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LIGHT Photographic Workshops blog discusses everything photography related. Adobe updates, computer suggestions, accessories that can save your life and more!
While I was looking over some images for yesterday's blog I found this sequence. Thought it would make a nice simple time lapse.
Gorgeous Alaska day and a slow humpback whale dive. Shot the sequence on my photo tour with a Canon 1D Mk IV and an EF 70-300 4.5/5.6L.
Put the time lapse together with Lightroom. Recommend the 720 quality option.
Killer whale attacking a Steller's sea lion
There are many shots that require you to react extremely quickly in order to capture what you want such as these whales I photographed during one of my Alaska workshops. One of the most successful techniques you can use is what I call the "test shot."
The test shot has two primary objectives, exposure and rough focus. When taking a test shot your actual subject is usually not in the frame. For example, these whales break the surface in less than a second and if I wait until the subject is in the frame to find exposure I will be less than successful most of the time. If instead I anticipate where the subject will appear or what the event will look like, I can figure out exposure ahead of time very easily. I can also pre-focus so that the precision focus process is much faster once my subject is in frame and my auto focus sensors are properly placed.
A humpback whale going for it in front of Devil's Thumb
When you make a test shot, it is often times not adequate to set exposure based on the environment/background. You need to anticipate what will drive the exposure. For example, in all three whale shots the critical elements are the white water and the white fins/body. If I make a test shot of just the water and set exposure without considering the extreme tonal difference between water and white water/whale, I will, most likely, blow the highlights in the shot. When I made the test shots for these images, I set my exposure based on white not on the water/background. You can use rules of thumb to underexpose for the predicted highlights but I prefer actual meter data, when I can get it. In these examples, I changed my camera's metering mode to Spot and then I set exposure off of something white. I actually used the boat's wake but a white sheet of paper would work as well. As long as the white is under the same lighting conditions as my subject, my exposure will work perfectly.
.1" earlier
This process is simpler when shooting in Manual exposure mode but can be used with Aperture or Shutter priority and auto exposure lock. Once I have my exposure, I pre-focus to the expected subject distance and take a test shot and evaluate. With my exposure and pre-focus set, I am much better prepared to quickly execute the actual shot when the action occurs.
I use test shots all the time to give myself the advantage when something might happen and my reactions have to be perfect. When I am out photographing, people find it odd that I am shooting every now and again at what appears to be nothing. But my "strange" behavior pays off. If you stack your deck ahead of time you will enjoy success in a more consistent and repeatable manner.
Fiat Lux!
I watch a show on The Food Network called Good Eats. The host is Alton Brown and he discusses a large amount of cooking gear and equipment (in addition, to delivering amazing food facts and cooking techniques.) The consistent thing about Alton's gear recommendations is he loves equipment that can multi-task. Why have a piece of gear that can only do one thing. If that is the case, to do three tasks you need three different items. With multi-tasking, one piece of gear does all three jobs.
If you do a lot (or even a little) travel photography the concept of gear "multi-tasking" is hugely important. In the ideal world it would be simple to take all of your gear everywhere. There would never be carry-on limits, space or weight issues, and we would all have our own photo Sherpa. In the real world, we are often forced to take fewer items in order to meet the travel reality.
I found myself in just such a situation on a recent photo trip to Alaska. I normally carry a tripod along with a ball head and a gimbal head. Turns out if I took both my bag would have been 50+ pounds and I did not want to pay the penalty. I decided on just the gimbal since I knew it would work for my long lenses and also provide basic ballhead functionality (although not quite as efficiently.)
Even with that I ended up wanting to shoot a macro shot from directly overhead my subject. My first plan of attack is shown below.
As you can tell, probably not the best way to shoot. Not only is the platform unstable but my ergonomics are horrible. This is a really easy way to hurt your back and take a bad picture at the same time. So I needed to innovate.
My solution was to multi-task my gear. I know I had a great tripod (Really Right Stuff TVC-33) and my gimbal (RRS PG-02). I decided to see if I could make it work in this macro situation.
