I was on a local hiking discussion site and saw a post by the author (Bryan Conant) of my favorite topo maps (http://www.bryanconant.com/). Topo maps are indispensible in hiking of course and finding a high quality topo map for your area can be tough. To often a good topo map just don’t exist. Certainly the ones provided by your local hiking store can be acceptable, but the maps by Bryan goes well beyond just a standard topo map. Bryan hiked every trail on his map and keeps them up to date with a combinationof personal hiking and reports from hikers on http://www.santabarbarahikes.com/ If you hike in the Santa Barbara area you should get his maps.
I wanted to talk more about just the use of topo maps in hiking. For photography topo maps can be just as indispensible. Knowing what direction a valley runs or the direction of a rock face in respect to the sun gives you a huge amount of information about an area before you get there. You can plan your shots and know when you need to be where and what time of year based on where the sun rises. Of course newer tech makes this even easier. Google earth has the flying mode that can be used to pre-visualize a shot. Spending some time ahead of a trip (even if its down the street) can allow you to find the shot you want faster. Of course you should always explore and experiment because things like google earth won’t tell you anything about weather for the day you decide to your intended location.
September 7, 2009
Topo Maps
February 23, 2009
Flowers
Around here flowers are starting to show up. On my drive home the medians are showing lots of lupine and a few fiddlenecks. In the mountains about a week ago I saw a few shooting stars. There was just a light mist falling so it made a nice looking flower shot. So I just wanted to share a few tips on how to shoot flowers.
I think the biggest thing one can do to improve a flower shot is look around. Take a look at whats behind. Try to find a background for the flower with a nice color. When I’m taking flower shots I’ll look around and try to find a background color that will look nice with the dominate color of the flower I’m shooting. As example when I’m shooting lupine I like to find some poppies for a background and the opposite is true for poppies. Once you find a background you want you need to blur it to remove detail. The point is to have a background that is just a color with maybe some nice shapes (mainly blobs of color). To blur the background simply dial your aperture to the biggest you can get it. Depending on your lens that could be anywhere from 4.5 to 1.2. On a few lenses it will have a wider aperture but it your lens has a wider lens that even something like 2.8 you probably don’t need these tips.
So a quick side note. The wider the aperture the shorter the depth of field and the more your background will be blurred.
It can be hard in the field to find a background that is nice but its definitely worth the effort to spend a little time looking.
Oh by the way I have to credit Marc Muench on this tip as well as pretty much everything else I know about photography.
July 30, 2008
Star Trails
Since I’ve seen a few posts requesting how to do those star trails pictures I thought I would do a quick post on it.
So first thing Star Trail pictures are really easy. What you need is a camera that supports a bulb mode (usually marked B). Most point and shoots do not support a bulb mode. The second thing you need is a tripod. Finally you need a locking cable release or intervalometer. Optional items would be a captains chair or some other folding chair a jacket and a mocha.
Now for the hard part. Set up your tripod point the camera so there is some sky showing. Lock the cable release on, have a seat in the chair and enjoy your mocha. After sometime (the longer you wait the long the star trail) close the shutter. That’s basically it. As long as there is no ambient light except stars you can leave the shutter on as long as you want you have no light to blow out anything.
The few gotchas are the aperture, the ISO rating and the direction.
First the aperture set the aperture to the optimum of the lens. The optimum is usually f8. You set the aperture to the optimum because you are going to set the focus to infinity. With the focus on infinity you need the aperture set to best setting for the lens.
Next the ISO setting. There are trade offs with the ISO. The lower the ISO the less stars will be distinguished but the less any ambient light will be captured. During my playing the best ISO setting I’ve found is 400. Usually the reason to lower the ISO as low as you can is to reduce noise but since the shutter will be open for minutes or hours the noise will come from the long exposure more than the ISO setting.
Finally direction. The “Great Circle” of stars is centered around Polaris (the North Star) in the northern hemisphere. The North Star can be located by first finding the little dipper. The two stars furthest from the handle, the outside wall of the dipper points (from the bottom up) to the North Star.
The other things to look out for are to make sure it’s as dark as possible. Even the light from a street light can become too bright when the shutter is open for 30mins. If the moon is up you will probably have to limit your exposure time to 20mins.
So if you are stuck taking a shot with ambient light you can figure out how long you can leave the shutter open fairly easily. If you’re like me you don’t have a light meter that will work in the dark. What I do is set the camera to aperture mode dial the ISO up to the max (3200 in my camera) and then adjust the aperture until the shutter adjusts down to 30sec. From there I can drop the ISO down to 400, each full ISO setting down doubles the time (1600, 800, 400). So down to 400 would increase the shutter time from 30secs to 4mins. Since the aperture is usually at 2.8 to bring it up to f8 that’s three full stops (f4, f5.6, f8). So from 2.8 to 8 the time moves from 4mins to 32mins (8mins, 16mins, 32mins). That’s how I figure out the maximum time I can leave the shutter open without blowing things out. The thing to keep in mind is with that little light you can usually double the time because depending on the response of the sensor or film it takes more light than normal to start registering. The other thing to remember one stop beyond 32mins would be 1hr 4mins (each stop is a doubling of time) and one stop again would be 2hrs 8mins, etc.
