http://www.beginnerbeans.com/2013/01/point-and-shoot-photography-tips-for.html
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Point and shoot camera photo tips!
Here's an interesting article from Beginner Beans.com on how to take better photos with a point and shoot camera (or your phone)!
http://www.beginnerbeans.com/2013/01/point-and-shoot-photography-tips-for.html
http://www.beginnerbeans.com/2013/01/point-and-shoot-photography-tips-for.html
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Phoenix to Baja to Yosemite and Back! Part 2
Here's part two of our nearly 1730 mile road trip from Phoenix to Baja to Yosemite and back.
After driving from Baja we took 1-5 north though LA and then joined the 99 highway just north of Bakersfield. Not a real spectacular drive although I must say I've never seen so many grapes growing in one area in my life. Turns out that this part of the state is the largest raisin producer in the country. We even passed a huge "Sun-Maid next stop" billboard, brunette in the bonnet and all. Here's a time lapse of LA to Yosemite (I accidentally stopped it in Bakersfield and cut out a large segment but it was boring anyway).
After nearly being involved in an accident (and subsequently chasing a hit and run driver and phoning 911) we made our way through Fresno and into timber country. The landscape changes just that quick. One minute you're in bland fields of rolling nothing and the next thing you know you're climbing through pine trees, catching glimpses of views (which will soon be dwarfed by majestic Yosemite Park).
The plan was to arrive at Glacier Point, an overlook where the views are described by YosemiteHikes.com as "unsurpassed anywhere in California - a state, it should be noted, that encompasses both Big Sur and the Playboy mansion." Sounds good! We ended up getting some really cool shots of Half Dome and the rest of the Valley. The valley itself is strait down 3214 feet below. When I say strait down, I mean like strait down. Dozens of people have fallen off for one reason or another and not wanting to become a statistic, we stayed within the small fences and signs.
After watching the sun vanish and the temperature drop just as quickly, we got back in the car and headed down into the valley below. About an hour later (now pitch black) we arrived at Curry Village where we had reserved a "tent" for a few days. After eating at the only open restaurant at the village, it was time to check in, find the parking lot and then stumble around with heavy bags in loose gravel to find our tent. We were tent 252 out of like 400, none of which appear to be in any logical order. On top of that it was like 10:30 by this time and most of the village was asleep. The adventure had begun!
This was one of the first photos I took from the valley after unpacking and putting the kids to bed. Not only is it completely silent, like pin drop quiet, but you could see stars like I've never see them before. It was as though the stars at home are on a dimmer set to half power and these are on full power. It was super cool.
In the morning we got up and hiked the very popular Mist Trail to Vernal Falls. Being July we figured it would be packed with hikers and surprisingly it wasn't at all. Until the decent. Apparently if you hit the trail early (8am) you can avoid some of the crowds.
Vernal falls was as majestic as we had hoped. The hike up was a bit taxing but once you reach the base of the waterfall it really gets tough. Not sketchy tough, but hard like climbing really steep stairs - like thousands of them. We found out later that this leg of the hike is categorized as "very strenuous" although we saw people of all shapes and sizes attempting it including one ambitious couple who were each backpacking a kid on their backs. Crazy people.
We also stopped by to see the Ahwahnee Hotel which is the model for several of Disney's properties near Disneyland and California Adventure. It didn't disappoint and kind of reminded me of the hotel from the movie The Shining. Rates start at $500 a night.
And that pretty much concluded our Yosemite trip. On the way out I realized one of the most famous views was located on top of the valley (which we missed coming in because it was so dark) so I pulled off and shot this photo, which ended up being the last of the trip.
After driving all day we arrived in San Diego at the Hyatt Mission Bay and jumped into the jacuzzi. I shot a few photos walking around th hotel that night which follow. It was quite the trip and I high recommend taking a drive up to Yosemite if you have a chance!
Hyatt Mission Bay:
After driving from Baja we took 1-5 north though LA and then joined the 99 highway just north of Bakersfield. Not a real spectacular drive although I must say I've never seen so many grapes growing in one area in my life. Turns out that this part of the state is the largest raisin producer in the country. We even passed a huge "Sun-Maid next stop" billboard, brunette in the bonnet and all. Here's a time lapse of LA to Yosemite (I accidentally stopped it in Bakersfield and cut out a large segment but it was boring anyway).
