Streets

My friend Elton and I regularly hit the streets of Saigon. We both love street photography and are always open to a new adventure. To be sure street photography has its challenges. With snatch and grab theft increasing here it is reassuring to have a shooting partner to watch your back. Similarly we don't need to explain to or worry about someone else (like wives and girlfriends). It's difficult for me to shoot with my wife. She does not have the passion for street photography. When two photographers get together worldly concerns get pushed away for a few hours allowing us to concentrate on our art. I always learn from Elton. As we shoot I get to see his “eye”, how he works a scene, and I get the chance to see what I miss. I rarely shoot the same scene. I prefer to let Elton have the shot as I know I will also get shots he misses. Its fun to discover after the shoot that we often shoot the same subject but differently. I believe this makes us both better street shooters. I highly recommend finding a shooting partner. It will make you a better photographer.

I love the expression on the flower lady's face. I think I surprised her and got a “peek-a-boo” image.

I met this gentleman in a neighborhood temple. What a great experience. He spoke English and I spoke Vietnamese! Two human beings connecting in a most surprising way.

This shot is an example of Elton and I shooting the same subject but with different angles, composition and post production. (color and B&W)

Checkout his images at: http://eltonb.com/

Find a friend and hit the streets!

Phone or camera?

We live in exciting times. Technology is leaping ahead as a revolution of new and fascinating ideas

create new instruments for unleashing our creativity. The quality of smart phone cameras leaves my head spinning. About a year ago I bought a motorola x-play phone. By far the best phone I have ever owned, and yes I have owned an iphone. The images this “phone” makes is outstanding. The detail in this shot of the Bitexco Financial building shocked me.

Bitexco Financial Tower Saigon, Vietnam

Then even this low light image produced a decent image. Use your phone to practice composition, to mark locations you want to return to for a “real” shoot or to challenge your creative eye.

Low light interior staircase

It all leaves me wondering what's next? The new mirrorless cameras are lighter, smaller and more easily transported. They are producing amazing images and are quickly becoming the camera of choice for many very talented photographers.

Next time you are out for coffee or a walk take your phone. Don't miss that shot! Take the time to experiment with your phone camera and let your creativity loose!

Coffee!

If you can't begin your day without your jolt you are in good company. Luckily for me I live in the coffee capital of the world...Saigon, Vietnam! Hands down the finest coffee in the world and the best coffee culture anywhere. Coffee is persuasive here, it drives this country. Everything seems to revolve around this culture. Business, networking, socializing and relaxing. Morning, noon and night the shops are filled with coffee revelers! Iced coffee dominates. Café sua da: ̣(coffee-milk-ice)... with condensed milk and ice and café den da (coffee-black-ice)...strong black coffee with ice are the two most popular. Café pha phin (coffee-drip) is the preferred method. While the water slowly drips through the filter you relax in anticipation. 

Saigon is hot, stifling hot and humid. Lunch breaks are long, a siesta time to recuperate and wait out the worst of the heat. Coffee shops fill, some continue to do business thanks to smart phones and free internet. Others socialize, relaxing before returning back to work. Everywhere you go you see people carrying coffee to go (café mung vệ). Vendors on street corners, sidewalks, portable carts and even the backs of motorbikes offer coffee for sale.

Coffee is sold in great open air venues. Each with it's own style and design. A never ending variety of quiet, cool and eye pleasing digs. With a little bit of research or walking you can easily find a venue that fits you. The internet is full of articles of where to go.

My wife and I enjoy exploring new shops. Along the new walking street is one old and delightful building that houses a plethora of coffee shops mixed in with trendy stores and eateries. If you stop by here be prepared to climb stairs. The building still houses families who live there but be warned the elevator is slow, very very slow. So lace up and check out each floor. Surprises await!

Mysterious Places

Black and White!!!
Dark stairways, deep shadows, mysterious and unknown places intrigue me. I am drawn to explore them, to challange the dark  and to over come fear. We all know of these places, some of us are afraid to step forward. With camera in hand I will take you on my newest adeveture!

Bitexco

I've become quite enamoured with the signature building of Saigon. It seems to change like the weather, often and with dramatic results. I managed to catch this view in late afternoon as the sun was dropping down. I just love the bronze glow! How about you?

