Travel Photography in Bad Light
Most of us have been there, that wonderful travel destination and the light is bad. All those pre-visulations of wonderful photos you planned to capture go right out the door. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago on a day trip to Olympic National Park. Tanya, Nahla and I headed out to Kalaloch for a day on the beach. (Aside for dog owners: Kalaloch is a great place to take your dog. Most national parks, and Olympic National Park is no exception, do not allow dogs outside of campgrounds or parking lots, let alone on trails. We got scolded by a ranger once for having our dog on a snowbank at the edge of a parking lot at Mount Rainier National Park. But, Ruby Beach and the other beaches at Kalaloch are a different story. Leashed dogs are allowed on the beaches. It is great!)
If the weather is nice, the beaches at Kalaloch are a great place for a bit of photography. But the weather on the coast can be unpredictable, so I had a backup plan. If it was overcast on the coast, we’d go to the Hoh rainforest (Nahla would have to stay in the car, but such is the sacrifice of a photographer’s dog). Because of the huge contrast in the rainforest on sunny days, photography there is best on overcast days (and even better with a little rain making everything wet).
As it turned out, it was overcast on the beach. We took a nice walk, and Nahla took a dip in the waves, but the camera stayed in the bag. So we headed over to the Hoh, about a 45-minute drive from Kalaloch. Unfortunately for my photography, once we got away from the coast, the weather turned mostly sunny. And indeed, the contrast in the rainforest was extreme (5 stops or more). My visions of wonderful shots of green moss-draped trees was not to be fulfilled.
Instead, I worked mostly on detail shots, taking what the conditions allowed. Looking for small scenes that were mostly in shadow, or mostly in sunshine, so that contrast was less of an issue. Or I looked for backlit scenes, where the sunlight provided unique views for the rainforest. I can’t say I came away with any prize winners, but I was happy with a few of the results posted below.
I still had hope for a great shot. I figured the clouds would break along the coast, and a good sunset was possible. We drove back to Kalaloch and ate dinner (during which was probably the best light of the day) and afterward drove to Ruby Beach for sunset. As it turned out, the sunset was mostly a dud, and though I took a lot of frames, I’m not that pleased with them.
So once again, I took what was offered. In this case, shooting after sunset in the blue hour. The featured photo above was shot perhaps half an hour after sunset and is my favorite of the day.
The adventure of travel photography is that you never know exactly what you will get. When conditions are not right, you need to be able to see beyond the obvious shots and look with images that the conditions allow. With luck, even with bad light, you will get a few keepers.
Though this image includes both sunlit and shadow areas, I was able to handle the contrast in Lightroom because I wanted the shadow areas to be dark. However, I did have to tone down the highlights a lot making them a bit too dull.
This moss in the shade made a good subject without having to worry about blown highlights.
This image does have small areas of bright sky and sunlit moss, but not much. The image works for the most part, though I did have to tone down the upper right hand corner excessively.
A small forest detail in complete shade. Subjects like this work great on bright sunny days in the forest.
Another small detail completely in the shade.
Luckily the sunlit area in the background doesn’t ruin this image of a group of youth whose leader was making them have a moment of silence in the Hall of Mosses.
At Ruby Beach, the sunset to the west was boring, but looking away to the south along the beach brought a nice scene.
This image is looking directly at the sunset. The color version is not very exciting. So, if the sunset is boring, try taking color out of the equation.
New Friends
Followers of my blog will know that last year the Becker household lost one cat and one dog. And while Carson and Sugar will never be replaced, we now have two new members of the family, well actually, we’ve had them for a while now.
In the last week of November last year, Tanya and I adopted a kitten from the local Humane Society. The idea was to get a playmate for our other cat, Patch, who was quite lonely after losing both his sister, Sugar, and his best buddy, Carson. The kitten’s name is Tuck. Well it didn’t get exactly as planned, Patch was not too welcoming of a new male kitten in his house. Things are much better now, at least Patch puts up with Tuck, shaking off Tuck’s flying kamikaze attacks from the top of the furniture rather than clawing and biting the kitten. Sometimes Patch even starts the play. Tuck, now five months old, is much bigger than shown in the photo here (taken about 5 weeks ago) and still as wild as ever. We refer to him as Tuck the Terrible or Tuck the Terror.
