Killer Sunrise Options...

What’s Up?

We went to the crooked barn, my very favorite in the entire Palouse Region. And we were finally blessed by a cloudy day. A great time was had by all as we covered the basics of creating originals for stitched panos and HDR captures. On Monday afternoon we are heading for Palouse Falls State Park.

This blog post, the 145th in a row, took about 2 hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Monday.

The originals for this six-frame Sunday morning sunrise stitched panorama image were created on the Palouse IPT with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC engaged at 480mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/30 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. WB: K7000. Live View with 2-second delay. Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF on the ridge and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a wider than usual version. Image #1: 6-frame Stitched Pano Sunrise with the 200-400mm

Predicting the Weather

The weatherpersons in the Palouse are as bad as they are everywhere else. They have been predicting rain for several days now; we have not seen a drop. Today was guaranteed “cloud cover all day” everywhere we looked. After the spectacular sunrise that you see here, it was much too sunny. None-the-less, we made soup from the proverbial stone, did lots of solid teaching, and made some really good images to boot. We will be announcing the dates for next years Palouse IPTs soon.

My techniques for creating the originals for the stitched pano were much better than last time: rear focus AF, set WB, and Manual Mode. Not to mention the tripod…. The six images were successfully stitched together in Photoshop: File > Automate > Photomerge.

This image was also created on Sunday morning at the first Palouse IPT, this one with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens (at 150mm) with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/4. WB: K7000. Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF on the ridge and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Wide Sunrise with the 70-200mm

The Developing Situation

Once the line of purplish clouds materialized going a lot wider was the obvious choice. I switched out the 200-400 for the 70-200 making sure to turn the 5D III off when changing lenses to prevent or at least minimize greatly the chance of accumulating sensor dust. The trick is to make sure to remember to turn the camera back on.

Like the two images above, this one was also created on Sunday morning at the first Palouse IPT, this one with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC engaged), an external Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at the max, 784mm), and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Still ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/9. WB: 7000K. Center AF point (by necessity)/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on the ridge line and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #3: Layered Hills at Sunrise with the 200-400mm and two 1.4X TCs

Seeing the Layered Hills

I had moved the group about 150 yards north in anticipation of the sun becoming much more muted when it hit the cloud layer. It did exactly that and our move opened up the view to the distant stacked hillsides. We advised folks to go as long as possible and to work just to the left of the sun.

Your favorite?

Which of the 3 images do you like best? Please be sure to let us know why.

The strange thing is that when I lived in New York, I never knew about this amazing and consistently productive location.

Nickerson Beach/JBWR (possibly…)/Black Skimmer/Oystercatcher/migrant shorebird IPT: August 13-16, 2015. 3 1/2 DAYS: $1399.

Meet and greet on the evening of WED August 12. Limit 10/Openings 5.

Most of our seven photo sessions will be spent at Nickerson beach photographing the nesting Black Skimmers. In flight, sometimes battling. Carrying fish. Chicks of varying sizes from a very few just-hatched to lots of fledglings. It is likely that we will get to see some Great Black-backed Gulls preying on the juvenile skimmers. They swallow them whole. There will be lots of gulls to photograph as well as some Common Terns. Locally breeding shorebird species include American Oystercatcher–pretty much guaranteed, Willet, which is likely, and Piping Plover, which is probable but we need to get lucky with those to get close….

Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office and arranging to leave your deposit of $499. I hope to see you there.

JBWR?

If local conditions are ideal we may visit Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to photograph southbound migrant shorebirds on one or possibly two mornings. Even if we do not visit JBWR we should get some good chances with the migrant shorebirds at the beach, especially Sanderling and Semipalmated Plover. Red Knot and others are possible.

As you can see, the oystercatchers are quite tame at Nickerson. And we will get you up early and we will stay out late.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge In-the-field Instructional Photo Workshop/Scouting Session. August 12, 2015. Morning only: $250. Cheap!

The tide will be pretty good at the East Pond…. If I learn that conditions there are un-photographable we will do Nickerson Beach as a back-up. This will work either as an add-on for out of town folks coming for the IPT above or as a stand alone session. Either way, you will, as always, learn a ton. And we might even get some good images.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack!

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).