Always on point

New York City is a street photographer’s dream come true with photo ops around every corner. I’m all about maximizing my time when traveling, and lucky for me there’s something to be said for the old adage… in a New York minute. Like most of my trips, I generally have a few images in mind that I plan on capturing, and then leave a bit of free time to allow for things unforeseen. The thing about street photography is you need to be quick to move and always be on the lookout for new photo opportunities. High traffic locations like NYC Central Park are great locations to maximize your time and efforts. In the matter of a few hours I had a chance to shoot a landscape, people, portraits, macro, etc.

With the above average temps that we have been having here in Michigan, the stream ice is about five weeks late, but better late then never. I always look forward to shooting the ice as it is my time to shoot abstracts. I’ve mentioned in the past that the abstract don’t sell, but I like them and it’s just fun being out in the woods.

Here is a nice shot of the stream and how I set up at the edge to shoot. I use my long telephoto macro lens in the 180 range, as it will reach out farther into the stream if I need to.

My camera is the Nikon D7000.

Who is taking the pictures of me? It’s a Panasonic GH2 on a tripod with self timer set at 10 secs.

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This first image was shot in the area you see me in above.

If I’m shooting out into the ice a ways, I will be at an angle that sometimes needs a little extra depth of field, so I will set the f-stop at f/16. With all this cool details, you want to get it all in focus.

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Looking for a good quality gear bag that can hold a little bit of everything? Then this bag might be for you!

I stopped by to see my friends at Outdoor Photo Gear the other day and they had just received a shipment of these bags in. While I wasn't really in the market for a new bag, I couldn't help but notice the size of this thing and how well made it is (its a Kata --duh). Its billed as a medium sized bag, but this thing looks like it will hold everything but the kitchen sink! So I had to check it out.

Its the Kata KT-OMB-75 One Man Band Bag and I believe it would store everything a one man band could possibly throw in it. Its surrounded by pockets all the way around and on top. The front pocket zips open to reveal a large, flat storage area with smaller, utility style pockets for everything from notebooks, to pens, chords and all sorts of smaller knick-knacks. It also has a flat pocket on each side and another voluminous one on top. On the outside top of the bag, there are straps that can be used to strap on a tripod or light stands.

An October snowfall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

With the snow coming in (here in the Northeast U.S. anyway), it seems like a good time to review some winter photography tips.

1) Stay powered. Cold temperatures reduce the length of time your camera's batteries will function. Always bring a spare or two, and use power-sapping features like auto focus, live view, and LCD playback sparingly.

2) Stay dry. Keep snow away from your camera and lenses as much as possible. While dry, fluffy snow isn't as bad as rain on your equipment, you should still blow or wipe it from your gear whenever necessary. Also, never bring a camera and lenses directly into a warm environment after it has been out in the cold. Pack them in your camera bag or plastic bags before heading inside and let them warm up to room temperature before taking them out. Otherwise, moisture will condense on the glass and metal surfaces, potentially damaging your gear.

3) Expose for your highlights – the snow. A snowy landscape will often throw off a camera's meter, sometimes to the point of underexposing your photo as much as two stops. When shooting in winter, take a test shot and check your histogram. You should have pixels stretching almost to the right side of the graph in order to ensure properly exposed snow. If you don't, add light to your exposures by using a slower shutter speed. However, if your histogram spikes on the right side (you'll probably have the blinkies too), then your photo is overexposed and you need to use a faster shutter speed.

Being young and in love can be quite the distraction. Oh...how I remember. Now a nice hot fudge sundae has the same effect.

Distractions…the low lying fruit.

Parades and public events are great ways to hone your street photography skills without drawing too much attention to yourself because people are usually preoccupied by the event itself.

Gambling in the streets of Paris

Go light young grasshopper…

Learning to travel light and being proficient with one lens can be a major asset. Leave the tripod behind and here’s why: we need to be fast, flexible, and under the radar to catch an authentic, spontaneous moment.

 

The barn at Elmwood Farm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

Today I'm working on one of the dozen or so one-day conservation photo projects I get to work on every year. I'm shooting at a small, old family farm in Massachusetts that is in the process of being conserved both for the open space and to provide some community garden opportunities. Like I have to do for many of these projects, I drove about two hours in the dark this morning to arrive at the farm about 20 minutes before sunrise. It's not an ideal way to shoot, especially when you've never seen the place, whether in person or in photographs, but I love this kind of challenge and I think these types of photo projects have made me a better photographer.

