We have been fortunate enough to stay at some of the fanciest hotels in North America in places like Palm Springs, San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and have almost always paid less then $100 per night, sometimes much less.  So how do we do it?  Easy, by naming our own price on  Priceline.com

I have to admit, I kind of like the unknown surprise nature of Priceline – and as a photographer, I rarely care what hotel I’m in, as long as it is a decent room in the area I want to photograph.  But there is a lot to using Priceline effectively, here are some things I have learned.

I won’t walk you through the actual steps for bidding – the process is very easy, and there is plenty of help on the Priceline site.  But beware, you are required to enter all your credit card information upfront, and if your bid is accepted, the transaction is final, there is no backing out because you don’t like the hotel, price or anything else.  Also, make sure you are using the Name Your Own Price section of the Priceline website – there is more then one way to book a hotel room with Priceline so look closely.  The biggest savings are found by naming your own price bidding.

Because there is no reversing your transaction, I play it safe and stick with the best hotels.  You never know what hotel you are going to receive, so to eliminate the chance of “winning” a dump, I stick with the highest rated hotels.  This means 4 star properties in most areas, or in some places like the Palm Springs area, you want to go with resort properties.

Do your research.  There are two great forums, both organized by city/state where users share the dollar amount, dates and hotel information for recent winning bids.  Again there is no guarantee, but by spending some time on these sites, you can get a feel for what people are paying, and what hotels people are typically winning.  Both BiddingForTravel.com and  BetterBidding.com have valuable information.  In addition to these resources, I will often check out 4 star hotel prices on Hotwire and other on-line sources like Expedia, or better yet by checking directly with a few hotels.  If you aren’t able to bid and save a fair amount of money as compared to these traditional  sources, there is no point in naming your own price with Priceline.

Now for making your actual bid.  One of the challenging things with Priceline is that you are only allowed one bid per 24 hours.  You can’t re-bid unless you expand the region, or the the star rating of the hotel (lower).  I’m sure this is so that users don’t bog things down with repeated rebids for low-ball amounts – plus, it helps to encourage higher bid amounts.  But, there are a couple of things you can do to work around this restriction.

For one, start your bidding a few days in advance so that you have a few 24 hour periods to work with.  But, there is another way to rebid for free in many circumstances.

One of the most popular methods for getting a free rebid, is to add an area that doesn’t have a 4 star hotel – by adding an additional neighborhood, you are able to bid again, but if there aren’t any 4 star hotels in the new neighborhood, you are effectively getting a free bid at your chosen neighborhood.

Let me give an example.  We recently traveled to Vancouver, so I entered our chosen dates and the town of Vancouver into Priceline.  Next Priceline displays 8 different neighborhoods or areas within the Vancouver region.  We wanted to stay in downtown, and a click in the box next to downtown shows the entire range of star levels available.  Next, one by one I check the other areas like Coquitlam – Burnaby.  In Coquitlam – Burnaby, I see there aren’t any 4 star hotels available ( see image below).  Now I know I can make one bid just for downtown, and if it isn’t successful, I can add Coquitlam – Brunaby to my request and bid again knowing my winning bid will still be located in my chosen neighborhood of  Downtown.  In fact for Vancouver, I see I can get 5 free re-bids by adding the areas of City Hall – Downtown South, Coquitlam – Burnaby, Langley, North Vancouver, and Surrey – Pitt Meadows.  I don’t know where any of those areas are, but it doesn’t matter because they don’t have 4 star hotels.  If you want to be downtown, be sure you don’t add the Airport region, as it does have 4 star hotels.  Always double check this information, as it can always change – don’t rely on my example, or your recent history because a higher class hotel can be added by Priceline at anytime.

Notice how the 4 star choice is grayed out for the Coquitlam - Burnaby choice.

Now Vancouver has an exceptional number of free rebid areas, small towns might not have any, but it seem like  most places I have visited have at least one or two.  I should add, I won the Marriott Renaissance Harbourside for $75 on my first attempt – given I had 5 free re-bids, I hate to win on my first attempt because I probably went too high – but for that hotel and that price, how can you go wrong!

Priceline is most effective for travel at non-peak times.  We have had much better success in the Palm Springs area during mid-week as this is a popular weekend getaway.  Likewise, we had more success for downtown San Diego (Omni pictured above) on the weekend when the hotels weren’t full of top paying business travelers.  Now that might be different if it was a home weekend for the Padres.

What about Hotwire?  With Hotwire the price and the class of hotel is set, but you still don’t know what hotel you are actually reserving.  I have found Hotwire’s prices are often 30% or more higher then what I can get with Priceline, so I haven’t used them.  For example Hotwire wanted $115 for a 4 star hotel for the same period we received the $75 Priceline hotel for our recent Vancouver trip  The one advantage to Hotwire is that they list the amenities for the selected hotel – things like pools, workout facility, airport shuttle etc.  So if something like that is important to you, it might be worth paying more.  Be sure you know that Hotwire price – there is no reason to over bid their rate.

Are you treated like a second class guest?  Only once did we feel like we were intentionally given the worst room in the place at a resort in Palm Springs.  One thing I like about 4 star or better properties is that there usually isn’t a bad room.  On a couple of occasions we were upgraded to a better view room for free – this also happened at a Palm Springs resort, and on a couple of other occasions, we asked, and were able to upgrade to a view room for a minimal price.  For example, for photography purposes, I wanted a top floor, ocean view room during our recent travels to both Vancouver and Victoria and was able to upgrade for around $30 more at the time of check in.  Keep in mind though, there are no guarantees.

Why do hotels use Priceline?  Priceline allows them to fill empty rooms without alienating their current guests and undermining the perception of the hotel with a bunch of discounting to their current posted rack rates.  It is really a win win!

So, next time you need a nice hotel and want to save some money, try naming your own price with Priceline.com a try – it is fun.

A ferris wheel at night, Long Beach, California.

Well I hate to post the same photo twice, especially in the same week, but in response to my ”ask Ron” request, this was the most asked question.  More specifically, Dennis Barton wanted to know how many tries it took to capture this image, while Sheri Lyons wondered how the photo came to look like this.

This was created by using a long exposure, in this case I used a 4 second exposure.  This long exposure allows the light to be recorded as it moves across the frame.  Typically a light bulb appears as a single point of light,  but in this case the camera was able to record the light source in a long streak – and that streak represents how much the light traveled during the 4 second exposure.  Since this ferris wheel had lots and lots of lights, I ended up with lots of streaks.  

 It is kind of a fun technique, in fact whenever I see moving lights, my first thought usually is;  I wonder what kinds of patterns would be created with a long exposure?  Here is another example from this fall at the Alaska State Fair.  You can also use a flash light, sparklers or even moving torches at night to actually sorta draw shapes – it can be fun stuff to experiment with.

