Sometimes Breaking The Rules Is OK

As an avid macro photographer I really try to follow the rules, recomendations, or accepted guidelines to create the best photographs possible. My macro lens is a Canon 180mm f3.5 L series lens. It is very heavy, built like a tank, and when used properly, will give you amazing colors and detail.  Generally I like to add my 1.4 extender to push the focal length to 252mm. This allows me to have frame filling compositions on small subjects without having to get nearly as close as you would have to with a short focal length macro lens. The longer focal length also does a much better job of creating the beautiful bokeh (blurred backgrounds) when there is seperation between you subject and the background.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Compass Plant Flowers

With my macro setup, it is usually mandatory that I use a tripod. Normally I am shooting early in the morning or late in the evening when the light is low and soft. The drawback is I end up shooting at very slow shutter speeds. Also at these times there is less chance of a breeze to create movement. So generally as long as your subject is stationary, you can get some really sharp detail in your images. I use a cable release for the shutter, and I also use mirror lockup to further reduce vibrations and create the sharpest shot possible. I will shoot the subject and vary the f stop setting to try and keep my subject sharp but further blur the background. 

Gray Hairstreak Butterfly

Many short focal length macro lenses (50-100mm) are light weight and give you a much better chance of getting off the tripod and getting some really good hand held macro shots. All the camera manufacturers have a variety of macro lenses in their lineup, and all the after market lens makers such as Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron do to. I am not going to give advice on them as everyone has differant needs in a macro lens. My choice was based on wanting the very best lens available that would give me great colors, bokeh, and razor sharp detail. The trade off is it is heavy, and not really good for doing hand held macro work. It is slow focusing in auto mode, but most macro lenses are. If you are doing precision macro you are generally manually focusing anyway.

 Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly on a native Thistle Flower

The other day the weather finally broke here in the mid-west with much cooler temps. and the humidity also dropped offf quite a bit. This has made the past few days very enjoyable. I had to stop by our local nature center to drop off some photos on a CD for them and I noticed the place was swarming with butterflies. They were in a feeding frenzy and the flowers were covered with several varities of them. This was just to tempting to pass up as a nature photographer. I really did not have much time, but I had my camera in the car but no tripod. Another issue was it was pretty breezy and the flowers were blowing all over the place. Normally under these conditions I would try to capture these with my 70-200 f2.8L IS lens with the extender on it. Being a fast lens and image stabilized, I have had some decent success taking butterflies with that setup.

Fiery Skipper Butterfly on Purple Cone Flower

The interesting thing was it was around 11:30am and very bright and sunny. Normally under the hot humid conditions the light would be harsh and contrasty. This day it seemed bright but acceptable to try to use my macro lens. I set my ISO to 400, my f stop to f8, and then I went to AI Servo mode and continious shooting mode. The same setup you would use for photographing sports or birds in flight. Crazy for macro work right? In the bright sunlight I was getting shutter speeds from 1/1000 to 1/2000. I was hoping the Servo tracking mode would somewhat keep up with the blowing flowers. Again my macro lens is slow in auto focus and tracking but I thought I would see if I could get some images that were acceptable. So in a short time I shot about 200 frames. Very difficult conditions to try and do serious macro work in. Knowing my equipment vey well and being able to read the light was helpful in at least getting a few acceptable images.  I came up with these four images as the best I could get after some post processing in Photoshop CS5. 

So there are general rules and acceptable guidlines for many things in photography, but you should always push the rules and occasionally break them all just to see what happens. Sometimes you mess up bad, but digital is cheap! Then sometimes you create something amazing. I was pretty happy with these under the conditions I shot them in.

So where is Scott next week.? This Friday 8-27-10, I am attending a one day Adobe Photoshop class in St. Louis. On Tuesday 08-31-10, I am headed to Las Vegas to attend the Photoshop World Convention for three days. I will try to post from there if time permits.  

Destin Florida

I took a family vacation to Destin Florida with the intent of taking a short break from writing a daily blog. 2 1/2 months later I finally started back. Taking time to write a daily blog got to be to much, so I have decided to limit it to once or twice a week depending on what is happening in my life. It would be ideal to have more leisure time to travel, photograph, and write about my adventures. But reality set in, and like most people I still need to work to support my travel and photography addicition.

