Earth and Sky
I was spending some time revamping some of my marketing material for my New Mexico photo tour and came across a bunch of images from past trips that never made it to being posted here. Here is one from the Ojito Wilderness.
Incoming Tide
As you can probably tell, a lot of my jobs lately have put me near the water. I’ve been happy to take advantage of some photo ops for myself after the shooting for clients is over with.
Shiny Shoreline
A bonus effect happens when you get down at a really low angle on wet sand – the sand becomes highly reflective. If it’s wet enough it becomes a virtual mirror.
Driftwood
low angle is one of my favorite perspectives to incorporate into a composition. Presenting a subject in a very different way than from eye-level helps give it more visual impact.
Down by the Seaside
Down is certainly the key word here. I got all the way down to the ground with the camera to get a perspective that has some visual impact.
Ramblin’ Man
Yesterday I talked about keeping a point and shoot camera handy in the vehicle. Sometimes though when I’m traveling and I know I’m likely to shoot while on the road I do prep a DSLR and keep it handy. The prep is the important part. I just want to grab and shoot, not fiddle with anything on the camera. First off that means considering the lens. No variable focal length lenses, that takes two hands to adjust and it could be tempting to try and adjust it. I use a 24mm prime lens. Its just right to show a full windshield view without catching too much interior. It’s also a manual focus lens and that has a few more benefits for quick shooting. If the selected focus point of an autofocus lens is positioned on empty sky valuable time can be lost while the lens hunts back and forth in search of detail to lock focus on. Just keeping an autofocus lens switched in manual mode has issues too. The moving parts in the lens are designed to move freely and quickly while being being driven by a very small motor. That also means that the slightest touch or vehicle vibration can move the focus meaning that pre-focusing the lens isn’t a viable option. A lens like the one I prefer that is manual focus only is deliberately designed to have a lot of friction in the focus mechanism with the intent of keeping it where you set it. When it comes to pre-focusing that type of lens there is also the added benefit of having a distance scale coupled with a depth-of-field scale, a combination that rarely exists in an autofocus lens. With my old-school prime lens I am able to choose a reasonable aperture, usually between f/5.6 and f/8 depending on conditions, and preset the focus at the hyperfocal point using the scales on the lens. With aperture and focus preset, the camera operating in aperture priority mode, EV compensation set to -1/2 to account for bright sky, and metering set to matrix mode, I essentially have a big, high quality point and shoot rig. I can pick it up, hold it up over the dashboard and push the button. The image above was taken with this exact setup.
Blue Sky
Still sticking to my impromptu theme for the week. This is one of several example images I like to use when I talk about how the best camera to use sometimes is simply whatever camera you can lay hands on in a hurry to get the shot. Any shot captured with a point and shoot or phone camera beats a shot missed with a fancy DSLR. I try to keep a point and shoot handy in the console or dash of my vehicle whenever I’m traveling so that I can quickly and safely grab a shot through the windshield or window. In this case I was driving on a reservation in New Mexico and for no more than about ten seconds a sunbeam broke through the clouds illuminating the mesa in the distance and creating a small section of rainbow above it. I had just enough time to grab the little camera, turn it on, point it through the windshield, and shoot. Almost instantly after I got the shot the hole in the clouds closed and the light was gone. A few other people who were with me tried but were too slow with their big rigs to get the shot in those fleeting few seconds.
Dreams
Dreaming of a time when my town was a sleepy little dot on the map consisting mostly of citrus groves and pastures. Progress marches on and now every square inch of the land you see in this image is covered with apartment complexes and parking lots. I happened to noticed today that there is a theme surrounding this week’s posts. It was just a happy coincidence but now I think I will stick with it through Friday just for fun.
All the Lights are Turning Red
I was walking downtown and realized that all the lights in this scene were turning red. The line from the Eagle’s song got stuck in my head and I figured I as may as well compose a picture.
Tropical Storm
There’s an old saying about bad weather making good photographs. I have always agreed.
Moonlight Flight
I have been shooting like mad lately for paying clients and almost not at all for myself. I think Memorial Day was the only day I’ve had off in about 7 weeks. So I’m still mostly just grabbing random old shots out of my computer to post here until that changes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though because otherwise some shots like this that I actually sort of like might stay buried in my archives and not ever get seen by anyone.
Blast From the Past
I ran across this image while digging through some old material for a project this past weekend and set it aside to post here. I haven’t processed many lightning images in black and white but this looked like it had the right inherent contrast to make it work.
Storms
It has been so long it has rained around here. Yesterday the skies finally clouded up and storms rolled through all day and night. As you probably know by now I love to shoot in the rain so I took some time for myself between appointments to do just that. I got totally drenched and enjoyed every minute of it.
The Road Less Traveled
In the mountains of New Mexico. I’m really looking forward to the next photography tour that I’m leading here later this year.
At the Watering Hole
I was photographing an equestrian event this past weekend and I really liked this composition that came together out on the ranch.
Burnt Woods
I’ve found myself working with patterns the last few days. This is one of the images that I have been toying with.
Follow Me
Whenever I find myself on a road like this I hear the siren song in my head beckoning me each time I turn a corner to keep going to the next turn, and then the next, and the next…
Beachcomber
When I was walking down the beach to get setup for the moonrise photos I took this photo. I was walking with a dozen other photographers at the time and I don’t recall seeing any of them stop to take a shot of this scene. One thing I usually try to avoid is getting in the mindset that I am on a mission to take just one sort of photo. I try to keep my eyes and my mind open to anything that is interesting, whether or not it is what I am supposed to be shooting.
Tampa Bay Moonrise #2
This is one of the last photos of the evening when the moon had risen above the bridge and was illuminating the bay with a beautiful warm glow.
Tampa Bay Moonrise #1
Friday, on the night of the full moon, the skies turned perfectly clear and cloud-free and I knew there would be no problem seeing the moon rise up beneath the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It was quite a beautiful sight when it made its appearance. This is the first shot I took that evening. Tomorrow I will post one of the later shots taken as the moon loomed over the bridge in the clear night sky. Click on the pic to see a larger size.
I’ve Got That Sinking Feeling
Not your typical “boats in the water” scene. If it’s out of the ordinary then you know it will get the attention of me and my camera.
