Sounds of the City - San Francisco, CA

Are there any web sharpening gurus out there? It's really nice to be able to share photos online and have them look exactly like they do on your computer screen at home. Unfortunately most sites compress your uploaded photos down to a maximum size which in turn really degrades the image. Due to this fact I find myself uploading to most social media sites at a maximum of 900 pixels wide lately, although I would really like to upload much bigger, say 2048 pixels wide.

The only place I really upload full size anymore is to Smugmug which holds my photo portfolio. They have some pretty good web functionality that sharpens your picture depending on the size at which it's being viewed. This allows me to upload my full resolution image and still get pretty good results no matter what size I view it at. I have noticed even Smugmug's sharpening is not quite as sharp as the real thing as viewed on my computers screen. If you have Smugmug you can turn on this functionality by going into your gallery settings and changing the sharpening amount from 0.200 to 0.400. That seems to do the trick, at least for me. That being said, if you really want to view my pictures in full detail instead of viewing them on this page, go ahead and click the picture below to see it over in my portfolio.

I personally love using TK Actions Web Sharpening Tools ( select "Special Offers" upon clicking the link to pick up a copy of your own ) to get my photos ready to post online. I recently found a video Sean Bagshaw posted about using these actions that's really informative for anyone that wants to give it a shot.


The Shot
This is one of those iconic locations that everyone seems to have a shot of. Usually I stray away from this sort of location, but once in a while it's fun to give them a run. We had a tricky time getting down there and encountered some signs and warnings along the way, but none the less here is one of the shots I came away with...

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Learn Star Photography.com Launch

A few months ago while updating some stuff on my website I had an idea... an idea that I thought would make a cool website and change the way people learn about star photography.

When it comes down to it, those of us that want to create pictures or art for that matter shouldn't have to look far and wide to find a way to get started or learn some new and informative tips and tricks. My goal was to create a place for beginners and even well accomplished photographers to come if they wanted to learn more about star and night sky photography or just connect with others that have the same goals in mind.

I know when I started getting into photography it would take me hours to dig through internet articles, tutorials, text, websites and every other option known to man in order to figure out one or two things I wanted to know about photography. Through trial and error eventually I was able to learn enough to produce a picture or two of my liking, but only after wasting a ton of creative energy along the way.
 
In response to these problems I decided to contact one of my favorite star photographers, Michael Shainblum, and see if he was interested in joining up with me to give everyone the information they are looking for in one easy to find place...

Overall photography, art, or any other creative process should not be so much about finding the information needed to get started, but instead devoting that energy to the creation of something you love and want to share with others.

That being said, Michael and I are excited to announce the launch of www.LearnStarPhotography.com which focuses on night sky & star photography education, tutorials, mentoring and workshops. No matter if you're a beginner, intermediate, or expert looking for advice in the shooting or post processing aspects of star photography we got ya covered!

Now that you no longer have to spend countless hours searching for a few tips and tricks to get started, you can get out there and start creating some awesome stuff on your own!

We hope you enjoy the website. What are you waiting for head on over to www.LearnStarPhotography.com and check it out!

The Shot

Well with the launch of the new site, I guess it's only fitting to share a new star picture. This was taken in Big Sur California at McWay Falls. At this point I hadn't yet tested out the D800's ability to take long exposures at high ISO settings, so what better time to give it a run? This shot was captured at ISO640 and an exposure time of 628 seconds. Less a few noisy areas in the photo ( Noise reduction took care of almost all of it ) I was highly impressed with the outcome for such a long exposure. For those of you interested in doing it on your own, all the skill sets required are provided on the new website:) Enjoy! 

Synesthesia - San Francisco, California

I am excited to announce that www.LearnStarPhotography.com is now up and running!

Michael and I just got done recording a new set of video tutorials that will cover both of our complete star photography workflows and provide a picture for you to work along with us at home. You can buy both video tutorials in our Star Photography Post Processing Master Class and get my Under the Stars Lightroom Presets as a free and added bonus. These video tutorials include Lightroom and Photoshop skill sets such as RAW file adjustment, digital blending and a full section dedicated entirely to luminosity masking.

