Expect The Unexpected

On a recent trip to the Boston area, we took off in the rental car for a morning of shooting along the famous route of Paul Revere.....along Battle Road.

The continuous rain almost was reason to abandon the mission.....but, knowing that these wet, cloudy conditions can provide some wonderful light, we plugged away.

Arriving at the historical landmark, Hartwell Tavern, we were caught in a downpour....forcing us inside to protect the camera gear.

Once inside, we discovered that the period accurate, costumed staff were also inside for a break from the musket shooting demonstrations. Good luck for us, however. I was able to get one of these guys to cooperate for a few minutes, and pose by some incredible window light. The surprisingly dark conditions outdoors had caused a tremendous drop in the light coming in thru the window. The ISO was set to 400, and the shutter speed was one second.....even though shooting wide open at 2.8 with the Tamron 90mm macro lens.




The wet conditions continued to provide me with a stream of portrait subjects. Their cooperation was partly due to the fact that it was simply too wet outside to attempt the walk back to the cars.

So, with the tripod already set up, I asked if a couple of the semi-bored folks would act as models. It always drives me nuts to have wonderful light, a great backdrop, but nothing as a main foreground subject.


Enter the unsuspecting tourists.

Our next volunteer was an attractive teenage girl, from the bay area, with her family on a 3 week vacation. After securing permission from her parents, I quickly shot off a barrage of long-exposure images....trying to maintain sharpness at this wide open and extremely long shutter speed always provides a challenge. And, the unstable 200 year old wooden floor didn't help.



The weather briefly cleared up, and we headed outdoors to see what was shootable.....The wooden frames of the antique windows were pretty interesting, so I asked Jeff Allen, the Tamron tech rep, to go inside and stick his head out the window for an available light portrait. As I suspected, it looked pretty good....but, as I was taking his images, I noticed movement at the window to my left. A young boy was mimicking Jeff, and had posed in the opening....this looked like a carefully planned commercial session. Perfect setting. Great subject. Classic light. All I had to do was frame it up and shoot. Jeff had served as a test subject for the REAL shot.






After seeing this little guy in the window, I quickly went inside to talk with his folks, and try and get a few more images before they took off.





I kept the same 90 mm lens on the camera and asked him to pose in the window light. But, a one second exposure of an active kid is tough. Propping his head on his hands seemed the only way to keep him still enough for a sharp image.

Overall, this was a very productive couple hours.....and, our main objective was to shoot macro photos of the Dogwoods in the rain...with water drops.

Being prepared for anything that comes at you always pays off.

Macro Techniques...Portrait and Flowers

On a recent trip to Boston, I ran into some pretty nice light and some photogenic folks who volunteered as portrait subjects

Check out this video.......

Click To Play

Upcoming Seminars at So Cal REI locations

If you live in Southern California, I'll be conducting a series of In-Store Clinics over the next few months. They are all offered at no charge and being held during the evening from 6:30 to 8:30.

Stop in and say hi.

Click on the image below to enlarge to a readable size.....

Fire Dancers at Luau on Kauai

I had a chance to put a new Nikon D-700 thru it's paces last week during a Workshop in Hawaii.

I'd heard about the greatly improved low light capabilities of this new generation of sensors.....but, had never experienced the benefits first hand.

Well, the real test came during the fire-dance portion of the luau. The only onstage light was from the torches....and, man were they moving fast. This guy was spinning them like a drum major at half-time.



This combination of low light and high-speed subject movement was the ultimate test. I've been to many events before, shooting a live performance, and simply would have to stop shooting during a situation like this. Even if on-camera flash was permitted, it would ruin the ambiance.



So, I threw on the new 70-200mm Tamron 2.8.....cranked the ISO up all the way to 6400 and started shooting.....wide open.

The results are astonishing. The noise levels are very acceptable. And, the shutter speeds at f/2.8 fluctuated between 1/250th and a 500th.

I still haven't figured out which camera body I'm going to settle on after discovering that Fuji is out of the DSLR game. Hopefully, Nikon won't be rushing me to return this loaner body. I'm getting used to these great new features. Not to mention the Live-View, which I'll go into detail about on the next post.

Workshop at Big Sur and Point Lobos

We've got a day off between workshops, and are spending it at the beachside community of Cayucos, just a few miles south of our next stop, Cambria.

If you ever get the chance to stop in here, make sure to allow enough time for a meal at my favorite place....Schooner's Wharf. It's a classic, rustic, funky- style seafood house. Located right on the beach, at the base of the Cayucos Pier. The view at sunset is amazing.....and their Calamari Steaks are the best I've found, anywhere.

The last few days were spent shooting along the Big Sur area of the California coast. Without doubt, this is some of the most rugged and photogenic areas of the entire west coast.

The shot above was taken just minutes before sunset at Pfeiffer Beach. The low angle of the sun backlights the huge waves. And, there's an enormous rock that acts as the perfect lens shade, to prevent blur. This was shot with Tamron's 200-500 zoom at 1/640th of a second to freeze the action.

One of our day trips was a jaunt up the coast to Point Lobos. This is a State Park, set aside to preserve this unique collection of unreal cliffs, beaches, coves, trees and wildlife.

The 2 images below were taken at the south end of the park.....near Bird Island.

The overcast, and heavy clouds provided perfect light for this type of shooting.






