San Francisco@Night

Fifteen members of the photography club drove 70 miles north to experience the magic of The City after dark. We started at Aquatic Park for the sunset...

and then walked up to Ghirrardelli Square

 

Of course I had my iPhone with me.

This was double processed, first in AutoPainter 2 and then Blender

Our next location was the corner of Hyde and Lombard (the crookedest street in the world).  The classic shot is looking up from the bottom of Lombard, but the view from the top includes Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge.  We had quite a time finding a spot to set up a tripod with out getting run over.  To get this shot, I jammed two tripod legs up against a short wall, with the third leg hanging over in the bushes.

Next stop: The Embarcadero and the Bay Bridge.  I was here several months ago during the day and liked an image that included the outdoor eating area of a small restaurant.  I hoped it would look even better at night.  At least it was a shot no one else got.

When I walked out to the restraining wall along the water, I was stunned by the golden glitter.   I did not enhance the color at all.  This is exactly what I saw.

When I looked more closely, I saw squiggly strings of light. 

(Click on the image to see a larger view.)

 

This is the shot we all came to get.  The golden light was stunning

What a long, tiring, and incredible night with exceptional people.

More SF@Night photos are on my Flickr photostream: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

iPhoneography Workshop (part 1 of 4)

As soon as I saw Don Smith's iPhone Photo Workshop, I signed up.  The iPhone 4s has an 8 MP camera and I wanted to know how to use it to its fullest.  Plus choosing from the thousands of camera and processing apps was overwhelming.  I needed professional help.  Plus it meant spending 3 days in Carmel and Big Sur with other photographers.  Couldn't find a downside to the venture.

 

Three days on the coast with just an iPhone?  People were incredulous, but I wasn't alone.  Barbi & Noël, friends from the photography club signed up also.  This was really gonna be fun!

Took this picture with ProCamera 

& blurred the leaves in Big Lens

The view south from Hurricane Point.  Can you see Bixby Bridge?

Taken with Pro HDR and processed in Snapseed.

At first it felt a little strange to venture out with out a camera bag heavy on my shoulder, but I quickly adapted.  I did lug my tripod.  I had no way to attach the iPhone to it, so I held it as firmly as possible on top.  (As soon as I got home, I ordered the attachment.) 

An Olloclip Fisheye lens rendered this view of Bixby Bridge.

Photographers spend hundreds of dollars on HDR software.  Pro HDR takes 2 photos and immediately merges them in camera to create one picture.  Without it, the sunset sky would have been completely blown out.  This is the best camera app for lanscapes.

Garrapata Beach Sunset

Using apps to process the photos is as much fun as taking them.  My go-to app for almost every photo is Snapseed, which is what I used for this tide pool image taken at Weston Beach in Point Lobos SP

 Photographing with the iPhone is pure fun.  Even when I am shooting with my Nikon, the iPhone will be readily available in my pocket.  I never leave home without it.

May Super Moon (part 2 of 4)

The moon's orbit is not a perfect circle, so its distance from Earth varies throughout the year.  In May, its orbit brought it closer than usual and it was dubbed, "Super Moon," because it looked bigger to our Earthling eyes.  Since I was on the coast, I could not photograph it rising, so I set my sights on photographing it as it set (something I have never done before).  

   According to my iPhone app, moon set would occur at 6:22am, 16 minutes after sunrise.  Barbi, Noël and I were on the road well before 5 looking for a location Don, the workshop leader had suggested.  We found it, parked, hiked out to the edge of the cliffs, set up our tripods and DSLR cameras, and waited for enough light to focus.

5:40am

 6:01am

 6:10am

Soon after this the moon disappeared into the mist.

Getting up so early made for a long day, 

but we had too much fun to be tired.

iPhone Artistry (part 3 of 4)

Thousands of photo processing apps are available for the iPhone.  Some are simple and intuitive to use, requiring only a few taps of the finger or the moving of a slider.  Others involve the complexity of layers and masks and have a learning curve.  This is why I signed up for the workshop.  I don't want hundreds of photo apps cluttering my iPhone.  I wanted to know which ones were most recommended, what they would do, and how to make the most of their features.  One of the coolest apps is AutoPainter.  Choose your photo and your art style and then sit back and watch the photo morph into a painting.  With a more advanced control, you can mask certain areas so they show through with more original detail.  These were taken during the sunset shoot described in the previous blog.

 

  

 Before leaving the area, I stopped by the Carmel Mission.  It was closed, but the early morning light was so pretty, I threaded my arms through the gate (you can see my shadow in the lower right corner), and used HDRPro to take the picture, with the intent of converting it into a painting.  I may be addicted to this app.

 

Nothing renews my spirit like sitting on a beach, listening to and watching the waves break.  This photo was taken on Carmel Beach with 360Panorama.  Stand in one place, pivot around and tah-dah!  If you squint, you can see my 5 o'clock shadow.

Return to Big Sur (part 4 of 4)

I was so enthralled with the Big Sur scenery that I just had to go back with my big camera.  I love my iPhone, but it will never replace (nor was it ever meant to) a DSLR.  I feared the wildflowers might have wilted after 5 days of warm weather, but they were even more glorious.  I retraced the drive south from Carmel on Highway 1, stopping at any turn-out that looked photographically promising, which is about every quarter mile. Even with my Nikon in hand, I did not eschew use of the iPhone to capture these purple wildflowers.

 

Since I was on my own schedule, I had time to seek out and isolate more intimate views of the scenery.

 I returned to the area where I had photographed the setting of the full moon, but hiked farther along the trail (through the bushes and the brambles) and decided this would be an excellent spot to photograph the sunset.  The light from the sinking sun painted the ice plant covered cliffs with glowing light.  I was in awe of the splendor that surrounded me, and took time to just look around and revel in it.

The setting sun did not mean I was done for the day.  I continued south to Bixby Bridge hoping to capture red light trails across the span (with limited success).  There is not a lot of Monday, after dark traffic this far south.

This is the end of my four-part series of Big Sur photographs.  Thanks for scrolling along my journey.  More photographs from this trip are posted on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/