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!

Sunsets and Stormclouds

The Pilbara is a marvelously inspiring place to shoot. I feel privileged I can experiment with photography and attempt to take it to a new level with this region on my backyard. Surely this is God's canvas.

Firstly, I promise not to bombard the blog with three posts at once - I just had a little catching up to do! This is current...

Yesterday, still reeling from my lack of photographer's intuition when it comes to storms and lightening, I decided to walk up the hill to take some test shots to really nut out this whole RAW thing, and even venture into some High Dynamic Range (HDR) territory.

To explain, Karratha is a long and skinny town. It's kind of shaped like a peanut. On one side is Nickol Bay and the Burrup Peninsula, on the other are some hills covered in iron-ore coloured rocks and spinafex. At this time of year a storm brews to the east most afternoons. Not many come our way like last week (unfortunately for those like me who missed that opportunity) but the thing to do in Karratha when there is a storm, is to take your 4WD up the hill to capture the storm, enjoy the wind and watch the dust decend (see image below). Luckily for me I can walk, although this does pose the problem of gear getting wet/dusty if the storm turns.

Let me tell you, this vastness and the richness of the rocks makes a stunning gamut of colour. Especially at sunset. Especially when storm clouds are brewing in the East, while the sun is setting in the West.

So here's me, with my $30 tripod on top of a small hill overlooking Karratha, constantly spinning my tripod head between the storm cloud and the sunset. Prime lighting for the stormcloud as the sunset was acting as a fill light for the rocks, hills and spinafex in the foreground leaving me with plenty of wriggle room to expose correctly for the clouds.

Here is where two key lessons (well, three now) were learnt when it comes to processing images:

1) You can overedit, especially when trying to lighten underexposed areas. These sunset photos - most of them are ruined because they are grainy due to too much fill light/exposure/brightness adjustments. I'm not happy with them, but decided to put them here anyway, so you can see what I am talking about.

2) HDR requires sepparate shots - I attempted a couple using a single shot with different exposures, but found they came out grainy and overexposed anyway. I need to perfect this technique. Now, I have sepparate shots, using the exposure bracketing feature on Betsy, I just haven't had time to combine them, focusing on the actual editing.

3) Looking at the photos now, at 10:45pm with no reflective light behind me, they appear worse. I think this warrents more research for my screen and ensuring that when I edit photos, there are no competing reflections and the screen is tilted optimally.

Lesson #2: Learn more about processing RAW

Editing RAW images is a craft unto itself. February has been the month of experimenting. I have taken to capturing photos in RAW + Large quality JPEG. This way I can navigate the photos I want to edit, without oeping each individual one.

Experimenting is all good and well, but too much and you have over-edited your photo, and lets be honest, they lose quality and integrity. Or at least mine have, so far. My second lesson, or rather, revelation is that editing a RAW photo is an art in itself - you are better off out in the elements taking all the steps possible to capture as many colours as possible.

My first pure RAW capturing expedition was to a little cove just past Hearson's on the Burrup. I had the bright idea of going at sunset, not realising the sun would set behind a pile of rocks leaving me with little natural light. I did manage to get some good golden hour shots, but nothing worth noting that was spectacular. The only noteworthy shot was of a mangrove in the golden hour below.

Hearson's by sunset, on the otherhand, is stunning. Sure, I didn't climb the rocks with the A Team (largely due to the fact that my battery had run out while trying to take wave motion photos with overexposed rocks in the background...) but I did manage to capture this little gem. Edited in RAW (CR2 converted to DNG to make it compatible with Adobe Photoshop) I'd say this is my most successful processed image to date. The first image is the JPEG churned out by Betsy (My Canon). The second is my edited version.

Lesson #1: Be ready for any opportunity

This last few weeks have been really disappointing photography wise for me. After promising myself to 'upskill' from a Point-and-shoot-with-a-fancy-DSLR-and-hope-for-the-best photographer, to one with slightly more technical skills, I have been quite lazy in the getting out and taking photos department. January was a complete write off. February I have had a few chances, but after only one month, I am starting to get bored with the same scenes, and longing for something other than red rocks!

I had a terrific opportunity this week, that was sadly missed. I was at home cooking dinner, my husband went for a pushbike ride right on sunset. I went outside when the Shepherd's pie went into the oven to discover a gorgeous sunset. Our house is a fairly well boxed in townhouse, which means it is very secure, but also provides zero opportunity for shooting sunsets. I toyed with the idea of climbing the hill and decided, I better not because I had the oven on and was the only one home. I went inside, and five minutes later, lightning begins to flash. It was minor at first, but you know something is seriously cracking when you have the blinds closed, lights on and you can still see an electric blue light illuminating your kitchen.

So I go to the laundry door to discover a rainbow is visible. As I am gazing at the gorgeous colours, thunderbolts start cracking through the sky and seemingly touching down on the other side of town (I later found out they were not far from it). I rush to get my camera, excited for the opportunity to shoot both lightning and a rainbow at once, and I just have it set up and lo and behold the rain comes. I am paranoid about getting my gear wet and don't believe in shooting through either wet glass or wet plastic (unless underwater) so I reluctantly gaze out the window at the most magnificent lightning show I have ever seen. The show continues for a good half hour.

My husband arrives home, shortly after the rain stops and there is still an enormous amount of electricity in the air. Unfortunately I didn't have the bright idea I had the next day of going out then when there was no rain, as I had a sopping, hungry husband to take care of! But in hindsight, I should have jumped in the car, driven to…anywhere in town you could see the horizon… and set my camera up for the show.

Words cannot explain how gutted I was…especially when photos like this started popping up on social media….

I did manage to venture into the world of editing RAW photos for the first time. Here are some of my first attempts – it is a lot more complicated than the books make out!

 

Rosella at the Bunya Mountains. Playing with the colours was a little more tricky, and I do think this one is a touch overdone, but not bad for a very first attempt.

 

First attempt at a HDR. It's a little grainy. I used three JPEGS from the one RAW file. I am quickly learning that while this is valuable for the exact photo composition, lightening the dark areas is not as high quality as an original capture. More on this next.

The Begining

This isn't really the begining. It's the first post in my blog about capturing the joys of creation with a digital SLR. Nature is inspiring, mind-warping, colourful and simply screams 'life'. I enjoy photography for one simple reason - capturing beauty when I see it in the hopes of preserving the memory. Of course, I am still learning.

The main lesson I want to retain is that I need to be able to recognise when a camera is not enough, and I should just sit back and enjoy the view....after trying to photograph it...

I will be sharing some of my previous photos, new techniques I am learning along the way, in the hopes that this blog will encourage myself and others to extend their creative arm and try new things in their photography.

I hope you enjoy the ride.