General

Fun at home!

 

I am as guilty as the next photographer; I too like to travel to various locations to take images, whether they are landscapes or wildlife. But sometimes you don’t have to stray very far.
 
The day after I received my Canon 5DM3 camera a once a year ritual took place in my backyard. I have a very large pyracantha bush just outside my office door and every year a flock of Cedar Waxwings comes and strips the bush of all its berries. Unfortunately they never announce when they are coming so it is hit or miss whether I get to witness the feeding frenzy! But fortunately I was here and more than willing to test out the new camera. I needed to shoot a fast shutter speed (1/640 sec) and I wanted to maintain some depth of field (f/11) so I needed to shoot at ISO 4000. It was a great test for the new camera! As you can see the camera preformed quite well!
 

 
 
Canon 5DM3, Canon 500mm f/4 L lens, Feisol CT-3372 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head, Wimberley Sidekick, Lexar CF cards
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sunday I awoke at 3 AM to drive with some friends to photograph the “super moon”. We picked an area near Birds Landing, CA to get the wind turbines in the background.
 
 
Well that wasn’t the most successful photo shoot I ever went on, but when I stumbled home at 9 AM I pulled in my driveway to see one of the newborn bluebirds poking it’s head out of my bluebird box and the parents were busy feeding. I parked at the end of the driveway and lined up my angle. I quickly ran in the house to get my Vacu-pod (www.Vacu-pod.com) and mounted the Canon 500mm f/4 L lens on my Canon 1DM4, on the Vacu-pod stuck to the driver’s side window, with the Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head. I needed even faster shutter speeds (1/1000 – 1/2000) so I was shooting at ISO 400 (it was very sunny) at f/8- f/11. I took the best pictures of the day 30 feet from my front door. I could have slept in! And I even got to listen to the radio as I photographed!
 
 
To see more of both bird shoots click here to view my bird images on my website - the Cedar Waxwings are on the first page and the Western Bluebirds the second page
 
 
 
 

It just goes to show you, you don’t always have to travel far to make great pictures!


 

Have a great day,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Impressions of my new Canon 5D Mark 3

I have only had my new Canon 5D Mark 3 for a few days, but so far I am impressed! I haven’t really taken it out in the field for any extensive shooting yet, but I have done several backyard tests. So here are some examples of images that I have taken with and without noise reduction applied in ACR/Lightroom. I will label all the images so you can tell what happened and let you decide what you think. I think I’m going to be quite happy with this camera!

 
The horizontal images have been resized to fit the website. The vertical images are all full frame. As you can see shooting at 1600 ISO is no problem with this camera! And at 5000 it looks great too.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:1 crop of image shot at ISO 1600 with a little noise reduction in Lightroom

 

To see all the tests click here.

 

Lightroom 4 and recent news!

As you may be aware Lightroom 4 was released this week. And the biggest and most exciting changes come to the Develop module. I am busy working on updating my Lightroom training DVD and hope to have it out in April. I will keep you posted as to the release.

 
I have heard it said many times before, that being in the right place at the right time, is the most important factor in nature photography. I would have to add that it’s being in the right place at the right time, with the right equipment and knowledge of how to use it that is most important. I was lucky enough to meet all those requirements this past week when photographing at Green Cay in Boynton Beach, Florida. Just as I was getting ready to leave I saw this great blue heron catch a snake. Fortunately I already had my 500 mm lens with the 2X tele-converter mounted on my Canon 1D Mark 4. And the camera was mounted on my Feisol 3372 tripod with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head, and a Wimberley Sidekick, so I just had to open the legs, aim the camera and shoot! Here is a sequence of images from that moment.
 
Click on any image below to see the larger versions.
 
 
                           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The images were taken at 1000 ISO 1/250 sec at f/10
 
 
You too can have some wonderful wildlife moments, if you care to join me in Alaska this July photographing the coastal brown bears in Lake Clark National Park. I still have a few spaces left so click here to get more information.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Take care,


 

Wildlife Experience

It has been a wild since I last wrote, and a lot has happened since then! I had a very nice time presenting ath Fotofusion, in Florida this year. It was great to see a lot of old friends, and to meet some new ones. I can’t wait till next year! If you’ve never been to Fotofusion, you don’t know what you’re missing. I don’t know too many other events where you can see so many world-class presenters speaking on such a variety of photographic subjects. You can check it out at: www.fotofusion.org

I just recently got back from Kalispell, Montana where I led my first Canon Live Learning program. It was a real blast, and the group was really wonderful. We photographed the wildlife at Triple D Game Farm, capturing images of wolves, red fox, mountain lions, lynx, and coyotes. Click on the image below to see samples from the workshop. After the workshop I went to Polson, Montana to photograph the unusual amount of snowy owls that are there this winter. Click on the image of the owl to see some examples. To see other upcoming Canon Live Learning programs click here.       
 
