HDR/Monochrome/Photos Redone - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012

As I learn more RAW photo processing techniques, I get better and better with my results. Recently I went back and redone some of my photos that I felt I didn't adequately process the first time through that was worth reprocessing. I also recently went back and redid some of my old HDR compositions into 32-bit ones for a more natural look. 32-bit HDR compositions usually look more natural and gives better color than a 16-bit HDR (which was what I was doing before) so I went ahead and redone all of them. The other thing I have done is that I did monochrome (black and white) photo processing. I have went back and redone some of my old photos into monochrome (black and white) photos. These photos for today are from my 2012 Lake Tahoe and Reno trip. You can see those original photos here.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

I think this was on my trip from Truckee, CA to Lake Tahoe. Where exactly I don't know. I found a place on the road and turned out because it looked beautiful covered in snow. It seems to be some kind of hiking trail head. Not too sure because everything was drowned in snow. This is an HDR composition I redid.

HDR composition next to Lake Tahoe.  

 HDR composition at Lake Tahoe. 

This was at the hiking trail from the first photo. I tried to redo this HDR, but it failed, so I just processed one of the exposures.  

A black and white process of the photo above. 

A stream of water flowing into Lake Tahoe. This was another failed HDR I just ended up processing 1 exposure on. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 6)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started on today's blog post, I would like to tell you about a great product that I own. Let me ask you first: Do you have a device like the Canon EOS 7D that only takes Compact Flash cards? Hate the big prices on the Compact Flash Cards? What if I tell you that you can use your current SD cards lying around your house in these devices? Well you can with the SD-CF II: SD to CF Type II Adapter. This little adapter will adapt all your SD cards (SDHC and SDXC) into a CF card! Unlike other brands of adapters, I can shoot 1080p video on my camera with no breaks! Other cheaper adapters sometimes don't have the speed to support 1080p video, this adapter is not one of them. If you are tight on your photography budget and have a bunch of SD cards lying around, this adapter is definitely a must have for you!

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) The photos for today are from my 3rd day. In the morning, I did time lapse from my hotel room of Downtown Reno. I also have a few shots of my trip down to Truckee, CA to go see Donner Lake. For the time lapse, you can click on the first photo and navigate the time lapse with your arrow keys. Hope you enjoy the photos for today.

The view of Downtown Reno from my hotel room.  

I begin my trip to Truckee, CA. Took a photo of the highway of people installing chains.  

 Truckee River. Photo taken at approximately +39° 23' 40.64", -120° 1' 31.91" at Exit 199 (Floriston) on I-80. Thank you Google Maps and Google Street View!

Another shot at around the same area as the above photo. 

Now heading back to I-80, I thought the snow covered trees looked nice so I took a few shots. 

Here is another photo of snow covered trees. 

This is all the photos I have for today. I hope you have enjoyed them and the time lapse. Next time I will have photos from Truckee, CA with photos from Donner Lake and more photos from my trip to Truckee, CA. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Mt. Rose - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 3)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started on today's blog post, I would like to tell you about a great product that I own. Let me ask you first: Do you have a device like the Canon EOS 7D that only takes Compact Flash cards? Hate the big prices on the Compact Flash Cards? What if I tell you that you can use your current SD cards lying around your house in these devices? Well you can with the SD-CF II: SD to CF Type II Adapter. This little adapter will adapt all your SD cards (SDHC and SDXC) into a CF card! Unlike other brands of adapters, I can shoot 1080p video on my camera with no breaks! Other cheaper adapters sometimes don't have the speed to support 1080p video, this adapter is not one of them. If you are tight on your photography budget and have a bunch of SD cards lying around, this adapter is definitely a must have for you!

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) These photos are some of the photos I took on the 2nd day of my trip. Most of them are from on top of Mt. Rose (in the snowstorm) and from Mt. Rose Ski Resort. The photos I took at night that day will come on the next blog post.

 The snowstorm sure came in fast. See how it looks "foggy" in the distant mountain? That is the snowstorm starting. 

Here on the side of the highway up to Mt. Rose. 

 This photo and the next photo was only about a few seconds apart. See how the weather is changing? 

Snowstorm! Sure was cold! I was caught off guard without enough clothes. XD I toughed out the cold and took the photos for you guys to enjoy! :) Comments would really be appreciated. :P  

A car driving back down hill.  

 Another shot of the side of the highway. The snow pile on the side is taller than me! And I am a pretty tall person. So, a lot of snow this year. Kind of expected since last year was so dry! You can see my last year photos here. 

Here is Mt. Rose Ski Resort during the snowstorm. Obviously the lifts and the more advanced lanes are closed. The beginner lanes were open though. :P Not sure how fun it was for the people ski/snowboarding though. I was just there to take photos.  

