Star trails in northern Utah

Carltonautaperture, camping, circumpolar, cloud, constellations, full moon, gradient effect, light pollution, lighting, manual, moon, mountains, night photography, night sky, North Star, photo, photography, shutter, shutter release cord, shutter speed, star trail, star trails 2 Comments

The other day I came across a fellow blogger (DailySnaps2012) who had shared some nice star trail photos she had taken last week. Star trails and night photography are some of my all-time favorite shots to try and capture, so I thought I would share two that I took during a Father-Son campout last fall.

My favorite ones are of the North Star, because it is a constant in the night sky, but all the other stars rotate around it to create a sort of vortex look.

In order to get a cooler effect, leave the shutter open for a longer time – the longer, the better. The night I took these photos, there was a full moon, so I wasn’t sure how long I could keep the shutter open without over-exposing the whole thing. I think this was about 5-10 minutes, but again, I don’t remember. However, I do like how the moon lit up the tree, I just wish the stars showed up a little better.

I then pointed the camera south to get some longer star trails.

Not only did I like how the tall evergreen shoots up and out of the dark hill side and into the sky, the clouds moving through the sky added a nice look to the photo. Although the full moon was lighting up the sky, the city lights from around Pineview Reservoir polluted the lower portion of the photo, but gave a nice gradient effect to the night sky.

Getting up and into the mountains offer the best setting for photographing star trails – away from the light pollution of nearby cities. But getting up into the mountains isn’t something that I can do on a whim, but it is something that I would love to do more often. If I do get out and capture some interesting star trails, I will definitely share. Thanks again to Lisa from DailySnaps2012 for sharing her star trail photos.

~signed, Carltonaut

January 30, 2012People

The mark of a Disney princess

Carltonautariel, aurora, candid, canon, canon digital, canon digital rebel xt, carltonaut, disney, disney princess, disney princesses, disney theme park, disney world resort, Florida, jasmine, lipstick mark, mickey mouse, photo, photography, princess, rapunzel, sleeping beauty, snow white, Travel, vacation, Walt Disney World Leave a comment

If you’ve ever been to a Disney theme park, then you may have photos similar to the one I am sharing today. But the look on my son’s face is priceless, even though he was probably too young to realize it. My older son would have been mortified to have a lipstick mark on his face from a Disney princess, but not this guy.

After going with this sister to visit the Disney princesses near Toon Town at the Walt Disney World Resort, I had to wait with him and our stroller while my wife and other kids went on a roller coaster. He sat down near this fence and started eating some potato chips. I whipped out the camera, initially to try and capture my young daughter on her first real roller coaster ride, but while waiting, I turned and snapped this shot of my boy. It ended up being one of my favorites from the entire trip, and I am sure it will end up in his wedding video a couple decades from now.

~signed, Carltonaut

January 28, 2012Alphabet Photo Challenge

Weekly Challenge – D is for Driving

Carltonautaction, blurred, car, city photography, commuting, drive, driving, long exposure, meetup group, movement, photo, photo challenge, photography, photography skills, picture, shutter release button, shutter speed, shutter speed priority, tripod, true emotion, TV 2 Comments

While perusing on Facebook, I found a group of photographers in Salt Lake City that presented a weekly photo challenge. I relished the idea of a weekly photo challenge in order to try and stretch my thinking and photography skills. Plus, since it’s local, I know a few people who are also in the group, the Capturing True Emotion (CTE) Salt Lake City Photography Meetup group.

The challenge is to start at the beginning of the alphabet and capture a thing, action or emotion that starts with the given letter. Since I didn’t get started until now, D was my first letter. After much thought, and going back to something I thought would be interesting to try a few years ago, I set up the shot in my car. I took more than 400 photos (436 to be exact) and ended up with this one being the best.

I have three others that I thought turned out great, so the set is posted in Flickr if you want to check them out. But here are the details on these shots.

