Solace - Xingping, China

After a month intermission from the website, internet and business side of photography I'm back in action. There's nothing better than a nice long break to clear the mind. Over the break I was fortunate enough to visit Norway, Sweden, New York City, and Oregon.

The main goal of visiting Norway and Sweden was to step foot inside the Arctic Circle and see the Northern Lights. To do so we Flew into Kiruna, Sweden and rented a car. From there we took 10 days and drove over 2000 miles around the Fjords and into Norway. Due to a stagnant weather system with clouds that constantly followed us we kept an eye on the weather, finally finding some clear skies and the Aurora. Out of the entire trip we were able to see the light 3 times, all of which had some pretty nice activity.

I've included a few "snapshots" that I took while traveling below as well as a video. Currently the portfolio shots are in work and I'll be posting a few in the coming weeks.

Sunset in Northern Norway

Foggy Afternoon along the Norwegian Coastline

Massive Peaks at 68 Degrees North

Reine Norway

A Random Shot the Paul Weeks Just Gave Me. Taken in Hong Kong

The Shot
After returning from my trips I was really to get back on the computer and start post processing some shots. This shot comes from one of the best places I've ever traveled to, Xingping, China. We set out early one morning while it was still dark to take some shots of the fisherman at sunrise. After venturing up the Lijiang River in the dark/mist/rain the sun popped out for a few seconds and allowed us time to get some good shots.

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Forbidden - Beijing, China

Paul & I just touched down in Seattle from a week long trip up the California Coast starting in Los Angeles on to Big Sur, and then San Francisco. The weather was nothing less than great. I've  never seen 6 perfect sunrises and sunsets in a row up until this point, add some amazing Milky Way action to the equation and you can call the trip a success.

Along the way we stopped at some really cool spots including Griffith Observatory, McWay Falls, Pfeiffer Beach, Garrapata State Park and one of my favorites Point Lobos Reserve. Our home base in Carmel / Big Sur was Carmel Mission Inn which is a great setup for photographers or anyone wanting to explore the near by beaches of Big Sur. They also have a hot tub and all your can eat breakfast buffet, so you really can't go wrong there!

Here are a few of the Behind the Scenes shots I took with my Google Nexus 5 while out exploring. I like the camera included with the phone, but I find it to give some pictures a strange green tint once in a while. Not sure what that's about, but hopefully there is a white balance setting I can change some where or another. Anyone else having this issue?

Paul Shooting Sunset @ McWay Falls in Big Sur // Nikon D800

Sunrise in Big Sur // Google Nexus 5

After taking some Milky Way shots in Big Sur we drove through the night to San Francisco and stumbled upon an amazing sunrise overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge where the fog was perfection and the crescent moon was just starting to rise.

Foggy Sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge under the Crescent Moon // Google Nexus 5

From there we checked into the La Luna Inn which I would also highly recommend to photographers staying in the area. It has great access to lots of awesome locations and comes with a cheap price. This isn't a fancy hotel, but it is clean and provides some really comfortable beds with in walking distance lots of food and shooting locations + free wi fi.

I hope to post a few D800 shots from the trip in the coming weeks!

The Shot
After living in China for 3 months back in 2010, I was really excited to return with my camera and capture as much as the country as possible in a 10 day time frame. We started out in Beijing and stayed for 3 days getting up for at 4:30AM each morning to make the walk to which ever location we decided to shoot.

The Forbidden City, where this shot was taken, is located about 1.5 miles from our room at the Days Inn. We arrived an hour before sunrise to get some nice blue hour action and plan out the best spot to watch the sun come over the smoggy horizon. Here is one of the shots I took after the sun came up. There were some nice clouds in the sky but I added a bit of texture blending on my own! Enjoy.

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Silent Witness - The Great Wall of China, Jinshaling

I read an amazing blog post today from Patrick Difruscia, that I highly suggest to any artists that use social media. In the post he discusses how many photographers now value their photos only after seeing the response from social media networks & allow this social media response to change how they felt or really feel about this image or art. Fortunately and unfortunately social media has become apart of all photographers lives in one way or another. For some this global response truly matters, and without a great response, comes a feeling of worthlessness or self doubt for a picture they may have loved prior to posting it online. For others, they could care less, and will continue to use social media for what it is, a tool. I guess this is the risk we all take when sharing things we create, just remember, it can turn for better or worse, and only depends on how you twist it in your mind.

