 500 VR, f/4 (widest aperture), 1/500th, ISO 160:
I've enjoyed shooting with my Nikon D700 for the past three years. I expect the D800 to improve upon the D700. The D800 will offer files sizes that are three times as large--which will provide higher resolution and more cropping flexibility. The new camera should retain the same low light performance as the D700. I also expect that the D800 will have improved auto-focus capabilities--especially when used with teleconverters
One drawback of the D800 is that it requires careful technique. This shouldn't be an issue for me as I tend to use a tripod and cable release for most of my pictures. Unfortunately, the Nikon vertical grip and Kirk L-bracket isn't available right now--so I'll be hand-holding the camera for the near future. In fact, I'll probably continue shooting with my D700 for the upcoming weeks.
The D800 also offers incredible video performance. My interest is almost entirely in still photography, so I doubt that I'll utilize the video capabilities of the camera very often.
I struggled with the decision between the D800 and D800E versions. Ultimately, I took Nikon's advice and ordered the regular D800 version. Although the resolution might be a tiny bit less than the E version, the risk of moire is reduced. The regular version is more appropriate for a wide variety of subjects--which describes my photography.
My Nikon D800 is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. I'm anxious to play with the new camera!
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Next, I blurred the background so that it wouldn't distract from my subject--the blossoms. Using a long telephoto lens (300mm) made blurring the background easy. And, I love how the Nikon 300 2.8 lens renders blurred backgrounds!
When I first started taking pictures, I almost always used Kodachrome ASA 25 slide film. Sometimes, I would go with the higher speed ASA 400 film for night pictures. When desperate, I would try ASA 800--knowing that the quality was going to suffer severely.
As a perspective, the ISO 6400 setting that I used to take photos of my niece's volleyball match yesterday is 16 times more sensitive to light than the "fast" ASA 800 film that I used years ago. And, I would argue that the image quality of these ISO 6400 pictures exceeds that of the ASA 800 slide film.
Even so, I tend to convert images captured in low light conditions to black and white. Black and white removes all the crazy color casts from the gymnasium's lighting and also helps make the noise/grain appear more natural in my view.
I plan to return to this location on Tuesday with my Einstein strobes. This will raise the level of ambient light--allowing me to lower the ISO setting. Hopefully, supplementing the ambient light with strobes will result in higher image quality and more natural colors.
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Since returning from Florida two weeks ago, I've only shot a handful of pictures. And, it's been several months since I shot a sporting event.
Yesterday, I decided to practice my photography by shooting my nephew's recreational basketball game. During the first half of the game, I had very few keepers. The camera's auto-focus was having trouble locking onto the subject and I was getting very soft images. I blamed it on the low light in the gym (ISO 1600, 1/1000, f/2.8)--even though I've shot in far worse lighting conditions in the past.
During halftime, I reviewed all of the settings on my camera and lenses and discovered that I had made a ridiculous mistake. I had the camera set to single rather than continuous servo auto-focus! As a result, the focus was not tracking any moving subjects at all.
After making the adjustment to continuous focus tracking, the majority of the remaining images were sharp. I finished the session with this image:
The bottom line is that it's not only important to keep practicing, but it's also important to practice the different types of photography on an ongoing basis.
]]>Following are the four photographs that I selected:
I captured this photograph of Long Pine Key Lake in the Everglades National Park just last month. This location is not very well known, so my hope is that this picture will stand out from other submissions in the contest.
This photo of the Turret Arch as viewed through the North Window at Arches National Park was also captured recently. The scene is a popular one with landscape photographers, so I'm guessing that this photo will not attract much attention from the judges. However, Outdoor Photographer magazine does tend to publish photos of some of these iconic scenes--so I'm hoping that the amazing morning light give this submission a chance.
I selected this photograph of the Viera Wetlands in Florida because of its abstract qualities. The silhouettes, reflections and diffused light all contribute to an abstract quality. My hope is that this picture is unique enough to attract the attention of the judges. This image was also taken within the past month.
I went with a different approach for my final submission. Unlike the first three, this image was taken many years ago (July, 1985). I used slide film to capture the image, then scanned the slide into a digital file a few years ago, and finally converted the photo to black & white a few days ago. This is a very popular spot for landscape photographers. What I hope makes this photo unique is the stormy weather, the spotlight effect on the butte, and the bare tree framing the scene. When I returned to this scene a couple of years ago, the bare tree was no longer there.
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