Back to Banff!

I have been reliving my experience in Banff National Park for years. I didn't think I would be going back so soon, but guess what. It's happening! Actually it's happening in just about a week. Banff is a special place for me for several reasons. It was where my wife and I went on our honeymoon 4 years ago. We stayed in the town of Banff and at the Chateau at Lake Louise. It was an incredible experience.

It was also the first time I had seen the rocky mountains. Seeing those mountains was a life changing experience. I live on the flat plains of Minnesota. We have a beautiful landscape in our own right, the land of 10,000 lakes. Northern Minnesota has similar beautiful conifer forests that surround beautiful lakes. But we don't have the MOUNTAINS. It was a beauty like I've never seen before. That mixed with water that is impossibly blue, it's a beauty I will never forget.

It will only be a short trip, four days and three nights, but we plan to make the most of it. A friend of mine will be joining me on the trip and it should be an incredible experience for him as well. Like me, four years ago, this will be his first trip to the rocky mountains. Also, he is new to photography. What a unbelievably photogenic place to learn. Although this location will be tough to beat, it might be all downhill for him after this!

Yosemite Star Trail

I only had one night to photograph the night stars in Yosemite. It was basically my first time photographing at night period and I had my fair share of problems. This star trail was made from a series of photographs while I was trying to make a time lapse. Unfortunately my camera randomly stopped shooting while I was snoozing in the car. Since the time lapse stopped early, it only made for a very short video. But I was able to stack the photos in Photoshop to make this cool star trail.

Lesson Learned: Time Lapse Part 1

Time Lapses have become very popular over the last couple of years. Today there is easy to use software, built in time lapse or interval timers and plenty of online tutorials. All of this has made making time lapses more accessible to the hobby photographer. As soon as I realized this was something that I could do with my current equipment, I was ready to go.

Well almost, there was a bit of a learning curve and I had to do my research. I did some tests and some more research. This isn't a time lapse tutorial, I don't think I'm quite ready to be writing one of those yet. When I become more proficient, then maybe I will write one. In the meantime, I thought I would share a couple of lessons I've learned along the way.

1. Buy a battery grip or at least extra batteries. On my recent trip to Yosemite NP, I brought my brother's (Derek) D7000 camera as a second body. He had a battery grip and 2 batteries which, as it turns out, are the same batteries as my D600. The two extra batteries were very important.
2. Buy an external intervalometer. My D600 has an interval timer built in but I found it to be unreliable. This issue is maybe a blog post of it's own, so I won't go into detail. But I found at times it wouldn't take the right amount of photos. For example, I set it to take 300 photos, but it counted down by 5. It went, 300, 295, 290, 285 etc.. On a couple of occasions it just stopped completely despite having plenty of battery and memory space. I've heard plenty of good things about the generic intervalometers and I'll probably go with the Satechi MTR-M. But I haven't tested it yet, so don't quote me on that.
3. Buy extra memory cards. I had a 32g, two 16g and two 4g cards with me. I also had a 32g in my GoPro which I could pull if necessary. Derek's camera had another 16g card which I ended up using as well. This was a pretty short trip, so if I plan a longer trip next time, I will need more cards. I could have formatted, transferred to my Macbook and kept going, but I prefer not to format anything until I get home if I can help it. 32g & 64g SanDisk  are cheap next time I'll bring some extras. I found that on a 32g card I could get about 1000 photo's with my D600 in RAW mode. I tend to go for 300 image time lapses which gives me 10 seconds of video at 30fps. So you can see how just a few time lapses will fill a card.

I know this turned out to be a list of things to buy. But the good news is none of them are that expensive, especially compared to what we are used to when comes to photography gear. If you do decide to buy these products please purchase them through amazon via our links in the page or the search feature to the right. It help support Natural Vision Photography. Thanks!

Back from California

Nikon D600, Nikkor 70-700 VR, 6 shot vertical panorama

It was my first trip to California and I have to say I was blown away by it's beauty. The diversity of beauty is what really has me jealous though. My wife and I did a kind of a mad dash across California. It was great to see the great diversity in landscape, but I really want to take a more focused approach next time.

We started in Yosemite and saw the great valley cliffs and mountains which included vast wilderness. Then we went to Monterrey and saw the coast as we drove through Big Sur down the Pacific Coast Highway 1. I have to say I was very surprised by the epic drive on Highway 1. I knew it would be a nice drive, but it was down right insane. We had clouds rolling in off the ocean which then made a steep climb up the mountain and over the road. We saw this rising of the clouds for most of the drive and it was awesome. I have to say that Yosemite was beautiful, but I knew it would be. I was surprised by Big Sur though, it's beauty was unexpected.

