Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

California’s coastline is hard to beat as a photographic subject. I’ve seen just about every mile of the California coastline from San Diego to the Oregon border and to this day one of my favorite areas is the coastline along Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. What makes this stretch of coast so photogenic is the combination of surf, coastal rocks and rich kelp beds.

Sunset on the Rocks – Monterey, California
View more photos of Monterey, California

From a photography perspective when taking coastal photos you always have to be careful and keep an eye on the surf as I’ve blogged about in the past, especially if you plan on getting up close and personal. After all it only takes one rogue wave to ruin your day and potentially take your life. On this day I timed my visit to coincide with the tide transitioning from high to low tide. Before setting up shop I thoroughly scouted out this area to find not only a photogenic subject but a safe spot. As a precaution I tucked my camera bag with my other gear higher up and farther back from where I set up. For this photo I decided to take a chance with a very wide focal length (16mm) and getting very close to my subject (a matter of inches). This particular set of rocks was only a couple of feet above the water line and the front element of my lens was only a few feet from the waters edge. With one eye on the waves in the distance and the other on my subject I captured quite a few photos.

As most experienced coastal photographers know my setup was rather precarious. Although I knew better I decided the photo was worth the risk. Well it didn’t take long before I got a little too into my subject and realized while looking through my lens that a wave was getting a little too close for comfort. Only problem is when looking through a wide angle lens by the time you notice something close up it is REALLY close up. I was able to pick up my camera still attached to my tripod, shield it with my body and take two steps before I got clobbered from behind by this wave.

I really got soaked and although my camera and lens were wet I was able to dry them off rather quickly with the few patches of dry clothing I still had. I ended up trekking back to my car to wipe down my clothing with a towel, inspect my camera and air dry while enjoying the glare of several people who took in my “genius” moment. I ended up deciding not to test my luck again with that particular photo, but did endure the chill of my soaked clothing for another hour or two to capture a few more photos later in the evening from this very spot. I’ll post one or two of those images another time.

The California coast… beautiful, but always unpredictable.

Technorati Tags: Monterey, California, sunset, photo, stock photo, photography, coastal, seascape, wave

One of the most exciting developments to occur this weekend was the landing of the Phoenix Mars Lander. Landing on the northern pole region of Mars, amazing photos were sent back detailing unusual, yet familiar looking polygonal shapes in the polar landscape. Upon seeing these photos I didn’t need to read a word on the NASA Phoenix Lander web site about what I was seeing. From my trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge I knew exactly what these polygonal formations represented… permafrost or permafrost like conditions.

Below on the left is one of the first photos transmitted from the Phoenix Mars Lander and on the right is an aerial view of the Arctic Coastal Plain. The lifeless/waterless surface of the Mars polar region looks very similar in form to our very own northern polar region. This discovery once again showing another facet of how the mathematical and physical laws of nature repeat from micro to macro and from planet to planet.

Click to Enlarge	Click to Enlarge

The presence of permafrost formations on Mars and Earth is but one of many fascinating instances of forms repeating throughout nature from the microscopic to the interstellar. A commonly repeated forms observed is the logarithmic spiral as seen below in Hurricane Isabel and M51 (photo by Brian Lula). This particular form is far more common than the polygonal permafrost formations, but all part of the mathematical uniformity stemming from the molecular structure of all things that compose matter in our universe.

Logarithmic Spirals Isabel and M51 – APOD

Spiral by minipixel

The recent photos from Mars are not only a distant view to another planet, but a view to the common inner working of how our Universe is built. Nature truly is an amazing thing to study as well as take in visually.

Technorati Tags: Mars, NASA, Phoenix Mars Lander, permafrost, polygon, formation, landscape, photography, nature, shape

Here in the US it’s a 3-day weekend, today being Memorial Day, and although I won’t be posting any new articles or photos I wanted to point those checking in to a few articles/podcasts I’ve written/taken part in recently. This hopefully will satiate your appetite for new content until I’m back online tomorrow.

Podcasts
PhotoNetCast Podcast Episode #4 – Keeping your photos safe with regular backups and Embarrassing Moment

Also check out the PhotoNetCast listener poll

Articles via Digital Photography School
New: The Best Photo Tip I Ever Received… What Was Yours?

12 Ways To Never Miss A Photo Opportunity

High Impact Photography With Panoramics

5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Tripping The Shutter

Make the Best of Bad Weather – 6 Challenges for Photographers

Technorati Tags: photography, tip, article, podcast, DPS, digital photography school

Easily one of the three most recognizable landmarks in San Francisco, Coit Tower is often lit beautifully by artificial and natural lighting. At the right time of day you can use both of these lighting types to capture dramatic photographs of this commonly photographed subject.

