Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 73 mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

And we’re back from the desert. I returned home from Las Vegas, and Photoshop World, yesterday after five days of non-stop photography-related fun. And, I have a massive head cold to prove it.

While Photoshop World ended mid-Friday, my mate, Jacob, and I stayed through Sunday night to try and do some shooting outside of the city. We rented a car and headed to Red Rocks Canyon and Valley of Fire National Park. Both were simply gorgeous, even during the mid-day with the harsh light coming down. One of the themes that I had in mind was to get some windy road shots. It has been a while since I last visited the southwest and I always love how open the roads are to passing traffic. You can park your vehicle and take all the time you need to set up and get a cool shot. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll share a few different vantage points of these roads, all showcasing the way they wind around and how they fit within the gorgeous natural landscape.

This road leads you directly into the entrance of Valley of Fire. We had a great time zipping through it from one end to the other. There really never is enough time but I’m so glad that we got to experience some of these amazing landscapes.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM, 14mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

By the time you read this, I’ll likely be running around somewhere within Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas. I’m attending the Photoshop World Expo. If you’re there too, please swing by and say hi! I’ll be leading the APC HDR Walkshop tonight and will be presenting at both OnOne Software‘s booth (on Thursday at 2PM and Friday at 11AM) and at APC‘s booth (throughout the Expo).  As such, I’ve pre-built each daily post thru Monday, when I return home. Text content may be a little light on these posts, as I’m scrambling to make sure that I packed enough boxer shorts.

The scene above was a great example of setting your tripod and camera down while you go to rest from your hike, and you place it in a way that frames a shot wonderfully. We had just reached the summit of the Bubble Rock trail in Acadia and I set the camera down so that I could collapse and catch my breath. After resting up for 15 minutes or so, I decided to flip on the Live View to start composing. What I saw required no further movement or adjustments. It was just perfect to me. It had a little bit of everything that I love to see in a nature landscape shot. So, I metered, programmed the Promote, and bracketed away.

Serendipity can be such a nice thing.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, 25mm, F 18, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposure

There was a time when I would just dread taking brackets of a scene like this one – with the people introducing themselves as non-stop moving elements. It would require masking and blending and lots of time. And it would have been a shame, too, because the sunset was truly brilliant. And then Photomatix 4 beta came into my life. I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to be on the HDRSoft private beta team for about six months now and it has been amazing to how far it has been developed. And it’s great that they finally released the beta to the public.

Now, with the ‘semi anti-ghosting’ feature that is built in, all I do is draw a selection around the moving elements, select a bracket to source from, and Photomatix does the rest in terms of blending. I have to tip my hat to these guys. I’ve used this feature on a number of occasions now and I’ve been impressed each time. It’s an exciting time on the HDR front, I tell ya.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye, 15mm, F 11, ISO 100, HDR, 5 Exposures

This is one of my favorite types of images… and not just because it’s got my hometown of Brooklyn, NY in the distance (but that helps!). What makes me really dig this shot is the different scenarios that play out in my head just by looking at it. The most effective way to get someone to create scenarios in their minds about what’s going on in the frame is to introduce elements that can be juxtaposed nicely. In this instance – you have the Staten Island beach and you have… a hatch. Or is it a hatch? If it is a hatch, what is below it? But if it isn’t a hatch, could it be something else? A piece of a ship’s hull? What happened to the ship. Is it somewhere below the Verrazano?

So many question. So many answers. I love it.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM, 14mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

I love being able to use the elements as a primary character in a shot. I admit that I don’t really do it as often as I’d like… especially with the elements of my choosing. Notably, I’d love to incorporate fog, mist and lightning more but we simply don’t get much of that during the summer season… at least in the Boston area. Once it starts to cool off, the likelihood of fog will climb and I’ll be out, roaming around in the early morning. It instantly adds so much character that it’s easy to notice its allure.

In the scene above, I was in the middle of little rest stop on the way to the summit of the South Bubble trail in Acadia National Park. There was something pretty fantastic about seeing the fog move by so quickly. One second, you have no visibility and the next, you have a view of the shot above.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, 24mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

This is another shot from the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine. Given the fact that this is the area where the sun first lands on the US during half of the year, sunrise shooting in the area is pretty popular but I opted to take my chances with shooting as the sun made its exit for the night… and I couldn’t have been more pleased.

With a shot like this, it’s easy to get into a sort of wide-eyes paralysis in trying to get a strong composition. There is simply so much splendor – it really is a visual feast. And in these situations when timing is such a crucial factor, with each minute brining changes in color, quality and amount of light, keeping a level head and a game plan is very important. You can really approach this two different ways:

• You can start spraying away and grabbing as many frames as possible. There is certainly merit to this and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t taken this approach in their own photo adventures. You’re simply playing on the law of averages that by taking a large number of shots, you expect at least a few frames to be keepers. My best piece of advice here is to make sure you are changing your angle, position, and vantage point often. Don’t end up with 1,000 frames from the same spot of the same scene.
• You can hedge your bets on taking fewer shots and spend the time composing. Now, it’s important to note that spending more time composing and less time shooting doesn’t guarantee any sort of notable increase in how compelling your image may turn out. But, what it may afford you is more methodology in what you capture.

