Doing My Job

The Blog Post title is a take on Coach Bill Belichick’s oft used phrase “Do Your Job.” It was chosen to emphasize the challenge I have been trying to meet of “scouting” and being prepared to shoot photographs so as to make them something of which I could be proud.

The New England Patriot’s Football team had chosen Theodore F. Green Airport in Warwick, RI to be the airport where their airplane is stored and from which the team takes off for away games in the NFL. As the gods had ordained, I live only five minutes away from Green Airport, so I said it’s only fitting to try to capture a photograph of the team’s plane taking off.

Besides actually having a photo of the Patriot’s Plane as a fan, I thought that trying to take a photo of a plane taking off would help develop my photo and camera skills. This it actually did, for I had to figure out when the team’s pane would take off, find a vantage point to shoot without being stopped for security reasons, and finally try to get the most advantageous angle to shoot the photo. Actually choosing the camera settings was the easy part of the process.

There was a Warwick City Athletic Park adjacent to the airport so I could shoot without fear of police or security. The problem was that there was a wire fence surrounding the airport so my angle of shooting was drastically impeded, at least from capturing the plane lifting off. The next best angle was to capture the plane immediately airborne, which I did. [Notice the partially retracted landing gear (done 1-3 seconds after leaving the tarmac).]

The final hurdle to capturing the shot was that I was facing into the setting sun on a late fall day. The Patriot’s were choosing to leave for the away games in the late afternoon (c.3:30 and 4:30 PM). So, for a portion of my shots I was capturing a backlit plane. As the plane proceeded upward the background setting sun became less of a problem.

The current shot was the second time I visited Green Airport to record the Patriot’s Plane taking off. The first time was a disaster. Not only did I not realize that I would be shooting into the sun (at least part ways), but I ran out of CF card memory space. The above posted photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 185mm, f/9.0, 1/400″, ISO 200, using DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC (2018), a gradient map, and Color Efex Pro.

 

Picking Apples

The fall months of October and November have come and gone without my one desire being met of capturing the Milky Way during one of the new moons during those months. I’m beginning to realize that I must, indeed, plan in detail and in advance to get local shots (i.e., in Rhode Island) with local foreground objects (like light houses) in these Milky Way dreams.

I had tried to substitute for the above lack of opportunities by getting to know my State of Rhode Island better. I chose the northern part of the State since it is one I do not know and one which has remained somewhat resistant to modern changes. This part of Rhode Island is definitely historical and has beautiful rolling country sides of farms and orchards, with small villages and quaint farmhouses. There are many apple orchards and this currently posted shot of a farmhouse sits among one of these orchards.

The shot was taken on a windy, coolish fall day in the afternoon with the low angled sun behind me. The house was situated on one of the corners of a “busy” intersection. There definitely was not much traffic, but it still required being aware and off the road when traffic did show up. I parked at an apple orchard barn and asked the person there if I could park and shoot around the area (not going on the property, but simply shooting from the roadside). He stated there would be no problem. I had taken several hand held shots, but decided I’d like to use my tripod to make use of some of my neutral density filters  to diminish the bright light of the angled sun. Before I could fully extend my tripod legs, the gentleman who previously agreed to let me shoot freely, now stated he did not want me shooting with my tripod because the owner of the house I was shooting might not like it (the owner was not on good terms with the gentleman with whom I was talking). I stated I understood, packed up my gear and moved on.

What the above experience has reinforced in me is that shooting photography is like picking apples. There are apples which you are allowed to pick and there are apple which the grower does not want you to pick. Furthermore, in the wider scope of photography, we have to pick and choose what apples to pick to make the best pie (aka photograph).

The above photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm @ 45mm,  f/4L IS USM lens, f/10, 1/250″, 160 ISO, using DxO Optics Pro 11 in post processing, in addition to Adobe Camera Raw, PS CC (2018), a gradient map and Nik Color Efex Pro.

Meeting the Challenge

My recent trip to Hawaii continued to strengthen within me the adventure that photography is. Of course, for some individuals it is all consuming and it is a job unto itself, which is quite fine and I am grateful for these people for I learn from them. But for me the adventure comes in fits and spurts where photography fits in the spaces left void when other life events are not pressing.