The weight of the camera would toss the tripod to and fro during the trip, so I ended up sticking one of the legs into the back pocket of the seat, which provided the stability I needed. Before attaching the camera, I set it to TV (shutter speed) priority for a three-second exposure. I attached a shutter release button and then attached the camera to the tripod.

During my 45 minute commute, I started snapping photos. I had to remain completely still during each shot so that nothing in the car was blurred, which was not always easy to do to avoid drifting out of my lane, but I let safety trump my desire for a non-blurry shot. I also tried to match the speed to the person in front of me, while waiting for someone in the lanes around me to speed by, thus giving a sense of motion with the blurred vehicle.

Bumpy roads also made this a challenge. Overpasses were the worst, because if the car bumped, so did the camera, making the shot worthless. If I had to turn the steering wheel, or even my hand, it was blurry, too.

All of these factors are what made it a real photo challenge, but if you don’t try, you don’t know. I’ve noticed a few things in the photo that I would want to change to try and enhance it, so I’m glad for the letter D photo challenge this week, and I’m ready to move on to E. Hmmm. What will I capture for next week?

~signed, Carltonaut

January 27, 2012Travel

Remembering Grissom, White, & Chaffee of Apollo 1

Carltonautamerican space program, apollo, apollo 1 fire, Apollo program, astronaut, astronaut autograph, astronaut scholarship foundation, Chaffee, disaster, Earth, Florida, Grissom, gus grissom, honor, Kennedy Space Center, launch pad, memorial, moon, moon landing, NASA, Netflix, photo, photography, pioneers in space, space, thank you, White Leave a comment

Last November, my son and I had the opportunity to travel to the Kennedy Space Center as part of the Astronaut Autograph & Memorabilia Show, organized by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. It was a phenomenal event. In fact, my son cried for days after because he was so sad to have left Florida.

With that in mind, I decided to share this photo today because January 27, 2012, marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire, which claimed the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. This photo shows my son holding the mission patch for Apollo 1 at the launchpad where this event took place.

While many today may not understand the impact that disaster had on the American space program, I would recommend watching the documentary, When We Left Earth. I’ve watched it via Netflix and more recently purchased the DVD set.

The astronauts my son and I met during our trip (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Gene Cernan, and dozens more), who knew and worked with these three brave men, spoke very highly of their efforts in the space program, and described how the best way to honor their sacrifice was to continue striving for a successful landing on the moon, which took place two-and-a-half years later.

So to honor these men, and all the men and women who seek to explore the world by going beyond it, I say thank you. Maybe one day, my son will be traveling millions of miles from Earth to explore other planets because of the hard work and sacrifices of these early pioneers in space exploration.

~signed, Carltonaut

January 26, 2012Just for fun

Effect of glow stick lighting

Carltonautblue, blue glow, camping, canon, canon digital rebel, canon digital rebel xt, child, florescent, glow, glow stick, kid, lighting situations, night photography, night shots, photo, photography, sleeping, sleeping bag, tent, tripod Leave a comment

My kids love having glow sticks with them when we go camping. My guess is that it provides them some comfort while sleeping in a vulnerable tent. For me, I think it makes for some rather interesting lighting situations and photos – like this one:

The florescent green sleeping bag, in the shape of an alligator, helped with the interesting colors of the photo.

I had initially stayed up after he fell asleep to take some night shots and chat with my brothers and dad who were also on the trip. But the cloud cover prevented me from getting star trail shots, so I got ready for bed before seeing this shot.

I set up my Canon Digital Rebel XT, then held the blue glow stick above my son, but out of the frame. I snapped off a few shots of this before calling it a night, but when I looked at the shots once I got back home, I thought this one was a keeper, though my son’s blue complexion looks a little on the creepy side.

~signed, Carltonaut

January 25, 2012Just for fun

Hungry for cookies?