After nearly being involved in an accident (and subsequently chasing a hit and run driver and phoning 911) we made our way through Fresno and into timber country. The landscape changes just that quick. One minute you're in bland fields of rolling nothing and the next thing you know you're climbing through pine trees, catching glimpses of views (which will soon be dwarfed by majestic Yosemite Park).
The plan was to arrive at Glacier Point, an overlook where the views are described by YosemiteHikes.com as "unsurpassed anywhere in California - a state, it should be noted, that encompasses both Big Sur and the Playboy mansion." Sounds good! We ended up getting some really cool shots of Half Dome and the rest of the Valley. The valley itself is strait down 3214 feet below. When I say strait down, I mean like strait down. Dozens of people have fallen off for one reason or another and not wanting to become a statistic, we stayed within the small fences and signs.
 |
| Half Dome from Glacier Point |
 |
| Half Dome |
After watching the sun vanish and the temperature drop just as quickly, we got back in the car and headed down into the valley below. About an hour later (now pitch black) we arrived at Curry Village where we had reserved a "tent" for a few days. After eating at the only open restaurant at the village, it was time to check in, find the parking lot and then stumble around with heavy bags in loose gravel to find our tent. We were tent 252 out of like 400, none of which appear to be in any logical order. On top of that it was like 10:30 by this time and most of the village was asleep. The adventure had begun!
 |
| Curry Village Check In |
 |
| "tent" at Curry Village |
"Don't feed the animals" signs are everywhere ($5000 fine) and no food is allowed in the tents. "Squirrel Village" would be a more appropriate name for this place because they were all over. All food must be put into containers and then placed in heavy metal bear lockers outside the tents. Every trash can in the village is designated for a specific type of trash and opens a special way so that animals can't access them.
Tents and community bathrooms don't normally appeal to me. Roughing it isn't on my list of fun things to do. I like cell phone service. However the tent was perfect, bathrooms were clean and uncrowded and looking back this is the only way to do it as you really get a feel for the nature aspect of the park which I don't think you'd get if you stayed in a hotel.
This was one of the first photos I took from the valley after unpacking and putting the kids to bed. Not only is it completely silent, like pin drop quiet, but you could see stars like I've never see them before. It was as though the stars at home are on a dimmer set to half power and these are on full power. It was super cool.
 |
| Unbelievable view of stars |
 |
| Vernal Falls |
Vernal falls was as majestic as we had hoped. The hike up was a bit taxing but once you reach the base of the waterfall it really gets tough. Not sketchy tough, but hard like climbing really steep stairs - like thousands of them. We found out later that this leg of the hike is categorized as "very strenuous" although we saw people of all shapes and sizes attempting it including one ambitious couple who were each backpacking a kid on their backs. Crazy people.
Although we never spotted a bear we saw plenty of deer. They're all over in different parts of the park and I quit counting at one point. Several times we saw them right up close (like a few feet away).
After a day of hiking and renting rafts to paddle down the Merced River it was time for bed and on to the next day's hike - Yosemite Falls.
 |
| Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls |
The Yosemite falls hike wasn't really a hike but more like a trail which leads to the base of Lower Yosemite falls. Which was fine with me. I was sore from the previous day's hike. Had we had more time we would have done another longer hike. We decided to check out Yosemite Village which is the center of the park - small grocery stores, deli's, museums, cabin rentals. We stopped by the Ansel Adams gallery for a minute and it looked exactly as I had expected. The kid working at the gallery told me that AA was a pretty cool guy. Quirky and personable.
We also stopped by to see the Ahwahnee Hotel which is the model for several of Disney's properties near Disneyland and California Adventure. It didn't disappoint and kind of reminded me of the hotel from the movie The Shining. Rates start at $500 a night.
And that pretty much concluded our Yosemite trip. On the way out I realized one of the most famous views was located on top of the valley (which we missed coming in because it was so dark) so I pulled off and shot this photo, which ended up being the last of the trip.
