Outdoor – Page 5 – Always Breaking

Dahlias in Golden Gate Park

On our day trip to San Francisco last weekend, my wife had to take me by the dahlias outside the Conservatory of Flowers. I’m glad she did. I’m so bad with flower names I probably couldn’t have identified a dahlia myself, so didn’t really know what to expect until we got there. I had no idea dahlias came in so many sizes, shapes, and colors. My wife is a florist, so I’m a little ashamed to admit me floral ignorance. But I do like to take pictures of flowers, and this was an excellent opportunity. I geotagged the image on Zooomr so you can find out how to get there, but if you want to see them you’d better go soon. The flowers were a few days past their prime (according to my wife) so won’t be as spectacular much longer.

We went there late in the day, around 6:00 pm, so were able to park right next to the flowers. There were several other people taking photos of the dahlias, including a few people with the exact same camera I have, the Canon 30D. I’m still getting used to the controls on the camera, so I was slowed down a little. I still managed to take a couple of dozens photos in a few minutes. There are so many varieties and great shots, it wasn’t hard to take a lot of pictures. I wish I had thought to write down the flower names as I shot, or at least took shots of the little plaques with names. I’m going to need to get a notebook to start writing things down. The JPG records EXIF data, but usually there’s more going on in a shot than what EXIF records.

I used my 70-300mm IS lens to get the shots. The light was starting to fade, so even with the image stabilization a couple of shots were blurry.

Here are two other shots, the second one is the same variety as the main image:

Golden Gate Series

Yesterday my family took a day trip to San Francisco, mainly to walk the Golden Gate Bridge. I have lived basically my entire life within a few hours of San Francisco and have probably driven across the bridge over a thousand times, but until yesterday had never set foot on the bridge. If you live near San Francisco or are visiting, it is worth the effort. I don’t recommend Saturdays, but it was still quite an experience.

You’re walking within a few feet of traffic, so the noise gets to you. If you start on the city side, the crowds can be a chore to navigate. And bikes riding on the wrong side of the bridge can get annoying. (Bikes are not supposed to ride on the east walkway on weekends, but apparently a lot of people can’t read the signs.) But once you get past the south tower, the crowds thin out and the view gets better. We didn’t walk all the way across, but did go about 2/3 of the way. I had kids with me and they weren’t up to the entire walk. I imagine on foot it would take less than two hours to go all the way across and back, taking some time to stop and enjoy the view, or shoot some pictures. You really could spend a day just around the bridge, there are plenty of things to see on both sides.

So, if you can, walk the bridge. I know it’s a “tourist” thing to do, but really should be done by anyone within driving distance, at least once. It is probably the single most recognized landmark west of the Statue of Liberty and probably the most well known bridge in the world, so it’s worth a couple of hours of your life.

I shot this in RAW (of course) with my standard 18-55mm lens. I did use a polarizing filter. I converted it to black and white and did all other processing in Digital Photography Professional, which came with my camera. It’s quite a good program, I was impressed with all it had to offer. I did apply a red filter to the image to add contrast. DPP can simulate red, yellow, orange and green filters with monochrome images. I thought that was pretty cool.

Here’s a few other shots. More are on Zooomr.

Boulevard Cinemas at Night

I got my new Canon 30D yesterday and went out to shoot. Unfortunately, it was a little late and I don’t have a tripod, so the lighting wasn’t great. I did take a few shots, including this one of the local movie theater. I brought two of the kids and the new puppy with me, so the shooting conditions really weren’t optimal, but I had to shoot something. I’m pleased with the few shots I’ve taken, and will be taking more today.

Even though I’ve barely used the camera, I can tell I’m really going to enjoy it. For starters the layout of the controls is much better than the Rebel XT. I really like the LCD on the top of the camera that shows the current settings. Also, the LCD for viewing shots is bigger, which is always a plus. The camera does weigh more than the XT, but not much.

One other thing I like is that you can shoot RAW + JPG, which all Canon DSLRs support, but with the 30D you can select various sizes for the JPG. With the XT I could only shoot RAW + large JPG. Now I can shoot RAW + small JPG and save space on the card. I like having the EXIF data in the JPG, but don’t really use the actual JPG image. I’ll probably always shoot RAW + small JPG unless someone can give me a reason to use large JPG.

Take a look at this shot on Zooomr, and a couple of other shots:

On Closer Inspection

Last week Thomas Hawk blogged about the Poor Man’s Macro technique that he read about in a JPG Magazine article back in February. Basically, if you don’t have a real macro lens you can take a standard lens, flip it around, and hold it in front of the camera to get a macro effect. Well, after a cursory read of Thomas’ post I gave the technique a try. My first few attempts did not work, at all. Then I finally figured it out, and came up with this shot. It’s the passenger side rear view mirror on my car.

I used my 18-55mm lens set at around 50mm to take this picture. I first set the exposure with the lens on the camera, then took it off and shot through it backwards. Because the lens is off the camera, the aperture is open all the way so I could only control the shutter speed. Fortunately with digital SLRs, you can see the shot immediately and figure out the right shutter speed. Metering with the lens on at the widest aperture gets you pretty close, but I had to change the shutter speed to get this shot.

