‘From Film Holder to Memory Card’ at TOP

February 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

The Online Photographer (a.k.a. “TOP”) is one of the blogs I follow regularly – lots of great thought-provoking posts show up there on a regular basis, frequently written by folks who know what they are talking about. Take a look if you don’t already follow TOP.

I enjoyed a recent article (“From Film Holder to Memory Card”) by photographer Charles Cramer in which he describes his transition from large format film gear to using medium format digital systems. My favorite example of Charlie’s ironic humor in the post is his “apology” to those who haven’t made the switch: “Note to my large format friends: O.K., I sold out—but I get to use zoom lenses!!!”

In any case, this post is another data point to consider if you happen to be one of those folks who is certain that great photography must be created using traditional film gear and processes. While there is absolutely no question that great work can still be done that way, it is equally possible to do wonderful photography with newer technologies… and, as Charlie illustrates, there are some things that can simply be done more effectively, less expensively, and with better results.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Stack of Pelicans

February 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A vertical column of pelicans stacked one above the other along the Pacific Ocean coastline of California.

On a slow night this week – while waiting for a new hard drive to get backed up – I want back through some more raw files from the first half of 2010. Almost invariably, when I go back through older collections of images I find at least a few things that seem interesting to me know even though they didn’t really register at the time I shot them

I have previously shared some other photographs of these magnificent Pacific Coast birds that I made on this mid-May evening along the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Cruz, shooting from a bluff locations that I often return to. At this particular spot, when the conditions are just right, birds coming north up the coast and coasting on updrafts along the cliffs often climb toward the top of the bluff and frequently turn inland a bit right here as they come around an outcropping. That is what happened with these pelicans, who were coming almost towards me and were flying below my position on top of the bluff, creating what looks like a vertical stack of birds. How thoughtful of them to line up so that they fit perfectly within a 3:2 ratio portrait orientation frame! :-)

Commentary, Events, News, Photographs: Night, Technique

Night Photography With ‘The Nocturnes’

February 8, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Once or twice each year I have the opportunity to do night photography with The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group mostly organized by Tim Baskerville and Susan Nichols. I like to join up with them for their expeditions to the historic Mare Island Ship Yard in Vallejo, and I’ll be joining them again later this week to shoot there. (Mare Island is where this photograph and quite a bit of my other night photography work has been done.) I’m afraid that this week’s event is currently fully booked, but Bay Area photographers looking for an introduction to night photography have a tremendous local resource in The Nocturnes, through their web sites, their promotion of outstanding night photography work, and through the workshops and classes they offer.

While I’m on the subject of night photography, I’d like to share a post I wrote some time back on the subject: Hints for Night Photography. While there is ultimately a lot to learn and understand if you will do night photography, and there are a wide range of techniques that you might employ for different subjects and ways of shooting, there are some basics that can get you a long ways towards creating interesting night photographs. This post is intended to be a brief list of some of those basics.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay, Morning Haze

February 8, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Winter morning haze partially obstructs the view across San Francisco Bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Treasure Island, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the city of Oakland.

I made this photograph shortly after dawn on a warm winter morning, shooting from the Marin Headlands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and aiming back across the bay toward downtown Oakland. The atmosphere is a bit misleading here – although it looks somewhat dark and cloudy, most of the sky was clear and sunny. The haze was only in the very lower portion of the atmosphere and mainly over Oakland. By using a long lens I telescoped the distances between my position and the rest of the scene and between the elements of the scene.

The foreground structure is probably familiar to most who know anything about the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, here mostly backlit but with a bit of side light coming from the left. There is a lot of stuff in the distance, and some explanation may help. The closest land beyond the waters of the Bay is historic Treasure Island with its old military base buildings, though it is now being transformed for civilian use. Beyond Treasure Island is a maze of industrial elements. First, just beyond the island, are the eastern spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The old bridge is still in place as a newer bridge is being constructed to replace it. The tallest tower is part of the new bridge, which sits in front of the old one. Beyond that are the giant cranes of the busy Port of Oakland, and even further back in the haze are the buildings of downtown Oakland backed by the East Bay Hills.

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