Selina, Downtown Columbus Ohio
You would think a windchill of 4° Fahrenheit (-16°C) would be too cold for a photo shoot, but not with some models. We booked this January shoot weeks in advance so we knew it would be cold, but we had no idea how cold until the day arrived. Here’s the story behind this image and how to work with a model when it is so cold.
Lori – email
Lori sent me some extended family group photos (I was not the photographer) and asked me to retouch them. I had to add a person to one photo and do some face swapping between some of the photos. The goal was to do it in such a way that you couldn’t tell I added a person and swapped faces.
Chamonix Needles & Lac Blanc, France. Photo © Art Wolfe.
Art Wolfe is a world class photographer. If I could pick only 5 photographers to go out and shoot with, Art would be on that list. His work is stunning. I own several of his books, some for inspiration and some for “how to” information. So I jumped at the chance to get his 30 minute video, “Ten Deadly Sins of Composition”.
Last Light on El Capitan, Yosemite National Park
In addition to all of the usual photographic challenges, winter provides some extra complications, especially in terms of metering. So I began my series of articles on winter photography. I just finished revising and updating the series. I also revised some related articles and added new ones. They are all linked below. They will help you meet the unique challenges of winter photography. So read the articles, get out there, have fun, and create some stunning images!
This series is updated every year in January. The January 2017 update is here.
Elk in the Snow, Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Metering dark toned wildlife in the snow is a major exposure challenge. It is usually best to avoid large “burned out” areas (washed out, featureless white) in a nature or landscape photograph, but with properly exposed snow, the wildlife can be so dark as to lose all texture. On other hand, metering for the wildlife can burn out the snow. So what do you do?
Kristina in the Snow
The white snow in a winter scene can and often does fool a camera meter into underexposing a portrait, so here are the steps to take to get the right exposure. I throw in a few portrait suggestions too.
Last August I was in a back alley taking pictures against this brick wall. I liked the location and decided to come back and shoot here again. In August the light was pretty even. This time I needed to make some fill flash decisions.
Venus, Jupiter, stars, and airplane lights. Fremont, California. 27 separate images stacked together. Click to see a larger version.
It is a handy thing to know how to stack multiple night sky images into one photo. It allows you to create one stacked image covering a long period of time (using multiple photos) when it is not possible to make one long exposure of the night sky. What is a stacked image? Several images taken over a period of time which are combined to create one image fro the whole time period. This tutorial will show you how to create one.
Sarah, Professional Fitness Trainer
Sarah is a professional fitness trainer (and one of my favorite clients) and we get together once or twice a year to create images. Several months ago we planned our next photo shoot and picked a date this fall.
The Big Dipper from a Jet Airplane. Click to see a larger version.
Theoretically, it is difficult if not impossible to photograph stars from a moving plane. And for most flights that is true. Star photography usually means a steady tripod (on the ground, of course), exposures that are around 15-30 seconds in length, and an ISO around 400-1600 depending on the amount of sky fog at your shooting location. That just won’t work on a plane. Plus most plane rides are just too bumpy or unsteady, not to mention engine vibrations that are transmitted through the airframe. But it can be done with just the right conditions.
Balloon Flower Closeup, iPhone 4S with Olloclip closeup lens
Fall is in the air and it isn’t too late to grab your camera phone and take some pictures in your garden. Here are some tips for creating some memorable photos. All of the images in this article were created with an iPhone 4S, which means more recent iPhones and Android phones should be capable of doing everything you see in this article (plus one simple accessory for a few of these photos). Continue reading
Planetary Kp Index Map for the U.S. and Canada. Click for a larger version.
The planetary Kp index tonight (October 7 into the early hours of October 8) is projected to be 7. That is one of the highest readings in months. If you live north of the yellow line on the map above, your odds of seeing the Northern Lights are good. Of course you need clear, dark skies. That means little or no clouds, no moon, and you need to be far away from big city lights.
Lunar Eclipse, Super Blood Moon, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Sunday evening, September 27, I was leading a photography workshop in Rocky Mountain National Park. We were in pursuit (along with half the rest of the world) of the eclipse of the “Super Blood Moon”.
The Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake by Moonlight with the Milky Way. Colorado. Click to see a larger version.
The Maroon Bells deserve their reputation as one of the best photo locations in the state of Colorado, especially in the fall. They look just as spectacular by moonlight. It is an added bonus if you get a hint of the Milky Way in the frame (left side of the image). It won’t be as sharp and defined as on a dark night without the moon, but it will be there.
