365 Photos: Week 45 The Week I Tried Panoramas

March 26 – April 1, 2013

I don’t remember quite how it came about.

I don’t recall if I upgraded my iPhone 4S so it could take panoramic shots or if I suddenly remembered that the upgrade would allow me to.  Either way, this was the week that I tried experimenting with panoramic shooting on my iPhone. That happened later in the week.  In the meantime, I was trying to get more interesting snow shots this week because we had so much of it.

When I was heading home on Tuesday, someone had been busy plowing snow to the end of the street.  I liked the way the light looked hitting this berms.

It was a little more dramatic looking than I was able to capture.

As I said we had a lot of snow, and it was still hanging around in force on Wednesday.

This bird house gives you a good idea of what we were up against.

And on Thursday, I tried using panorama for the first time in this project.

We attended the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the Magical Mystery Tour.  This shot was taken prior  to the show in the Atwood Concert Hall at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.

I am amazed at how easy it is to use this feature of the camera and the clarity of the shots.  It is pretty cool how well it works.  Sure there are some flaws in the shots, but I did this in 5 seconds.  Oh, and the concert was pretty great too.

The weekend arrived, and we invited friends over to play Rock Band.

Nothing special here, really.  But we had an AWESOME time playing rock band!

I experimented some more with the panoramic feature on the weekend.  Here is our back yard.

It’s pretty wild to see a flat image of something you can’t see like this.  Again, cool how easy this is to accomplish.  I’d tried stitching programs in the past, which was fun, but not this easy.

Sunday was Easter.  After lunch with the family, we took a walk in the woods.

Another panoramic shot from the hike.  I really like this shot.

I caught this one getting home from work.

More brich branches and blue sky.  I like this abstracted shot of the trees.  Leaves will be on them in about six weeks.  Summer does come slow.

More on that later.

365 Photos: Week 32 Post Christmas / Pre-New Year

December 25-31, 2012

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Week 32 of the 365 Photo Project started on Christmas Day.

The holidays are a time when I take lots of family pictures.  However, since I’ve been doing this photo a day project, I feel like I’ve been taking fewer pictures of my family. I do feel the pictures I am taking are much better.

The first picture of the week was of my brother and his son (both named Chris) and a big present.

The present was actually from me and Evan to my brother and his wife.  I love the look of the little guy as he hold the gift.  Nothing like the smile of a six-year old on Christmas morning.

I went with two pictures this day because the photo below is a years long Christmas tradition.

I used the tripod to get the shot and set it all up, so it is a picture I took even though I am in it.  No one knows for sure how the tradition began, but it is believed my dad started it over 30 years ago.  I have many of the pictures going back to when I was in grade school.  I think I am going to post them all in a future post.  Anyone who is at Christmas dinner at my aunt’s house is in the picture.  The people change each year.  Sometimes there is just family.  Often there are friends over who get in the shot too.  I love this tradition.

The day after Christmas is a funny day.  After the build up to Christmas, the day after is always a weird day.  I had read an article about shooting Christmas lights, so I decided to try some of the techniques. This is a spruce tree outside my parents’ condo in Fairbanks, Alaska.  The morning was crisp and pretty clear.  I shot this around 9:30 in the morning before the sun came up.

I like the effect of the tree lights and the slowly lightening sky.

Thursday saw us getting on a plane and heading home.  This was shot right before noon.

Again, notice how low the sun is on the horizon.  The mountain range in the back is the Alaska range.

Friday we went to see the production of STOMP that was in town.  What a great show.  I got this shot backstage.

STOMP is such an inventive show.  This can full of brooms was backstage, and I thought it looked cool.  I wish I’d had my good camera and not my iPhone.

Saturday began the work toward the New Year’s Eve dinner with friends.  Here Evan uses the mortar and pestle to grind peppercorns.

And what is New Year’s without black-eyed peas?

Evan prepared them from scratch and had these soaking for a couple of days so we could enjoy them on New Years day.

On New Year’s Eve we had a group of friends to dinner and this was the dessert Evan made.

It was a Raspberry Mousse torte or something.  It was so freaking good.’

And this brings 2012 to a close.

365 Photos: Week 28 Costa Rica Vacation

November 27 – December 2, 2012

Week 28, as I write this, seems a lifetime ago.  It was filled with the fun from our Costa Rica Vacation.

Because if the diversity of images, I chose more images than seven this week.  The choice was made in large part to capture the diversity of activity we did while in Costa Rica.