I did not expect to get in a lot of nature and wildlife photography on this trip with the family, so mine time alone was limited to the very early mornings. What is interesting about Destin, and all beaches on the panhandle of Florida is that the beaches run east and west. The sunrises and sunsets are actually behind you over the bay area when you are out on the beach. If you want that classic orange ball sun rising or setting into the water you have to shoot it in the bay between the barrier beach and the mainland. You can still create some amazing scences with the early morning light, it is just not your classic shot with the sun being in the frame.   

The beaches along the Florida panhandle are really some of the most beautiful you will find. The quartz sand is bright white and very soft. The waters here are clear and warm. It is an ideal place for a family beach vacation. There are many entertainment activities, restaurants, and shopping locations in the many towns along the panhandle.

What was frustrating for me as a nature photographer was the lack of birds and other wildlife to photograph on the beach. I guess I am pretty spoiled going to south Florida so often where the birds far outnumber the people. Don't get me wrong, there were some birds around, but they were far and few between. Even in the early mornings at first light there was not much to photograph except the overall scenery. A couple mornings I even drove down to some protected national seashore beaches were no development is allowed. I did see and photograph some birds and other wildlife, but I was dissapointed with the overall numbers and results of those trips. So I just concentrated on the seascapes.

    

One evening a large thunderstorm started building right offshore out in the Gulf of Mexico. The light show put on by mother nature was spectacular! I was able to set up my tripod on an elevated deck overlooking the beach and capture the best lightning shots I have ever taken. Since it was so dark I simply had my camera on complete manual settings. I shot at ISO 100 with an apeture of f11 using a wide angle lens. Shutter was set to bulb and a electronic shutter release as used to trip the shutter. Many of the exposures were around 30 seconds that the shutter was open until I captured a big lightning strike.

 I spent five days in a friends beachfront condo and had a great time. Having your family together on a trip like this makes it very special. I know that I would never get tiredof living on the beach. I love the mountains, but those eary morning walks on the beach are the best.

On The Road

I am on the road today driving to Destin, Florida. Taking the whole family on a beach vacation. It should be an 11-12 hour drive, but when you are traveling with an 11month old baby, you work around their schedule.

It appears we may get the majority of our stay in before any oil arrives in Destin. The oil is expected to start showing up on the Florida panhandle beaches very soon. Although I will be taking a ton of family photos, I am sure I will have time to go after those postcard sunrises and sunsets, sprinkled around some nature and wildlife photography.

                                       

If I have time I will try and get some posts in from the road. 

                                    

                         Have a great weekend!!!!

Where to Shoot in Bad Weather

It is very frustrating as a photographer to make plans to go somewhere to shoot some photos with a limited window of time and then have the weather screw it up. The problem with the weather in the St. Louis area is it is not dramatic very often, For the most part it is grey and cloudy. The light is flat and horrible at best. Many people pack it in and wait for a better day. I love to try and shoot storms, clouds, and lightning, but usually it is just nasty grey. Luckily I have a few places to go no matter how bad the weather.  

 White-Barred Friar - Amauris niavius

My first choice to go when the weather is bad is the Missouri Botanical Gardens Butterfly House located in Chesterfield, Missouri. This is about a 40 mintue drive from my house. No matter what the weather is outside, it is about 90+ degrees in there and very humid. Acutally it is better on a slightly overcast day so the sunlight is not to harsh and contrasty. Plus the colors look better on a overcast day. So on a recent rainy day I had my wife drop me off and she went shopping. Usually when I go there I will spend about 3 hours inside taking photographs. A good way to sweat off a few pounds. Since I go often, I get a lot of practice and have really learned how to take some decent butterfly and flower photos.

                            

The flowers on the left are Butterfly Milkweed, and the flower on the right is a Chinese Lantern. I shoot everthing off a tripod in the butterfly house. This forces me to slow down and study the subject and figure out in my mind what I want to accomplish before I start. This also allows me to use very slow shutter speeds and gives me much more control over the depth of field. I use my Canon 180mm f3.5L marco lens and then add a 1.4 extender. This gives me 252mm of focal length. Enough to give me a very nice working distance from my subject. I also use mirror lockup to further reduce vibration in the camera and hopefully result in sharper images. Once it stopped raining, I went to the outside garden and shot this Eastern Columbine Flower.

                              

                       Eastern Columbine

                 

                                     Newborn Baby Mallard Ducklings

I was walking around looking for some flowers to shoot when I noticed this pile of newborn baby Mallard ducklings on the edge of the pond. Momma Mallard was not bothered by my presence, so I was able to get off a few frames using my macro lens and tripod setup. I sat down in the wet grass to get down to their level. A got a very wet rear end, but well worth it to get this result. Another one of my favorie places to go on a bad weather day is the St. Louis Zoo. I know I just did a post on the zoo short time ago, but again people do not think of all the possibilities the zoo offers for photographers when the weather is bad.