The next leg of the tour was to Los Angles which was not photography related but still an area in which a photographer could enjoy a wealth of subjects.

In coming posts I'll share some photos as well as time lapses that I took. I'm new to time lapses and will share what I learned. I also did a bit of work at night for the first time. I ran into some unexpected problems there as well and will share my experiences. So stayed tuned!

To stay informed with what I'm up to please follow me on the various social networks on the right of the page!

6 Tips for an Efficient Trip

Can you feel the excitement? I can! Yes, I'm going to Yosemite in just a few weeks. Actually I will be visiting Yosemite as well as the California coast between Monterey and Los Angles. It feels a little odd, I normally put some sort of photo at the top of my blog posts. But I've never been to Yosemite or anywhere in California, so I don't have any photos to use. Well, I'll have to change that won't I.

That's right, new content is coming soon. I'm spending two nights in Yosemite, one night in Monterey and a couple more in LA. Many of you may be able to relate with this scenario... This is a vacation/photography trip. The vacation part is where the photography gets limited. Many of us that don't get to travel as much as we'd like, so we end up splitting time between photography and spending time with our family. This is where it becomes extremely important to be efficient with your time. Here is a short list of things you can do to prepare for an efficient trip.

1. 500px.com is not just a website with beautiful images. It can also be an excellent source to give you an idea of what people are shooting in a specific area. As with all photography communities you'll see a lot of similar images from the popular locations. This is fine, and if it's the first time you've been there, you'll want to hit the hot spots. There is usually other helpful information as well. Much of the images metadata is shown which can often tell you what focal lengths are used and what time of the year it was shot at.
2. Google Drive. Wait what? Yes, Word documents, Dropbox, Evernote, or any other note taking method will work. I have created a document which has names of locations, maps, hiking trails and travel times. There are links to 500px for reference photos and other websites which may be helpful. Many of these note taking services have apps on your phone so you can reference it in the field.
3. Google+ Community feature is another excellent place to go for information. There are many passionate photographers who are eager to help others and share information. There may be a community that focuses on the particular area where you are traveling. Any questions you may have or tips you can gather will be invaluable on the trip. This strategy can be extended to other online communities.
4. Google Maps and Google Earth. No really, this isn't a google advertisement. This may be obvious but checking drive times to various locations is very important. You can also get a pretty good lay of the land by familiarizing yourself with the area. You'll want which way is north and more importantly which way the sun will be rising and setting.
5. The Photographer's Ephemeris along with Maps, this will really help you get a handle of where the sun will be rising and setting. TPE is a iOS and Android App which will show the sun and moon angles from any given location and time. So with this app, you'll know exactly how to get that sunrise shot as efficiently as possible.
6. Stellarium is a free open source planetarium that can be downloaded on your Windows PC, Mac or Linux. You might wonder why this is important. Well, I'm very excited to try some night photography while in Yosemite. With the night shots I want to include both the beautiful scenery as well as the beautiful glow of the stars and Milky Way. With this program, similar to TPE, I can type my location and time and it will show me where the stars will be located in the night sky. If I want to get the Milky Way in the shot, I will know when the best times will be. Similarly, it will show me the exact position of the moon at various times of the night. The moon can be helpful or an obstruction depending on what type of shot you want. This tool will take some of the guess work out.

This has been my workflow for the past month or so. With our busy schedules, efficiency one of the most important aspects of a successful trip. A good research and planning process becomes key. I hope this list helps make your trip a successful one.

Nikon D600; Initial Thoughts

So I decided to upgrade from my Nikon D7000 to a Nikon D600. I blogged previously while I was thinking about getting an Olympus OM-D. As my obsessive personality requires, I did a good amount of research regarding the D600 before making my purchase. I'll go through what I've seen so far and what led to my decision. It should be noted that just because I decided to upgrade from the D7000 to the D600 doesn't mean that it's the correct decision for everybody.

On the surface the camera's look pretty similar. Even when you dig into some of the specs you find a lot of similarities. They both look and feel pretty similar with similar button functions and placement. Although I immediately noticed that the [Zoom - / Qual] button and [Zoom + / ISO] button were inexplicably reversed. So every time I was reviewing an image and wanted to zoom in or out I was always pressing the wrong button. And if I tried to change the ISO, yep, always pressed the wrong button. I'm sure I'll get over it.