-sm.jpg) |
| Yosemite Valley |
After driving all day we arrived in San Diego at the Hyatt Mission Bay and jumped into the jacuzzi. I shot a few photos walking around th hotel that night which follow. It was quite the trip and I high recommend taking a drive up to Yosemite if you have a chance!
Hyatt Mission Bay:
 |
| Hyatt Mission Bay |
 |
| Red Marlin Restaurant at Hyatt Mission Bay |
 |
| Mission Bay |
 |
| View from Hyatt to San Diego |
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Food Phototography Tips!
I thought I'd share a quick post about food photography. It seems like nowadays everyone is taking photos of food - from the recipes they made off of Pinterest to the lunch they had at the local food truck. As a former chef, I love it. Best part is anyone can do it! You don't have to have an expensive camera to pull off some great shots. Here are a few tips to get you started.
#1 Use fresh ingredients. Wilted garnishes look horrible. Sometimes the local farmer's market isn't the best place to go for super fresh. Lots of times the stuff at the supermarket is as good as it gets as far as fresh. Here are some cool heirloom tomatoes I found today.
#2 Lighting, lighting, and lighting! A lot of pro's shoot back lit photos - meaning the light source is behind the food. I love this approach. In addition to direction of light, type of light is crucial. Try to use natural light if you can. Place your subject by a window or an open doorway to catch that sunlight coming through.
#3 Keep your props/plates. silverware, etc. clean. A spot on a fork or a smudge on a plate can ruin a photo of food. Clean your shot before you take it!
#4 Use real, edible food. I can't stand photos of food that look fake - because it is. Use real, fresh food. It's beautiful and you can eat it when you're done.
#5 You don't have to shoot the finished product. Raw ingredients like marbled steak or fresh fish are fun to shoot.
#6 Shoot your breakfast/lunch/dinner. Make someting cool for dinner? Take 2 minutes to shoot it. If you don't have natural light because it's dark out, improvise. I took a quick photo of this pizza tonight by using the light over my cutting board. Not perfect but it doesn't need to be! (ps the pizza was really good)
#1 Use fresh ingredients. Wilted garnishes look horrible. Sometimes the local farmer's market isn't the best place to go for super fresh. Lots of times the stuff at the supermarket is as good as it gets as far as fresh. Here are some cool heirloom tomatoes I found today.
#2 Lighting, lighting, and lighting! A lot of pro's shoot back lit photos - meaning the light source is behind the food. I love this approach. In addition to direction of light, type of light is crucial. Try to use natural light if you can. Place your subject by a window or an open doorway to catch that sunlight coming through.
#3 Keep your props/plates. silverware, etc. clean. A spot on a fork or a smudge on a plate can ruin a photo of food. Clean your shot before you take it!
#4 Use real, edible food. I can't stand photos of food that look fake - because it is. Use real, fresh food. It's beautiful and you can eat it when you're done.
#6 Shoot your breakfast/lunch/dinner. Make someting cool for dinner? Take 2 minutes to shoot it. If you don't have natural light because it's dark out, improvise. I took a quick photo of this pizza tonight by using the light over my cutting board. Not perfect but it doesn't need to be! (ps the pizza was really good)
#7 Have fun with it! Post your dinner on Facebook. Everyone likes food, so why not?
Monday, July 15, 2013
Phoenix to Baja to Yosemite and Back! Part 1
Well our Phoenix to Baja to Yosemite to Phoenix road trip has come and gone and it was quite the treck. After nearly 1730 miles, countless gas station stops, a few near miss accidents and lots of funny inside jokes that only our family would find funny, we finally made it back home. Here's part one of our trip.
We started the trip by driving to Baja, California to a small community called La Mision. La Mision is about an hour south of San Diego and is home to beautiful beaches and fresh local seafood. Average temperature was about 65 degrees, so it was quite the departure from our hot Phoenix summers.
Baja is known for surfing and seafood and we took full advantage of both. The coastal highway from La Mision takes you directly to the port city of Ensenada where you can find shops and tourists and restaurants and lots of boats. If you're in the know, you'll head to the local fish market where you can find just about anything seafood.
Ensenada is home to the fish taco and they don't disappoint. Always the highlight of our visit!
We had a great time in Baja and look forward to returning again someday. For now, adios amigos and see you next time!
...Part 2 Yosemite coming soon!