After looking at the PG-02, I took the vertical support arm and turned it around. This allowed me to support the camera and point it straight down at my basket sea star. I had never done this before and did not know the PG-02 could do this. What I found is exactly what Alton Brown talks about on Good Eats; another great use for a piece of gear designed for something a little (or a lot) different.
Although I had good support, my ergonomics still, for lack of a better word, sucked. Before I destroyed my back, I finally settled on what you see below.
Tremendous support, good ergonomics, and a different view of a basket sea star. After these shots were taken I switched over to an EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro for closer shots (an example is the first shot at the top of the post.)
So here is to Alton Brown, Good Eats, and multi-tasking.
As you all know I love Really Right Stuff gear. This shoot made me an even bigger fan of the RRS PG-02. Good luck making this happen with any of the other gimbal heads out there.
Fiat Lux!
All shots of me are courtesy of Marc Muench, Leanna Telliard-Stern, and Gina Ruttle. Thank you!
Basket stars multi-task as hair!
One of my favorite expressions with digital photography is "pixels are free." With no cost, photographers should enjoy complete freedom to experiment and play. If you have an idea for a shot, go for it. If it works, great. Take what you did and make it a part of your photography.
If it does not work out, no big deal. But use the results as a completely free learning experience. Go to school and figure out what was the issue/s. Can you make a small adjustment or do you need to go back to the drawing board and plan again.
I recently found myself in a situation where I honestly did not know how the results would turn out. I wanted to shoot a series of images for a landscape panorama in rapidly falling light levels. I had the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L on my 5K Mk II; a combination not often used for panoramas. To make matters worse I was on the back of a moving boat. Not only was it moving forward and slowly rocking side to side but we were in a regular ocean swell so we were slowly heaving (up and down.)
Not the best situation but pixels are free so I went for it. The results from the 42 shots are shown below.
This is the panorama after the stitching process. If you follow the bottom (or top) you will notice a nice sine wave pattern. That is the boat going up and down with the ocean swell. My camera support was rock solid (RRS TVC-33 and PG-02) but the boat was out of my control.
At this point I had a nicely stitched panorama even though it is somewhat ugly in terms of how everything lined up. But it worked and did not cost a thing.
After a little cleanup, I had a usable, huge panorama to optimize. For a free experiment, I will take it.
Fiat Lux!
Rick Sammon demonstrating the "proper" technique for donning a survival suit. Enjoy, we did.
Hope to have you join Rick and I in Alaska.
Fiat Lux!
Last week, I showed a panorama of a few bergs in SE Alaska. Interestingly, as I was shooting the bergs someone shot me. This image gives you an idea of getting low. Sometimes to get a different angle you might need to get a little bit wet, muddy, dirty, cold, etc.
Fiat Lux!
4-shot stitched panorama,
In port for a day before departing again for more eagles, whales, bears, glaciers, and fun. Rick Sammon and I along with the cruise participants had a tremendous experience and I cannot wait to share some of the images we made. Marc Muench joined me in Petersburg for this next cruise and I am sure we will have another incredible trip.
A technique I used often during the trip was to get low. The image above is a four shot stitched panorama shot from a RHIB (rigid hulled inflatable boat) slowly moving through the water. To make this shot more dramatic I placed the camera about an inch above the water and shot. Since pixels are more or less free, experiment with different approaches and angles to your photography. Some will work and others not so much, just part of the process.
Even though the image had tremendous color I thought I might try a black and white also. It is great having options and experimenting with both capture and your post processing. Continuing along that process, the image below is the combination of the color version and the black and white version's luminance values.
Fiat Lux!
Quick shot of the gear heading out with me today. The great thing is all of it fit into a Think Tank Airport International except the big lenses. It is possible to put the 400 mm (upper right) in the Airport International but not on this trip.
Taking a Canon 5D Mk II, 7D, 1D Mk IV for bodies. Lenses include 15mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8L, 70-200mm f/4L, 70-300mm f/4-5.6L, 100-400, 400mmf/4-5.6L f/2.8L, and 800mm f/5.6L. Also have a 580 EX II with battery pack, Zoom sound recorder, and I do not go anywhere without a HoodLoupe from Hoodman.
