Jacqueline Deely Photography Blog

Bit the bullet!

2012-02-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

I finally bit the bullet and have invested in the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR II AF Lens!

I agonized for a while between the 500mm and 600mm, but after testing out the 500mm and reading a multitude of reviews went with the 500mm.

Reasons were:

1. Price - BIG difference between the two and I got a great deal on a new lens with some nice accessories on ebay.

2. Weight - I intend to do a lot of handholding shots for birds in flight and the 600mm is 3lbs heavier, so that was a no brainer.

3. Traveling - The 500mm is easier to pack and less likely to be an issue on smaller aircraft. I intend to return to Africa and remember what it was like to lug around the 200-400mm and try to fit in the overhead bin (which it did not), but luckily did under the seat in front:)

4. Teleconverters - Worked well with my 1:4, but heard it is also great with the 1:7, so I might rent that one and test out before I invest.

Here is an image I had taken while renting the 500mm, so I think it speaks for itself. You can see the original image here.

Rare Sighting!

2012-01-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to discover that my sighting of four Snowy Plovers last week at Natural Bridges State beach was a rare occurrence. I had sent the information to the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory after looking at their website and seeing that any information on banded Snowy Plover sightings in the area was needed. Based on the colors of the bands around their legs, they were able to determine from where exactly they came from. Here is what I learned.

OB:BP is a female, banded as a chick at Salinas State Beach in '09.

PR:AA was banded as a chick in '10 at the same location.

OY:RO was banded in 2011 as a chick at Moss Landing Salt Ponds.

I managed to take a LOT of images which I will be posting the best of to my website, but here is one I particularly like. It was the chick that had been banded at Salinas State Beach in 2009:)

Ocean Conservancy's Marine Wildlife and Seascape Photo Contest

2012-01-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

I have entered this image into the Ocean Conservancy's Marine Wildlife and Seascape Photo Contest.
Hope to get lots of votes and raise funds in the process!

Help stop the increase in poaching in South Africa with Photography

2012-01-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

Saw this request via the Art for Conservation Group on LinkedIn, so wanted to share! Poaching in South Africa is on the increase especially to meet the demand for exotic animal parts particularly in China, who continue to turn a blind eye to requests to ban the import of ivory or Rhino tusks. These animals need our help in order to survive and remain on this planet, otherwise they will just become a picture in a book or a sad remnant in a zoo.

It is a wonderful project, but needs a bunch more in contributions to get it off the ground, so please visit and donate as little as $5.00 to help make a difference!

You learn something new every day!

2011-12-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

I have just returned from a two day trip to the Sacramento Valley area where thousands of migratory birds spend the winter, particularly Snow Geese. There are several wildlife reserves to view birds and since I was staying in Colusa, initially headed to the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge. Upon arrival at the viewing platform, there seemed to be a great deal of excitement at the vary rare sighting of a duck from eastern Asia known as the "Falcated Duck". I guess there has not been a sighting in California in maybe ten years! It was originally seen on December 8th as noted by the American Birding Association.

I had an AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR which I rented from Borrowlenses.com and popped on my 1:4 teleconverter. This is the closest image I could get on my D300, so at 700mm, taking in the DX crop factor. Not anything amazing photographically, but good for documentation purposes I guess. It's at times like these, I wish I had that Canon 800mm!

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-12-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Since my return from Botswana, I have been busy editing images, updating my website and planning for the year ahead. One thing I know for sure is that I LOVE being able to do what I do, even if I am not making enough (yet) to cover this expensive hobby, now turned into career! Displaying and selling my work are up there for sure, but having a deeper purpose is just as, if not more important to me.

My trip to Botswana and being in the company of two very talented photographers, James Gifford and Steven Stockall has helped with my vision of where I want to be and what I really want to use my photography for. Seeing such amazing animals in their natural habitats, yet knowing the uncertainty many of them face in our world due to human conflict and encroachment has made me realize the importance of capturing and sharing my encounters with the rest of the world.

I have found one way of doing this is by donating my images to non-profit organizations such as The Wildlife Conservation Network, Cheetah Conservation Botswana, The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and Audubon California. While providing images for their publications at no cost, it also exposes my work and will hopefully lead to further connections and potential income through the sale of prints or downloads.

Another medium I have started using daily is facebook and I am finding it is an amazing way to network and connect. Creating a fan page really helps get your work out there and I am blown away at just how easy it is! LinkedIn has also started to draw attention to my website and facebook fan page by joining groups, posting comments or starting discussions.

There are many other ways of marketing yourself out there and I think I have only just touched the tip the iceberg. Hopefully the hours spent on-line will reap some rewards:)

I'm Back!

2011-10-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm back from an amazing adventure in Botswana. Experienced so many new things and met some really wonderful people. I have started posting images to the site, so please check them out. Here is one I particularly love of a female leopard. We had seen her early morning in the distance, but were incredibly lucky to encounter her again as she appeared out of the long golden grass, a perfect backdrop to her beautiful markings.

Female Leopard, Savuti, Botswana

Nikon D300

AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4 ED VR II

Botswana Adventure!

2011-09-11T03:27:00.000-07:00

I am currently on a six week adventure in Botswana. My first month is being spent as a volunteer with Cheetah Conservation Botswana. I am doing a variety of tasks: administrative, creative (repainting a large canvas depicting the various predator cats) and work out in the field such as setting up cheetah traps so a cheetah can be fitted with a GPS collar and tracked, collecting scat and checking motion sensor cameras. So far it has been an amazing experience.

I will then take a ten day photography safari out of Maun with Letaka Safaris. Photographers James Gifford and Steven Stockall will be guiding us. This will take me to some of the best wildlife viewing areas in Botswana such as Moremi, the Okavango Delta and Chobe. I end my trip in Kasane where I plan to do a day trip to Victoria Falls.

I return to the USA early October and anticipate having lots of amazing images to share!

With 16yr old "Duma", Ambassador Cat for CCB

Oh Happy Day!

2011-08-12T10:54:00.001-07:00

I headed down to Moss Landing yesterday morning not really knowing what to expect. I was testing out the AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II prior to doing a safari in September, so wanted to get a feel for the lens before I spend an arm and a leg to rent it for six weeks!

This was my first time actually visiting Moss Landing although I have been numerous times to Elkhorn Slough. What a surprise to find a ton of cute sea otters hanging out on their backs, grooming, playing and sleeping. This little guy was the closest to the shore, so I had fun watching and capturing him in action.