                                         Green Iguana

Many of the exhibits at the St. Louis Zoo are indoors. The Insecterium, Reptile House, Primate House, Puffin and Penguin Exhibit all offer good opportunities for photographs. They are not without some challenges though. Poor Lighting is the biggest problem. Using a flash is very difficult as most of the time you are shooting through glass. A trripod, cable release, and longer exposure solves many of these issues, as long as you subject is stationary.Many times if the light is either to harsh or to flat, I will convert the photo to a B&W. 

                                           Grevy's Zebra             

Some days when the light is to harsh, you have to find a subject in some nice open shade. This is great light and will really give you a nice result. The Tiger area at the zoo is a great place to view them, but not easy to photograph them. You are overhead and have to shoot down at a vey steep angle. By using a 500mm lens and a 1.4 extender, I was able to shoot from a longer distance through the train station to get at eve level to make this great portrait. 

Amur Tiger

What seperates the great photographers from the rest of the pack is being able to create outstanding images no matter what the conditions. I use to just say maybe another day, but now there are no excuses. If I plan to have a photography day and the weather is bad, I go anyway. There is always something to shoot no matter what the weather is. 

The Island of Maui

The Island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727.2 square miles. Maui is probably the most popular island in the Hawaiian chain of islands. Although I was going to spend five days here I did not get in all the sights that Maui has to offer. I had worn my wife down with all my running around and she was wanting a little R & R on the beach, but I did manage to get her out for a whale watching tour.

                     Humpback Whales Swiming Toward our Boat

The Hmpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a baleen whale. Adults range in length from (39–52 ft and weigh approximately 80,000 lbs. The Humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time.

Baby Humpback Whale Breaching

Many of the whale watching tour boats are pretty good size and can handle a lot of people per cruise. I opted for a much smaller Zodiac sized boat so I could right at water level. When a couple whales swam right up to and then just under the boat, You held your breath because they were much bigger than the boat itself.

Since I only had a wide angle zoom, I was pretty frustrated and did not get any really good photos on this trip.

                                         

         Baby Humpback Keeping Pace With Our Boat

Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 kilometres each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish.

Lahaina Harbor

Sunset from the Waterfront of Lahaina

Sunset view from Front St. Lahaina

So for the next few days I just relaxed on the beach with a lot of swimming, snorkling, and sunset photography. I will be going back to see many of the sights I missed. It is a shame it is just so far away! 

Kahalu'u Beach

When I was researching hotels to stay at while I was on the Kona side of Hawaii, I found this hotel that was built partially out over a tidal pool. This is very unique in Hawaii, and the only hotel I am aware of that was built like this. So I had to have an ocean front room so I could sit out on my balcony and watch the amazing sunsets and look down and see the colorful fish and turtles swimming directly underneath me.  I cannot remember the name of this hotel off the top of my head, but the second best feature was that is was located right next to Kahalu'u Beach Park.

                                                                                         

                                                  

At Low Tide Exploring Was Amazing

Kahaluu is one of the best snorkeling spots on the Big Island. Many of the tourist brochures and maps simply refer to this place as "Snorkel Beach". Fed by a fresh water spring, up to 10 million gallons per day. These waters are almost always calm, with colorful corals, rock formations, and 100+ species of fish. Swim with huge schools of colorful fish and green sea turtles in these protected waters; don't forget your underwater camera! The north end of the beach is where the waves break and is best for body boarding and surfing.

                     

                            Green Sea Turtle Resting In The Shallow Tidal Pool

The Green Sea Turtles that I saw while snorkling here were enormous. You are not allowed to touch them, but they would swim right up to you. It was uite an experince to swim in open water with these gentle giants.

Sadly I again had to cram in as many things as possible in a very short time, so I hopped over to the Island of Maui after my stay on Hawaii.

A Rainbow in the West Maui Mountains

After a brief tropical rain while driving to my hotel, this rainbow was pretty spectacular. The difficult part was finding a safe place to pull over to try and photograph it. Every tourist had the same idea, and there were several near wrecks from everyone rubber necking and stopping in the road. It reminded me of how people react to seeing a bear in Yellowstone National Park. I found a spot and then walked around until I found a composition with no man made objects in it and snapped a few frames.