Again, I definitely find virtues in both ways of shooting. I tend to assume that photographers will opt for the first method when they are visiting a scene that they don’t routinely have access to whereas others may forfeit exposure quantity for methodology when they can return to that scene with ease. Ultimately, I urge you to do whatever jives most with your style of shooting because you really are your own best resource.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, 24mm, F 14, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

The isle of Capri was one of the most visually pleasing cities that I had visited during my two-week trip around Italy. You could literally turn in any direction and be treated to some sort of gorgeous shot. I was also really lucky to visit during a gorgeous Golden Hour and sunset.

Golden Hour is a term that photographers commonly refer to as the arbitrary hour or so before the sun sets for the night.  Golden Hour is one of the most popular, and visually pleasing, times to shoot during the day because your scene is usually bathed in the gorgeous warm light that adds immense depth and character.  Buildings, people, landscapes – they all take on a new look when they are enveloped in the golden hour sun.

I find there are two ways that you can approach Golden Hour:

1. Randomly - There have been tons of times when I’ll be walking around the city, turn the corner, and be greeted by a scene that looks amazing primarily because of the gorgeous light that is caked on.  This is usually followed by a Keanu Reeves inspired, “Whoa”, and an abrupt plop down of my tripod.
2. Methodically - It is my belief that this option is not one that is used as often. This is not a slight at all. I just believe that we do not really put as much research around where scenes stand to benefit optimally during Golden Hour. This can be a combination of taking where you live for granted by saying “oh, I can always come back tomorrow” or simply because you prefer spontaneity. But, I challenge you to give it a try. Do some research on the location that you live in or around. Look into the time that sunset is expected to occur and plan backwards accordingly. Run a search on Flickr or Google Images to see what others have shot already (partly so that you can try to add your own unique take to the scene). Finally, walk around the area during that time and just look. Instead of focusing on getting a shot with your camera, start crafting ideas in your mind, plan it out, and return the next day (or the next opportunity when you get similar light).

To wrangle it back to the image above of Capri, for this shot, I went with the Methodical approach. I knew that I was going to Capri and I knew that it would involve a trip up the Funicolar.  So, I did some searches and used the online tools that I had at my disposal to see what I should expect. I had an idea in mind of how I wanted to frame my shot and I looked up the expected time for sunset. As luck would have it, time was on my side and I was able to make Golden Hour accordingly to plan and sketch out a shot that I had envisioned.

Both methods are rewarding and, hopefully, you’ll be treated with some beautiful shots no matter how you approach it. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. How do you all of you approach Golden Hour shooting?

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, 24mm, F 20, ISO 100, HDR, 4 Exposures, B+W 3.0 10-Stop ND Filter

Do you ever get that feeling when you fondly look at a photo that you recently took and it feels like you took it years ago? You remember bits and pieces of what it felt like to stand there but the memory is almost wholly faded. I guess that is one of my favorite draws with photography. It is your chronicle, your book of records, your life journal. I do remember standing on this precipice, waiting for my long exposure brackets to complete and partly praying that my tripod doesn’t slip and send my camera crashing into the Atlantic. And sure, there are some missing and fuzzy pieces. Like, I know that there was a distinct smell of ocean spray but I cannot remember it at all. I know that there was the ever-calming sounds of the waves undulating but the only sound I have in my head is that stock wave sound you hear when you walk into a Brookstones.

I guess that is what I really love about photography. I love talking to other photographers and learning what bits and pieces fashion the memory that they have of the shots that they have taken. Storytellers in action.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM, 14mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

It should come as no great surprise when I say that nature photography is not my strong suit.  I’ve heard the same sort of utterance by many photographer friends who say, ‘oh, portrait/wedding/lifestyle/street/etc photography isn’t my strong suit’.  In the same breath, I say, ‘Rubbish’.  What sort of excuse should I give myself, or anyone for that matter, for not taking the time and making the effort to get a compelling shot regardless of where I am or what I am shooting?

Sure, a forest scene is not where you’d typically find me but if I do happen to find myself in such a locale and I have my camera with me, you can bet that I’ll be applying whatever lessons about nature photography that I can remember and doing my best to find something cool to shoot.  The same applies when I am shooting a wedding or a quick portrait for a friend.  We’re photographers.  We are not limited to any particular genre.  Just because you don’t know how to use a strobe doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use a strobe, as it were.

Go out. Experiment. Fail. Refine. Experiment more. Succeed. Before you know it, you will transcend the internal boundaries that you have imposed on yourself and you will start finding new levels of confidence that you never thought was possible.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, 24mm, F 18, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

Ahhhh, it feels good to be back home after five days of camping in Acadia National Park, Maine.

It just so happens that is exactly where we find ourselves in the shot above.  This sunset image was taken at the summit of Cadillac Mountain last night. During the autumn and winter seasons, it is the first place in the US where the sunrise hits the country (it first shines on Mars Hill during the Spring and Summer seasons).  Because my days were filled with various hiking/paddling activities de rigueur, I didn’t really try to get up extra early for sunrise. Instead, I pressed my luck on getting a nice sunset and I was definitely not disappointed.  It had been pretty cloudy for most of the day and I knew that if the clouds stuck around, I’d be in good shape.

Normally, in a scene like the one above that has so many moving elements, I’d mask in the best features.  But, I was really pleased with the sense of motion that the ghosting trees brings to the scene, so I opted to leave it as-is during post.

Here’s another little tip: if you want to try and get a sunburst effect from the sun (or any other bright light source), narrow your aperture to about f/16 or smaller. The sweet spot aperture varies based on the lens that you use but play around with it.  I wholeheartedly believe that effective use of a sunburst can add all sorts of great character to a scene.