Uncategorized – Page 18 – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

A scavenger hunt: Old Sacramento

Sometimes you just want to have fun, so I borrowed a scavenger hunt list for a Tuesday morning outing. With camera in sling, four of us hunted the streets of Old Sacramento for items on the list. They ranged from “Something you can taste through the lens” to “bokeh” to “lines and patterns.” We exercised our minds and imaginations!

Here are some of my trophies.

Lines, patterns and shadows.

Three of a kind.

Sign with bokeh in the background.

Locks

Block of color

biker and older person

Hole and texture

Gate

Stairs

You can smell it through the lens

Railroad track.

My shadow

Spinner

Paddle

Rust

This was a fun exercise. And, of course, photo buddies who help and joke around made it an extra special morning.

Posted on September 25, 2017 by Anne Sandler

An artistic festival: Wide Open Walls, Sacramento City

I’ve said it before–I’m not an artist. But, I’m in awe of anyone who can visualize and create art. Recently, in August 2017, the city of Sacramento held a festival, Wide Open Walls, that enabled artistic visions to become reality, as murals, on various walls in the city. I wasn’t able to shoot during the festival since we were away, but was eager to see the results.

Murals are not new to Sacramento’s Midtown. Greg Morris (RIP) took me there a few times to view them in the alleys. He would tell me that the best time to shoot the murals was on Sunday because there was less traffic. But this time, murals were more predominate on the walls of businesses and out of the alleys.

I did go to midtown with photo buddies Karen B and Ray on a recent Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the morning. We did a great deal of walking, shooting and resting. It left me in awe of the various artists’ talent. And, Midtown is not the only location. They are all over the city. Next time, we might walk downtown to see these amazing works of art.

Here are some of the murals I took pictures of. In some instances, I’ll show you the entire wall and then a portion of it. They were too large to do justice in one shot. No captions necessary.

Posted on September 18, 2017September 18, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

Finally got it!: WPA Rock Garden, Sacramento

I am tenacious and never give up. I went back to the WPA Rock Garden in William Land Park, Sacramento with my macro lens for more practice. Finally, I now understand my lens and how to shoot macro.

This was my second time shooting there, and there were new flowers and small critters to find. The first time, I learned that I needed a higher ISO to get a faster shutter speed to capture the close up detail. This time I learned that I also needed to narrow my aperture (use a higher F stop) to get less of a shallow depth of field.

Now I’m ready to go back just to enjoy the shoot. Tenacity is a great trait, but offers little relaxation.

I also experimented with what else I could shoot with my 105 Macro Lens. Enjoy the pictures! (Captions not necessary!)

Posted on September 10, 2017September 10, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 6 Comments

Up, up and away: Great Reno Balloon Race

Riding in a hot air balloon is high on my bucket list, but I still haven’t done it. They are so colorful and inviting. I did make it up in a small plane, thanks to my great nephew Daylen. And, twice the balloon ride was within reach, but not taken.

The first opportunity was the Windsor Hot Air Balloon Classic in Windsor. I had just bought my D3100 in 2012, and this festival was my first outing with it. I was truly struggling to learn what this digital camera was all about. All my shots were on auto. Here are two images:

Shot as JPEG. No editing. Didn’t know how!

I knew enough to lay down on the grass to get this one.

My second opportunity came this past weekend at the Great Reno Balloon Race in Reno, Nevada. I have improved since Windsor and was anxious to shoot on manual/RAW. However, I wasn’t ready for the differences in the two festivals. At Windsor, some balloons went up in the dark; at Reno, they waited until daylight. At Windsor, the balloons left at different times; at Reno, most left at once–it was a race. So, I wasn’t able to capture shots like those above.

We did get an opportunity to shoot the balloons in the dark, but it was a challenge. They didn’t stay lit for very long. My exposure meter was all over the place. I did the best I could, and I got some good shots.

The other difference: They weren’t offering rides like they did at Windsor. It was a larger event and more people attended. So, I guess I’ll just have to find a hot air balloon ride somewhere. Next year is the year!

Here are some images. No captions necessary.

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Anne Sandler

Photoshop fun: IKEA

Nothing! That’s what I did for a week after we returned from our month long road trip to Montana, Glacier National Park and Weiser Idaho for the eclipse. It took us a few mornings to empty out the trailer so we can sell it. It seems we came home just in time for a heat wave, so we only had the mornings to work.

I did gather up energy to shoot with my Toastmaster photo club, All About Photography Toastmasters. We went to IKEA because of the heat. If you remember, I had been there with my Tuesday group so I chose to shoot with my macro lens for practice. I can’t say I was totally successful, but I did learn. This lens has such a short depth of field, and that made it difficult. It’s a 105 mm so I had to stand far enough back to get what I was shooting in the frame and in focus.