Sunset kind of fizzled but not a bad view from Sitka.
Heading out from Sitka this morning. This is my first visit here and the town is spectacular. The people are friendly and I won't even get started about the fresh seafood.
Fiat Lux!
Proof of why I should not quit my day job. With the cost of fishing licenses and a really small catch, our prawns were effectively $600 per pound. Tasty, tasty spotted prawns but somewhat pricey.
This was onboard the Alaskan Legend last month during a killer photo tour.
Thanks to Dr. Kevin Keating for shooting this embarrassing image.
Fiat Lux!
A little video we shot of Tim Grey donning a cold water survival suit. The standard is to get into the suit and be ready to get into the water in under a minute. Take a look and see how Tim does.
Just came home from two back to back cruises in Alaska. It just keeps getting better every time I go up there. Hope to have you join me on one of the cruises soon.
Tim will be back with us here for Lightroom (Tim's Lightroom) in August and in October for the California Photo Festival You can find more info about Tim at TimGrey.com
Fiat Lux!
Heading back out onto the water this afternoon for another photo tour of south east Alaska's amazing scenery and wildlife. Took a quick a break in Petersburg after the first trip. I needed a little time to catch up on sleep as we were shooting all day for over a week.
We had another incredible trip filled with amazing photography, incredible camaraderie, good food and wine, and pure fun. I look forward to sharing some of the images we made and the techniques used to capture them once I get back down to Cali.
Lion's Mane
Humpback tail and barnacles
Rolling in
Fiat Lux!
Mountain goat from moving boat.
Canon 1D Mk III, EF 800mm f/5.6L, and RRS PG-02
Day five of my Lightroom "Zero to Hero" class here at LIGHT. Wanted to put up a quick blog before class.
I was looking through some of my AK shots and found these two examples of camera support working in my favor. We (and most photographers, photo magazines, blogs, etc.) speak a lot regarding capturing the sharpest images. Hands down the best techniques we have found are to shoot from a STABLE platform and use Live View when possible to compose, expose, and focus (built-in mirror lock-up too.)
A stable platform to me means good tripod and Really Right Stuff gear. I am using the PG-02 panning gimbal head these days which supports my long lenses and serves double duty as a multi-axis panorama kit.
The goat shot above is an effective 1040mm with a 1/400 shutter speed from a moving boat! That is only possible when the platform is stable. I also used Live View to focus and set my exposure. The PG-02 makes that probable but the addition of a long lens support kit makes the shot probable. There is not a gear solution for everything but having the right equipment certainly helps.
24 shot HDR pano taken from a boat with the PG-02.
For a cool writeup from Joe at Really Right Stuff about an awesome trip check out the following link.
Now back to Lightroom for me. We are learning the final workflow step today - Output. So plenty of time with export, Print, SS, and Web. Good living.
Fiat Lux!
Hobart Bay Pano with Northern Song bookends
An early morning fisheye pano I shot recently. I liked the effect I was getting with the boat framing the vertical edge of the image but the only way to bookend was with a pano. With the 15mm FE on my 5D Mk II, I was able to get the effect with only two shots. I knew from previous efforts though I would have a problem trying to stitch just two fisheye images together with Photoshop. In order to make the stitching process go a little simpler (or go at all) I shot an additional frame for a total of three.
I stacked all three shots, expanded my canvas, and moved each into position manually. If you ever need to do this the trick is to switch the Layer Blend Mode of the layer you are moving to Difference. This will give you a weird ghosted effect but you can easily see where to position. After everything was in place I selected all layers and clicked Edit-Auto Blend. With the Auto layout selected Photoshop did the rest.
In the end the image was just under 10K pixels wide so I almost reached a 2:1 ratio for the pano. More importantly, I got the effect I wanted. I think the main lesson is pixels are free. If you have an idea shoot away and see what can be accomplished in post. If it works, great. If not, find another way.
The video below is the final from our last trip ashore. I posted the other two already so I figured I might as well finish it. As you can see my lens is still wet and I was not microphoned up. Hopefully, it captures some of the flavor.