And last month, we brought a new Newfoundland home. Her name is Nahla, which means drink of water in Arabic (her paper name is Nakiska’s Drinks Are On Me). Nahla is four years old and a rather large girl. In fact, she is bigger than Carson was, both in weight and height (she can rest her chin on the dining room table without lifting her head). She definitely loves her people, and follows Tanya or I around constantly. She reportedly loves water (like most Newfoundlands, Carson being the exception), but we haven’t taken her to the beach yet to see. She did like being in the snow when we took her up to Hurricane Ridge a couple of weeks ago, where I took the photograph below of her and Tanya. I’m looking forward to many new adventures with Nahla. Interestingly, Patch seems much happier now that there is a dog in the house again, even though he mostly ignores Nahla.
All Dogs Go to Heaven – Carson Rest in Peace
This is an extremely hard and bittersweet post to write. It has been a rough year for animals in the Becker household. As many of you know, earlier this year one of our cats, Sugar, passed away. Now death has struck again. This time, our beloved dog Carson suddenly passed away. Though 10 years old, Carson was generally in good health and had no life-threatening illness that Tanya or I knew about. Early last Sunday morning, he was sleeping when he suddenly yelped. Tanya and I both thought he was having a bad dream and yelled his name (which usually wakes him), but calling him had no effect. The yelps were obviously from pain, and we both ran to his side as they continued. Less than half a minute later, he was dead. We have been in shock since then, and it is only now several days later, that I can write about without tears coming to my eyes.
Carson should be familiar to regular readers of my blog. He accompanied me on many photo excursions and was featured in many of the images I’ve posted. I believe he loved these excursions even more than I did. When out on photo excursions, or out to take a hike, Carson would start whimpering with anticipation whenever we turned off a paved road to a dirt or gravel road. For Carson, gravel roads meant we were almost there.
He loved riding in the car, even if all he got to do was look out the window. Even on trips where he had to stay in the car, he’d rather wait in the car for hours than be left at home. I can still see him hanging his head over the backseat of our SUV, just happy to be along. Or, if in our small car, I can still see that big black head suddenly appear between Tanya and I, gazing contently out the front windshield. He’d get excited when Tanya or I would get out “to-go” coffee cups or when I’d bring my camera bag and tripod into the house because he knew travel was at hand.
We brought Carson home 10 years ago this month. At the time, Tanya needed a companion, and Carson was the perfect dog for it. He took his job of keeping Tanya company very seriously. Tanya was the head of the pack (and I a distant second), and he needed to know where she was all the time. Once, when we lived in Gig Harbor, Tanya went out a second story window to clear some debris off the roof. Carson tried to jump through the window after her, and if we hadn’t shut the window in time, he would have sailed though the window and down to the driveway. In that house, ever after, he didn’t trust that Tanya would stay in the house if she was upstairs, and kept a close eye on her when she did go upstairs. Another time, in the same house, Carson jumped through (and destroyed in the process), not one, but two window screens looking for Tanya.
Carson slept in the bedroom with us (no keeping him out with Tanya in the room). Almost every night he would go over to his blanket, stand on it, and with his front paws work for 3 or 4 minutes on trying to get it fluffed up just right. Of course, since he was standing on it, he could never get it in the right position. Eventually, he’d give up and lay down on it anyway (usually with a content look on his face, ready for bed with his people). Inevitably though, he’d get up after just five minutes, too hot to be on the blanket. He’d spend the night, moving from one place to the next, looking for a cool spot to sleep. Between his moving around at night, his heavy breathing and snores, and habit of chewing bones at night, it is way to quiet in our bedroom now.
For a Newfoundland – dogs breed for water rescue – he was a strange dog when it came to water. Though he could swim very well, Carson didn’t like to go in deeper than he could touch bottom. And while most Newfoundlands are hard to keep out of water, Carson was often content to stay on the beach, or only go in for a drink. Ask him to fetch a stick on land, and he would look at you funny. Ask him to fetch a stick thrown in the water however, he’d go right after it.
Carson had the most expressive eyes, and he spoke with them much more than his voice. He rarely barked, so little in fact that many of our friends were startled when he did bark because they had never heard him do so before. But how he could communicate with those eyes. And if the eyes didn’t work right away, he’d start backing up while staring at you. I’ve never seen a dog that could back up as well as Carson. Without looking, he could back up around furniture and corners.