We started the trip by driving to Baja, California to a small community called La Mision. La Mision is about an hour south of San Diego and is home to beautiful beaches and fresh local seafood. Average temperature was about 65 degrees, so it was quite the departure from our hot Phoenix summers.
 |
| Baja, California, Mexico |
 |
| Ensenada Fish Market |
 |
| Fresh Calamari |
 |
| dinner |
 |
| Ensenada Fish Market |
 |
| My sous chef buying fish |
Ensenada is home to the fish taco and they don't disappoint. Always the highlight of our visit!
 |
| Fish Tacos, Ensenada Fish Market |
After fish tacos it was back to the beach for some 4th of July fireworks. Or at least some steel wool sparks and a slow shutter.
 |
| steel wool sparks |
After several days of 65 degree weather and playing in the ocean it was time to charge the camera batteries and head out for leg two of the trip - Yosemite National Park.
 |
| boogie boarding in Baja! |
 |
| Baja coast - long shutter |
 |
| long walks on the beach are mandatory in Baja! |
We had a great time in Baja and look forward to returning again someday. For now, adios amigos and see you next time!
...Part 2 Yosemite coming soon!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Much faster Wi-Fi coming soon (time machines to follow)
I read an article today (online, not in a newspaper) on new Wi-Fi technology. It's pretty amazing to me how quickly technology has progressed.
Remember when you had to plug in your home phone line (and no cell phone) to get online, listen to a screeching connection noise and then watch images slowly appear? Photos took forever to download or email and forget about video. Seems like a long time ago, right? Well it really wasn't all that long ago and technology has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time since then.
And remember way back when 32 megabytes was a lot of disk space? A few short years later and you can multiply that by 1000. 32 gigabyte storage cards are in cameras now all over - and those aren't considered huge by any standards. I'm using 128 gigabyte cards, two of them no less, in my camera.
My first computer's entire hard drive was 32 megabytes. That's smaller than EACH photo I take now.
On Wednesday an even faster Wi-Fi was announced, called "802.11ac" which offers speeds up to 1.3 Gigabytes per second. That's 1300 megabytes per second for those of you without a calculator. That's fast enough to stream an entire HD movie in under 4 minutes.
And things will just get faster. And bigger. And more accessible.
Take for example Google Glass. They're glasses that have a tiny computer monitor the user can see. They can provide information, record, and stream content. At what point will data memory be so large (and inexpensive) and Wi-Fi speeds be so fast that you can virtually record your entire day? Week? Year? Life?
At what point will insurance companies require police, doctors, firemen, teachers to wear these to record everything that happens? Court testimony? Gone. You'll just replay the video. Memories? Memories will be a thing of the past too. You'll be able to watch ALL of last Christmas. And going even further, at what point will that video be able to be processed into a 3D holographic image? Forget watching last Christmas, you'll be able to be in last Christmas. Sounds like a time machine!
And if you think this is decades away, think again.
Just look at how far cell phones have come in a short time. I don't even think they're called cell phones anymore? And everyone has one. What did you do without it? I sure love mine!
And take for example pro cameras - my Nikon D4 can freeze action at 1/8000th of a second. I can shoot at ISO speeds of over 200,000. When I tell film guys this they freak out. For anyone who remembers film, you bought film in "speeds" of 100, 200, and 400 (if it was really dark). 200 iso. I'm shooting 200,000. Which means I'm shooting in near complete darkness (no flash). And in no time I'll have a camera that will have the ability to shoot in the dark and super fast. On 128 terabyte cards.
So what's next?
Remember when you had to plug in your home phone line (and no cell phone) to get online, listen to a screeching connection noise and then watch images slowly appear? Photos took forever to download or email and forget about video. Seems like a long time ago, right? Well it really wasn't all that long ago and technology has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time since then.
 |
| The new "ac" Netgear router. |
And remember way back when 32 megabytes was a lot of disk space? A few short years later and you can multiply that by 1000. 32 gigabyte storage cards are in cameras now all over - and those aren't considered huge by any standards. I'm using 128 gigabyte cards, two of them no less, in my camera.
My first computer's entire hard drive was 32 megabytes. That's smaller than EACH photo I take now.