                                      

                                                 My view from the Sheraton Hotel Ka'anapali  Beach

Ka'anapali Beach has been rated one of the top ten beaches in the world on the travel channel. I would now have to agree with that. Paradise probably sums it up best if you can only use one word. I absolutely fell in love with this place. So much so, that I actually bought a time share at the Westin. Now time shares are not a real smart investment, but with starwood Properties the trade value and high end resorts they own sold me. So I can now brag that I own a miniscule sliver of real estate here.

                                                                                         
                       

Black Sand Beaches

Approaching Storm Along The Southern Coast

After leaving Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, my next planned stop was one of Hawaii's most famous black sand beaches. The problem was there was a pretty big storm brewing up and the weather was going to turn nasty. Yes, even in paradise they have crappy weather once in a while.  

     

                                              Punalu'u Beach

Punaluʻu Beach (also called Black Sand Beach) is a beach between Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on the Big Island of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The beach has black sand made of basalt and created by lava flowing into the ocean which explodes as it reaches the ocean and cools. This volcanic activity is in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Punaluʻu is frequented by endangered Hawksbill and Green turtles, which can often be seen basking on the black sand.

After A Rain Shower

While I did not have good weather for my time at Punalu'u Beach, it was still an amazing experience to see and feel that black lava under your feet on the beach. This had been my first and only time on a black sand beach. I did see a few turtles in the bay swimming around, but none had crawled out onto the beach while we were there. No sun to bask in!   I still had a few hours of travel time before getting to my next stop, so I sadly left this amazing place to try and make it to my hotel along the Kahalu'u - Kona Coast before dark.

                                     Tiki Torch Sunset

Rolled into my next stop along the Kahalu'u-Kona Coast. I arrived just in time to catch this stunning sunset over the offshore reef.

Hammocks By Moonlight

I woke up about 5:00am to the sound of the surf over the reef from my open window. I took this 20 second exposure very early in the morning while I was wandering around looking for a good composition. This turned out to be one of my favorite photos from my Hawaii trip.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

When I left Oahu and headed to the The Big Island. One of the places I had wanted to visit the most was Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A visit to this National Park was like no other National Park I had ever experienced. This place lets you see and feel the power of nature in a very unique way. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. State of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. It displays the results of hundreds of thousands of years of volcanism, migration, and evolution.

                    The Caldera of the Kilauea Volcano

Kilauea and its caldera were traditionally considered the sacred home of the volcano goddess Pele, and Hawaiians visited the crater to offer gifts to the goddess. The park includes 505.3 square miles of land.

Over half of the park is designated the Hawaii Volcanoes Wilderness area and provides unusual hiking and camping opportunities

A seperate Caldera on the slope of Kilauea

I had never been to an active volcano before, so this was something very special for me. Active eruptive sites include the main caldera of Kīlauea and a more active but remote vent called Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The Chain of Craters Road, as the name implies, leads past several craters from historic eruptions to the coast. It used to continue to another entrance to the park near the town of Kalapana, but that portion is now covered by a lava flow.

      What Used To Be A Road At The Edge Of The Ocean

The view for miles in all directions is barren lava, but the amazing thing is seeing the plants starting to take root and grow in the lava. It will take time, but you see first hand how the Hawaiian Islands changed from molten lava rock to lush tropical forests.

Recent Lava Flow

Hiking out in the Lava fields is not recommended, but they do not try to stop you. They recommend sun screen, a hat, and plenty of water. I had none of these as I decided to hike out to try and get photos of the lava flowing out of the ground. That was one long, hot, and exhausting hike through that extremely rough ankle twisting terrain. It felt like I was on another planet at times.

        

                                  New Oceanfront Land From Fresh Lava Flows

It took me about 2 hours to get to an area where ther was some slow moving lava flowing up on top of the ground. Since I only had a wide angle zoom lens I had to get extremely close to the molten lava to create the composition of the next photograph. This was where I was really wishing I had opted for the telephoto zoom instead of the wide angle. But having ghiked that far out, and knowing it would be worse going back, I was determined to get some good shots. So I squated down as close as I possibly could and got off several frames. Molten lava is around 2300 degrees F.in liquid form. I actually burned/melted off most of the hair on my legs and the soles of my hiking boots were also starting to melt. But I got the shot I wanted!