March 4, 2008
High Dynamic Range Images
There are a number of ways of doing HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographs. There are some good programs out there that make creating HDR photos very easy. Photomatix is one program that has gotten a lot of good reviews recently. With their software and a few shots you can get that shot that was very difficult until recently.
Actually the last line is only half true. Photomatix does make it a very easy to create HDR images but its not the only way. I’ve been creating HDR images with Photoshop for a few years by using layers. Starting with either, a few shots bracketed or a single raw shot processed to different exposures. I open the shots in Photoshop. Starting with the shot with the most amount of image the way I want I copy the other images to layers on the first image. Next I add hide all layer masks to each of the layers except for the background layer. Finally I select the layer mask of the different layers and grab the eraser tool, set the size to the size of the detail I want and change the opacity to some where below 100% (even as low as single digit opacity). With the eraser tool I start erasing the portion of the mask I don’t want (which causes the portion of the layers that I’m working with to show through). This paints in the detail from the different layers on top of the background giving me the image I envisioned (saw) when took the shot. After this is all done and I have the image I want I usually add a curve layer for black and white points and adjust the midtones.
October 8, 2007
Constructive Criticism
Here I am sitting in an airport so I thought I would blog (hmm sounds like a limerick seen in bathroom stalls).
Critiquing / constructive criticism or how to give a critique has been covered ad nauseam do a quick google and you will find a description of how to give one. I want to talk about accepting constructive criticism. Constructive criticism has caused so much hurt not because the person giving it doesn’t perform it correctly but because the person receiving it doesn’t receive it correctly. The person getting the critique is usually a very inexperienced photographer and so they haven’t learned to take a picture of something, they are still taking a picture of a memory. They take pictures to capture a reminder of how they felt at that time and place. The photographer usually has great emotional attachment to the time and place captured in the image. They take this emotional piece of themselves and ask a stranger to tell them what they think of their memory. The stranger doesn’t know that the flat picture of a beach is a picture of the last day of the best vacation the photographer ever had they see a poorly composed clich√ɬ© beach snapshot. When you ask some one to critique a picture you have to remember they can’t see the emotion you have for the picture and they shouldn’t see it. You asked them to look at a piece of paper that has some colors and shapes on it (or a file with said properties). When they tell you the light is flat or there is no subject or the flow of the lines draws their eye off the picture they’re not attacking you they are trying to tell you what emotions and reactions they have to the picture. Listen to what they have to say and ask them what they like and what they don’t like try to look at the picture through the filter of their description. When you’re out shooting and you look out at that beach with your patient significant other standing next to you take a reminder shot but then look again and see how the light looks, is it flat does it accentuate the ripples in the sand or make them disappear look at the curve of the shoreline. As your standing there remember what the reviewer said, is there something you did right in that picture you can do again, is there something you can do differently so you don’t make the same mistakes you did last time. You should remember a good critique and try and improve you photography with it. The critique should be a tool that you can use to carve away the filter of your emotions to see what is beautiful or repulsive in front of you so you can capture it and share it. Always remember a good critique is not an attack on you remember they are trying to help you. They are trying to help you improve your photography.
Oh by the way we went to Kauai for our anniversary trip.
August 14, 2007
Travel
So I have a few more days before my wife and I head off for our anniversary trip to .. (just incase Lillian is reading this before we go on our trip). There is something very different about traveling with someone you love and business trips (obviously). I’ve been quite a few places because of business and I’ve enjoyed my trips for the most part, but I didn’t realize how much more the trips with my wife mean to me until last week. I was taking a walk at one of my regular lunch time walk places when I came across one of the first Miracle Lilies of the season. The first time I ever noticed a Miracle Lily was on an anniversary trip to Napa. Now when I see a Miracle Lily it’s always associated with that trip and the wonderful feelings it brings back are almost overwhelming. We’re like every one else we have good days and bad days but the worst trip with my wife is better than best trip without her.
I’m getting very excited about the trip and hope to make this as wonderful as the last one my wife planned. The one she planned was perfect. We stayed in San Diego on Coronado Island at the Marriott. I remember talking to one of my co-workers maybe a year before that trip about what the tourists do in San Diego and we couldn’t understand what would bring people there. I think we thought of the San Diego Zoo and Sea World and couldn’t come up with anything else to do. My wife really surprised me and showed me why people go to San Diego time and time again. We did all kinds of fun stuff while we were there. We of course did the usual, we went to the San Diego Zoo wild animal park and we went to Balboa Park. We also went kayaking, which we had never done as well as snorkeling which we had never done either. We went hiking at Torrey Pines (a wonderfully rugged state reserve worth visiting if you are in San Diego). All these things that I didn’t know you could do in San Diego she found. She really did a lot of work to make the trip very special.