Tuesday’s image was of some fishing boats in the little bay of San Juanillo.  After lunch, we drove to this little bay to be in the water.  The bay was part of the little village, and fishing appeared to be a large part of the village life. I took many shots of fish heads, the buildings, the people, and the water.  There were some lovely sunset shots, but I was really fascinated with the boats and getting good shots.  This would be theme for much of the trip.

Perhaps the best part of the whole trip was waking up at 4:30 in the morning to go down to Ostional to see a turtle arribata.  The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle is apparently the only species of turtle who lay eggs in groups.  All other sea turtle lay solitary.  So during a new moon, they use the beach in Ostinal to lay eggs.  It was AMAZING.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Hundreds of turtles were coming out of the ocean and crawling up the beach.  Tiny baby turtles were coming out of the sand and running back to the sea.  Vultures were picking at eggs and babies.  It was beautiful.  It was chaos.  It was the circle of life.

The turtles come at night, so you either have to go at sundown or sunrise in hopes of seeing anything.  This is one of the best images I got during the trip.  There are others in my previous post. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves nature and wildlife.

The day began before sunrise, and also included a boat trip on Rio Nosara to see birds, crocodiles and other wildlife that ended at sunset.  Some of the wildlife was wild.

I was using a 50-200mm lens to get this, but we did get pretty close in the boat.  Notice there are two spiders.  Apparently the smaller one is a male.  She is likely to eat it.

Thursday we went horseback riding through the forest and out onto the beach.  It was a delightful two and a half hours made even more so by our guide, who is here with Evan.

After the horseback trip, we went to Samara for lunch.  As we were heading back to the car I snapped this shot I thought was cute.

I shot many things in Samara, but I really liked the look of this one. The street photography is much different in a little village than in a big city.  I asked her if it was ok, and she said yes.  I’ve found that I am getting more confidence when it comes to asking strangers to take pictures.  I still need more, but I am getting good when I see something I really like.

On Friday, I got a little indulgent with two shots.  They are of the same moment, but so some reason, I was overly fascinated with this pig, dog, and kids playing in the tidal pool with them.

I cannot explain my fascination with these animals or why I took so many pictures. It must have been because I’ve never seen a pig and a dog play on the beach and kids play with their pig in a tidal pool.  I took lots of pictures of all this, and at no time did I see an adult.  Things really are different in Costa Rica.  As the tide came in, I saw the kids leaving the beach with their pig and dog in tow.

On Saturday, we headed to the Four Seasons for the rest of our trip. At beach that night we saw the prettiest sunset of the whole trip.

I used the flash to fill in this shot.  I love the colors and everything about this shot.  We had been frolicking in the surf, hence Evan’s wet shirt look.  It was such a gorgeous sunset. And fast.  Near the equator like that, the sun goes straight down and then it gets dark.  Not at all like Alaska, where sunset last for over an hour.

On Sunday, we went snorkeling.

We bought a Canon D10 for the trip to take some underwater shots.  The first day was me getting used to the underwater features and the quirks of the camera.  I did get this fun shot of Evan underwater.  I do like the Canon D10 for this kind of work.  Also, it is great for being in out of doors places where there is lots of water.  More on that later.

Because I do love snorkeling do much, we went again on Monday.

I was getting better with the camera on the second day.  There is a bit of post processing to get the images sharper and more colorful.  The water was pretty murky when were out. But I like the way this puffer fish looks.

Because this day was jam packed with other activities, I do have three images total for Monday.  We took another boat ride and saw tons of wildlife.  The light was better this day than the previous boat ride.  I got a lovely picture of a crocodile and a bird.  Again, this was with the canon 50-200mm lens I borrowed for the trip.

I have more of Costa Rica for Week 29 before heading home.  That will be in the next post.

Costa Rica Day 3: Sea Turtles and Massages

There are few reasons the alarm needs to go off at 4:25 in the morning. To see a sea turtle arribada is one them.

The first night in Hotel Luna Azul was a treat. First, you could hear the ocean from our room, even though we are quite far from the coast. Second, all the crickets making noise all night. We have to sleep with all the windows open and a fan running since we don’t want to pay the $10 a day for A/C. Also, last night, we used the outdoor shower which was so cool. I’m a believer in the outdoor shower. Maybe not in arctic climes, but certainly in the tropics.

A little before midnight, some local nocturnal bird decided to take up outside our front door and call out to the females nearby. It was LOUD.