     Molten Lava Flowing Onto The Surface Of The Ground

Here is a link to the park from theNational Park Service. 

http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm

The sights of Oahu

Hanauma (pronounced "ha-na-OO-mah", in Hawaiian) is a marine embayment formed within a volcanic cone that collasped and allowed the ocean waters into its shallow base. Located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu, Hanauma is both a Nature Preserve and a Marine Life Conservation District. If you plan a trip here get there early! This is an extremely popular place and they limit the amount of visitors to protect the environment. If it gets full, you will get turned away. Some of the best snorkling and swimming to be found in the Hawaiian Islands. 

http://www.honolulu.gov/parks/facility/hanaumabay/information.htm

                                           Hanauma Bay   

Waimānalo Beach (the town) lies along the eastern half of Waimānalo Beach (the beach), with an overall length of nearly 5.5 miles the longest stretch of sandy shoreline on Oahu. The drive along the East coast really gives you a sense of how Hawaii was years ago. There is much less development here and the scenery is amazing for mile after mile. The waters along many of these beaches are very calm due protection from offshore reefs. This allows for great swimming and snorkling in the calmer waters.

Waimanalo Beach

Oahu’s North Shore is home to the world famous Sunset Beach, Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay. Oahu’s rustic North Shore is famed for big wave surfing during the winter months but offers calm, swimming beaches in the summer and beginners can learn more about surfing by taking a class at a North Shore surf school. 

North Shore Canoe Club

I visited the North Shore on a beautiful sunny calm day in the month of February. By all apperances the surf at first seemed calm and peaceful. Then my ears picked up the sound of bigger surf and when I looked further out the waves coming over the reef were about 8 feet high on a calm day. There are beaches along the North shore that a more protected and calm, and there are some where you should not go unless you are a very strong swimmer.

         Smaller Waves Hitting Lava Rocks Along The Beach 

Big storms far out in the Pacific Ocean generate the giant surf that reaches the North Shore of Oahu in the winter. So even on a nice day, the surf can be enormous, and very dangerous.  

                    Big Waves Reaching The Beach

I waded out a few places but soon realized that the undertow and surf was far to strong for my average swimming skills. If the waves throw you into the coral it will shred you like a cheesegrader. so I was content to say on the beach and just get marvel at the power of the big surf.

  

                     Big Waves Hittng A Wall of  Lava Rocks 

The Island of Oahu has an amazing amount of attractions to visit and natural beauty to experience. I could simply not get them all in with only spending three days on this island. Being the beach person that I am, that is where I choose to spend the majority of my time. My next stop was the Big Island (Hawaii). Here is a good link for more information on the Island of Oahu.

http://www.visit-oahu.com/default.aspx

  

Waikiki Beach

When I planned my trip to Hawaii, I flew in and out of Honolulu, which is located on the Island of Oahu. Honolulu is a city of about 400,000 people, but it feels much bigger since much of it is packed along the famous Waikiki Beach. Oahu, an island occupying 597 square miles, is the second oldest island in the Hawaiian chain of visitable islands. She lies between her sister islands Kauai and Maui.

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, HI.

With its calm waters, the beaches of Waikiki offer a great place for swimming as well as your very first surf lesson.  Waikiki is known in Hawaiian as “sprouting waters”. The water is very calm and a great beach to relax on and people watch. It will get pretty crowded though with the urban population so densley packed around it. I really enjoyed the sunsets from the beachfront area though.  The sunsets  I experienced in Hawaii were pretty amazing. Pull up a beach chair and have a cooler with some relaxing adult beverages and watch the show.

                             Sunset from Waikiki Beach

The weather on Oahu is ideal, and tempreatures range between 75-88 degrees F.  With moderate humidity and constant ocean breezes, even the hottest months are very comfortable. There are many great attractions, and resturants in the Honolulu area. I knew that Hawaii was going to be expensive, but the sticker shock to my conservative (cheap) mid-western values was painful. It is very easy to bust your budget trying to see and do all the tourist things you want to do while you are there.  I only had three days to spend on Oahu, so I rushed around to see as much as I could fit in and afford. At least the sunsets were free.

 

          The Sun Sinks Slowly Into The Pacific Ocean  

I think this photograph is a good representation of the Honolulu area. Beautiful but somewhat crowded. You see a commercial air plane, cruise ships, sailboats,and swimmers and surfers in the water. Although I prefer my beaches to be less crowded, Waikiki is a very cool place to hang out.

 

                           The Honolulu Pier after Sunset

This was my favorite photograph of my numerous attempts at long exposure shots and sunsets. The sun had dipped below the horizion and left the orange after glow in the sky. I took numerous exposures to try and capture people when they were not moving much so they would retain their forms. This was my best shot of the bunch.