Ocean Grove, NJ

I hate to say it but I’m kinda bored of Sandy Hook beaches now. I have over 10 unique images from there and wanted a change. So, I logged on to Google Maps and started some prelim scouting of the Jersey beaches. The closest one which I have not seen was Ocean Grove. I noticed a fishing pier there and decided that’s what I am going to shoot. I check the weather app on my Android, and it seemed like its going to rain heavy that day. There was a heavy overcast. That kind of turned me off because with the over cast there won’t be any sunset. After pondering over that thought I decided to go anyways. I was hoping that may be last min the clouds might break open and i’ll get a dramatic sky, and if nothing else I can try some B&W shots.

I loved the above composition. I noticed those small curvy lines on the beach sand because of the low tide moving in towards the pier. I decided to use them in the composition as leading lines. As you can see it gives a nice depth to the image. With just a little contrast in LR I was able to put this together. Since it was a long exposure shot, I got some nice highlights, so decided to try out a B&W version of the same image.

I found these line patterns quite interesting so decided to take a shot from up, perpendicular, thought it probably will make a nice abstract. Can probably try to make it a triptych.

Here are two more shots of the Pier. In the first one I stacked two images, one for high tones and one for shadows. I liked the moss on the rock jetty next to the pier and wanted to highlight those. SO I composed the image such that I get the rocks in the foreground of the image. And then the other one just before night. The tides came in so thought will take a long exposure shot here giving that misty feel on the water surface.

 In between the shots I noticed these Gulls. The thing about shooting these Gulls at the beach is that they are so common and there are so many regular shots of these birds. So I sat there and waited for one of them to do something interesting. Luckily for me this one just was about to take off and spread its wings. The funny thing is that it did not take off. For some reason I felt that it was trying to intimidate me because with the wings wide open it kept staring at me. May be she didn’t like what she saw .

2011 in Photographs

The real world is actually a dream
Illusion makes one blind towards reality
Reality is something we are blind towards
Every moment is knitted loosely
with gaps to be filled after a full circle
The future is unknown, the past questionable
As the gaps are filled,the dream turns to reality
Our mind awakens as the past turns to present
but the future ever remains blurred, doubtful and unpredictable

Acadia NP, Maine

What a beautiful place! It has everything a nature/landscape photographer needs , right from Mountains to Ocean Shoreline, woodlands and lakes. Although, I did not pick the right time to visit this National Park. A friend and I decided to make a trip during Thanksgiving weekend. After the trip I realized Fall or Spring would be a great time to visit.

 We drove 9 hours from New Jersey to Maine. The road is not so exciting. I really enjoyed the road trip from California to Oregon (Crater Lake). Anyways, I booked a hotel in Bar Harbor. We reached at midnight and from the moment on did not even waste a min. The sky was bright and clear and the Stars were twinkling bright. I had recently read the eBook regarding night photography from ALI, so decided to give it a shot.

“Infinite”

The shot above was taken from outside the hotel room. There was some Light Pollution but I think I managed well. If you look carefully you can spot a Constellation.

The next day we drove to Bass Harbor to check out the Headlight there. We planned to capture Sunset, unfortunately the light and the sky was not so dramatic. So I composed the images such that I capture the rocky coast leading up to the Headlight.

Later the light got better with the afterglow but we had to leave since it was getting dark and we did not have a Torch to find our way back up again. The next day early morning we decided to catch the Sunrise. We took the Loop road along the coast. Most of that route was closed dude to a snowstorm that came just the day before we reached. We found one spot and walked down to the water. There was still time for the Sun to rise and I was looking for a good spot. There were some good opportunities but the so called beach was full of small rocks and was so uncomfortable to walk or even set up the tripod firmly. But I had enough time and setup and waited for the Sun to come up, the timing was very close. The light was very soft and was bouncing of the rocks and some of them had moss growing in it. I decided on long exposure because the waves were not to high and reaching in, so thought if I keep the shutter open long enough, the misty feel of the water might do the trick.

I really loved the diversity in compositions and the landscape that spot had to offer. Looking slightly North I got the image below.

Later that day we decided to do the Mt. Cadillac Summit at 1500 feet. The summit was not too high but was steep and a tough one. There was no defined trail for the most part, no patch was paved. It was mostly rocks, snow, water and slush, and the winds were strong. The view from top was amazing.

I would definitely will have to make another trip here soon. There is lot much more to explore here. We completely missed the wildlife there, and a  lot more of that shoreline to be seen. Most likely in Spring I should be heading back there.

Manual for Newbies

I don’t mean the Mode on the Dial on your Camera. I mean the small booklet which comes with your Camera in the Camera box. A lot of newbies have a lot of questions on how to use the camera, which blogs to read, which magazines to buy. Just because you have a DSLR/SLR doesn’t mean you can start taking great images. You need to understand first what the Camera can do and how it can be done. Instead of spending money books or searching for free ebooks, all you need to do is open your box and read the manual.

I also used to buy all sorts of magazines, specially with ones having that extra booklet explaining the Camera functionality. Lucky for me, one of my mentors advised me to read the Camera Manual first. I tried the examples given in it and I learn’t a lot from that. The idea is to know your camera first, and what all it has to offer.

Once you understand and appreciate how to use your camera, then you get a better understanding of what kind of advanced learning you need.

Gear

Not that I am a professional but I get a lot of questions from my friends and FB/G+ peeps regarding camera gear. Most of them want an entry level DSLR and the ones who can afford want the best gear available.

