A wonderful trip is scheduled this Fall to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for Waterfalls and Fall Color.  See info below.

When: Friday – Sunday, October 1st – 3rd
Where: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (departs from Battle Creek area)
Audience: Adults (limited to 6)
Fee: $300 per person (double occupancy)
        $350 per person (single occupancy)

This is your chance to both enjoy what Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has to offer and take home great images from some amazing spots.  Josh will take you to some of his favorite locations with one goal in mind, taking away fantastic fall photographs.  This is a great opportunity to learn proper landscape exposure and one of the most asked for techniques, waterfall pictures with that dreamy effect!  The only thing not included are your dinners.  Everything else including lodging and transportation is included.  Take advantage of all the prep work and scouting Josh has already done and sign up today.  Space is very limited!

I thought some might like to see a quick shot of the moon I took last night.  From time to time I take moon shots in different phases to build up a collection of moons to use in nightscapes as double exposures.  Enjoy.

While photographing the moon always perplexes people, it’s not that hard once you understand truly how bright the moon actually is.  This will be a future lesson for sure.

And lastly, for all the people who run into me while in the field and think my lens is so huge I could photograph rocks on the moon, I guess they were almost right…  And yes, mine is larger than yours.

Josh is partnering with the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary for a great 3-part Workshop with a phased approach to Bird Photography.  This is a great opportunity for the many past participants who have been waiting for a bird-specific workshop!

When: Tuesdays, July 13, 20, & 27 from 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Kellogg Bird Sanctuary (To register, Call 269-671-2510)
Audience: Adults, limited to 8 (intermediate level) (please bring your own equipment)
Fee: KBS Members $65, Non-Members $75 (Registration due Tue, July 6th)

Join Josh for a 3 part, phased approach to bird photography. Most of the time will be spent in the field learning and using techniques Josh uses every day to capture better bird images. This 3-part series will start with some basic bird exposure knowledge, continue with techniques such as preparing for the shot and knowing your species, and end with more advanced topics such as beginning setups, shooting from cover, and adding interest elements to your shots to create more intriguing images. Josh has taught several photography workshops in the area and his work can be seen at Michigan Art Shows as well as www.glancesatnature.com.

We’re partnering with the Kalamazoo Nature Center again and have another great Photography Workshop scheduled.  This Workshop is limited to 8 and will be centered around Fall Color.  See full info below.

When: Sun, Oct 17th from 8-11am
Where: Kalamazoo Nature Center (To register, Call 269-381-1574, ext. 0)
Audience: Adults, limited to 8 (please bring your own equipment)
Fee: KNC Members $35, Non-Members $40 (Registration due Wed, Oct 13)

Join us for a Fall Color Workshop in and around the Kalamazoo area. We’ll take you around to local hot spots for color and help participants in taking away great images. Location dependent on color but will be local to the K-Zoo area, transportation provided. We’ve both taught several photography workshops in the area and our work can be seen at numerous Michigan Art Shows as well as www.glancesatnature.com

Most readers know how much we love Michigan’s Northern Peninsula but even the Northern Lower Peninsula is amazing.  Despite the heat, we enjoyed Northern Michigan in many different forms this weekend.  Whether kayaking, hiking, photographing or sitting on the deck enjoying the company of friends, it was a great weekend.  At one point we had Purple Finches feeding no more than 5 feet from us at the cabin (and yes, I said Purple Finches, not House Finches).  We were well South of Traverse City so a great sighting! 

Click Here to see a video clip of a Male Purple Finch

Not sure how our final bird list ended up but between all of us, we saw and/or heard some amazing birds including the illusive Golden-winged Warbler.  Unfortunately, we only heard the bird but it was most definitely a GWWA.

Our first night, we enjoyed a float on Big Bass Lake.  It’s a busy lake but after 7:30pm, it’s “no wake” and at that point became very enjoyable.  Near the end of the evening, we found the Common Loons that are typically there and I captured some more nice shots in evening light.  Most images were classic poses but it’s always nice to take away Loon shots.

During our river float, we tallied some nice birds but also saw some great flowers including Showy Lady-Slippers, Indian Paintbrush, and Wild Iris.  It was nice to float a river again and enjoy the sunny reflections in the wake as well as Rough-winged Swallows picking bugs off the water.  The Manistee wasn’t the AuSable but it was pretty fantastic in its own right and I think it may trump the AuSable in fall from the looks of it.  Hopefully we’ll get a chance to float it in the fall to find out!  We had great views of a Map Turtle and just before our lunch spot, real nice looks at a Pickerel Frog which was a first for both Kara and me.

Not too far from the cabin was a very active Blueberry patch with birds such as Indigo Buntings, Redstarts, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and more.  I was going for specific shots that never materialized but it was still good birding.

Our trip ended with a short float on a small lake that we had to ourselves for the most part.  We were there mid-day so not a whole lot of bird activity but we did see some bog plants as well as some great views of Painted Turtles.  Luckily, clouds moved in creating a cooler float but also tamed my harsh lighting a bit.  Most of the shooting this weekend was at bad times (as far as the lighting goes) but while the lighting was tough, it was still manageable.

