There's Bad and Good Light?

I'm preparing to teach a basic photography class.  This is a first for me and I'm trying to put some effort into preparing.   In the very first class I'm going to touch on light and how there can be good light and bad. 

Light in itself is not good or bad and it can not create a good photograph, but depending on the characteristics of the light it can make our photographs better or worse.   I've gone through my photo library and have picked out a few photos to show how light can change a photo.   Here's one example I came up with.

Both shots are the same creek taken from the same spot using all the same equipment.  The difference is the time of day and the direction of the sunlight.

Morning Shot

The morning was a bright sunny day and that sun was shining down on the little cascade.  The bright clear sunlight made the scene very contrasty.  The brights were too bright and blown out (no details in the brightest parts).  I could have compensated for that bright light by turning down my exposure but then the shadows would be dark and there would be little details to be seen there either.   Typically I'll walk right by a scene like this but that little cascade was just too pretty to pass up.  I was hoping I could do something with it in post-processing.

Afternoon Shot

Lucky for me we came back by this same spot in the late afternoon and the light conditions had changed dramatically.  Now there was only soft indirect light illuminating the scene.  No harsh , shadows to deal with.  The soft light also created less glare on the water, rocks and foliage. 

One reason I'm talking about light in the very first class is it is the single most important part to photography.   When shooting landscapes and nature you have to take the light God gives you and either work with it or pass.  There is no amount of camera gear or post-processing editing that would make the first shot look like the second. 

Understanding light is foundational.   Everything else is secondary.

Planning For a Disaster

There are natural disasters occurring around the globe all the time.  Just last year there were floods in Colorado, fires in California, a mega typhoon in the Philippines and 760 confirmed tornadoes in the US.   These events can wipe away in an instant what we have worked for years to build.  Many times people are able to prepare and there is not a great loss of life, but that's not always true about property.

Recently a family in our neighborhood lost their home to a house fire that from the outside appears to have consumed pretty much everything in their home.   The good news is they all go out safely.  This is the fifth home to burn in our little neighborhood since we moved in about 32 years ago.

Mt. Cammerer Firetower

This house fire got me thinking.  What if that happened to us?  Most of our material possessions would be replaced by insurance but somethings can not be replaced.   There are some steps that can be taken to prepare for a house fire and avoid people being injured, however there is not much we can do to protect things in our home, particularly those things we use and don't want locked up somewhere.    I also got to thinking about the tens of thousands of photos I have on my home computer.

Right now I have 3.4 terabytes of system and data disks, plus  3.2 terabytes of backup disks.  Every night my system makes backup copies of my files.  When (not if) I have a hard drive crash I can buy a new one and put all my files back.  Because all these disks are in the same physical place a house fire or a waterline break in the kitchen above my computer could destroy the original files and all the backups.  All gone.

I decided to find a way to save my photos should a disaster occur at home.  I checked out out a couple online backup services to backup my files to "the cloud" on the internet.  In theory, if my PC is destroyed I can eventually replace it and restore all my important files to the new computer. I loaded a 30 day evaluation copy of one of the leading services and found it was going to take a month to back up what I had on my hard drives! With the number of images I load to my PC after a big trip this system could take days to catch up.

I have decided to give up on the cloud backup until my internet service provider offers better upload speeds.  Instead I purchased a portable hard drive that can be attached to my PC via a USB 3.0 port.  I then back up my pictures, documents, music and other important files to this disk and store it in my office at work.   A low tech but low cost solution.   The key is to be disciplined to bring the disk home periodically and make a new backup.

I'm going to keep doing my backups on my computer in addition to the offsite backup.   Nothing wrong with doing both.

What do you do to protect your important files?

The Calendar Chronicles - January 2014

It's here!  2014 has arrived.   I hope you have started the year off right and that you are blessed in 2014.

