While waiting for the Aurora
Saturday March 16, 2013 - Predictions for a great Aurora Borealis were excellent. The solar activity promised the Aurora to display all the way South in Massachusetts. Being a big fans of this phenomenon my wife and I made reservations at an inn in Caribou, Maine. 7 1/2 hours later we were scouting out for good locations. The skies were clear as can be and the excitement escalating. We had dinner and drove out to the planned location. To cut a long story short, 14 degree temperatures were not going to stop us from photographing the Aurora. 5 hours later it is 3:00 and there is no sign of the event. We packed up and went back to the hotel. BIG MISTAKE - 4:30 the lights turned on and by 5:00 AM some of the most spectacular images were being captured but the lucky photographers while we slept soundly.While waiting I decided to take some short time lapses. Did one with the camera pointed at Polaris. This was a short 20 minute capture resulting in few seconds of video. The individual images were then stacked to create a star-trail.Here is the video:stars1The stack looks great - the glow in the lower half is light pollution from some homes and towers in the distance. Click on the image for a larger view.
thinkTank Photo Products
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If you like street photography the Urban Disguise is for you.
My favorite sling straps for my cameras.
If you never tried a sliding sling strap, you are in for a wonderful experience. We are all familiar with sling straps on camera bags and some back packs. Sling straps are worn diagonally across your body to move the weight of your gear from your neck to your shoulder – resulting in a significant improvement in comfort. 
Sliding Sling Straps differ from sling straps in one important feature. Sliding sling straps have a fitting that slides along the strap. The fitting in turn connects to your camera. That means that the camera, which is attached to the fitting, can be brought up smoothly to your eye without pulling your clothing – the strap, which is a loop, does not need to move!Sliding slings trace back to 1885 where the slider was connected to a rifle http://www.rollanet.org/~stacyw/us_1885_carbine_sling.htm. The first commercial application that I found for cameras dates back to 2004. The product (still available), called simply “The Strap” is sold by a company called Leicagoodies, http://www.leicagoodies.com/strap.html. This sliding sling uses a detachable connector attached to a split ring which slides along 1” wide loop strap.There have been many embodiments of the sliding sling strap for cameras since 2004. The most popular are the Black Rapid straps and the California Sun Bounce Straps. Many smaller companies also produced sling straps. In 2007, Black Rapid applied for a patent on the sling strap. The patent was granted in November 2011. Black Rapid immediately moved to eliminate competitive products that used the sling concept for cameras. A letter notifying infringement of a patent and threatening legal action was sent from the president of Black Rapid to the manufactures of sliding sling straps and to camera dealers who sold competitive product. One manufacturer immediately stopped production of their strap; others modified their design to avoid an expensive patent infringement law suit.A relative newcomer, BosStrap, dropped the original design and took a different approach and completely different strap. Introduced in June 2012, the BosStrap Generation 3 Sliding Sling Strap is truly “unlike anything else” as BosStrap claims. I recently had an opportunity to try them and used two of them on my two 7D and 5D MkIII bodies while doing my workshops in Iceland.This product really is different from others. Careful engineering resulted in an elegant, functional design. To begin with, BosStrap uses a unique, double lock, patent pending attachment to the camera. This USA made product is different from other sling straps in that it attaches to the left strap lug on the camera, not to the tripod socket as virtually all other sling straps do. When hanging from the left strap lug, the camera rests in a much more natural way with the lens directed downward and backward allowing your camera nestle against you with your hip between the front of the pentaprism and the top of the lens. Hanging in this position tends to stabilize the camera when walking, yet keeps the camera grip at your hand for instant access.When you want to move to a tripod, you simply release the Generation 3 Tail strap from the slider. You do not need to unscrew anything from the camera, and you can continue to wear the light-weight sling strap without the camera.BosStrap has completely freed the camera’s tripod threaded socket from a strap connector. Your tripod mounting plate never needs to be removed from your camera. BosStrap claims that Nikon and Canon do not recommend carrying the inverted weight of the camera and lens by the tripod socket because of the possibility of internal seals being stressed in a way they were not designed for. There is also concern about the ability of the tripod socket to carry the inverted weight.You won’t find a shoulder pad on a BosStrap. I was skeptical about this lack of cushioning at first, but after trying it with my Canon bodies, I was convinced that the 1-1/2” wide strap really offers the same comfort that a bulky pad would