The technique requires a steady hand and lot of experimentation. I tried several shots of some outdoor plants, but had a really hard time because the breeze kept blowing my subject around. With the Poor Man’s Macro, the focal range is extremely small, so the slightest movement can blur the entire image. I left the focus on the lens set and moved back and forth while looking through the viewfinder to get the shot. I suppose you could try and stay still while adjusting the focus ring, but I think that would be too hard. It’s also a little tricky holding the lens in exactly the right position to get the shot.

Also, the technique is not without risk. The JPG magazine article explains how to set it up with a two lenses, which is probably a better way to go. By taking the lens off your camera you expose it to dust. I have an inexpensive Digital SLR that is worth less than most lenses at this point, so I figured the risk was minimal. But I would recommend the two lens solution if you can manage it. I don’t like taking the lens of my camera, so I was little nervous while shooting. But the effect is so cool, I couldn’t resist.

I’m
definitely going to continue to experiment with this technique under better conditions and with different focal lengths. It was fun to try something new, and I like the results. Here’s another shot I took:

Ideally I would like to get a real macro lens because I love macro photography, but I might try to set up a two-lens Poor Man’s Macro system. I’d like to see how those photos vary from how I took this shot, and how it varies from using a real macro lens.

Beneath the Lake

Taken at Trinity Lake, CA
While camping I got a chance to shoot with my new 70-300mm lens. I loved it. It really brings things in, especially compared to the 18-55mm I’ve been using for the past couple of years. I figured after two years, I was due for a lens upgrade. So far I have not been disappointed with the new lens. At full zoom the images look great, although you do need a lot of light, even with image stabilization. I took some great shots of the kids from really far away.

Anyway, about the shot. Trinity Lake is a reservoir in the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area west of Redding, CA. It was farmland and forest once upon a time; the numerous tree stumps bear witness to the forest that once stood there. This year the lake is pretty low, so a lot of what is normally underwater is exposed. There were a few dozen of these stumps a short walk from our campsite.

The soil is a red dirt, so when it’s stirred up by boats or swimmers in the water you can see red clouds floating along the shore. The mud has stained all the stumps, giving them a red hue. Over the years of being submerged, the soil has eroded away from the stumps, leaving the major root structures visible. It’s a pretty cool effect with red tones and the stumps seemingly hanging in the air. Even more so when there are groups of stumps. I’d hate to see what happens to a boat that hits one of these when they’re hidden by the water.

Here’s a macro shot of a stump farther up the shoreline:

Trinity Lake is a wonderful place to camp. We don’t boat, but if you do the lake is great for water sports. It’s big, warm, and the surrounding mountains are spectacular. This year the lake is really low because of the low rainfall in Northern California. The lake was so low that the boat ramp near our campground was closed. The cement ended about 30 yards from the water. Here’s a shot of the walkway that runs along theramp:

The main image is hosted on Zooomr with a geotag. There are some other shots of the trip there as well.

Sundial Bridge

Last weekend our family and three other families headed up to Trinity
Lake to do some camping. On the way up we stopped in Redding, CA to see the Sundial Bridge. One of the dads had read about the bridge and wanted to see it since it was on the way. (It was literally a couple of blocks from the freeway we were on.) Simply put, the bridge was impressive. If you are ever near Redding, it is worth stopping at. It’s only a couple of minutes off I-5, has plenty of parking, and is great spot for taking pictures.

The bridge is a pedestrian only bridge that spans the Sacramento River in the middle of Redding. It gets its name from the fact that the bridge actually is a massive sundial. There are markers on the North end that show the time as the shadow of the spire moves during the day. The accuracy varies because any sundial is really only accurate at Summer Solstice, but it was still pretty close last week.

I’m not going to go into all the details of the bridge, if you want them them you can visit the Wikipedia entry. Aside from the stunning design and engineering, one thing I thought was cool was the surface of the bridge – it’s glass. We were there during the day so didn’t get to see the bridge lit up, but I imagine it’s pretty spectacular.

I was also impressed that a city actually had the foresight and political will to build such a fabulous landmark. I can’t imagine the debates and battles that took place to get this project approved, but it was worth it. I’ve driven through Redding several times over the years, but only ever stopped for gas or food. Now I’ll stop by the bridge every time I drive through. It’s a great place to hang out and relax. This bridge is in itself an attraction. It drew our families, and I’m sure will continue to be an draw others for decades to come.

When we were there it was over 100 degrees, so the water looked really inviting. At the North end of the bridge you can walk under the bridge and wade in the river, but even in 100+ degree heat the water is too cold. The Sacramento River is fed from Lake Shasta, which is primarily snow runoff. I was surprised by how cold it was. I could only stand in it, ankle deep, for about a minute. While the kids tried to see who could stay in the water the longest, I wander around taking pictures.