That is not to say photography is not far from my thinking and desires, for I am constantly planning and trying to make photography more a central player. Be that as it may, I have been forcing myself to give photography more of its due.

Recently, this has taken more form for me in that I have made two major lens purchases—a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens and a Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. Both of these lens were at very appealing prices and I grabbed the opportunity to do so, even though it put some financial pressure on me to purchase them. Those purchases have forced me to make opportunities to use these lens, and I have been doing so over the last two months.

First of all, I will say I am not disappointed in my decision to makes these lens purchases, and secondly these lens have performed marvelously. They have stimulated me to think creatively, especially in how best to frame and use them.

Also, I must say that I am feeling very comfortable in shooting manually in many diverse situations as well as using my camera’s settings to maximize the best photo capture possible, and doing this dynamically, i.e., adjusting shooting on the changing conditions and needs at hand.

The currently posted photo is of Conimicut Point Light House at sunrise this past September.  I was not content with the angling of this shot but I had no options based on accessibility. The photo was taken with a Canon 5DS, EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM @ 35mm, f/22, 1/4/”, ISO 50, used a six stop neutral density filter, post processed using DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, PS Gradient Map, and Nik Color Efex Pro.

 

Implied Style

After a protracted journey of many photographs, some clarity is coming to me regarding how I shoot photographs. Not necessarily what I shoot, but how I shoot.

It appears that I gauge or shape my shooting of whatever is before me to include implied motion.

Obviously,  not only is content involved but also form of how a shot is framed or constructed.

What I find fascinating is that subconsciously I do this.

I will leave it at that for now.

The posted shot is from Beaver Tail, Jamestown, RI during a tropical storm Jose off the coast. It was shot using a Canon 5 DS, EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM @ 35mm, f/14, 1/250, ISO 500, post processing using DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Canon Raw, a gradient map using Photoshop CC (2017), and Nik Color Efex Pro.

New Wave

One aspiration in my recent Hawaii photo shoot was to capture dynamic waves. To a degree I achieved that. The Pacific waters were beautifully multi-shaded blues and there were many large waves, but they were not like the very large ones of Hawaii in the winter months.

Little did I know that in September in Rhode Island I would get my dynamic waves wished for in Hawaii. A tropical storm named Jose passed southeast of the coast but near enough to create abundant wave action with the bonas of very strong winds adding to the dynamism  by clipping off wave tops and creating spray.

I had the pleasant problem of actually having very many good photos to choose from the shoot. I had taken two lenses recently acquired: Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM. Both lenses responded excellently to the challenges of the coastal storm action.

The currently posted photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm, f/14, 1/250″, ISO 160 processed with Adobe Camera Raw, DxO Optics Pro 11, using Photoshop CC (2017) with a gradient map and Color Efex Pro.

 

Conditioning

Never did I think that photography would be so demanding, at least if you wanted to take more than just a snapshot, but rather a special moment that immediately grabs and holds one’s vision. In other words, an “Ah” moment. The moment which is special and captures the essence of the vision before you.

One truly must get into physical shape as well as visual (i.e., the art of seeing) shape and technical shape (knowing one’s tools of the trade). It has been a most deplorably wet spring here in New England this year. Instead of being outside and shooting, I have been inside and studying photography. Both are obviously needed, but being outside and shooting is more fun.

I have been preparing for my photo shoot on the Big Island of Hawaii at the end of this month, anticipating what I would need for certain situations, namely, night shooting of the Milky Way with possible inclusions of Mt. Kilauea lava flows, high contrast shots of the oceans and waves, sunrises and sunsets on ocean panoramas,  rain forests and tropical gardens with shadows and probable glare, and last but not least surfers and denizens of the Hawaiian paradise. In this regard, I am bringing along rain gear for me and my camera, and a host of various filters to assist in getting the best shot. I wish I did not need to bring along my MacBook Air, simply because I like to travel light. But I guess there is a price to pay for the perfect shot(s).

The currently posted photo is of white irises around our house. They are abundant this spring and have looked the best they ever have due to the rainy spring. The photo was taken with a Canon 5DS, EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM @ 35mm, f/8.0, 1/50, ISO 100, processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, using a Photoshop gradient map, and Color Efex Pro.