Before getting off the lake, I photographed an Eastern Kingbird who was busy hunting Dragonflies.  While the bird was hunting, its mate was busy building a nest with Cattail fluff.  Very cool!  As always, we were shown great hospitality, good eats, and great new places to bird.  3 days up north was great but we can’t wait until the next time!

Spent the morning a week ago shooting a couple of male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  I did a quick setup using some private tricks of the trade with Wild Columbine and a nice natural background (a great topic for a 1-on-1 lesson!).  Within about 15 minutes, I ended up with a couple nice shots before the lighting really turned and became harsh.

Obviously more time was spent during the setup steps and post-processing but living where we live has been amazing for Hummers.  Dad typically sees shots like this from me and immediately says, “You managed the classic Josh background again!”  There is something about nicely colored, well-blurred backgrounds that make images like this so nice.  All the focus is on the bird which is exactly where it needs to be.  This is typically a great technique for Bird Photography but don’t be afraid to break the rules.  Some of my favorite flight shots are of birds that show enough detail in the background to illustrate the native habitat of the bird.  Stopping down even just a couple of stops can give a blurred background but with added detail and depth.

A great feature in newer Digital SLRs is High ISO capability.  This is a wonderful feature and really opens up the doors in the digital world.  Some still remember the film days of being stuck in a particular ASA (film equivalent to ISO) for an entire role of film.  In the digital world, we can change our ISO on every single image (if we choose to take the time).  This is a great tool, when used properly.   As with everything in life, there are downsides to all of these great features.  In this lesson, I will go over how to shoot in High ISO to obtain the fast shutter speeds we are all after, but in a way to minimize the bad (NOISE!)

First let’s discuss the basics of ISO and the noise that goes with it.  ISO basically makes the digital sensors in our cameras more sensitive to light.  When the sensor is more sensitive to light (higher ISO), this means for a given light source, the shutter is open for less time (faster shutter speed).  Fast shutter speeds are key when photographing wildlife, especially birds!  When I’m shooting birds in flight, I strive for 1/1000th of a second at the very least so in cloudy situations when this is typically very hard to achieve, I look to ISO to improve my shutter speeds.  This increase in shutter speed is great but the high ISO adds unwanted noise.  There is a fine line that one must not cross.  ISO menus on most Digital SLRs will allow the shooter to go as far as ISO 1600, 3200, and sometimes way beyond.  This is a crazy amount of ISO range and the biggest piece of advice I can give is “know your limits!”  When talking about noise, let’s look at some examples shot from a low-end Digital SLR with a 1.6x cropped sensor (PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEWS):

Canon Rebel XTi, f4.5, Shutter Speed= 1/160th, ISO= 100

Canon Rebel XTi, f4.5, Shutter Speed= 1/2500th, ISO= 1600

In the examples above, notice the noise difference between ISO 100 & 1600.  There is major noise visible in the ISO 1600 example.  The good side, however, is the difference in shutter speed.  At ISO 100, our shutter speed was 160th of a second.  When we changed over to ISO 1600, look at how fast our shutter speed is; 2500th of a second.  That is a huge jump!  We must, however, weigh the downsides in this ISO change.  The shot will always look great on the camera’s small LCD Screen but when you get the image home, you will most likely be disappointed in the noise.  You may have a great subject in the frame but if noise takes over the image and that’s all the viewer sees, what’s the point?  Now let’s look at the image below shot at ISO 400 (the acceptable ISO limit for most lower end digital SLRs, in my opinion):

Canon Rebel XTi, f4.5, Shutter Speed= 1/640th, ISO= 400

The example above shows noise, but not enough to detract from the important elements of the image.  By knowing the limits, you can use higher ISO to your advantage but not go overboard.  By increasing the ISO to 400, we gained a lot of shutter speed (from 1/160th to 1/640th) but also minimized the amount of visible noise.

Another factor to consider when using High ISO is your depth of field (DoF).  When shooting Wildflowers a couple of years ago in shaded lighting, I needed to capture a specific shot but with a faster shutter speed due to winds.  I decided to take my ISO to the limit on my Rebel XT (ISO 1600).  I knew there would be crazy noise but decided to go for it.  At the time, I was stopped way down to f22 in order to have my entire foreground & background in focus.  When I brought the image home, I was amazed how little noise there was.  I zoomed in to 100% in Photoshop and noticed the noise was most definitely still there but because my background was in focus (adding depth and CONTRAST), I didn’t notice the noise.  The added contrast effectively hid the noise and allowed me to still capture the intended image.  The following example shows how the noise is hidden with an aperture that is stopped down:

Canon Rebel XTi, f25, Shutter Speed= 1/80th, ISO= 1600

This technique is not going to work with action shots as you still won’t have fast enough shutter speeds, given your stopped down aperture but when shooting landscapes or flora from a tripod, this can be a lifesaver in certain situations.

