A cool morning in Lower Dusy Basin

The morning of day 3 was pretty cold.  The water bottles were half frozen, but I was feeling plenty warm in my 850 fill down jacket.  Prior to this trip I had reviewed my old images from the Sierras and noticed that I didn’t have any good wide angle mountain shots.  Finding and photographing a classic view of the mountains was on my mind for much of the trip and my main goal this morning.  I spent quite a bit of time wandering around and ended up at a spot I’d checked out the previous day.  After photographing for a little while, I headed back to camp, ate breakfast and got ready to move.

The 1.5 mile hike to Upper Dusy Basin started off pretty steep as we left the lower basin, but was a fairly gradual ascent after that initial stretch.  The lake at the West edge of Upper Dusy Basin is visible from the main trail and we quickly made it to the lake’s edge after following and losing a few faint trails.  We immediately tried to make our way towards Lake 11388 right under Iscoceles Peak, but couldn’t quite figure it out.  We came back to the first lake and relaxed for a little while.  I decided to day hike over to Lake 11388, hoping to find an easy way to get there.  I made it there and back, unintentionally following two very different routes.  It’s an incredible area, right at the base of the mountains.  I liked it much more than the first lake but getting there with full packs on seemed like a hassle, and we decided to stay at the first lake.  (After returning from the trip I talked to a few people who described getting to Lake 11388 as a non-issue.  Did I miss some obvious path?  Am I so accustomed to city living that I need a nicely paved sidewalk with signs to get me from point A to point B, less than a mile away?  I’ll have to try again next time.  I’ll also need to bring along a much wider angle lens than I currently own.)  Overall, Upper Dusy turned out to be much more pleasant than Lower. It was a little breezy and the mosquitoes left us alone.  At this point I hate Mountain House meals.  The only thing appealing about eating is the marginal reduction in pack weight. Like the previous days, the lack of clouds left me feeling somewhat uninspired, but well after sunset the Palisades put on a nice show as they glowed in the very last light of the day.

Glowing Palisades

Day 4: Upper Dusy to San Diego

There wasn’t much to photograph the final  morning.  Upper Dusy Basin is definitely a sunset spot.  We packed up and started the journey home.  We had a short hike with a little elevation gain to 11,972′ Bishop Pass, then 5.5 miles with 2000′ of descent to South Lake.  It would be a little hard on the knees, but otherwise pretty easy.  We started off by losing the trail right away.  That was frustrating, but kind of the way things go on the faint side trails.  Eventually we found what seemed to be the main trail.  It was heading in the right direction and there were lots of footprints, so we figured we were on the right track.  On the way out we passed a guy we’d talked to on the second day.  He was with his wife then, and was coming back now with some friends.  I should be more like this guy.  After finishing the hike we headed down to Bishop and I called my wife to let her know we were fine.  I was looking forward to showering, hanging out with my family and eating real food again.  At this point El Pollo Loco counted as real food.

The first night is always rough when it comes to sleep.  I’m used to being sprawled out, tossing and turning all over the place.  That doesn’t work so well inside a sleeping bag, and I’m sure Arun wouldn’t have appreciated it either.  Fortunately it was a relatively warm morning, so getting up wasn’t too much trouble despite not getting my usual 8-9 hours of sleep.  Arun and I went our separate ways wandering around and taking pictures, then came back to camp and got ready to hike over Bishop Pass.

Today would be the longest day, but still pretty easy, especially since we’d already made it to Long Lake.  We were looking at about 6 miles with 1300′ up and 1300′ down.  It was time to see how well my usual 3 mile runs and Fartleks (at sea level, on flat ground) had me prepared for hiking uphill, at elevation, with more weight on my back than a normal person (aka non-photographer) would haul.

We took a pretty easy pace going up and over Bishop Pass.  The one exception was rock slide areas where we moved quickly through.  There was one small stream crossing below Bishop Lakes (small because we were there in the morning).  And there was one snow bridge and a few snow patches to go through including a large snowfield at the top of Bishop Pass.  In early afternoon we arrived at sunny, mosquito filled Dusy Basin.  As a resident of San Diego, I know I’m supposed to like the sun and enjoy things like spending an afternoon at the beach on a cloudless day.  I don’t.  It sucks.  I like clouds, fog, rain, temperatures between 40 and 70F.  I can imagine John Coleman cringing if he were reading this.  The mosquitoes and lack of shade made the middle of the day a little rough.

