Project 365 day 2

Today was a bit of a struggle finding a subject..finally settled on my horse, Mickey..he looks worried.

Project 365-day 1

This is the first day of a project that has eluded me for a long time...After hearing a lecture by Parish Kohanim, I am determined to do a 365 day photography project:  shooting every day but not just shooting, trying to get something good to post. It will certainly be difficult to shoot every day and get a quality image, but I am up to the challenge and will try my best..Parish was very inspiring to listen to, he wasn't only a photographer and Canon explorer of light, but he was a philosopher in many ways..and an inspiring person.
So this image is taken with the Canon G12, of a tree reflected in a puddle after a hard rainstorm last night..used my foot to create some ripples in the water..

Yosemite

These images were taken during a Gary Hart moonbow and moonlight workshop.. the second two images were both taken during the night prior to a full moon..the middle image is a moonbow at Yosemite Falls..photographing this event was an incredible experience!  One cannot imagine the surprise in store when you walk up to Yosemite Falls and find it crammed and I mean crammed with photographers..as I crested the hill, all I could see was the red lights of all the cameras...hard time finding a spot, too..My recommendation is to get there really early to set up..I couldn't get a spot on the left of the bridge and had to set up on the bridge, but it worked out well..maybe I didn't get as much sky with stars as the people on the left but I had a great angle to shoot straight at the moonbow...it is sort of exciting to see all the people lined up everywhere. Some women with cell phones took images of the back of my lcd, which showed the moonbow in color..with the naked eye, the moonbow appears to be a silvery arc:  lovely and eerie.
The next, lower image, was taken from the Swinging Bridge area and shot in moonlight..it looks almost like daylight until you see the stars..this was a great workshop, Gary is very knowledgeable, keeps to a good schedule and knows the park well.
The upper image was taken of Tunnel View in the predawn hours.
As of May 1, I am embarking on a photographic mission to take an image a day for one year..this will be my 365 Project..if you have read this blog, I have tried this previously, but this time I mean business.
All the night images were taken with my 24-70mm Canon L lens..I cannot say enough about the clarity of this lens..it is spectacular for moonlight and night..I sold my 24mm TSE last year and don't miss it a bit.

More night photography

These are a few of the many images taken last Saturday night a few hours after sunset...these are part of my continuing effort to make good night images.  For anyone thinking about trying night photography, and I don't mean sunset..but true darkness, a couple of hours after sunset, it is important to stake out the area you want to use while it is still daylight.  I started shooting a little too late and it was difficult to find compositions in almost total darkness; also, focus is a real problem. Everything is done manually but if you can't see much even with a flashlight, it is very difficult to get a composition and get it focused correctly.  The rocks in the bottom image were my favorite
: the large rock was easy to focus on because I was able to light it with my flashlight a little and get decent focus...another important thing is timing..A bright lens is necessary if you want to get star points since you have to shoot less than 30 seconds or the movement of the earth will cause small light streaks..I used my 15mm fisheye, an f2.8 lens..it is ideal for the sky since it takes in so much image in all directions.  On the rock, the lower image, it was my 24-70mm Canon f2.8 lens: this is my favorite night lens for cities and towns.  When I was in Scotland shooting all the villages at night; it was the only lens I used.
Towns and cities are much easier than dark remote areas...this has taught me to get to my spot early, before dark, set up my camera or select a couple of areas and note in a notebook which settings to use for the best focus...setting the camera on infinity doesn't guarantee sharp images...sometimes you have to back it off a little. Also, I have noticed that the best night photographers shoot their foreground just before dark then combine it with the background after dark to preserve detail. I plan to continue my efforts to get better night images because it is so much fun but watch out walking on the shore and rocks in the dark, it can be treacherous.

Night photography

This is one of my first experiences light painting...a few friends and I went out the other night to photograph this tree that we've driven by many times..I have wanted to photograph it, but never thought of doing it at night..four of us parked near it, then we took turns lighting it in different ways...the shots didn't take as long as expected, most were under 30 seconds..also, it was surprising to see the stars in the sky since the tree is in a busy area with a lot of light behind us, but not behind the tree...You do need a strong flashlight but need to quickly move it over the tree; holding it too long in one spot will cause the whites to clip or blowout..it was  a lot of fun trying different exposures and lighting techniques. We also tried lighting it from the back but the darn flashlight was sticking out at times ruining the shot...wear dark clothes if you try this and keep moving so you don't appear in the shot...one of the people had a really bright light so he was able to light the tree from where we were shooting..manual focus was necessary..will have to try this more often and see what happens...planning to go to the coast and do stars where there is no light pollution.

Ricoh GR

This is a photograph of my dog taken with my new Ricoh GR..I love this little camera!  It is small enough to put in a pocket or pocketbook; easy to use once you master the controls..has an APS-C sensor, just like the smaller DSLR cameras..the only drawback is that it is a fixed focal length of 28mm, but the wide angle is my favorite focal length so it should be ok..it is an f2.8, extremely sharp lens..I wish it came with a battery charger, but that is extra...but it would be nice to have instead of having to hook the camera to a charger..more to come later with this camera as I do some more shooting..did I say it shoots raw, too?