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Take a closer look at the advantages of hand-held photography versus shooting from a tripod,
I was talking with a friend the other day in Joshua Tree about the differences between shooting landscape photography from a tripod versus hand-held. He had been faithfully photographing from a tripod but did some shooting hand-held, apparently for the first time, and was excited with the sense of freedom he experienced. We had a brief conversation on the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. I’d like to share the conversation with you.
Continue reading “Tripod or Hand-Held”
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Use these tips to improve your travel photographs.
Do you love to travel? Of course and when you do, I bet you have at lease one camera with you, whether it’s a smart phone, a high-end DSLR or mirrorless camera with at least one lens or something in-between. You bring your camera so that you can capture the memories of the places you visited and experiences you had. And with a little bit of advanced preparation and thought, you can bring back pictures that are even more memorable and that enable you to relive some of those fond moments.
Where are many tips that can be given about travel photography. Here are five that I think you will find very useful.
Advanced preparation can dramatically enrich your travel experience, And this can lead to more meaningful photographs because you have a better idea of what you will encounter and what to look for.
Often a big trip is a powerful excuse to convince your partner you need a new camera. But don’t make the mistake of dashing out a week before you depart to buy it. Rather, purchase it at least a month in advance, preferably two, so you have time to become familiar with it. Learn its features and how to use them to improve the quality of your pictures. Practice so that they start to become second nature. Even if you already have a camera you’re familiar with, purchasing a new one, even one of the same brand, is often different enough that the things you normally do with your old camera have changed in the new one. You don’t want to be fumbling around with camera settings as a fleeting moment passes you by.
Another good thing to do before you leave is to read up on the areas you’ll be visiting. Get a sense of the history and culture. Become familiar with the architecture. Look at photographs. Discover events that may be going on while you’re there. The more you know about your destination the more you will see and experience.
By all means, take selfies in your favorite places but don’t stop there. Take city tours to get an overview of a city but then go off the beaten tourist path to see the people as they really live. Eat in restaurants that cater to locals. Maps can be a great help in preparing for a more wanderlust adventure.
Another good idea is to keep a travel journal. Jot down the places you visit, dates and times and the impressions you have. This can be a big help when you’er going through your photographs after you return home.
Continue reading “5 Tips to Bring Home Great Travel Memories”
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Tag a long on a scouting expedition of the California Central Coast.
I’m on a three-day scouting trip to photograph the central coast of California from the Sonoma Coast north of San Francisco down to Santa Cruz to the south. I am preparing for the 2018 Central Coast and Napa photography workshop. The first two days covered the coast north of Frisco. Today would continue south, picking up the coast at Half Moon Bay. You can read about the first to days here:
Unlike the prior day where I didn’t roll out of my sleeping bag until 8:00, this day the alarm was set for 5:00. That’s more consistent with what I’m used to when photographing. I arose in the dark, took a quick hot shower and broke camp as silently as possible. When I left the campground it was still dark.
Gleason Beach, which I had photographed the day before, grabbed my attention in the morning light and I had to stop for it again.
These two sea stacks that hadn’t impressed me in the afternoon stood out in the soft morning light. As with the first two days, there were occasional splashes of large waves. But, from this distance what impressed the eye didn’t impress the camera. So I was more intent on photographing the patterns made by the surf after the waves broke.
Continue reading “Photographing the California Central Coast – Day 3”
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Lightroom is good for basic HDR but for full creative control, HDR applications have an important role to play.
I was recently in the redwoods of Northern California. One of the groves I love is the Lady Bird Johnson Grove in Prairie Creek State Park. In it is a Western hemlock growing next to a massive redwood. The hemlock’s roots spread out across the ground, making an interesting and photo-worthy pattern. I’ve photographed it a number of times in the past but never liked what I got.
This year was different. I finally saw a composition that excited me. The sky was overcast and a bright mist hung in the forest. I knew I was going to have a dynamic range problem so I shot HDR – 5 shots bracketed 1 1/3 stops.
I knew I was going to have a dynamic range problem so I shot HDR….
I was eager to see what it looked like so when I got back to my hotel room I ran it through the Lightroom HDR. One thing about the Lightroom HDR feature is that it is convenient, quick and creates a DNG file. But its drawback is that you don’t have a lot of control. Besides alignment and de-ghosting, you have the Auto function, the same Auto found in the Basic group in Lightroom. That’s it.