Since the shoot, I’ve been working on the images and found the Photoshop filter panel. What fun! With no effort on my part, the software took my images of patterns and turned them into great abstract designs. I’ll show you the before and afters:

Before: A kite.

After: I think this may have been the zig zag.

Before: the back of a wood lounge chair.

After: the ziz zag filter.

Before: Another chandelier that I tinted green in Lightroom.

After: A tighter swirl pattern.

Before: Fabric on a couch that I angled in post.

After: One of the blur filters.

Before: This was a lamp shade.

After: The swirl filter and a change to black and white.

I may have been able to do more, but I was stymied with my limited knowledge of layers. Now I have to delve into Photoshop now that my energy level is back. I had fun with these.

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 11 Comments

On the road again: Total Solar Eclipse

Exhilarated, excited, frustrated, anxious are just some of the feelings I had the morning of August 21, 2017. It’s now August 23, 2017, and I have all my eclipse images edited and blog ready.

Let’s deal with the frustrated and anxious feelings of that morning. Initially, I was going to use Richard’s small telescope attached to my D3100. We didn’t really get a chance to practice during our stay at Glacier National Park because of smokey skies. I read tutorials on shooting the eclipse, but none were on using a telescope as a lens. I was anxious about that telescope: how do I change the aperture, and what about the proper exposure?

When we went to visit the NASA folks, I saw a guy using a coffee can on a 70 – 300 mm lens attached to a Nikon D3100. He seemed confident that it would work well. I told Richard about it and he fashioned a filter using material from pair of solar glasses and attaching it to the lens hood. It worked great. Now I could use my D7100.

Back to the tutorials! I did get frustrated because they seemed to contradict each other. The worst of all, I really couldn’t work with the tripod. I couldn’t find the sun in live view, and I couldn’t see the live view screen. I saw my reflection. I tried using a loop, but that made it more difficult.

So, I decided to handhold. I knew the risks, but I wanted to enjoy the eclipse. I decided to use my D3100 to capture the crowd during intervals of shooting the eclipse. Actually, it worked out, except for the totality. I did get one good shot of it though.

Exhilaration and excitement came rapidly when the eclipse began. The crowd roared as the sun began to slip behind the moon. There were shouts of joy during each phase, especially during totality. Here are my images from the eclipse: before totality, environmental shots, totality, and after totality.

The front row of RVs and cars were added the night before.

Everyone was getting ready.

Richard was manning his sun scope.

Here’s a side view.

A former science teacher brought this homemade scope she used in her classroom.

The eclipse begins.

The sun actually moved rapidly.

It carved out slices.

Each slice making the sun less visible.

I would catch the sun by first looking with my eclipse glasses.

Then I would move my protected lens so I couldn’t see the sun any longer.

Then I would move my glasses up out of the way.

I would then be able to shoot the sun as it moved behind the moon.

It became a sliver of it’s former self.

And down to this before totality.

This was the best I could get during totality. I knew it would be difficult without a tripod because of diminished light.

Right after totality, people started leaving.

I couldn’t believe they weren’t waiting for the second half of the show!

Coming out of totality.

Forming a crescent again.

Getting larger.

And larger.

And more large.

Almost a full sun again.

Right now we are two days from home, and I’m ready to get there. We’ve decided not to do anymore road trips. It’s destination trips from now on. I would say this trip was a great one to end on. From beautiful Glacier National Park to the amazing total solar eclipse. And a big thank you to the small town of Weiser, Idaho. They did a great job with the amount of people added to their community. Oh, I have just one more feeling to add: wonderful!

Posted on August 21, 2017August 21, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

On the road again: A small town gets ready for a big event, Weiser, Idaho

The sky will turn dark this morning as we experience a total solar eclipse. The timing for our trip to Glacier National Park revolved around our getting to a place for viewing the eclipse–a once in our lifetime event.

So here we are in Weiser, Idaho, a tiny town living in the past as much as it can and enjoying it. When we arrived, a children’s festival was being prepared, an adult festival was already in progress, eclipse shirts and viewing glasses were being sold. Around our campground (which is really the lawn of the National Old Time Fiddlers’ Association), there are food and drink vendors. Two young boys are selling popsicles and ice cream.

The Old Time Fiddlers’ Association building.

Festival in Memorial Park.

Getting ready for a children’s festival.

Food vendor.

Drink vendor.

The field across the street has filled with people, tents and RVs. NASA and MIT have taken spots on the High School’s track.

Tents in the High School Field.

There’s always a solution!

NASA

Following the sun.

MIT

Right now at 8:20 Mountain Time, there are a lot of people setting up. Breakfast is being sold. It’s a bit chilly, so I’m going to get a light jacket and join everyone. I’m still not sure whether I’ll shoot the eclipse. Reason: I really don’t know what I’m doing. Last night, we fashioned a solar filter for my 55 – 300 mm lens, but maybe I’ll be better off taking photos of the eclectic crowd.