Shortly before sunset in Lower Dusy Basin

Later in the day the temperature dropped and the light became less intense as the sun moved closer to the horizon.  I wandered around, checking out a few places I had scouted earlier in the day.  While TPE and Google Earth are helpful, you don’t really know how a place will look at a certain time of the day without actually being there.  I photographed some trees on the North side of the basin that were catching their last light of the day.  Then I headed towards a stream I’d checked out earlier to photograph the last light on the Palisades.  Unfortunately the light went away much faster than I thought it would.  I was caught off guard.  From a photography perspective, there would have been a big advantage to staying in Lower Dusy Basin for another day.  But, this was the first time in the area for both Arun and I, and this trip was more about exploring the area than setting up in a spot and waiting for the perfect light (which wasn’t going to  happen on these cloudless days anyways).  The next morning we’d photograph at sunrise, then head back towards Bishop Pass and check out Upper Dusy Basin.

Day 1: San Diego to Long Lake

A pine tree near our campsite at Long Lake

Six months after reserving our permits for Bishop Pass (to Dusy Basin), Arun and I had made it to the South Lake parking lot. Whether we would spend the night at one of the first come, first served campgrounds nearby or start the hike towards Bishop Pass was still undecided. We looped around the overnight parking area, saw no open spots and headed towards the campgrounds. Like the overnight parking lot, they were full. I was already not liking the idea of parking 1.2 miles downhill from the trailhead in the overflow parking area. Getting a spot early in the morning seemed unlikely since people probably wouldn’t be hiking out late at night or very early in the morning. We headed back to the overnight parking area, waited around and luckily got a spot.

After a change of clothes and double checking our packs, we slowly started the hike South. Having dealt with altitude sickness twice before, I was very concerned about coming from sea level and starting to hike at 10,000′.  The previous summer I had a miserable experience in Little Lakes Valley after coming from San Diego up to 10,000′.  The pace at which we hiked towards Long Lake reflected my concern.  I stopped every time I felt like my heart rate was getting much above the level it’s at when I’m sitting on the sofa at home.  We made a lot of stops.  I don’t know how long it took to get there.  I didn’t ask Arun what time it was when we started or when we arrived.  I didn’t need to know.  Eventually we made it, set up camp, cooked dinner and called it a night.  I’d have no altitude sickness issues this trip.

As we’re driving North on 395 the weather is awesome.  Dark clouds surround us and thunder explodes in the mountains to our West.  By the time we get to the permit office near the Tioga Pass entrance, not much has changed.  We pick up the permits, a small orange trowel and head off to find a campsite.  It’s getting late in the day and every campsite at the Tuolumne Meadows backpacker’s camp is taken.  Rumor has it you can just set up camp anywhere, so we do.  Afterwards we drive West a few miles to enjoy what’s shaping up to be a spectacular sunset.  I’m thinking how nice it would be to have a great image in the bag before even starting the real trip.  The weather quickly clears up and the sunset is uninspiring.  I take a few pictures, but feeling uninspired results in images that are, well, uninspiring.

The next morning we make a quick trip towards Tenaya Lake for a lackluster sunrise, return to pack up our gear, and start the hike towards Young Lakes.  I’m excited to get away from the crowds that exist within a mile of every paved road in Yosemite, and spend a few days in the wilderness.  Our permit for the way in is Young Lakes via the Glen Aulin Trail.  Heading towards Glen Aulin the trail is dead flat and the first 2 miles pass very quickly.  Then we break away from the Glen Aulin Trail and start the gradual climb towards Young Lakes.  As we’re hiking the remaining 5 miles to Lower Young Lake I’m feeling pretty good.  There’s plenty of shade and the night spent at high elevation prior to starting the hike was worth it: I’m showing no signs of altitude sickness.  I am however questioning this desire to photograph.  The hike would be so much easier without 10 lbs of photography gear.  We arrive at Lower Young and have lunch before hiking the last mile or so to Upper Young.  There are plenty of places to camp along the side of Upper Young Lake and we pick a spot right away so we can set down our packs.

