Sunrise and the Dawn

For a photographer, I'm pretty lazy. I hate getting up before the sun. But to get gorgeous sunrises, you have to. So two years ago - my husband and I were still traveling around Australia - we were camped out bush at Shark Bay, WA. It was Easter Sunday and my husband roused me out of bed telling me there was a gorgeous sunset right at the door stop of our caravan. Groaning, I got out of bed and stumbled out to the most tranquil sunrise I have ever seen.

Immediately the zombie was gone and I got out Betsy and took my first panorama with my tripod. I took my time, and the result is still one of my favourite photos since I bought my camera.

To me, it is more than just a sunrise. It symbolises the resurrection, the dawn of a new era where we are reconciled with God through Christ and his sacrifice. Through him we have new life. The sacrifices we make to allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives are tiny compared with the sacrifice he made on that cross. Little sacrifices like getting up an hour earlier.

Happy Easter

The HDR Experiment #2

After discovering that, yes, putting in the time to edit RAW images before combining them into a HDR, I thought hey! that probably holds true for panorama's. I love panorama photography. I like capturing as much information as I can with Betsy - as many colours, the biggest scene, the most detail. Less is more most of the time but when you consider with sheer delight how much of the world we see with our eyes, cameras really become pretty pathetic at what they can capture, and editing them is just our attempt to improve something superficial. The master of the world has created gorgeous scenes and colours for us to enjoy every single day. Can you imagine God's computer screen? (I wonder if he operates on Apple or Microsoft...). How much fun must he have mixing all these colours!

But I digress...Panoramas with High Dynamic Range.

My attempt was fruitless. It was virtually impossible for someone as impatient as me to achieve perfect exposure for each of the RAW photos to stitch together, let alone the HDR photos on top of that...For a rainy day I think. (Given that I live in the Pilbara, I won't hold my breath). I like the idea, but I think I better concentrate on getting HDR right first. Small steps.

After my relatively disappointing efforts with HDR with this particular jaunt to Cossack I was quite down-hearted, however the lesson here is to never give up hope. I still believe it doesn't matter how much photographic skill you have, how whiz-bang your camera is, there is always chance. And by chance, I snapped this. This panorama is a combination of four Betsy churn-our JPEGs taken in portrait, with no post-shot editing other than photomerge. This is why I love Betsy...

Let me tell you this was the wrong day to wear open-toed shoes! But it was worth it.

The HDR Experiment #1

For some reason I am determined to master the HDR photo. It is a form of processing a number of images into one, and for some reason it doesn't like working for me. It's time consuming to edit RAW photos and then process them into HDR. I experimented by first creating a HDR image with the Betsy churn-outs and then editing the same photos in RAW. (Remember, I shoot in RAW + LG JPEG - and as I've discovered it's often a space waster...)

And just so you know the pain and effort I went to for this experiment, I was standing, (or actually crouching) in the middle of a line of bitey ants while I took all these photos - thank goodness for auto-bracketing!

Here are the first three JPEGS courtesy of my Betsy:

 And combined together for a HDR:

I then set about editing each of the RAW files corresponding to the three above to the highest quality and colour - increasing saturation, adding warmth and a slight magenta tint to each of them. The results:

Stitched together in HDR they came out thus:

The result is more colour and mood lifting the picture to life. Is it worth the time spent editing photos in RAW? Answer, yes - provided you don't get too carried away with colours. HDR is worth while too, but not for every photo. I spend hours with other images of this sunset trying to make it work, only to have the sky continually overexposed when merged. I could do more with the gradient tool in Photoshop for most.

DSLR vs Smartphone: Instagram and the question of what kind of image to capture?

Many of you out there would have heard of this little smartphone app. It has grown in popularity. I love it simply because it allows you to share spur of the moment photos on your online social life. It is a little overdone/overused now, and the settings you are given to choose from don't always match your photo. Having said that, I have seen some fabulous images uploaded on this baby!

So, wanting to record my photographic journey I wanted to share with the blogosphere the little critter that joined us for dinner the other night. Oh, I pulled out my DSLR to capture this little guy  as well, but with my smartphone, I was able to hold it with one hand while crouched down on an odd angle to capture this little guy, so I could put my thumb next to him to show just how darn small and therefore cute he is!

The composition is not great, but in the heat of the moment, I was able to share this little guy with my friends without little cumbersome photo editing required!

Now check out the image I took with my DSLR. It's cropped and lightened in Photoshop. It's an OK-ish photo, but there is no point of reference to show how tiny he is! I tried to chase him so my husband's phone was in the shot to give an idea, but the little guy was too quick for me

The Instagram photo is more organic I feel - it may not be a higher quality but it captures the moment. As someone who really enjoys taking photos, I have to ask myself - what do I want to capture? A stunning, technically correct photo? A piece of art? Or the moment? Smartphones and technology make it so easy for us to capture anything and everything and store it for eternity. In 1000 years (if we last that  long) it is possible that someone will dig up photos being taken today from the ether and examine them like they examine ancient art. What do they want to see? Something technically beautiful, or a moment captured in time? Sometimes though it's worth capturing the moment with our minds and create a memory. The pressure to create lasting art is too much. Plus I felt guilty for momentarily blinding this poor little guy with my flash. And chasing him around.