Send Off from AK from Hal Schmitt on Vimeo
The "sushi" bar comment in the video is when the fish rush ashore and the eagles stand in or near the water. They reach down with their beaks and snatch the fish up; just like a sushi-go-round restaurant.
A single eagle at the "sushi bar" with one on deck.
Notice the fish jumping out of the water in the foreground.
The final shot below is the yacht I reference in the video. I will admit it was kind of small in the frame so here is a closer view.
Fiat Lux!
Bridge shot from Lightroom, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop, and Topaz
Lens is a 400mm f/2.8L AKA "killer glass"
I showed a Nik HDR Efex Pro processed ice cave the other day and wanted to balance that with a couple of Photomatix Pro HDRs.
Both images started in Lightroom where I processed the components. My workflow includes removing any of the default settings in the Develop Module that effect tonality. From top to bottom I do the following: Blacks-0, Brightness-0, Contrast-0, Tone Curve's Point Curve-Linear, Detail's Sharpening Amount-0, and Lens Correction to remove vignetting and chromatic aberration. I will warn you here, after you make those adjustments the components will not look good.
You can easily make a Preset and the process goes much quicker.
Once the image returns from Photomatix I will go through my normal optimization workflow. This often returns the above sliders and options to near their default.
In the case of these two images, I processed them twice in Photomatix, adjusted in Lightroom, and then combined the two in Photoshop. For the interior shot I also used Topaz Detail to add some shape and form.
Fiat Lux!
Alaska Ice Cave from Hal Schmitt on Vimeo
Video shot as I was getting ready to make some HDR source images. Always be extremely careful when dealing with ice caves. Many are not safe at all so perform a good survey of the scene and judge integrity, traction, and overall security. It is also a great idea to not do this alone. With at least one other person assistance/rescue gets much easier.
The textures, color, and tonal range inside the cave were amazing. Shooting here was a challenge. The biggest issue was the melt water. Keeping the camera and lens relatively dry required full protection. I do not use any fancy type of rain gear. I prefer fish fillet bags and rubber bands or gaffer's tape. They make a simple, effective, and economical solution. Light levels overall were low so I used a tripod. Tripod setup was a little challenging with very slippery, uneven terrain (ice) as the cave floor. The ability to rapidly adjust my tripod leg length and angle was very helpful.
I shot a single image to assess the tones and decided I needed to shoot multiples to cover the entire range. For the HDRs on this blog, I shot only three source files at -2, 0, and +2 E.V with a Canon 5D Mk II. This gave me about 9ish stops of usable data which worked perfectly. Had I needed more shots I had my Promote Control with me.
HDR processed with HDR Efex Pro from Nik
I used Nik's HDR Efex Pro for this scene. As many of you know I am not all that faithful to one HDR software. I primarily find myself using Photomatix Pro but I will almost always try other options and pick the best result. Sometimes my final result is a blend of output from different programs. For this shot I wanted the result to show texture more than anything else. Click on the attached images for a larger version since only when big will the real texture come out.
On this version I pulled some saturation and pushed texture a bit more.
Now I need to go back in July with my Fisheye. Of course, this cave will be gone but I should be able to find another. Come out and join me.
Fiat Lux!
Dial it up (as we used to say at TOPGUN)
As many of you know I am a big fan of photographing eagles (might be that fighter pilot thing again.) There are a huge number of tips and tricks when shooting eagles but I will give two of the simplest. These two might seem a little bit flippant and MOTO (master of the obvious) but they are true.
My best tip is go where there are a large number of eagles. The rock above has 19 eagles on it. What is not shown are the other 30 rock outcroppings just like this one covered with birds or the trees full of birds. When you surround yourelf with 500-1000 eagles you will have a much higher probability of getting the shots you want. Photographing eagles in flight is not the easiest task so the more you shoot the better. Tough to do as you wait for the lone bird to fly by again.