At first, I thought, “how lovely.” Then after about five minutes of this, knowing that the alarm was to sound in four and a half hours, it was no longer quaint to listen to a loud horny bird. I played with the door handle until he stopped. About and hour later, Evan did the same thing when he started up again.

When the alarm went off at 4:25, the night sky was stunning. The moon was completely full and shining down on the tree tops. It was stunning.

We gathered our things and drove to Ostinal beach to meet a guide to take us to the turtle grounds.

It was still quite dark when we arrived around 5 AM. The guide, Sherri. Walked us down to the beach with a flash light covered with red cellophane. The beach was black sand, so even with the full moon and the rising sun, it was quite dark.

At first we saw one turtle here and another one there. Then we saw more and more tracks of the turtles cris-crossing the sand. Then we could see dozens and dozens of these turtles. They were everywhere. It was like a traffic jam of turtles, with come heading inland to lay eggs and others headed back to sea.

This is called an arribada and is only known to happen with this one species of sea turtle, the Olive Ridley. All other sea turtles lay their eggs alone. But these ones are quite social. Arribada happen ordinarily only at the new moon, so this one happening during a full moon was even more impressive because you could see so much with the moonlight.

When we walked up further inland where the turtles were digging nests, it was chaos and carnage. Turtles were on top of each other. Sand was being flung in all directions as the turtles dug their nests. With the help of the guide, we used her red flash light to show us a turtle depositing the eggs in the nest.

The choas and carnage was coming from the vultures. As the turtles dug their nests, they would sometimes dig up a previously covered bunch of eggs. Eggs would go flying like ping pong balls, and the vultures were there ready to gobble them up. The nesting area was riddles with egg shells and baby turtles.

As the light came on, I looked down and nearly stepped on a little baby turtle frantically trying to make its way to the ocean. A few of the other people would pick up a dozen or so and the bring them to the water’s edge to help them.

Everything about this experience was amazing. The turtles just kept coming out of the water one after the other. The babies kept racing back in to the ocean. The vultures were trying to get breakfast. It was all happening so fast. And the sun was coming up! It was all so glorious.

I was fascinated with the tracks the turtles left on the beach. On this beach they were everywhere and you could not tell one track from another. Later in the morning, we walked to another beach and saw a solitary set of tracks.

So, it’s just before noon, I’ve had a massage, and awesome breakfast, and written this blog, while Evan had his massage. Next up is a river tour. I felt the turtle experience had to be blogged sooner than later.

By the way, the massage, like the shower was done outside. It was so nice.

I do hope our river tour doesn’t end up like this. This is our car on the road near our hotel. I’m not making this up.

And please note: the blog entires are hastily typed on an iPad. Please forgive gross spelling errors and grammar mess ups.

Morning in Joshua Tree: The Pictures

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about going to Joshua Tree to take photographs at sunrise.  I was traveling at the time, away from my desktop with Photoshop Elements.  I also didn’t get a chance to edit my photos, which is rather challenging on an iPad. I put a few up to go with the post.

Today, I want to post the entire album I’ve made of the trip. I like the shots.  I found that I ended up getting many of the same tree or angle. But still, now that I’ve worked with the images a bit, I feel like I have something.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Click on the Gallery below to see all the images. Would love some feedback on what you see.

Joshua Tree at Sunrise

Taking pictures at sunrise always seems like a better idea the night before than it does when the alarm goes off in the morning.

Sunrise was at 6:19. I’d been through this drill before when I was in Washington DC in July, so I knew how painful the waking up was, particularly after just five hours of sleep. Why I had only five hours of sleep involves Steve Martin, bluegrass, and a dead car battery. That is a post for another time.

I looked out the patio window and it was dark. Really? The sun would be up in 80ish minutes? In Alaska, the sun lights the sky for up to an hour and a half or two before the sun comes up. At 5 it was still darkest before the dawn.

Fortunately Starbucks was open for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I figured we would be the only ones there, but a man getting three coffees and some pastry had beaten us.

Evan fired up the Saturn Sky and we were off. As we crossed the desert to I10, the full moon to the west was casting a shadow of the car. To the east, there was little hint that the sun would soon be up.

Riding up to Joshua Tree in a convertible in the wee hours of the morning is the only way to go, especially under the full moon. I felt as though I was in that Volkswagon commercial from several years ago when the group is driving in a convertible at night with the Nick Drake song Pink Moon playing. Even though the sun was coming up, I could have ridden in the car for hours under the full moon and stars.

Darkness remained until he wound up highway 62 into Morongo Valley. In the west, color was beginning to fire up the sky.

