Existential Opportunities

Hawaii presents itself as a paradise, and aptly so, since one can fashion his/her ideas around what they consider to be paradise wherever they find themselves: namely, there is something about an: island-an almost perfect climate-and the isolation/uniqueness of terrain— which lends itself to believe fantasy-can-come-true (“Fantasy Island”, if you will).

Such thinking can become dangerous to a photographer since they are supposed to be there to catch the shot. Is it the shot of their fantasy or is it the shot of what is. To be truthfully honest with you, I believe it is a combination of both, which in and of itself even poses more complexity onto the existential moment.  Such is the excitement of photography.

And that is what my photographic journey in Hawaii was about: namely, a myriad of possible shots around a single event; trying to get the most of that time slot and location, and understanding how to best capture the scene visually onto a two dimensional medium.  This may be a clinical and sterile description, but technically that is all the camera really cares about, since it is not a thinking and feeling entity.

The time in Hawaii was divided into two parts: my photographic workshop and my personal vacation time. In the former part I was exposed to optimal light shooting conditions, namely soft light in early morning and evening. In the latter part, I was at the whims of when it was convenient for me to be at various sites to actually fit the sites into my time stay in Hawaii (generally at mid-day time of lighting conditions).

How to adjust to the above very different ways of taking photographs? I did my best, meaning I tried to focus on certain elements of the shot, even though the light was not the best.

The currently posted shot is of a beach on the eastern shore of Oahu, around the Makapu’u Beach, where the sun was in and out of the clouds, with even rain clouds threatening every minute (such is Hawaii). The wind and wave action were dynamic, at least for an Eastern Coast Mainlander. The light was not perfect but the wave motion was. This is what I tried to capture.

The shot was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, @ 93mm, f/22, 1/8″, ISO 50. I may have had a 3-stop neutral density filter on, but I am not sure about this.

Hawaiian Adventure

A little over a month ago I returned from Hawaii and since then have been processing photos taken there. It was an adventure in the real sense of the word since the State of Hawaii is so unique in many ways. I had signed up to take the Canon Live Learning Workshop and knew it would be challenging simply due to the hours I would be up (early mornings and late nights), but also the conditions (heat, terrain) and distances I would have to travel. Without going into detail, let it suffice to say the first day of the shoot, I was up at 3:30 AM and came back to my hotel room at 1 AM the next day.

The shoot started at Laupahoehoe Point on the Big Island, proceeded to Akaka Falls, then to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, then finally at Kilauea Volcano in Volcanoes National Park. It was an exhausting day but one which challenged me to think on my feet, meaning that I actually started seriously using manual mode and also playing with the three components of EV (exposure value), namely shutter speed, f-setting, and ISO, in a creative manner. I made many mistakes, and there were lost opportunities, but ultimately I knew when the opportunities were lost.

While I would have liked to have made more creative shots, I can honestly say I grew in my understanding of applied photography despite not making the best shots I could have.

The current shot is of Kilauea Volcano taken in the afternoon of the day before my night shoot of the volcano and Milky Way. My supportive wife was with me and it was my first introduction to Kilauea, my position being right in front of the so-called rangers station some distance from the volcano, simply because the emitting gases would not allow a closer approach.

The shot was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 105mm, f/8, 1/400, 1600 ISO, manual exposure, and no tripod.

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.

Winter of Discontent

In an attempt to describe the awkward state I am in photographically I am using William Shakespeare’s Line from Richard III in my title. What I mean by this is that while I have come off a productive period of growth in taking photographs this past year, I am stalled by the forces of nature. At an advanced age of 69 years the body becomes sensitive to elements of cold and heat it was not prone before. In December 2016 the winter so far has been cold with many days of unrelenting winds.

So, in a real sense I am captive to the indoors and to my fantasy and musings.  But, I have a plan. Come June 2017 I have planned to take a Canon Destination Workshop in Hawaii  on the Big Island. It is my “come back” to the forces of nature. It is a  five day workshop of taking photos  of volcanos, the milky way, tropical gardens, and multicolored beaches. In addition to this I’ll be spending ten more days on my own visiting two more islands.