In this photo he appeared to be laughing, when in fact he was grooming his fur. The Sea otters fur keeps warm also by trapping air in its coat, but the Sea otter's coat does not shed. They have two sets of hair: longer guard hairs and dense underfur. The guard hairs, when clean, are waterproof, protecting the underfur, which traps a layer of air to provide insulation. The use of air as insulation is very efficient, providing four times the insulation of the same amount of fat or blubber. If the hairs are dirty or clogged with oil, then the Sea otters coat won't be waterproof and the Sea otter will die from the cold. You can see now why Sea otters spend a large portion of time daily grooming themselves as they float on top of the water!

Oh happy day!, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II
Monostat Monopod
MH-01 Pro: Monopod Head with B2-Pro II

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Marine-Life/15051490_pwPdV#1427639424_DMKVbZP

Fields of France

2011-08-02T10:17:00.001-07:00

This beautiful scene presented itself while on a recent vacation in France. I was staying in a small cottage in the rural area of Soudun, in Poitou-Charentes, near the town of Lencloître, where we were literally surrounded by sunflowers! The entire region was host to endless fields of these beautiful flowers and I was lucky enough to capture this image on the only night we were blessed with a glorious sunset. Image is a composite of three exposures combined using Photomatix Pro HDR software.

Fields of France, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Lee Standard Filter Holder
Lee 105mm Circular Polarizer
Singh Ray 0.9 Soft Grad ND Filter

See bigger and better at: www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Landscapes/France/18330...

Safe Passage

2011-07-05T17:55:00.001-07:00

I spent last weekend down in Carmel as I had been invited to attend my first ever "Community Release" at Point Lobos by The Marine Mammal Center. This involves releasing healthy marine mammals back into the ocean after being rescued and rehabilitated at their facility in Sausalito, CA.

One juvenile California Sea Lion and four Elephant Seal pups were released at Weston Beach which was an ideal location to capture them as as they were guided to the water. I was able to position myself out on some tide pool rocks, which enabled me to get some really nice low angle shots.

You will notice the red marking on the top of the head. Each seal was marked with a different color to make identification easier. They are also permanently tagged on their tails so they can be easily recognized if every found again in distress, which hopefully will not be the case.

This little guy made his way across the surface of the rocky shore, nervously looking back as if checking to see if it was okay for him to leave, or maybe taking one last look at those who nursed him back to health. I hope he makes it out there:)

Safe Passage, a photo by Images of the Natural World by Jacqueline Deely on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Ocean-Life/15051490_pwPdV#1368370523_tz6zzJH

The Lesson

2011-06-07T17:12:00.001-07:00

I gave this photo the title "The Lesson" as this little gosling watched its mother (or father for that matter) one evening after work at Palo Alto Baylands, CA. I have also started framing my images on flickr to tie in with the color scheme on my website. Not sure if I entirely like it, but I am trying different options to see what works best.

The Lesson, a photo by Images of the Natural World by Jacqueline Deely on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED
AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II

Godwits Galore!

2011-06-04T13:12:00.001-07:00

I took this not too long ago at Palo Alto Baylands, CA as it was mobbed by a large flock Godwits. I think this is a combination of both Marbled and Willets. They were beautiful to watch against a backdrop of yellow mustard grass.

Godwits Galore!, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED
AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Birds/11716343_bRCuv#1321383172_wzQn6DV

My Favorite View

2011-06-04T11:09:00.001-07:00

I have to say this image is of my favorite view in the whole world. It is from a special place in Point Reyes, CA my husband and I try to visit at least a couple of times a year regardless of the season. Previously the house in the distance was not there. Instead the field was part of a farm and was used by grazing cows. The land was sold, but the good news is, instead of going to a developer that would have split it up into multiple parcels and built several homes blocking the view, it was bought by a lady artist from the east coast who agreed to keep the field "as is" in all its natural beauty. We are very glad she did!

My Favorite View, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Hoya Circular Polarizer

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Landscapes/California/10720879_arSEs#1314284591_mvJ58BK

Black-crowned Night-Heron

2011-05-30T15:41:00.001-07:00

Palo Alto Baylands is abundant right now with Black-crowned Night-herons, as they make nests in preparation for new life. A lovely time to visit is in the evening as the sun's angle casts wonderful shadows and beautiful soft light as seen in this image. This particular heron was starting to doze off after a busy day of gathering twigs.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED
AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Birds/11716343_bRCuv#1314014461_DhsVM6n

One in a Million

2011-05-25T10:24:00.001-07:00

More spring wildflowers from Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, CA. This is a Mule's Ear Sunflower among a sea of beautiful Common Madias.

After spending a morning there just focusing on the flowers, I really want to invest in a macro lens. My option will be either the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 or the highly revered Nikon 105mm f/2.8. Since there is a big difference price here, I intend to rent the Nikon from Borrowlenses.com before I dig too deep into my pockets!

One in a Million, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300

Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Flora/10721143_fL843#1306659622_7jm3Dr7

My first shot at macro...

2011-05-18T22:18:00.001-07:00

A colleague of mine offered to lend me their Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens as I had mentioned I was heading up to Russian Ridge to check out the wildflowers. I have not really done any real macro photography, so was curious to give it a try.

Russian Ridge did not disappoint and there were plenty of specimens to choose from. Here is one I particularly liked of what I "think" might be an Oregon Checkermallow. ***Please correct me if I am wrong.***

California Wildflowers - Oregon Checkermallow, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Flora/10721143_fL843#1297792795_835tJfW

Curious Cutie

2011-05-18T10:49:00.001-07:00

I recently headed over to Palo Alto Baylands and was pleasantly surprised to come across a pair of Canadian Geese and their six goslings! They allowed me to get surprisingly close (about 15ft), so I positioned myself down low so as not to frighten them and was able to capture this little cutie staring right at me. I plan to head back again soon, as I truly enjoyed watching and photographing these beautiful little creatures.

Curious Cutie, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Nikon D300
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED
AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II

See bigger and better at: http://www.jacquelinedeely.com/Galleries/Birds/11716343_bRCuv#1287868460_K3dZrPh

Black Phoebe

2011-05-03T22:29:00.001-07:00

Going through some images from last year, I came across this one of a Black Phoebe, taken at Palo Alto Baylands, CA. I am not sure why I overlooked it as I really think it is pretty cool! I just need a good title. Any ideas?

Black Phoebe, a photo by Images of the Natural World on Flickr.

Golden Gladiator

2011-03-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I spent an entire morning at the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso, CA. I had taken a bird walking tour there the day prior with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and decided to head back, as I was blown away by the number of birds we encountered. A really fabulous spot!

As I was heading back to my car, running out of battery power and with only 50 or so images left on my memory card, I noticed a very large bird sitting on top of a power line tower. As I got closer, I realized it was a Golden Eagle! I took a ton of images as it perched on the tower, but they are not very appealing visually.

