Some highlights from last night's awards ceremony in London at the Natural History Museum. 1) Nora and I view the skeleton of Bruce Chatwin's (author of "In Patagonia") famed Melodon. This giant prehistoric cave-dwelling sloth is the mascot of our beloved city Puerto Natales in southern Chile. 2) A huge congratulations is due to Daniel Beltra for his winning image, "Still Life in Oil." It's sure to be an icon for the environmental impact and true price of oil. 3) Being among the world's most gifted wildlife photographers--a group of professionals who roll in the mud and stalk animals for a living--and wearing suits.
October 13, 2011 - Peak color from approx 3,500-5,000 ft. Rainy conditions today provided wonderful windows into the ridges and valleys of America's oldest mountains. Nothing can show off Appalachia's autumn color like a clearing storm.
Where do stormy clouds meet mountains, mountains meet lakes, and waters meet beach?... Alaskan wilderness. Notice the lines in this image. There is a line of movement along the edge of the darkest storm cloud. There is a similar line on the furthest reaches of the water where it meets the beach. These mirrored movements provide balance in the image and allow the viewers eye to move within the scene for awhile.
Tired of your typical images? Get down as low to the ground as possible for a new perspective. If you're on one of my tours, I'll be there to help you get up again : )
Pretty honored to speak alongside the most elite group of Wildlife Photographers in the world! Click on the image for a list of the speakers. I'm on Saturday, Oct 23rd.
Pick your vantage point purposefully. Think of your foreground. - Local buildings or landmarks. Sunsphere! (call a Knoxvillean, and they will explain).
- Try silhouettes of people (Be careful here. Slow shutter speeds means blurry people. Well, unless they're glued to a lawn chair. Likely on the 4th of July actually. God bless America!) - Reflective surfaces such as water, car hoods, glass, etc. - Be careful about wind direction (choose cross wind or up wind but NOT downwind or the smoke will be a problem) Keep it Steady!
Use a tripod and remote/mirror lock-up if you can.
Shoot Manually!
Set camera to "M" Start with:
- ISO 100 - Aperture = f/11 - Shutter Speed = Bulb (leave it open approx 4 seconds to start) Check your results and adjust accordingly.
- Look at your histogram and check for "blinkies" - Use white balance to suit local lighting if including a lit foreground element.
- Daylight white balance may work best for fireworks-only shots
- Don’t use flash unless you intend to light a subject very close to the camera.
- Manual focus set to infinity - Choose your focal length for composition – wide for strong foreground, telephoto for close up detail of the bursts.
Experiment!
If there isn’t wind, your first shots will be the best (smoke builds and detracts from later shots). If there is, position yourself upwind where the smoke will blow away from your vantage point.
If the sky still has sunset color, adjust your exposure accordingly (meter off the sky, time your shutter releases carefully).
Take tons of pictures. It's digital. Folks, here's some simple math... Digital = FREE!
Most importantly, have fun and enjoy your friends and family!
We're all aboard for a great adventure to Katmai National Park this September. It's really going to be an adventure to remember for Josh, Allan, Milton, and Teresina. Here are some images of what we'll see where we camp, where we fly, and where we encounter the Griz!
In Fitz Roy last month, I placed my camera on this colorful lichen-covered rock and set my aperture to f/22. Aperture, also referred to as f-stop, controls how much of your scene will be in focus from near to far. This setting of f/22 allows nearly everything in the landscape to come into focus. Try setting your camera up this way in the Av mode (Canon) or A mode (Nikon) and shooting landscapes while having one prominent foreground element close to the camera.
"Loved your enthusiasm and your hands-on approach when we were outside taking pictures!" ~ Cindy
"I really appreciate the way you share your extensive knowledge in a very understandable way!" ~ Claire.
Well, I suppose I'm batting a thousand on exclamation points so far. Thanks for a great class Beth, Susie, Carolyn, Cindy, K-Kin, Claire, Angie, Tammy, Denise, Katie, and Saimah.
Before the Photo Tour, we spent 15 days north of Chile's Torres del Paine across the border into Argentina. This park is know for its mountain range named Fitz Roy. The following is a fun collection of videos showing our adventurous time there. Sometimes it gets a bit windy and cold when you hike up high early in the morning. Worth it!
What goes on behind the camera of still photographer Paul Hassell?
We met the right people and found all the right places to lead a 5-day extension tour to this crown-jewel national park following next year's Patagonia Photo Tour in Torres del Paine, Chile. Stay posted for that. But don't worry; we won't throw you out there in the high elevations before sunrise. Brrrrrrrr..
Camera: Canon 5D Mk II Lenses: 16-35mm f/2.8 - 50mm f/1.4 - 70-200mm f/2.8 Backpack: Tilopa Backcountry by F-Stop Gear
We've left it all in Patagonia. The group is exhausted and full. Full of adventure, full of stories, and ready to share it all with our loved ones back home.
On our private transfer out of the park today, I had our driver get us into some great locations to shoot the iconic guanacos of Patagonia. They're kind of like llamas. We were given impeccable light and epic scenery to shoot around them.
Sometimes sunrise colors just feel like a dream. This morning was that way over Paine Grande. Quite a start to the day. Looking forward to a big day shooting Glacier Grey.
