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.

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park

Nikon D7000, 12mm, f13, ISO 500, 1/125

Since I'm on this black and white kick right now, I thought I should share this photo. Hayden Valley is a place inside the park that I have alway wanted to visit. Due to wild fires in during my first visit to YNP I wasn't able to go. Last fall, I was able to spend some time there. It didn't disappoint! Beautiful landscapes, wildlife, and geothermal area's all over. I highly recommend making a stop next time your in Yellowstone!

Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National Park, WY

Nikon D7000, 24-70mm @48mm, ISO 200, f10, 1/100, Three shot HDR

Every time I get an inch to go back out west I open up my Lightroom catalog and look through my previous trips. Each time I do this I find another photo that I really like and wonder why I past it up the first couple of times. This image is of Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park, WY.  I have many, many shots at this location, however, while processing images I look for something to make it my own, whether it's a pano, black & white or an HDR. I want something that I haven't seen before.

This is a three shot vertical HDR image, the two images were stitched together in CS5.  I was happy with the original image in color, but it was so similar to everything else I had from this location. I experimented with many different presets in Lightroom with minor tweaking. Eventually I settled on this one. 

Mt. Moran didn't make much of an appearance while I was in town, but none of the less it's a great place to put your skills to the test! By doing this, it only makes me want to go back out west that much more. 

Happy shooting!

Photo of the Week! Gooseberry State Park, MN

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm @14mm, ISO 100, 1/8, f22

Here is another image from Minnesota's north shore at Gooseberry Falls State Park. Gooseberry is a fun but challenging location to shoot. There are water falls, moving water and rock formations to photograph around every turn. The challenge is to find an area where there aren't people in your shot. But again, the challenge in photography is part of the fun!! 

Photo of the Week! Three Sisters pt.II

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm, ISO 100, f16, 1/4

Here is the "other side" of my last post of the Three Sisters. This area of northern Minnesota is simply beautiful anytime of the year. This trip was before all of the snow had fully melted and before there were leaves on the trees. I usually make my trip to the north shore in the fall during peak colors, but I'm glad I was able to make an early trip. 

Photo of the Week! Three Sister's

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm @12mm, ISO 100, f16, 1/8

My buddy James was walking around this area while I was shooting the moving water in the back ground. Once I was finished with what I was doing I saw this clump of trees leaving over the rock. It was much more difficult it find a good angle and get a shot of this scene than I had expected. Stay tuned for next weeks Photo of the Week where I did an 180 degree turn of this same area! 

Photo of the Week! Follow the Rainbow

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm @20mm, f16, ISO 100, 1/15

Here is my second photo from my trip to Minnesota's north shore. This photo is from my favorite State Park, Cascade River. This is the main falls for the park. It's extremely close to the camp ground (300 yards). The park system has built areas for visitors to sit and relax.

Photo of the Week! Gooseberry Falls State Park, MN

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm @14mm, ISO 100, F22, 1/5

I finally was able to get out and shoot last week! If has been an extremely slow 2012 photography wise thus far. So when a co-worker of mine wanted to hit up the north shore of Minnesota I couldn't resist. We packed up there car at O'dark 30 and hit the road. We started at Cascade River State Park before making our last stop here at Gooseberry State Park. Both Cascade and Gooseberry are among my favorite state parks to photograph! 

Photo of the Week! Mt. Moran

Nikon D7000, 34mm, f10, ISO 200, 3 shot pano HDR

I just can't get enough of my Yellowstone/ Grand Teton National Parks tour. I made this image as I was entering GTNP from Yellowstone early in the morning. The clouds took over the Teton Range, but the fall colors really helped me out! This is a three shot HDR and a three shot pano. Once I picked up my new iMac in November it took no time to process this image! 

Click on the image to view it large! 

Photo of the Week! Oxbow Bend, GTNP

Nikon D7000, Sigma 24-70mm @48mm, f10, 1/125, ISO 200

Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park is one of my all time favorite spots to photograph. Yes, its heavily photographed place and there is alway other photographers there, however, it is a magical place. Every time I've been there I come home with a new experience. Anything from someone next to me that doesn't know how to use their new D3 or posting a photo online and having someone comment that they were standing next to me. If you ever get the chance to photograph this place don't shy way thinking that its already been done! 

Photo of the Week! Norris Geyser Basin

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm @14, ISO 125, 1/125, f8

I decided to share another photo from the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. Yesterday, I bought a new iMac computer and have been flying through my photos. My old computer couldn't keep up with Lightroom 3 and CS5 so I had to stop processing till yesterday. 

Norris Geyser Basin is slowly turning into one of my favorite stops in Yellowstone. I have mentioned it before in past Photo of the Week post that Norris was an area that I really wanted to spend some time. In the previous post I really wanted a sunset to cast nice golden light on the geysers. I am so thankful that I waited for the right time of day to visit this magical place. 