After relaxing a little and filling up the water bottles, I started wandering around, looking for something interesting to photograph.  The first evening is kind of tricky since I don’t know what’s going to be in light and what’s going to be in shadow as the sun sets.  I make one image that I’m happy with and a bunch that fall into the good, but not good enough category.  I walk back to camp.  That’s a neat feeling to photograph this incredible place and then walk 200 feet to camp.  As it gets dark I climb into the tent, look through the pictures I’ve just taken and look at the couple of pictures of my wife and son that I’ve left on the memory card.  What the fuck am I doing 500 miles away from my little boy?

Upper Young Lake Reflections

The next morning I’m up early and making some photographs.  In between shooting I’m keeping an eye on the small island in the lake.  I’ve seen photographs of this before and know that the light will hit that island while the granite walls along the South side of the lake are in shade.  I can tell the sun is nearly high enough to clear the mountains to the East, but the light is hitting parts of the wall that I want to be the background for my shot.  I find a spot to safely hop over the creek that exits Upper Young and get a view with nothing but shaded granite behind the island.  A little while later the sun lights up the trees on the island, then a little section of grass to the left of the island and finally a bigger section of grassy area behind the island.  I try several different compositions and make dozens of exposures before the light gets too harsh.

After eating breakfast I review the morning’s images.  None of them are quite right.  But, between reviewing the images and going back to the spot I’ve photographed from (and making a few test images in mid-day light) I figure out exactly how I want to photograph that island the next morning.  I spend the rest of the day wandering around the lake, scouting for images and of course wondering what the fuck I’m doing 500 miles away from my little boy.

As sunset nears I’m hoping to re-shoot one scene from the previous evening that I mostly liked but had a few little imperfections that I wanted to clean up.  But, there are no clouds, and without clouds it simply does not work.  I start moving towards the far end of the lake where there are a few compositions I scouted out earlier in the day.  On my way I walk by the little pine tree that’s in Charles Cramer’s famous image from Upper Young Lake.  I have no desire to duplicate his image, but I stop.  Is it obvious because it’s obvious, or because Charles Cramer made it obvious?  I compose one shot, a more telephoto view than Cramer’s, make a few exposures and move on.  It turns out to be my best shot of the evening.  I go to bed excited about the next day.  I’m certain I’ll get the shot I want of that island.  And as soon as I do I’ll be heading home.

Shoreline at Sunset, Upper Young Lake

The final morning I know exactly what I want to photograph.  I wake up, eat breakfast, get water and pack up everything.  I head over to my spot and compose the island exactly the way I want it.  When the sun clears the mountains to the East, I’m ready to go and make several exposures to make sure I’ve got what I want: my best shot of Upper Young Lake.  Afterwards I take a few more shots, which I later stitch into a 60 MegaPixel panorama.  Arun and I grab our packs and head out via the Dog Lake trail.  Now I have one goal in mind: to make it home before my boy goes to sleep.  Along the way we comment on how fortunate we were to get Glen Aulin on the way in.  Dog Lake had much more up and down, and felt like a much more difficult trail going towards Young Lakes.  But, it was mostly downhill on the way out and within 4 hours we were in my car and driving East towards 395.  We make one stop for fast food in Lone Pine, choosing to eat in the car with the AC blasting on a 100 degree day, and sparing others the misery of being around 2 guys that have a few days and a lot of miles since last showering.

It’s just getting dark as we make it back to San Diego and Lucas is still wide awake.  He’s excited to see me.  The look on my wife’s face tells me she’ll be happier to have me home once I’ve showered.

Illuminated Island, Upper Young Lake

1. When the light is changing quickly, as it does around sunrise and sunset, can I accurately calculate the proper exposure?
2. If I’m capturing clouds streaking across the sky, how can I accurately predict where they’ll be in a few minutes?
3. How big of a print can I make when I’ve stopped down to f/22 and put a filter over the lens in order to drag out the exposure time?