To answer Dennis’s question – I actually captured this image in the first try, but that isn’t always the case.  I was using aperture priority mode.  I closed the aperture to f/14 which gave me a 4 second exposure.  I thought that was a good starting point, and that I could add or subtract some compensation based upon what I saw on the LCD on the back of the camera.  Well this looked fine to me, so I shot a horizontal with the same settings and moved on to the next scene – there were a couple other compositions I was hoping to capture while it was still spinning.

I should add, for long exposures like this, a tripod is mandatory.  In addition to a tripod, I usually use the two second self timer, and turn on mirror lock up to minimize any camera shake.  Pushing the shutter with your finger can shake the camera a bit, so by using the two second delay, this isn’t an issue. 

In addition, most of the noise you hear when you take a photo isn’t from the shutter, but rather the mirror quickly moving up and down as it gets out of the way of the image path.  With mirror lockup and the two second delay, the mirror moves out of the way as soon as you touch the shutter, then two seconds later the shutter opens and closes.  I actually use these settings a lot – pretty much whenever possible.  It may not make a big difference, but it only takes a couple extra seconds, so if it helps at all, it is worth it.  Of course for wildlife and action images, the two second delay doesn’t work.

Instead of the self timer, you could also use a remote cable, but I don’t like carrying extra stuff.

Palm Trees at sunset, Newport Beach, California.

Let me start by saying, you shouldn’t get your legal advice from friends and fellow photographers.  Having said that, let me offer some advice. 

The place I turn to when I have questions is the Photographer’s Legal Guide by Carolyn Wright.  The book covers most of the legal issues one might encounter when dealing with photo business and photography issues such as copyrights, model releases, insurance and paperwork.  I think most photographers will find it very valuable. 

I have known Carolyn for a number of years now and consider her a friend – she is a wonderful person, and as a fellow photographer, she understands the industry and issues photographers face.  We have hired her on occasions when we needed large contracts reviewed, and also successfully used her for a copyright infringement suit – who better to hire then the person who wrote the book! 

In addition to the book, Carolyn also maintains a blog dedicated to photography legal issues;  Photo Attorney.  There is also a lot of valuable information on that site as well.

In addition to these resources, there is one bit advice I would like to offer to serious photographers; register your photos with the copyright office!  Having your images registered gives you far more options when pursuing infringements because you now can pursue statutory damages and attorney fees – in short, you can now pursue these issues with a much bigger hammer.  Want more details on how to register and what that means – well, it is all in the book!

Dry Lake Bed, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I have been a long time user of Singh-Ray filters, particularly their graduated neutral density filters.  So I must say I was honored when they approached me recently and asked me to contribute to their blog.  In fact, I already had the first post written in my head, as  it was a tip I thought I would post here.  Instead, I shared my discovery of the usefulness of using live-view in the positioning of graduated neutral density filters.  Well I don’t want to spoil the whole post, you can check out the whole story at the Singh-Ray blog. 

As far as my own blog goes, I still may do some fine tuning of the header, photo size etc., so if things look a bit funky from time to time, you will understand.

A kayaker on Resurrection Bay enjoying a beautiful afternoon this past Sunday, Seward, Alaska.

A couple of months ago I wrote about a sensor cleaning liquid and wand product made by Dust-Aid.  I really like the wands, they made it easy to get the moist swaps into the champer and allowed me to reach the corners of the sensor.  But the real benefit to me was the fact this liquid could be shipped via air to places like Alaska.

Well I just tried another product that works even better!  In fact, I was able to clean my sensor with just one try in just a matter of minutes! 

I had been dreading the cleaning because my sensor was pretty dirty – a month in the desert will do that, especially after driving around in a jeep with the top off!  My sensor even had one of those dreaded dust snakes that managed to appear in the sky in many of my photos!

The product I tried is also made by Dust-Aid, it is called the Dust-Aid Platinum.  If you follow the link to the Dust-Aid website, you will see photos and videos of the product in use, this will give you a pretty good feel for how it works.  It is basically a small plastic flag with a little square base.  On that base is a special slightly tacky silicone.  You take the flag and dab the base on the different parts of the sensor – this process picks up the dust off the sensor.  Included with the kit is a couple of strips of sterilized tape – you use this tape to clean the dust off the silicon on the bottom of the flag so that the flag can be used over and over.

Make sure you keep the bottom of the flag perfectly clean – don’t touch it or set it down on a table, – keep it in it’s nice little red plastic box carrier.  Keeping your cleaning supplies clean is imparative, otherwise you just transfer dust back and forth.

This product has a number of advantages.  It comes in a very small, light weight container that is easy to travel with and legal to ship via air.  Heck, it is so small and light that I can now just leave it in my camera bag.  In addition,  this product is easy to use, but most importantly it really works!  I expected it would take at least a couple of attempts, but my sensor was literally clean after just one use!

I’m am still glad I have the Dust-Aid wand kit – I think it may come in handy when you come across one of those really stuburn, welded on pieces of dust.  Dust-Aid sells a kit that includes both the Wand Kit and the Platinum, then you are completely covered for whatever you might find on your sensor.

Pictured is a quick release clamp on the top of a BH-55 Ballhead.

Trying to attach your camera onto the threaded post you find on top of many tripods, is a slow, awkward process that will have you leaving your tripod in the car.  By using a quick release clamp on your ballhead (pictured above), makes attaching your camera, or lens a quick and easy process.  All you need is the corresponding metal camera plate mounted to the bottom of your camera, or any lenses that may have a tripod mount. 

The plate is a very simple device, it is basically a flat piece of metal with dove-tails on the edges.  This plate slides into the clamp, and allows a quick secure connection between camera and tripod ballhead. 

Now in the days of film, my camera was light enough that a simple flat plate on the bottom of my camera was all I used.  If I wanted to shot in the vertical position, I would cantilever the camera off to the side as pictured below.  

Today, it seems that many digital cameras are extra heavy, and having the camera off to the side isn’t very stable.  Now I use a L bracket, which effectively puts a plate on two sides of the camera.  This allows you to mount the camera in either a horizontal or vertical position, and still keep the camera centered over the ball head. 

There is an additional benefit with a L bracket.  With an ordinary plate, even though you moved the camera just a short distance when going from vertical to horizontal, it often meant recomposing the scene.  With a L bracket, the lens is kept in the same position – if the scene allows it, you can quickly photograph both a vertical and horizontal without recomposing.  Of course, most scenes are not that simple.  If I don’t have to recompose when moving from horizontal to vertical, I’m probably not working my compositions hard enough.

