Painted Cave - Santa Barbara, Ca.

Located in the mountains of Santa Barbara. The paintings are from the Chumash Indians and are believed to be less than 1000 years old.

Los Padres National Forest Camping

Macro Shots w/Bokeh

The following shots were taken lastnight using a VERY simple set up with VERY simple supplies. Here's what I used:

• Camera (obviously)
• Remote shutter switch (not needed, but very helpful)
• Tripod
  
• Lens - 18-55mm
• Home Depot light w/CFL bulb (These are the cheap aluminum lights for like $8 and a 2 pack of CFL's (Compact Florescent) for like $5)
• A water spray bottle
• A Nasturtium leaf (They are my favorite since they repel water so well...and can be found everywhere)
• reflector type bag (Hologram bag...excellent for bokeh)
  

And here's a snapshot of the setup from lastnight.



Just a quick run down of what I did and how I used the supplies listed. (I'm considering making a short video, but we'll see how this takes).

I have all my stuff in my homemade lightbox, which really was not needed here, but did help keep things placed right. I used a remote shutter release (click the link to see it on amazon...let me tell you, this is one on my favorite tools. I use it anytime I use my tripod and macro photography...it's only $5...off brand but who cares) Basically all it does is reduce camera shake, plus I used it here so I could hold my home depot light to angle and get the right light then trigger the release. But there is a small trick here for focusing...sometimes you can get away being in auto focus with your lens, but I usually flick that little switch that's on the side of my lens to manual. Just set your focal point where you want in manual and then click away. Sometimes if you leave it in auto, the camera gets all crazing trying to focus and it get's me all crazy inside...so go manual. This way, I can focus at the center of my subject while throwing everything out of focus, or into bokeh :)

One think to keep in mind is your distance from the subject and focal length. For the shots above, I was as close as I could get with my camera that would allow me to get my focal length at it's max while allowing me to focus and get lots of bokeh.

I placed my nasturtium leaf in a water bottle to keep it fresh (by the way, it still looks good tonight...more photo's :) Then I used a simple little sprayer and sprayed water on the leaf. The nasturtium leaf is one of the most water repellent leafs ever and the water beads beautifully.

Another thing to keep in mind is that with the low light conditions (home depot light will not do for it all) you'll have to set the shutter speed pretty low (I was at 1/20 sec) and also at f 5.6 (allowing more light in). With the 1/20 sec, you'll need the tripod...this should be used anyway.

Sorry I did not include the home depot light in the picture, but I'll track a picture of it down later and post it. Since you're here, PLEASE feed my fish on the right side of this page...just click your mouse in their pond and distribute some food...watch them eat :)

Update?

The update here, is I have no update...but soon, I'm sure. I'm project crazy right now....wait, isn't that an update? I believe it is. Thank you :)

The Hike

Only days left on my vacation before I had to head back to work, I decided to take a level 5 hike back in Los Padres National Forest. The trip would be completed in a 24 hour period and I would try to capture photo's along the way. But as it ended up, the weather went south on me and it became more of an exploration journey than a photo session.

I did manage to capture video, but I only compiled the first night, since this is where the "fun" was (~9 minutes, unedited). There were a couple close calls along the way, but pulled through without harm. The hike started at a mountain peak, then descended 1000 feet into the valley floor. At the top, there were very light snow flurries, then a couple hundred feet down from there, it turned to sleet, then even further down in the valley, rain and lots of it.


The following pictures are from the top of the trail head just as I was entering that morning.






This is looking down on the trail showing the condition (snow and ice)




A few pictures along the way.




This photo had my heart racing. As I was making my way down in this valley, I had a very narrow view due to the amount of brush. As I looked ahead I thought this was a hunter wearing his vest...very scary!



Found lots of ladybugs.




I had to prop up the tripod on some exposed rocks in the middle of this creek to get the shot.

Day 8 of Project 365

I was there!

Okay, so another night without a descent shot (well except for the one above..haha). I've been trying different things with the long exposures and lighting. I feel I'm starting to put it together and just a matter of time now. Tonight was quite the exception to picture taking with the elements, but I felt like a kid out there tonight. I had a permanent grin, totally enjoying the moment. It was funny pulling up to the rangers kiosk. "Can I help you?" "Uh, yeah, there's my park pass and I'm here to shoot some photos". Now keep in mind, there is NOBODY in this lake right now (8pm and pitch black) with the rain coming down like crazy and sideways...the look on his face would have been the picture of the night. After he finished his flabbergasted look, he just took his hand and kinda waved it in a forward motion as in, have at it!
Another key to the fun tonight was having all the right equipment. Not only was I warm, but perfectly dry. Also had all the gear to keep the camera protected and snapping away (yes I did get photos, but these are only good enough to go into my personal journal...tracking my progress). So to sum it up, I was in nature, in the wind and rain, snapping photos all by myself...uh...PRICELESS!