I did manage however to capture this particular image while it was being harassed by Red-tailed Hawks. It was taken at 1/1000, F/5.6 with an ISO of 250. It was not as sharp as I would have liked it to be, but I am happy I managed to capture something relatively decent. There have been other sightings of this bird in the same location since then, so I plan to go back , hopefully see it again and give it another go.

Golden Eagle

Making a Difference

2011-02-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am currently on a quest to raise money for an amazing individual in Botswana by the name of Dr. Clay Wilson. He is tirelessly working around the clock rescuing wildlife primarily impacted by human conflict. I came across him via a posting on facebook and have taken his mission to heart. Although seeking sponsors and an ongoing stream of support, he is currently in desperate need of funds to pay for the exorbitant cost of vaccine to curb a deadly outbreak of distemper that is affecting the local wildlife. Please go to my Crowdrise fundraiser page for more information on how you can help.

This article tells his amazing story!

Cover Shot

2011-01-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Last year I was contacted by Audubon California after posting an image of a Red-tailed Hawk on their Facebook page. They asked me if they could use the image on the cover of their 2010 Annual Report. Well, I naturally said "YES" and am thrilled to see the final result!

Audubon California 2010 Annual Report

Worth Waiting For!

2010-12-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I attended the Holiday Open House at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. I had become a member last year after experiencing first hand the amazing work they do for marine life along the California coast. I had contacted them after seeing a seemingly distressed California Sea Lion on a beach in Half Moon Bay. I was highly impressed with their response and follow-up. A volunteer was sent within the hour and the poor little guy was monitored and checked the following morning. I was later notified that he was rescued and returned to Point Reyes where he had originally come from, so all turned out well! I aim to become a volunteer in one way or another next year.

After my visit, my plan was to stick around for hopefully some great sunset shots on Rodeo Beach, but as the day wore on, a thick fog rolled in spoiling any chance of getting the kind images I had envisioned. So, I decided to pack up and head out of there. As I wound my way back toward the Golden Gate, I instinctively took an alternate turn and headed up into the headlands. As I did so, a magnificent scene presented itself and I quickly pulled into a small parking area and grabbed my gear.

I followed a trail that ultimately faced out toward Rodeo Beach. Below me lay the dense layer of fog, but as the sun began to set, the sky lit up and the entire scene became awash in magnificent color setting the fog below aglow. Well worth waiting for!

Update to this posting. This image was chose as Aperture Academy's Photo of Day!

Yosemite Photography Workshop

2010-11-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

I spent a very rainy weekend in Yosemite with Aperture Academy, but in spite of the nasty conditions, had a blast. These guys are top class when it comes to ensuring you have the best possible experience and really went out of their way to make the weekend as productive as possible. We visited the popular spots for photography....Tunnel View and Glacier Point, but also had the chance to go to less visited locations (at least during our time there), Tenyana and Siesta Lakes which we pretty much had all to ourselves. We also took a short trek into the forest to capture the magnificent fall color.

Here is a more detailed account of the weekend. The goal of the workshop was to refine my filter skills and I did manage to try them out the morning of my departure when the sun finally came out! Here is one relatively decent image I did manage to walk away with. I will have more posted on my website soon.

Update to this posting. This image was recently chosen as "Photo of the Day" with Aperture Academy!

My Pictures in Paint!

2010-10-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Through a recent acquisition in my day job, I got chatting with one of my new coworkers, as I was taking their employee photo. She commented on my camera and a conversation ensued about my love of nature photography. Well, she just happens to be a very talented water color artist!

She took a look at my website and asked if she could paint a couple of my images. Within a matter of just a couple of days, she did a fantastic rendition of one of my favorites...the Red Billed Gulls in New Zealand! You can see more of Uma Kelkar's fabulous work on her website and flickr. Enjoy!

Birds Galore!

2010-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

I decided on a whim to head over to the Sunnyvale Baylands early yesterday morning and was pleasantly surprised to find a multitude of birds....Pelicans, Egrets, Black-necked Stilts, Cormorants and tons of Terns! I had my 300mm prime lens with the 1:4 teleconverter on my D300 body.

One of the challenges I am encountering is while trying to shoot birds in flight, my lens tends to "hunt" and I lose the shot. I am not sure if the teleconverter is contributing to this or if it is just the lens, so I am going to do some research to see if there are similar stories out there. I really want a long lens that focuses quickly and does not weigh a ton, so I can hand hold. Does such a lens exist in the Nikon range or do I need to look at another brand? I also tried the 3D focus tracking feature on my camera but found it annoying. Maybe I need to practice using this more.

In spite of this, I did manage to get a couple of decent images. Here is one of a Double-crested Cormorant drying his feathers. The morning sun made them shine and look like metal or armor, so I desaturated the background to make him stand out. I am looking for a title for this image as I would like to submit it for competition. Suggestions welcome!

Double-crested Cormorant
420mm, f/5.6 @ 1/500s, ISO 200

Baylands Babies!

2010-07-12T10:44:00.001-07:00

I got up early yesterday morning and returned to Palo Alto Baylands to find an abundance of photo opportunites. With over a thousand images to sift through, it will take me a few days to get the best posted, but here are a couple I just love. My previous posting showed a courting pair of American Avocets. Here is one of that pair with one of their four chicks!

American Avocets

Here is an older chick I had seen with a solitary avocet. Not sure where the other adult was or if there had been other babies. Unfortunately, they are the target of seagulls and hawks who scout the area. Adult Avocets are wonderful parents however, and do whatever it takes to protect their young. They will even go after a hawk if necessary! American Avocet chicks leave the nest within 24 hours after hatching. Day-old avocets can walk, swim, and even dive to escape predators. Amazing little things and so cute!

American Avocet Chick

The Beauty of Nature

2010-06-08T12:11:00.001-07:00

After pulling a muscle in my calf while running last week, I decided to hold off heading back up to Russian Ridge and paid a visit to Palo Alto Baylands instead. It has been quite a while since I was last there and was pleasantly surprised to find "love in the air". For the first time, I was lucky enough to see a pair of American Avocets mating and it was fascinating to watch.

Here is a description from The Cornel Lab of Ornithology... "In its pre-copulation display, the male American Avocet preens himself with water, gradually gaining intensity to the point of frenzied splashing just before he moutns the femaile. After copulating, the pair intertwines their necks and runs forward".

I also happened to notice the male wraps his wing around the female and managed to capture the moment. So who is to say whether or not our fellow creatures have the capacity to feel and exhibit emotion? This was a display of caring and affection if ever I saw one. Just beautiful!