These are real problems with getting it all right in one shot. I’d rather take multiple images and combine them in Photoshop. The idea of stacking images is pretty simple. You start with one image. The second one gets added as a layer at 50% opacity so you’re seeing half of one exposure and half of the other. The third gets added at 33% opacity so you see 1/3 of it and 2/3 of the 2 images that are already down. Etc.

Needless to say, I’m not going sit in front of the computer and stack 50 images. This is what computers are for. Here’s the simple javascript I wrote to do this in Photoshop:

——

// The purpose of this script is to stack
//   multiple exposures to simulate a long exposure
// Put all the images to be stacked in a folder, and
//   don’t put anything else in that folder
// This has been tested with PS CS4 on Windows 7
// file, scripts, browse

var inputFolder  = Folder.selectDialog(“Select a folder of images to process”);

// Loop through all files in inputFolder
var fileList = inputFolder.getFiles();
for ( var i=0; i < fileList.length; i++ ){
open(fileList[i]);

if ( i > 0 )
{
app.activeDocument.selection.selectAll()
app.activeDocument.selection.copy()
app.activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
var newLayer = app.activeDocument.artLayers.add();
newLayer.name = i
app.activeDocument.paste()
newLayer.opacity = 100*1/(i+1)
// if there are lots of files, flatten the image after each layer
// to prevent the file size from becoming enormous
if (fileList.length > 10)
{
app.activeDocument.flatten()
}
}
}
// End of Loop

——

The script above can be copied into a text editor and saved as “ExposureStacker.jsx”, or whatever you’d like to name it.  *IMPORTANT* after pasting you may need to delete the 2 quotation marks in the script and replace them with… quotation marks.  Got to love it when you copy something that works, paste it into WordPress, then copy it out of WordPress, paste it back into your text editor, and it no longer works.  Then, in Photoshop CS4, go to file -> scripts -> browse (and grab this file).

Of course, there are a few disadvantages to consider with the method I’ve written about here.

1. The shutter is not open continuously. This probably doesn’t matter much if you’re making a series of 30 second exposures with a few seconds in between to check the histogram and adjust the exposure if necessary. But, if you’re taking a series of 1 second exposures with a few seconds in between, then the shutter is closed most of the time and the resulting image might not look right.
2. Let’s say the light is quickly changing while you’re making a series of exposures to stack, so you’re changing the shutter speed as you go. When stacking, each image is given equal weight, so to speak. This is correct if the exposures are all the same, but not quite right if they’re different. The short exposures will be given more weight than they should. I’m not sure how much this matters, but it’s something to consider.
3. This method does involve dealing with a lot more files. Given the price of flash cards and hard drives (especially in comparison to some of the variable ND filters), I can’t see this as much of an issue.
4. Post processing does take longer, but it’s computer time, not your time.

The notes I make on location and composition help me answer those 2 important questions: Where should I go? What should I shoot?

Here are a few notes I’ve made on images from Hospitals Reef, a.k.a. the La Jolla Zoo.  They’re simple, but I find them helpful.

Custom Functions: One of my favorite features on the 5dMk2 is the custom functions.   There are 3 of them and they’re right there on the dial with aperture priority, manual, bulb and a few modes that I’ve never used.  C2 is what I use for taking pictures of my son.  I’ve got it set up for getting hand held shots of someone on the move: aperture priority, iso 400, single frame, f/4 by default.  C3 is set up for my landscape shots and I’ll go into some of the settings I use and why.  The main point is I can load a set of totally different settings by turning a dial one spot.  No need to go through all those menus every time I want to switch.

Metered Manual: There is one reason I’ve got C3 set to metered manual instead of the ever popular aperture priority: I don’t want the camera calculating the exposure.  There are several situations where this comes into play.

1. It’s becoming very common for me to take several shots of a static scene at different focus distances and then focus stack those images in Photoshop.  I need to be certain these shots use the exact same exposure.

2. The same goes for taking multiple exposures for stitching panoramas.  This is something I don’t do that often, but is another situation where having the exact same exposure for each shot matters.  It’s also a situation where it’s common for the exposure to change when I’m using aperture priority.

3. I usually leave the coast soaking wet from the waist down, and while I don’t mind getting wet, I need the front of the lens to be dry.  I always hold my hand over the lens as water is splashing, then move it out of the way and immediately press the shutter release.  Aperture priority will  grossly over calculate the shutter speed since the metering will be based on the time when my hand was covering the lens.

