Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

This past month I had a great time out on the Racetrack in Death Valley. I took a group of clients out for some night photography under a pitch black sky… oh and of course to take classic photos of the Racetrack as well. (Highlight photos to be shared this week so stay tuned.) Being in a star trails kind of mood I didn’t make it long into my drive to Death Valley from San Francisco without the itch to pull over and get in some early photos of star trails. Being one to take in the scenic route I took Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park over to Highway 395. Before exiting Yosemite I decided to take a 4 hour pitstop at Olmstead Point to get this and a couple other photos in. Note the boulder in the foreground is the size of a car and the small tree just to the right of it is the size of a medium Christmas tree.

The fun highlight of this pitstop was crossing paths with one other photographer who was as enthralled with the night sky as I was. The only difference being that he was smart enough to bring a pizza to eat from Yosemite valley. Unfortunately for him his pizza got cold pretty quick. Temperatures were in the low 20’s.

Seeing that Tioga Pass will be closed when I head to Death Valley in February for my next Racetrack photo tour I’ll have to find a new spot to stop for some star trails assuming the weather cooperates.

Photo details:
Canon 5D Mark II, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, f/3.2, 90 minutes (stacked photos) at ISO 3200.

And before I forget…
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Technorati Tags: photography, star trails, Olmstead Point, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park, stock photo

One of the greatest features of digital photography is the automatic recording of exposure information in the EXIF data of each photo. Unfortunately back in the day film photographers lacked this luxury and had to meticulously record exposure information for any and all photos they wanted to take note of. If you weren’t a good note taker then your exposure information was lost or left to your fading memory. This could be particularly problematic for star trail photos where exposure times might be quite long and easy to forget. After all a late night of star trail photography is an easy way to fatigue one’s memory if you were actively running around photographing other nature subjects.

If you happen to have star trail photos that you lost track of the exposure information then here is a quick tip to recalculate your exposure times using Photoshop.

Case and point my photo of star trails above a camp site in Arches National Park. I let this exposure run while I was resting in my tent. It’s very likely that the next day I had an inclination as to what the exposure time was, but 7 years later I’ve forgot.
What to do?

First we have a well known piece of information to help us  recalculate the exposure time:

Stars rotate in the night sky 2.5 degrees every 10 minutes

Now all we need to do is measure the angle the stars have moved. Luckily Photoshop has a handy and fairly obscure feature to do just that. In the Tools window select the Ruler tool and draw a line from a circumpolar start (Eg. North Star or Southern Cross) to the end of one star trail streak. Then hold down the Option Key (Mac) or Alt Key (PC) and draw another line from the circumpolar star to the other end of your chosen star trail.

Photoshop will then measure and display the angle the stars have moved.

With our angle determined we can quickly calculate a fairly accurate exposure time.

To get your exposure time divide your angle measurement by 2.5 and multiply that value by 10 minutes. The result will be your exposure in minutes.

In this instance (7.3/2.5) x 10 minutes = 29 minutes and 12 seconds

With this feature at your fingertips it might just be time to revisit those old star trail photos to update your exposure information.

Technorati Tags: photography, Photoshop, tip, trick, star trail, Utah, Arches National Park

There is a lot to be said for immersing yourself in Nature. In this day and age it is just too easy to lose yourself in the day-to-day of life. Ironically life out side of our day-to-day routine is the real world and we have to remind ourselves to visit it. Once you step out to see the world without distraction you can’t help but bond with the land, sea and stars. It is… liberating, in the truest sense. (more below)

Beyond liberating us from routine, Nature is a great catalyst of creativity. Being witness to amazing scenery, weather phenomenon and wildlife it is enriching to document our world in a photograph. Documentation alone is not creativity. Creativity is hinged on our ability to interpret and express an otherwise intangible connection to our subject. As I photograph Nature I continually strive to feel that connection and share a unique perspective in the process. As I was happy to learn recently, photography legend Edward Weston held a similar philosophy.

In a letter to Ansel Adams dated January 28, 1933, the photographer Edward Weston said, “photography as a creative expression — or what you will — must be ’seeing’ plus: seeing alone would mean factual recording — the illustrator of catalogues does that. The ‘plus’ is the basis of all arguments on ‘what is art.’”

I’ve never been keen to label my creative efforts and/or philosophies, but if I were “Seeing Plus” is the term that would be most appropriate.
What’s your take on “Seeing Plus” and how does it fit into your photographic efforts?

Photo Details:
Taken on my Death Valley Photo Tour – October 27, 2011
Canon 5D Mark II, EF24mm f/1.4L II USM via Borrowlenses.com
3 hour exposure created from 300 exposures

Curious to learn how to take and make star trail photographs?
Sign up for my newsletter. I’ll be releasing an eBook shortly covering numerous techniques including the star trail technique behind this image.

Technorati Tags: photography, art, philosophy, Death Valley National Park, national park, desert, star trails

Photography tools are no longer just confined to what is in your camera bag. One of the most important tools I use in my photo shoots is my mobile phone, home to numerous reference and feature rich applications. Being able to reference and use the following applications for my adventures in night photography has made it easier for me to plan photo logistics and successfully capture  high impact photography. If you don’t have these applications on your phone or tablet computer yet be sure to add them.

After you check out the following apps for night photographers be sure to check out Jim’s iPhone/iPad App List for more mobile applications worthy of your attention.

