Be there

“F8 and be there” is the kind of photographer I am. That’s particularly true when we had a family friend visiting recently. Along a portion of Koko Head is a section of ledges. With light swells it makes a nice place to walk, sunbathe and swim.
After walking a short distance from a place called China Walls, a section of ledges were occupied by a group of sunbathers and fisherman. Occasionally, a swell rolled past us until it hit the ledges sending up a white fan of spray behind the group (as we faced them). After trying to capture it with my wide angle lens, I changed to my zoom.
Naturally, after changing lens, I had to wait, and wait, and wait some more!! Finally I got a swell that hit the ledge at the right angle to cause the splash.

Surf spraying behind bathers at Koko Kai Ledges

Wild Life

Back in the spring after Leo Laporte’s TWIT LIVE show. Leo continued the video feed with Scott Bourne. Scott Bourne of This Week In Photography showed him many of the wild life photos from Scott’s royalty free photo site Avian Stock.com. As a matter of fact Scott recently posted on TWIP about a trip he’s taking to Alaska to photograph rare, native Coastal Brown Bears.

For those of us who can’t travel to exotic locations we have to make do with wildlife close to home

For instance this photo outside the Zippy’s Restaurant at the Koko Marina.

Birds eating at Koko Marina

Cropping is your Friend

Among the advantages of digital photography is the control you have over the final product.  I refer to the digital darkroom. The computer, software and printer you use to process your photos. The best place to get it “right” is the moment you click the shutter release.  When that doesn’t happen digital technology comes in handy.
As an amateur photographer Film was a delayed satisfaction technology. I couldn’t be sure of what I had until the pictures came back from the lab. Plus the picture was out of my control once I turned the film into the lab. Not too mention I had to get them all printed to know what I had.
A digital darkroom eliminates that. You can quickly see what you got “right”. What you didn’t and what you can improve. One of those improvements you can make is cropping. I’ve been a Lightroom fan since 1.0 Beta. A feature of Lightroom is the ability to create virtual copies of a photo that exist only in Lightroom. This allows you to manipulate a photo in multiple ways without affecting the original photo. COOL!

Here’s how I used cropping  to explore an image and see it in different ways.

The first photo is from the 4th of July Fireworks show over Maunalua Bay this year. This is the original crop out of the camera.  I like it because it gives you a sense of depth with the red color reflecting off the water. Plus there is the house lights along the base of Koko Head.

Fourth of July Fireworks at Maunalua Bay,Oahu

In Lightroom I created additional versions and cropped tighter each time. The second one pulls you into the photo while still maintaining a sense of depth.

Second Crop

The Third and Fourth versions completely divorces it from any visual references.

Third Crop

During each of these crops I maintained the original aspect ratio.

Fourth Crop

In this final photo I unlocked the crop and adjusted it to taste.

Fifth Crop

Which is “best”? If you care to, vote for your favorite by leaving a comment.

Balancing Act

Taking a picture is a matter of finding the right balance of elements. The right balance of light/dark, highlight/shadow, balancing complimentary colors. The composition of the picture is a matter of balance. Finding the most important part and placing it in the most effective place within the picture. It’s an AHA! moment when you get them all right.

When I took up photography, beyond point and shoot, in the days of film. The photography books I read provided advice for balancing. Using the right film speed, using neutral density and/or color filters, and bracketing. While I never developed my own film. I’m sure that required a balance of chemicals, paper and time.

Digital cameras make balancing “easier”. With HDR “High Dynamic Range”, bracketing an image with multiple exposures and then blending them together on a computer creates a better balanced image.
My Sony a700 comes with a feature called DRO (D-Range Optimizer) which tries to do the same thing within the camera. It won’t be long before camera sensors will be capturing in image without the need for bracketing. They will reproduce how our eyes “see”. “WYSIWYG” will come to photography.

At that point we’ll start using all those filter to create images we don’t normally see!

Hang Glider flying above Makapuu Beach

Photo Retouching

Leafing through the July Issue of Shutterbug Magazine I found an advertisement for a software program that does “portrait enhancement”. The ad has a face with a before and after comparison. The before shows the face with regular skin tone and small zits and imperfections. The after shows a mannequin. No imperfections and a skin tone that reminds me of CSI face reconstructions.

Juxtapose this ad with an ad a few pages before that for fine art paper. It’s a Black and White portrait of a man holding a chicken. If the photographer did any retouching it wasn’t on his face. This is a real guy reflecting how he’s weathered real life.

This is not to knock the software. The before/after is a way to show how effective the software is. It’s just an observation on the idea that less is more. Not all imperfections are distractions. Subtlety is the enhancement.

Where is the Launch pad for paragliders on Makapu

Saw this as a query on my stats page. The answer is there’s more than one. The limiter is how the wind is blowing. Here’s a fuzzy picture of a PG launching from tomato juice on Fathers day. It’s just above Sea Life Park. Also Makapu’u is spelled with two U’s and a glottal stop.

If you want to see more launches just click over to the paraglider galleries at my smugmug site.

And your little dog Tomo Too!

One of the enjoyable activities is escorting visiting friends around Oahu. Recently, a family friend visited. We took her to Hawaii’s Plantation Village.

It’s located in Waipahu near the old sugar mill. For about 150 years sugar and pineapple cultivation were the cash crops of Hawaii. As they grew the need for workers grew. Workers were recruited from many different countries. To house them the plantations built wooden frame houses and barracks.

The village buildings reflect the different ethnic groups that came to Hawaii seeking a better life. There are still many people in Hawaii who grew up in the plantations. They work to preserve the history of that time.

One of those people was Charlie with his Pomeranian Tomo. He gave an enjoyable commentary on the different aspects of plantation life. Ask for him the next time you go.

Mahalo Charlie

Trash the Dress Wedding Photography

I guess this is another way to add value!? Saw this on Boston Globe.

Here Comes the Slob

Noise Part Deux

Continuing from the last post. My next opportunity to work in lowlight was the Lantern Floating Ceremony on Memorial Day. If you’re ever on Oahu during the Memorial Day weekend Ala Moana Beach in the evening is a great place to be.

At last years event I stuck to my KM 17-35 F2.8-4 Lens and 1600 ISO on my 7D and hand held. Here’s an example. Other than importing into Lightroom and exporting a JPEG version I made no adjustments.

I really had to work the failing light from the setting sun. This was 1/20sec f/2.8.

This year I used a tripod as a monopod and instead of light from the setting sun I used light from the stage to help my exposures. This photo is 1/100sec at f4.5 and 3200 ISO

The only adjustment was to the white balance.

Here’s the link for my slideshow of images of the Lantern Floating Ceremony

Noise

Since I got the Sony A700 DSLR about three weeks ago I’ve had a couple of opportunities to use it in low light. A couple of University of Hawaii night baseball games and the Floating Lantern ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park.

The baseball game is difficult because I want to use a fast shutter speed to catch the action and my best lens is the Tokina AT-X 80-400mm 4.5 -5.6. During a day game I get good shots. At night it’s harder because the quality of the stadium lighting falls off the further away the action is. For instance, action I capture along the baseline I’m sitting near is okay. Moving out to second base or beyond is less good (to put it kindly).
Here’s an image 1/800sec at f5.0. Since the baseball game were the first opportunity to use it I ran the ISO up to 6400. Beyond the default settings applied at import into Lightroom no other processing has been applied. With adequate stadium lighting this is not bad.

Compare it to a similar picture taken with my Maxxum 7D at ISO 3200 and 1/250 sec f5.6 such as this one from the year before.