Tag Archives: tree

Just for fun, Macro, Travel

Lego Photography: Lost in an amazing book

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I can only claim credit for taking the photo. My son was the creative director. He came up with the idea, built the Lego tree and book, selected the character and packed them up for our weekend trip to St. George, Utah. Upon arrival at Snow Canyon State Park, he reassembled the tree (the trip had not been friendly to the fragile display) and set the photo up in the sand dunes. He even titled this blog post – Lost in an amazing book.

The sun was high in the sky and casting very harsh shadows on the world below. Since I didn’t have one of the portable light reflectors (or blockers), my creative director ran to the van to grab his brother’s pillow and held it strategically over the area so I could get the shot. I think we were both pleased with the final outcome, though a little shadow from the tree would have helped the photo (I think).

Lego photography: Lost in a good book

Canon 60D | 100mm Macro Lens | 1/320 | f/6.3 | ISO 800 | RAW

I don’t recall why I had the camera set to ISO 800. It definitely was bright enough. I think it was because I was using the flash on occasion to help light things up and reduce shadows, but when I found the shade (i.e., my son’s pillow), I forgot to bring the ISO back to 100. In Photoshop I made a few adjustments to exposure, blacks, saturation and levels, in an effort to bring the guy under the tree out more.

Anyway, I am very proud of my son for serving as my creative director, and I hope you’ll look forward to a few more of the Lego shots he arranged during our trip and asked me to photograph.

~signed, Carltonaut

Just for fun, Night Sky, Travel

Shooting the Super Moon in Hawaii

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Aloha! Yesterday was a long day – 28 hours in fact. That’s what happens when you hop on an airplane in Salt Lake City and head west, all the way to the Hawaiian island of Maui. When we arrived at our hotel, it was only 9:20 pm (Maui time). To us Utahns, it felt like 1:20 a.m. the following day. We were exhausted.

But with the Super Moon in the sky, the palm trees and foliage surrounding me, and my camera in hand, I put my wife to bed and headed out to grab some photos of the Super Moon.

050412 SuperMoon_Hawaii

Canon 60D | 18-135mm lens | 1/60 | f/22 | ISO 800 | Speedlite 430EX II Flash

The first few photos I snapped had too much glare and reflection in the lens itself, so I added my 67mm circular polarized filter to my lens before shooting any more. That helped immensely.

I didn’t want to bother with the tripod, so that created a few challenges as well. I was hoping to get some bracketed photos I could use for some HDR processing later, but I couldn’t hold the camera still enough, and the stark contrast between the brightness of the moon in the distance and the unlit foliage in the foreground, it just wasn’t happening. The palm trees were way too tall for my flash to light them up enough, so I found this other type of tree to use in the photo.

I did end up switching to manual mode for these photos, which offered me a lot more control of what I wanted to see in the photo. The details of the moon and the foliage. When I first shot this scene, my aperture was f/5.6, which made the tree really out of focus. While I liked that effect, I opted to use the one with the tree in focus instead. It just allowed more detail, without detracting from the Super Moon itself.

Regardless, it was a fun, though frustrating, image to capture, but I am pleased with the final results. I did end up doing a little Levels adjustments in Photoshop to help brighten up some of the areas that were a little dark, and I think shooting in RAW would have allowed me to produce a better photo, but again, I am pleased with how this one turned out.

Many more photos to come, I’m sure of it!

~signed, Carltonaut

Alphabet Photo Challenge, Black & White

CTE Weekly Photo Challenge: N is for Night

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I really wish I could do night photography better. Mostly, I am constrained by life. In order to truly get the star photographs I want, I need to go out into the middle of nowhere and spend a few nights, sleeping during the day. But the other joys of life (i.e., family, work and responsibilities) keep me busy for the time being.

So for now, I settle into my backyard wearing pajamas and flip flops and freeze my little toes off trying new things. Could I have done it better? Probably. Would I have lost my toes to frostbite? Very likely!

Anyhow, here’s the photo. Can you tell which constellation it is?

040612 Name that constellation

Canon 60D | 18-135mm lens | 30″ | f/4.0 | ISO 100 | Manual Mode

It was a full moon out tonight, so that celestial object was enough light pollution to wipe out my vision of the stars through the view finder, meaning I had to guesstimate and take a few  ”alignment” shots. I initially set my camera ISO to 3200, but I didn’t like how washed out it made everything, though I will admit it picked up more stars – but the sky was gray rather than black.

I gradually decreased my ISO to 100 and made shutter speed and aperture changes until I got it generally how I wanted. But the tree looked gross. It was more of a bright orange yellow, which isn’t the actual color of the tree. So, to the chagrin of my neighbors (but they didn’t holler any obscenities over the fence), I grabbed my Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash and held it at many different angles, flashing probably 12-15 times in various spots, ranging from 10 feet to the left of the camera, and 10 feet to the right – all done in the 30-second exposure. During one exposure, I took the flash to the backside of the tree, but the tree turned a deep red (I’m guess that’s because it was in the shadow of the flash) and that is even farther from how I wanted it to look.

In the end, I used the photo with the flashes in the front, then made it black & white, added my signature, and uploaded it to my Flickr page.

I would love to try this again, even if it is from my backyard. But I will need to make sure it’s clear skies, no moon, and everyone in Davis County shuts off their lights so I can get my shot. That’s not too much to ask, right?

Oh, and if you didn’t catch it, the answer is Ursa Major (a.k.a. Big Dipper).

~signed, Carltonaut

Night Sky

Gazing at the moon through a leafing tree

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Having lost my NCAA bracket miserably, a colleague and I have challenged two others to a game of basketball, hoping to reclaim some basketball prowess by beating them miserably. However, I haven’t actually played basketball in a long time, so I thought I would practice in my driveway tonight while my kids rode their scooters.

However, when I saw the moon growing brighter in the sky as the sun set below the horizon, I couldn’t help but grab my Canon 60D and snap a few shots through a leafing tree on the side of my house. I tried a couple of different angles, but I found this angle to be the best.

040312 Moon through trees

Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/160 | f/18 | Exposure Compensation -1 1/3 | ISO 400

I needed to find a way to light up the tree leaves, so I mounted my Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash and shot a few more shots. I think my battery was low, because it took forever for my flash to recharge itself. I also had to adjust the exposure compensation a little lower so the colors looked more vibrant and less washed out.

So after lining up the moon a few more times in the center of this clearing in the tree, I was satisfied and headed inside to take a look at the spoils. That photo above is the result. What do you think?

I took another great photo of a blossoming tree at work earlier today, too. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to check out that one.

~signed, Carltonaut