Showing posts with label sun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sun. Show all posts

Saturday, July 22, 2017

TWIP Creating A Solar Filter DIY

I looked on line for solar filters for the upcoming eclipse and they were either top of the line filters that I would probably only use once in my lifetime or super cheap that got horrible reviews.  So, I started looking around at DIY possibilities.  I came across a guy that had built his own using a pair of UV filters and an order of solar paper.  He actually cut the paper and stuck it in between two UV filters, no glue.  (That could work, but I didn't want Vignette, but in hind sight, probably wouldn't have matter as it is going to be crazy dark anyway.)  I looked online and located a sheet of solar paper that was made by the same brand as a lot of the filters out there and decided to give it a go myself with a slightly modified idea.

Here is what you need:
I'll put a link to where I got these at the bottom of the post. If you get the 6x6 should be around $22.

Sheet of solar filter paper - I purchased the 12x12 sheet, however, I am planning on making three of these so I needed extra space.  

Step up filter ring - My lens has a front element of 77mm.  I decided to get the biggest step up I could find to have ample space for miscues.  I haven't been in kindergarten for a while and haven't practiced cutting with scissors in some time.  

Super Glue - preferably one with the little paint brush inside so you can just paint on the glue to the extra space of the ring.  

Now time to spend the 5 minutes and make one.

Do not take your filter paper out of the cardboard.  If you do, it is going to suck.  


The filter paper is neatly placed inside of two pieces of cardboard and you are going to use that to hold the paper in place as you cut.  It will make it easier and you will not fingerprint the heck out of the paper.  Finger prints are really hard to get off solar paper without causing other damage.


How I made mine.  

I took the step up filter and drew a circle around the filter on the cardboard as a cut out guide.  When you cut around the filter, be sure that the papers doesn't sneak out of the cardboard.  You also want to cut inside your circle a little ways as remember, you are putting it inside that circle.  

Next, take you put on some gloves or use a piece of lens cloth to remove the filter from the cardboard.  Place it in the filter to make sure that it is still not too big.  If so, trim accordingly.    Now that you have your paper and filter ready to go, it is time to start the gluing process.

I spaced my glue around the filter and didn't do a continuous path.  Not sure if that was the right route, but it is the one I took.  Now time to place the paper on the filter.  Make sure that the mirror side of the paper is facing out.  It will be the side that faces the sun.  Place the paper into the step up ring and let it dry for 10 or 15 minutes.  Please keep in mind that if you don't get the paper flat and smooth before it drys, you can take if back off and try again.  It comes off pretty easy.  Once dry, screw it onto your camera and go give it a shot.

Short story.  I attempted to wipe off the fingerprints while it was on the filter and it buckled which is why it looks like a bubble on the front of the filter.  Don't do that.  Use the lens cloth as instructed and you should be good.  Also, be careful with the filter as you can move, pop off, or smudge the paper.  The glue doesn't hold super strong.


 


Saturday, June 17, 2017

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.




Tuesday, August 4, 2015

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!




Friday, July 17, 2015

Day Time Filter Painting

Trying something I have been wanting to for a while, I took the camera, lens, and a 10 stop filter to the lake to try my hand at filter painting in the day time.  While I didn't get as much blur as I thought I would, I did get some very interesting cloud movements.  The wind was really blowing this day and the high level clouds were moving in a different direction than their lower counterparts.  Made for an interesting shoot.




Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Canadian Wildfires

I have been reading about the Canadian Wildfires and it appears that there is no end in sight for the trouble and struggles they are going through up there.  We have seen many of the after effects with many days of sub par air quality due to the jet stream bringing the smoke into our area.  One of the only positives I can think of that has come from the fires is the amazing sunsets we have been receiving here at home.  I have compiled a couple of photos from the past couple of weeks to document the smoke and haze which has invaded the area.

The photos below were taken with a variety of lenses and circumstances.  Some were taken during a very smokey day, while other were taken with just a hint of it on the horizon.  I have tried my best to document the beauty the sky has brought, but remember the situation that those to our north are dealing with.  May they receive relief soon.

To view more photos from the amazing sunsets this situation has brought us, visit my website at AlderImages.com.
















Thursday, March 5, 2015

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!




Friday, February 20, 2015

Painting the Sunset



Over the past month, I have been working to increase my portfolio of sunset shots.  They seem to be a very popular and who doesn't like to look at a sunset.  Most people take a sunset photo, possibly do a quick edit, and throw it on Facebook for the world to see.  Unlike most of the photographers, I have taken time to plan.  I plan on the location that I will shoot the sunset to give the best possible surroundings.  I also have chosen a place that I can visit on a regular basis.  This location has what every good sunset photo should contain, elements in nature.  Idealy, you should try to avoid having man made items in the photo, but it is hard to find a location without something built by man in a city.  Therefore, I use ultra wide angle lenses to minimize any man made objects that may be in the distance.  In addition to working hard to avoid having man made objects in the scene, I have tried to make sure I always have water or something else interesting in the foreground.  Since there are no mountains to be found in Nebraska, I will try to employ water in my sunsets for the foreseeable future.