provide. BosStrap works with an L-bracket too.I like to do street photography and have the need for a lot of flexibility and be inconspicuous. With a BosStrap, I can conceal my camera under my open jacket and not have a large lump from a shoulder pad showing. My camera is partially concealed under my jacket until needed - very unobtrusive and it is an excellent theft deterrent. An added benefit is that the strap can be wrapped around the lens when putting your camera back in the bag.A BosStrap is simply an efficiently engineered product that does precisely what it is supposed to do – provide very quick accessibility and support your camera in a comfortable, safe manner. Most important they are very reasonably priced. You can get them directly from Boss Strap, LLC or one of the many stores they have listed on their site.You can a;sp order them from Hunts Photo Video at http://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com
Time-lapse Photography Workshops - Details available
Join me for a one day educational and hands-‐on Time-Lapse Photography Workshop.A time-lapse video essentially compresses time into a smaller space, creating some exceptional and evocative results.In theory, time-lapse videos are easy to create – after all you simply take a few hundred photos, one after another, line them up in a video application and you are done. Not true, if you want to create a stunning, seamless, flicker free time-lapse video. There is a lot more involved than setting up a camera and capturing the sequence.With digital cameras we have infinite possibilities to capture time-lapse sequences and create exceptional video woth even the simplest digital point and shoots to DSLR’s. This intensive 1-day workshop provides the knowledge necessary to create advanced time-lapse videosfrom capture to the use of a well structured post-process workflow.We will split our time between shooting sequences and working through the post-process workflow. This includes importing images to exporting videos using applications like Lightroom, LRTImelapse, Quicktime Pro, Adobe Premiere Elements.We start the workshop with a formal presentation looking at the many uses of time-lapse imagery.Like in most of my workshops I will show you that you do not need to spend thousands to achieve awesome results.We will cover the following topics in detail:
- Equipment overview
- Camera settings
- Intervalometer settings
- Settings based on the speed of activity
- Hyperlapse will be discussed briefly
We will record two sequences and return to the classroom and use Adobe Lightroom to import, adjust, and export our first sequence. Next, we bring everything into QuickTime Pro to assemble the initial movie and move it to iMovie to add titles and other effects. Optionally we will use Premiere Elelments for MAC and Windows users (this will be based on what participants would prefer.Next we will cover in more specifics
- Day to Night / Night to Day or the “Holy Grail” of time-lapse
- Post Production Workflows (Win & Mac)
- Editing audio
- Final Movie Creation
This workshop is designed for the serious amateurs, hobbyists and emerging pros.Click here for detailsClick here to register
Please disregard my last post about NiK HDR Efex Pro 2
There was an error in the NiK broadcast - NiK HDR Efex Pro was launched last year.BUT you can still use the link to buy or upgrade - this or any other NiK product.
HDR Efex Pro 2 Released
The new HDR Efex Pro 2 introduces a host of new and some much needed features.You can get your copy or upgrade your existing software via this linkHere are some of the new features.New tone-mapping engine – Enjoy improved color rendering, more natural results, and simplified controlsUnified workflow – Users in Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture will all have the same experience the same features and functionalityUpdated merging interface – Previews of each exposure and the ability to enable Smart Objects streamline the merging processImproved ghost reduction and alignment – New algorithms and the ability to select a reference image dramatically improve the initial merge resultsChromatic aberration reduction – New controls to reduce unsightly purple & blue fringes where dark tones meet light tonesUpdated tone mapping and enhancement panel – Completely redesigned controls for enhancing images make crafting superior HDR images fast and easyDepth control – Overcomes the flat dull look that so often accompanies HDR imagery
A very pleasant surprise
Last week while doing a one-on-one photo lesson, I hear the UPS driver honk in my driveway. I was not expecting any delivery but went out to see what he was delivering. You have a big package and it's marked fragile so I will bring it in for you, he did.No indication on this big box as to the name of the sender except where it had been packed and shipped from. On opening it I got the biggest surprise. One of my wonderful Iceland Workshop participants had done an oil painting on canvas, had it framed and shipped out to us as a thank you - WOW - I thank you to Barbi.A painting that captures every element and the very essence of our trip. It will bring back memories of the wonderful trip and all the awesome places Iceland offered.I love all my workshop participants we have a good time and learn from each other.This small rendition does this painting very little justice but I had to photograph it and post it on my blog.