American Avocets

420mm, f/5.6 @ 1/1000s, ISO 200

New Camera and Wildflowers

2010-06-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have invested in the Nikon D300 as a secondary camera body and so far, so good! I have yet to go through the manual and multitude of menu items, but tested it out recently at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. I headed up after work one evening to hopefully capture some wildflower and sunset images and did not come back disappointed. The landscape was carpeted with a magnificent array of color. Since it was after 6:00pm on a week night, there were only a couple of other people on the trail, so it felt like I had the whole place to myself! As I walked along the trail, I took a bunch of flower images. Here is one I particularly liked.

150mm, f/5.6 @ 1/250s, ISO 200

I then headed up to a viewpoint and watched the sun set while I snapped away. I found a spot and waited as the sun went down and the sky changed to a beautiful shade of pink. I used my AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens with a polarizer and a Hitech 4x5 Gradual ND 0.6 Soft Edge Filter, which I hand held to cover the sky. Here is the best of the bunch and think I ended up with well balanced exposure. I plan on heading up again this week to see what else I can come up with.

32mm, f/29 @ 1.3s, ISO 200

Photo of the Day!

2010-05-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

I was really thrilled to have one of my bird images chosen as "Photo of the Day" with the Aperture Academy. It was one of my favorites from our trip to New Zealand last year.

200mm, f/5.6 @ 1/800s @ ISO 100

Swallows Galore

2010-04-26T09:33:00.001-07:00

Tree Swallows were on the agenda yesterday as I spent the late afternoon, early evening at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. The park has a specific area with nesting boxes for these active little birds to breed, which occurs during the spring/summer months.

420mm, f/5.6 @ 1/640s, ISO 100

My biggest challenge was trying to capture them mid flight. Photographing birds flying is a lot tougher than it looks, especially small birds such as these that dart and swerve at pretty high speeds, but practice makes perfect and I will keep returning until I succeed.

I did get one fairly decent shot of a Northern Harrier, but I still have a long way to go to capture the type of bird shots I see the pros producing. Maybe my new camera will help? See my next posting for more.

420mm, f/5.6 @ 1/1250s, ISO 100

Fantastic Day!

2010-04-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did the one day "San Francisco/Marin Headlands" workshop with Stephen Oachs up in San Francisco and I have to say was one of the most invaluable classes I have taken to date.

Stephen is a wonderful teacher and a really great person to be around. I was lucky to be part of a small group of students, so we all received a great deal of personal attention throughout the day. His passion for photography, nature and the outdoors is infectious, so it is hard not to feel the same.

We originally met at Baker Beach with wonderful views of the Golden Gate Bridge, then headed over to Fort Point, Rodeo Beach and The Marin Headlands. While I did not get any amazing images, I learnt a great deal which I can now take out into the field. Here is a more detailed description of the day.

Pescadero Weekend

2010-03-30T13:11:00.001-07:00

I spent this past weekend in Pescadero which lies between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz on the California coast.

My first morning I headed down to the beach and was pleasantly surprised to find two Black Oystercatchers putting on a great show. This was the first time I had seen these birds, so it was a thrill to capture them and in such a beautiful setting.

420mm, f/5.6 @ 1/500s, ISO 100

The following day, I met some friends for a guided Elephant Seal tour at Año Nuevo State Park. Breeding season is December through March, so we were there for the final weekend of tours. The adults had gone back to sea and all that remained were the fully weaned juveniles hanging out in ponds behind the dunes, learning how to be seals.

I also spent time exploring the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve and although I did not get any decent bird images (I continually spooked them), I stumbled across this cute little rabbit who froze long enough to capture a couple of images.

420mm, f/5.6 @ 1/250s, ISO 100

Filter System

2010-03-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time to invest in a good filter system, specifically for neutral density filters. The more I read about landscape photography, these are a must if I want to produce great images in camera and less time on post processing.

After spending quite a bit of time researching and reading reviews, I decided to go with Lee for my filter holder and Hitech filters. Here is what I specifically purchased from http://www.2filters.com/.

Lee Filter Holder, Model FK - Holds 3, 4x6 or 4x4 Filters
Lee 72mm Adapter Ring
Hitech 4x5 Gradual ND 0.6 Soft Edge Filter
Hitech 4x4 ND Solid 0.6 Filter

I checked to make sure they had these items in stock, ordered them on a Monday and had them in hand on Wednesday (via 2 Day air). I was very impressed with their service and will use them again for sure.

I screwed on the adapter ring, then clipped on the filter holder. The filters slide into the holder which can be rotated and filters moved up or down as needed. A piece of cake!

Next up is to get out there and test it out. Stay tuned!

Sunol Regional Wilderness

2010-02-23T15:49:00.001-08:00

A visit to the Sunol Regional Wilderness in the East Bay resulted in a couple of decent shots. I headed there early in the morning, so it felt like I had the whole place to myself. Once I left at noon, the parking lot was full and I was pretty hot and tired from lugging my big lens around with me for nearly five hours.

It is a beautiful park with some steep climbs that are worth it to see the fantastic views. I was hoping to capture some bird shots but only managed to get a couple near the end of my day. None the less, I really enjoyed the day walking on the trails or just sitting on a high perch enjoying the tranqulity and taking in the views.

While stopping for a break however, I came upon a trough with water intermittently rising up from inside creating bubbles. So this became my subject for several minutes and I ended up with a pretty interesting composition.

Natural Bridges State Beach

2010-01-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

I recently spent a glorious afternoon at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz and captured some pretty cool images! This was two days before the Mavericks surfing competition on January 10th as huge waves were rolling in, crashing against the rocks. The ocean was full of surfers, while people watched them from the beach and rocks. I on the other hand was busy capturing waves, surfers, birds and as the day came to an end, a glorious sunset. I have quite a few images from this shoot which I am pretty proud of. Here is one that stood out and the remainder will be posted soon on my website.

52mm, f/11 @ 1s, ISO 100

Time to catch up!

2009-12-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

Boy, I can't believe it has been nearly three months since I posted something, so here is my year end update.

Since October, I have been working on my website with the goal of having images to purchase by year end. I think there are a few good ones on there, but still have a great deal more to add.

A brilliant, local photographer I aspire to is Stephen W. Oachs, who recently opened a state of the art gallery and training facility in Campbell, CA called The Aperture Academy, which I can't wait to check out. I love his work and his website is simply amazing! I also intend to sign up for one of his workshops in the new year, specifically his San Francisco/Marin Headlands Landscape Photography Workshop.

Topics he will be covering include:

properly exposing a scene
composition
depth-of-field, and more

These are all areas I really want to focus on as I move forward.