Surprise! Surprise!

Photography is fun, exciting and often places you on the “edge”. Everyday shoots can quickly change into something very surprising. Last Monday I decided to shoot some night scenes in Saigon, Vietnam. Here one must be careful to scout your location not only for great images but also for avoiding a snatch and grab of your camera. I once saw a tourist in downtown Saigon with his camera on a tripod in the street while he stood on the curb composing his shot. I approached him and asked him if he spoke English. He answered yes. I told him it was very dangerous to place his camera in the street as thieves on motorbikes will zip by and grab his gear. He looked at me like I was crazy and sarcastically said “I suppose you have personal experience”! I said no, but I live here and know this often happens especially in tourist areas. He acted like I insulted him. Well I tried.


Back to Monday. I set up well back from the road and my wife positioned our motorbike to block anyone from driving by and grabbing our gear. The street behind me was lower and a guard rail further protected my back. Or so I thought. Suddenly my camera was being pulled away! I had my grip on the tripod (as I always do here) and had the strap too. A struggle ensued with me yelling Robber! Robber! in Vietnamese. He was about three feet below me and his grip was slipping. He let go and ran to his waiting accomplices motorbike for a quick get away. The only casualty was my tripod which suffered a bent leg. They were smart and bold. I was not expecting a grab from behind and below. They took advantage of my focus away from them and on my scene. Bold because the man took a big risk being off the motorbike. Thankfully I've learned some Vietnamese to alert those around and put fear in the hearts of the thieves. My wife lost her voice after yelling too.

 And to top it off I did not get one good shot as you can see here......

McDonald's Saigon

Urban photography requires a different set of skills to deal with potential harm. I am thankful to my wife who has taken the time to teach me about life in her country. I am thankful I have not become lax in my attention to my surroundings and to protecting my gear.

I am most thankful to God who protected us and taught me a lesson while reminding me of His love for us.


And yes next time I see someone doing something unwise I can say....Yes it has happened to me, here's my story!

Composition basics

Three more images from Angkor Wat. I'm still working through my shots so stayed tuned for more of Angkor Wat. In the first image the flowers show the use of the rule of thirds. I set them on the left edge and left some space if front to add depth. I used framing in the middle shot to set the scene, add interest and define the edges. The last shot works because the people give it scale, hard to see the size of the ruins without them.

Keep shooting, keep learning, keep up the hard work! Great rewards are a  result of your vision, "eye", and your persistence!

Angkor Wat

Just returned to Saigon after a quick trip to Cambodia. Here are some images from Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Siem Reap Cambodia. The first is a black and white silhouette of Angkor Wat. The sun was rising behind making it a good time to shoot this image. Notice the blocks that make up the face, each cut separately and then assembled like a jigsaw puzzle. Amazing!

Angkor Wat

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom

Urban Scape 2-Night

I find the Bitexco building intriguing. It dominate the Saigon skyline. Should you find yourself lost in Saigon, look for the Bitexco. It can be seen from just about anywhere a wandering tourist my go. Often as I drive in non tourist areas I can still see the Bitexco, I am never far from working my way back to familiar roads.
Last evening I headed out exploring for good vantage points to shoot the Saigon skyline. I stopped here and was quite pleased with the leading lines, traffic blurs and the lit Bitexco in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

F20, 15 seconds, ISO 100

Everyday presents a new photo opportunity so keep shooting!

Urban Scapes

I've decided to re-juice my enthusiasm for urban photography. I am starting a new project featuring city-scapes of Saigon Vietnam. Here is my first entry. I shot this HDR image with my Nikon D700, handheld in mid morning sun. I used Photomatix software combining three shots at 0, +2 and -2 exposure. I was quite surprised and pleased with the results. Let me know what you think!

 

Bitexco Building Saigon, Vietnam

 Everyday presents a new photo opportunity so KEEP shooting!!!

Fall 2012!