Phottix Macro Focusing Rail
I have just finished a review of the Phottix Macro Focusing Rail. The review is a PDF document that you can read on line or download.Phottix Macro Rail Review
One Day Workshops for 1st Half 2013
For those of you who have attended any of my workshops last year, A BIG THANK YOU. I am very grateful for your participation and support and hope to see you again soon.I have posted the schedule for the first half of 2013.There are a number of new workshops including Time-Lapse Photography, DSLR Video, Creative Vision to name a few. Details for the new programs are being compiled and will be posted soon.In the registration section when you click to register there is a brief synopsis for the program.CLICK HERE TO BE DIRECTED TO THE SCHEDULE
Iceland 3, Horses
Icelandic horses, are about the size of a pony as we know it are about 50 to 56 inches (13 to 14 hands in horse terms) and weigh between 750 and 850 lbs. They are known as Icelandic Horses probably because Islandica has no word for PONY. These horses have 6 gaits but are known as 5 gaited horses because the Icelandic breed registries consider the canter and gallop one gait. The laws of the land do not permit any import of horses and if an Icelandic horse is exported out of the country, that horse may never return.Here are some images from the trip:
Note: There are over 100 names for the colors of horses in Icelandica.
Iceland 2
Here are a few more images from the two Iceland PTAW's (Photo Tours and Workshops). We visited some wonderful geothermal areas in the Reykjanes peninsula as well as massive lava fiels and valleys. This section of Iceland is like a lunar landscape. The ocean's might and the winds are a real indication of why this region is abundantly populated with shipwrecks. There are more lighthouses in this region than there are villages. The famous Blue Lagoon and spa is situated here as are some massive geothermal power plants.
While visiting this lava field above we were pounded by a hail storm - that hurt.It is here that the North American and European tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust are as clear as can be. At Þingvellir: the plates diverge about 1 inch per year. However the gap is refilled as volcanoes have been erupting on a regular basis.
This overlook ridge is host to a magnificent waterfall. Getting to the base of this fall was most difficult as the path was sheet of ice. The second workshop group was unable to get here as it became far worse of a hike the following week.
The famous Blue Lagoon and the Power Plants are wonderful photo opportunities at night.
This coloration is a result of the sulphur in the air. In some cases the color becomes greenish as in the image below.
The next two images are from the geo thermal areas of the peninsula.
Glorious colors are abundant around the mud pots and hot springs.
Considering that more than 3/4 of Iceland is barren, the barren beauty is breathtaking.
More to come
Iceland - the Fire and Ice Photo Tour and Workshop
Got back after two glorious weeks in Iceland. The ever changing weather really kept me on my toes. Each day was a surprise - nothing like what was predicted the night before. It is fun to experience bone chilling gale force winds, hail that hits your face like BB pellets, rain that falls sideways, brilliant blue skies when it isn't overcast, the smell of sulphur, hot springs, and whole lot more.A few images of the Aurora Borealis will speak for themselves.The aurora on the first night was small but brilliant.
We chased the lights for quite a while the next evening and got a light level 1 Aurora
We had given up and were returning to the hotel. Just as we entered the outskirts of the city this spectacular display presented itself.
I will post more over the next few days.
Photographing the Aurora Borealis
I have added a new tip on my tips page on "Photographing the Aurora Borealis" Click here for a direct link
Blurs and Abstracts
Many an image of birds in flight have been photographed while panning and using slow shutter speeds to create blurry images (aka "pleasing blurs"). I decided to try something similar but different. Rather than capturing a whole flock I concentrated on a few. Waited for a decent formation and captured the image. Enhanced in photoshop to augment the high key effect and treated with NiK Color Efex Pro for added impact.Your thoughts and comments are welcome?
Bosque del Apache - Sandhill Cranes
While working on a audio visual show about the workshop this past November these two images really lifted my spirits.I am looking for a good title for the first. The second is "Dance to your Heart's Content"
Should you backup to the cloud???
