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.

A ferris wheel at night, Long Beach, California.

 I thought I would try a new idea with the blog and create an Ask Ron category.  My thinking is that every so often I would answer reader submitted questions and publish the question and my response here on the blog.  They can be pretty much anything photography related, from travel destinations, gear, techniques, thoughts and opinions – you get the idea.  If there is a photo you have always wondered about, maybe the story behind the image, that would be good too.

If you have a web presence; website, blog, Flickr page, I would be happy to link back in my response.  If you would prefer to remain anonymous, that’s cool too. 

You can post your questions in this thread, or feel free to email them to me at ronn@arctic.net  If you could, put “Ask Ron” in the subject so that I will know it is for the blog and not just someone asking a question.

I will do my best to answer all questions as best I can, but I will have editorial control, so I could decide to ignore a question – heck, it is my blog.    So if I start posting photos of a wolverine den, chances are slim that I will provide the GPS coordinates.  Likewise, asking for the name and number of the photo editor at XYZ magazine probably won’t get a response either, but most stuff will be fair game.  So hit me with your Q’s!

Hey, speaking of wolverine.  Now that we are heading into spring, I figure it might be a good time to remind everyone that my deal from last year is still on!

Long Beach, California.

They have done a nice job with the waterfront along downtown Long Beach – it was much nicer then I remember.

We have wanted to photograph Vancouver and the Whistler area for some time.  Traveling to and from Alaska these days has been very expensive, so we packed a lot of our winter gear on this trip in hopes of finding a killer last minute deal to the Vancouver area.  Well guess what, thanks to an Alaska Airlines airfare sale, and some great luck with naming our price on Priceline, we have put together a very inexpensive  trip.  We spend a couple of nights in Vancouver, and then a couple of nights at Whistler.  It is going to be a very busy, whirlwind of a trip, but if possible, I’m going to try to keep up with the blog.  If there isn’t much activity, you will know why.

This is the entrance to the walkway that leads to the historic Casino building in Avalon, Catalina Island, California.

Avalon, Catalina Island, California.

Earlier this week we moved over to campground in Newport Beach, just in time for a favorable, warm, off-shore weather pattern.  I say favorable, because the off-shore winds blow much of the air pollution often found in this area out to sea, providing clearer then normal views of the buildings, surrounding mountains and bright blue skies.  We have been running around like crazy taking advantage of this situation.  We have hiked the hills around Irvine searching for cityscape locations, been up to Griffith Park on the other side of LA, and spent the last two days out on Catalina Island. 

I’m running a bit behind on the blog, but decided to jump ahead and post a photo of the town of Avalon on Catalina Island becuase that is such a cool little town on a pretty island.

The Yankee Peddler, Wrightwood, California.

 For me, the Yankee Peddler isn’t just a cool little photogenic store in Wrightwood, but it is also owned and operated by my sister-in-law Brenda.

We spent Christmas with family in Wrightwood, where I think they had as much snow as we did in Alaska.  It is interesting what happens when it snows in the mountains so close to a huge, snow-less city like Los Angeles – thousands of people flock there to play in the snow.  The traffic was pretty crazy, but it looked like people with sleds and snowballs were having a lot of fun.

Downtown Los Angeles at night.

It is kind of funny, I’m comfortable in the back country of Alaska by myself, but I wasn’t comfortable at all running around LA with my camera gear.  I actually hired an off-duty police officer to escort me.  It was money well spent. 

I think many photographers would be just the opposite, thinking nothing of shooting in LA, but would hire a guide to go into the back country of Alaska. 

This was about a 30 second exposure.  It is interesting to note, it looks like at least a few people changing lanes used their blinkers. 

Here are more Los Angeles photos.

Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

This is an aerial view of the 110 and 105 freeway in Los Angeles.

I think the lines created from this freeway interchange are graceful when viewed from the air.  It is amazing to see so many cars in one place.  In this little stretch of highway there are far more cars then within a 100 miles of our home in Alaska. 

I thought I would share a few more Los Angeles photos from last spring.

This photo of the Los Angeles skyline was captured from a very small, two seat helicopter with my door removed!  I felt like I was in a kite.  I love to photograph from helicopters, it is very exciting and provides a unique viewpoint.  The door has to be removed because you can’t get sharp photos while shooting through the Plexiglas windows.

Downtown Los Angeles skyline at sunset from last March.

I use the same approach with my travel photos as I do landscapes.  I try to seek out wonderful light and pleasing compositions.  This was a day kind of like the day when I shot the Sedona Rainbow photo, it was cloudy and raining all day.  But just like that day, I was blessed with brief but wonderful light right as the sun set.  This view of the downtown skyline was captured near Dodger Stadium.

Here is our on-line collection of Los Angeles photos.