Again, these specialized pieces of equipment aren’t cheap – I imagine the market for such items is fairly small.  I have always purchased my plates from Really Right Stuff, and a typical plate costs about $55, and a L bracket runs about $180.  Really Right Stuff does a wonderful job with their L plates.  They are perfectly designed for each camera giving you full access to any buttons or compartments on your camera – nothing is blocked.

Previous Lesson:  Ballheads

Next Lesson:

This was from last Saturday in the Chugach National Forest, about 12 miles from Seward, Alaska.  I used two graduated neutral density filters – one on the mountain, the other for the reflection.

Sensor dust can really show in images like this where you have a uniform color as you do with the sky, and when you are stopped down, because the increased depth of field helps to show your dust spots.

I have been asked on numerous occasions how I clean the digital sensor in my camera, but have been reluctant to write about it because frankly, it is a giant pain in the butt.  Well yesterday, I just tried a new product for cleaning my sensor, and I’m happy to report that many of my headaches have been eliminated!

In the past I purchased lint free wipes, wrapped them around a rubber spatula that I had carved into a shape to fit down into the sensor, I then would wrap the wipes around the spatula with tape, apply some Eclipse fluid and then would awkwardly wipe.  I would then check for dust by photographing the sky with the lens fully stopped down, and then would repeat, and repeat, and repeat… 

Eventually I would get the sensor clean after sometimes as much as an hour of work.  But for me, the hardest part was buying the Eclipse fluid.  Air restrictions prevent it from being shipped this way, and no one ships via ground to Alaska, so I would have to load up on it anytime I, or a friend drove to the Lower 48 and hoped it lasted.  I still remember the day I lost an entire bottle when the cap came off in the camper!

So yesterday I tried a sensor cleaning product made by Dust-Aid.  And no, Dust-Aid isn’t a Willy Nelson concert raising money for those with messy living rooms.   Dust-Aid was created by Ross Wordhouse out of frustration over the existing sensor cleaning methods.  By the way, Ross Wordhouse is also an outstanding photographer.

The product I tried was the Dust-Aid Dust-Wand Kit.  This method for cleaning the sensor is virtually the same as what I did in the past, but the tools are vastly improved.  The kit comes with three wands which fit into the camera far better then my spatula.  The included wipes are truly lint free, and have a clip that nicely attaches the wipes to the wand.  And it all comes in a convenient carrying case. 

But the biggest improvement is the cleaning fluid.  Dust-Aid uses a non-flammable, very fast evaporating fluid that can now be shipped via air.  The fact this arrived in the mail is going to be huge for Alaska, Hawaii and over seas photographers!

I won’t go into details in the cleaning process because Ross has an excellent little video on his website that walks you through the steps in easy to follow detail.  Yesterday I was able to clean my sensor in about 5 minutes – a big improvement!

When you are photographing wildlife, or pursuing fleeting light, it often seems that speed and efficiency are paramount.  For this reason, I prefer to use a ball head for a tripod head.

With the turn on one knob on a ball head, I can move my camera in any direction, up down and side to side.  Turn the knob the opposite way, and now the camera is locked into that position.  With a good ballhead, the movement is very smooth and fluid, and when the head is locked down, the camera won’t budge; there isn’t any ballhead creep (movement).  With cheaper heads, you  compose your shot, lock the head down and the cameras position drops a little bit forcing you to re-compose, or compose and try to anticipate the movement – I got good at that with my first, cheap ballhead.

The original standard for years was the Arca Swiss B1 ballhead – I had one for many years.  I have now been using a BH-55 from Really Right Stuff (RRS) – this ball head is a big improvement over the Arca Swiss, and have been very happy with it.   Now a good ballhead isn’t cheap, the BH-55 with the quick release clamp like in the photo runs about $455 bucks.  If you wanted to save a little money, I think the BH-40 would be perfectly adequate for everyday use with lenses up  to a 100-400, and would be a great fit for the Gitzo 2530 or Bogen 055.  The BH-40 with clamp runs about $375.  My BH-55 is a little too heavy for the Gitzo 2350.  Now if you wanted some excess capacity for larger telephotos, the BH-55 would be a perfect match for the Gitzo  3530.

B & H doesn’t carry these ballheads, you need to deal directly with the manufacturer.  So why Really Right Stuff?  Not only are their ballheads very well designed and constructed - most photographers consider them the best; but the RSS company is wonderful to deal with as well.  Here is one example:

I usually remove my ball head and pack it in a shoe when I’m flying with my tripod in checked luggage.  This Fall I forgot to remove my ballhead and the quick release clamp lever (I will talk about that in the next lesson) was bent and unusable.  I called RSS to order a new clamp, they asked what happen, when I explained, they suggested I send them the damage one because they may be able to fix it and save me money.  They told me they would call me with an estimate once they could see it.  I was surprised to get my clamp back a week later; surprised because I never received a phone call.  It turns out they repaired it under warranty and sent it back to me at no cost!  They even paid the cost of shipping back to Alaska.  Now that is going the extra mile in customer service!

Next:

Previous:  Tripods

I figure there is no better place to start my nature photography lessons then with what I believe is the single most important piece of equipment; a tripod.  I have written about this before, and at the risk of sounding repetitive and redundant,  I would like to repeat the numerous advantages:

• Typically it will give you sharper images.
• It can allow you to use lower iso settings or slower speed film which in general  can improve the quality of your images.
• A tripod allows you to use slower shutter speeds, which can allow you to use smaller apertures in order to increase your depth of field if desired.
• The biggest advantage to me is a tripod forces you to slow down and really study your composition.  It also gives you time to look around the entire frame for distractions, giving you the ability to fine tune your composition.  When you hand hold, the camera is always moving a little.  That distracting branch may not have been in the frame the last time you looked in the lower right corner, but by the time you hit the shutter, it now might be included. 

A common mistake, and one I made myself, is to buy a flimsy, inexpensive tripod.  Most cheap tripods won’t properly support your camera, nor will they last very long.  I believe it is worth spending the money up front for a sturdy tripod.

Like a lot of photography gear, a sturdy tripod can be expensive, but they do last a long time.  For many years I used an aluminum Bogen 3221 – now the Bogen 055.  I have gone through two of them, they seem to last for a good five years of constant use before scratches, dirt and dents get the better of them – I should add, I tend to be rough on tripods. 

You can get a Bogen 055 for about $190 bucks for just the legs.  The head is extra and the subject of the next lesson.  They come in a few different flavors as notated by the letters after the 055 in the model number.  Some have retractable spikes, a center column that can be positioned horizontally, etc.  I like the basic model, partly because you can spread the legs and lower the tripod to a minimum height of 3.2 inches.

