Failed Photo Shoot

I mustarded all the energy and creative drive within me to go out on a mid-winter’s night to an island in the middle of Narragansett Bay to try to photograph a panorama of the Newport Bridge under the arch of the Milky Way. I had used the app PhotoPills to determine that the Milky would indeed be in this position as it had been. The trouble was that I was shooting to the northeast from Jamestown, RI Center which naturally had the background of Newport and the U.S. Naval Base which was brightly light affording a ton of light pollution to my ill-planned shoot (since I thought this would not be that much of an issue). It was!

The other fact of my failed photo shoot was that I was shooting at c.2:30 AM with a 15º temperature. I thought I was well dressed for the elements, except I underestimated that my hands (not gloved) would be exposed for over an 1 1/2 hour time period. Needless to say, I panicked (to a degree) at that time (at the end of 1 1/2 hrs.) since I did not have any strength in my hands. Luckily by that time I had retreated to my car but still had trouble retrieving the car keys from my jean pocket.

Lesson learned. Do not underestimate the elements, as well as, pay attention to the shooting environment of your target figure (in my case, the light pollution of the city).

This posted panorama was taken with a Canon 5DS, using a Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM @ 25mm with an f/2.8, 20″, ISO 160. These settings are a bit out of the ordinary for shooting the Milky Way but I was trying to adapt to the light pollution. So much so, that I even used a graduated 3-stop neutral density filter to deal with the light pollution. Post processing was done with DxO Photolab 2, Adobe CR, and Color Efex Pro 4.

Addendum: The photo above does not show the Milky Way simply because of my camera settings. At the very least the ISO should have been 3200, and a shutter speed of 20-30″ to capture the stars. I somewhat captured the bridge but at too great a cost of a successfully planned photo. In other words, details matter.

Patriots: The Legacy Continues

How does one photograph an airplane to make it interesting? It has to be in the context that the plane finds itself in. For example, a misty morning with trail streamers following the airplane’s wings as it ascends or descends. Or, it may be a lightening burst near the plane or around the plane with other ominous clouds and rain.

But on a clear day an ordinary plane landing or takeoff is uninspiring as far as a photographic moment.

The current photo was taken on a beautiful day in the first week of February at Green State Airport in Warwick, RI (officially listed as in Providence), with actually balmy weather. So, while the atmospheric conditions were perfect for a photograph at 2 PM that day, there was no visual drama to capture the human eye.

Except, if one searches out the human story behind this plane landing. Which just happens to be a most historic moment in the history of sports. Namely, the capturing of a 6th Lombardi Trophy by the New England Patriots in the LIII Super Bowl of 2019.

The photo of the Patriots plane landing at Green State Airport was the homecoming of the 2018-19 Patriots Team landing after capturing the Lombardi Trophy after overcoming all odds in doing so. I will let History tally the greatness of this accomplishment.

All I wanted to accomplish in taking this photograph was capturing that moment of arrival. The use of multiple planes was style imposition to elicit the anticipation of welcoming home a Champion.

The photo was taken with a Canon 5DS for the six planes in the current posting. Each plane photo had manual settings of f/11.0, 1/640″, with ISOs of 200 or 250, using a Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ multiple settings of 400mm, 312mm, post processing with DxO Photolab 2, Adobe Camera Raw 2019, Viveza 2, DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

The Allure of Venice

While I still have not discarded the regret of not capturing my pre-trip imagined images that I would have taken (and, did not), I’ve come to the realization that that goal was quite difficult to achieve. Let me explain. The Italy trip that I had taken proceeded from northern Italy (Lake Como) to southern Italy (Sorrento) with intermediate stops in Verona, Venice, Ferrara, Florence, Siena, Montepulciano, Assisi, and Rome. All of this occurred within 14 days. On hindsight, this is a lot of geography packed into a short time period. Couple this with the fact that this was not a dedicated photo shoot(s), but a tour of over 30+ people with other interests other than photography.

What the above tells me is that this recent trip was essentially a scouting vacation which exposed and allowed me to be able to zero in on future trip(s) to more adequately capture the spirit of Italian Wonder.

One of those future trip(s) definitely would be Venice, with Florence, Assisi, and Rome not far behind. Also, let’s not forget Positano, as well as, Puglia. All of this is a great segway to the fact that Italy runs deep and true in its beauty and soul.

Venice, though, is the most visibly obvious example of Italian uniqueness and beauty. There is a draw and enchanting allure that defies expression. For myself, I want to explore and discover that vacuous spirit which seems to linger and then vanishes. I want to capture its uniqueness and passing presence.