I am currently reading "Light & Exposure" by Harold Davis and in doing so have picked up some interesting info. Aperture doesn't matter when depth of field doesn't matter. Depth of field doesn't matter if you are focused at infinity. Of course, this only applies to certain situations, such as a distant landscape where the entire subject is at infinity.

Another area I want to explore is black and white photography. I read an interesting article in Outdoor Photographer about converting images that normally would not have made your best list and seeing how surprisingly better they look. I have been trying this out on some images that did not quite make the final cut. Here is a favorite view from Point Reyes, CA that I converted to b&w with a warm tone.

A Dream Come True!

2009-10-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend doing one of my favorite things...volunteering with the Wildlife Conservation Network and in doing so, met one of the people on this planet I admire the most....Jane Goodall!

Saturday was spent at their yearly expo up in San Francisco at the Mission Bay Conference Center. I had the opportunity to manage the auditorium that Jane would be speaking in, so getting to see her up close, along with meeting the other conservationists who would be presenting was simply awesome! I have nothing but complete and utter admiration and respect for these amazing people who have dedicated their lives to saving endangered species around the globe. Hearing Jane speak brought tears to my eyes as she spread her message of hope for a better world.

I also got to chat with Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton who founded Save the Elephants in Kenya where there has been a really dreadful drought and was privileged to see rare footage of an elephant giving birth amid such devastation and loss of life. You can see footage of the birth on the Save the Elephants website. Please visit and if at all possible support his ongoing quest to save these beautiful, majestic creatures.

You can also donate and learn more about the many other conservationsts the Wildlife Conservation Network supports by visiting their site. If you would like to volunteer, they are always in need of helpers!

New Zealand

2009-09-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

Back from my amazing two week trip and currently in the process of going through my 22GB's of images!

New Zealand totally blew me away with it's incredible scenery, so there was never a moment when I did not have camera in hand...except when I was driving of course:) Spring was the perfect time to visit to see snow capped mountains, lush green fields, flowers, blossoms and new born lambs galore! A complete overload of the senses is putting it mildly.

28mm, f/20 @ 1/100s, ISO 200

I took one lens on this trip and that was my new AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens. The only issue I had (which I was aware of before I purchased it) was lens creep. Many a time I would look down at my camera to see the lens completley extended to 200mm. If I hadn't gone on this trip, I would have held off and waited for the latest version which was due out this month and apparently has this issue resolved, but I could not wait and needed a one lens solution in order to travel as light as possible. This one seemed to be a favorite.

I did manage to take some really nice images and the VR definitely helped. I also purchased a Monostat RS16K Carbon Monopod, which was ideal for traveling as it was compact and light.

While the majority of images were landscapes, I did manage to capture a few bird shots. Here is one of Red Billed Gulls on Waiheke Island, a 45 minute ferry ride from Auckland. They were very vocal and would take on these wierd poses whenever another gull approached overhead. I am not sure what all this behavior meant, but it sure was fun to watch!

Red Billed Gulls

200mm, f/5.6 @ 1/800s, ISO 100

My goal is to post the best images to my website, but anticipate this taking about a month to complete.

Egrets & Competition

2009-08-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

I headed over to Palo Alto Baylands after work one evening and was lucky enough to come across two young snowy egrets hanging around the pond area completely oblivious to people. Normally egrets are easily spooked by any movement, but these two juveniles seemed to have no fear of humans "yet" and put on a great show.

I had my 300mm lens with the teleconverter attached, which I actually did not really need as they were so close, that I had to move away in order to get a full body shot. I spent about an hour and took 300 images in all, a handful of which I would consider keepers. Here is one I particularly liked.

Snowy Egret

420mm, f/5.6 @ 320s, ISO 125

I think it is becoming apparent that I do like to photograph birds, Egrets in particular, so think I am going to focus on birds for a while. I am also going to enter a few of my images into the first annual photo contest held by The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. The aim of the contest being, to highlight the bird and habitat diversity found in the bay area and beyond. There are six categories and winners will announced at the end of October. The winning images will be displayed at the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge (which I happened to visit a couple of weekends ago) in their Environmental Education Center. How cool would that be!

Teleconverter and New Lens

2009-08-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

I finally made the addition of a teleconverter to my 300mm lens, as I felt I needed more reach for photographing birds. I purchased the AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II which extends my lens to 420mm. A pretty significant difference. Image examples to follow!

For an upcoming trip to New Zealand, I have gone ahead and ordered the AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens. I know there is VR II version coming out in September, but my trip starts at the end of August and I need a one lens solution. From what I have read, this seems to be the one, although I know there have been issues with lens creep which has apparently been fixed in the newer version. I will give an update on that when I return mid-September.

Goal & Website

2009-07-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Since my last posting I have been busy focusing on my goal of printing, matting and framing 10 images that I think are worthy of public display and possible sale. Image size will be 13" x 19" printed on Epson's Ultra Premium Luster paper and simply matted and framed. I want the focus to be on the image and the surround to enhance rather than detract.

As for the images in question....I want to choose scenes specifically depicting the beauty of California and it's natural inhabitants. I would like to get these into a local coffee shop which has a lot of traffic for maximum exposure. There are a few in the area that display artwork.

I have also begun work on my website: jacquelinedeely.com. I purchased my domain with Go Daddy and after much research and comparisson shopping, have gone with SmugMug to host my website, display image galleries and sell prints. What I liked about SmugMug was this....it is a local, family owned business, has great customer service (as I have come to learn and use), plus they use Bay Photo for their printing service, also local and a certified "Green Business". There are however a few frustating things I am trying to find the time to work on. SmugMug is primarily a image gallery and print selling service and not so much geared toward website design, so if you want a custom website, you really need to know HTML and CSS to create the look you want.

Luckily, I have taken some website design classes but am a bit rusty, so I am spending more time than I had hoped to get my site looking the way I want. With working full time, it is hard to stare at a computer screen for most of the day, then go home and do the same thing. Anyway, we will see what I eventually come up with. I will get stuck into it again this weekend.

Elkhorn Slough

2009-06-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today, I spent a glorious day at Elkhorn Slough near Monterey Bay. I arrived there at 9:30am and walked the entire trail, not leaving till 2:30pm. For the first hour or so, I did not meet a soul and felt as if I had the entire place to myself.

I took a variety of images with my 300mm lens and found these to be my favorite. The first is of delicate, lace like Cow Parsley which bordered the edge of the trail.