A little over a year ago I finally  upgraded to a carbon fiber Gitzo and I really love it.  The carbon fiber is much lighter, about half the weight of a similar aluminium.  In addition it is quieter and studier.  I also like the carbon fiber in the cold weather, they are much easier on the hands then aluminum.  The drawback, you may have already guessed, is the cost.  A tripod with a similar holding capacity as the Bogen 055 costs almost $600 for just the legs. 

I use a Gitzo 2530.  It has 3 leg sections, they make a similar one with 4 sections per leg.  The 4 is slightly slower to set up, but folds down to a smaller size.  The 2530 is fine for 35mm lenses up to 100-400.  Because I have a separate tripod for my large telephoto lens, the 2530 was a perfect size for my everyday tripod.  For a comparison, The Bogen 055 weighs in at 6.1 pounds, the Gitzo 2530, 3.1 pounds.  If you plan to use heavier lenses, then I would recommend the studier Gitzo 3530.  The 3530 is a very popular tripod because it can support almost 40 pounds of equipment, and yet only weighs 4 pounds. 

If you notice in the picture I wrap my legs with 1.5 inch sections  of pipe insulation and duct tape.  It looks a little ugly, but serves a few purposes.  For one, it is easier on the hands on a cold morning.  It is quieter – the banging of legs as you close up the tripod to move closer to wildlife can spoke wildlife – the insulation muffles that sound. 

But most importantly, the insulation helps soften the load on the shoulders.  When the photography is good, I think most photographers prefer to keep their cameras out of the bag and on the tripod.  One of the easiest ways to carry this combination is on one shoulder, and the foam insulation sure helps.

I have seen a tripod leg protection product being marketed like this one by LensCoat.  I’m sure they do a fine job and look a lot nicer, but it costs a lot more then some pipe insulation and duct tape.

For reference, in the above photo, the Gitzo is on the left, and the Bogen on the right.

The next lesson will cover tripod heads.  More specifically, ball heads.

Next:  Ballheads

The road through Zion National Park, Utah.

Our eyes have the amazing ability to see details in the shadows of a scene, and the details in the highlights at the same time.  Our cameras can’t begin to capture what our eyes can see.  Photographers have been trying to replicate what our eyes can see with a camera for years – these techniques are usually referred as High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography.  Fancy words for a simple concept – makes us sound smart.  

As I have mentioned in the past, my favorite HDR technique is to use graduated neutral density filters whenever possible.  I like the results obtained with these filters, and I would much rather spend a few extra minutes in the field then behind a computer using Photoshop.

But, if the transition between the brights and darks isn’t a relatively straight line, filters really don’t work.  In this case, I have used HDR software such as Photomatrix with varing degrees of success.  I have written about that in the past as well, you can read more here:  HDR Photography.

Last summer, with the release of Photoshop CS3, I started using the Photomerge function for my HDR photos.  It takes a bit of extra effort, by I like having the control over the final results, and I think I am able to get a little more natural looking image.  When I use the Photomerge function, I uncheck the box for “Blend images together”.  Photomerge does a great job of matching up different images, but I prefer to do the blending myself with a layer mask.  

Now about a month ago when I was blending two images together for this photo of Zion Canyon it hit me – the mask I’m creating for the blend looks just like one of Tony’s luminosity masks.  I thought that makes perfect sense, they are tonally based, and as long as the blend is accurate, they would even be self feathering.  So I gave it a try and it worked great! 

I haven’t read about anyone else using this technique, although there are so many people smarter then I am out there, I’m sure many have thought of it, and tried it out – but I was still excited to share my “discovery” on the blog.  Well, I dug up a number of photos from our last trip that needed blending and started working on them so that I would have a nice example for the blog - and to be honest, the technique really didn’t work all that well in many cases.  But when it works, it works great and the technique can be a big help.  In the above photo for example, I had to do some additional blending on the sunlit mountain with a brush set at 15% - but it did a great job with the tree against the sky – an area I could have never blended by hand. 

So in summery, using Photomerge and luminosity masks may not the the holly grail of HDR, but it is a worthwhile technique that is worth further experimentation.

Horseback riders this past fall in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

If you followed the link in yesterday’s post on saturation masks, you will realize Tony also offers actions for something called luminosity masks as well.  This is another subtle, but powerful tool that frankly I haven’t mastered and rarely utilize, but I plan to spend more time trying to master them over the next month as we begin to adjust our autumn photos. 

So why discuss it if I don’t use them yet?  Well, I have recently discovered another use for these masks that make them much more valuable, but I will save that for the next post.  Again, this is a relativly advanced topic that won’t interest everyone.

I should begin by saying, to find the actions along with a very detailed description, you are probably better off going directly to Tony’s Luminosity Mask page.  For these actions, or the saturation mask actions, Tony asks for a small donation at an amount you decide.  I think it is money well spent.

What Tony’s actions do is create an curves adjustment layer along with one of 12 different masks – these masks affect just a certain portion of the image based upon its tonal value.  Now I have long recognized the benefits of a curves adjustment – adding a little contrast to an image can give it a real boast.  With these actions, you can now adjust the contrast via curves for a certain tonal range giving us far more control then we ever had before.

As I mentioned, the masks come in about 12 different flavors, with one revealing only the “Super Lights” on one extreme, down to the “Super Darks”  on the other extreme, with about everything covered in between.  It is probably easier to show you what I’m talking about, rather then trying to explain. 

Here is the mask for “light lights”

Remember, black blocks and white reveals.  So you can see, any curve adjustments made with this mask will largely only effect the light portion of this image – in this case, the trees.

Here is the “dark darks”:

Now you can see if I make curve adjustments with this mask, I will primarily effect the far hill-side and not the trees. 

I must admit, this was a low contrast photo – probably about the worst one I could have used to demonstrate the differences in these masks, but even so, I think you get the idea. 

One of the beauties of these mask – since they are derived from the actual image, they are completely self-feathering.

Tony’s mask are really easy to use – they automatically create a curves adjustment layer along with the described mask – from there it is up to the photographer to experiment!

In the next post, hopefully by Monday, I will share with you why I’m really excited about these masks.

I recently discovered a wonderful new Photoshop tool – the use of saturation masks.  This is somewhat of an advanced tool – if you don’t use layers and masks in Photoshop (you should), this won’t make much sense, but I do believe many subscribers here may find it useful.

First, I should begin by explaining I do all my shooting in raw mode with an Adobe 1998 colorspace.  By using a somewhat dull colorspace like Adobe 1998, I am able to capture a much broader range of color then I could otherwise.  With a colorful colorspace, bright colors can easily be oversaturated and that detail is lost.  For example in this photo of bright colorful flower in sunset light, the flower was over saturated right out of the camera, even with a relatively dull color-space.