Thanks for checking out the new website, we really hope you enjoy it:)

The Shot

On a recent trip up the California Coast we decided to gun it from Big Sur to San Francisco hoping to catch a nice sunrise over the Golden Gate Bridge. Thankfully we did because this sunrise was one of the best I've seen. As we waited for the sun to come up the crescent moon sat right over the top of the bridge and brought some amazing shots in the twilight hours. About 30 minutes before sunrise the sky started to get extremely colorful and that's when I captured this image. Click here for a quick video I recorded right before sunrise:)
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Wires - San Francisco, California

I play this game once in a while when scouting for new spots to shoot that involves finding random pictures that I like then trying to pin down the exact location where they were taken. Obviously this isn't very hard if you've been to the city or location before, but it becomes much more interesting when the location you're looking for is on the other side of the world. There are obviously lots of clue like time, day, location of the sun, moon or stars, along with other man made clues that you may see in the image. Using Google Maps / World makes this task infinity easier, but at times I think I nailed the location, then show up to the actually spot where I though the picture was snapped and find it to be way off.

That scenario was just the case when trying to nail down the spot in the picture below. I had everything mapped out, but on arrival found there were a bunch of different locations within that same area in which to shoot. Needless to say, it always pays off to arrive an hour+ before sunrise or sunset to do some scouting. I always pack a few beers and a book just in case:)

Just after sunset in San Francisco / / Nexus 5

The Shot 
After a long night of shooting Milky Way / star trails in Big Sur, we decided it was a good idea to drive through the night and catch sunrise over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. We arrived around 4 AM to get some nice night / blue hour scenes with the moon rising over the bridge. Once the sun started to rise it became apparent that this was going to be an amazing morning. The fog level on the bay was near perfect, and over the next 2 hours I captured some of my favorite shots from the trip. I really wanted to grab some lesser known compositions so I pushed myself to do so through out the morning, grabbing an "iconic" shot here and there for good measure.
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The Painted Valley - Yosemite National Park, CA

Although most of the processing that takes place on my computer these days is digital blending involving one or two RAW files using Lightroom 4 and PhotoShop CS6, I do revert to Photomatix here and there for some HDR Processing. Why you ask? Well there is just something about dynamic situations such as the one below that really beg to be processed this way, or at least I think so. All the skills used here are covered in my Free HDR Video Tutorial and the video included below. There are a bunch of other fun and free videos on my YouTube Channel.

I still continue to buy and watch other photographers tutorials as much as possible. Even if you get a few tips here and there it's worth the time and money. Chip Philips has a really good one by the way, so check that out!

The Shot

While wandering around Yosemite Valley you have a few things going for you, first, the "nice soft light" seems to last forever before the sun finally peaks over Half Dome and illuminates the valley in the early morning. Two, there are beautiful sights, sounds and smells coming from all directions, especially in the Autumn months of the year. Third, they have awesome coffee in the little lodge that sits quietly at the foot of El Capitan, but it doesn't open til 7-8AM, which is a bit late for us photographers so bring a backup. We stayed in the park for 3-4 days doing some "car camping" and scouting out different locations to shoot. Sleeping in your car with minimal comfort levels is good for one thing, you're ready to get up at 5AM and get the hell out of the vehicle.While scouting the day before I took a mental note of this location, "Come back when the sun is rising through the trees in the early morning", and so I did... ha!

Post Processing Info ( Grab some discount codes to the programs below at bottom of About Me Page )

Processing Time: 40 Minutes

Music: Old School Tiesto Live Set ( YES!! )

Drink: Lagunitas Lucky 13

Lightroom 4 

• 5 Exposures from -2EV to +2 EV. 
• Adjust RAW files for white balance, contrast and clarity. 
• Export to JPEG

PhotoMatix

• Drag all (5) JPEGs into Photomatix and processing accordingly per the steps in my Free HDR Video Tutorial as shown above.
• Save Photomatix file as JPEG.