The currently posted shot of Venice was taken with a Canon 5DS, using a EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 47mm, f/8.0 1/5″, -0.67 exposure compensation, 100 ISO, post processed with Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC using a Gradient Map, DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2018.

Patriots: The Enduring Legacy

It’s been an unusual occurrence, or should I say, it’s been an unusual series of occurrences to witness the continuing success of the New England Patriots over the last two decades. Not only have they succeeded in winning their Division, but also the American Football Championship multiple times (which amounts to being in the Super Bowl every other year for the last 18 years), as well as winning the Super Bowl five times.

They are at it again this year, despite all odds with reports of aging players, discord within the team, and rising levels of skilled players on other teams.

I’ve always found following the Patriots to be a self-rewarding adventure simply because, I believe, they are reality-based and sincere, meaning they do not engage in the hype of today’s media advertising, but are concerned with the basics of football, i.e., understanding and preparing for the other teams strengths and weakness, and then having players who will work to establish teamwork.

All of the above is simply a prelude to this: I often attend the Patriots Summer Training Camp. It’s a wonderful opportunity to engage the players because they are so close to the fans on the practice field and because one gets to experience the raw force of talent and skill (i.e., anyone can succeed at this time, an un-drafted rookie or a third round draft player, or whatever).

This last year has been a most trying year for Patriots fans, since at many points during the season, it had appeared the team was in decline and not with the potential force of other years. However, they have managed to reach the Super Bowl once again. Quite Unbelievably!

The posted photo is from Training Camp in the Summer of 2018, with Bill Belichick, Ernie Adams (Director of Football Research), Dante Scarnecchia (Offensive Line Coach),  Tom Brady, and Josh McDaniels (Offensive Coordinator). The shot was taken with a Canon 5Ds, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 160mm, f/10, 1/250″, ISO 320, post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC, using a Gradient Map, and Nik Color Efex Pro/

Restoring Equilibrium

The spirit of creativity had left me lingering after my immersion into the Italy culture and countryside. This, by the way, was not due to Italy itself, but to the lack of trying to capture my experiences visually. I felt that I had not accomplished what I wanted. I have been trying to overcome the aftermath of this failure to feel fulfillment in the Italian adventure in my prints, and I believe I may be on my way to shaking this ghost.

Many time during the Italy vacation I used my iPhone SE simply because it was near at hand and less cumbersome than my SLR camera. I must say that compositionally and spirit-wise the iPhone SE captured the moment better than the SLR.

The currently post photo of a night street scene in Rome is an example of capturing the Italian moment, as it were. The shot was taken with an Apple iPhone SE, post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe camera Raw, Photoshop CC, a Gradient Map and a PS filter Diffusion Glow.

Pieces & Piecing It Together

It’s been over three months from my epic tour of Italy where I took over 2700 photos. That tour or at least the photographic part of it has been haunting me through that whole time frame. Despite my pre-trip preparations and setting up shooting strategies, I must say that they proved not to be that effective. Was it the strategy, my implementation of that strategy, or other forces that made the shooting aspect less than optimal in its results is hard to say.

I’ve gained some perspective over the three months of processing and thinking about the photos I had taken, and while initially I was quite despondent regarding my results, I have come to see that, in reality, I probably could not have done any better considering the circumstances of trying to shoot “professionally” in a less than optimal environment.

What I am trying to say is that I have had the task over the last few months of shifting through the hundreds of photos I’d taken, and evaluating them more microscopically, as it were. What I discovered is that many times my approach and composition of shots were great, but the ever constant out of focus or blur was present. I anticipated the possibility of these types of circumstances (where I might be rushed in places with new and different lighting situations) and try to compensate for this. My so-called anticipated solution to solve this potential problem was to shoot in manual mode, setting a high shutter speed with an aperture that I could quickly adjust for low light vs high light, and then simply put the ISO on automatic. For some reason(s) this often failed me. I probably would have more keepers if I had used the strategy of using Automatic Mode.

The above being said, I managed to have some success, but not with out working in post-processing to get it. Thus, the above title to this post, Pieces & Piecing It Together. The bright side to this current phase of less than optimal in-camera shots was that I was forced to beef up on my post processing skills. Personally, I much rather get it right in the camera, first.