Since I shoot with a dull color-space, almost all my images need some saturation added to get them back to how I envisioned the scene.  Unfortunately, that is easier said then done – with Photoshop, saturation is kind of an all or nothing proposition as some areas will often end up over-saturated, while others under.  In the past I have often performed my saturation adjustments in a separate layer, and then taken the time to paint it out (mask) of areas that are oversaturated.  In many scenes this just isn’t possible, for example a photo with a meadow of flowers may have hundreds of tiny areas that are oversaturated, so then you are forced to compromise.

You can make saturation adjustments based upon 6 individual colors, but again the same color in one portion of the scene may need more saturation then the same color in a different portion of the scene.

So my new solution is Tony Kuyper’s saturation mask actions.  Tony is an excellent photographer and writer, for a better, more detailed description, I would recommend spending some time reading about the actions on his site.

In a nutshell, his actions create two masks based upon the amount of saturation found in an image.  Every color in an image opened in Photoshop has varying degrees of saturation.  Tony’s action creates masks based upon the degree of saturation.  His intensify mask is one where the more saturated the color, the darker the mask, likewise the undersatrated colors are light to white in the mask.  As you may know with masks, black blocks the adjustment effect, in this case saturation, and whites reveal the effect.  This mask allows you to saturate just the under saturated colors, while leaving the saturated colors relatively unaffected.

Here is the actual intensity mask for this image:

You can see the actual flower is almost black – that is because those colors are fully saturated.  In addition, the green portion of the cactus is fairly white in this mask.  So you can see, any adjustment to saturation is going to effect the white or unsaturated colors far more then the dark, or saturated colors.  This is really a powerful tool.

His actions also include one that creates a rescue mask.  With the rescue mask, the under-saturated colors are blocked (dark or black) and the over saturated colors are light.  This allows you to desaturated only the over saturated colors.  I had to do that with this image as the reds in the flower were blown out.

Since these masks are created directly from the actual image, they are completely self-feathing.  In the past I would have used a mask and tried to paint out the flower – I’m sure I would have missed a few spots, and gone over a little in other areas – that doesn’t happen with these masks. 

I have received a number of emails lately asking for more of the details behind each photo.  It is a good suggestion, and I have promised to do just that on occasion.  What I thought might be interesting would be to share my detailed thought process behind a single image.  I decided to do that with this photo from our spring trip.  I think some people might be surprised all that goes into just one photo.

First the good:

Composition 

I had to move the tripod up and to the right a little, and wait briefly for my super-model (Janine) to drift downstream and towards me.  I thought it was very important that her head and the bow of the boat didn’t merge with the reflection of the mountain.  I also didn’t want the reflection of her head to be cut off by the bottom of the frame.  In fact, I felt like there should be a little buffer between the edge of the frame and her refection, so this gave me a very short shooting window.

I also felt it was important that she looked into the frame from the bottom left of the mountain and reflection.  She probably couldn’t see the reflection from where she sat, but the casual viewer wouldn’t be aware of this. 

Timing

I would have loved to have shot this at sunrise, but I knew there would probably be other photographers there, and I didn’t want to mess up their shots.  I figured by waiting until an hour after sunrise the other photographers would be leaving, and the regular visitors wouldn’t have arrived yet, giving me a little window of time to myself. 

My timing was good.  There were a couple of photographers just wrapping up.  They appreciated that I waited for them, and I appreciated that they didn’t shoot my setup - although they had every right to.  We had the place to ourselves for the rest of the morning, at least while we were there.  I have spent a fair amount of time searching for a similar spot that isn’t popular with photographers for some more shooting this fall – I think I may have a spot or two. 

Color

Having visited this spot in the morning on other days, I knew the scene would be dominated by blues and greens.  For this reason I thought it would be imperative to have a red or yellow kayak.  I felt like these colors would be more pleasing in the scene, with red my first choice just because it is my favorite.  The owner of the kayak rental shop was very understanding even though it meant doing some digging through the storage area to reach a red kayak.   

The Hat

The hat helps give the photo a casual, relaxed Wyoming-ish type feel.  It would look out of place on the tundra, but looks pretty good here.  Plus, super-models can be very demanding these days, and I do my best to keep this one happy.  So if she wants a hat…

Technicals

I shot this with a Canon 5D with the ISO set at 100 to minimize noise – I certainly had plenty of light!  I used f/14 which should have provided all the depth of field I would need, so the resulting shutter speed was 1/30 of a second.  I used the Canon 24-105 set a 47mm, and of course I used a tripod. 

The not so good

Composition

Every photo has some flaws and this one is no exception.  In order to keep the elements in place that I mentioned above, I also had to include a little shadow in the lower right hand corner.  The casual viewer would never see this especially now that my copyright hides it - I think the viewers eyes would start at the kayak and would move and circle around the mountain, reflection and back to the kayak.  For this reason, I don’t think the black corner hurts the photo, but I would have preferred solid grass.

A bright corner can kill a photo in my opinion.  I often find this in scenes where a portion of the sky is inadvertently included in one of the upper corners of a photo.  The viewers eye is almost always attracted to such a bright spot, ruining an otherwise well composed photo.  A dark spot doesn’t seem to have the same effect.  A square crop would work perfect here by eliminating the whole right hand side, but I almost never crop an image.

Timing

I love to photograph predawn and the first light of day.  It was frustrating to not have that killer light, although I think this photo will be successful anyways – many buyers prefer the bright blue sky.

So there you have it – way more then you ever wanted to know about 1 of our 301 photos from our spring trip – that is if anyone is still reading .  Here is a larger version on the photo.

Yesterday I wrote about finding aurora borealis, today how to actually photograph them. 

Tripod
The main requirement is a tripod.  Your exposures will be at least 10 seconds and possibly more, there is no way to hand hold the camera and get decent results.

Lenses
You also want to use the fastest wide angle lens you own.  Most consumer wide angle zoom lenses are f/3.5, this is barely fast enough. A f/2.8 or f/2.4 is much better.  Many SLR cameras come with a 50mm prime lens that most people quickly replace with a more convenient zoom lens.  If you still have an old 50mm prime lens laying around, dig it out – it will probably be the fastest lens you own.  I have an old f/1.8 that works great.  The problem with a 50mm lens is that it isn’t wide enough to capture the full band in most auroras, you usually need a wider lens – more like 28mm or wider.  Serious aurora photographers usually own at least one f/1.4 wide angle prime lens.  These can be somewhat expensive, and very specialized since most nature photographers don’t need fast wide angles because they are stopping down to maximize depth of field for landscape photography.