Photoshop CS6

• Digitally blend PhotoMatix JPEG with the (5) JPEGS exported from Lightroom. 
• Mid Tones, Lights and Darks adjustments using Tony's Presets.
• Apply selective saturation and vibrance masks. 
• Add texture to the sky. ( I created 200 or so textures I will eventually release to everyone as a digital download. )
• Nik Color Efex Pro Contrast.
• Nik Output Sharpener
• Noiseware Professional for noise reduction. 
• Slight global vignette application using Nik Software.
• Save to JPEG.

Click here to buy a print of this picture

Tip the Scales - Yosemite, California

The clouds are clearing and it looks like I am all set for this weekends Star Photography Workshop at Mount Rainier. Hopefully the weather stays as nice as it is right now and makes for some great shots. 

If you can't make the workshop I would highly recommend trying your hand at star photography this weekend. The moon sets around 11PM making for some really dark skies. Here is my Free Star Photography Tutorial if you decide to give it a shot.

The Shot

I am sure everyone has seen a shot from this iconic spot in Yosemite National Park. When I visited the main goal was to walk away with some shots that didn't resemble the same shots I see from many other photographers. So far so good, unless someone else snapped this one off in the recent future;)

Click here to hang this shot on your wall

As Paths Crossed & Diverged - San Francisco, California

Went out for a nice sunset shoot in Seattle tonight with my Buddy Aman. The sunset was decent but hopefully we got some good shots of the Aurora bridge, a place that I finally made it to after living in Seattle for the past 2 years. The shot below was processed using some techniques from Jaimie Ibarra, his work is absolutely awesome and his tutorial is great as well. 

The Shot

San Francisco's China town is a blast, during the day, but my favorite time to shoot there is dusk. All of the Chinese style lamps light up and give the city streets an amazing glow. This guys gave a quick glance before going back to his instrument.

Hooded Lady of the Valley - Yosemite National Park, CA

I noticed this website getting a lot of visitors from China today, which is awesome! I'm excited to say I'll be back in China this Fall for some photography adventures:) If you didn't know, everyone is always free to introduce themselves in the comments below, I try to respond to them all! There is also an About Me Section for anyone that's interested. Anyways, this is a new moon weekend, so I'm headed to the Palouse Region of Eastern Washington to take some Milky Way shots. Anyone else have a big weekend planned?

If you didn't see the last post, I just found out I was one of the finalist for this years Smithsonian's 10th Annual Photo Contest. I would really appreciate your vote, no sign up necessary just click a 2 buttons and your done. You can click HERE to vote, I am number 18# with my shot of the Milky Way and Mount Rainier.

The Shot

I have been holding out on posting my Yosemite pictures, so I might as well start out big. I snapped this one off from Glacier Point as the sun light faded over the eastern horizon. Easily one of the coolest sunsets I have ever seen. My favorite part is the waterfall in the bottom righthand corner.

Fun Facts

Full size 21,000 PX wide at 105MB file size.

3 single RAW shots processed in LR4 and stitched together in Photoshop Photomerge (which kicks ass in CS6). Then I used luminosity masking get contrast midtone and light regions along with Nik Color Efex and OnOne Perfect PhotoSuite7 both are amazing programs. The last step was slight color correction and sharpening using Nik Sharpener.

Big City Bound - San Francisco, CA

I had a great time teaching a group of students Star Photography Post Processing this weekend and taking care of a bunch of Photoshop work on my own. On the down side I was on my computer to much and did not get the chance to go out and take some star pictures... don't ya just hate when that happens?

The Shot

I find this view of San Francisco to be really intriguing, especially in the fog. Unfortunately there were not any great sunsets when I was there last, which only means another trip is due in the near future...

Miniature Worlds - Yosemite, California

The Shot

This is obviously taken at Yosemite National Park, but can anyone guess where in the park? Free set of Star Photography Presets for the first person to answer correctly in the comments section.

CLICK HERE & READ MORE...

