A recap of San Francisco

Wow that San Francisco Photowalk was amazing! Here’s our recapped video for you of all the highlights.

Daily Photo – Before the Aurora!

I know I keep talkin’ about the new Aurora HDR Pro, but I’m so darned excited about it! I was especially just thinking about it because of today’s photo from San Francisco. I processed this one with Photomatix, and I got that strange banding and chunky noise in the sky. I don’t have those problems with noise in Aurora HDR Pro because there are two ways to get rid of it, using HDR Denoise and a tricky Clarity slider

Before the Aurora!

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-09-20 11:47:40
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time13
• Aperture5.6
• ISO250
• Focal Length43.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

My ever-changing bags, a new problem!

My camera bags keep getting smaller thanks to my smaller mirrorless cameras, but I have a new problem! I guess it’s a good problem to have because it is my quadcopter! I want to take it with me all the time when I travel now, and even though they are compact, they still require a lot of space. Thank goodness it’s not heavy, but there is still a commitment of another bag! Well… this is how it goes I guess!

Daily Photo – The Pacific Sea Mist

Flying along the PCH south of San Francisco, the road gets extremely curvy. I remember when I was a kid driving along here with my sister. She got really sick and threw up all over my grammie’s face, which was super hilarious. I was dying laughing… everyone was except for Bianca. Haha jeez… anyway, now that I drive up and down it, I’m reminded of how curvy it is! On this particular evening, there was one of those super-wet air layers that was sweeping in from the sea… somewhere between cool fog and wet mist.

The Pacific Sea Mist

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-04-22 05:26:38
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/800
• Aperture8
• ISO200
• Focal Length210.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

House of Cards

Anyone else into this show? Curtis recommended it to me, and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve always liked Kevin Spacey. Give it a whirl if you’re looking for a new series.

Daily Photo – The Silver View at Yosemite

I’ve been experimenting with a new post-processing technique. Let me see if I can explain it.

I process the photo using my usual steps, which, I suppose, are nothing but usual. But if you’ve seen the new HDR Tutorial, then you know the kind of stuff I do. But then, at the end, I run the final photo through Silver Efex Pro. I then take that layer and change the blend mode to either Hardlight or Overlay. That is what gives the kind of effect you see here.

The Silver View at Yosemite

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2011-12-29 19:53:58
• CameraNIKON D3X
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time0.5
• Aperture4.5
• ISO100
• Focal Length52.0 mm
• FlashNo Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Going the Long Way

How many times have you ended up driving the long way to get somewhere but saw things that made the whole trip worth it? Today’s photo is a good example of that!

Daily Photo – The Golden Fields under the Trees

This area is kind of wild but worth the drive. I had to take this direction one time because part of Highway 1 on the PCH was shut down just south of Carmel. The only way I could get around the other way was to take the longer way down through this military base, most of which is just open fields and trees. The wide open fields make for perfect tree shots, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. I’m not sure why the fields are so empty — it’s possible they cleared a lot of the trees for practicing military manoeuvres and whatnot.

The Golden Fields under the Trees

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-04-26 05:15:07
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/800
• Aperture9
• ISO200
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-1

More cities for this year and next

I’m thinking about combining PhotoWalks with some very special event. More to come… but these are really always so fun! They are always free events, and I invite each and every one of you to join us!

The Big San Francisco Photowalk

I realize I never posted about the results of this thing! This was a bit ago, but thought you might like a little photo and video recap! We had over 400 people show up, and it was absolutely insane! This photo is by Peter Adams.

The Virtual Photowalk Footage

Here’s some of the footage from the Virtual Photowalks from that day. Thanks to Karen Hutton and so many others! 🙂

Daily Photo – San Francisco and the foggy bay

And here’s yet another photo of San Francisco, one of the most photogenic cities in the world!

San Francisco and the foggy bay

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-04-22 04:05:42
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time15
• Aperture5.6
• ISO100
• Focal Length200.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

A new video!

This video was made for The Arcanum — but decided to release it to the public for fun! For those of you that have signed up and are enjoying The Arcanum (or are still on the waiting list for a Master) — thanks!

This is kind of a strange video, but it talks about how to take photos from the air in high-speed conditions. I stayed in Aperture Priority and let the camera figure out the shutter speed. This worked out great everywhere except at landing where the speed delta and shake was too intense. I was using a Sony A7r with the NEX 10-18mm lens — you can see the full Sony A7r review.

I was shooting in Autobracketing not for HDR but just for some exposure variety in the shots. I was not totally sure at the time, so I figured having some exposure coverage would be smart. In post-processing, I appreciated having three different photos to choose from.