TWIP After the storm

This week in pictures is after the storm.  We had a rather large storm come through the area producing many tornados and winds that were crazy.  Our area of town was spared some of the worst as the storm weakened slighted as it went through, but quickly intensified again as it went through town.  After the storm had passed, it was perfect timing for the sun to pop from under the clouds and highlight the already very cool looking mammatus clouds.  Here are a couple of the quick shots I was able to get.  The area I was in was filling up quickly with water as it is a collection lake for runoff.  The water rose probably 6 inches from the time we go to the spot until we left.  I did collect one tick as well, which was surprising as I was there less than 15 minutes and the grass was cut very low.  Guess predictions were right that ticks are going to be very bad this year.

Wide Angles

So, I have been neglecting my blog for the past couple of months.  It hasn't been on purpose, just super busy.  I am going to try to start posting every Friday something new or old that I have shot in the missing month.

So, today, I am going to tell you about the amazing little lens with a huge front element called the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens.  I primarily wanted this lens to shoot some landscapes, HDR, and Night photography.  Landscapes and HDR have been some of the most common shots for this lens over the course of the last couple months and I look forward to giving it all its due when it comes to night photography once the mosquitoes die off for the fall.  Always better shooting when you don't have to worry about those pesky little things.  Only problem is the Milky Way is best viewed from our area June through September.  So, we will have to see what the fall and winter have in store.

This lens is really wide and really sharp.  I have caught myself a couple of times having the tripod legs in the photo, that is how wide this lens it.  It does however produce some stunningly wide shots and handles sun flare and chromatic aberrations very well.  It is definitely a favorite in my bag and goes with me everywhere.

Here is a sunset shot late in August.

Calming Reflections

Noticing that the clouds were starting to break, I thought I might have an opportunity to catch an amazing sunset.  The wind was calm and the situation wasn't right for filter painting.  I decided to pull out the trusty Rokinon 14mm for this.  The reflections from the sky turned out to be amazing.  There were some fishermen nearby so I wasn't able to get down close to the water like I had planned, but I really liked the spot I picked out.  I used luminosity masks to bring out the colors in this file.  I have really enjoyed learning how to use luminosity masks and think they are an amazing tool to use for landscape photography.

Fisheye Sunset

I have always been a huge fan of the fisheye lens and since my wife purchased it for a birthday present last year, I have had nothing but fun.  It took a little while to figure out focusing since it is a pure manual lens, but once I mastered that it has been a true gem in the camera bag.  Being down a tripod, I grabbed a piece of driftwood and tipped the camera up while setting the base on the ground to get the largest view of the sky I could.  It was a very colorful and dramatic sunset this evening.  Enjoy!

Filter Painting

It has been a little while since I had the time to sit down and actually gather my thoughts long enough to write something on my blog.  It is nice to be able to put some thoughts down on paper (or computer if you will).  Something I have been wanting to do for the past couple of months is write a post about something I really enjoy doing.  I have stated in the past that I have always enjoyed photographing sunsets.  Sitting there watching the sun leave the horizon puts thoughts at ease if only for a moment.  Listening to nature, the rustling of leaves, the wind whistling through branches of the leafless trees, birds chirping, provides a calming effect.

One way I make the experience more enjoyable is a technique of using filters to increase the exposure time of your shot.  This way you capture all of the movements associated with the setting sun and clouds as they pass.  Having said that, I usually only come back with a handful of images due to the length of time it takes to capture the photo, but the quiet of sitting and listening is worth it.  I don't know how many of you are old enough or have caught reruns of a show on PBS I use to watch called "The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross".  When I was growing up I use to watch it just before I took a nap and being out during a sunset reminds me of that show.  So quite and peaceful.  Yet, when the day is done you have something beautiful.  This is why I call my long exposure sunsets, "Filter Painting".

Once I am home and have viewed what I captured that day, I then begin the fun part of the picture taking experience, Post Processing.  Most people do not like this portion of the picture taking experience, but I really enjoy it.  In fact, I see many photographers skip this portion all together.  I shoot all of my photos in RAW format.  This means that the file you have contains all of the RAW data from the photo and you can use it as you will.  If you shoot JPEG format, the camera cooks the image for you in the cameras processor and spits out what it thinks your photo should look like.  I like the control I have over my images in RAW.  This way, I can make the photo how I saw it when I was there not the way a computer decided it should look.  I usually take 20 minutes a photo when adjusting landscapes.  You really have to pay attention to the details of the photo.  If you happen to over look something, blowing it up on print will bring out your mistakes and landscapes more than not are going to be printed large.

Enough talk for the day, here are a couple of my recent Filter Paintings.

Sunset show!

The sun was setting on a lovely Sunday evening.  The skies appeared clear when I left the house and I thought about taking a sunset with pure sun rays.  Approaching the lake I noticed a very cool looking cloud bank was developing in the north.  The bank was moving quickly and I wasn't sure if it was going to get there before the sun set.   I decided to go the rest of the way and take a chance that I would get some great colors.  Glad I did.  The clouds arrived just as the sun moved into the horizon and made for some pretty spectacular colors.  It was a great scene and I am glad I was there to capture it.  Hope everyone is having a great day.  Enjoy!

Snowy Days

Snowstorms, while they provide beautiful scenery, they are horrible to drive in.  Waiting almost the entire winter season for a good snowstorm, we were finally blessed with a doozy this past week.  Heavy wet snow combined with freezing temperatures over night left travel in pretty bad shape.  So much so that school was called off twice in one week.  This gave a great opportunity for family fun and some needed winter scenes.  The snow was deep and plows had trouble keeping up, but some of the side roads were cleared earlier than usual.  I decided to see what was around and get some wintery photos for fun.  Here were a couple of my favorites from the recent storm.