Carltonaut50 mm lens, allergies, aperture, canon digital rebel xt, cookies, food, food allergies, food allergy network, food photographer, lighting, photo, photography 7 Comments

It’s amazing how many shots I find myself taking in order to get the one that is just right. Well, the photo of these cookies (which are dairy free, nut free and egg free) is the finished product of what seemed like hours of photographing cookies. The challenge was to not eat them until after I had the shot I wanted.

As a public relations professional, I often work with media outlets to provide story ideas, then help facilitate the story if they like it. This is what led me to photograph cookies. I had pitched a story to a Utah-based magazine, Wasatch Woman, about food allergies. My two sons have allergies, so I became involved with the Utah Food Allergy Network and was looking to bring more awareness to childhood food allergies.

After making the pitch to the editor, I offered to not only place her in contact with some families who are dealing with food allergies, but also provide recipes of treats that were free of certain allergens. She mentioned her photographer was on maternity leave (or something like that) and asked if I could provide some photos. Since they would be printed in a magazine, I felt the pressure of making them worthy of publication.

Cooking them was the fun part. Photographing them was the challenge. I didn’t have any lighting beyond the on-camera flash, so I pulled in a few lamps from around the house to help light the scene. I attached my 50mm, 1:1.8 lens to my Canon Digital Rebel XT, opened up my aperture as wide as it would go and started clicking away.

While I don’t think I’m cut out to be a professional food photographer, it was fun to try something new and see what I could come up with. And it was even cooler to see my photo printed in a publication that was sold in stores across Utah.

~signed, Carltonaut

January 24, 2012Black & White, Just for fun

Capturing the drip

Carltonautaperture, black and white, canon, canon digital, canon digital rebel, canon digital rebel xt, cold, icicle, melting, nice photos, photo, photography, picture, shutter speed, water droplets, winter 4 Comments

I have always loved the close-up photos of water droplets, either from a splash or a drip. So when I finally decided that I wanted to try taking a photo of a droplet, I set to work in my backyard. And to be honest, I had to do a little jimmy-rigging to create the set up of water dripping off an icicle. Let me explain.

I found an icicle hanging from my roof and broke it off. Using rubber bands and some clips, I hooked it in a tree that was eye level to me and the upper heights of my tripod. Since it was still a rather cold day, it was obvious that the icicle wasn’t going to drip by itself, so I had to help it along.

No, that didn’t mean bringing out a blow torch or blow dryer to melt it. Instead, I took a syringe used for taking medications orally and filled it with water. I then squeezed the syringe, squirting water onto the upper heights of the icicle and letting the water run down it and off the tip. I then snapped countless shots, hoping to get one that looked just right.

I didn’t want the trees in the background to distract from the droplet or icicle, so I went to AV priority and opened the aperture as large as I could without washing out the subject. Although I don’t recall the shutter speed or ISO on my Canon Digital Rebel XT, I am confident in saying that I went with a higher (more sensitive) ISO and a fast shutter speed to stop the drop in motion.

I ended up with a couple of nice photos of this same icicle, but with different variations of the drip; however, I’ll have to share those another time… that is if people are still interested after I revealed my secret to setting the stage for these photos!

~signed, Carltonaut

January 21, 2012Just for fun

Funny Friday Photographs

Carltonautaperture, Canon 60D, depth of field, Facebook, Flickr, humor, joke, luke skywalker, parking garage, photo, photograph, photography, Primary Children's Medical Center, series, Star Wars, star wars character, toyota, yoda 7 Comments

I never thought that I would have a series of photographs that included these poseable bendy guys and a joke card, but I do. About six months ago, I started taking these weekly photos and posting them to the Facebook page for Primary Children’s Medical Center (the hospital I work at). Here is the one I took yesterday.

I try to be as creative as possible, or to find some sort of setting or prop to include in the photo that coincides with the joke, or at least the punchline. You can check out the series on the hospitals Flickr account.