Now that we’ve explored the limits of a low end digital SLR with a 1.6x cropped sensor, let’s see how the noise factor changes with a full frame sensor.  The example below shows how a full frame sensor still at ISO 1600 shows way less noise:

Canon 5D Full Frame, f4.5, Shutter Speed= 1/2500th, ISO= 1600

The noise melts away mostly because of the full frame sensor.  The larger sensor allows more room for the pixels that make up the resolution of the camera body.  If you compare an 8mp digital SLR with a 1.6x crop to a full frame digital SLR with the same 8mp resolution, the full frame body’s sensor is physically larger but still holds the same 8,000,000 pixels.  With the 1.6x crop, the 8,000,000 pixels are packed tighter which doesn’t allow the body to shoot cleanly at high ISO.

Another way to minimize the visible noise is ensuring that you’re not underexposing.  When an image is underexposed, we end up with more shadow areas, which tend to show noise more than highlight areas.  A general rule when shooting at high ISO is to expose for the highlights.  This is actually beneficial on many levels.  The right side of your histogram (highlights) always holds more data which will not only yield better results, but allow more exposure adjustment in post-processing after the fact.

With digital, we are able to change the ISO for every shot but don’t go crazy here.  Just because we have the capability doesn’t mean we need to do this.  Lighting is changing constantly and whether you are moving around a lot or staying put, we need to constantly monitor what our exposure is doing.  Don’t spend all your time changing your ISO settings constantly.  Be cognizant of your lighting and exposure and adjust your ISO as your given situations change.  The beauty of digital is we’re not locked into a full roll of film with a given ASA/ISO.  Take advantage of the jump in digital but use the features wisely.  It all goes back to one of the best things Dad ever taught me, “Don’t be a slave to the camera, make the camera your slave.”  This means learning, reading your manuals, and taking the features to their limits in order to get the best possible images around.

Top 4 things to take away from this lesson:
     1)  Know your limits!  Some cameras/exposures can’t handle super high ISO
     2)  Stopping down in Aperture will hide Noise
     3)  Avoid underexposing as shadows amplify the appearance of noise
     4)  Change ISO based on what you’re shooting and the available light

One of the great things about the way Dad and I shoot is our ability to split up in the same spot to get different images or at least different view-points.  Some might think this would be hard but as we get into situations it’s funny how each of our minds visualize differently.  Typically, we both see and shoot situations with enough separation that it always ends up working out.  This has prooved to be quite valuable to end up with more usable images on the same trip.

It’s always great to hear comments from Art Show goers about our work and it’s amazing how opinions vary between our work.  It makes it fun for both of us in many ways so it will be an interesting season with the new Arizona work.

Dad ended up with many great images, as always, but it didn’t come easy.  Again, lighting was great but hard to work with due to all the shadows and highlights in the rock.  We are always learning and improving but mishaps happen for us too.  We always think about what we preach in our workshops; it’s all about preparing for the shot and not just shooting like crazy.

All in all, Dad captured not only some great images, but some imagery with very dynamic looks to them.

Dad and I have returned from sunny Arizona with many images to go through and another great trip in the books.  The trip was filled with lots of scouting at mid day and lots of shooting in the mornings and evenings.  The lighting was amazing but also proved to be quite difficult to work with as there were lots of shadows and highlights on the rock.  This made obtaining proper exposure harder but it was still attainable.

As you can see from the first image in the post, one of the hardest images of the trip was a nightscape.  I told Dad days before the trip this was an image I was after and he was great every step of the way in being all about this shot.  We scouted for hours during the days trying to find the perfect spot compositionally and somehow luck would have it that the spot we found was actually quite close to town.  The shot was then split into 2 parts (1, foreground detail & 2, star trails).  I won’t go into the techniques used but all in all there was 4 hours of preparation, 4 hours scouting, 3 hours actually shooting, and 2 hours post-processing (13 hours total).  I would say that shooting at night will probably be an up-coming blog lesson after High ISO.

The most popular natural rock area around Sedona was Cathedral Rock.  Cathedral Rock is seen in most of the images from the Sedona area.  While we spent a couple sessions photographing in this area, we didn’t want the whole trip to be about this one spot so we did branch out quite a bit.

Another phenomenal area was Schnebly Hill Rd.   This very rugged dirt/rock road was 11 miles in length and simply driving it took just over an hour.  We found some great areas on this road during our scouting so 2 of our mornings were spent in spots along this road.

During our second morning of shooting on Schnebly Rd. we hiked out to a flat rock face to shoot from and enjoyed the sounds of Coyotes calling.  All in all, a great photography trip for us.  Stay close to the blog for Part II where some of Dad’s images will be show-cased.

I sat for another couple hours on my set-up perch this evening.  Probably the last time before our Arizona trip.  I wasn’t after Northern Flickers at all but this guy came into my perch just as I was thinking about heading in.  It sure is nice to be able to do set-ups for species other than just Cardinals and Chickadees.  Living in the country definitely has it’s benefits!