One main thing that I have tried to do to differentiate my photos from everyone else's is long exposure photography.  This requires use of filters to add to the length of time your camera shutter can stay open.  Various filters provide different lengths of time which you can use to your advantage.  Most neutral density filters come in three, six, and ten stops.  A circular polarizer will provide you two additional stops, but are not great for shooting with wide angles.   I try to use a larger stop filter at the beginning of the sunset and then switch to a middle of the road stop filter as the sky gets darker.  An example of why I do this would be if your exposure was metered at having a 1/60th of a second shutter, stick a ten stop neutral density filter on the lens of your camera and you can now use a shutter speed of 16 seconds.  This get a little tricky as the sun is going down because you have to extend your exposure time every picture and guessing what your exposure would be is challenging without a light meter.  The risks you take and the time you invest are definitely worth the rewards if you nail your exposure and your subject is appealing.

Photographing sunsets is a very peaceful experience when shooting long exposures.  Regular shooting, you are snapping away always looking for the right picture.  Long exposures, you must plan ahead since you are going to be sitting there awhile.  The part I enjoy the most is after the shutter button is pushed and you get to sit and listen to nature as your minutes pass.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

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.





Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Foggy Morning on the Prairie

I visited family this past weekend and was greeted by some pretty awesome fog the following morning.  My son and I set out to get some breakfast pizza but were sidetracked with the site we had before us.  Not really having been in a true fog, I decided to take him out to see the countryside.  We stopped by the family hayfield to capture a couple iconic shots that I really love.  I plan to print these for myself as something to remember.

All of these photos were taken within miles of each other.  The sun was rising quickly, but the fog was hanging on.  The suns rays illuminated the fog in a beautiful hue that worked great with the frosty browning grass.  Here are a few from the morning.

"Trails End"

"Golden Bales"

"Windmill Sunrise"

"Lone Tree"

"Prairie Windmill"







Thursday, September 18, 2014

Feeling Fishy

My beautiful wife decided that for my birthday she would surprise me with a fisheye lens.  I have been thinking of a fisheye for some time, but seeing one at a recent wedding got me thinking again.  The images it can produce are truly unique to any other lens out there.  Just a simple tilt of the lens and the scenery can give you a great big smile.  These are some of my first images taken with the lens.  All of them were within 15 minutes since it was a last minute test.  All photos were taken with the sunset at my back.  You can see from the 4th image the large cloud bank that had developed just before the sun set blocking any chance at a great colorful evening.


This photo was taken of the exact same spot, just tilted the camera up a little bit to get a little more sky.  


I decided to move down the road a little and split the difference.


The heavy cloud bank on the left was blocking out the sun so I turned 90 degrees to get some of the color from the fading sun.


To see more from the shoot, please check out my webpage by clicking on any of the photos above.  You can also visit my landscape gallery at alderimages.com/landscape.

Thanks for viewing!




Friday, September 5, 2014

Panoramas Galore

I have decided to try to get more landscapes in my life.  I have found that panoramas give a little more to the scene than your average wide angle shot.  Shooting with a wide angle lens you get basically the same shot; however, with a longer focal length it seems like the distant landscape is actually in the picture.  Shooting with a wide angle lens, it actually makes the distant landscape seem more distant.  This is a panorama of a tributary flowing into the Niobrara River.  The Niobrara is a special river to Nebraska as it provides tourism and some of the most beautiful scenery in the state.  If you were to move further up the river, a tributary to the Niobrara has the largest waterfall in the state.  That waterfall is called Smith Falls.  This is a panorama of 10 vertical images edited in Lightroom and stitched together in Photoshop.
"Confluence"

In a previous post, I explained this shot.  This was a 33 shot panorama shot in vertical orientation, edited in Lightroom and stitched in Photoshop.

"Sunset on the Prairie"

This photo was taken shortly before the "Sunset on the Prairie".  The clouds were very cool and the sun was making sun patches across the sky.  Originally I thought this would be a great location to get a sunset photo, but the road was way to slick from the rainfall that occurred just before we traveled on it.  From the photo, you can see what stitching a photo at 180 degrees can do to the foreground.  This photo it is especially pronounced because of the fence line accompanying the scenic overlook.  This photo is a 17 shot stitched panorama.  There would have been more but I was moving too quickly across the frame as I was rotating and some of the shots were blurry.  

"Lonely Tree"

I took this on our walk around the lake.  I have always enjoyed this little area of the lake.  It is secluded and the water is usually very calm.  I believe there use to be a dock where the poles are sticking out of the water.



This is one of my favorite panoramas.  It definitely isn't my best but it has the most meaning.  I traveled through Pilger, NE a couple days after the EF-4 twin tornado struck the area.  I captured this Panorama showing the path of destruction.  This was the second of the two twins that passed over the area.  The first struck the city of Pilger.  The second make its way on the outskirts of town and up the hill, destroying a feedlot and killing many of the cattle located there.  The fire burring on the right side of the frame contained many of the downed trees, buildings, and I would assume cattle from this location.

"Pilger"

This is the panorama I took prior to the old barn photo.  I initially stopped to photo this expansive view or field after field of soy beans, but discovered the barn nestled in the trees behind me.  

"Soy Beans"


This was one of my first panorama photos.  I snapped this after a visit to Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge shortly after the great flood of 2011.  This is on the southern side of the Missouri River that was the lowest lying in the area.  This desert looking area is where the river deposited massive amounts of sand as it crossed over this area.  The area still hasn't recovered completely and I don't know if it ever will.  I wanted to have the foreground in focus more than anything due to the sand waves the wind had created.

"Deposit"