Tip number two often goes hand in hand with number one, go where this is a non-stop supply of eagle food. I have no problem with feeding eagles to get images but there is a finite amount of frozen herring. Food equals eagle action. The birds will feed almost non stop. I have seen eagles feed until there are fins sticking out their beaks. With plenty of birds and food you increase your opportunity in a major way. In the image above the fish are literally jumping out of the water into the waiting talons of the approaching eagle. There is also something a little more raw and natural about a freshly ripped apart herring; half in the beak and half in the talons. In the gory image above note there is another whole herring in the talons as well.
As I mentioned, feeding to attract eagles is not really any different than planting flowers to attract butterflies or using sugar water to bring in hummingbirds to an elaborate flash setup. I do believe in full disclosure though and will discuss if an eagle was baited or not. Most often it is pretty easy to tell if there is a fish in the frame (in the water or in the talons/beak.) Recently caught live fish bleed and still look alive. Frozen herring are slightly discolored, the tail contracts, and the eye is very dead. For example, check out the gull below picking up a frozen herring.
A few more shots for giggles.
Yep, the sky was that blue.
Love the dirty birds (juveniles)!
Notice the bright spot in the talons. Normally a piece of bait...as it is here.
Fiat Lux!
Glacial Moraine from Hal Schmitt onVimeo.
A quick video shot from the highpoint of a glacial moraine in AK. This is the far end of the moraine I discussed in yesterday's post.
We had intermittent showers throughout our trip ashore as you can see on the lens and hear. Regardless of the weather, the landscape and scenery were pretty cool. I found the most interesting part of this area to be that the landscape was completely fractal. Regardless of scale, there were similar features. For example, the glacier and its moraine were very similar in appearance to the small water flows and deposits of glacial silt.
I will put up a few more videos from this location and other spots around the area.
Video was shot with a Canon 5D Mk II and EF 24-70mm f/2.8L. I processed very minimally in Adobe Premiere Pro.
I make a plug in the video for the best photography pants I have found. They are made by a company called Crye Precision. Crye makes combat and field gear without equal. The best thing about the pants is they have ten pockets distributed along your entire leg. One of the things I most miss about wearing a Navy flight suit everyday is the lack of useful pockets in normal clothing. The lower leg pockets on the Crye field pants are perfect. Crye is not bashful about charging a good amount for their gear but you get what you pay for.
Check them out at Crye Precision.
Fiat Lux!
The Flash sequence above shows the end game of the humpback whale bubble net feeding lunge. These huge animals have developed a technique to corral their prey into a tight ball to make eating a bit easier; not a bad plan when you have to eat so much.
Either singly or in groups the whales dive and coordinate releasing air to create a curtain of bubbles around, in this case, tens of thousands of herring. The whales slowly come together in a decreasing spiral to concentrate the bubble curtain and the fish. The survival instinct of the fish kicks in and they form tighter and tighter balls driven towards the surface by the bubbles and the whales themselves.
Mouth open @90 degrees!
Nearing the surface the whales propel themselves aggessively upward and lunge out of the water with gaping jaws open almost 90 degrees. As is seen in the detail shot herring are leaping out of the water to get away.
Click on the detail shot above to see flying herring.
Interestingly, bubble net feeding is not seen in all humpback populations around the world. We were fortunate to observe bubble net feeding although we typically saw only two or three whales at a time. This was not because of lack of food, there were billions of herring in the water for the annual spawn. Rather it was a lack of whales. In late April and early May, the Alaskan humpback numbers are fairly small as most whales are still making the swim from their winter grounds around the Hawaiian islands.
When we go back in July, we expect to witness bubble net feeding with groups of 15+ whales. Almost makes me embarrassed to show a sequence with only two. I will re-engage in July with more whales!
The trick to photographing the lunge is twofold. First, expect there will be a large splash and significant whitewater. These will be your highlights and will drive the exposure. Metering off dark water without any concern for the splash/bubbles will yield blown highlights. I prefer to shoot in Manual mode with an exposure to properly expose white. Second, watch the whales and learn. You will see patterns in the water immediately before the whales surface. When the patterns show up, point your camera with exposure set for the highlights, focus, and shoot!
Fiat Lux!