GoSkyWatch

An amazing application that allows you to point your device to the night sky and see a real-time display of what planets, stars and constellations are in your field of view.
iPhone   iPad

Moon Seeker

Is an application that all you to track and/or project the path of the moon at any time of day. The application includes an augmented reality feature “3D view” that activates your camera to overlay the trajectory of the moon and the moons current location on your device display in relation to the scene before you.
iPhone

StarMap

A powerful resource that includes a detailed map of the night sky including planets, constellations, starts, galaxies, clusters, nebulae and more. Each of these points of interest include detailed information about their rise timek set time, brightness and more
iPhone   iPad

Satellite Visibility

Displays predictions for when satellites (including the Hubble telescope, International Space Station, etc.) will be visible based on your location.
iPhone

ISS Visibility

A very cool app that displays 10-30 day predictions of where and when the International Space Station will be visible based on your location.iPhone   iPad

Penki

Penki allows you to use your iPad or iPhone to create 3-dimensional light painting messages. This was featured in a video by Dentsu London in 2010, Making Future Magic: iPad Light Painting.
iPhone / iPad

Aurora Forecast

If you’re fortunate to live in an area that you can see the Aurora Borealis during the winter months this app is for you. This app shows daily Auroral activity forecast from the Geophysical Institute of UAF.
iPhone

The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE)

Is an incredibly powerful planning tool that calculates sun and moon positions in relation to a user specified location for any time of day, any location, any altitude, etc.
iPhone / iPad

FocalWare

Not nearly as powerful as TPE this application provides a quick an dirty mechanism to see sunset/rise and moonset/rise information along with elevation data over the course of the day/night all with the flick of your thumb.
iPhone

Technorati Tags: photography, app, application, mobile, device, phone, tablet, computer, technology

One of the most attractive features of Death Valley is it’s very graphical landscape. By day you’d likely miss the details that make Death Valley so attractive photographically, but just as the sun rises or sets it all becomes clear. Zabriskie Point is one of the most famous and popular lookouts to witness this transformation.  Famous as a sunrise location the eroded mountains pick up color and contrast. Much like Tunnel View in Yosemite I never grow tired of this view no matter how much it has been photographed by others.

Technorati Tags: photography, Death Valley, national park, landscape, nature, geology, Zabriskie Point

The desert always brings time in to focus when I visit. Desert features are formed at such a slow pace that it is tough to imagine. Some features of the desert take decades, centuries and even millennia to form. With this in mind it’s always a treat to arrive and see something that is fleeting not just in relation to my visit, but to the larger span of geological time. Knowing that the formations I photograph take so long to be created by Mother Nature, it’s a pleasant reminder to slow down to appreciate them let alone photograph them.

When I stumbled across this scene of two rocks nearly intersecting at the Racetrack in Death Valley National Park I couldn’t help but wonder how long it took for them to reach this point and how much longer it will take for them to intersect. For now their rendezvous will have to wait, but for how long?

Rendezvous - Death Valley National Park

Photo Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24mm f/1.4L II USM (courtesy of Borrowlenses.com)
Singh-ray 5-stop Graduated Neutral Density Filter (soft step)
f/13, 1/13 sec at ISO 160

And now for something completely different. Thanks to Borrowlenses.com I made use of Canon’s new 8-15mm zoom fisheye lens. In some weird way I really fell in love with the 8mm focal length that has 180º field of view.

What you’re seeing in this photo is a view straight up. Within the circle is every star in the sky visible at this one moment and the band of stars seen from the upper left corner down to the lower right corner is the visible arm of the Milky Way. Looking at the center of the circle and then slightly up and to the right is Jupiter. The uneven edges of the circle is the silhouette of the mountains surrounding the dry lake bed I was standing on. With a 180º view, the edge of the entire valley could be seen.

If you think this is cool just wait. I have a time-lapse of this view in the oven.

Photo Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 5-8mm f/4 Fisheye (courtesy of Borrowlenses.com)
ISO 3200, f/4 at 50 seconds

Technorati Tags: Death Valley National Park, California, national park, Death Valley, Milky Way, fine art, stock picture

It’s good to be back from Death Valley National Park. I was fortunate on many fronts while in Death Valley National Park. The members of my Racetrack photo tour were great, we had unbelievable light and incredibly clear skies to enjoy every star in the sky! Weather conditions were unseasonably cold with temperatures dipping down below 26F, but that didn’t slow us down.

Conditions at Badwater this trip were particularly nice with the salt flats recovering to their former glory. The hexagonal shapes of the salt were clearly seen and quite white. A nice change from my previous visit with very flat muddy grey salt formations.

I have many photos from this trip that I’m eager to share including some amazing night sky and star trail photos. Stay tuned for those! In the meantime here’s a sample of what we experienced on this trip. If you’re interested in joining me in February I’ll be repeating this trip to Death Valley to make the most of the new moon, so as to see every star in the sky – 2012 Death Valley Photo Tour Info.

Photo Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift (courtesy of Borrowlenses.com)
3-Image Panoramic, with two sequences blended as the front element of this lens does not allow for use of filters.
Sky: ISO 640, f/10 at 1/5 second (-1 1/3 EV)
Salt Flat: ISO 640, f/10 at 0.8 second (2/3 EV)

Technorati Tags: Death Valley National Park, California, national park, Death Valley, fine art, stock picture