The San Fran Man - San Francisco, California

Sitting around today I got what some call an "AH HA" moment. This idea or moment as some may call it is going to be a blast to share with everyone in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Here are  a few hints... 1) It's online 2) It's interactive 3) It involves star photography 4) Post processing is also involved .. Any guesses on what it might be? For you non-photographers out there, just skip all this non-sense and enjoy the pic below:)

The Shot

Walking around Chinatown in San Francisco is a blast especially during a warm day when people are out walking around all over the place. If you're into taking pictures of people or people watching in general this is an awesome spot to hang out. I don't post many pictures of people, but it doesn't mean I don't have a million of them on my computer.... do you guys like this kinda shot?

Sounds of the City - San Francisco, California

Due to high demand upon selling out my first two star workshops, I opened another in August. Find out more at my Under the Stars Summer Workshops Page.

The Shot

Downtown San Francisco is a great place for street photography, here is a random snapshot I took while exploring the city. I always find it a fun and amuzing game to see what I can turn into an interesting shot.

Galaxy Number 9 - Bonsai Rock, Lake Tahoe

For once I had a fairly relaxing weekend and processed 15 or so pictures. The goal at this point is to post one a day for an entire year and see where things take me from there. So far so good...

Here are a few of my star photography tutorials and resources:

Star Photography Post Processing Video Tutorial

Free Star Photography Tutorial

Under the Stars Lightroom Presets

Star Photography Workshops

You can find all my tutorials at: www.DaveMorrowPhotography.com/learnphotography

The Shot

Lake Tahoe was amazing, but this night was easily my favorite. After looking for the Bonsai Rock location for a while I finally came across what I wanted to shoot. I only had an hour or so to grab some shots of the Milky Way before the moon came out, so I got to work. Here is one of the shots I captured that night. The water is so clear at Lake Tahoe you can see the rocks on the bottom.

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East Bay Bound

Headed off to work, but I have decided to write a how to or make some sort of instructional video this weekend. Look for the new material on Monday along with my favorite new star shot from Lake Tahoe:)

The Shot

San Francisco is full of unique compositions and fun places to shoot. Hopefully one day I will get a chance to live there. This one was taken looking East over the Bay Bridge late one night when the fog started rolling in over the bay.

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The Midnight Drive

I was really excited to get a shout out on Trey Ratcliff's Variety Hour last week. You can see it by skipping to 1 hour and 1 minute, or watch the whole show which is always entertaining.  Thanks to Nichole S. Young & Brian Matiash for opening new doors in my life:) You can visit both of their websites by clicking on the names above:) Another guest on the show was David duChemin who I am really excited to collaborate with in the near future. He does some informative guides, presets and e-books for photographers of all skill levels over at Davidduchemin.com

The Shot

Driving into Yosemite from the East side is something I had never done before so why not give it a try? We arrived at Mono Lake a few hours before sunset and made some dinner trying to avoid bears at all costs. After the sun dipped below the horizon and the full moon rose we made the trip into Yosemite through Tioga Pass. Here is a shot I grabbed along the way...

PS: I processed this one with my Under the Stars Lightroom Presets.

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Losin' My Religion

I have been thinking about how much popularity certain pictures get compared to others. A funny thing also happens to me on a regular basis. The pictures I love, don't get nearly as much attention as those that I don't like as much. I guess everyone else is wrong and I'm right? Has anyone else ever had this happen? Strange things I thinks I thinks.... :)

The Shot

When I go to a big city to shoot there are a few guarantees. One, I will walk my ass off to get everywhere, why you ask? Cause there are lots of neat sights along the way you would miss out on otherwise. It also ensures you get some unique shots. Two, sleep is at a minimum and Three.... People will come up and look right in my camera and ask what I am taking a picture of. This I always find intriguing. This was taken one late night walking the streets of San Francisco btw:)

Exploring the Fairmont

I just got done shooting an epic sunrise on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC. Feels awesome to finally break my camera out in this place. The shot below was taken at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. It is filled with great little spots for HDR photography. Check out my HDR Tips & Tricks for more info on pictures like this.