© Rick Sammon
We as photographers are extremely fortunate to experience, tour, and capture many unique and interesting places around the world. There are myriad benefits to both photographer and the local area/environment associated with our travels and shoots. On the flip side, we must be cognizant of any damage we could do to the location. In and of itself, photography is not a destructive process; we are normally not going to harm anyone or anything with the depression of our shutter release. With that said, we know there is more to the process of making a great image. We must consider how to structure our visits and use techniques and habit patterns that do no harm and leave little to no trace of our presence.
© Lawrence Coleman
As with all photography, it pays to research our subject. This is not just the subject itself, but also the environment in which the subject is found, the habits, patterns, rituals, etc. With full knowledge we are able to capture more effectively and make a compelling image while at the same time minimizing impact. If we consider the possible consequences of our visit we will be forced to look at things such as destruction or damage to native species, unknowing introduction of non-native species, pack it in/pack it out principles, waste management, how to appreciate, capture, and preserve vice removal and disturbance, and respect/standoff from wildlife. This is just a quick list of things we should consider when entering any environment but especially those that might be sensitive.
The largest impact we often have as photographers is based on our overland travel habits and what equipment we set up on location. The simple act of walking to a desired shooting spot with gear and then setting down our bags, setting up our tripods, and remaining in one spot could cause problems.
© Diana Lewis Coleman
Of course, any impact is magnified when a group is involved. Precautions must be taken to minimize the impact of more than one person. For example, if there is a trail, all should stay on trail. If there is not a trail, is it better to each take a different path to minimize repeated impact to the same area or does it make sense to limit our impact and follow in each others footprints. There will probably never be one right answer but if we are educated and plan each trip properly we will, hopefully, choose the correct course of action. Of course, sometimes the right answer is a place that is perfect for you might not be the best place to take your 50 person strong MeetUp or tour group.
We were fortunate to visit an amazing and sensitive area in south east Alaska a few weeks ago. After a quick RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) ride we landed on a rolling ground moraine from a retreating glacier. At first glance, it seemed to be just rocks. Fortunately, our local guide prepared us with additional knowledge. We understood the area was nesting habitat for migratory birds (made even more complicated as the nests looked like groups of rocks and the eggs look just like small rocks) and was also an emergent area (a place where local species were just taking hold. Think of the initial reforesting process after a fire or after the deposit of volcanic ash.) With this knowledge we soon saw that we needed to apply leave no trace principles in everything we did while ashore.
For those curious, Canon 1D Mk III, EF 800mm f/5.6L, and RRS PG-02
The Arctic Tern nests on the ground in some very sensitive locations.
The images in this post were captured by our group as they toured this amazing location. It was an incredible experience to photograph this environment and I feel confident we did the best we could to minimize our impact.
For more images of this awesome place check out Rick Sammon's blog at Chasing the Light with Light.
Fiat Lux!
A quick story to accompany the sequence above. We were shooting the glacier face and watching fairly small calving events. As it neared time to go, the Captain decided we could pull a "Jericho" and blew the yacht's horns to expedite a large icefall. As we were about 1/2 mile from the glacier, it took the sound about 3 seconds to hit the face. By the time the echo returned to us the first small pieces of ice were already falling.
I am not exactly sure how much ice calved in this sequence but it was a lot. For reference, the face is about 500-600 feet high. The ice created a 100+ foot splash and a 25 foot wave that fortunately dissipated to about 15 feet when it reached the yacht. I have to imagine it was easily hundreds of tons of ice crashing.
A still to show the size of the central spire that came down.
I am still not completely convinced the sound energy brought down the ice but it is not outside the realm of possibility and it was one hell of a coincidence.
For the image sequence, I shot handheld with a Canon 5D Mk II and EF 70-200mm at just under four frames a second. I processed the images in Lightroom and then stacked them in Photoshop to align (making up for slight differences in my positioning.) I ultimately created a series of 19 JPEGS and took them to Adobe Fireworks to create the Shockwave Flash file. Playback is at four frames per second so the sequence is pretty close to how the 5D Mk II captured it.
Fiat Lux!