Please click on these small images to see the full size version, with the proper colors.

Fresh Snow In Yosemite

Looking out the window and seeing fresh snow isn't always a good thing. However, if you're in Yosemite Valley and have a camera handy, it's pure magic.

And, on a recent excursion to this classic location, our workshop group found ourselves surrounded with snow-covered subject matter....trees, rivers, peaks, and granite cliffs. It was breathtaking.

We had been in the valley for a couple days already. And, even without the fresh snow, it's pretty much a no-brainer, as far as picking out suitable subjects for making large prints. But, waking up to this freshly painted canvas was an experience that's hard to describe.

I've included a few of my favorite images from this trip. Even though this place has been photographed millions of times, it always feels like I'm discovering something new, through the lens.



This late afternoon image was taken from what's referred to as "Tunnel View"....certainly one of the top couple vantage points. And, standing around waiting for good light paid off in this case. Just seconds before the sun dropped behind the hills, we got a final shot of warm light and a good batch of clouds in the distance. Even though Half Dome was obscured, it didn't seem to matter, with all the other great things happening in the scene.

Shot at f/11 at 1/2 second. The white balance was manually shifted to 9,500 degrees to eliminate all the excess blue in the light.




There's a bridge over the Merced River, near the stables. An often overlooked place to shoot.....but, absolutely perfect on this freezing morning.

I was drawn to the mix of colors...warm and cool. The warmer reflections are a result of the early sunlight hitting a huge granite wall in the distance. And, the nice cool tones in the foreground, are a result of the high elevation shade, which was loaded with a ton of UV.

The image at the top was converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro software. This amazing plug-in allows me to replicate the tonal characteristics of my favorite B&W films, and to top it off, the grain structure and size can also be modified !

Eastern Sierra Environmental Portrait

The photo above is the final result from a location portrait session in the Owens Valley, last month. Specifically, it was an impromptu shoot....in the Alabama Hills, located at the base of Mt Whitney.

Using only low power, on-camera type flash units, it's amazing what can be done using good technique, and all the latest hi-tech goodies.

Click on the photo to see a larger version. The video below explains how we did it. It's worth watching, for no other purpose than to see a musician awake, and coherent at this hour.

To view some of our other instructional videos....click on the link to the right...there's about 20 different techniques explained

Photo Workshop in Lone Pine and Death Valley

We just returned from our twice-annual trek to these desert gems. And, once again the shooting opportunities were everywhere.

Our workshop began in the sierra foothill town of Lone Pine. This small community, near the trailhead for the hike to Mt Whitney, is situated right on interstate 395, the main highway which connects the LA area to Mammoth Lakes, Bishop, Yosemite and many other High Sierra destinations.

One of the mornings we were greeted by a totally overcast sky, and the resulting soft light. Not the conditions we had hoped for, but, Mother Nature's detour allowed us to concentrate on alternate subject matter, and proved to be very productive, shooting-wise.

Located between the main highway and the iconic, sierra peaks to the west, is a second, and even older mountain range dubbed The Alabama Hills. Much more brown and earthtone in color than the sierra's mid-grey granite, these hills have long been popular with the movie studios and commercial TV crews.

So, with the aforementioned flat light, we spent a couple hours exploring these rugged structures....up close. It's interesting how much fun it is to start shooting in a location with absolutely no pre-conceived idea as to what kind of shots you'll get. I was looking strictly at shapes, patterns, light and textures as we moved around in this rocky wonderland. The overall feeling is very similar to the geologic conditions at Joshua Tree Nat'l Park.

Here's a shot of a scene which certainly looked more dramatic after being converted from color to Black and White. ( click on any of these images to see a larger version )




Our group moved about 70 miles due east into Death Valley after a couple days in the sierra foothills. Big change in scenery....sand dunes, almost no vegetation, and some of the amazing patterns on the desert floor, created by fast drying mud after the previous nite's rainfall




This unique abstract image was taken roadside, at one of our late afternoon shooting sessions. In fact, as I pulled the car off the main road to analyze our position for a sunset shot of the side-lit hills, Mike noticed this peeling and curling mud flats. Crunching beneath our tires, and being destroyed as I drove over a good part of it. But, there was still plenty left to shoot! And, the timing was perfect. We were able to catch some dramatic cross-light, just as the sun went behind the Panamint Hills. This shot looks great both in color, and after the B&W conversion with my new, favorite software....Nik Silver Efex Pro. It's super easy to use, and gives you quick and varied options relating to tone, contrast, grain and film simulations.

Tips for Cooking the Thanksgiving Turkey

Apologies in advance, if you're expecting our usual photo tips.  My wife and I spent the weekend at an RV park in nearby Newport Beach....can you imagine, camping in this exclusive neighborhood?  It was a nice break from the usual longer trips.  Only an hour from home, and we were set in our travel trailer for a great 4 days.

I've always wanted to attempt cooking a full size bird over charcoal.

 

Well, here you go.   It actually worked.....and we used some micro sized barbeques. 

Made by Cobb, these babies use only 8 briquets, and there's an internal water reservoir, which provides a continuous supply of moisture, and makes burning or drying out the meat all but impossible.  

Two hours later the meal was ready! 

Celebrity voice impersonated...obviously.

Photographing Yosemite With Tamron

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