The air also cooled considerably as we drove into the high desert. The once warm air took on a coolness. Even so, it was 80 degrees.

As the sky lightened, the silhouettes of the Joshua Trees began to take shape on the surrounding hillsides as we zipped up the highway to Joshua Tree. They are marvelous wonders-something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

Evan delivered us to Joshua Tree National Park right as the sun was coming up, at about 6:15. It was glorious. We stopped at the Quail Springs pullout, a couple of miles in from the West Gate.

The first thing I noticed was the top of the mountain beginning to take on a reddish color. That’s when I got my camera out. Little by little, all the surrounding ridges began to catch the glow of the rising sun.

Before long the light was descending from the hillsides down onto the surrounding valley floor. The Joshua Trees were lighting up one by one. It all seemed to happen so fast, like an explosion of light. I used to love watching the sun set slowly over the Minto Flats in Interior Alaska. A sunset seems to be a quiet and slow thing that brings a day to a peaceful end.

A sunrise is quite the opposite. The light happens fast and wipes away the darkness quickly. It’s all about energy and light. Everything was changing so quickly as the sun mounted the sky. I felt it hard to focus and concentrate as I walked back and forth across the desert trying to find the best view.

To be in a natural setting for the sunrise was quite remarkable. There were no buildings to stand in the way of the light. And it was so quiet. Even in a National Park, it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves.

One the sun was up, I tried to take advantage of the golden hour. In Joshua tree where so much of the landscape is golden, the sunlight just enhanced the already beautiful colors.

We spent a few more hours in the park taking pictures and hiking up Ryan Mountain.

It was a glorious way to spend a morning.

What’s your favorite place to watch the sun rise?

Here are a few more pictures from the morning.

365 Photos: Week 10 My Summer Vacation Part 1

Week 10 was about going on vacation.

Summer in Alaska has been a mostly dreary affair, so getting out to Southern California was a treat. A 100+ degree treat, but a treat nonetheless.

Before setting out, the start of the week on Tuesday was at home. It was finally time to get a shot of the Fireweed across the street from our house. Fireweed is like the barometer of summer. The flowers bloom up the stalk. When the blooms reach the top, and the plant goes to seed, they produce a fluffy white seed. It looks like snow, and in Alaska, that means the real snow isn’t far behind. It is quite beautiful, and is one of the first plants to come back after a forest fire. The contrast of black, charred trees is beautiful with the fields of reddish, purplish fireweed.

Wednesday’s picture of my suitcase was a little indulgent, but I was working with my tripod and getting long exposures in low light.

Thursday’s shot in the airport with the early morning light has gotten quite a few comments on my Facebook page. I really like this shot. We were walking to the gate, the sun was coming up, and immediately pulled out my camera. I love the quality of light and reflection in this one.

We love to go to Palm Springs. Since we were last there in February, the city rented this fun Marilyn Monroe statue. It is really a nice addition to Palm Springs and the inherent camp and kitsch of the place. It seemed appropriate that I took this picture after getting a mani on Friday.

With it being 100+ degrees in Palm Springs, we took the Ariel Tram to the top on Saturday. From there you can hike to the top of San Jacinto. We did not. The weather was about 40 degrees cooler there. We did hike, and that was where I got the shot of the deer.

I have two shots for this day, and the second shows the quality of the light up there. We were nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. I was shooting with a polarizing filter, but even so, the sky was so blue.

Sunday put us on the road to Santa Barbara. Sunsets in Alaska are quite nice; however, our whacked out day light schedule has them changing all the time. I think the reason I love September so much is because that’s when the sun sets at a somewhat normal time. Regardless, I was so excited to shoot a sunset at the ocean. But! Santa Barbara is on a portion of the California Coast where the beach runs more west to east. And in the midst of summer, the sun sets in a more northerly position. So I didn’t get to shoot the sun setting into the ocean. But I did get this great shot while experimenting with my flash.

On Monday, we walked up and down State Street and then eventually made our way to the beach. I was taken with all the sail boats without their sails.

More vacation to come in Week 11!

Chasing the Sun to the Lincoln Memorial

When the alarm went off at 5:20 A.M., I wasn’t sure what I was doing.

The weather forecast said clear skies, and the sun would be up a little before six. This all seemed brilliant the night before. Now, being confronted with the early hour, I wasn’t sure.

Since I started my 365 photo project, I’ve been trying to get creative and take pictures of new and different things. What better new and different thing than to shoot pictures in the National Mall at sunrise?