From the Standing Bear Lake area

 Some panoramas from the Standing Bear area.

I photograph these set of trees every snowstorm.  I think they look like silhouettes of people.  Growing like a little family every year.

Sunset Panorama

Capturing a panorama is a fairly easy task, except when the shutter speed is slow and your tripod is already in use.  The other night when the boys and I were capturing the stunning sunset, I decided to snap a couple photos of the sunset without a filter on my lens.  Another camera and lens combination that provides really good images at low ISO settings is the Canon EOS M.  The kit lens for this little camera is actually very sharp for a zoom.  It also has Image Stabilization, IS, which is especially useful when your shutter speed is going to be in the 1/10th of a second range.  I took these couple of photos handheld and really like how they turned out.

Fog and Ice

These are some older photos I have finally processed.  This was the last fog from 2014.  Fog always provides and interesting mood to any photograph.  The tough part is finding fog that is thick enough to make the mood of the photograph what it should be.  The particular fog was were thick, so thick that it made it a little dangerous to pull into the location I was initially planning on.  I went a little further down the road to a different turn off and made my way down to the lake.  The lake was frozen from the many freezing cold nights and the grasses and trees were brown and without leaves.  This part of the lake is not all that deep so there were little pieces of tree protruding through the ice.  I found a couple locations in a close proximity to try and make the fog work with the photo.  

The first one I really enjoyed how the shoreline of the lake made a slight curve into the foggy abyss.  

Photo was to portray the wood coming out of the ice and the numerous air bubbles trapped in the ice.  

This last photograph was of the cemetery that is right along the outer banks of the lake.  This is originally where I wanted to stop for a photo but as you can see the fog is especially thick right in that area.  The road to that location is pretty heavily traveled and very narrow leaving little room for anyone to make emergency stops.  I used the grasses on the bank to frame this photo, helping to give it a couple layers of interest.

Clouds Make a Difference

The past couple of days I have made an honest attempt at one of my New Year's resolution for photography.  I have been actively trying to take more photos of sunsets.  Finding a great spot in a metropolitan area is very tough to come by.  Houses and power lines make it very difficult to get a great looking sunset.  Using a very wide angle lens does help minimize their view in your photos but if you look close enough, they are there.  Having said that, I do believe sunsets can be some of the most dramatic scenes whether you have those items in the photo or not.  The other thing that makes a great sunset are clouds.  Clouds are the difference between "wow that's a nice photo" to "HOLY CRAP that is AWESOME".  Clouds hold the color of the sun as it falls below the horizon line and the prism effect it gives on the clouds is amazing.  The sun falls causing an instant orange glow like fire over the clouds.  Sinking lower, it then turns to a lovely pink.  These are the best sunsets to capture on film or your digital sensor.  Sitting, watching the sun fall, also gives you a sense of peace.  I think that is what I most like about it.  For an amazing 15 to 20 minutes, you are witnessing something spectacular and that is tough to get in this fast paced world.

I digress.  The original focus of this post was to talk about how clouds will make a difference in your sunsets.  For the people who read my blog, visit my website, or follow me on Facebook, you have probably seen my post from the last sunset.  To capture that sunset, I observed what way the clouds were moving in the sky and set up to have the sun and clouds coming straight at me.  I wanted to add some drama to separate my sunset from others that I knew were out taking it that evening, so I attached a 10 stop neutral density filter to my lens.  This filter cuts 10 stops of light from reaching the sensor, thus giving you a much longer shutter speed.  You must use a tripod and remote release for this type of photo since the exposures can last up to 2 minutes.  Doing this allows the clouds to move in the frame and give the appearance of moment.  I tried this on the sunset last evening also, but the clouds were dissipating quickly and they weren't really moving.  I did shoot the sunset with a 6 stop neutral density filter in hopes to catch some cloud movement, but there wasn't much of any.  Additionally, the cloud photograph was taken at 12mm since the clouds were moving so rapidly and the stretched far into the frame.  The second was taken at 24mm to try and get as much of the clouds in the frame as possible.

Below is the difference between clouds in your photo and without.  So the next time you want to shoot a sunset, try for some clouds.

Filter Painted Sunset

The clouds were rolling in and a the temperature was about to have a change for the better.  It had been a beautiful day full of sun and some very welcome warmth.  I knew that there was a possibility of a spectacular light show from the falling sun.  Wanting the kids to experience the sunset, I hustled them to the car and set out for a lake.  I knew the lake would still be very frozen due to the frigid days we had just experienced.  Placed my tripod onto the ice and a very low angle so I could get a better perspective of the ice and more of the sky.  All of these photos were taken with a 10 stop neutral density filter and very in exposure time from 70 seconds to 225 seconds.  To view them larger, visit my landscape gallery at alderimages.com/landscape.

This first photo was meant to display the wide array of colors the clouds were showing as they quickly moved out of the scene.  I had to turn the camera away from my initial location to get the colors.  

The last three photos were successive photos taken one after another and the exposure times increased with every photo due to the fading light.  This first one was approximately 120 seconds and the bottom was 225 seconds.  All the photos were shot with a Tokina @ 12mm, f/9, ISO 100.  I love the effect the 10 stop filter has on moving clouds.  I decided on this spot since the clouds were moving toward the camera.  It gives a better sense of movement and leading lines headed toward the sunset itself.   This is suppose to create a more pleasing photo.  

Thank you for viewing!