Whistling-ducks take off
Flight photography is great fun and really the holy grail of bird photography. This image is included as a part of the notes covering  'Bird Photography Tips and Tricks for Newbies'  which I shared with some members here over the past few weeks. The concluding part is scheduled for today but will drag over to tomorrow because I need a shot that I have to make. And it is raining today :( In the meantime you can enjoy this one, which is a shot covering two aspects of flight photography -  'take off' plus 'flock' flight photography! 

PAINTOGRAPHY OF A SQUIRREL

Getting the best bokeh to enhance your images is all up to you. If your subject is important then your background is just as important. Check it out.
http://www.trueportraits.com/tutorial_bokeh.htm

#paintography  Curators +Sherry McBriar +Gail Beerman +Ray Bilcliff 
#plusphotoextract  

Voidokilia, Greece

This is the wonderful Voidokilia beach (meaning ox belly) in south-western Peloponnese, Greece, named after its perfect Ω shape. Right behind it is the Gialova lagoon, the combination of the two forming a wonderful landscape.
I was there a couple of months doing a commercial work for the nearby Costa Navarino hotel, but couldn't possibly miss the chance to take a few photos for myself...

Shared here for all of you Greece-lovers and also for my friend +Julia Anna Gospodarou and her #seatuesday

Hangout

These fellas come regularly in big bunches to enjoy the humidity left from the night. 50+ Black-veined Whites together is not too uncommon.

Panorama view from the summit of Aiguille des Pélerins, on which we (accidentally) put a new route yesterday.

You can see many of the Aiguilles de Chamonix on this image. From left to right: Blaitière, Ciseaux, Fou, Lépiney, Chevalier, Dent du Caïman, Deux Aigles, Dent du Crocodile, Plan and Rognon du Plan.

Death Valley National Park: Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie Point offers one of the most scenic views in Death Valley National Park, with many interesting elements and possibilities. Even if you've been there, check this post for a little known alternative with better light and perspective than the crowded observation platform: http://bit.ly/8Keu4m

Going for a walk

Had a once in a lifetime flight a few months back (lasted 15min) with my dear friends at the Texas Flying Legends Museum. One frustration with aviation photography is exclusive use of photos. Putting them out prior to publication is not a good thing. Now I know the images being used in the upcoming articles for the flight, I can at least post this one of the B-25 "Beatty's Dream," P-51D "Dakota Kid" and P-40K "Aleutian Tiger." I'm in the tail of another B-25 "Panchito" hanging out and shooting with the D4/70-200VR2.

op de Hei

Antarctic beech stand draped in hanging moss, simply phenomenal. This is a surreal dreamland of international and national significance for its biological and landscape values. It was listed on the World Heritage register in 1986 in recognition of its outstanding universal value to science and conservation, in particular the importance of the area as a refugium that has allowed the survival and evolution of rainforest species over geological time. Just wandering along the tracks you get a real feel for being over in the US, strolling through the Oregon forests. I have definitely found my new 'happy place', and will be spending a lot more time here adventuring deeper into the escarpment in the coming months.

www.drewhopperphotography.com

I am in the process of showing 30 of my earliest photos that I made from way back in 2006 with my 8mp Canon Rebel (350) when I started doing photography. I will share what I learned.  #earlyphotos    #landscape    #seascape  
  
"Diablo's Backbone" , Mt. Diablo, Contra Costa County, California

When I was just starting out, I learned the most by looking at paintings made by the old masters, and less so by looking photo books. So I was more into studying paintings than photos while I learned photography. I wrote an ebook (link below) which describes my process. 

The Story

I enjoy hiking in the hills around Mt. Diablo, about 30km inland from San Francisco. It is much warmer and has very little fog compared to SanFrancisco. It also has some impressive rocky outcrops and layers which have become exposed over millions of years of erosion and geologic uplift. 

This was my first attempt as a new photographer to do some rock climbing to get to a good vantage point. The problem with photographing Diablo is that there are many trees where you don't want them and no trees where you do want them. They are so inconsiderate! 

So, I wanted a good view of these rock formations, which had started out as horizontal layers and had become vertical over the eons. Unfortunately, the only way to get this view was to do some climbing. I had no ropes or anything so it took me a while to get up onto the rock seen in the left foreground. It is like the rocks in the middle ground, so you can see what I had to climb. Yes, it is no Yosemite but I have no training in rock climbing and if I fell, there would be nobody to rescue me. And there is no cell reception here.

Once I was on top, I waited to the sun to get into the best angle to show off the contrasting geography. Getting down was not easy. Actually it was harder than getting up! But that is what you must do sometimes to get the shot! I must remember to bring heavy duty gardening gloves the next time I attempt this!

Resources

I wrote a 325 page eBook that describes exactly how I went about learning photography starting in 2006. I did not learn the usual way. I have studied the great masters of painting and hope to find that light in the real world.

http://www.patricksmithphotography.com/books.html

For everything else, go to my website:

http://www.patricksmithphotography.com


Other stuff

My pictures are featured on the front page of California Governor, Jerry Brown's website http://gov.ca.gov

A great weather mashup map of the world with local temperatures, weather and nice popups. See where it is hot and not! (Must wait for slow commercials first, but worth it!)
http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/
Google Earth
http://earth.google.com/

Simply the best way to scout out locations that there is. You can see sun angles and pre-visualize light under lots of different conditions. Sometimes you can actually pre-compose your shots! This has saved me many thousands of vertical feet of climbing by avoiding spots with blocked views etc.

Satellite imagery (choose 'National' for a local US region or use your fave website)
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=mtr

Tide charting and preditions: (chose your area in US, other countries have similar websites)
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.shtml?gid=235

Wave Heights (I choose 'North Pacific from Global')
http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/index2.shtml

Or Here:
http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/RP1bw.gif

Photos of every inch of the California coastline from a small plane. Excellent for close in detailed views.

http://www.californiacoastline.org/

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Bevor der Tag beginnt.
Before the day begins.