4. Even if I’m out of the splash zone, the aperture priority calculated shutter speed can vary widely as dark rocks are covered up by white surf.  It’s best to take a test shot to get the exposure right, and only change it as the light changes.

ISO 50: By default I use the lowest ISO setting to get the lowest noise image.  But, it’s not uncommon for me to increase the ISO up to 100, 200 or even 400 if that’s what I need to get the shutter speed I want.

Live View: This is one of my favorite features on the 5dMk2.  The 10X magnification is very useful for checking focus.  Now that I’ve had this, I can’t imagine photographing without it.  I also find it much easier to level a horizon in live view.  I’ve always had problems getting that perfectly straight horizon through the view finder.  Live view is also somewhat useful as a compositional tool.  Being able to see in 2 dimensions helps, but a camera LCD screen is too small to be super helpful.  Since the mirror is up in live view there’s no need to use mirror lock up.

Cable Release: I always use one, not much more to say.

Back Button Focus: There are so many situations where I want to set the focus distance and leave it alone.  I find that using separate buttons for auto focus and shutter release is the easiest way to do this.

So, this doesn’t cover every single setting I use, but it gets the most important ones. Next, I’d like to get into the classic Canon vs. Nikon debate. This sums it up pretty well.

The first reason I practice has to do with staying sharp.  I wish it wasn’t true, but there are times the camera is in the bag for a month or two.  Before heading out on a trip I’ll get the camera out and spend an hour or two working through the process of selecting a few compositions and making exposures.  This is tedious since it often goes against my rule of “if I’m not feeling anything, I’m not photographing anything”.  It’s plain old work, something I get enough of already.

The second reason for practice is to learn something new.  I started down this road towards time lapse photography by spending some time reading, but quickly moved on to making practice videos (no substitute for experience).  So, let’s get specific, here’s what I’ve  learned from my first few attempts at time lapse photography:

1. The cheapo intervalometer I bought is a piece of #!%$.  After a very frustrating night at Torrey Pines, I figured out that the illumination button causes the numbers to go crazy, making it impossible to set the interval between shots (or anything else) in the dark.  I now bring my headlamp when there’s a possibility of trying a time lapse at night. This would have been a very painful lesson to learn while trying to photograph something spectacular.

2. One minute intervals are a little long for photographing growing shadows late in the day.  An interval in the ballpark of 20-30 seconds would be better.  

3. Beware of moving the camera. Normally bumping the tripod isn’t a big deal since I rarely take more than a few images of the exact same scene for exposure blending or focus stacking. But with time lapse the camera needs to be dead still for a longer period of time, maybe even hours. Shooting from anything that can move (buildings, bridges) is risky. I can’t say that this is the most important lesson since I don’t plan on shooting anything I actually care about from the top of a building. But, the images I shot from the 2nd story of my place had a few frames that didn’t line up with the rest. The next time lapse I tried after this was in the sand dunes and I made sure to dig the tripod legs into the sand and stay away until the exposures were finished. There were no misaligned frames in those 310 shots.

4. The javascript I wrote for batch processing the files with Photoshop and making the 1920×1080 images for the movie worked fine. I think it’s a good idea to work through the entire process as early as possible to make sure I’m not missing anything. Javascript is a strange language and a pain to work with compared to Fortran, but I still hate it less than my intervalometer.

5. Making 30 second exposures at 35 second intervals for almost exactly 3 hours (a total of 310 exposures) used about 80% of my 5dMk2 battery. This is one of those things I’m almost never concerned with. I don’t think I’ve ever run through a battery in one day. But, for time lapse photography battery life is much more of an issue, and I’d like to avoid being a situation where I have no idea when the battery is going to be finished.

6. The speed of the stars resulting from 30 second exposures at 35 second intervals was nice when I made a video using 30 frames per second. If anything a little slower might have been better for the peaceful mood I was after.