I was asked a question today: What is a good on line backup service or program?Let me ask you, do you backup your computers, all your data or, selectively just what you believe is important, like your images?I have multiple terabytes of data, mainly images that I can not afford to lose. I continue to generate many gigabytes each month. Just a day’s shoot can be 32 to 64 GB of images. For me a backup system is an absolute must. At the present, I backup all my data (currently resident on raid arrays) to networked drives and secondarily, to a duplicate set of local drives. The data is scheduled to backup nightly on the local drives and weekly on the networked drives. Key client data is also retained on BluRay disks.So what about the cloud? Online backup services are becoming increasingly popular. The number of online back up companies that have been established in the last few years is amazing and difficult to list. However, some of these companies like Mozy, Carbonite, Crashplan, Dropbox, and SpiderOak have been around for a while. They all have their pros and cons. They all provide on line backup services and offer programs for a very reasonable fee (small Backups can even be free) based on the amount of data all the way to unlimited storage. These services require you to download and install programs on your computer that will monitor your system and backup to their remote servers, as long as your computer is connected to the Internet. All of this is fairly simple, and once set up, the entire backup is done in the background requiring no intervention on your part.I decided to check out two of these services, Carbonite and Crashplan. Carbonite was no good for me as I am an Apple Mac user. For Mac users Carbonite’s backup is limited to your main system and will not accommodate connected devices. So after a brief test, I dropped them. Also worthy of note is that Carbonite will throttle your data speed after you reach a certain data transfer threshold. I next tested Crashplan, another free trial. They offer all that I would need, backup the main system, connected drives, selected folders etc. I installed the software on my MacBook Pro and started the backup. I should point out that I have Verizon FIOS with 50 up and 25 down speeds. More than fast enough. Well the test started and a month later, when the trial expired, it had not completed the backup, a mere 400 GB of data. At this rate it would take more than a year to back 6 terabytes and up to 2 years for my main system that houses all my images. So much for the free trial, I did not subscribe.During this trial period I have given the online/cloud backup services some thought and here are some of my concerns.A service provider’s disgruntled employee, could take control of your information. This can be achieved using the very software that you install to manage the backup of data on your computer to the service provider’s data storage bank. This is just one concern and so many what if’s – hackers, information mining, etc., etc. Yes these service providers say the data is transferred via SSL (Secure Sockets Layer, the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between systems) and is stored encrypted. But all the encryption would be useless if your login identity could be compromised. It is worth reading a blog by an industry expert at http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static-host-ids/The other significant concern it the time it takes to backup, so how can you possibly check a full restore. In my case it would be two years to back up and I would know that it succeeded or failed two years later.Privacy and your personal data security concerns:
- All files you backup to an online/cloud service company can be viewed for review purposes by the service company. Though your data is encrypted the service company may decrypt it on an as needed basis.
- The government and law enforcement may request access to your files, and they will be granted access. Note: the hosting company has no obligation to notify you of any such request. As an example, here are the terms and conditions from Dropbox that is one such service.Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement Requests; Protection of Dropbox’s Rights. We may disclose to parties outside Dropbox files stored in your Dropbox and information about you that we collect when we have a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to (a) comply with a law, regulation or compulsory legal request; (b) protect the safety of any person from death or serious bodily injury; (c) prevent fraud or abuse of Dropbox or its users; or (d) to protect Dropbox’s property rights. If we provide your Dropbox files to a law enforcement agency as set forth above, we will remove Dropbox’s encryption from the files before providing them to law enforcement. However, Dropbox will not be able to decrypt any files that you encrypted prior to storing them on Dropbox.
- Be cautioned that these services can be just as easily hacked as American Express, Master Card, TJX Companies to name just a few. So many banks have been compromised.
I am not implying that you should not use these services or not back up. You should be aware of what can happen and what access is permitted by law. If you must back up to an online service, be selective with what you send to the cloud. If you must backup sensitive data, consider using a local encrypted vault. A product like TrueCrypt will perform this service. Then you backup the vault to the cloud. In the unfortunate event that the backup service or your backup gets hacked, your files will not be accessible as they are contained within the “vault”.Disclaimer: This article and blog post is based solely on what I am aware of and is my opinion only. I will not be held responsible for any claim, loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or any information accessed through this site.All copyright and trademarks are owned by the respective companies mentioned, their owners, or their licensors.
Happy New Year
Wishing everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and thank all of you who have supported my photography business and who attended my photo tours and workshops.2013 will be a year when I continue with my "Deliberate Photography" teaching and I look forward to a meeting many more wonderful people and sharing photographic journeys in 2013.
Special Products and Special Prices
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your support and helping my photography Photo Tours and Workshops gain momentum. For all who have participated in any way this year a special thank you and for those who will be joining me next year, I look forward to gaining your confidence.As I look back at 2012, I can't help but feel grateful to the wonderful people who have come into my extended photo family. I have enjoyed every moment with you all.As a small token I requested my friend, supporter and sponsor Gary Farber of Hunts Photo and Video to put together some VERY SPECIAL PRICING on some of my favorite products and accessories. As you look through this list, you might want to avail of these discounts and support Hunts as they have supported the photographic community.Wishing you and yours Happy and Safe Holidays and all the best for the New Year.With warm regards,ShivClick Here for the list and special pricing good through the end of the year
INSIVITY
Once in a while one comes across a website that is truly inspiring. This web site is harmonious and echoes my photographic philosophies and what I try to instill in my workshop participants. This site has video content and is structured toget photographers and artists more interested in the HOW to take the inspiration they find and shoot and translates it into content that is inspiring. It’s a soft approach to inform and educate on tools and techniques. www.insivity.comIt is fairly new but please check it out and bookmark it - more content will be added. Do give me feedback on what you think about the site and the concept.In addition - there are some awesome deals and discounts on Wacom products.CLICK HERE FOR THE INSIVITY EXPERIENCE