On with other specs.. They both have dual card slots and share the 39 pt AF system. But the real reason you buy the D600 is for the sensor. My first trek out with the D600 was our local zoo which was a dark and cloudy day. It was actually a trip with my wife and son, but I just couldn't resist testing out the new camera. I have to say I'm speechless at the high ISO capability. I've gone from the D50 to the D40x then D90, D7000 and now D600 and I've never been so impressed. (The jump from the D40x to the D90 was very impressive). In the past there was a scale on when you'd be willing to use your higher ISO. So like if you were shooting a common species you'd be willing to go to maybe 800 ISO, beyond that, you'd probably just be better off waiting for better light. But if it was it was a rare species then you didn't care, anything to get a shot for the archive... crank that thing up to 6400 ISO... Never post it online and make sure you view it with the door closed so nobody else will ever see it.

But this is different. I shot a few at 3200 ISO and then 6400. I even accidentally shot at Hi + 0.3 which is ISO 8063. I couldn't believe it, color and detail looked very good. The D600 slides up the ISO chart smoothly with very impressive results. Here is the full image and a couple of crops @ 100% (Forgive the shot... it was through a mesh net..)

Nikon D600 w/ 70-300VR @ 180mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec (handheld) ISO 8063

ISO 8063 @ 100%

ISO 8063 @ 100%

I'll have a chance to give the camera a real workout with a couple of months when I travel to Yosemite National Park in April. So you can be sure that I'll share my experiences here.

I think I'll just leave it at that for now. People might be thinking about switching to FX from the D7000. But now with the announcement of the D7100, there are going to be even more comparisons to come. Hopefully I'll get my hands on a D7100 for a direct comparison.

Stay tuned!

Minnesota Loon

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8, f6.3, ISO 400, 1/2000

I took a quick break while fishing in central Minnesota last week. Every time I go fishing loons seemly circle boat. On this fishing trip I had my camera next to me in the boat hoping for a close encounter with a loon. I thought this would be an easy shoot, but once again I was wrong. Every time I pointed my camera at a loon it would dive down and emerge 100 feet away. I managed to snap off a few quick frames before this once dove under the water.

Photo of the Week! White-tail Deer

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS @ ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/400

I photographed this white-tail deer recently at a local park. Derek and I were in search for some big bucks, but this opportunity presented itself.

Conversation with Christopher Dodds

 I recently had the privilege to speak to Christopher Dodds of Nature Photography Blog talking about wildlife/nature photography. Chris' passion for nature and wildlife photography is undeniable, his photos prove that. I had set out to hold a question and answer format "interview" with Chris. It turned out of be a fun and informal conversation about photography ranging from favorite subject to showing your work online.

Christopher Dodds is a full-time freelance nature photographer, nature photography workshop leader, safari leader, teacher and lecturer specializing in birds. Many of his images have been published in world-class publications including: National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer Canada, Bird Conservation (American Bird Conservancy) to name just a few.

Chris first discovered his love of the great Canadian outdoors during family and boy scout camping, and canoe and backpacking trips, after moving to Canada from England when he was eight. By the time he was fourteen, Chris was thrilled at freezing fleeting glimpses of birds and the resulting ability to study every detail of their intricate beauty. Chris' passion for photography has taken several paths through the years; photojournalism, studio portraiture, commercial and wedding photography to name just a few. He apprenticed in colour and black and white chemical darkrooms, but today embraces the computerized, digital workflow. Chris is passionate about capturing images of nature in an artistic, yet technically perfect, manner.

What is your favorite subject to photograph?

Birds in general are among Chris' favorite subject to photograph. There are so many different species, coloration, and the best part they're always around!  Of the birds, sea birds such as Gannets located  at Bonaventure Island, Canada. 

Chris enjoys photographing Gannets at or near 7 weeks of age when they're at their most beautiful, interesting  in character, and  in the process of loosing their baby feathers. Chris likes to cover the spectrum of isolating a single bird along with interactions with one and another.

What is one of your favorite locations to shoot?

Iceland. There is great diversity for a photographer around every turn.  The more you move around, the more there is to see something new. From unearthly moon like landscapes, black volcanic sand, rough rugged landscape, mountains to seabirds. 

What motivates you the most to get up early to go out and shoot?

Creating an image in the camera, and not behind a computer. Chris went on to say "this is how it was in my camera, sparking emotion in that frame." I've got many quotes from Chris in this segment, but there is one I personally like, "spend more time in field not in Photoshop." Not that Chris has anything against Photoshop, but he believes that you can learn more and get better at your craft out in the field than you can sitting behind a computer. There is always a new opportunity to shoot each time you go out. “Keep the out in the outdoors.”

Now, what every photographer wants to know. What camera and lens combo do you most enjoy using?

Chris' favorite equipment includes: Canon 1DS mark III and Canon 1D mark IV professional digital camera bodies and Canon 500mm F4 IS, 300mm F2.8 IS and 70-200mm F2.8 IS II lenses. I have bags full of other lenses and accessories, but these are my favorite, most used tools.

