Posts Tagged ‘Weather’
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
 - Rocks and surf at dawn, Wallis Sands State Park, Rye, New Hampshire. F16, 30 seconds. (Jerry Monkman)
If you live in the northern U.S., you are probably experiencing a low snow winter this year. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where I live, we haven't had any appreciable snow since before Halloween! The gray and brown hues of a snowless landscape can definitely make it hard for a landscape photographer to be inspired enough to get out there and shoot. I feel fortunate that I chose his winter to start a new project I call 0630, where I go out every morning and make a picture at 6:30 (you can read more about the project in this post I made over at the Outdoor Photographer website.) The project has forced me to get out and shoot, when I normally would have stayed in bed, and it's really getting my creative juices flowing and giving me good practice on techniques I don't always use on a regular basis. For most of the last 6 weeks, I've been shooting primarily 30-45 minutes before sunrise, so here are some tips on what to do when it's winter, it's dark, and there's no snow.
Find some light, any light! On clear mornings, I head to the coast, where I can use the pre-sunrise glow and colors to my advantage. Since I like to use low ISOs like 100 or 200, and small apertures like F16, that means I'm often shooting very slow shutter speeds, anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes. A sturdy tripod is a must, and I really recommend using a cable release or the self-timer on the camera. Since most cameras have a maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds, you'll need to put the camera in bulb mode for anything longer and then use a cable release to hold the shutter open the appropriate amount of time. What's the appropriate amount of time? Let's say the camera's meter is telling you that F11 and 30 seconds is too dark of an exposure. Increase your aperture until the meter reads a proper exposure. In this example, assume that it now says F5.6, 30 seconds. This equates to F8 at 1 minute, F11 at 2 minutes, or F16 at 4 minutes. Put the camera in bulb mode, dial in F11, then trip the shutter with the cable release, locking it in the on position and keep the shutter open for 2 minutes. If you have an intervalometer (a fancy cable release), you can set it to automatically hold the shutter open for 2 minutes. If you include a dark foreground like in the above photo, you will probably also need to use a graduated split neutral density filter to hold down the exposure in the sky and avoid blown out highlights.
Pre-dawn surf, Rye Harbor State Park, New Hampshire. F16, 2 minutes. (Jerry Monkman)
On cloudy days, finding light is obviously even harder. I'm finding it's still fun to make long exposures on the coast like the above shot, but there's a lot less color. Though it's not part of my normal subject matter, city scenes here in Portsmouth have proven to be a good thing to shoot when I need to find a little light on dark mornings. For many of these urban scenes like the below image of the Memorial Bridge in the fog, I'm finding High Dymanic Range (HDR) software to be a huge help. For this image, I locked my camera into the tripod and shot three exposures at F16, 2-stops apart: 4 seconds, 15 seconds, and 30 seconds. The combination of the three exposures captured detail in both the dark recesses behind the buildings and in the bright lights. I used Nik HDR Efex Pro to combine the three shots into one.
The Memorial Bridge in the fog, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. HDR. (Jerry and Marcy Monkman)
Trees silhouetted against the morning sky at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, New Hampshire. F11, 3.2 seconds. (Jerry and Marcy Monkman)
Another technique I like to use when a "normal" shot might not work because of mediocre light or so-so subject matter is to purposefully blur the photo to create an abstract composition. For the above shot of trees against a pre-dawn sky, I used a shutter speed of 3.2 seconds and moved the camera up while the shutter was open. This is a really fun technique because you never know exactly what you're going to get. In addition to moving the camera up and down, you can try moving it horizontally or diagonally as well.
Captain Tobias Lear's 1781 tombsone in the Point of Graves Burying Ground in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. F4, 15 seconds (Jerry and Marcy Monkman)
Of course, you can always add your own light with flash, or as I did in the above photo, with a flashlight. "Light painting" with a flashlight is as easy as waving the flashlight across your subject during the exposure. For this shot, I just used a basic maglight that I bought at the local hardware store, and painted the tombstones during a 15 second exposure. I love the skull and crossbones, by the way.