And this morning I was going to be a real photographer. I was going to work in the Golden Hour. I was going to stalk a photo the way hunters stalk prey. The way fraternity boys stalk sorority girls. Or something like that.

I had one shot I wanted above all others. I wanted to shoot the memorial marker of where Martin Luther King, Jr. stood when he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. The day before, I shot I that spot, looking down the mall at the Washington Monument. I wasn’t totally thrilled with the results. It was fine. I imagined looking east into the morning light, the shot would be spectacular.

It would be a 50 minute hike from my hotel at 11th and L. I considered a taxi, but wasn’t sure what I might miss on the journey.

Also, I was pretty sure a real photographer would not cab it down to the Lincoln Memorial.

At 5:30 in the morning, I practically had DC to myself. There were lots of runners and many birds chirping. I passed a small park that was lined with park benches, and each one had a homeless person sleeping on it. I briefly flirted with the idea of snapping some shots, but decided against it in case I might offend someone. Not the actions of a real photographer. I still have lessons to learn.

My first stop was the south side of the White House. The past two times I’ve been to the White House, it’s been packed with people. At just before six, it was just me and the security guard.

I looked at the sky, and could see the sun was coming up. I checked my Mr. Sun app to find out when it would be up. I began to get disappointed because the light wasn’t doing the amazing things I had hoped. This was sunrise? Where the hell was the gorgeous light I had promised myself would be there? Had I missed the best light? The sun was up. Wasn’t this now the Golden Hour?

I crossed to the other side of the White House. The Washington Monument was now bathed in a warm glow from the sun. I had to hurry.

I walked onto the Mall trying to get a good position and perhaps get a good shot of the Washington. By the time I was in a good position, the light had changed. This was going to be work being a real photographer.

I turned toward the World War II memorial, thinking that morning light would look great on the dancing waters. By the time I got there, the sun got above the low clouds and was looking great. There was a boot camp fitness class doing calisthenics right at the WWII memorial. Pushups, jogs around the grounds, sit ups. I though what a great location for a group work out. It was much better than the dome in Anchorage. I snapped a few shots, but felt like I was wasting time.

From the WWII memorial, I spotted my prey–the Lincoln Memorial.

I’m not sure what it is about those columns and marble. A friend of mine after seeing my many Facebook posts about being there texted and asked me if i had moved in.

There is something so stirring, moving about being there. I’ve been there three times, and each time has been different. The first time, it was full of people, and no one spoke it was so quiet and reverent. I’ve now seen it at midday, at night, and now in the morning. I can’t explain it. It touches a part of my spirit that knows amazing things can happen by the will of a single person.

At this point, I began to wonder if I would get the shot I wanted. Already the memorial was glowing at the far end of the empty reflecting pool. How much longer would it look like that?

I walked to the north side of the mall, only to find workers blocking the most direct path to the memorial. I detoured toward Constitution Pond. It was full of ducks tipping up in the now beautiful morning light. Runners were passing me going down the mall. I was impressed with these men and women, and envied them their morning runs through the spectacular scenery of Washington DC.

As I neared the end of the Mall. I saw the ebony gash of the Vietnam Memorial. I toyed with taking a few shots, but I still wanted to get to the Lincoln. Through the sense tree tops, I began to see the glowing form of the Memorial.

It really was spectacular in the morning sun. And it was quiet. This was the first time I got to be here on my own. Runners made their circuits up and down the stairs. Most would pause briefly at the top and take a moment to pay a quiet homage to the seated figure looking east.

I found the spot where MLK stood as he gave his most famous speech. In the glorious light, I imagined the mall filled with crowds. It was on that spot right in front of me. I became a little emotional.

When i got my shot, I sat in a tired, emotional, and energized silence on the steps.

This was what it felt like to be a real photographer.

The sun was going to give me another treat. As it headed skyward, it was slowly coming around and going to shine between two of the massive columns right on the seated statue of Lincoln. It would be an amazing shot.

I waited patiently-like a real photographer would.

Then the sun went into some clouds. The light diffused and eventually the stark light vanished. I was thwarted for that shot.

But I got the shot I wanted.

I did see what I thought was a real photographer. He had a big lens and an enormous tripod. I wanted to talk to him and see what he was shooting. I didn’t. We each had our reasons for being there, our prey. I got my shot.

I hope he got his.

The shot below was done with my iPhone. Since I’m traveling, I can’t upload from my DSLR very easily.

Enjoy?