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Closer to home, I have a pair of mallards that are hanging out in my swimming pool! It does make for some good photographic opportunities.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There are still two spaces left in my trip to photograph the brown bears in Alaska this summer. Click on the image of the bear to find out more information about this trip. Deposits are due March 15.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I hope everybody’s winter is going well, it won’t be long until spring is here!
 
Take care,

 

Inexpensive Film Scanner and more


I am frequently asked for scanner recommendations. Up until recently, I haven’t been keeping up with the latest film scanners. But I had a project, come up where I  needed to scan a large quantity of my old 35mm slides. I own a very expensive Imacon film scanner, but to scan 35mm slides you need to remove each slide from its mount, which is very time-consuming. My project was to create a slideshow so I looked into inexpensive film scanners that would be faster and easier to use. I came across Canon’s Canoscan 9000F scanner. It retails for just under $200. It is a flatbed scanner capable of scanning 35 and 120 film. So I decided to give it a try. I’ve been very happy with my results. I can place 4 slides in the film guides and using the software, determine individually how each one gets scanned. In creating the low resolution 4 MB files I need for the slideshow, I am able to scan four images in about 2 min. The software also includes dust removal, fade correction, and backlight optimizing. These options mean that I have very little or no corrections to do after the scanning. The scanner also can scan to a resolution of 9600 PPI which gives me over 300 MB file from a 35mm slide, which is more than twice the size from my expensive Imacon scanner! If you’re in the market for an inexpensive, but very nice film scanner then I recommend the Canon Canoscan 9000F. To see some of the scans click here.
 
BTW I am scanning for my slideshow at my Canon Live Learning event, photographing wildlife in Montana at Triple D Game Farm. There are still 3 slots open. For more info click here.
 
I just had an opening for my show “Split Personalities” at the Viewpoint Gallery in Sacramento, CA. It was a great opening, over 1000 people viewed the show. My big panorama images got a lot of attention! The show is until Feb 4th if you are in the area.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here are some upcoming speaking engagements:
 
Seattle, WA on Feb 6th
Dallas, TX on Feb 21
Ft. Lauderdale, FL on March 1
Harrison, OH on March 21
North Oaks, MN on March 24
Nevada City, CA on March 26
 
I’ll be teaching two classes at Palm Beach Photographic Centre, West Palm Beach, Fl
 
There are still a few spaces left on the trip to Alaska to photography coastal grizzly bears!
 
Take care,
 
 
 
 

 

Holiday Lights!

 

As the year comes to an end picture taking usually gets put on the back burner while we prepare for the holidays. But this time of year offers unique experience of photographing the beautiful holiday lights on display. You should take a few moments out of your hectic schedule and go out with tripod in hand and make some holiday images! Here are a few tips that I think will improve your holiday display photography.
 
Find a location where they turn the lights on a little early and go out about a half hour before sunset so you can balance the blue sky with the colorful lights. Click on image to see larger view.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Try zooming your lens during an exposure. What I like to do is find an aperture that will give me an exposure of at least 3 seconds, and then zoom the lens part way into the exposure. So for example on a 3 second exposure, I would count to two before zooming the lens. On a 5 second exposure I would count to three or four before zooming the lens. This way your subject gets "fixed" and the zoom adds an accent. The example below is a 3 second exposure where I counted the two before zooming.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Another thing you might want to try is taking a time lapse of the lights. Here is a time lapse I did where I took a picture every 5 seconds for an hour!
 
 
 
Enjoy the season, I hope you make what many wonderful photographs!

 

I still have space on my trip to Alaska to photograph the bears. For more info click here.
 
Give the gift of knowledge this holiday season by giving you or your loved one a Digital House℞ Call
 
Take care,
 

 

Random Challenges

 

I decided to play a new game today that I am calling “Random Challenges.” Every so often I am going to open my Lightroom library and just randomly scroll through the grid view without looking at the screen and then just stop somewhere among the images. The challenge will be to pick one out of the 40 images that appear on screen and try to create a worthwhile image! Today’s challenge was difficult. I was tempted to cheat and scroll some more but I decided to be honest and stick with the plan!
 
Here is the group of images I had to work with.  (click on image to see larger size)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

They were all taken at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach. I visit this area frequently when I am teaching at Palm Beach Photographic Centre. This wasn’t one of my most exciting sequence of images but I did pick out one of a Purple Gallinule, one of the prettier birds in the area.
 