Cow Parsley
300mm, f/4.5 @ 1200s, ISO 200

Noise

2009-06-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo I took yesterday evening of a Forster's Tern hovering and feeding in the tide pools at Palo Alto Baylands. I took a bunch of images which turned out relatively well in spite of how fast this little bird was darting back and forth. I did notice however, quite a bit of noise which surprised me at an ISO of only 400. So rather than fix this with a filter, I decided to try something different and instead applied a very fine grain effect which worked quite nicely.

Forster's Tern

300mm, f/4 @ 1250s, ISO 400

I also decided it was time to invest in a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II for my 300mm lens, as I would like to have gotten in closer to the subject. It was a fun experience however watching this little bird hover, dive, hover, then circle around and do it all over again and again.

Coolpix S710

2009-05-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of a recent trip to Ireland, I decided I did not want to bring all my hard earned camera gear with me, so decided to invest in a pocket size camera to take snapshots and if I did happen to lose it, would not be too upset. I decided to stick with Nikon and after checking out the multitude of point and shoot options, went with the Coolpix S710 where I got a good deal with Beach Camera via eBay. I knew I wanted wide angle for landscape shots and flexibility with the settings. This particular model came with Priority, Aperture, Shutter and Manual settings and a 28mm wide angle lens. The controls were easy to follow and image quality so far seems pretty good. I have not really used the camera enough to give a detailed review, but it worked fine for my trip. Here is an image taken in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin. Nothing amazing, but a nice shot for the scrapbook.

A special moment

2009-04-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that the best natural light occurs in the early morning or late afternoon/evening. So with that in mind, I dragged myself out of bed on Saturday morning at 6:00am and headed to a new place of interest...Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, known for it's wildflowers and incredible views. I headed off with the intent of photographing wildflowers, but that all changed very quickly.

No sooner had I parked my car in the empty lot and opened up the back to access my equipment, when a coyote appeared out of blue! At first I did not know what to do as I did not want to spook him. Luckily my gear was right in front of me, so I grabbed my camera, opened up the aperture as wide as possible and starting shooting. He hung around for a couple of minutes, scratching his chin and shaking his head, then proceeded to trot on by completely oblivious to my presence and back into the brush. In spite of my unpreparedness, I managed to get a couple of pretty decent shots. What a thrill and nothing else for the rest of the day could even come close! Flowers? What flowers?

300mm, f/4 @ 1/200s, ISO 500

300mm, f/4 @ 1/320s, ISO 500

I love my printer!

2009-04-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love my Epson 3800 Pro printer after making a 13" x 19" print using Epson's Ultra Premium Luster photo paper of the image shown. It was taken in the evening using a tripod at the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve.

American Avocet

300mm, f/4 @ 1/400s, ISO 100

The color, detail and sharpness just blew me away! Up to now I have only been making 8.5" x 11" prints, but it is not until you start to print big that you test your printers capabilities. I am also printing as a NEF file from CaptureNX2, which is so much better than having to convert to a TIFF to print from Photoshop. The only adjustments I made to the image were an increase in saturation, applying an unsharp mask to bring out feather detail and cropping.

I can't wait to try printing at 17" x 22", the largest this printer can do, but will wait till I have an image worthy of that size. This one is definitely a winner and I highly recommend!

New Backpack

2009-03-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today I invested in a backpack from Think Tank Photo, a professional photography equipment manufacturer. I ordered their new Streetwalker Pro, as it will easily accommodate my larger lens and tripod, something my current backpack does not do. It also has a bunch of really cool features such as a rain cover and clips to attach your camera to the straps. There are also other components you can add for additional equipment and it is designed for international travel, so I think this should last me quite time.

Having this backpack will make going out in the field, especially on long treks with all my gear not such a daunting prospect because after all, that is where I want to be. I will post a review once I have tested it out a few times.

Egrets & Exposure

2009-03-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have been busy training for the 2009 Big Sur 21 Miler with my husband on the weekends, so time has been limited. With the brighter evenings, I will now be able to head out after work and take advantage of the softer lighting conditions.

I did manage to pay another visit to Vasona County Park on a somewhat overcast day in search of egrets. I spent about an hour walking around the lake and was getting close to leaving when I spotted a small snowy egret making its way along the edge of the water line.

Snowy Egret

300mm, f/4 @ 1/1000s, ISO 320

I think I am getting better at exposure, looking at the histogram on my camera and adjusting as needed. In the past my egret images have been blown out and I am now understanding my camera enough to make the necessary changes. I also think shooting them out of direct sunlight or on an overcast day helps. In this particular image, there was a hint of evening sunlight peeping through the trees on to the egret's body giving it a warm tone. The only adjustments I made in CaptureNX2 was to slightly darken the background, increase saturation and crop.

Catch Up

2009-01-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick recap of the last month or so.

I spent a day of silent mindful meditation at Taungpulu Kaba Aye Monastery in Big Basin, CA. What a beautiful spot to reflect and take in the surroundings. I thought about my photography and the things I am drawn to. Being outdoors in nature is something I must have in my life. It recharges my batteries and puts things in perspective.

I have come to realize my new lens is not ideal for long treks or spur of the moment photography, unless I fork out for a new, larger backpack to accommodate larger lenses which I don't have at this time. Lugging it around this past weekend at Wilder Ranch State Park for five hours was not such a bright idea. There were a lot of people out on the trail, so not the ideal situation to set up and capture wildlife. I ended up switching it with my 18mm - 135mm for the versatility and focused on the landscape instead. If I want to take wildlife images, I need early morning/late afternoon time frames and secluded spots where I can set up my tripod and wait for an opportune moment. This means getting out there more often and finding where these places are.

Here is an abstract sunset image I captured as I was leaving the park. The simplicity of the composition and the colors caught my eye. I snapped it in a hurry, as it was getting close to dusk and prime mountain lion time, so it is a little blurry, but I like the effect. I ended up printing this 13" x 19" and it came out really nice. The only thing I did was increase the saturation slightly. My husband loved it so on the wall it goes!

18-135mm lens, f/5.6 @ 1.6s, ISO 400>

A couple of weekends ago however, I did head over to Vasona County Park one morning and got a few decent bird shots. They congregate on the quieter side of the lake, so it is an ideal spot which I will return to, as it is close to home. This will be a good practice location for me.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

300mm lens, f/5 @ 1/1000s, ISO 400

I sorted and renamed my entire photo library using the following system:

Folders by year
Sub folders by year/month/location
Images by year/month/day/first initial, surname

Next is to go through everything, delete as needed and rate. I am starting to get a better eye for what is worth keeping, especially on the exposure side and less attached to mediocre images I will never use. Going forward I will do this with each new batch of images, so I am not having to waste valuable time catching up. After that, it will be time to start an on-line gallery. More about that in my next post.

Testing, testing!