Shutter Speed
The idea behind using a fast lens is to reduce the shutter speed by as much as possible.  Auroras can have lots of interesting details in their bands and rays, but these details are largely lost with exposures in excess of 30 seconds – the wonderful color is still there, but longer exposures turns the details in to blobs of colors.

ISO Settings
Another way to reduce the shutter speed is to increase the ISO settings on digital cameras, or use higher speed film.  Today most people seem to use digital cameras, so my discussion will focus on these.  Higher ISO settings on digital cameras lead to increased image noise, especially in dark areas, I would use the highest ISO setting that you can live with noise wise.  I have no problem using my Canon 5D at 400 ISO, and wouldn’t hesitate to go to 800, above that, things get fairly noisy.  Because of the lack of detail in auroras, these type of images do respond well to noise reduction efforts in Photoshop.  I may try 1600 ISO my next night out.

Focus
Since the Aurora is far away, you can set focus on infinity and forget about it.  Test your lens in advance in daylight, some lenses need to be backed off slightly from full infinity for proper focus.

Noise Reduction 
I talked about image noise from using high iso settings, but there is another kind of noise to be concerned about during long exposures with digital cameras, and that is sensor noise.  Sensor noise is basically stuck pixels (all cameras have them) on your camera’s sensor that will show as white dots in your image.  To avoid this, you need to make sure the noise reduction feature on your digital camera is turned on.  With noise reduction on, your camera will take a second totally black exposure of equal time to your original capture, and then the camera uses this exposure to block out the stuck pixels.  This does double your total time for every image, but it is a necessary step for long night exposures.  See your manual for more info, on Canon cameras this is typically set with custom function 2.

Exposure
OK, you have a tripod, lens opened all the way, iso set high, focus at infinity and noise reduction on – now you are ready to start shooting.  I typically start with about a 20 second exposure and adjust from there based upon what I’m seeing on the histogram.  The top photo for reference was 10 seconds at f/2.8 and 320 iso.  Exposures can really vary widely depending on the brightness of the aurora and moon, and this is why I rely heavily on the histogram.

Moon Light
Speaking of the moon, a moon lit night can be very helpful at lighting up the surrounding countryside not only adding to the composition possibilities, but the moon makes it much easier to shoot and for walking.  It does take a pretty good aurora to compete with the light from a full moon. 

Other tools
A headlamp can be very valuable when shooting at night.  Be sure to turn your headlamp and any car lights off before taking your photo, as stray light can be a problem with long exposures.  A shutter release can be helpful as it reduces camera shake, I often use my two second timer instead.  Since auroras are often found in the winter, this entry on winter photography tips may also be helpful.

Composition
Including a mountain, tree or other subject matter can help aurora photos.  It is nice to have a reference point for scale.  Experiment, horizontal and vertical, include the moon and leave it out, including the surroundings, even shoot straight up, anything goes. 

Patience
The biggest secret to Aurora photography is patience.  Good aurora photographers spend many nights out in the cold sitting, waiting and even sleeping in their vehicles. 

I thought I would share some tips for photographing the aurora borealis, also known as northern lights.  The hardest part of photographing the auroras is finding them – so today I thought I would write about finding them, tomorrow actually photographing them. 

Generally speaking, the further north, the better your chances of seeing the aurora.  The best time of year tends to be close to the equinox (March and late September – October).  This time of year also offers enough darkness in the northern regions without the temperature extremes you often find in winter.  Summers in the north don’t offer enough darkness to see the aurora.  Midnight local times also seems to be the best time for viewing, but a big solar storm can hit pretty much any time of day or year, so you always want to be ready.  A place like Fairbanks, Alaska can be a great spot if you are serious about seeing the aurora, I believe they see them something like 70% of the time.  I know where I grew up in Glennallen they were a regular occurrence.  Seeing them in Seward is much tougher, we are a little too far south and west of the typical aurora oval, not to mention we often have cloudy weather.  When the conditions are right, you can see them in the lower 48 even as far south as Arizona.

Aurora borealis activity is usually proceeded by some type of solar event.  Because of this, the chance of an aurora display can often be predicted a few days in advance.  There are two sites I usually check for aurora forecasts.  The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks offers hourly, daily and monthly forecasts.  Spaceweather.com also provides forecasts, photos and other information on auroras, along with interesting information about other space phenomena. 

Now that you know that auroras are in the forecast, where and when will you actually see them?  Predicting the aurora borealis seems a little like predicting weather, there are some good indicators, but nothing is perfect.  One of the most important things to watch for is the Kp-index.  I won’t get into a lot of details into what this number represents (because I don’t really know) but what I do know is that the higher the number the better.  Where I live just north of Latitude 60, I typically need to see a Kp of 5 or higher.  In the lower 48, you may need 6, 7 or higher for success.  By the way last Thursday hit 8.

There are a number of websites that provide Kp readings, but since most people live in places where auroras aren’t a regular occurrence, monitoring aurora activity isn’t usually a priority.  There is a great solution; a free subscription to the Auroral Detection and Early Warning System (ADEC).  This free service will send you an alert (via email, pager or mobile phone) whenever the Kp exceeds a predetermined level.  In the subscription form, there is a place where you can enter your latitude and longitude to help determine what Kp level you need to see aurora in your area.  Then when the Kp reaches your predetermined level, you get an email – this is very handy.

If you want to get a little more advanced, there are a couple of other figures I watch.  I try to keep an eye on the solar wind speed and the direction of the magnetic field.  The wind usually picks up during a solar storm, and figures over 500 km s-1 are usually an important indicator.  Last Thursday the wind pegged the top of the scale at 1,000 – that is fairly unusual, but certainly an indicator of something special. 

The other important statistic is the direction of the magnetic field.  This must be pointing southward.  It seems like no matter how much wind there is, if the magnetic field isn’t pointing south, there won’t be much aurora activity.

So where do you get these readings?  The Space Environment Center has an easy to read display that looks like a dashboard, this can be monitored with a quick glance.  When the weather is clear in Seward and the aurora forecast is favorable, I drop by this site to check on the current weather regularly.  Spaceweather.com also provides wind speed and magnetic field direction in the left hand column of their homepage.

When all indicators are looking good, I monitor this page at the STD Aurora Monitor as it gives me real-time views from space of the current Aurora activity along with actual sightings by followers.  When these images are lighting up, it is time to hurry outside if I’m not there already!  Tomorrow – how to photograph the aurora.

In my last post I wrote about using graduated neutral density filters to overcome scenes with extreme dynamic range.  If there isn’t a nice straight division, filters aren’t much help.  In these situations, I have started using a process referred to as high dynamic range photography, often called HDR photography.  This is the process I used to capture this image of the Barber Forest Service Cabin at Lower Russian Lake, Alaska.