I also decided I could only use the tools available to me in Lightroom for this exercise. My normal workflow is a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop, but by restricting myself to just Lightroom I am hoping to get more creative in the Lightroom portion of my processing. So I cropped, I burned using the adjustment brush, and I tried a few variations where I kept the bird in color and reduced or removed the color from the rest of this image (I didn’t like these attempts!). I even used the spot removal took which I totally dislike! While it is not the best picture I have ever made, I do think I made it better. Hopefully by trying this exercise on a regular basis, I will improve both my editing skills and my Lightroom processing skills! I’ll share my successes and failure here.
 
Here is the before and after image:
 
                                   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
       Before                                                               After
 
 
Let me know if you have any suggestions!
 

 

 

Stars Time Lapse


Here is a time lapse of the stars over the tufa towers at Mono Lake, CA. I set the camera to shoot one 20 second exposure and then pause for 5 seconds before making the next 20 second exposure and continued this process for a little over 2 hours. I used my Canon 1D Mark4 at ISO 6400 and my 17mm TS lens at f/4. Using the TC-80N3 intervalometer timer cable release I was able to program the camera to shoot one 20 second exposure and then pause 5 seconds before making the next 20 second exposure and to keep doing this until I turned off the intervalometer. When doing this I set the camera on Bulb setting because the timer controls the exposure.
 
All the “meteors” you see going by are actually airplanes! 
 
I used 306 images to make this time lapse which is being played back at 15 frames a s second. Using Image Processor in Bridge I processed and sized all the raw files while I slept and when I awoke in the morning I used Quicktime Pro to assemble the time lapse. The most difficult part of the process is sitting around in the cold (around 30 degrees) for two hours while the camera continued to shoot. I watched a movie on my iPhone to pass the time!
 
I also want to remind you I am teaching a Lightroom class on the Develop module at Viewpoint Gallery in Sacramento on Sunday. This is a great time to pick up some info that will help you with the processing of your images. For more info click here.
 
Enjoy,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Are you going to frame that histogram?

 

I’ll never forget when I was teaching a workshop in the Smoky Mountains and we were on a mountain ridge photographing a beautiful sunrise and a student came up to me and said “Look at that!” as he showed me the histogram on the back of the camera. I looked with a puzzled expression and asked, “What’s the matter? He replied “Look at its shape, it doesn’t look good.” I asked to see his image, which looked fine, and I pointed out the image looked fine but he said “But what about the histogram, the shape isn’t right? And I replied, “Who are you going to show the histogram to?
 
I constantly hear from photographers worried about their histograms. Personally I call people like that “histogram anal.” You have to remember a histogram is just a graph of the brightness range of the pixels in your image. There is no right or wrong histogram. People are always worried about losing detail and having a histogram with that hits the right edge and shows a lot of pixels on the right wall of the histogram. Something like this:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Most people would be appalled their histogram had such a spike on the right edge and would change the exposure of their image. This is the histogram from this image, and I am not changing my exposure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another histogram that I think most photographers would say requires an exposure adjustment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 But that goes with this image:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted it this way! 
 
All I am saying is don’t get too wrapped up in your histograms, be more concerned about how your images look! Use the histogram as a guide to answer questions about whether or not you have lost detail in an image and then use your head to decide if that is critical to the particular image you are trying to create. Remember you are in control of your image, not your camera!
 
But if you really are in love with your histogram you can always frame one and hang it on your wall!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HDR Panoramics

 

Last month I took a family vacation to the United Kingdom, we visited England and Scotland. It was a lot of fun and we saw lots of good things but for most of the trip we were on a tour (a Harry Potter fan trip!), which meant I could not do the serious photography I would have liked. But I did manage to get a few good images. We stayed at a nice hotel in a beautiful location on Loch Leven. Fortunately we were here for 3 nights so I got up early each morning and took images while the rest of the group was still in bed.
 
 
 
 
For this trip I borrowed a 5D from Canon because I didn’t want to carry my big 1Ds camera around on the tour. The good thing was it was lighter, the bad thing was I restricted with the number of shots I could automatically bracket and all the buttons were in the wrong place! So instead of my normal one stop sequence of bracketing for my HDR images, I had to bracket in two stops and was limited to 3 images. 
 
Here is an HDR panorama I did taking 9 vertical images using my 24-105 L lens and stitching them together. I shot 3 frames of each of the nine segments, making 27 images to create the image. I used PhotomatixPro HDR software, which I accessed with the Lightroom plug-in, thus allowing me all the great raw processing controls of Lightroom and the HDR capabilities of PhotomatixPro. I processed each HDR segment first and then did the pano stitching in Photoshop to merge the final image. Instead of cropping the image after the stitching I used Content Aware Fill to fill in the gaps that occurred from me not being totally level.
 
Those three mornings made me glad I lugged my Feisol 3372 tripod across the Atlantic!

 

Syndicate content