Thrill of the Chase

There are some photos you have to be there to quickly capture the moment, and then there are some that you have planned in your head, waiting for the right moment to present itself, telling yourself you will be ready when that happens. This weekend I was able to chase after one such photo.

I was riding my bike yesterday afternoon, testing out our new GoPro (post to follow) when I noticed the clouds had the potential to contribute to a terrific sunset, one that turns the whole sky red. I had a vision of a photo down on the salt flats were someone, I'm not sure who, probably a bunch of different people, have placed different pieces of 'art' in the ponds for the salt crystals to grow. This is along the highway between Karratha and Dampier. The Rio train runs behind it, with the setting sun in the background. One of the art signs spells 'Karratha' with sharks circling and a lone hand reaching for the sky...I'm not sure what it's supposed to symbolise but it adds character.

So with the promise of a spectacular sunset I abandoned the curry I had cooking at home, left my husband to great our guest coming for dinner that night, and...followed the speed limit...down the highway to salt flats where I pulled over and started clicking madly away. An ore train was passing as I got there, which gave me the opportunity to include it in the shot.

Chasing after photos you have thought about for a long time - they never work out as you imagined. But still, I thought they came out alright, even if they aren't up to a 'pro' standard...

You can see how the shape of the clouds got me excited!

 Our 'public art'. This is the shot I was planning, although in my head you had more clouds and the sun just behind the train...I guess nature just didn't get the message.

I took a couple. I played with the colours a little bit in Photoshop - the actual colour is somewhere between the purple and the green. Still learning how to run that RAW editor!

My verdict? It won't be the last time I'm on those salt flats - I've still got the Loch Ness Monster, the Titanic, the man and the kangaroo to snap! The salt flat itself is challenging because of the way it reflects the colours. After this exercise I think I'm better off trying to take the photo first go, rather than messing around with them in Photoshop. But hey, isn't it all about the thrill of the chase?

I'm also pleased to report that while pulled over I was only honked at once!

Until next time Amigos! (and watch out for the GoPro post...)

Lesson #6: Graduated filters in Photoshop

My latest photography excursion was a disappointment. I tend to find that this is a regular occurrence. As one of my friends said this evening; 'It's an annoying hobby!'. There is so little room for a margin of error, and so often you think you have a good image, only to put it onto your laptop when you get home and be disappointed.

Armed with my nifty fifty, I took Betsy to the beach in Dampier under the palms. We were there on a picnic fare-welling some friends therefore it wasn't a dedicated photography trip. This spot is frequented by anyone living in the vicinity so shots of the sunset at the palms of Dampier are a dime a dozen.



So, because of the average quality of the photos themselves regarding...pretty much everything, I decided to have a little play. I took this opportunity to experiment back on my laptop, adding graduated filters post-production. This was done in Adobe Camera Raw plug in. In the end I used three different filters, because I went a little crazy. I've done bit of a fun screen shot to give you an idea of what these suckers can do, and how much fun they are to play with late at night...

The image I came to rest on after I went a little colour crazy was this one:

I had to lighten the top right hand corner a little, and that was probably the most difficult. One thing that amazes me is that while the colours in the sky in this shot  are more vibrant and the clouds stand out more, there is actually a larger gamut of colour in the original image (two above). You can only imagine just how many more colours our eyes pick up at sunset! Our eyes are the best camera we have.

Finally, after the sun went down, I experimented by the water with the nifty fifty and low light. The shot below is the best one that  came out, although the background is out of focus.

Lessons 4 & 5 - Slithered from the Archives

I haven't been out for a photography trip in the last few weeks. My excuse is Cyclone Rusty, even though he only lasted a week (maximum). Yes, there were some interesting clouds hanging around, but there was also some not so interesting wind carrying dust - not good for a camera. Although, probably good for photography. Go figure.

So, I thought I would pull some photos from the archives. My Dad requested a post about this one of a snake I took while on holiday with the family at Wooli in Northern NSW two years ago. We found this little fella in the front yard of the house we were staying at. I think I must have snapped at least 50 photos, with this one being the best. Here is how it came out on its own:

I chose this photo for the blog, because I decided it needed to be better. Below is my cropped, slightly edited version. Spot the difference!

That's right - my first attempt at actually photo-shopping something out of a photo. An interesting experience - much more challenging than I had first thought! Basically I used a combination of spot-heal and cloning tool. The biggest problem I encountered (from memory) was finding the right size for the cloning tool. The colour variations in the green don't seem so pronounced at first glance, but get those shades slightly wrong and it looks awful!

On second thoughts, the cloning does look awful - but this is all about learning in the end which brings us to lessons four and five...learn how to use photoshop tools correctly, and always keep your original files when experimenting!