Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, June 27, 2011
Lake Powell Trip
Every year we look forward to LP. One of our favorite corners of the world. Plenty of family time, swimming, food, hikes, laughs and photo opportunities. Every evening you can look forward to breathtaking sunsets and vistas. Sometimes within a .5 mile hike away.
This is where I ran out of shade... We were on a long hike and one of the boys forgot to bring sandles and it was the hottest part of the day. It got to the point where you couldn't walk bare feet without burning your feet. I ended up giving Mason my shoes and staying back. I had about 18" of shade along this wall, so I laid down to take a nap while the rest of the group continued hiking. This was my view as I laid on my back.
This is where I ran out of shade... We were on a long hike and one of the boys forgot to bring sandles and it was the hottest part of the day. It got to the point where you couldn't walk bare feet without burning your feet. I ended up giving Mason my shoes and staying back. I had about 18" of shade along this wall, so I laid down to take a nap while the rest of the group continued hiking. This was my view as I laid on my back.
Back Against The Wall
Need to post. Summer is full bore now. RickyBobby and I wanted to get a sweet shot of double arch. We had to hike high to the very outer wall, attach my 10.5 fisheye super wide angle lens and I literally had to put my head against the wall to fit everything I wanted. I went with a 9 exposure HDR on this because there was SO much variation in light. It was actually quite dark where I was and very light at the openings. The 10.5 FE will explain the curvature of the earth in the photo, but I don't mind it one bit.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Dead Horse Point - Canyonlands
Dark and dreary skies has been the story for me lately. I watched the weather for weeks before our trip, anxious to have beautiful weather. It was looking good until about 5 days before the trip and the forecast took a turn for the worst. It seems whenever we go somewhere that is supposed to have epic photo opportunities it is gray and over cast. I really shouldn't complain too much because we really lucked out. It was snowing the whole time back home in SLC and we just had cooler temperatures and wind. I try to make the best of it and keep a good attitude. When conditions are crappy I usually turn to HDR (high dynamic range) photography. This is a process of capturing multiple pictures in the same place at different exposure values. You need to capture at least 3 frames but it can be up to 9. Later is post, these images are placed on top of each other and with the help of software it can provide an almost surreal result that can be quite pleasing to the eye. When lighting is bad and everything is flat and lacks dimension I like to experiment with this. Some people like - some people hate. I happen to like it but I like it with caution as it is to get carried away with results sometimes and can ruin an image very quickly.
This is at Dead Horse Point state park - near Canyonlands National Park. Both of these pics were 9 exposure HDR shots.
This is at Dead Horse Point state park - near Canyonlands National Park. Both of these pics were 9 exposure HDR shots.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Kauai Hawaii Fav's
My wife and I took advantage of our 10 year anniversary and headed to Kaua'i Hawaii. What a treat it was and I anticipated a very serious travel photography opportunity. I had been gearing up for a while. My friend / business partner, RickyBobby had been there a year before and we talked a bit about what to expect - it was really helpful.
Day 1 turned out to be Epic. Weather seemed to be perfect, as it should be in Hawaii. We headed for the beach after a 5am morning jog and were able to produce some fun shots.
10.5, 1/160, iso200, f16
The next day it rained. It rained a lot. The day after that it rained and rained a lot. At this point the frustration starts to set in. Although I must say that we did NOT lope around and do nothing. The 2 days were overcast, but the rain was hit and miss and on the miss part we were taking advantage of it. We were able to do some hiking, beach exploring, volleyball, hotel exploring, pool hoping and sight seeing. Looking back I don't feel we missed out on too much. While eating lunch another friend called, that happened to be in Hawaii at the same time. They advised to make sure we visited the Queens Bath. We did and are sure glad we did. The seas were very rough and you didn't want to get too close, because that would be the end. Well, we made the best of the dark and dreary skies.
1/10, f22, 18mm, iso200,
1/125, f11, 18mm, iso200
The Queens Bath
I can't, for the life of me, remember the name of this lighthouse, but it was pretty cool.
Whale watching was a highlight. Our tour had to be rescheduled a couple times, but it was an absolute must in my eyes. We finally were able to find an ok day. The skies were overcast for the most part so I tried desperately to get any kind of background that wasn't blaaa. This is my favorite tail shot.
I showed up with my 18-200 (a must travel lens) on my body. I also came prepared with a 70-200 2.8 and a 2xTC (doubler). I was thinking I would need a little extra reach. Well, as soon as we got into the animals, I took about 10 shots with the 2xTC on and ripped that baby off. Not because I didn't like it, because I didn't need it. These things were right up close to our boat. A couple of times we could have touched these critters. AMAZING. So I shot the whole time with the 70-200 - it was the perfect lens of choice.
I thought this picture gave a nice creepy Jaws effect. I really just like it because of the cutout ridges in the fin and how it lined up with the boat.
Upper end Nikon lenses come with VR (vibration reduction) which is a stabilization tool I swear by. There are 2 settings on the lens - Normal VR or Active VR. I read somewhere to always keep it set to Normal. Unless you are shooting from a boat or something really unstable. I thought I was pretty cool to switch my lens to Active VR. I know, strange. I will say though it definitely helped while trying to photograph spinner dolphins. By far the hardest animal I have photographed. They are SO fast and SUPER aerobatic and interestingly enough, they hang with the whales too. I learned to predict where they were going to jump next and was able to get one perfect tac sharp shot of this guy...
Not so sharp, but an inverted shot...