Carson was also the friendliest dog I’ve ever seen. He loved everyone, people and other dogs alike. One time, we were walking in the neighborhood when two small French bulldogs escaped from a house and ran directly at Carson. They both were jumping at his neck, trying to bite him through his thick fur. He couldn’t figure out why they didn’t want to play. He wanted to play with every dog he came across. But funny dog that he was, he’d usually get tired of playing after about a minute and lay down. Yet, the next dog he saw, he’d want to play again. He was also very much a beta dog around other dogs. He had no idea how much bigger he was than they were, even the smallest dogs could boss him around.
With people, he was a gentle giant, and gladly submitted to small kids pulling his hair or ears. He loved being petted, and would often wedge his head between your legs so he was in the optimum position for you to pet his whole body. I was always worried he was going to knock someone over by doing that, as he’d press into your legs with most his weight. When out and about, he was very quick to notice when someone wanted to pet him, often before Tanya or I did. And of course, being that big, a lot of people noticed him. He brought smiles to many strangers, happy to see such a friendly dog. When going to the hardware store, we usually took Carson with us as all the local hardware stores allowed dogs on leashes in. It always took twice as long to buy things because so many people wanted to say hello to Carson, and he loved every minute of it. In fact, last Saturday we made two trips to the hardware store with Carson and he was his normal self – soaking up pets and a treat from the store employees.
I could write about Carson all day long. He was an amazing dog, truly part of the family, well-loved by everyone who met him. Tanya and I hugely miss him; and though we will likely get another dog someday, that dog will never be replaced. Carson, please rest in peace.
Enjoy these images of one great dog. You can see more images of Carson from some of our photo adventures together from last month, April 2013, March 2013(1), March 2013(2), October 2012, May 2012, and April 2012.
A young Carson, about a year old, in the wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge.
Another shot of the young Carson. We got Carson when he was 9 months old, so we don’t have any true puppy pictures.
Carson was always happy to be hiking. Carson had a natural mohawk-like feature in his hair, which is well seen here.
Carson, happy on another hike in 2006.
Throw a stick in water, and he was all after it. Throw it on land, he ignore you. What a dog!
Here is Carson in the classic newfie pose, head down between his front paws. I swear he spend half his life in this position.
Here’s Carson with Patch (Sugar’s brother). Carson and Patch were best buddies and would often lay together like this. Carson loved riding in the car. Open the back of our SUV, and if he thought a trip was at hand, he’d lay in there for hours waiting to go.
Flying Dogs and Toto too
Last Saturday, Tanya and I attended the Seattle Dog Show. Inspired by the dog photography of my friend Tom Guffey, I thought I’d try my hand at shooting some of the show. I came away even more impressed by the work of Tom. Shooting images of flying dogs is tough!
First, it’s dark and using flash is a big no-no. I had my camera set at ISO 3200, using f-stops of f/4 and f/5.6 and shutter speeds between 1/50 and 1/320 seconds. Digital noise was definitely an issue in my images. Secondly, dogs move – especially when flying. When using fairly wide open f-stops, particularly with my 70-200mm zoom which I used at the agility ring, there isn’t much depth of field. It’s tricky getting the focus right. I set my camera to AI Servo focus mode, to track moving subjects; but as I primarily shoot non-moving things, I’m not very experienced with AI Servo. As you might imagine, there were a lot of rejects for every shot that was almost in focus. Even with these tough lighting conditions, it sure was a fun time.
Here’s some of my favorites from the show.
In the agility ring, this guy had no trouble with the jumps.
I love the determination on this pug's face. Note the height of the jump was a little less for him.
A lot of people think Corgis are cute. This pair is living up to that reputation.
Of course, bulldogs are cute too!
But, I'm partial to Newfoundlands. This one is a cousin of Tanya's and mine newfie, Carson. And speaking of poor lighting, as I did above, try taking a picture of a black dog in dim light and still get detail!
This dog looks like he is having a great time showing off for the crowd.
I call this image "Takeoff" for obvious reasons.
In the Old English Sheepdog ring.
And speaking of sheepdogs, how about this one's hairdo.
Back in the agility ring, there are are the posts to run around as well as the jumps.
And what would a dog show be without Toto (and Dorothy of course).
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