On Wednesday an even faster Wi-Fi was announced, called "802.11ac" which offers speeds up to 1.3 Gigabytes per second. That's 1300 megabytes per second for those of you without a calculator. That's fast enough to stream an entire HD movie in under 4 minutes.
And things will just get faster. And bigger. And more accessible.
 |
| Google Glass |
Take for example Google Glass. They're glasses that have a tiny computer monitor the user can see. They can provide information, record, and stream content. At what point will data memory be so large (and inexpensive) and Wi-Fi speeds be so fast that you can virtually record your entire day? Week? Year? Life?
At what point will insurance companies require police, doctors, firemen, teachers to wear these to record everything that happens? Court testimony? Gone. You'll just replay the video. Memories? Memories will be a thing of the past too. You'll be able to watch ALL of last Christmas. And going even further, at what point will that video be able to be processed into a 3D holographic image? Forget watching last Christmas, you'll be able to be in last Christmas. Sounds like a time machine!
And if you think this is decades away, think again.
Just look at how far cell phones have come in a short time. I don't even think they're called cell phones anymore? And everyone has one. What did you do without it? I sure love mine!
And take for example pro cameras - my Nikon D4 can freeze action at 1/8000th of a second. I can shoot at ISO speeds of over 200,000. When I tell film guys this they freak out. For anyone who remembers film, you bought film in "speeds" of 100, 200, and 400 (if it was really dark). 200 iso. I'm shooting 200,000. Which means I'm shooting in near complete darkness (no flash). And in no time I'll have a camera that will have the ability to shoot in the dark and super fast. On 128 terabyte cards.
So what's next?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Payson, AZ & Rim Country
When people think of Arizona they think hot, cactus, dry, brown, palm trees, & snakes. While this is true, there's also another side that's often forgotten even by us city slickers down here in Phoenix. The state is actually home to very diverse geography including pine trees, waterfalls, rain forest type atmospheres and fern carpeted forests. And you don't have to travel far from Phoenix to find this.
Just a simple 1.5 hour drive northeast of Phoenix lies one of the most serene areas of the southwest. The Tonto National Forest is 3 million acres of rugged and spectacularly beautiful country, ranging from cactus desert to pine forested mountains under the Mogollon Rim. The range in altitude varies from 1300 to nearly 8000 feet and offers recreational activities throughout the year.
The town of Payson lies in the heart of this "rim country" and is where we decided to take a day hike this past weekend. Here are a few rim country photos:
It was a very overcast day which was great for hiking but not so great for photo lighting.
For the next two photos I added a neutral density filter to my lens (kinda like sunglasses) to slow the shutter speed so I'd achieve the cool flowing water effect. W/o the filter I wouldn't have been able to shoot that slow and the photo would have been way over exposed.
The ranger told us that someone had just spotted a bear and it's cub the day before while hiking in the area. The ranger himself had
We decided that we need to visit this area more. I think we'll go up for a few days next time.
Just a simple 1.5 hour drive northeast of Phoenix lies one of the most serene areas of the southwest. The Tonto National Forest is 3 million acres of rugged and spectacularly beautiful country, ranging from cactus desert to pine forested mountains under the Mogollon Rim. The range in altitude varies from 1300 to nearly 8000 feet and offers recreational activities throughout the year.
The town of Payson lies in the heart of this "rim country" and is where we decided to take a day hike this past weekend. Here are a few rim country photos:
 |
| Payson, AZ |
 |
| Swimming hole in Payson |
 |
| Hiking! |
It was a very overcast day which was great for hiking but not so great for photo lighting.
For the next two photos I added a neutral density filter to my lens (kinda like sunglasses) to slow the shutter speed so I'd achieve the cool flowing water effect. W/o the filter I wouldn't have been able to shoot that slow and the photo would have been way over exposed.
 |
| One of several small waterfalls along the trail |
 |
| About to feel 55 degree water |
 |
| Water Wheel (slow shutter) |
 |
| Splash! (super fast shutter speed) |
 |
| Ranger Station overlooking Mogollon Rim |
 |
| View from the Mogollon Rim |
 |
| Freezing cold 59 degrees! |
We decided that we need to visit this area more. I think we'll go up for a few days next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)