Picking up a camera in November of 2011 I've never known any world except that of social media for the purposes of photo sharing. In this realm I was able to find inspiration along with some great photographers that I could mimic as I learned the skills that were necessary for me to create my own style. That being said, there was a time when I really REALLY cared how many "likes" or "+1s" were placed on a certain photos that I posted online. Why, because when you pour your heart into something, you want everyone to see it and share in your enjoyment. This isn't a learned behavior, but something we are born with, more of an animal instinct. As my experience grew, and I created a style of my own, the feeling faded and I was less inclined to put the value of my own work on the shoulders of millions that I didn't know. I have  come to a realize, that keeping myself happy and creating unique photos that I love will in turn inspire others to do the same, and really, that's the bigger picture.

Now don't get me wrong, I truly appreciate the response on photos and enjoy interacting with others all around the world. It is a truly unique and eye opening experience, but this is by no means what brings me to the table of photography.

Let's just think about it, what drives you to do the things that your brain tells you "you love"? For me it's the challenge of planning some adventure that will take place on the other side of the planet from where I am typing this sentence right now. Then comes the fun part, executing that plan, and with a little luck, coming back with some amazing photos, stories, and memories that will be hard to forget. That unknown challenge is why I enjoy taking pictures and love traveling. I think we all have something that makes us tick, sometimes it's just hard to find.

No matter what you do, create, teach or love, take a step back and make sure you're enjoying the ride, because in the end, that's the only thing that really matters.


The Shot
From time to time I'll post a picture that's really special to me, this is one of those pictures. I think it's something that happens as a combination of a great trip where you capture the picture and the enjoyment that comes from bringing back those memories while editing the photo on your computer later in time. Paul Weeks was nice enough to take this photo of me shooting sunset on the great wall earlier that night.

Sitting out there on the great wall watching the sun set and the stars appear one by one, it's hard not to think back on the events that happened at the same location 10, 100, or 2000 years ago. When it comes down to it, not much has changed in that exact spot where I stood, even tho the world around it has in more ways than anyone could have ever imagined.  But one day when it's all said and done, those stars, those same stars, they witnessed it all.

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Sunset on the Jinshaling Great Wall - Travel Tips & Tricks for Photographers & Explorers

Trip planning, love it or hate it, to set yourself up for a great adventure ( at least in terms of photography ), it must be done. For me trip planning is constantly in the back of my mind, it has come to the point that I really don't even think about it anymore, my body just performs the task. Prior to going on most trips ( Not just photography, but any trip ) you jump online and do a picture search, or maybe search for some cool stuff to do in the area. Well, this becomes an overwhelming task, because suddenly you have a schedule, and there goes the entire concept of vacation.

To kick the whole last minute "To Do" list idea out of my trip planning I've gone with a year-round approach of marking locations down when I browse the web on a daily/weekly basis. For me Google Maps - My Places is the best way to do so due to the fact that it allows you to make your own maps and save locations to them as you go. Anywhere you have Internet connection you can access these maps, and with devices such as the Nexus 10 I am able to store small parts of my maps to the device's hard drive for travel when no Internet is available. Some other nice features allow you to collaborate on the maps with others, or lock the map so only you can access it ( or anyone you provide with the access link ). As you have probably noticed I still use the old school Google Maps ( online / computer and my Nexus 10). The new Google Maps seems to be a great for the social aspects of maps, but for trips, classic maps it is.

Here is a screen shot of my ever growing My Places Map of the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, just one of the 60 or so maps from around the world that I am currently working on. Over time I've been able to put together every really cool location that I want to visit in this area and travel to them all. If I ever want to go back, well the map is waiting for me in the cloud.

Google Maps - Dave's Columbia River Gorge Travel Map

Once I have a map that is really starting to fill up and look good, I will pick a date to travel, and start doing some research on that location for that time of year. This works great for locations that are far away and require flying, or close distance and require just a weekend trip. When it's time to plan the specifics of your trip there is nothing better than Dual Maps from Mashedworld.com.

After planning the small details of my trips I take the final step of writing a travel agenda which contains everything I may possibly want to know while out traveling. For weekend trips this isn't really necessary, but when out traveling and shooting ( Sunrise - Day - Sunset - Blue Hour - Stars - Repeat ) each day for 3 or more days on end, things get confusing and this really takes the planning/thinking part out of your journey.

My agendas are designed in Microsoft Word and then saved to PDF after completion and include click-able Table of Contents which allows me to easily access any day of my trip with the click of a mouse or the touch of a screen. I also keep stuff like my flight itinerary and hotel plans in this agenda so everything is in one place. This is also click-able through my table of content for easy access. I keep this travel agenda file on my phone and my tablet device for easy access. No more scrolling through emails for lost items, hotel confirmations and travel plans it's all at your fingers with a travel agenda.