It's also time to share a little about the photo for January - Second Beach, Washington State.  If you're like me, you're thinking that is not a very creative name for a beach.  One of three beaches (yes First Second and Third Beach) just south of the village of La Push Washington.  Like the other two, Second Beach is hemmed in by dramatic bluffs and headlands. To get to Second Beach you have to hike 2/3 of a mile up and then back down a forested trail.  It was a bit confusing at first because we started out above the beach and hiked up.   After a while we made our way down to the beach.

Path to Second Beach

We were there as part of a photography workshop with Bill Fortney and  His Light Workshops.   There was at least one other photography group there that afternoon so there were plenty of photographers wandering around the beach.      We arrived at the beach at 8 PM and stayed about an hour while the sun was going down.  It sure is nice photographing sunsets on west coast beaches than sunrises on the east coast beaches.

I took 60 shots in those 60 minutes on the beach, which is less than what I usually take.  There was a lot of time waiting for something to happen, the light to change, people to move, or new ideas to pop into my head.

Sea Stack and Sea Gulls

I was fascinated by the sea stacks offshore.  We don't have anything like these where I grew up.   These forbidding landmarks are part of the Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge. Inhospitable to humans, they're productive breeding grounds to thousands of seabirds, oystercatchers, murres, gulls, petrels, cormorants, and auklets among them.

You never know what you will get at sunrise or sunset.  This time we were blessed with beautiful clouds and a break in the clouds that allowed the sun to shine up and light up the under sides.  As the sun set I positioned myself at this cool rock surrounded by a pool of sea water.  I could see that the sun was going to set directly behind the headland to the right of the primary sea stack and might shine through the natural arch.  Now it was just a matter of getting ready and waiting.  I was rewarded with warm colors from the sunset and blue of the darkening skies for some nice color contrast.  The rock and reflections in the pool made interesting foreground for my photo.

For the photographers that might be interested, this was shot at a 32 mm focal length using a 24-105 mm lens with a small f/22 aperture.  The wide lens and small aperture allowed me to have the foreground rock and the trees in the distance all in focus.  This was a one second exposure so I was using my tripod.  I set the camera down low to the ground to be able to include the sand, rock and clouds.

I hope you enjoy this photo during January and it reminds you that His greatness can be seen through His creations all around us.

What I Learned in 2013

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods 

I have tried to advance my photography in a positive direction this year.  I've gone new places,  tried new things and learned all along the way.   My experience says Thoreau was right -- "we will meet with a success unexpected in common hours".  I usually go out with a photographic objectives in mind.  I want to try a new technique, photograph a new subject, get that iconic shot, and better yet get the one that no one else has.   Sometimes I meet my objectives, but more often I learn things and have success in unexpected ways.   Of course photography is a passion so I'm going to have a good time.

As I look back on 2013 I have decided to not do a "best of 2013" collection.   I've already shared my best shots on my calendar, on Google+, and on facebook and no one really wants to see them again.  Instead I have decided to share some things I have learned this year and some successes I have had at unexpected times.  These are not my best photos of the year but they can illustrate a point.

If you click on any of the photos below you will get a window with a larger version.  You can then use the right and left arrows to browse through the images.

Here goes.

• If you try new things you'll learn something new.  If I go at it with the right attitude I will have fun, even if I don't get anything worth sharing.   I've tried water drop photography a couple times and done it differently each time.  You never know what you'll get.

 

• You don't always have to go far to find opportunities.   The photo below was taken a short walk from the lodge where we were staying.  We had taken an eagle tour, drove around the lake and didn't find any better opportunities than right next door.

• There are always photographs to be made, if you just look around.   The photo below was shot from an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway one cold morning when snow was still covering the road.   It's not what we were looking for that morning.

• If you don't try you'll never get the shot.   I shot this photo of a very active bee while hand holding my camera.   It's a low probability shot, but if I didn't try my probability would have been zero.

• Rainy days are great times for photography in the woods.  It was raining pretty hard when I took this.  The rain drops don't show because of the slow shutter speed.  The overcast light was great and the rain made the colors more vibrant.