In a nutshell, High dynamic range photography involves the combining of images captured at different exposures with a computer post-capture.  The above photo of is a good example.  To expose for outdoors, I needed a setting 1/13 of a second at f/9 of which left the interior far underexposed as you can see below.

 To expose for the inside, I needed about 5 more stops of light for an exposure of 3.2 seconds at f/9.

 By combining these two images, along with 3 more captured at exposures in between these two, I was able to get the top photo. 

I first experimented with HDR photography a couple of years ago when it was included in PhotoShop, but was always disappointed with the results.  In the past few months there has been a “buzz” over HDR, in fact there was even a story in our Alaska newspaper.  I figured I better find out what I’m missing.  Well it turns out there have been great strides made in the software now available for HDR and some do a far better job then PhotoShop.

The software I have been using is called Photomatix Pro.  I can’t tell you if it is the best, because I haven’t tested the other options, but I can tell you it does a great job – far better than PhotoShop.  At $99,Photomatix Pro isn’t cheap, but you can download it and try it for free.  The free trial version puts a big watermark on the final image making it unusable, but at least you get a feel for how effective the software can be.  For someone like me who has spent hours trying to blend images of different exposures by hand in PhotoShop, without success, $99 seems like a bargain!

I won’t try to go into detail on how to work an image with Photomatix as others have already done a great job at it, but I will point you in the right direction for more information.  This tutorial by Royce Howland on HDR photography and Photomatix Pro is probably the best one I have read - it covers all aspects including a lot of important details.  Beware, it is 17 pages long.  Here are two more valuable resources, HDRI for photographers by Uwe Steinmueller and How to Create Professional HDR Images by Ryan McGinnis.

I will add a couple of tips.  A tripod is a must so that the different exposures line up properly.  Besides using a tripod, try to capture images in one stop increments – going two or three stops between images doesn’t leave enough information for the program to work with effectively.  The process works far better with non-moving subjects like my example.  It it very difficult to use on a field of flowers for example even if there is just the slightest breeze because the different exposures won’t line up perfectly.

My last tip is true for most photography related tools, and that is less is more.  Overdoing HDR will leave you with a photo that almost looks like a cartoon.  Even if your images aren’t cartoon like, HDR photos can have a certain “look” that can be hard to avoid.  I would rather give up some highlight or shadow detail then have that “look”.  The image in this example was one of my first attempts and I would say it is borderline on being overdone.  As they continue to improve on this software it is becoming easier by the month to create natural looking HDR images – it certainly will be another important trick of the trade in the future. 

This is how I saw Pedersen Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.  But with out a graduated neutral density filter or a similar tool, my camera would have not been able to capture the photo.

Our eyes have an amazing ability to see a very large dynamic range.  We can see detail in the shadows along with detail in sun lite areas at the same time.  Unfortunately, film and digital cameras can’t begin to come close to matching what we see with our eyes.  Here is a perfect example.  With my eyes, I can see the warm, first light of sunrise lighting up the glacier off in the distance.  At the same time, I can clearly see the colorful field of fireweed in the dark shadows.  The camera can’t capture what I see.

I was able to properly expose the sunlit glacier by using shutter speed of 1/13 with an aperture of f/22, but as you can see I lost all detail in the foreground.

By increasing my exposure by about 3 stops to .6 of a second at f/22, I was able to capture the detail in the foreground, but I have now blown out the glacier.  Here is where a graduated neutral density filter saved the day.

These filters are clear on one half, and dark on the other.  The dark portion cuts the amount of light by a set amount, you can purchase them in increments of 1 stop up to 5.  The one stop filter reduces the amount of light in the dark portion of the filter by one stop.  I used a three stop filter in this scene which decreased the dynamic range to something my camera could capture.

In addition to blocking varying amounts of light, these filters can be purchased with either a hard edge or soft edge.  The terms hard or soft edge are used to describe the transition between the dark portion of the filter, and the clear portion.  The hard edge is a sudden transition, perfect when you have a nice defined change in light, I used a hard edge filter in the top photo.  A soft edge is a more gradual transition.

Here is a photo of a 3 stop hard edge on the left, and a 2 stop soft edge on the right, I think this gives you a good idea what this filter is about.  I use Singh-Ray filters developed originally by the late Galen Rowell.  These are supposedly the most neutral, meaning they cause very little shift in color.  Like most things associated with photography, they aren’t cheap for a piece of plastic.  Each filter cost about $100.  There are cheaper options, but most can cause an undesirable shift in colors.  The 2 stop soft and 3 stop hard would be a good starting set.

Now that I have described how I captured the photo, you can go back and look at the original, or this bigger version and I think you can see where the filter was placed.  I had the dark edge begin right at the leading shore of the lake because the reflected light in the lake was so bright.  If you look close, you can see the gravel moraine areas on the left and right side of the lake are extra dark because of the filter.  This is unfortunate, but typically goes unnoticed by viewers.  If I pulled the filter up higher, I could have avoided having dark dirt, but then a portion of the lake would be overly bright – this is something that doesn’t look natural and would be noticed by viewers.

You can get a holder which screws onto the front of your lens and allows for precise placement of the filter.  If you have a depth of field preview button, this can be very helpful when positioning the filter.  It is much easier to see the transition when the preview button is held down.  I usually just hand hold my filter in front of the lens and will typically take a few exposures in order to make sure at least one has proper placement.

I use these filters all the time, they are one trick of the trade I couldn’t do without. There is a new way of dealing with extreme dynamic range called HDR photography that involves combining images of different exposures with special software on the computer later.  The advantage of HDR photography is that you are not limited to preset transitions as you are with filters.  In this example, HDR photography would have allowed me to avoid the dark dirt areas.  I have started using this method recently, and will write about it in a future blog.  I am tempted to go back and rework this photo and others, because I believe this new process may help them.

Winter is a wonderful time for photography.  I thought I would provide a few tips to make photography in the cold more successful.

1.  Keep your camera cold.  Although it is tempting, don’t put your camera under your jacket.  Warming and cooling your camera will cause condensation and render your camera unusable.  It is easier to brush falling snow off a cold camera as well.  Falling snow on a warm camera makes for first a wet, then a forzen mess.  But don’t don’t try to blow snow off your camera with your breath!  This too can cause a frozen condensated mess.  I have learned all these things the hard way.