The currently posted photo is of Iceland taken this past July (2016) while crossing a stream on a so-called road in the south central part  of the country, namely Landmannalaugar. It is a region which, no doubt, has beauty and form but it escaped me on this day of cold, rain, and wind.

The photograph was shot with a Canon 5DS, Ef24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 24mm, f/16, 1/400″, ISO 800.

 

Blowing in the Wind

Today I had the opportunity to travel down to Little Compton, RI. This is a rather remote area of a small state, which is deceptive since despite its diminutive status the state has a road system which makes it not easily accessible to certain areas. If you can imagine that Rhode Island is the 13th State, meaning that it’s been around since colonial times, and the roads in all likelihood were build upon old cow paths, as they are won’t to say in these parts._77a3403_dxo11efexpro

In any event, I thought I would take the opportunity to fit some photography in while I was down in this part of Rhode Island. Unfortunately, the elements of tim
e and weather did not fully cooperate, since I was there at around 10 AM and the weather was blustery (25-35 mph winds). Nonetheless, I pushed onward, especially since the area I wanted to shoot in was not visitor friendly. What this means is this: I was interested in shooting Sakonnet Point Light which lies off the southeastern coast of Rhode Island on a little rock jutting out of the sea, whose name is Little Cormorant Rock. Getting a good visual viewpoint of Sakonnet Light is not easy, at least from land. Most of the area is privately owned and very little parking is available to make access easy. In any event, I did manage to find parking (particularly since at this time of year anyone in their right mind under these weather conditions would not be here).

The wind was merciless when I finally set up my tripod on the shore directly in front of the Light. I proceeded quickly since I was freezing (mid 30s temperatures with a wind chill of mid 20s). I captured about 70 shots and felt pretty good about my efforts. Little did I know that although I did everything by the book, with tripod and cable release, my shots were less than sharp simply because of the wind moving my tripod ever so lightly, even though I was about 2 feet off the ground.

The currently posted shot of Sakonnet Light was the only shot I was able to salvage. It was shot with a Canon 5DS, EF24-104mm f/4L IS USM @ 105mm, f/11.0, 30″, ISO 100, using a Heliopan 10 stop ND filter, processed with DxO 11 Optics Pro, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Color Efex Pro 4

 

State of the Art

This post will focus on exactly where I am in relation to certain goals set for myself over the last year.

First and f_77a3324_dxo11oremost, I’m taking sharper photos due to improved technique, use of a tripod, and being more aware of my camera settings (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO).  Also, my photos are less noisy due to excellent use of DxO Optics Pro noise reduction. By the way for some reason my camera and lenses remain fairly clean and free of dust; exactly why I do not know.

There still are many goals to achieve. I tend to take high contrast scenes and have been blowing out either foreground or background. So, I recently invested in graduated neutral density filters. Another goal is to improve my intended focus, especially in long focal lengths or panorama shots. In this regard, I have been trying to perfect my estimate of hyperlocal distance based on the focal lengths of my lenses.

The posted blog photo is of Sugarbush Farm in Vermont. It was shot with a Canon 5 DS, EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM @ 40mm, f/13, 1/640, ISO 800. I was aware of trying to capture the hyperlocal distance, and believe I succeeded.

A Different Kind of Light

Vermont has been an area that I have visited and photographed for a long time. Admittedly, I may not have been as disciplined and focused in my shooting then as I am now, but I had a great difficulty in adapting to the lighting conditions on my just completed visit. The scenery was in full brilliant color, it being the height of the foliage season, but getting to a spot or angle to shoot what were on the face of it spectacular vistas or compositions, was challenging, if not impossible due to how the lighting conditions were.