You can see this image on Zooomr with a geotag. Here are a few more shots:

Along the tracks

I’ve always had somewhat of a childish fascination with trains. I’ve only ridden a few real trains in my life, but there’s something about trains that pulls at me. Maybe it’s because as a very young child I played around train tracks and spent a bit of time watching them go by. There were tracks very close to where I lived, so I’d go down there with my friends and see what happened if we put some coins on the tracks, or maybe a lawn chair. Looking back, it was quite dangerous, but that’s what boys do – flirt with danger to see how far they can go. We were lucky no one got hurt or killed. I remember running across the tracks in front of oncoming trains. Not too smart, fortunately I’ve grown up and stick to walking abandoned tracks.

This shot is along a stretch of track that, after some 60 miles, connects to the same tracks I played on as a child. I took a walk along the tracks last week just to get away from my desk for a while and take some pictures, something I don’t do enough of these days (walks and taking pictures). The tracks haven’t had trains running for nearly 10 years, but freight and commuter trains could start running soon.

Some people are worried about the traffic congestion that trains will cause because the tracks cross the main street that runs East-West through our town, but I don’t care. I grew up hearing and seeing trains running and miss them. Every place I’ve lived has had trains running. It was part of my childhood landscape, and something that is missing from my kids childhood. I didn’t realize it growing up, but do now that I drive by dormant tracks. Trains are an important part of our society and our history. They tie communities together in a way that freeways don’t. I can’t wait for the trains to start running, I’d like to shoot some photos.

This shot is on Zooomr.

Here are a couple of more pictures I shot that day:

And here’s a shot taken at night of a rail crossing that I did not take, but think is really cool.

Cracked Rear View

Not much to say about this shot, just an old Chevy flatbed truck sitting in a field collecting dust and spiders. I’m sure the truck has seen more productive days, as have I. This summer seems to be slipping by, and I can’t really say where it’s gone. I’ve definitely not had as much chance to take pictures as I was hoping. The days just some how seem to fill up then slip away. I sort of wish I had more days like this old truck – nothing to do and no where to go.

I don’t have much information on the truck, other than it’s a 1940’s flatbed. It’s a pretty big and can haul a good sized load.

I think that’s about it for this post. Here’s an alternate shot of the truck, taken last year.

Owl’s Barn

Last week we spent some time visiting with friends and family on a ranch in the lower Russian River valley. I guess ranch isn’t the right word, it’s vineyard land with several varieties of wine grapes. Anyway, this barn is on the ranch and is a moderately famous barn. I’ve seen photos of it at an art show in Emeryville and it’s been in calendars and postcards. It’s usually shot from farther away and from the opposite side, but when I was there the sun was setting and the light coming through the barn made the shot better from this side. This shot is on Zooomr here, there is an alternate shot here.

The barn isn’t really used for vineyard operations, other than for storage. It’s now home to some owls. The floor is littered with the bones of small animals eaten by owls. My kids (who studied owls in school) were quite eager to tell the adults about the dietary habits and digestive functions of owls. It’s very fascinating, but I’ll spare you the details. I’m sure Wikipedia has ample information on the subject. I don’t know much about rodent anatomy, but others in the group could point out various bones of various creatures. Later in the evening we saw an owl fly over, I assume it was eventually heading for the barn.

Other than getting out to take pictures, it was a great evening spent with family and friends. One of those evenings you wish you could have everyday.

Here are a few other shots from the same day:

Window to the past

I went downtown last week to check out telephoto zoom lenses at the local camera shop and took this shot on my way back to the car. It’s a wall that divides an empty lot. Many decades ago a building stood on the lot, thus the windows, but it burned down probably before I was born. To my knowledge the wall has not been earthquake retrofitted and has lasted through a few large to moderate earthquakes. It is connected on both ends to buildings so isn’t just free-standing. I’ve always thought it was a cool, old architectural artifact from a by gone era. I’m kinda surprised no one has built anything on the lot, it’s in a prime location downtown. Businesses use it for reserved parking, but that’s
ok. I hope it remains a empty lot with the lone wall for a long time. Hosted on Zooomr with a geotag so you can see the location.

About the lens, I pretty much decided on the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Telephoto Zoom Lens. I looked at a cheap Tamron lens, but was not impressed the few photos I shot in the store. This Canon lens costs quite a bit more than the Tamron, but has Image Stabilization. I do like to shoot in low light, especially late in the day, so I figured I would use that feature. It’s not a professional grade lens like the L-Series, but it is in my budget and has gotten a lot of good reviews. Since I’m just a hobbyist and mostly take family photos, I figured this lens would work well. My daughters like to perform in school plays (which have marginal lighting) so the image stabilization should come in handy. One daughter is on a swim team, so I should be able to get some good shots of her at the meets. The best price I found was Adorama, if you recommend an different site please let me know.

While I’m on the subject of lenses, Raoul Pop has a great review of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom lens. It’s a little out of my price range (right now), but maybe someday I’ll get an L-Series lens. When I get my lens, I’ll post a review.