I strongly recommend grabbing a wide angle lens and a tripod and spend sometime at Norris Geyser Basin! 

Photo of the Week! Steamboat Geyser

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm, ISO 125, f8, 1/20, 3 shot HDR

Norris Geyers Basin was a location that I wanted to visit the whole time I was in Yellowstone National Park. I was waiting for the prefect moment, and it happened on my last night in the park. All week as many of you know, it was snowy, cloudy, and cold. As I was working my way to the Norris Geyer Basin a beautiful sunset emerged from the clouds.

Nez Perce Creek pt. II

Nikon D7000, 12-24mm @22mm, ISO 200, f16
2011

One of the places I wanted to make a stop at while in Yellowstone National Park was the scene where I took my favorite image from last years trip (photo below). It's a very nondescript location right off the road along the Nez Perce Creek. I knew it was going to be difficult to replicate that magical moment from last year. This year it had snowed the night before, so I knew I would at least get a different look than before. 

I pull the original photo up on my phone and stood in the spot that I thought I took it in last year. I went back to my car to grab my camera and tripod. I set up the camera and framed my shot. Again, I wasn't thinking that the shot would turn out nearly as well as it did the previous year, but somehow it did in its own way. The colors weren't as dramatic, and the sky wasn't completely covered in clouds. I do like that its similar to the original,  the new one has snow, a different dramatic sky that tells the story of the weather on my 2011 trip. 

Maybe this spring I can get back out there and take a spring/summer photo!

 Original

Nikon D90, 12-24mm @22mm, ISO 200, f14
2010

Photo of the Week! Ansel Adams I'm Not

Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm @24mm, ISO 200, 1/6, HDR with Photomatix Pro

I recently went back through my photos from my Yellowstone/ Grand Teton trip last fall 2010 and found/processed this photo. Not sure how I missed it, but I'm sure glad I found it!!

One thing I will add is shooting at this location that Ansel Adams made famous is extremely intimidating. It's intimidating for the simple fact that most people/photographers will recognize this location as the "Ansel Adams" spot. When Chad and I were there shooting there was a handful of other photographers and I remember feeling that there is no way I can create something that hasn't already been done. With that said, I think that's why I passed it over so many times in the last year. I'm defiantly not saying that is as good as the Ansel Adams shot that's hanging in my living room, but it turned out to be one of my favorites from that trip.

Be sure to click in the photo to view it larger!

Or view it in my 500px gallery at 500px.com/derekgriggs

Photo of the Day! Split Rock Lighthouse

Nikon D90, Nikon 70-300mm VR, ISO 320, 70mm, f16, 1/400

I took this photo while camping along Minnesota's northshore a couple of years ago at Split Rock State Park. This was my first time using my then new Nikon D90. It took me awhile to get use to the new camera and its features.

Photo of the Day! Behind the Falls

Nikon D7000, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 @38mm, f/9, ISO 100, 0.4 sec with Hoya 4 stop ND

This was from this past rainy weekend at Gooseberry Falls state park in Minnesota. This is from behind one of the falls. The trip ended up being quite the adventure, even though we were only able to camp for one night. The rain and storms over the last 24 hours have been very strong. We packed up when we could and got home a few days early. I did find time for this shot which made the whole trip worth it!

Photo of the Day! Abstract Landscape

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/TC14e II, ISO 400, F11, 1/40

While shooting Wood Ducks a couple of weeks ago I noticed this reflection. I like the vertical lines and soft spring colors.

Photo of the Day! Yellowstone National Park

Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm f4, ISO 200, f16, 3 shot HDR, Photomatix, LR3

As many of you know, Chad and I went to Yellowstone National Park last fall and loved every minute of it. I recently went through my files from the trip and found this photo. I merged the photos in Photomatix and brought the HDR back into Lightroom 3 to finish the job.

Photo of the Day! Cascade River State Park

Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm f4, ISO 200, f22, 3 shot HDR w/Photomatix

After a long cold and rainy week and not much shooting I went back through some of my older folders to see if I missed something. I love doing this because I almost always come away with something new.

In this case, I found this full shot of the falls in Cascade River State Park along the north shore of Minnesota. I merged the three photos -2,0,+2 in Photomatix and did the basic color correction in Lightroom 3.

Mother's Day Photo of the Day!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 20mm f2.8, ISO 200, f4, 1/1600

This is one of our Mom's favorite photos taken in 2009 when I was doing a 100 Photos in 100 Days project. Part of the project was to make photos near my house. This was taken while I was walking my dog just a couple of blocks from home. Again this week, I have been looking close to home for subjects to photograph. I have had some good luck so far!