By far my favorite time of year is fall. Warm days, cool crisp nights and COLOR! I live on the north shore of Lake Superior in Lutsen, Minnesota. Our fall color comes quickly and leaves us only with memories just as fast. Color peaks between September 15^th and the 28^th, hotels are full, highway 61 is lined with cars and the state parks fill with color seekers. It is always best to book a hotel room far in advance. When I first moved here I worked in a hotel, (the Mountain Inn) and every year we would have a line of visitors asking about room availability. With no rooms open at any hotel from Lutsen to Grand Marais I could only tell them about National forest campgrounds that may have an open space.

This year we had a house guest and I had truck trouble which limited my time in the field. With more time after peak I concentrated on macro shots to tell the fall story. One added benefit of fall shooting is frost. I love frost! So many new opportunities to show the changing of the season. I have been experimenting with HDR (High Dynamic Range) this fall. HDR is the combining of exposures in high contrast scenes. The range of exposure is decided by the photographer. My frost shots here are HDR. The added exposure range really helps pop the frost and the color.

Frost on leaves HDR

Hoar Frost edges HDR

Back lit leaves at sunset

HDR Temperance River

HDR Cascade River, Cascade River State Park

  

                                         Everyday presents a new photo opportunity so KEEP shooting!!!

She looking at me!

When a friend texted to ask me if I had a macro lens I replied yes not knowing what he had in mind.

Arriving at his house he showed me this spider sitting on her web stretched across the spokes of a bicycle, guarding her egg sack. I grabbed my camera bag and went to work. The blur across the spiders legs was caused by an out of focus spoke. It was windy and the sun lit the scene sporadically so I  mounted my D700 on a tripod to get the shot. I tightly cropped the first shot in photoshop to emphasize her stare.

1/200th @ F2.8, ISO 200 Focal length of 86mm

1/250th @F 4.5 ISO 200 90mm

I believe this is a black and yellow argiope (are-JI-o-pee) spider or a common Orb/Garden spider. If not please let me know!

Keep shooting and have Fun!

Happenstances

I thoroughly enjoy life's happenstances. Unexpectedly I came across five red fox siblings. Smiley...came right up to me, yep I've begun the naming process. I plan to check back on them until they decide to go their separate ways. Until then look for image here to follow the "Fox" family!
I messed up quite a few shots before I captured these two. The morning light was changing fast and I was not in tune. Finally I got my act together and the results show. No matter how long or how many images you create you will miss some. At these times you must embrace the process and learn from your mistakes. 

Nikkor 70-200mm: F/8 @ 250

Nikkor 70-200mm F/8 @250 ISO:200

 

 

 

Lightning!

Last night as we traveled back home we were blessed with awesome light show. Lightning was ripping all over the sky. I knew I had to stop to try to capture the show. I have never made a serious attempt to photograph lightning. I did not have my full sized tripod but I did have a small light weight plastic tripod. So I set it up on the roof of our car. This shot was taken at ISO 800, F/9 at 13 seconds. The wind was gusty so the trees were swaying. I included the tree line for added interest and as a reference point. Not bad for my first real attempt. Remember to play it safe, the lightning here was well away from us with clear/partly cloudy skies above us. Still that is no measure of safety. Be careful when trying to capture lightning.

Lightning discharge rips across the night sky.

You only fail if you don't try!

Aurora Borealis

Yesterday I received an email alert from www.aurorawatch.ca telling me a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was heading towards earth. I decided to wait stay up late to watch for and photograph Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. I was not disappointed. At times the lights were strong lit, as I stopped to set up for these shots the aurora was moving in waves across the night sky.
This was only the second time that I have tried to capture the aurora. I am still learning but was able to capture these images. Shooting at ISO's up to 1600, shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds at F3.5. I highly recommend giving this night photography a try!

Constellation Cassiopeia during an Aurora Borealis event.

The Big Dipper seen through a Aurora Borealis display.

Raging Rivers

Thanks to 5 inches of rain the watershed along the north shore has filled the rivers. Here in Lutsen we have had little damage due to the immense storm that engulfed northern Minnesota this week. The heavy downpours have filled the rivers creating great photo opportunities. It is a great time to grab the camera bag and head north! 

                                                                      

Temperance River

Poplar River

Onion River

Everyday presents a new photographic opportunity...so keep looking and Shoot!