I ran my five files through Lightroom HDR, but the results were disappointing. The foreground was rendered well but the forest in the background was blown out. I tried my best to recover what I could, but it was too far gone. Another year gone by and I still don’t have this photograph.
It wasn’t until sometime later that I was browsing my redwood images and came across this shot. I decided to have another go at it but this time using my tried and true Photomatix Pro 6.0. I’ve been using Photomatix Pro since version 1 and it has always produced for me. Photomatix Pro is extremely versatile, giving the photographer a wide range of expressions from natural to surreal. And with over 40 presets, it’s easy to find one that is very close to what you’re looking for. I always prefer the more natural look.
An image that I thought was lost came back to life with Photomatix Pro.
I imported the five files, selected one of the more natural presents and what a difference. An image that I thought was lost came back to life with Photomatix Pro. Not only was the foreground beautifully rendered but so was the background. A few small tweaks and the photograph was ready for the rest of the workflow.
I finished my normal workflow by completing the Lightroom adjustments once Photomatix Pro had imported the TIFF file back into the Lightroom catalog. That was followed by the fine tuning I always do in Photoshop.
I thought you might like to see the HDR outputs from Lightroom and Photomatix Pro along with the finished photograph side-by-side.
Lightroom HDR still has a role to play for me. When I’ve just uploaded my files from a shoot and am browsing through them to select the ones I want to work on, I find the Lightroom HDR very handy to get a sense of if I’ve captured the dynamic range or not. But if I later decide I want to print the image and add it to my portfolio I’ll redo the HDR blending in Photomatix Pro where I have so much more control. Lightroom HDR doesn’t come close to providing the artistic control that I need. Photomatix Pro continues to fill that gap and remains an essential tool in my HDR workflow.
You can see for yourself and give Photomatix Pro a spin by downloading a trial version from their website.
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Explore the various ways to back up your important data from a simple solution to a comprehensive one.
Have you ever asked yourself what would happen to your picture files if your hard drive failed? I ask this question because a week ago, I lost a hard drive.
When I was just getting started, I would have lost everything. I had a desktop computer with a single internal hard drive and everything was on it.
So what did I do? I went out and invested in an external drive. Now I could at least back up my important files. That would include more than just the photo files but it definitely included them. The advantage was that now I had two copies of my important files and it was unlikely that both the desktop hard drive and the external drive would fail at the same time. But there was a downside….
Continue reading “What Would Happen if Your Hard Drive Failed?”
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I recently taught a photography class for the Mt San Jacinto Natural History Association. At an elevation of 10,834 feet, San Jacinto is the second highest peak in Southern California. The Natural History Association operates in conjunction with the Mt San Jacinto State Park and has a rich program of mountain activities. I was fortunate to be invited to teach the first-ever photography class for the association.
The class would consist of lectures and demonstrations, and be conducted in one of the meeting rooms in the mountain station of the Palm Springs Ariel Tram. We would have a morning and afternoon shoot in nearby Long Valley,
In preparing for the class, I anticipated that there would be a large cross-section of experience and abilities, with gear ranging from smart photos to high-end digital cameras, And that proved to be true. So rather than getting into the technical aspects of photography, the emphasis was on the creative. This normally consists of talking about light and composition which we took a bit of time to cover. But the main emphasis was On Seeing.
I wasn’t sure what there was to actually See in Long Valley. It was always something to pass through on the way to more exciting places like Round Valley or the summit, So, to find worthwhile things to photograph, our quest became to find and capture the essence, the soul of Long Valley.
And here’s what we found…
Continue reading “Photography Class on Mt San Jacinto”
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Join me as we relive the experiences, challenges and excitement of the 2018 Gems of Oregon photography workshop.
The Gems of Oregon workshop was different this year. I was feeling apprehensive as the date approached. With eight major wild fires burning in the area, the conditions were going to be challenging to say the least. Smoke-filled air not only makes photography difficult but poses a health risk. I was paying particularly close attention to air quality warnings in the areas we would be traveling through and photographing in. Some areas looked fine but others posed a problem, especially for the workshop’s final days.
We met Wednesday afternoon as planned in Crescent City on the Northern California coast. The air was clear and fresh. With a very productive orientation and instructional session, we were off to a good start. Thursday we were to journey up the spectacular southern Oregon coast and we were ready. The weather forecast was favorable and there were no air quality warnings.
It was still overcast when we made our first stop at Harris Beach in Blanding, OR. The overcast made black and white photography especially fitting.