The many hills, mountains, ravines, and valleys created sharp contrasts and haze. Positioning or re-positioning oneself to overcome these obstacles was difficult at best due to the terrain (streams, hill, private property). It seems that one would have to develop a log of sorts to work out when to shoot and where to shoot precisely in order to get a good composition.

Living on the coast of the eastern USA makes photography immensely easier as compared to Vermont. Sunsets and sunrises are completely different in the Green Mountain State. Consequently, for the time being I have not posted any panoramas or long shots of Vermont on this blog.

The photo to the right was taken in the heart of Gaysville, which has to be one of the more unique and diminutive villages in the state. The lantern sat on the side of an old unique Vermont barn next to an historic inn by Cobble Hill. The sun had just risen and morning mist was burning off.The photograph was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 55mm, f/16, 1/25, ISO 800, post-processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Camera Raw, and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

 

 

The Missing Element

This is a shot of Pigeon Cove, Gloucester, MA, taken around 8 AM on a very foggy mid-September day. This shot would never have occurred if I were not “forced” to be at this location. I say this in jest for I was not forced literally but I was forced since I signed up to take this Canon Destination Workshop.

The point of all of this is that I had to be “there” to have this shot, even though it is a photo of no consequence. It does serve to illustrate a point that I have recently become very sensitive to, and that is, I have to put myself out there for the likelihood of capturing that special moment in a photograph that leads to the “Ahh” experience. If I do not do this, it will not matter. The subject matter of my photography will simply be ordinary. This is the insight that has come upon me. It may appear quite elementary but the demands of this insight are quite “demanding.”

The photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 176mm, f/11, 1/400, ISO 1000, post-processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Skylight Filter.

Style: Coming Softly

The last couple of weeks have seen a resurgence in disparate elements of my photographic skills coming together. Why this is so is anyone’s guess, but my recent Canon Professional Services Destination Workshop in Rockport, MA was certainly  a catalyst.


Arriving at a style is a curious process since so much of what I have been doing with photographs is unconscious and intuitive, but this has been occurring with a certitude I did not have before.  Also it is a subtle process in developing this so-called individual styling preference.

While I am not totally happy with the photo in this post, I am offering it as an example in what I am trying to do. The subject matter of the shot was difficult to craft. It was taken on a very foggy morning around 6 AM at Eastern Point Lighthouse, Gloucester, MA. It was a long exposure of sorts using a polarizing filter to stop down. There is a vagueness to the photo but I tried to capture the unsettledness yet order of the sea and coast. Certainly the sepia toning added to the mood.

It was shot with a Canon 5 DS, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 58mm, f/22, 4″, ISO 100.

 

Photo Boot Camp

In my ongoing endeavor to increase my nascent photo skills I decided to take a pEastern Point Lighthouse, Glouchester, MAhoto workshop offered by Canon Professional Services. Not many of these workshops are offered on the east coast so it made sense to immerse myself within some serious training and critiquing while I had the chance.

The workshop took place in Rockport, MA and the surrounding Gloucester area. However, the weather for mid September did not cooperate, and it was more like mid August with high temperatures and humidity to go with it. Rain was always a threat, and the night sky was not clear for star shooting.

Nonetheless, the workshop made the most of the circumstances with intense in-class training. The whole group of us was up at 5 AM each day, and out again to shoot at sunset. At times I felt we were in basic training maneuvers jumping in and out of SUVs to find optimal photo areas based on the conditions, which were always in flux.

Happy to say this type of exposure to learning was what I needed to continue my journey to creating finer photos. Luckily the class members were congenial and quite talented, each taking some wonderful photographs themselves.

The photograph on the upper right was taken around 6 AM at Eastern Point Lighthouse, Glouchester, MA. The shifting fog made it difficult to find perspectives on the lighthouse itself and other items of interest on the shore. I tried to incorporate what was stressed in class in this particular shot. It was shot with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4 IS USM lens @ 47mm, f/18, 0.4″, ISO 100, with a Gitzo tripod, and RRS ballhead.