Northern Lights over Lake Michigan. Click to see a larger image.
It was an amazing night for Northern Lights in Northern Michigan, and I was leading a photography workshop. What a treat for all the photographers! I specifically picked this location on Lake Michigan so we would have the lake, some trees for framing the image and a good view in the expected direction of the Northern Lights.
Light Path of the International Space Station. August 1, 2015. 10:05 – 10:09 pm EDT. Click to see a larger version.
The International Space Station (ISS) passes over Columbus Ohio. It isn’t that hard to find and it is relatively easy to photograph. In this photo the light path curves below the center of the frame from lower left to upper right (click to see a larger image). There are also airplane lights in the lower right corner of the frame. The stars are slightly streaked due to the motion of the earth during the long photograph.
The Strip, Las Vegas with Fireworks
You can point your camera at the sky in auto exposure and autofocus modes and fire away whenever you see a burst of fireworks, but for the best quality photos, it helps to know a few tricks of the trade. It’s easy when you know what to do.
Jupiter and Venus over Big Red lighthouse and Holland State Park, Michigan. May 16, 2015.
Tonight is the night for the “Star of Bethlehem” conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. They will come within 1/3 of a degree of each other in the western sky.
Wood Poppy (Celandine Poppy), West Lake Nature Preserve.
On my way home from my photography workshop in Grand Rapids/Holland, another photographer and I stopped at West Lake Nature Preserve in Portage, Michigan. It is one of my favorite nature photography locations in southwest Michigan. Something is happening there most any time of year.
Twilight, Rocky Mountain National Park. Sirius, Canis Major, Orion, Taurus, the Hyades star cluster, and the Pleiades star cluster are all visible in the fading light. Click for a larger version.
You can photograph the night sky year around, but winter brings an added bonus: SNOW! Instead of the black, silhouetted skyline you get most of the year, in winter you have the possibility of including the highly reflective snow. That is why for many photographers winter is their favorite time of year to photograph the night sky.
Comet Lovejoy cropped from a march larger image. Click to see a larger version.
If you have never photographed a comet before, this is a great chance to practice. All you need is a camera with long shutter speeds, a reasonably fast wide angle lens, and a tripod. Most any recent model DSLR will do, plus a few high end point-and-shoot (all in one) cameras.
Cougar
Most wildlife are medium to dark in tone, making them a challenge to meter properly in the bright, white tones of winter. If you trust your camera’s auto exposure modes, the odds are good you won’t get the best exposure. If you switch over to manual exposure and make the right decisions, you can get great exposures and better quality photos (more about that later).
Elk in the Snow, Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Metering dark toned wildlife in the snow is a major exposure challenge. It is usually best to avoid large “burned out” areas (washed out, featureless white) in a nature or landscape photograph, but with properly exposed snow, the wildlife can be so dark as to lose all texture. On other hand, metering for the wildlife can burn out the snow.
Kristina in the Snow
The white snow in a winter scene can and often does fool a camera meter into underexposing a portrait, so here are the steps to take to get the right exposure. I throw in a few portrait suggestions too.
Mount Hunter from a Bush Plane. Denali National Park. Alaska.
Metering for scenes with a lot of snow can be tricky since the bright snow fools the camera meter. I see a lot of winter photos with gray snow, which means the camera meter did exactly what it was designed to do and the camera owner didn’t know how to use exposure compensation. The solution is quite simple provided you know what to do.
Sunrise, Gibraltar Island. HDR Image.
Compared to the human eye, digital cameras have a very limited dynamic range. Your digital camera simply can’t capture the range of tones from light to dark that your eyes can see. That is why HDR photography has become so popular with so many photographers, and absolutely essential for some commercial photographers.
Update, November 19, 2017: A revised version of this article is here.
The Milky Way, Moraine Park, RMNP
Although there is some sky glow from the cities along Colorado’s front range, you can still get some nice photos of the Milky Way from Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo Field Trip, RMNP. (Click to see a larger image.)
You don’t have to put your camera away just because the sun sets and the stars come out. Stay outside and have fun. Put your camera on a tripod (if it isn’t already), set your shutter on B (for bulb) and take long exposures of the night sky. Be sure to include some of the landscape.
Sarah
Sarah is a professional fitness trainer and we have worked together before. We had another photo shoot Saturday morning and this is the first photo I optimized from the shoot.
Moon Over Balanced Rock, Arches National Park
In low light conditions there are colors your eyes can’t see, but your camera can capture them if you know what you are doing. That is one of the reasons I take my photography workshops and classes out on field trips at night.