High Dynamic Range- HDR

High Dynamic Range photography is a great tool for high contrast scenes. Difficult exposures make us think and concentrate to bring all of our skills to bear. It forces us to become better photographers. It forces us into a critical thinking mode. I have been leaning HDR photography and love the options it gives us when a scene is too high contrast for one exposure. This shot is a great example. I had to wait for the sun to light up the waterfall. This waterfall is in a canyon where you must wait for mid morning sunlight. Timing here is the key. I took seven exposures with a HDR image in mind. I used a trail version of Photomatix which exceeded my expectation.  I began with an ISO of 125, shutter speed of 1/4 sec at F/22. I used hyper-focal distance of 8 feet for my Nikon 28-105 lens. Hyper focal distance is when you focus at a specific distance into the scene based on lens focal length to achieve sharpness from that distance through infinity. In this case at 28mm the recommended focus distance 5 feet. I then under/over exposed three shots on each side of my starting exposure keeping the F stop at 22 and varying the shutter speed. I then used Photomatix to produce the multiple exposure image. There is some ghosting due to the wind moving some of the leaves but overall the shot is sharp. Many HDR images are over the top in color and do not look real. You can produce art like images with the software too. I went for a more natural look here.

This shot I worked for a more art look. A five stop range again setting up for hyper-focal distance. I also used a 2 filter combination for a more dramatic sky. I combined a 3 stop graduated neutral density (GND) filter with a magenta filter.

 If you are interested in HDR download a trial copy of Photomatix @ http://www.hdrsoft.com, then have fun with some high contrast scenes!

Every day presents a new photographic opportunity....so keep looking and shoot!

Patience

 Landscape photography will test your resolve. It may even push your patience to the edge.  A good landscape photographer is a patient one. Dramatic light is best beginning one half hour before sunrise and will have you waiting for the perfect last light of the day one half hour or later after sundown. You may find yourself riding out the rain hoping for a dramatic sky as the clouds clear or kneeling on hard rocks along a shoreline as you watch the sky turn to a glowing yellow, orange or pink. Arriving early to set up increases your chance of a great exposure. Using a tripod is highly recommended. The tripod gives you a stable base and allows long exposures necessary for the lower light at sunrise and sunset. If possible scout the area during mid day so you know the elements you wish to include in your scene. Being prepared with tripod, filters, and composition in mind all lead to the framed image on your wall. Great photography requires thinking, planning and patience!

The following images were both taken during sunrise at Cascade River State Park on the shores of Lake Superior in Minnesota. The Cascade River flows into Lake Superior which creates an interesting patterns between flowing river water and waves on Lake Superior. I used a Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filter set at the horizon to help cut the contrast in the scene. Shot at F/22 with an ISO of 160.

Everyday presents a new photo opportunity...so keep looking and shoot!

Reducing Sun Flares

I've been learning more and more as I study photography. I am taking an online course to help me improve my skills. Thanks to my online instructor, Sean Arbabi at PPSOP (ppsop.com), I learned a new way to help reduce sun flare. I never thought to try blocking the sun with an element in the scene. In this shot I used the pine tree to partially block the sun. It was windy so I took a number of shots trying to time it correctly to produce the starred sun through the pine branch. The scene was shot at F/22, 1/50th sec at 100 ISO. If we just keep listening and seeking advice we can all learn to become better photographers. We will always be learning throughout our careers. Never be afraid to try something new, your image my surprise you.

Everyday presents a new photo opportunity....keep learning and shoot!

Gunflint Mail Run 2012

Celly! Hey Celly I'm almost out!

The 2012 running of the Gunflint Mail Run is over. What a great time we had! The race came together beautifully and 16 teams competed. With a 4 pm start time we prepared ourselves for some great night shooting. Each of us had an idea to try out but Jessica Jasek Nailed it! See her work at www.jasekimages.com
 I tried some low light to no light long exposures and got some fun images.

I had a great group of fellow photogs to shoot with and enjoyed shooting alongside them. My thanks to Kit, George, Stephan, and of course Jessica! Great shooting with you and I appreciate your friendships.

Future Lead Dog....I wanna run with the big dogs!

Light Trails: Lead dog and musher lights go surreal with long exposure.

Politickin': Ban the" Pebble Mine"

 

A surreal Peter McClelland on the trail.

Fading Light

Ghost Team