I only have a couple of hours to decide before the sky turns dark.

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

On the road again: Leaving Glacier National Park

Right now, I’m sitting inside my air conditioned trailer courtesy of the National Oldtime Fiddlers Association in Weiser ID. It’s hot outside and people from all over are coming in to view tomorrow’s solar eclipse. Whether I will be able to shoot it is still up in the air.

In the meantime, I’m going to show you some images from the Going To The Sun Road that are new, a couple from a pull out on the road heading into Idaho and one of a new fire.

I’m glad we went to Glacier National Park. It’s been on my bucket list for a long time. I can wish there was no smoke and no fires, but I’ve learned to deal with what I’ve got. That was my part of the trip and now we’re on to Richard’s part. Not that he didn’t enjoy Montana, and I’m certainly going to enjoy my once-in-a lifetime eclipse.

So here’s the end of Glacier National Park and, looking forward, perhaps, a way for me to shoot the eclipse.

On the shore of Lake McDonald.

Rocky shore!

Once into Idaho, we were stopped and advised about this new roadside fire.

This was a new fire also.

We pulled out at this beautiful river.

Idaho is beautiful.

White sand beach.

A drive by shot.

This one too.

And a third

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

On the road again: Two Medicine Lake & Twin Falls, GNP

It was a lot easier coming down on twisty Highway 95 than going up. We left Columbia Falls yesterday and are now in Weiser, Idaho for the solar eclipse.

But, before we get into the preparation for the eclipse, I need to close out our adventures in Glacier National Park (GNP). The first day of no smoke we, fortunately, had arranged to take a boat ride on Two Medicine Lake and hike to Twin Falls. It was an easy 1.8 mile hike each way, but our guide was young and walked fast. We had seniors and young couples with small children with us, and he sometimes had the group lagging behind. I almost had to run to keep up–short legs!

It was an enjoyable hike with beautiful scenery. The falls were nice, but not spectacular. I tried some handheld slow shutter on the wider one. I think I’m saying they weren’t spectacular because it was difficult to shoot. Nature had put barriers in the way and kids were climbing on the rocks.

Coming back, we missed the boat and waited with some others about 30 minutes for the boat to come back. I didn’t mind because it gave me a chance to relax and rest. It also gave me an opportunity to shoot some more of the lake. Of course, I was shooting, out the boat’s open window, all the way there and back.

We had one more day of sightseeing in Montana and a day of re-stocking and cleaning before our trip to Weiser. That will be in my next post.

My first shot at the lake.

Pulling away from the dock.

Beautiful clear skies.

Another view.

One of the bridges we walked over.

A fungi. The only one I saw.

Fallen trees in the brush.

The wider of the twin falls. Slow shutter s;peed handheld.

The taller of the twin falls.

Kids playing. You can barely see the two falls.

The creek.

This mountain is the centerpiece.

A creek on our walk.

While we waited for the boat to return.

These mountains have names.

I can’t remember them.

Mostly because I had my head stuck out the window.

On the way back. Just wanted to show you something different, so it’s in black and white.

Posted on August 16, 2017August 16, 2017 by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

On the road again: Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada

It was just a peak at Waterton Lakes National Park, (WLNP) that is at Glacier National Park’s (GNP) most northern end. But, because it’s located in southern Alberta, Canada you need to show a passport at the border. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive, going around the east boundary of GNP since the western border was closed. Well, it was worth it.

Except for just a little fun harassment from the Canadian border guard, it was a great day trip. The park staff was very helpful and showed us two drives we could take and sight-see. We did half of one and the total of the other. We also explored the lovely village near the lake.

But before we did anything, we visited the Prince of Wales Hotel. It stood at the top of a hill. When I saw it, I knew I need to get up there to get some spectacular shots. The hotel itself was fun to shoot. Inside they welcomed everyone, hotel guest or not. And, their staff was from different countries.

Next stop was a village by the lake. I saw a doe walk up to a porch and look at the front door. I quickly picked up my camera and focused it. By the time I was ready, she was already feeding on the flowers in the hanging pot!

After lunch, we drove the route called Akamina Parkway half way because I wanted to drive the entire Red Rock Parkway. This was another mountain drive, much like those in GNP.

Red Rock Parkway showed us a different topography–less trees and more of a prairie. I was curious to go to Red Rock Can yon because of all the red rock canyons we have in the western states. It wasn’t as large but it was beautiful. Families took advantage of the water to wade and get wet.

Again, there were fires. The Park staff said one had just started in Alberta, and everyone was warned to be careful. I’m wondering if this is an unusual or typical summer.

It was a long trip back to our trailer in Columbia Falls, but a totally enjoyable day.