Here are some other great travel tools you may be interested in using. PS: I am switching from an iPhone to the Nexus 5 later this week, so I'll add some new apps to this list soon. Most of these you can find for iOS and Android operating systems.

Google Earth
Photo Pills - This is my go to photography planning app as of now. Worth the price tag:)
The Photographers Ephemeris - Another great planning app which I constantly use. Especially for planning star photography trips.
Dark Sky Finder - A must have for star photographers or lovers of the night sky.
Kayak Pro - Great for on the go and last minute flight & hotel reservations.
Yahoo Weather - Really nice interface and easy to use.

The Shot
The Jinshaling Great Wall was a task, why you ask? Well first of all it's nearly impossible to find a driver that will drive you all the way out there then come back a few days later and pick you up, we ended up paying double to get the guy to "promise" to return at a later day.

Our goal was to capture the Milky Way rising over the engineering marvel, this required camping, well a sleeping bag at least. The weather channel was forecasting 40 degrees Fahrenheit temps that night at the minimum. When the sun set, and the temps started dropping, and kept dropping all the way to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Without any camping mats and only 35 degree sleeping bags, let's just say there was not much sleeping in the schedule. We did on the other hand get some nice star shots which I will share later. Here is the sunset we caught before that frigid but beautiful night on the Great Wall of China.

Let me tell you, there is nothing better than seeing the Milky Way illuminate all of the little watch towers, stretching out like a snake to near infinity over the vast landscape. I had to sit back and let my mind wander for a bit, thinking about all of the things that had gone on here over the past thousands of years. What a place...

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Boats in the Mist - Xingping, China

Has anyone gotten their hands on the new Google Nexus 5 yet? I am really tempted to pick one up, but not really sold on the 5" screen, the 4" screen was already big enough. Everything else about the phone looks so nice that I might just buy it anyway..

After starting this Behind the Scenes Photo Project a few weeks ago I started to realize, " damn I have a ton of pictures from random adventures and great times". It's been really fun going back through them all:) Hopefully some of these will provide you with adventure ideas and inspiration for new travel locations. With the backlog of photos that I plan to add to my portfolio constantly growing you may see a behind the scenes location that hasn't really made it to the website in the form of a portfolio picture yet. Are these Behind the Scenes shots a good edition to the website or do you wish they would go die somewhere? haha. No but really, would like to hear some thoughts...

Paul & I Feeling the Pain After Camping on the Great Wall of China

The Shot

As many of you travelers may know, the Cormorant Fisherman no longer fish for a living, but they do provide photography services for the right price. If you are in the Guilin/Yangshuo/Xingping area and would like to see these guys in action I highly suggest going through a guy named Jack who runs Yangshuo Private Tours. He provides a wealth of information, and will set you up with everything necessary and more. I was highly impressed & as goes for anything on this website, I mention his name and product because it's amazing and for no other reason.

We woke up early, 4AM early, and I stepped out on to the nice little porch we had ( This Old Place Youth Hostel / Could stay here for weeks, awesome spot ) overlooking the Lijiang River, in Xingping. The water for instant coffee was hot, and we were ready to knock out the next mission on our trip itinerary. Up to this point in the trip weather had been perfect.

This particular morning it was pretty nasty, wet, rain, fog, you name it. None the less there was no way I was coming all this way and not getting a picture of the fisherman at sunrise. Mr. Huang the fisherman met us at 5AM and we boarded his small bamboo raft to venture up the misty Lijiang. Upon docking the boat, he setup his little skiff and pulled the birds out of their cages by the necks ( they didn't seem to mind ). We proceeded to take numerous shots of him for the next hour or so.

At first it's hard to get used to shooting very low light & High ISO ( 2500 in the case of the shot below ), but once you get the hang of it, taking an insane amount of shots will guarantee you get something sharp, and interesting. I came away with 10 shots that I really liked from the morning, here is the first to make it online. Upon waking up I complained of rain, but I think it ended up making this picture.
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Split Decision - Jonsrud Viewpoint, Oregon

Just getting back from an internet hiatus and a really nice trip to China which allowed me to reset my motivation and inspiration as well as get moving on a few projects that I have wanted to start. I also just posted my in depth review on how I have started to use the Google Nexus 10 as my full time travel device. I put a lot of detail and work into this, so I think you will really like it:)

Using Your Nexus 10 or Nexus 7 to Transfer Picture Files from Your Camera's Hard Drive to an External Hard Drive

Workshops Update:
New Star Photography Online Post Processing Group Workshop dates have just been added along with my 2014 In the Field Star Photography Group Workshop Schedule. Grab a spot before they sell out, half of the In the Field Workshop spots have already sold.