I originally tried to find a little Yoda or other Star Wars character to include in this photo, but didn’t have one available. So I went to the top of the parking structure and set up this shot.

I used the AV setting and as large an aperture as my lens would allow (roughly 3.5) so I could try to blur out the background to help the poseable guy stand out. Since the guy was standing on the ground, I had to essentially set the camera on the ground, so I was glad my Canon 60D had a moveable display so I could set up my shot without laying my head on the ground too.

I really enjoy trying to be creative with these photos, not only for the joke to make sense, but for the photograph to be something that catches the audience’s attention. Oh, and the punchline for this joke… a Toy-Yoda! lol

~signed, Carltonaut

January 19, 2012Travel

Wet Waterfall in Waterton, Eh?

Carltonautblur, camera, Canada, glacier, hiking, landscape, National Park, national park canada, outdoors, photo, photography, shutter speed, stop-motion, taking photos, Travel, vacation, waterfall, Waterton, Waterton Lakes National Park Leave a comment

A few summers ago (which now seems like forever ago), my family went to Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada, with some friends for a week of hiking and kayaking on the glacier-made lakes. It was not only a fun trip for the family, but I found myself taking photos around every bend.

Even though there was a drizzle in the air 90% of the time, it was a fantastic trip. I especially enjoyed this photo of a waterfall we had hiked to one morning.

I carried my cumbersome tripod with me on all the hikes, along with my 3-year-old daughter or one-year-old son in the carrier backpack – plus the camera bag (I was pretty much weighed down with stuff). I unloaded everything and hiked off the trail a bit to get the right angle. When I took the shot, I went for as slow of a shutter speed as I could with my camera and lens to try to blur motion the water without overexposing. It took me a bit, but I think I got the best photo I could with the equipment I had.

After getting some feedback of the photo at the Davis County Fair the following summer, I was told the shutter speed should have been slower, offering a more fluid and stream-like feature to the water; whereas in its current state, there was still too much stop-motion to the water.

I value the feedback and would like to get others takes on this photo. Too much stop-motion of the water, or just right to not appear unrealistic? Thanks for any feedback.

~signed, Carltonaut

January 18, 2012Black & White

Young boy’s dream

CarltonautB-24, black and white, co pilot, dream, grandpa, hill aerospace museum, human interest, photo, photography, pilot, POW, snap shot, son, utah state fair, WWII 1 Comment

I am particularly proud of this photo. Not because the model in it is my son, but because what was a quick snap shot that I thought would be cool, ended up being really cool and simplistic.

As a photographer, I often spend a lot of time setting up a shot – trying to get the right angle, aperture and moment. So when I willy-nilly snap a photo and have it capture everything just right, I’m pretty excited about it.

My 3-year-old son (at the time) and I were visiting the Hill Aerospace Museum in Roy, Utah. My grandpa, Leo Carlton, was a B-24 co-pilot in WWII who was taken as a POW for nearly a year. It is in memory of him that I enjoy checking out the museum, which now has a re-built B-24, and thinking about what it was like for him in the 1940s.

After touring the museum, we stopped at the gift shop and he wanted to purchase this little biplane. As we walked to the car, my son was just ahead of me flying his airplane. I pulled out my little digital point-and-shoot and snapped the photo above.

I have a framed copy of that photo in my office, which reminds me of my grandpa, through the actions of my son. It also reminds me that photography can be as simple, or as complex as you want it to be, and on a few occasions, the outcome is the same. What made this even cooler is when it placed in the Davis County Fair, as well as the Utah State Fair that same year.

~signed, Carltonaut

Carltonaut

Photos of (and out of) this world

Monthly Archives: January 2012

The mark of a Disney princess

Weekly Challenge – D is for Driving

Remembering Grissom, White, & Chaffee of Apollo 1

Effect of glow stick lighting

Hungry for cookies?

Capturing the drip

Funny Friday Photographs

Wet Waterfall in Waterton, Eh?

Young boy’s dream

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