another side of Vegas

1, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

I was quite surprised to find that Las Vegas had some new buildings which would have made for some interesting architecture shots. The skies also had just the right amount of clouds to help make it interesting. Unfortunately I did not have the time to set up the long exposure shots to produce the shots that I thought would result in. Maybe another time...

alien

The day was plain for a good part as it was grey and overcast. So I tried slow shutter speeds to try and create more dramatic photos and this was one of the more successful ones. Good light would be preferable but when on the road with family it often isn't possible.



via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/fu1ESp

17-mile drive

In a bit of an unpredictable day with basically running around with a bunch of relatives, the good photos came out unexpectedly as the sun was at times covered by clouds and at times shown through. The viewpoints also came unexpectedly and came more from experimentation than anything else. I specially liked this image.



via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/ftC6DV

Rodeo Cove

I wonder sometimes why I bother coming at the bad times for photography as the results are never as good. No matter the composition without the golden hour colours they just don't come out as well. And in addition I never got to the spot where the better viewpoints were as they were in the far off distance...or at least too far to walk as others were waiting. Sigh...



via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/fsUpVZ

lone tree

A few minutes before this it was just plain grey. Then the light appeared and transformed the scene. It was so easy after that.



via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/fmx6NK

as luck would have it

I've been to this area quite a few times but never at the right time. This time was different. After driving around the area we got into the Ansel "lone tree" area. The sky was grey and overcast and the first few shots were so-so. Then the sun broke through and the resulting light was incredible, It was point and shoot after that and very little PP was necessary. I could be so lucky all the time.



via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/fmyXpE

slow summer day on Sunset Beach

20130716-Vancouver_SunsetBeach_DSC9449, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

I didn't think the time lapse would work (but it did) so I tried a more traditional slow exposure shot (5 minutes) stacking 2 ND filters (10-stop and 8-stop). I've been wanting to do this on recognizable Vancouver figures but never got around to it. Will have to make a point of doing it when the clouds are out.

slow summer day on Sunset Beach

20130716-Vancouver_SunsetBeach_DSC9444 a video by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

My first real attempt at time lapse photography. The D800 makes it real easy as it makes a mov (video) file out of it automatically. Not bad for a first try. Photo taken every 10 seconds for 20 minutes.

technique for exposure

upload, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

I used to flip-flop between matrix, center and spot metering as the situation changed and found it not to be not as consistent as I would want. So based on a tip on the web, I went to matrix-metering 99% of the time. Matrix-metering is what we pay for when we buy a camera so it works quite well. Of course it will still have problems when there is back lighting or dark or white areas. So the trick is to shoot with matrix setting first, check the LCD and adjust the exposure compensation until satisfied.

Queen E Sunset

20130705-Vancouver_QueenESunset_DSC9393, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

I wanted to start taking landscape photos from the top of Queen E since it is a high point in the city and close by. It meant using a long lens and I used my longest lens (80-400) which is supposed to be sharp up to 300mm. The end results required about 100mm in which case the 80-200mm would have been sufficient and a better quality lens. It was a comedy of errors..I started by using my daily settings instead of using my landscape mode. Which resulted in blurry images as it didn't have that lag after pressing. I eventually switched to my landscape mode at which point it got a little sharper. But the VR mode could have caused some blur and the focusing at the buildings instead of 100 yards in front of where I was meant the DOF was incorrect. Sigh...at least it was a cloudless night and the result couldn't have been any good anyway. Good chance to practice.

North Falls

North Falls a video by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

So here was my first hike from an app with a website that shared hiking trails.A good lead to areas to explore. The GPS was a handy guide to help from getting lost- the initial reason that I wanted a GPS app and it does help one to get back to the starting point. A great guide as it helps to know what is around a location. But a trail that on paper looks fairly easy...turned out to be a real hard one. It was drizzling almost the entire 3 1/2 hours that I walked and the heavy backpack that I carried didn't help.Groaan...

20130610-Vancouver_SunnyDay_DSC8176

20130610-Vancouver_SunnyDay_DSC8176, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

My biggest problem has always been getting into pre-conceived ideas. Like using a wide-angle for landscape and a long lens for close-ups. So scenery like this passes by me as being too far. I would still like some foreground which can only be done with a wider-angle lens but the 80-200 does a great job of bringing the mountains closer. I suppose this is because my 'cropping' skills have improved..hence the more use. But this just dawned on me this morning.

golden ratio composition

golden ratio, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

As I go over some old images and try to see how they fit into the Lightroom crop guides (thirds, diagonal, triangle, golden ratio, golden spiral) I am surprised that the ones I like fit into one of the categories. This one fell into the golden ratio concept.

golden spiral

20130525-Vancouver_OnThe WayToWork_DSC8101, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

Stumbled again on the concept of the golden spiral. Actually understood it this time but didn't execute it well enough this afternoon. Basically a composition technique almost similar to the rule of thirds. Found it as a processing design tool in Lightroom among other concepts that I will need to use when possible.

Skagit Spring driveby

Skagit Spring, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

Quite lucky to decide to drive through the Skagit Valley areas. Turned out that daffodels were in full bloom and when stopping by one of the fields came upon this lady who was quite nice to talk to me. There was an old apple tree just beside the house (just out of camera range on the right) where her boy friend's parents were buried and she requested that I take a photo of the tree which I did. Just before that I asked to take her photo in front of the fields of daffodils and here it is.

dof

dof, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

It took me a while to figure out depth of field as I initially shot in P mode. Got bored with that and decided to learn the various modes of which aperture mode was one. So along came the understanding of dof. A more detailed explanation is here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm. Basically for a certain focal lenght and distances there is a depth of field (dof) which is a distance in front of and behind where the camera is focused at.. Simplistically is is 1/3 in front and 2/3 from the point of focus. This can be calculated and there are calculators for doing so: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html. The important thing is if you know the dof in back of the point of focus you can just move backwards or forwards to blur/focus on the background.

rim light education

rim lights, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

As much as you study lighting techniques using strobes, you really learn much more by seeing. I was sitting on the bus and on the other side of the bus another person sat. The seat had 2 strip lights on each side and it was amazing to see the rim light effect it created on the man. I was tempted to ask for a photo but ended up taking a self-portrait using my IPhone. I'll have to try this on my next shoot.

good-bye to Posterous

Posterous was fun to use. It was easy to post blog entries via email but it has been shut down so now it's posting directly to blogger via email.

midnight fog

midnight fog, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

Another after work shot of Science World...I noticed it was foggy just as I was pulling out of National Yard so I thought why not. A few different possibilities but it was cold and the metal on the camera and tripod just about gave me frostbite. Or at least it felt like it in the end. As often as I come by and take photos I find the different weather and light conditions to provide an interesting variety of shots.

Eastside morning

good morning, a photo by SlowManLuis2011 on Flickr.

I wanted to try a sunrise/sunset shot from this vantage point and I am not too keen on it. It is tougher to shoot when it is towards the sun. Seems like my more successful shots are when it is opposite the sun or away from it. Or maybe it's the foreground that isn't suitable. But this vantage point has been good when there are lots of clouds on an cloudy day and not at sunrise/sunset.