The current photo to this post is that of wallpaper at the Villa Carlotta on Lake Como, Italy. The Villa was a most wonderful place with artisan craftsmanship throughout. The wallpaper had embroidery type details to cover the seams. There were several types of these embroideries in various room. For this photo I compiled three of them to maximize the effect they produced from viewing them in situ. The photos was taken with a Canon 5DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 65mm, f/5.6, 1/100″, -0.33 Exposure Compensation, ISO 6400, post processed with DxO PhotoLab, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC, and Color Efex Pro.

Reloading & Revitalizing

Since my last post several months ago a lot of water has figuratively flowed beneath my bridge, with a fifteen day tour of Italy (Lake Como down to Sorrento), Thanksgiving and Christmas with all their attendant activities.

Photographically, I was quite busy processing the 2700 or so photos that I took in Italy. I thought I was prepared for the rigors of a group tour, since I preplanned and scouted (via internet) areas I would be visiting. The strategy was to take many more photos than I normally take, since this strategy would somewhat circumvent the fact that I would not be shooting under ideal conditions (e.g. little time to shoot, ill placed locations not under my control, etc.). What I was not prepared for were the massive crowds in all of the places I visited, even though this was during the off-season (viz., shoulder season). Also, a significant amount of time was taken up in traveling by bus, which cut down on shooting opportunities. One could also say that the crowds themselves were tiring, trying to navigate or avoid them.

I had high hope that I would have more photo opportunities than I did on the Italy sojourn, and I was disappointed the sparse amount of keepers. For some reason many shots were blurry or the settings were wrong, something I still am trying to figure out.

So, it has been a time of soul searching, trying to reload and regain the spirit of successful shooting.

The currently posted shot is obviously of Venice in mid afternoon. While crowded with boats, it was far easier to find scenes without mobs of people. It was shot with a Canon 5DS, with a EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 105mm, f/4.0, 1/2000″, -0.67 exposure compensation, and 200 ISO, post processed using DXO PhotoLab, Adobe Camera Raw, with Photoshop CC, a gradient map, and Color Efex Pro.

Preparing for Travel

It’s been a while since my last post, and the reasons are myriad. However, photographically I have been active in preparing for my two week trip through Italy–from the north to the south.

I have really concentrated on preparing for this shoot (even though it really is a vacation with my wife; more on that later). I have been thinking about equipment, what I want to shoot, scouting out places, and trying to realistically plan on the use of my time (since I will be on a group tour which we all know is probably the worst place to get realistically good photos). This is Growth for me, since I never thought of these elements before.

However, the above impediments have been good in sharpening my senses, judgements, and planning as to how much is realistically possible. That is, do I just want to shoot many photos and hope for the best. Or, do I want to enjoy the time spent in Italy and get a few good to great photos simple because I was perspicacious.

None the less, I did purchase a Platypod Max, since I wanted to have a means to shoot with a tripod without the hassle or inability (to use a tripod) due to local rules in various places. Also, I decided to take more lenses with me, namely, the Canon Ef 50mm 1:1.8 II lens (to use in dark churches,etc.), the Canon 16-35mm 1:4 L IS USM lens (for panos, interior, and some landscape shots), and finally, the Canon EF 24-105 1:4 L IS USM lens (my utility lens for traveling). In addition to these items, I am taking ND filters (10 stop & 15 stop) to try to capture scenes in crowded places (e.g., Venice’s St. Marks Square). Now, this is a lot of equipment for me, but depending on where I’ll be a certain day I’ll just take what I need. The actual amount of equipment  will be carried in a LowePro 180 AW bag, which is quite compact. I may switch the bag to a LowPro BP Runner BP 350 AW II Backpack, but I like compact better.

Developmentally, the above captures where I am at photographically. I believe I am growing skill-wise and becoming more efficient in the use of equipment, method, and time. Now all that is left is: will I enjoy my time in Italy while also getting some good shots. That is my goal.

The posted photo is a shot of the journey up the Douro River in Portugal. The journey is a curious one for it entails a forgotten section of Europe, but at the same time, it is a vibrant section based on history, culture, wine-making, and unspoiled landscape (i.e., not commercialized). The particular shot was in early morning with the typical morning overcast skies in Spring. The camera settings: Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm @ 50mm,  f/4 L IS USM, f/8.0, 1/320″, ISO 1250, post processed with DxO 11, Canon Camera Raw, and Color Efex Pro.