 

Milkweed pod at Elmwood Farm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

I'm blessed to have the opportunity to shoot in some of New England's most iconic locations several times a year. Places like Acadia, the White Mountains, and Vermont. While I love shooting in these spots, it's easy to get lazy and just shoot the same dramatic landscapes that look good from year to year. However, shooting in a less impressive location like where I was this morning makes me work a lot harder and faster. I literally had about 10 minutes to take a quick look around, and then I had to start shooting (heck, today I wasn't even sure I was in the right place.) This place definitely isn't as dramatic as Monument Cove in Acadia or the summit of Mount Monroe in the White Mountains, so it takes some effort to quickly surmise the scene, break it down into those few elements that I feel define it, and then find a simple composition that works with the light at hand.

Day one of the Mt.Rainier workshop that I am co-leading with DPE podcast co-host Juan Pons was spectacular. Here are a few of my shots - and a few tips.

Above: Expose for the highlights. Move the histogram to the right - but make sure you don't have spike on the right. Also, get up super early to capture the sunrise. You can rest when you are dead. :-)

No doubt about it, outdoor photographers love to travel to new and exciting locations to capture the subjects they love. But truth of the matter is that most of us can’t be jetting all over the globe whenever we want. Most outdoor photographers I know are able to take one, two, or maybe three major trips a year. Sadly, I also know many photographers that only use their cameras when they are on one of these major trips.

But I would argue that those same photographers are missing one of the greatest locations available to them… their own backyard. Most of us live within a short drive of a local park or piece of undeveloped land where we could practice our craft. There are many benefits to working an area near your home. One of the greatest benefits is simply the ability to be out working more often. It is impossible to make great pictures if you are not in the field working. Another important benefit of working close to home is the ability to go out on a moment’s notice, say when the lighting is really nice, or during unique weather conditions. Also, you can get to know a smaller piece of land and its inhabitants more intimately. You can make sure you are there when the cardinals nest in that bush, or you can photograph that patch of wildflowers when they are at their peak.

Due to the fact that I had shows scheduled on the weekends when Michigan's upper peninsula's fall color is at its peak, I really thought I wouldn't be able to do any shooting up there this year. Luckily, I caught a break as we had an unusually wet summer and a very mild early fall. The color was a week late this year, so I was able to take a few days and go up and work fall color.

We struggled a little with the weather because we had bright sunny, windy days. We did however manage to get some shots, but we worked hard for what we got. I say "we" because I traveled up with two good friends. Nature photography is often a solo endeavor, and I really enjoy that part of it. While I enjoy being alone in the wilderness with my thoughts and chosen subjects, it is also very nice to be able to share these experiences with good friends. The friendships and camaraderie I have developed with other photographers as we traveled the beautiful spots of the world is very special to me. I would say in my travels I have met hundreds, no, probably thousands of nature photographers, and as a group they are some of the nicest people I know.

I generally shoot lots of images – but as I shoot, I delete the ones that aren’t worth keeping. Let me walk you through a typical morning shoot.

I’m up bright and early, ready to shoot. Here I am at Graveyard Flats in Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada). Lovely mist is rising, and the world looks positively blue. The sun isn’t up yet, so I set up my camera for a long exposure. I take my first shot… maybe it’s a little underexposed, so I take another to correct the damage. I will compare the two images, and then delete one of them. I might take another shot or two from a different angle. But each time I shoot, I compare the tiny image on my monitor, check the histogram, maybe even zoom in to check the focus… and delete any image that isn’t quite right. When I get home, I choose the one that looks the best and delete the others after I’ve processed. (ISO 100, 20 seconds at f/7.1)

The light changes as the sun nears the horizon, and I want a shot that shows the strange landscape surrounding the lake. So, I set up my tripod for another shot. I follow the same steps, and I’ll pay close attention to my histogram. I need to make sure that I’m capturing the entire range of light as the sky gets brighter… and that my shadows aren’t too dark. The histogram shows me that I need just one image for this photo – but I take two anyway… one a little brighter than the other, just to make sure. In the end, I don’t need that brighter shot, so after processing, I delete it.

So, what exactly is depth of field? Simply, it is the amount of detail, within the image that is in focus. You, the photographer must decide on how much depth of field (DOF) is desired. Do you want the entire image in focus? Do you want the background out of focus ( often referred to as blown out—-I don’t really like that term as “blown out” might refer to overexposed, not out of focus).

Once you make the decision on how much of the image you want in focus, you must understand the technique that must be used to achieve your goals.

Decisions on setting to attain Depth of field are:

• The F-Stop (see below) chosen to make the image
• The focal length of the lens
• Subject size (the depth of field decreases as you decrease the lens/subject distance
• How far away is the subject?

LENS OPTIONS

Choosing a lens will have a dramatic effect on your depth of field. Lenses below the 60mm range are capable of attaining a large depth of field. (wide angle lenses) The DOF affect attained with lenses above 60mm will be less and when combining a 160mm+ lens on a DSLR, perfect Depth of field is virtually impossible. This is a principle of physics.