Another photo of the ski resort during the snowstorm.  

 Giant patch of snow on the side with people sledding and playing. I just took a photo. Kind of hard getting all my equipment over the giant snow pile. So... Just raised my tripod up and took a shot. Plus I was freezing to death up there. ROFL

Guy doing Gangnam Style on the side? XD First thing that came to my mind. 

Pretty much on the peak of Mt. Rose. It was snowing big! Kids playing on the hills. I was taking photos and freezing. XD

Another shot during the snowstorm. The dots you see on the picture is of snow. Lucky for me, my UV filter has a coating that makes wiping it off a breeze. Well technically blowing with my Giottos Rocket Air Blaster. 

These are all the photos for today. Next time I will start on the photos I took that night. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Galena Creek/Mt. Rose - Lake Tahoe/Reno 2012 (Part 2)

If you live in the SF Bay Area, you probably know it never snows here. Many people like me who live in the SF Bay Area love snow. The nearest place that does get snow is in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Many of us go there in the winter to go ski and snowboard, but for me, I don't like any of that. I enjoy taking photos of snow and playing in it. :) Here are photos of Lake Tahoe and Reno I took during my trip in Christmas of 2012. I will be splitting them into several parts as I took a lot of photos there. Hope you enjoy.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Lake Tahoe/Reno/Donner Lake photos from 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 

Before I get started today, I would like to tell you about a great product to add to your camera bag. The product I would like to tell you about today is called the Giottos Rocket Air Blaster. This product is pretty much a rubber air blower. You squeeze on the ball and a big puff of air comes out of the tip. I always use this product on my lens before I wipe to get rid of any big  particles that could potentially scratch my lens. It usually does a good job and I don't even need to wipe! This product also lets me dislodge any dust that have gotten onto my sensor without even touching it. This is usually all I need to bring my sensor back to a clean state. Not only is this product great for cameras, I also use it to dust my keyboard and mouse. Another great feature that sets this product apart from other air blowers is that it includes a patented one way valve that prevents you from sucking up and dust that you have just dislodged! Greatest invention ever and I never regretted my purchase because it is so useful. If you don't have one, you should get a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster now! The company makes the product in 3 sizes: Large (Also Available In Red), Medium, and Small. The company also makes a Q-Ball Version that has a flexible tip that can be angled.

Okay, now let's get started with today's photos. :) These photos are some of the photos I took on the 2nd day of my trip. Most of them are from Galena Creek Recreation Area, I also have 1 photo of Reno, NV from my hotel room, and 1 photo on the drive up to Mt. Rose. The rest of the Mt. Rose photos will be coming next time.

Here is the view of Reno from my Harrah's hotel room.  

Now I being the photos form Galena Creek Recreation Area! :) 

 So much snow!!!

Try out a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster today!

Someone's snowman.  

Here is a bridge. I'm guessing it is suppose to be over the creek? I didn't see any creek though. No water, nothing.  

 Not sure why there isn't a lot of snow on the trees... I though't if the ground is going to be covered, the trees should be too. Weird. 

I think the area is beautiful with the trees and snow.  

Here is a photo of the visitor center half buried by snow. This is all the photos I took at Galena Creek Recreation Area. Sadly, when I was about to leave, saw this car blocking the only way out... I think the ice somehow froze under his tires when he was out taking photos. He was stuck there for quite a while until someone helped install chains on his tires. HAHA Wasn't too long of a wait, but I did get a bit inpatient. Wanted to head to Mt. Rose to get some snow shots! 

Here is a photo of partially up Mt. Rose. See how fast the snow storm came in? I will have the rest of the photos up next time, but look at the mountain in the distance. That is a snowstorm brewing, not fog. It is funny how I still had some sun to lens flare this photo. LOL The snowstorm isn't that far away... 

This is all the photos I have for today. I hope you have enjoyed them! Next time, I will have photos of me freezing in the snowstorm. XD Not kidding. I forgot to bring enough clothes, but I toughed it out and took some photos to show you guys. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Tips on Winter Photography

Photo taken near Reno/Lake Tahoe in Nevada.

It is winter again, and you know what that means! Lot's of gift giving, shopping, and an extremely jolly time of the year. In some parts of the world there will be snow and lot's of it! It is the time of year where people go skiing, snowboarding, playing in the snow, and for photographers, snow photography! One issue a lot of photographers get into while taking pictures of snow is the "Greying Effect". See the photo below if you don't know what it is. The "Greying Effect" ruins a lot of photos, even for people who are not photographers! So now your question is probably how do I get my photos to look like the one above instead of the one below? In today's post I will offer you some tips on how to prevent the "Greying Effect" and some other tips on how to protect your camera equipment while you are out in such a cold environment.