2008-12-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

I spent an entire morning this past weekend walking the trail along the salt ponds at Shoreline, situated at the south end of San Francisco Bay. Shoreline is a haven for a myriad of birds that inhabit or seasonally pass through and a great spot to try out my new lens. My original intent was to bring my tripod but after realizing at the last minute I need a lens plate to connect it to my ball head, I went without. I was nicely surprised however at a couple of the images I managed to take hand held. This image was shot 1/500s @ f/4, ISO 200.

Eared Grebe

300mm, f5.6 @ 1/500s, ISO 200

The only thing I need to get used to with this lens is physically moving to get the shot I want. I have been using a zoom lens for a very long time now, so adjusting to a prime lens may not be such a bad thing, as it will make me work just a little bit harder to compose the image.

Weight wise, it was not as bad as I thought. I managed to lug it around for three hours, but that was pretty much the max. Focusing was a little slow on occasion, but since this was my first time out, that might be more the result of user error, so will update on this again later on.

This will definitely be one of my wildlife lenses depending on the subject and how close I can get. I did enjoy photographing this little Eared Grebe and managed to get pretty close. He was busy preening his feathers, totally oblivious to what was going on. Very cute!

Biting the Bullet

2008-11-19T16:12:00.001-08:00

Well I finally bit the bullet and purchased my very first pro-level lens! After spending hours reading countless on-line reviews, I decided to go with the AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED. After checking out ebay and bidding/losing on a used light gray version, I decided to just go buy it new and got a pretty good deal from Beach Camera.

Here are some of the reviews I read:

http://www.bythom.com/300AFSlens.htm"
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/300f4afs.htm
http://www.adorama.com/NK3004AFSU.html#ProductReviews

I was very torn between this lens and the AF VR Zoom-NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED, but decided to go with a prime lens using a teleconverter when needed. Since the Nikkor VR f/2.8 300mm plus prime lenses are completely out of my budget, this seemed like the best option for now. Frans Lanting uses the lens, so if someone of his calibre has it, then it must be good!

Size Matters!

2008-10-14T12:14:00.001-07:00

A recent visit to Point Reyes National Seashore made me realize it is now time I invested in a longer lens. This is mainly due in part to a wonderful photo opportunity where I could have captured some amazing images, if only I had a closer view of the subject...a rarely seen bobcat!

My husband and I visit Point Reyes whenever possible and usually try to stay at Bay View Cottage with it's amazing panoramic view of Tomales Bay. It is in an open field right next to the cottage that we encountered our first ever sighting of a bobcat. I managed to take several of images, but none of them quite captured what I had envisioned....a close up shot of this strong, muscular cat with it's beautiful amber eyes and markings.

Here is one using my 18mm - 135mm Zoom Nikkor lens from about 50 yards, which clearly is not adequate in order to achieve that.

Getting involved in wildlife conservation

2008-10-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

I recently became involved with the Wildlife Conservation Network, located in Los Altos, CA who help conservationists around the globe. Here is a brief explanation of what they do from their website: "WCN works to overcome the start-up challenges that individual conservation entrepreneurs face — including incorporating as a nonprofit, writing grant proposals, creating marketing materials, raising funds and promoting the cause, maintaining a donor database, and fulfilling all the associated accounting and reporting requirements. This expert assistance allows the conservationist to concentrate their efforts on fieldwork, not deskwork."

This past weekend I volunteered at their annual Expo which was held in San Francisco and had the honor of spending time with some incredible people! My morning was spent assisting Dr. Rodney Jackson and Darla Hillard with The Snow Leopard Conservancy who have spent nearly 30 years trying to save the remaining snow leopards in the mountainous regions of Asia.

In the afternoon, I had the pleasure of getting to know a fellow Brit, Rebecca Klien with Cheetah Conservation Botswana who is doing amazing things in Botswana in her efforts to help save the cheetah from extinction. All these conservationists need various volunteer help and I am particularly interested in helping Rebecca in an administrative capacity by going to Botswana for month hopefully in 2009. It will also be an amazing opportunity to potentially get some great wildlife and landscape images in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Yesterday, a second event was held at the home of Charles Knowles, the founder of WCN. This was an important day for the conservationists to meet and engage in conversation with prospective donors and their fellow conservationists. I volunteered to work the bar and had an absolute blast. I could not believe my eyes however when I saw world famous photographer Frans Lanting among the guests. What a thrill! Especially only after attending his seminar last month and of course, I just had to tell him how great that was.

What a brilliant weekend!

Up and printing

2008-09-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

After receiving and setting up my new Epson Stylus Pro 3800, I printed my very first images with Epson's Ultra Premium Luster Photo Paper.

I had read quite a bit about the multitude of printing problems people experience, so was a little bit aprehensive, especially after learning about the issues with Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) as their operating system. I am just glad I did not upgrade last year from Tiger, so plan to stick with that for now. I also made sure I calibrated my monitor using the X-Rite Eye-One Display LT Monitor Calibrator.

I did my basic image editing to the "raw" file in Capture NX, then selected the option to open the image in Photoshop, where it was automatically converted to a "tif" for printing. Although the printer manual is easy enough to understand, I followed the great step by step instructions for printing from Photoshop with an Espon Stylus Pro 3800 from Eric Chan who is a computer scientist at Adobe. I have yet to print directly from Capture NX, but got the impression from the manual, that Photoshop is the software of choice.

Before editing and printing, I also performed a couple of visual tests which Eric Chan recommended via Norman Koren's site. Scroll half-way down to the section titled Monitor Test Patterns. He also recommended visiting Dry Creek Photo and performing the tests recommended on their Monitor Calibration & Profiling page.

The stand I have my printer on was from Ergo In Demand. There are two styles and you can purchase it from a variety of sources. I would not recommend the vendor I chose, as it arrived in a box that was half open and about to fall apart! Luckily enough, all the components were still there (easy self assembly). The stand is sturdy enough to hold the weight of the printer, has a shelf underneath to store supplies or whatever and chunky wheels making it easy to manouver. I attach the printer to my computer with a 10ft USB 2.0 cable (the maximum length recommended).

Frans is the man!

2008-09-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

The seminar I attended this weekend by Frans Lanting was awesome! He was very endearing, a great speaker with a well prepared presentation and covered so much in just a few hours. I walked away with some great advice and a better sense of purpose and direction. The seminar focused more on the creative and less on the technical, which is exactly what I was hoping for. The one thing Frans continually emphasized was to focus on the things or places that you are "drawn to" and to spend the time to immerse yourself and learn about your subject. One of these places for me is Point Reyes and I have a trip coming up in October, so I am really looking forward to that!