One of the latest ways I have connected with Chris is on 500px.com. Chris and I both like this site for various reasons. Among those reason's, Chris likes to find photographers that aren't that popular or known around the internet. 500px is a great way to display your work and have great photographers like Chris see it and comment on it. 

Here are some of Chris' upcoming workshops.

• Moose and Fall Colors of Maine

  September 26-30, 2011 - a fabulous five day workshop/safari with Christopher Dodds and co-leader, E.J. Peiker.

• Snow Geese Galore

• Snowy Owl Workshop Safari

  January 23-27, 2012 Limit 3 participants

• Songbirds of Pelee Workshop May 9-13, 2012

• Puffins Galore Photo Workshop / Safari

  Puffin and Razorbill heaven.

• Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai Alaska

  July 27th to August 3rd, 2012 (8 days / 7 nights)

Photo of the Week! Sanderling

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8, ISO 400, f5.6, 1/2500, +1/3ev

Since I haven't been out shooting much lately, I've been going through my old files to see if I had left something behind. This photo was from my trip to Pensacola Beach, FL last April. I did flag it as something I liked in Lightroom, but never got around to processing it until this last week. What I like about this photo is the inclusion of the other birds that are out of focus. Almost every other bird photo I have is a single bird in the frame. I thought I would change it up a bit with this one.

Photo of the Week! Loon Part 2!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS @ ISO 500, f/7.1, 1/2500

This is the next photo in the loon series that began last week. I like this photo because of the head and beak angel and the clean background. It also shows some great behavior from the loon. It's also noteworthy that this is one of the very few wildlife photographs that I have where you can't see the eyes.

Photo of the Day! Fishing at Gooseberry Falls..

Nikon D7000, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 @ 27mm, ISO 100, f/16, 0.2 sec

This fisherman braved the rain and cold in pursuit of the elusive trout. Fishing at a scene like this, catching fish probably isn't even that important.

Photo of the Day! American Goldfinch!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS @ ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/1600

Late post today, Derek and I just got back from photographing song birds this morning. We saw some more eastern bluebirds, field sparrows, goldfinch and some other regulars. This is my favorite from the morning.

Photo of the Day! Clark's Nutcracker!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/4 AFS + TC-17E II @ 500mm, ISO 1000, f/6.7, 1/250, handheld

This was the first time I had seen a Clark's Nutcracker. All I knew is it was a pretty and interesting bird. As it turns out the Clark's Nutcracker is well known for it's ability to cache huge amounts of pine seeds for later consumption. The Clark's Nutcracker can cache as many as 98,000 seeds per year. This image was taken in the Lake Louise area of Banff National Park in Alberta Canada.

Photo of the Day! Cedar Waxwing 2!

Nikon D90, Sigma 150-500 OS @ 500mm, ISO 320, f/6.3,1/1250

This goes along with yesterday's post. I didn't quite get the super clean background like on yesterday's post, but I still liked this image.

3 Easy Steps to Improve

If your a beginner you may wonder, "how do I go from a beginer to a competent photographer?" In short, it's all about devotion. You need to commit your time and energy to improvement. So, where to start? I'm going to break this down into the most basic terms. But it's important to have a plan, otherwise you'll end up meandering along when there was a far straighter path, if you just looked for it.

FIRST, take pictures. This is the most obvious. It's also the easiest and most fun. Photograph anything that interests you and enjoy it. You can't improve in your photography if your not using your camera. Now that the obvious is out of the way, let's look at improving those photos.

SECOND, look at photos. Look at photos online, in magazines or at a gallery. A good analogy is for poker players. They say you can't become a good poker player until you've see X number of poker hands. It's the experience that pays in the future. Expose yourself to as many quality photos as possible. You will bring that experience with you in the field.

Also, change the way your looking at photographs. Try to image yourself being there and ask yourself "Why" questions. Why did the photographer choose this view? Why is the sun angle where it is? Why did they choose this foreground subject? Why isn't there a foreground subject? Try to also decide "What." What focal length was this? What lighting was used (flash etc..) What time of day was this? What was the weather like? What kind of post processing was used? Then apply your conclusions to your own photography and confirm your thoughts.

THIRD, learn post processing. This one strikes fear in people who just want to be taking the pictures. But, if you want your quality greatly improve, good post processing is a must. I've seen good images look bad with bad post processing. I've seen the opposite true as well. I can't stress how important it is to be competent in using your post processing tools. The most intuitive learning tool I've found is Lynda.com. You pay $25 a month to learn as much as you can.