One thing I’m quite embarrassed about is the fact that I’ve yet to visit Coit Tower and enjoy the view from the top of the tower. After living in San Francisco for nearly 10 years you’d think I’d have visited all the classic locations. One of these days I’ll make it to Coit Tower and to Alcatraz too.

View more photos of Coit Tower

Technorati Tags: San Francisco, California, Coit Tower, photo, photography, stock photo

I’ve come across one web site and one article that was just too interesting to wait to pass on in a weekend speedlinks post. I’m certain that the readers of this blog will find these posts of interest. Enjoy!

The World Press Photo Awards put up a web site with winning photographs and photographer interviews from 2008 and 2007. The photographs are incredible and the stories behind them make for a great listen. I highly recommend this one.

World Press Photo, The Award Interviews

via APhotoEditor and Paul Melcher

A major pitfall of royalty free microstock photography recently surfaced when two technology companies ASUS and MSI began running campaigns using the same photograph with their products Photoshopped in. Some companies have the luxury of pursuing unique photography for their campaigns and others play with fire grabbing photographs with non-exclusive licensing terms. This was an instance where two companies got burned for making the same mistake. I would imagine this won’t be the only time we see this faux pas being made. Read the details here: PC Pro, TweakTown, and Mobile Magazine

via Gary Crabbe

Technorati Tags: microstock, world press, interview, photography

The past few weeks I’ve been researching additional means of lowering the carbon footprint of my home. Over the past year or more I’ve been working with my wife to adjust our lifestyle to make incremental changes. So far we’ve done a good job. To begin with we’ve been rather minimalist in our energy consumption. We use our gas heater maybe a few days a year at he most and minimize our consumption of electricity (granted we could likely do more). At this point we’ve done all the basics except for one key thing… designating and/or buying climate neutral energy.

I had this vision that I’d look online, find a program, sign-up and notify my utility company of our choice and be done. Apparently I was in fantasy land. After a bit of research I’ve learned that no programs are in place in San Francisco. I checked the US Department of Energy web site and discovered the Green Power page that has since been removed in the past few days. I also checked the California State Renewable Energy Program web site and couldn’t find anything meaningful.

So what am I doing to further minimize the carbon footprint of my home? Two things actually…

Wind Turbines – Altamont Pass, California

First I’ve signed up with PG&E’s ClimateSmart program. As I’ve since found out through their Carbon Calculator my home has a very minimal impact due to our current rate of energy conservation. In short the program calculates the amount needed to make the greenhouse gas emissions associated with my home’s energy use “neutral” and allocates that money towards greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in California. This isn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but given the current PG&E Annual Power Mix report 52% of energy reaching my home comes from hydrocarbon sources. It could be worse. For now I’ll make due with this program until I can choose to buy my energy from renewable sources.

Second I’m investigating home based solar and/or wind power equipment. I doubt solar will be the best choice for me here in San Francisco, given the cost and amount of cloud cover. Given my location and the constant breeze a low noise wind turbine or two is likely to be my future choice. The idea of being able to power my own home (even if partially) and/or potentially feed electricity into the power grid is something I look forward to realizing.

So what are you doing to minimize your carbon footprint?

Technorati Tags: wind, power, renewable, energy, solar, PG&E, ClimateSmart, turbine, Altamont Pass, California, stock photo, photography

One thing over the years that I’ve learned is to never keep your eyes too far off into the distance when trying to get your next photo. While photographing seascapes in Monterey, California I was rock hopping and paused to see what exactly I was hopping over. I was pleasantly surprised to see sea anemones in a rather small tidal pool. With a nice overcast sky I took the opportunity to switch out my wide angle lens for my macro lens and photograph them. Fortunately for me they were very cooperative subjects unlike the sneaky surf that caught me in a later photo (more on that later).

Sea Anemones & Pebbles

For the techies who read every word of my posts I should add this is one of the first macro photos taken with my Canon 1Ds Mark III. The detail in the full size version of this photo is mind blowing. If curious I can post a 1:1 crop later to give an example of the detail captured.

Update: See below for the 1:1 crop of the image above. The detail captured from the 21MP sensor in the 1Ds Mark III never ceases to amaze me. The native image resolution is 5632 x 3750 pixels. Enjoy and do take advantage of clicking on the image to enlarge it.

Click to enlarge

Technorati Tags: anemones, tidal pool, pebbles, photo, photography, stock, California, coast

White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is one of the most beautiful locations in the southwestern United States. The lighting is like no where else that I’ve experienced. The iconic pastel hues that paint the landscape here have inspired artists for centuries. To say photographing this location was inspiring would be an understatement. The more I review photographs from this location the more I want to return.

Light & Shadow – White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
View more photos of White Sands National Monument…

Technorati Tags: landscape, photo, White Sands National Monument, National Monument, stock, photography, New Mexico, southwest