In terms of the trip to China we accomplished everything we wanted to, and thankfully the weather played along. I just got done processing the first D800 picture from the trip last night, but tried to post some with my iPhone here and there while on the road. As always you can find all of these pictures in my Behind the Scenes Album over on good ole' SmugMug. Here are a few of my favorite locations that we were able to shoot at.

Paul Weeks & I Riding Bikes in Yangshuo China / D800

A Boat Crusing Through Hong Kong Harbor / Nexus 10

Bamboo Rafting Down the Lijiang River, China / iPhone 4

 

The Shot

I have been to this location a bunch of times to shoot in the past and it's really hit or miss with the weather. At times you can see Mt. Hood jutting out in the distance, at others you can't see a thing. Well the morning of this particular shot the only thing I could see was the foreground fog and blazing sun pouring through it, here is what came after a run through Nik Silver Efex.

Click here to hang this picture on your wall:)

Good Mornin' Xi'an - Xi'an, China

Walking into REI of Seattle is always an adventure, there are so many things that strike my interest. Today I got a Quarter Dome T3 Tent, which looks amazing. This weekend the Columbia River Gorge is calling so I'll test my near gear out and do some camping. Sometimes it is fun to look at toys, and for that reason I put together a definitive list on my Gadgets, Gear & Other Good Stuff post. There are also some camera and lens reviews over there:)

The Shot

I visited Xi'an China a while back, at that time I was just learning and snapping off shots with my Canon Rebel. Lots of these shots I still have not processed so it is always fun to go back and time with some photoshop action...

Old Town - Shanghai, China

It's been awhile since I stepped foot in Asia, but there are still a few hundred pictures I have yet to post. There are still 2 spots left in my Online Star Photography Post Processing Workshop.

The Shot:

I snapped this off walking around one of Shanghai's old town. It is a great place to people watch and eat, I personally loved it. 

Don't Let Go She Said - Shanghai, China

Another day of weekend recovery, lots of good food, beer, and football. I needed a quick break from photography so I took the weekend off, hopefully tomorrow is loaded with energy and inspiration.

The Shot

Shanghai is filled with amazing subways, I spent an entire day lost in the maze of their public transportation system and finished it all off with a couple of drinks at the tallest bar the world.

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Climbing to the Top of China

It's been a while since I stepped foot in Asia, I plan on changing that this year. To top my list are Beijing, Shanghai and the Li River. So many choices and so little time. Any thoughts for a new tutorial I should put out? Ideas are welcome:)

The Shot

This was taken with my Cannon Rebel on Mount Hua near Xi'an China. The best way to get there is take a high speed train from Xi'an and then cab to the base of the mountain. It is a full day trip, but what a blast.

Snapshots in Time: Down the Rabbit Hole

There are so many moments I capture while traveling through cities and different interesting locations around the world, using my camera I try to capture the "heartbeat" of these places.

The following picture represent those feelings and moments in time, these are my Snapshots in Time.

You can find more of these shots at my Snapshots in Time Gallery

The Shot

This was taken early one morning near the top of Mt. Hau which is located a few hours by high speed train outside Xi'an China. There are tons of wild Youtube videos of this place that are very interesting to check out.

Good Mornin' Xi'an

What a day, got lots of work done on the up and coming star photography post processing tutorial. Time to escape the computer for the remainder of the night...

The Shot

Here is the lastest addition to my Snap Shots in Time Gallery. This shot was taken a few years back while on some travels in Xi'an China. It was always great watching the sun rise through the smog, this particular morning I was to lazy to go out and shoot so I grabbed a shot from the hotel room.

Speeding Through Shanghai

I snapped this off while walking the streets of Shanghai a few years back & it founds it's way into Travel & Leisure Magazine. Always fun to see your pictures in print. I have been adding a ton of new content to the website including Camera and Lens reviews which can be found below:

Camera Reviews

Lens Reviews

If you are interested in Photoshop and editing then my  Post Processing: Before & After page will be right up your alley.

OK, one last fun link, with a bunch of good info in it for you star photography lovers out there .

Into the Night Star Photography

Snapshots in Time

Sitting on my roof looking out over the Seattle skyline tonight, I had a great idea. There are a million snapshots from cool cities and places all over the world sitting on my computer. They are not necessarily the shots I would normally publish on my website, but some of them are awesome, so why not? The gallery is titled Snapshots in Time & the first addition is called "Enter the Dragon", captured in Shanghai China.