Another activity I was excited about was a doorless helicopter ride. The last 2 days of the vacation were decent as far as weather went. We saved the ride for the last day. I was very reluctant to go because it was VERY expensive and I didn't want to spend the money to go up and see some clouds... The pilot assured me that if it wasn't going to be good he would turn around and give us a refund. We took his word and it ended up being a Godly experience that I will never forget. There is no other way to explore the coast. I just had do do a doorless helicopter - I know spoiled - but with my dad being a pilot I get a lot of opportunities to be in the air and I've shot too many pictures through the window of an airplane. So when the opportunity of a doorless helicopter presented itself, I was game :) A goal of mine was to get some shot of the Hawaii green lushness against Windex blue ocean. I'm thinking of framing this one...
Believe it or not this shot ^^^ was actually a series of 7 vertical shots that were stitched together in PS5. It was a desperate long shot, shooting out of a chopper and all, but PS5 never ceases to amaze me with it's stitching power. Seriously, when I started working on it, I didn't think it would work, but it did ok.
Water falls are not in short supply in Hawaii.
A sunset shot was a must for me too. Our opportunities were few but we took advantage.
(photo credit - Brownie)
Miss Mo got in on the action and took this shot of me taking a picture of Brownie and Nikki. I love it. It was taken with a Canon, of all things. ;)
Over all an once in a lifetime trip, although I hope to be back soon. I truly feel blessed to be able to experience something like this with the love of my life - no not my camera, my wife ;)
INVITE CODE 1518-782842
Day 1 turned out to be Epic. Weather seemed to be perfect, as it should be in Hawaii. We headed for the beach after a 5am morning jog and were able to produce some fun shots.
10.5, 1/160, iso200, f16
The next day it rained. It rained a lot. The day after that it rained and rained a lot. At this point the frustration starts to set in. Although I must say that we did NOT lope around and do nothing. The 2 days were overcast, but the rain was hit and miss and on the miss part we were taking advantage of it. We were able to do some hiking, beach exploring, volleyball, hotel exploring, pool hoping and sight seeing. Looking back I don't feel we missed out on too much. While eating lunch another friend called, that happened to be in Hawaii at the same time. They advised to make sure we visited the Queens Bath. We did and are sure glad we did. The seas were very rough and you didn't want to get too close, because that would be the end. Well, we made the best of the dark and dreary skies.
1/10, f22, 18mm, iso200,
1/125, f11, 18mm, iso200
The Queens Bath
I can't, for the life of me, remember the name of this lighthouse, but it was pretty cool.
Whale watching was a highlight. Our tour had to be rescheduled a couple times, but it was an absolute must in my eyes. We finally were able to find an ok day. The skies were overcast for the most part so I tried desperately to get any kind of background that wasn't blaaa. This is my favorite tail shot.
I showed up with my 18-200 (a must travel lens) on my body. I also came prepared with a 70-200 2.8 and a 2xTC (doubler). I was thinking I would need a little extra reach. Well, as soon as we got into the animals, I took about 10 shots with the 2xTC on and ripped that baby off. Not because I didn't like it, because I didn't need it. These things were right up close to our boat. A couple of times we could have touched these critters. AMAZING. So I shot the whole time with the 70-200 - it was the perfect lens of choice.
I thought this picture gave a nice creepy Jaws effect. I really just like it because of the cutout ridges in the fin and how it lined up with the boat.
Upper end Nikon lenses come with VR (vibration reduction) which is a stabilization tool I swear by. There are 2 settings on the lens - Normal VR or Active VR. I read somewhere to always keep it set to Normal. Unless you are shooting from a boat or something really unstable. I thought I was pretty cool to switch my lens to Active VR. I know, strange. I will say though it definitely helped while trying to photograph spinner dolphins. By far the hardest animal I have photographed. They are SO fast and SUPER aerobatic and interestingly enough, they hang with the whales too. I learned to predict where they were going to jump next and was able to get one perfect tac sharp shot of this guy...
Not so sharp, but an inverted shot...
Another activity I was excited about was a doorless helicopter ride. The last 2 days of the vacation were decent as far as weather went. We saved the ride for the last day. I was very reluctant to go because it was VERY expensive and I didn't want to spend the money to go up and see some clouds... The pilot assured me that if it wasn't going to be good he would turn around and give us a refund. We took his word and it ended up being a Godly experience that I will never forget. There is no other way to explore the coast. I just had do do a doorless helicopter - I know spoiled - but with my dad being a pilot I get a lot of opportunities to be in the air and I've shot too many pictures through the window of an airplane. So when the opportunity of a doorless helicopter presented itself, I was game :) A goal of mine was to get some shot of the Hawaii green lushness against Windex blue ocean. I'm thinking of framing this one...
Believe it or not this shot ^^^ was actually a series of 7 vertical shots that were stitched together in PS5. It was a desperate long shot, shooting out of a chopper and all, but PS5 never ceases to amaze me with it's stitching power. Seriously, when I started working on it, I didn't think it would work, but it did ok.
Water falls are not in short supply in Hawaii.
A sunset shot was a must for me too. Our opportunities were few but we took advantage.
(photo credit - Brownie)
Miss Mo got in on the action and took this shot of me taking a picture of Brownie and Nikki. I love it. It was taken with a Canon, of all things. ;)
Over all an once in a lifetime trip, although I hope to be back soon. I truly feel blessed to be able to experience something like this with the love of my life - no not my camera, my wife ;)
INVITE CODE 1518-782842
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