The left show the "Greying Effect", the right shows how snow should look like. Big difference right?

So why does the "Greying Effect" happen? To effectively teach you how to get rid of this problem, I will need to educate you on why it happens. So usually when you take a photo, your camera weighs in the different colors and light of the scene you try to take. When you try to do snow photography, most of the light coming into the camera will be white. So the problem actually happens here, when this much white light enters the camera, the camera will think you are trying to take a picture of an extremely over-exposed 18% grey object. So the camera tries to compensate it by lowering the exposure, hence making the snow grey! There are several ways to fix this problem.

Disclaimer: You follow these tips at your own risk! The author of the blog is not responsible for any damages that may result from these instructions. These tips are provided for educational and informative purposes only. 

Exposure Compensation
This might not be available to some of the more low end cameras, but is the most effective in preventing the greying effect. So first of all, you will need to put your camera into a mode where you are allowed to adjust the exposure compensation number. Then you will need to locate the option on your camera, usually marked with an icon that shows a black and white square with a + and - sign in it. Now increase the exposure compensation and take a shot, do this until the image looks satisfactory and the "Greying Effect" has disappeared. Generally you will have to increase the exposure compensation by +1 or +2 to compensate for the camera's under-exposure.

Beginner explanation on why this works: Since the "Greying Effect" is caused by your camera underexposing your image, by putting your exposure compensation at +1, this tells your camera, what ever exposure the sensor tells you to use, add 1 on top of it.

Open the Aperture
Another method, although I would not highly recommend it as this method will definitely put some blur on your image, is to use aperture priority (Av or A) or manual (M) and open up the aperture by 1-2 f-stops and then compensate exposure for +1 to +2 stops. By opening up, you compensate for the prolonged exposure time. This feature might not be available on some low end cameras.

Use a Snow Scene Mode
For a change, this feature may not be available on some of the high-end cameras (LOL). This method is very amateur-ish and not needed by professionals. Also, this method I do not highly recommend as it may overexpose some of your photos. You can do this by setting your camera to a "scene" mode specifically designed for snow. This may fix the "Greying Effect", but may also overexpose your photo, I recommend my first 2 methods.

Fixing Your Old Photos in Photoshop
Those are the methods for preventing the "Greying Effect". So now you are probably wondering, what do I do now with my old ruined photos? Throw them away? No need to fear, Photoshop will come to your rescue. It doesn't matter whether you shot it in RAW or JPEG, just raise the exposure of your shot by around +1 stop and save.

Protecting Your Camera and Equipment In Cold Climates
Those are the tips for preventing the problem, now let's move onto how to protect your camera equipment in cold weather. Don't think this is easy, because it is not! One mistake can ruin your camera and lens! These tips are more targeted towards DSLR owners, not so much for you guys with a small point-and-shoot.

1. First rule, I know it is easy to forget, but don't put your camera under your jacket in a cold climate. When moving your camera from a cold place to a warm place, or vice versa, condensation may gather on your lens (including the inside), and it may damage your equipment! When going from a cold place back to a warm place (like hotel), before you go back, make sure you take out your battery and memory card, then put your camera back in the bag. After you arrived at the hotel, leave your camera in your bag for at least 2 to 3 hours before you open it up. If you don't have a camera bag, use a Zip-lock bag. Make sure you take out your battery and memory card before you go back so you don't get tempted to open up your camera bag before the camera is allowed adequate time to warm up. The 2 to 3 hour rule usually works for people who are going to Alaska or place with similar climate. If you are going to Reno like me, 1 hour tops because it isn't as cold and your camera will warm up or cool down faster. 
2. Warm up your battery. A warmer battery will work longer than a cold battery due to the chemical reactions (I think). So for professionals, some people will keep and extra battery in their pocket to warm it up, and then they will keep switching the batteries to get more life out of it. Make sure you don't keep change in the same pocket though, I seen a comment on another blog of a guy accidentally shorting out the battery and burning a hole in his pants...
3. And as for tip number one, try not to use the heater in your car, just wear more clothes. I think I explained it pretty clearly in tip 1 why, so not going to do it again. Another way, put your camera in a cooler, so it stays the same temperature as when you put it in, then when you need to take a photo, you can just take it out of there. 
4. If you are going to Alaska or a place of similar climate, try not to exhale onto your camera, your breath will instantly become a thin layer of frost!

Well that's all the tips! I hope you have enjoyed the tips on winter photography. Please don't forget to share this article with your friends and leave a comment! Also please don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. You can also do that with the box on the top of the right sidebar. Have fun with snow photography! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!