He also talked about the importance of scouting out and finding something that you connect with "before" you take out your equipment. To "tell a story" through your images...what does the photograph say and what is going to "draw your viewer in"? Stepping outside the box and trying things that are not necessarily "by the book" or what everyone else appears to be doing. This definitely got the wheels turning! So many times I shoot in "snapshot" mode and ultimately end up with mediocre images that I know could be better if I had made more of an effort. That is now going to change!

Here is a quote from Frans for aspiring photographers, which I found in a 2006 cover story in PhotoMedia Magazine. “If you’re starting out as a photographer, you need to become very specific and focused about what you want to do. Just to nibble at many different things in general may yield a good image here or there, but it’s going to be very difficult to develop a body of work that way that stands out.” He recommends starting out with a project close to home that won’t cost an arm and a leg in travel expenses: “Get involved with something you believe in that’s close to you physically, and then just work it until you can say, ‘Here’s my statement.’”

Frans hosts workshops in Santa Cruz which works out great location wise, so I plan on signing up for one in the spring.

Storage

2008-09-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I spent time setting up a system of storing and filing my images. I currently have everything on a 500 Gig external drive sorted by year/month/location. I do however need a form of backup, which may be an additional external drive or USB flash drives.

The only images I store on my computer's hard drive are those recently downloaded to critique and save or toss, plus images I intend to work on. These are stored in my "Editing" folder and will ultimately end up in my "Print" folder. I am not entirely sure yet if this is the way to go, so it might change over time as my number of images increases.

Moving along...

2008-09-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

I did two things today. I ordered my Epson Pro 3800 printer (got a great deal on eBay!) and signed up for a one day seminar through Outdoor Photographer with world renowned nature photographer Frans Lanting as the speaker. I have always been in complete awe of his work, so am really excited to have the opportunity to learn from a photographer of his calibre. Here is one of his amazing images.

How about one of my photos?

2008-09-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

A great number of my earlier images are jpegs taken with a Canon Powershot S50 and I have only started to accumulate a library of raw files using my Nikon D80, which is the format I plan to use going forward.

Here is an image of an egret taken at Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland, Florida back in 2005. I think it is pretty good based on my limited experience at the time, although now as I look at it, I would probably edit it differently. Since I have the original, I may give it a go this time in Capture NX for comparison.

Classes & Seminars

2008-09-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of what I have done the last few years.

CLASSES:
Foothill College, CA
Beginning Black & White Photography
Introduction to Adobe Photoshop
Advanced Adobe Photoshop
Introduction to Digital Imaging
Introduction to Macromedia Flash
Introduction to Adobe Illustrator
Publishing on the Web using HTML/XHTML
Advanced Topics in Web Publishing

UCSC Extension, CA
Web Design - An Overview

Real World Digital Photography: A Weekend With Sean Duggan
Sean Duggan is a wonderful photographer and teacher. He has written several books on digital photography and Photoshop techniques.

SEMINARS:
Nikon School of Photography

Introduction to Digital SLR Photography
Next Steps in Digital Photography: Streamlined Workflow Techniques
Two day seminar that primarily focused on Nikon products, but would also be helpful to non Nikon users.

National Geographic Traveler Seminar

Putting the WOW in Your Nature & Outdoor Photography
One day seminar hosted by National Geographic photographers, Eddie Soloway and Tim Davis.

Capture NX

2008-09-01T16:15:00.001-07:00

Although I am very familiar with Adobe Photoshop, I am currently in the process of teaching myself Nikon's Capture NX. My plan is to utilize both programs with Capture NX as my primary editor and Photoshop for fine tuning.

I have found however, the Capture NX User Manual to be more of a reference guide with brief descriptions of the interface and tools, rather than providing instruction on how to work on an image from start to finish. If I was not familiar with photo editing software, I probably would not know where to begin and end up with an inefficient, illogical workflow. Therefore, I felt the user manual was not enough and I might be missing something.

After searching on-line for possible tutorials or classes, I came across "The Photographer's Guide to Capture NX" by Jason P. Odell. Jason steps you through his workflow and provides images which you can work on as you follow along. You can purchase the 184 page manual (pdf) on CD, along with the companion image files via his website.

I also learned of a video tutorial on DVD, "Unleashing the Raw Power of Capture NX" by Vincent Versace. Vincent pretty much does the same thing as Jason, but it is nice to actually see it in action. Since I have two screens, I watch the video on one and follow along by working on an image in the other.

Jason and Vincent also provide tutorials via their websites for the new and improved Capture NX2

What I use

2008-08-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

CAMERA, etc.
Purchased from Keeble and Shuchat - Palo Alto, CA

Nikon D80
AF-S DX 18-135mm Zoom-Nikkor f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF Lens
Rodenstock 67mm Circular Polarizing Filter
Lexar Professional 133x SDHC memory cards

ACCESSORIES
Purchased from Really Right Stuff - San Luis Obispo, CA

Gitzo GT2530 Carbon Fiber Tripod
Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead with B2-40 LR clamp
Really Right Stuff BD80-L Plate for Nikon D80 w/o grip

Their unique L-Plate attachments make it possible to switch your camera from landscape to portrait or vice versa on your tripod without recomposing the image and it literally takes seconds! View a demonstration. I also found their customer service to be outstanding.

Purchased from RAWWorkflow.com

WhiBal G6 White Balance Reference Card

Purchased from The NatureScapes.Net

Think Tank Photo Bazooka Tripod Case

I love this tripod case. It is sturdy and well padded with a shoulder strap. The best part is it extends to carry my tripod with the ballhead attached.

Purchased from B&H

Tamarac 5546 Adventure 6 Backpack
Giottos Rocket Air Blower (Medium) - 6.6"

HARDWARE

13" MacBook w/1G Memory - 2GHz Processor Speed
Apple Cinema Display (23" flat panel)
500G External Drive
Wacom Intuos3 6"x11" Tablet

SOFTWARE

X-Rite Eye-One Display LT Monitor Calibrator
Nikon ViewNX
Nikon CaptureNX
Adobe Photoshop CS3

You may have noticed I don't have a printer listed. With my digital lab almost complete, I am getting close to purchasing a wide format printer. After much research, I have settled on the Epson Stylus 3800 Pro. It currently fits my anticipated output and budget.

Here are some of the sites I referenced:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/epson-3800.shtml
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/printers/Epson%20Pro3800/page-2.html
http://www.outbackphoto.com/printinginsights/pi045/essay.html
http://www.macworld.com/article/60718/2007/10/epson3800.html
http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/faq.html

Other items I plan on purchasing are an additional zoom or telephoto lens and an SB-800 AF Speedlight.