Figure 1: The thing that stopped me for this photograph was the stream running into the ocean. I would have prefered the stream to be more prominent but that put the rest of the image out of balance. So this is what I ended up with.
Continue reading “The 2018 Gems of Oregon Workshop”
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Come explore the wonderful gems that wait to be discovered in the southwest corner of Oregon. Photograph the stunning Oregon coast, magnificent waterfalls, wild rivers and incredible Crater Lake. Join our photography workshop.
I knew Crater Lake would be exciting. Just think of it. Volcanic Mount Mazama emptied its huge magma chamber in a colossal eruption about 7,500 years ago. When the fireworks were over, the empty magma chamber collapsed, swallowing the mountain top and creating a crater over 2000 feet deep. Then the winter snows slowly but inexorably filled the crater with beautiful deep blue, crystal clear water.
My first experience of the lake was not with camera in hand but on a family trip as we paused for an evening while on or way to Seattle, Washington to visit more family. It was in June and the snow drifts were still piled high, preventing travel but to a small portion of the rim. And yet the experience was profound.
When I conceived of the Oregon photography workshop I knew Creator Lake had to be the culmination, the grand finale of the experience. From Wizard Island (a volcanic cone within the crater), Phantom Ship (the skeleton of a volcano that has long since passed), the Pinnacles (mysterious towers piercing the atmosphere) and the hard-to-imagine blue of the lake itself, Crater Lake is in truth a fitting highlight of the other wonders in this corner of Oregon.
Continue reading “The Gems of Oregon Photography Workshop”
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Ten good reasons to take a photogrpahy workshop.
We all love photography. Perhaps you are a casual photographer, using your smart phone or point-and-shoot camera to capture the precious moments in life you cherish and want to remember. Perhaps you admire the work of others and would like to be able to capture scenes or moments like they do. Or maybe you are skilled and have been passionate about your own photography for quite some time now.
For those that seek to develop themselves as photographers there are a couple of approaches you can take. You can learn on your own by reading and photographing. And if you are able to devote the time and energy to this process you will surely be successful. However, it is more of a trial-and-error approach to learning photography and, let’s face it, we don’t all have the time or energy to adequately feed our passion.
Or, you can learn from someone who has already mastered the challenges you encounter along the way. And one of the most effective and affordable ways of accomplishing this is through a workshop.
So I would like to share with you my top ten reasons for attending a workshop.
Photography workshops give you the opportunity to focus just on photography and capturing the beauty that surrounds you. The complications of your busy life are left at home or at work and for several stimulating days your existence is focused on one thing – capturing the beauty that surrounds you.
Continue reading “Ten Reasons to Take a Photography Workshop”
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Join Ralph Nordstrom Photography in the majestic Eastern Sierra for a extraordinary spring photography workshop.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains have always been magical for me. The granite peaks are among the highest in the lower 48, demanding the best from backpackers and climbers. The alpine lakes, verdant meadows, glacier carved valleys, forested slopes, all of these captured the imagination and passion of the legendary John Muir and still capture ours today.
Now I have the thrill of photographing these beloved peaks and the wonders that surround them. I get up there several times a year and always find something new, something fascinating. The light can be incredible (it’s no mystery why John Muir called the Sierra, ‘The range of light.’).
Come with me. Join me for six days of extraordinary springtime photography in the Eastern Sierra as we follow in the footsteps of such celebrated photographers as Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell and David Muench.
We begin our exploration in Lone Pine in the shadow of Mt Whitney. We will spend two days exploring the fascinating Alabama Hills and other nearby locations.
Next we move north to Bishop. Here, we heed the call from North Lake, South Lake and Lake Sabrina to the west and the ancient bristlecone pines to the east.
After two days in Bishop we continue our journey north to Lee Vining on the shores of Mono Lake and at the base of Tioga Pass, the eastern gateway into Yosemite National Park.
We wrap up the workshop in Bodie, the best preserved and most interesting ghost town of them all.
I love the Eastern Sierra at any time of the year but springtime offers its own unique beauty. We have a record-breaking show pack this year (the Mammoth Mountain ski area plans to be in operation until July 4th)! The spring melt will be in full flow and I am so excited. It’s going to be an incredible year.
You don’t have to be a master photographer to attend a workshop or get great photographs. You just need someone who will get you to the right places at the right time and work with you as much as you need to ensure you get the shots.
We still have openings for few more attendees so come join us. You’ll be glad you did. This is a spring not to be missed.
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