I am enjoying shooting at this time quite a bit. Most days, I'm done shooting before the sun even comes up so I can go about my normal daily routine. I was actually startled to see the sun come on Saturday when I lingered longer than usual, and I have been so accustomed to shooting in the dark, that I wasn't sure what to do with all that light!
The forecast is calling for a little snow tonight, but hopefully this post has given you some ideas of what to do on those dark, snow-free, winter days.
You can follow my 0630 project on Tumblr or by liking the EcoPhotography Facebook Page.
Check out my upcoming workshops here: http://jerryandmarcymonkman.com/blog/upcoming-photo-workshops/
Until next time…
-Jerry
Tags: EcoPhotography, jerry monkman, new england, photography, Weather, winter
Posted in Creativity, Vision | No Comments »
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
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.
4) When the snow is falling, try a variety of shutter speeds. A shutter speed of 1/250 second or faster will stop the motion of falling snow – if that's the look you want. For a streaky snow, use a shutter speed between 1/125 and 1/30 second, but slower than that and the snow may blur completely away and look more like fog than snow.
5) Get out in the good light. Just like during other times of year, shooting during the "Golden Hour" around sunrise and sunset will result in more opportunities for photos with interesting shadows and textures, warmer tones, and more colorful skies.
Dawn in winter in New Hampshire
For those of you looking for some winter photo instruction, I'll be leading a 3-day winter photography workshop in the White Mountains at the AMC Highland Center, Feb 10 -12, 2012.
Let me know if you have any winter photo questions, or tips of your own.
Until next time…
-Jerry
Find out more about Jerry at his website, and follow him on Twitter at @jerrymonkman
Tags: jerry monkman, Nature Photography, photography, Weather, winter
Posted in Articles, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Think back to a recent time when the weather was nice and you were in a pleasant park area. The sun was out, the clouds were fluffy, and the birds were singing (a rainbow and some happy skipping may have been involved too but we won't go there…). During this joyous day, recall how many people you saw making photographs. My guess would be quite a few. In general, people like making images when the weather is nice. Yet, when the weather becomes inclement, we tend to stay inside, and far fewer photographs are made.
The world doesn't stop when the weather is bad. As photographers, neither should we.
Now, I know many photographers (and I'm sure you do too) who are, shall we say, apprehensive about taking their beloved camera out shooting in inclement weather. They say "my camera is not environmentally sealed".
I say, "So what?"
There is a wide variety of protective gear, such as rain covers for your camera and equipment. You wear rain gear without fear, so why can't your equipment do the same? Op/Tech's Rainsleeve, Kata's Elements series, AquaTech's Sport Shield series , and ThinkTank's Hydrophobia Rain Covers are just a few that come to mind. Even if your camera is environmentally sealed, it is a good idea to invest in a rain cover for your gear.
As photographers, we seek out images and scenes that are unique and tell a story. When applied to our weather discussion, we can get some unique images that tell a story which far fewer photographers tell. A wet street at night and its glow present wonderful options for us to photograph. Shooting falling snow and capturing it in mid air can also make an image that will resonate with others.
Human nature tells us to seek shelter when said weather is bad. As a photographer this means that less people will be out shooting and hence, the stories you can capture will be all your own.
Perhaps urban/cityscapes is not your thing. Maybe you're more of a wildlife photographer. The same rules apply. Wildlife photographers who shoot in rain, snow, etc. have the potential to get amazing images. We've all seen images of wildlife. The number of images rapidly decreases when you look for wildlife in rain, snow, etc. So if you brave the elements and capture, for instance, a mature bull elk exhaling in the cold morning air while some light snow is falling, you could have an amazing shot. Unique, thought provoking wildlife photographs are what separate the journeyman from the truly creative.
Extraordinary photographers make extraordinary photographs. Extraordinary photographers are the ones who do not scoff at the notion of inclement weather but rather embrace it. They are the ones who realized long ago that weather is not the enemy.
Would you rather be an ordinary photographer or an extraordinary one? That's what I thought. Get out there and shoot! (feel free do some happy skipping too if you’d like).
You can check out Ted's work on his website, and follow him on Twitter.
You can see OPG's offerings of raincovers here.
Tags: Advice, Weather, Wildlife
Posted in Articles, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
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