Photographic Metanoia

Metanoia is a Greek term meaning the changing of one’s mind, spirt, or heart. In other words, it is an about face in the direction one wants to proceed. My latest excursion (aka vacation) into Portugal was the genesis of this metanoia. The trip itself was disappointing from several aspects, of which I will not go into at this time, but the critical factor as far as photography goes, was that the flow and practics of shooting photography were not easily available or present to have me take a good shot. To be specific, these practics included:  many people (literally everywhere all the time), the sense of being rushed, no time to really be in one particular place to become a part of it, being in places in the brightest times of day or having to capture desirable objects from the wrong angle of light or composition, and not having time to reflect on or check one’s camera settings (especially when a transient scene was presenting itself).

Portugal was a beautiful and far less developed or commercialized country, and it had many outstanding vistas and local beauty. But, for the reasons stated above, I regressed in my ability to control not only what I shot but how I shot. I made a serious return to taking blurry or unfocused shots (sometime I was steadily progressing with). That was the most distressing to me, since I was not able to salvage some shots post-processing-wise, since they were blurry.

Consequently, I have arrived at the point in my photography life that I will have to either chuck taking photos on tours and/or develop a shooting strategy more precisely attuned to various situations (this includes my own personal mindset as well as my camera’s settings). Also, I will definitely have to scout out some shots (though, this impossible in most vacation travel, unless I customize the routine), as well as setting up contingency camera settings to fall back on in a hurry. Other than that I will have to steel myself to tune-out distractions as much as possible and also stand still for 2 full seconds whenever I shoot (to eliminate blur/lack of focus).

The posted photo is of a street in Coimbra, Portugal, shot with a Canon 5DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 24 mm, f/10, 1/6″, ISO 100, with a B+W polarizer filter, post processed using DxO Optics Pro, Adobe CR, Nik Color Efex Pro and a gradient map in Photoshop. By the way, this posted shot is nothing extraordinary, but it is, at least, presentable. The point of this post is this: I had to work hard to get this shot to this point in post-processing.

 

Keeping in Shape

Since coming back from my most recent journey to Portugal and the Douro River Valley, life has presented to me many personal challenges, testing my resolve on a day to day basis. Without going into detail these issues have resolved themselves and approximately a month later I have been able to spend more time on photography.

Portugal had left me disappointed in not only opportunities to captures shots, but also in my photographic technique in shooting. I had regressed in not being atuned to the technical aspects  (basic things as aperture, ISO, shutter speed, good posture for sharp photos) and I was lazy in this regard. One could argue that I had other things on my mind, as I had stated in my last post that simply shooting on a regular European tour presents a myriad of challenges not to be taken lightly.

 

In any event, I knew I had to bone up and get back into photographic shape. I have tried to do this over the last week or so by attempting to photograph Beaver Tail Lighthouse (which was the third established lighthouse of the original 13 Colonies). It sits on an “island” (or peninsula) of Jamestown, RI. Needless to say, it is a remote area sitting far out away from the mainland and presenting an atmosphere where one feels attuned to the ocean, sky and elements. In other words, it is a special place of nature. However, it presents challenges since the lighthouse is quite bright in revolving (approx. 5″ on, 2″ off). Also, there is some light pollution, especially at this time of year (summer) since the Milky Way (my object of focus) sits in the SE sky where some light pollution exists.

I had tried photographing the lighthouse in the past and was disappointed since the light was too bright. I quickly realized I had to modify my technique. I had been strategizing on this over the last few months, and finally decided that I needed to just go out and shoot the dame thing. I did so the other night under conditions which I thought were perfect. The previous night I attempted to do this but the bugs of summer (July) were a bit much. So, the following night I put on my hiking bug resistant clothes and bug spray and tried again. It was quite a change since there was a stiffer breeze, clear skies, and moderate temperatures, so an enjoyable evening c. 11 PM presented itself to me.

It became apparent to me that I had to improvise on the basic procedure of shooting the Milky Way (I felt I understood the basic technique after shooting Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii at midnight last year). I used two techniques: 1. that proposed by Starry Landscape Stacker, and 2. the basic starry night technique  (c.25-30″ exposure, f/2.8. ISO 3200) but this time placing my hat on the lens when the lighthouse light turned towards me (c.2″). Both of these techniques had produced acceptable photos. I then tried using SLSS to process the “hat technique”, and the results were also acceptable.

My gut told me, though, that I should simply use the basic technique, and that is what the current post is. That is, the shot was taken with a Canon 5DS, EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM @ 23mm, f/2.8, 15″, ISO 3200, post processed with Adobe Camera Raw, DxO Optics Pro 11, Nik Color Efex Pro.