When I do a business trip it’s of course for a specific task so any personal travel/exploration/photography have to be done around my work schedule so usually I can only go places no further than about 1hr from my work location. Usually what I do before I go someplace or as soon as I land, is grab a map find a green spot (city/state/national parks are green on maps) and go exploring. In my travels I’ve found small towns and great parks. Many places I’ve found are only places locals go to because its not worth traveling any great distance to, or at least it doesn’t seem to be worth the trip until you get there.
I plan to combine some of my business travel experience with this trip and try and go to some of the places that may not make the top ten list of places to visit where we are going. Hopefully by combining my business travel experience with a planned trip I’ll be able to give my wife the kind of memories that she has given to me.
So what does this have to do with photography? Actually this has a lot to do with photography. Being forced to travel to places I wouldn’t normally go has taught me to try and create my own “tripod holes”. It’s great to go to the places that the masters like Marc Muench ( 
), David Muench, Ansel Adams and others have created great images at, but my best images were created in places that never make it on the list of places to go for that “perfect shot”. When you go traveling get out the map and find those green spots.
April 15, 2007
Shoes
When I started hiking I bought water proof boots. I was so worried about dry feet I made sure the boots I bought would stay dry when I stomping through ankle high water. I hiked in those for about 3 months and then it finally rained in my area. Of course the boots didn’t keep my feet dry. So I went back to my local store and found mid-calf hunting boots. I thought those will keep my feet dry. I realized after my first hike with these new boots that the old boots were horrible. With the old boots I always came back with sore feet. When I got back after a hike with these new boots my feet didn’t hurt and my feet were dry. That year I got a chance to get out once in the wet season and never encountered water. No water but by golly those 5lbs boots were going to keep my feet dry. The following year I took a backpacking class at the local community college. The instructor, at that time had hiked the John Muir Trail 12 times, taking anywhere from 11 to 14days. He seemed to know what he was doing. On the subject of foot wear he said he only hikes in new balance. On the subject of wet feet. He said around here its never wet (which is basically true), and in the sierras he said ‘the only thing that would keep you dry are hip waders. If there aren’t rocks to use or a log or a bridge you’re going to get wet. Take off the pack tie your shoes to it and hold it above your head.’ Finally on the subject of footwear he said ‘why would you want so much weight on your feet so you can keep your feet dry. Your feet dry don’t they and how wet does it really get here.’ I hiked in sneakers for a few years until my wife suggested that maybe I should get some hiking shoes for a half-dome hike. My response to that was why would I want to put more weight on my feet the sneakers are fine. I continued in sneakers for a few more months wearing the same shoes for my hikes as I wore to work (I wear jeans, t-shirt and sneakers to work). One day at lunch I went to a local trail and started out crossing a creek. Horrors of horrors my feet got wet. Well I wasn’t worried they’ll dry. They did but not before I got a few comments on the ‘interesting odor’ in my office. I figured maybe having a second pair of shoes for hiking would be a good idea. What I ended up with were hiking shoes that looked about like sneakers, a little heavier than my normal shoes but breathable. In the end what was driving my purchase decision wasn’t what I should have been concerned with. I was ignoring comfort, and weight just so I could keep my feet dry.
January 26, 2007
Wrong Lens
Just a quick thought. Next time you go to your favorite spot that you’ve been to before take the wrong lens or the wrong camera. About a year ago I went to Limekiln (my favorite close spot) with my step daughter. I had her use my 20d with the only wide angle lens I had at that point. I had my 35mm film slr and a 70-210mm lens to use. Because I wasn’t using my preferred setup I had to look at things differently. I was seeing the same landscape that I’ve seen many times before but with a new eye/restriction. I ended up with completely new compositions on some scenes that I’ve shot many times before. I saw shots in that area that I hadn’t seen before, which is tough with a total trail length of 1.5 miles in very narrow canyons. I was beginning to shoot the same thing the same way because I brought the same equipment and the same attitude. By changing the camera/lens I also brought a new attitude. Try it some time you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.
November 26, 2006
Monarchs
Its monarch time again on the west coast. This is the beginning of the monarch migration. Now, on the west coast, the monarchs are starting to collect by the thousands in weather protected groves from Mexico all the way up to the San Francisco area.
I stopped by a local monarch grove (Pismo state park) about a week ago and the count was at 7600. A good start and enough to think about going there to get that perfect Monarch Butterfly picture.
They have docents there as well as a trailer where you can buy lots of things you don’t need. Additionally they have a short class on monarchs a couple times a day.
If you’re in the area it’s definitely worth a stop (plan 1hr or more if you have a camera with you).
Here’s a map to the Pismo location
http://hutsonphotography.com/map/butterflys.jsp
The monarchs are my version of the fall colors (since the closest good fall colors are a more than 6 hours away). I always enjoy going to both the Pismo site and the Goleta site (also on the map) and always come back with at least one decent shot.
Just an interesting side note I saw an article at Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061120060308.htm) that seems to indicate that the reduction of monarch populations at the migration sites is possibly due to reduced food sources. They did studies and areas where they restored forests there was an increase in monarchs at the migration sites.