This is what I am going to focus on this post. What is the best Gear? Initially when I started I was confused too, wanted most mega pixels and lens with lot of zoom, etc. But eventually I found my answers.

Essentially for me the Right Gear depends on what my requirements are. Brand doesn’t matter. You can go for a Nikon or a Canon or any other brand out there. What it eventually boils down to is what kind of photography you are interested in. Some (like me) are interested in nature and landscape photography and and some like to do portraits, some like fashion photography, and some just like to shoot what they see. So based on your requirements you can buy a Full frame or a Crop Factor.

I personally use a crop factor NikonD90/D7000 and that suffices my need. Largest of prints that I have got were 20X30. which is big enough, even if I want to sell. I mostly do Landscapes shots and some wildlife. And Nikon D90 and D7000 are just right for me. The Canon equivalent would be the 7D. Thats a great Camera as well. Of course the Canon 5D and Nikon D3s are a class apart and are full frame cameras, you might want them if you are planning to make it a profession eventually.

The other most important peice of the puzzle is the Lens. You need to have a good glass to get that great image. Lens between 18mm to 55mm come under wide angle/Landscape. If its a Crop Factor then 18mm will come to about 22-24mm (good for family/group photos) . For Close Ups, portraits you will require a lens between 50mm to 100mm . For wildlife/birds and sports you would require something like a 300mm to 600mm. You get combinations of 18-200mm (all in one) which are good, or you can buy two like 10-20mm, 18-55mm or 70-300mm.

Nowdays the digital cameras pack a great sensor which is important because that’s where your image is captured. I will not tell you which brand to go with but just to mention few of the good Entry Levels are Nikon D3100 and D5100, and Canon EOSRebel T3 and T2i. Semi professional cameras would include D7000 and Canon 7D. And for Professional you can try Canon 5D and Nikon D3s.

Although I have only spoken about Nikon and Canon because they are the most popular in Digital photography, and thats what I have experience with. If you are interested in any other brand then check out the reviews at DPReview.com. Rest figure out what your budget is and go get yourself a DSLR.

My Thoughts on HDR

Some of my images (very few) sometimes get confused for HDR image, in the sense of having a Surreal Effect to them. Here are my thoughts on the technique. Essentially the concept of HDR is to capture more dynamic range of light. The Camera captures 5 to 6 stops less than what a human eye sees, hence, losing out details, specially in the shadow area. So what the HDR technique helps in acheiving is to merge 2 or more images of different exposures to highlight the shadows clearly. This is a very old concept. After taking a shot the photographer would rewind the film roll to the previous frame and take a shot again. In digital photography you can do that with computers.

The Image above has been confused for a HDR. It was shot in Princeton,NJ. The image below was shot in Bear Mt, NY (Appalachian trail). It is an actual HDR. I took two images, the underexposed one was for the shadow and to get that small Sun Burst. The other one was Overexposed for details. It is also an example of how I compensate for not having a good Grad Filter.

I generally shoot in natural light, and mostly at sunset or sunrise, and I love bad weather because then clouds add a lot of dramatic effect. I don’t have expensive glass filters, thats why sometimes end up using the HDR technique. The more popular form of HDR is what you see with the Surreal effect. it makes the Image extraordinary and poster like.
I don’t use the surreal effect on the outdoor and landscape images I take. However, it works perfect for indoor shots, giving that very awesome look and feel.

The Image above, shot in Island Beach SP, NJ, is an HDR of two images. The one below is the same image but not an HDR. The one above has that slight surreal effect to it. I personally prefer the non-HDR version.

I use Photomatix to merge my images and then process them in lightroom buy adding contrast, tweak the clarity and sharpness.
it eventually is a personal choice of how you want your art form to look like. If HDR interests you then may I suggest you have a look at the work of Trey Ratcliff. Also Jay Patel has a free tutorial on Manual HDR technique.

Unexpected Surprise..

Just heard the title of this post on Two and a Half men . Last week I went to Island Beach SP in New Jersey 3 times. May sound crazy, but I was absolutely obsessed with wanting to take some Red Fox photographs. I recently discovered that there are a few there, till now I used to have to drive 2.5 hours to Bombay Hook in Delaware.

However, I wasn’t too lucky. Out of the three trips I made, just got one decent shot.  The Image below is from the first trip. I reached well in time but had no clue about the park, so had to scout a bit. Unfortunately we saw nothing, and moreover it was a boring day for landscape shots as well. There were no clouds in the evening sky. So decided to head back, and just then, close to the exit we saw it. Light was too dim by then, Sun had almost set and I had to jump out the car quickly ..

On the 2nd trip, almost the same thing happened and saw this one at the same spot. Just when I was about to take the shot a few cars went by at speed higher than what was the limit was. The poor thing got scared and ran away. I didn’t want to stalk it and scare it even more. I did though manage to get the face in focus.

Third time’s a charm, well not in my case. The very next day I was back and unlucky for me I didn’t see nothing, not even a bird. It was so disappointing, you really need a lot of patience for wildlife photography.

There was a small trail right next to the parking lot, so decided to do that. I was quite irritated and was hoping to at least get a good Beach Shot. There was still some light and the Sun was almost setting. Thankfully the trail wasn’t too long and at the end of it got the unexpected surprise.

The Last image (above) is an HDR of two shots, one with a 30 second exposure to get the movement in the clouds.

The Sun had already set, clouds broke out at the horizon and the afterglow just lit up the entire scene. Landscape looked very dramatic.