So, what’s worse than practice?  For me it’s screwing something up that I wouldn’t have screwed up if I spent some time practicing it…  and that’s reason enough to spend a little time doing something I truly dislike.  Ok, enough talking about practice, right AI?

one of the framed prints

On May 2nd I displayed 3 framed prints at Art in the Pines 2010 at the Torrey Pines State Reserve.  This was the first time I’ve displayed framed prints at an event like this.  I got started way ahead of time, making test prints, and trying to get the images as good as possible before spending money on the final, larger prints.  Overall, I was very satisfied with the 3 prints, but I failed to think beyond the quality of the prints I was displaying and as a result didn’t make the most of this event.  But, what I learned from this event will make the next one better.  Here’s a list of those things I learned.

1. Order prints and mounting/framing materials as far ahead of time as you can. This was something I already knew and I usually do a pretty good job of preparing for things going wrong.  I ordered my prints and framing materials about a month ahead of time.  I especially wanted the prints early so they would have time to flatten (they’re shipped rolled in a tube).  As it turned out the prints were totally screwed up and I had to send them back.  This was the first time anything  like that had happened with Aspen Creek or WCI.  To their credit once they got my prints, they made correct prints, shipped them flat and I had them the next day.  Then when I got around to framing them I noticed that one of the frame sides was bent.  Frame Destination had a replacement piece in the mail before I woke up the next morning.  It paid to do things ahead of time so there was time to fix problems.  And it paid to work with companies that not only offer exceptional products, but exceptional service too.

2. Think about how to  package the framed prints for delivery and pick-up. This is something I didn’t give much thought to until the day before the event.  I ended up cutting off part of the box the frames came in so that it (barely) fit in the trunk of my car.  If I had printed much bigger, say 20×30 instead of 16×24, I would have needed to get creative to fit them in my car.  I had pieces of cardboard between the prints and stuffed the box with bubble wrap to keep the prints from sliding around.  I was most concerned about scratching the acrylite glazing.  Overall it worked well, but I was a little bit lucky given that I didn’t think about this until the last minute.

3. People need to know the quality of materials I used. I’m not sure how I could have done this at this particular event, but in general, potential customers need to know the quality of materials I used.  These are not Walmart prints attached to cardboard with rubber cement.  These are Fuji Crystal Archive prints, matted with Bainbridge ArtCare Mats, T-hinged to the mount board.  Even the pen I used to initial the prints is an archival, pigmented ink pen.  I’m not saying this is the undisputed best way to do it (in fact I’m interested in learning other methods, but one thing at a time), but it is certainly a very good way.

4. I need a way for people to remember me and see more of my work. It was stupid to not think about this.  Just shows how I missed the business side of all this while I was 100% focused on making the prints as good as possible.  Someone stops to look at my print, they think “hey this is nice” and move on to the next photo or painting they find interesting.  That’s it.  I spent all that time making the print, someone actually liked it, and then they walked away.  All the prints had my name attached to them on a little business card sized piece of paper.  But even if they noticed that, are they really going to remember my name?  Not  likely.  People need a way to remember me and be able to see more of my work.  Note to self: make a few business cards to have next to the prints.

Usually at the coast there is simply too much happening to aim for perfection.  While I’m focusing on the surf rushing towards the bottom of the frame, I’m missing the wave that’s forming in the distance.  Seeing and processing everything that’s happening in the frame isn’t realistic.  I’ll choose to focus on something, try to time it right and hope the rest falls into place.  With this method, the number of exposures I make is very important to increase the likelihood of getting a good photograph.

Stormy Sunset, La Jolla

For the photograph “Stormy Sunset, La Jolla” I was trying to perfectly time the receding surf.  In the time between waves I wiped raindrops off the front of the lens and made a few exposures that I considered to be poorly timed.  I’d like to think that the idea in my mind would make the best photograph, but I’m far from being a photography know-it-all and experimenting is an important part of learning.  On this day one of the exposures I tried to time turned out best.  I took as many photographs as I could before the light above the horizon moved far enough to the right to make the photograph off balance.

So, does it make me a less skilled photographer to play the percentages and not be able to get it all right in one shot?  Maybe.  But there’s only one goal when it comes to photography: making good photographs.  Usually they’re the result of skill, but I won’t lose any sleep over relying on a little luck when I think it’s necessary.