• Shoot the details.  This is just part of a steam locomotive I shot this year.  Because I shot this detail of a lamp I had a customer buy three large canvas prints of the Shay #4 engine, including this one.

• Don't shoot from the first place  you set your tripod.   My first position for this shot was a few steps to the left and the mountain in the distance wasn't visible between the trees.  All that was visible was blah white sky.  I took a few steps to the right and got a better composition.

• Get away from the crowd.  I took the shot below while on a photography workshop.  I don't think anyone else got this shot because June and I were the only ones that didn't follow the crowd down the mountain that day.

• Be aware of your surroundings.  While photographing a waterfall we noticed this American Dipper (aka Water Ouzel) catching food in the stream. We then noticed a juvenile near by on a moss covered rock.  I put my long lens on, waited and was rewarded.

• Don't be timid.  Just act like you belong there.  At a concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville  I walked up to the edge of the stage to shoot this. 

• Don't give up when you're lost.  On the way back home after a weekend away we stopped for gas and saw a sign for a waterfall and took off up the mountain.  After a while we realized there was no waterfall where we were.  It was getting dark and we had a long drive ahead of us.  We could have given up but instead we tried and eventually found the right road.

• Have fun.  This Ibis was perched on top of the bird food dispenser.    He must not have read that is said "Feed the ducks, geese, and swans."  

• Finally, give back and help others.   I volunteer to take pictures at a couple different community events.  They get some free photography and I get to try new things.

I've learned a lot this year and improved a little.  I hope you get something from what I've learned.  

“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Evolution of a Composition

I haven't been out shooting much lately.  Winter in East Tennessee does not provide many opportunities for beautiful landscapes.  The colors are grey or muted brown.   It does not snow often and when it does I'm usually at work. 

Today was different.  I checked the weather forecast last night and saw that they were calling for 30% cloud cover at dawn.   You have to have some clouds to get a good colorful sunrise, but not so much that the sky becomes overcast.  Thirty percent sounded pretty good to me so I set the alarm. 

It was worth it!  Here's what June and I witnessed this morning.

Pretty special, huh?  

Afterwards we drove around a bit looking for other opportunities and found ourselves at the shore of Patrick Henry Lake.  I was hoping the sunrise would light up the fog on the lake but it didn't happen.  At June's suggestion I shot this.

 

 

I always listen to June's suggestions.   My photography is better when she is with me. 

The photo above is cropped and a little tone adjustments were added.    The colors are too blah but the contrast between the bare trees on the left and the fog is interesting.   When there is little color but interesting contrasts it's a good idea to convert to black and white and see how it comes out.

I think this is more interesting than the color version, but the real interesting part of this shot is the branch sticking out of the fog on the left side.   This was shot at 200mm.  I really needed to zoom in closer to isolate that section.  I could have gotten my 300 and 1.4 teleconverter to more than double to focal length but I was too lazy to walk back to the car. 

I decided to crop the photo to isolate what I thought was the interesting part.  The problem is this reduced my 21 megapixel original down to a 1.9 megapixel photo.  OK for a small version on facebook, but too small for anything else. 

I got a copy of Perfect Resize for Christmas.  Using that software I was able to enlarge it back to 16 megapixels, more than big enough for most anything I want to do with it.

This composition evolved from the original as shot, to a wide crop, to a black and white, to an extreme crop black and white.   I like the last one, but each one is different and conveys a different mood.

This has been a pretty good day for shooting.

Calendar Chronicals - The End of 2013

Christmas is behind us and there are just a few days left in 2013.   I have one more photo to share from the 2013 calendar and that's The Joy Boat on the back.

AM Shot

As I said in an early post, we found this boat on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake on the way to Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park.   We passed it at 9:42 AM on the way up and again at 5:30 PM on our way back.  Both times we stopped so I could take some shots of the boat with the lake and mountains in the background.  