CONCLUSION, if your looking to improve your photography and you concentrate on improving these three things, you will improve your photography. If your already doing these things, and most of are, then look at each category and take each step to the next level. Now it's up to you find quality images to analyze and take on the responsiblity of learning Lightroom, Aperature and Photoshop.

Photo of the Day! Trumpeter Swan!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8, TC-14E II @ 420mm, ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/1600

At the break of dawn this trumpeter swan heads out to forage. The Swans, as well as many other species, are in the midst of migration. This means we can enjoy the resident birds as well as the passerby's through spring.

LCD Viewfinder Review!

I was recommended this product by Chris Dodds and Dave Shumway. I was trying to find the best way to track moving objects while shooting video with a DSLR. The inherent problem with shooting video on a DSLR is mirror needs to be closed for the live view to be on. This means you can't look through your viewfinder while shooting video. This introduces a lack of stability while your shooting.

So the answer is using a product like the LCDVF to make your LCD become your viewfinder. I also tested the Zacuto Z-Finder 3x and found it to be fantastic as well. The Hoodman HoodLoupe is also an option, although I have not tested it.

Each of these products magnifies your LCD and allows use like a traditional viewfinder. I have to admit I was a little confused when I first read this. I'm thinking, OK.. My LCD is already 3" and my face will be right up next to it, why would I need it any bigger? The answer is, you just do..! The LCD looks like your viewing a 42" TV. You can see down to the pixel and ensure your getting correct focus. The LCDVF has a 2.5x magnification and the Z-Finder has a 3x, so the advantage goes to the Z-Finder on that one.

The real reason you want to use this is to give stability to your handheld video. But the Z-Finder is also more than double the price and includes a large bracket just to get it to attach to your camera. The LCDVF uses a simple but genius magnetic ring around your LCD, then you just put the LCDVF up to it and "click" it locks in via magnet. The magnet holds it in solidly, but removes just as easily.

The last feature I'll mention is the diopter. The Z-Finder has a diopter that can adjust specifically to your eyes. The LCDVF does not have this feature. I do not wear glasses or contacts so this was a non issue for me.

Another use for a LCD viewfinder is for more accurate review of images in the field. This is always useful to make sure your nailing the shot.

I chose the LCDVF for the price and ease of use. I do kind of wish I had the 3x, but the 2.5x works fine. So mine looks like a 37" TV instead of a 42" =)

Photo of the Day! Juvenile being Juvenile! White-tail Deer

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS @ 500 ISO, f/5.6, 1/1600

From our white-tail deer shoot. I just thought this was too funny not to post! I usually only post my best work, and while this is maybe not my favorite shot technically. IE the shadow on his face and the twig in front of his body. But this shot gave me a smile, so I thought I'd share it with you all!

Have an Actual Website!

To have a passion like photography is a wonderful thing. It is an outlet for creativity, challenge and a source of pride with your work pays off. But we as humans are social beings. This has maybe never been as obvious as it is today with the advent of social media and social networking websites. Being on Twitter and Facebook becomes more and more important everyday. So does this mean you can disregard having a website or blog? No!


Have a Home Base
It is a necessity to have a home base where someone can find information about you. I regularly browse the internet looking for amazing photos for inspiration and enjoyment. Nothing is more frustrating than when I try to locate the photographer and I have to spend time looking for the Twitter page, Facebook page and photo gallery. They should all be in located in one place or people will simply give up and move on.

It's about the Person
Once I find a beautiful image I want to know more. Art is wonderful, but it's really about the people behind the art, it's always been that way. For as long as art as been around people have wanted to know the story behind it, the person behind it. Once we learn about that story and that person the art becomes more personal. Make sure your website has personal information that people can relate to. Include information about the photograph and tell the story. If it is only the photos, people will see them, be inspired and move on. If you give them the context of the photo, they will come back for more.


Blog, keep it current
The last thing that I look for is recent activity. If someone just has a photo gallery it's sometimes hard to tell if the photographs are from last week or last year. A lot of the time I'm looking for photographers where I can follow their work. But there is no point in following their work if there is nothing to follow. A blog can simply be the story of the person and the photography. But it keeps the followers coming back and gives context to the images.


Conclusion
Don't be intimidated by the thought of building your own website. It's not like it used to be... You can create a free blog with up to 10 additional pages for free on Blogger.com.  If you want more, my next recommendation is SquareSpace.com. Then finally if you want a lot of customization you can check out WordPress.org. The first two are very simply and can be set up in minutes. Then you can customize over time. The big thing to remember here is we want to be able to find all of your information in one place. Tell us about yourself and your photography. Show us where your Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and photo gallery is. Just make it easy to follow your work!