2.  Keep your batteries warm.  Your camera will work fine in very cold temperatures as long as it has functioning batteries.  The cold can quickly zap the energy out of any battery, but warming them up can restore much of their power.  If I’m taking extended exposures where I can’t afford to have my camera quit such as photographing northern lights, I use a rubber band and attach a chemical hand warmer to the battery compartment.  Otherwise I keep extra batteries in a pocket inside my jacket where I can keep them warm.  Sometime I put a chemical hand warmer in that pocket to speed up the process.  I then rotate the batteries between my camera and my warm pocket.

3.  Warm your camera slowly when you return home or in your car.  If you walk into the house with a cold camera, it will instantly become covered with condensation.  Anyone who has worn glasses in the winter will know exactly what I’m talking about.  Some photographers will put their camera gear in zip lock bags and that works fine.  I just leave my gear in the camera bag and make sure I don’t open the bag for an hour of two.  The camera bag seems to be adequate for avoiding condensation.  Be sure to remove film or cards from your camera before you bring it inside so you won’t be tempted to open your bag prematurely.

4.  Keep your car cold.  This is a tip you will rarely read, but I think it is a good one.  Having a cold car will prevent any condensation on your camera as you come and go while shooting.  This is really helpful when you are in and out of your car a lot, like when you are driving around chasing northern lights.  I have found that if I’m already dressed for the cold, like you need to be while driving a cold car, that I’m more likely to stop and explore photo opportunities.  If I have to stop and put on jackets, boots and gloves, I’m more likely to convince myself it really isn’t a good photo opp.

5.  Watch your breath.  I’m not talking bad breath, but you should watch that too   One exhale at the wrong time and the back of your camera, and more importantly your viewfinder will become instantly covered in a film of ice.  Once your viewfinder is iced over, it is very difficult to clear without warming your camera.  I can’t tell you how many times I have done this over the years once I get caught up in the excitement of shooting.  I raise my head to look over the camera and boom, in one breath the back is covered in ice.  Because I forget this so often, I will often cover my mouth with the collar of my jacket to help divert my breath so that it isn’t a problem.  I know of some fellow Alaskan shooters who have used snorkels to help direct their moist breath away from camera gear while working in severe cold.  That probably would work great, but may look pretty funny to anyone passing by.  I could just hear them;  “Dude, you aren’t in Hawaii anymore – just let it go!”

6.  Keep your tripod legs together in snow.  If you push your tripod into the snow with the legs sprayed, you can easily damage them.  I start with the legs just slightly apart, and then I will push the tripod into the snow which slowly spreads the legs as the tripod sinks further into the snow.  Having the legs spreed as the tripod sinks helps keep it a little more stable as well.

7.  Use chemical hand warmers.  These are one of the best inventions.  As a kid, I used to use hand warmers powered by lighter fluid – they were really a pain.  Today’s chemical hand warmers are easy to use, they start warming the instant you open the package, and can last 6 to 8 hours.  Warm gloves are also important, but gloves alone are not enough.  The problem with photography is it seems you are always taking your hands out of your gloves to change cards / film or something.  Once your hands are cold, gloves can’t rewarm them.  It is kind of like a well insulated Thermos that keeps warm things warm and cold things cold – gloves work the same way.  So for gloves to work with cold hands, you need a heat source, and that is where the hand warmers come into play.  I keep one stuffed in each glove or mitten, and this way my gloves are always warm and toasty when I go to put them back on.

8.  Wrap you tripod legs with pipe insulation.  This makes them easier on the hands in the cold, and a bit easier on the shoulder if you carry your camera and tripod this way.

Some of the most unique photo opportunities are during winter, don’t let the cold keep you inside!

Here are a few of our winter photos.

1.  Use a tripod.  I know, they are a pain – it is so much easier to just hand hold the camera.  But not only does using a tripod give you better picture quality by stabilizing the camera - it also forces you to slow down which is the next tip.

2.  Slow Down.  Take your time and really think about your picture, the composition and all the elements.  Instead of rattling off 5 mediocre pictures, spend the time to take one good picture.  This is where a tripod can come in helpful. 

3.  Own the frame.  You own the frame, put in and take out whatever you need to to improve the picture.  Is there a distracting tree branch showing in the upper corner of the frame?  Would including flowers in the foreground help the picture?  Move the camera, zoom the lens spend the time to get the just what you want in and out of the frame.  It is easy to look at the subject, but take the time and move your eyes around the entire viewfinder, even into the 4 corners. A tripod comes in handy here as well.

4.  Shoot early and late.  The golden warm light that takes place just after sunrise and just before sunset can’t be beat.  It can make an ordinary subject extraordinary.  The low light usually means a longer shutter speed – again a tripod can come in handy.

5.  Shoot at night and twilight.  You would be surprised how well night photos can look with todays digital cameras.  The hour before sunrise or after sunset can provide some interesting light as well.  Cities, stars, lots of subject are better at night.  Now you will definitely want a tripod.

6.  Shoot in cloudy or overcast weather.  Sunny days equals harsh light.  Clouds or overcast conditions diffuses the light and eliminates harsh shadows much like the large panels used by fashion photographers with their models.  Unlike handheld panels, clouds can diffuse an entire landscape.  I’m not a big fan of white skies, if the clouds aren’t interesting, keep them out of the frame.  The more clouds, the less light, the more likely the need for guess what – yep a tripod.

 7.  Shoot a lot!  I had a photography class in college where the professor had us roll our own film to save money.  This way we could shoot more.  His take, if most people take 2,000 pictures a year, take 2,000 picture a month and you will learn 12 times as fast!  Have you ever taken a picture that you really liked and were surprised it came out so well and you had no idea why?  The more you shoot, and the more that happens, then you begin to learn what it was  that gave you the results you like.  Now you can begin to repeat those conditions and add to your keepers.  Digital cameras make it so much cheaper to shoot volume, this can really speed up the learning process.  Granted, using a tripod probably won’t help you shoot more – but it still helps for the first 6 out of 7 tips so it isn’t an excuse.

8.  Experiment.  Zoom, pan put the subject way over in the corner of the frame, shoot into the sun and away, anything you can think of, try it.  You never know what might just work.  Sometimes a mistake leads to a nice picture – well experimenting will lead to lots of mistakes, but can also result in some of your best photos as well.  Heck, even try hand holding your camera every once and awhile.

9.  Buy new gear.  I’m not an overboard gear head, but adding a flash, filter, reflector, maybe a really wide angle or telephoto lens can be a great way to stimulate the creative juices.  Of course if you don’t own one, adding a tripod can help as well .

10.  Explore.  Drive down a road you normally don’t drive, or hike a trail you have never hiked.  If you don’t do close-ups, spend some time on your hands and knees looking at the amazing little world at our feet.  Explore with your camera.

11.  Have fun!  This is the most important tip of all – if you are having fun with your camera, it will show in you pictures.