I've learned to take the shot when I see it and don't count on getting it later.  You never know what the conditions will be later.   The boat might not have been there later, it could have been raining, and the light would be different. 

PM Shot

The conditions for the morning and evening shots were similar.  Other than the direction, the light was pretty much the same.   I composed the shot differently each time.  We were in more of a hurry in the morning and didn't stay long at the boat.  After a day of hiking we were too tired to move quickly in the evening.  After spending some time with our tired feet in the cold lake water we stopped again and I took a little more time composing the shot the second time around.  

The morning shot was taken at 17mm, the widest lens setting I have.  The afternoon was taken at 24mm, which didn't distort the boat as much and brought the trees on the far shore in closer.   I also took the afternoon shot from a lower position to get a better perspective on the boat.  I didn't include the mountain peak in the afternoon shot because it was pretty dark a featureless due to the angle of the sun. 

I have two different shots of the same subject.  I prefer the afternoon because of the sunlight and the camera angle. You may prefer the morning shot with the mountains.  There's no right or wrong answer.

The verse for this photo is Psalm 30:5 - "Joy comes in the morning".  As we wrap up another year we can look forward to God providing joy in our lives.  We will all have trials in 2014 but God promises Joy.  All we have to do is ask and it will be given.  

I hope you have a joyful 2014.   Stay tuned as the Calendar Chronicles continues in 2014.

The Calendar Chronicles - December 2013

The photo for December 2013 was not taken in the middle of winter but in September 2012 just a few days after the November calendar photo and is also from Glacier National Park.   I choose this photo for December because it is a very peaceful scene, perfect for the Luke 2:14 verse.  People have told me that they would love to be sitting in those chairs.  I can't blame them.

"Glory to God in the highest, and or earth peace to men on whom his favor rests"

This is the deck of the Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park.  This beautiful hotel sits right on the lake with view of the Grinnell Glacier off in the distance.  This morning was one of the few times there wasn't white caps on the lake. 

Here's the front of this hotel to give you some perspective.

Many Glacier Hotel

The Many Glacier Hotel was completed in 1915 by the Great Northern Railway as part of a series of hotels and back country chalets in the park. The locations were carefully chosen so the distances between hotels was a days ride by horseback.  The foundation of this historic hotel is made of stone, with a wood superstructure. The four-story lobby is surrounded by balconies, whose railings are patterned after Swiss designs.  The massive pillars holding up the roof over the lobby are tree trunks.

Lobby of The Many Glacier Hotel

The photo above was taken around sunrise before most people were up.  Normally the lobby is full of people with laptops and tablets because it was the only place you could get a wifi signal and internet service.

The calendar photo was taken shortly after sunrise and the sun was just lighting up Grinnell Point across the lake.  The night before I had gone out on this same deck to try and get some pictures of the star filled night sky.  The wind was so fierce that those chairs blew across the deck and about knocked me down. 

As with most of my photographs this shot was taken with my camera mounted on a sturdy tripod.   The aperture was a tiny f/22 which allowed me to have the chairs and mountains all in focus.  This meant I had a long shutter speed of 3.2 seconds.  I also used a wide angle 17mm lens to be able to take it all in and emphasize the chairs.

After a hearty breakfast we took off and hiked the six miles to Grinnell Glacier.  Seeing a glacier up close is a special experience.  It's unfortunate that all the glaciers in Glacier National Park may be gone as early as 2030. You can see the glacier in the center of the photo just to the right of Grinnell Point.  It took us all day to hike to the glacier and back.  For some reason it takes us 4 times as long to get anywhere when I have my camera with me.  There must be some correlation there.

The photo of the Joy Boat on the back of the 2013 calendar was taken on our way back to the hotel that afternoon.

I am enjoying reliving the times when the calendar photos were taken.  I hope you are enjoying the photos and maybe getting something out of the stories and descriptions.