Celebrating Birthdays

There are two birthdays to celebrate this week. Firstly, Merry Christmas! Christmas is of course when we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Lord, come together with family and friends, and relax in stifling heat.

Secondly, it's very nearly one whole here, keeping this blog! The number of times I have started a blog only to have it fail to inspire me is ridiculous, so to have made it to a year is terrific. 2013 has been a great year and I thought I would do a bit of a wrap-up post. I started out with the goal of taking my photos to the next level - actually thinking about shots, planning them and getting settings right. Also a lot more experimentation occurred on the digital editing side - I started taking photos in RAW and attempted a few HDR images. How did I go? Well, there is still a fair way to go as far as I can see, but things have definately improved.

My favourite photo of the year? This:

Karijini is such a beautiful place, and I absolutely adore the colours in this photo. Taking these shots with water was the most satisfying photography expedition this year. Read about the 2013 Karijini exploits in Photographer's paradise, Mysteries of Misty Waters in Karijini and Karijini the Third: Panorama.

The most fun I had this year taking photos though, would have to be the FeNaClNG fireworks. So often I have fun taking photos only to discover when getting home that it was a complete waste of time. It's a bit of a downer when that happens. But this year, I was delighted with the results, and just enjoyed watching the fireworks explode over head, not looking through a viewfinder, just watching, enjoying and capturing.

The most popular post at the day of writing is a whole lot of luck and uncommon sense. I can understand this - Manta Rays Are Cool (as are bow ties...Dr Who fans will get the reference). And I know you were all waiting for me to fall out of my kayak into the drink with my camera out!

Of course, I am writing this post pre-South-America-holiday, so favourite photos could change. By the time you are reading this I will be back safe and sound (God Willing), celebrating Christmas with family in QLD before heading back to Karratha. This is of course if everything goes to plan.

South America photos and stories are just one of the things to look forward to on this blog for 2014 - when we get back to Karratha it will be coming into storm season, I aim to try and procure Lightroom to improve ease of RAW editing, get off my backside and do more star trails and starscapes. But just in general I hope to keep experimenting and try and get better at the planning and execution of taking great photos.

Wherever you have been celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and I look forward to adventuring with you in 2014!

Pilbara Gems: Staircase to the Moon

You may have heard of this phenomenon - Staircase to the moon. It is heavily promoted in Broome, where you can sit on the beach at low tide and watch the full moon rise. The reflection on the mudflats looks like a staircase leading to the moon. It's pretty, but it's also a heavily romanticized  occasion. The tide and moon rise need to coincide.

Those in Broome would have you believe it only happens there, but this is incorrect. It is supposed to be pretty spectacular up there, but it only happens three times a year. Here in the Pilbara, it happens five times a year.

My first experience trying to photograph the staircase to the moon was tarnished by grumpy grey nomads. The moon was no where in sight and I needed my torch to set up my camera. I got yelled at.

Then of course you have to contend with people taking photos...with the flash on. You feel like screaming, 'the flash won't do you any good!!' but yet there is always one.

This photo is from our last attempt at the moon. It doesn't have the same stairway effect because it was taken a little late in the piece - clouds were on the horizon when  it rose - but I do love the golden glow it created. I've also included an edited version to try and capture the moon-glow in a colder, crisper, more moon-like tone.

This night was actually really great, it was the night of the lantern walk and we sat on the beach for ages. Have you ever watched the tide come in? By this I mean, watching the waves roll in, but not out. You could see the water heading over the mud flats, coming straight for you it was incredible! Another Pilbara Gem.

Canon EOS 50D, f/5, 4sec shutter, ISO 500, 50mm. Golden glory! Edit free. 

As above except edited in Adobe RAW - cooler tint and contrast adjusted. 

Just a note: Compression has decreased the quality of these photos - they are quite sensitive if they have a high ISO.

Lesson #12: ND Graduated Filters

In preparation for our trip to South America - that we are currently on - I bought some Neural Density Graduated filters. (One day, I am going to take a photo of all my gear and label it for you. That day is not today). These babies are brilliant! The theory is that the top half is dark, but it is neutral so it doesn't interfere with the colours, so that you can darken spots likely to be over-exposed (like the sky). It's pretty fun. I took them for a test drive. All these photos were taken on my Canon EOS 50D, f/10, 1/160 shutter, 18mm, ISO 100. Full sun, 38 degree heat. Bright blue skies. These are the results:

As shot - no filters.

One filter

Two filters

Two filters, edited in Photoshop.

I had the line too far down, so it wasn't meeting the horizon, and middle of the day does not create the best conditions, but all in all, I didn't think it was too bad!

This is what lights do to photos...

Following on from my previous post, I thought I would share this photo with you. While trying to get the hill of Heason's, stars and little lights all in the same photo, someone walked past with a blue lantern. It ruined my photo but I thought I would share it here, because it is a cool effect, akin to light painting, and something to experiment with one day.

Canon EOS 50D, f/3.5, 28 seconds, ISO 1000, 18mm. I can't believe I still got a couple of stars!

Making the best of too much light in a low light situation

Sometimes all the preparedness and best intentions in the world are impacted by unexpected occurrences. I recently had one of these experiences when I went down to take photos of the moon at Hearson's cove, only to discover the annual Lantern walk for cancer was occurring. That's right, lanterns. And I was trying to take photos of the moon. It didn't turn out well let me tell you, but instead of packing up my gear and enjoying the atmosphere, (because it was actually a really top night - live music on the beach and the moon as bright as a dull sun) I decided to experiment.

I've seen a number of photos of millions of starts and I want to know how to take them without star trails. Of course, taking photos of stars with heaps of lanterns on the beach and a really bright full moon is not ideal. At all. Like I said, it was an experiment!

The results were below. First is the original Betsy version, and the next two have been edited in RAW. The hill was illuminated in the photos based on the amount of light was around and the colour looks a little odd so most of the correction in Adobe RAW was aimed at that, but I think I still need more training.

All these photos are the same photo that had a 31 second shutter, ISO 1000, f/3.6, at 18mm on Canon EOS 50D

The Orignial, Betsy version. Note the lanterns. This was an artistic choice as the lanterns represent support for those suffering from leukemia. Note also the unreal red hill. There were also a couple of people down the beach also experimenting I'd say, by making circles with their lanterns.

The second version - aimed at increasing, creating a midnight blue feel and reducing the redness of the hill. Unfortunately the people are now the incorrect colour. 

Third version and probably my favourite, except for the purple haze over the people I suppose. Manipulating colours in Photoshop RAW is hard!