The National Parks Traveler published my latest “Photography In The National Parks” column. This one deals with what you might see and photograph in Yellowstone National Park, beyond the wildlife and geysers you expect to see.
To read the article, click on the image above.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
What are your plans for this Memorial Day weekend? My plans are to stay at home and work on another article for the National Parks Traveler. My nice little 3-day trip was last week, before the hordes ascended upon Mount Rainier National Park. This past Thursday, while grocery shopping at the local Fred Meyer, I drove past the Fred Meyer gas station and saw all sorts of RVs lined up for gasoline. Some of them even towed boats behind them. All were getting ready for their trips out into Nature. I will admit, the nice thing about living in central Washington is that I’m so close to so many beautiful places for R&R.
This shot was taken after the sun had risen a bit above the horizon. Mount Rainier behind me was still hidden by the clouds, so I concentrated my camera lens on the Tatoosh Mountains in front of me, in the Paradise area. At the time I captured this shot, there was only one other person out there some distance away – another photographer using his telephoto lens. Getting out in the early morning is a great way to start a day of photography, because most people are not yet up, so it feels like you have the entire place to yourself.
For those of you who celebrate Memorial Day (mainly the U.S., I guess), have a safe and enjoyable 3-day weekend.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
My latest Photography In The National Parks column has been published in the National Parks Traveler. It’s a little different from my normal fare. To read the article, click on the photo above.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography
Upper Inspiration Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
No, I’m not in Bryce Canyon. I’m instead going through a few archived shots and using them to create HDR images.
For those of you who have never been to Bryce Canyon National Park, sunrises at Upper Inspiration Point are amazing. Actually, sunrises anywhere in this park are amazing. There’s Inspiration Point, and there’s *Upper* Inspiration Point, accessed via a very steep, but short hike on a very well-maintained trail a little further up along the Rim Trail from the regular Inspiration Point view area.
I used a single image and then copied it a couple of times, using different exposure settings. I then combined all those images into HDR. The reason for this is because I did not bracket my original shots (which I should probably do more often, for when I want to use HDR), and because I handheld the camera. The fence at Upper Inspiration Point is just a little too tall for me to stand on tiptoe with my tripod, trying to look through the viewfinder. There was a tall guy standing next to me with his tall tripod, and he didn’t have any problems. I did. So, instead, I handheld the camera and used the “burst method” of holding down on the shutter button for several clicks. I knew out of all those shots, at least one of them would be nice and sharp. The caveat with the burst method is that it takes up space on the memory cards, so I always bring lots of extras with me, in varying sizes of 16GB to 128GB.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under 24-70mm f2.8L II, 5DS, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, Canon Lens, HDR, Landscape, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, summer, sunrise, Travel, Utah, Utah
Waiting for sunrise on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
In an article I wrote for future publication in the National Parks Traveler, I mention HDR, what it is, and what it produces. I had to create an example, so I used the free download of Photomatix. I’ve used Photomatix before, pretty much with all the computers I’ve ever owned. Of course, I didn’t have it on this laptop I’m currently using, so I bought it and downloaded it in order to not have their watermark show up on the finished product. While I am not a huge fan of HDR, I will admit it can produce some very nice results, if the hand wielding the preset controls is judicious with the edits. Most of the time, though, I see more overdone HDR images than nice, naturalistic HDR images. Practice makes perfect, in everything including working with HDR, so I’ll be working on this aspect of photography a little more, hence today’s example.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under 24-70mm f2.8L II, 5DSR, Arizona, Canon, Canon Lens, Grand Canyon National Park, HDR, National Parks, North Rim, Photography, Seasons, summer, sunrise, Travel
Looking down on the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
My latest Photography in The National Parks column has been published in the National Parks Traveler. To read the article, click on the image above.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
