A few days ago I had a little time to kill between appointments in Fairhaven so I headed down to the North Chuckanut trailhead for Bellingham’s Interurban Trail to see what I could find. It was a glorious warm and sunny spring day, somewhat uncommon for late March around here. I didn’t have a lot of time so I didn’t hike far with my camera and tripod slung over my shoulder.
![1204906 John Day River [panoramic merged] [Juniperus occidentalis]. OR 19, Kimberly, OR. © Mark Turner](/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1204906_pan.jpg "1204906 John Day River [panoramic merged] [Juniperus occidentalis]. OR 19, Kimberly, OR. © Mark Turner")
I’m a big fan of doing all the necessary preparation work to capture my vision in a single exposure, with all the elements in place in the instant the shutter is open. But sometimes that just isn’t possible and I rely on some of the digital magic that allows me to combine multiple exposures into a single finished image.
There are three main reasons I’ll create a composite image:
The key to creating a composite digital image is planning ahead. It’s not something you can do successfully, and believably, without knowing where you’re going. I always use a tripod so as many elements as possible line up perfectly.
Unless I’m going to use High Dynamic Range (HDR) techniques to fit a wide brightness range into a single frame I make sure my exposure is that same for each frame that I’ll be blending. That almost always means manual exposure and a constant aperture. I don’t touch the zoom on my lens and I keep my lighting the same.
Let’s examine each of these three variations on blending multiple exposures. Continue reading
Spring is in the air. Days are getting longer, the soil is warming up, we’re getting a little less rain, and buds are swelling on the trees and shrubs. Some of the catkin-bearing trees are already blooming. But one of the first real signs of spring for me in the Northwest is when the Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) blossoms open. Continue reading
My lecture and workshop schedule is shaping up to be busy this year. I hope you’ll be able to join me for one or more of them.
I’ll be teaching photography classes for people with digital SLRs, pocket cameras, and iPhones. My native plant lectures include the dry area in central Washington and the region within walking distance of high tide.
I love to teach and my students consistently report how much fun they have and how much they learn in my classes.
Here’s the lineup. Continue reading
The Northwest Flower and Garden Show, held in Seattle each February, is one of the world’s greatest garden shows. Here in the northwest it’s an event we look forward to each winter as the days begin to lengthen, buds swell, and the earliest flowers in our gardens begin to bloom.
The warm and dry environment of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, all decked out with fabulous display gardens, welcomes gardeners from across the country to this annual extravaganza of garden theater. This year’s theme is “The Silver Screen Takes Root…Gardens Go Hollywood” and the garden designers did a good job interpreting this very broad and fun concept.
The first garden you encounter on the way into the show takes you on a journey to Oz, with Dorothy, the Tin Man, and a daffodil-filled golden brick road.
Frost blooms. Like a flower. Sort of.
I’d never heard the term “frost flowers” until one of my editors and customers requested photographs of the phenomenon late last year. This is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the freeze-thaw cycle, or at the beginning of winter in places that don’t cycle through warm and cold periods. Continue reading
Our mild Pacific Northwest winters mean there are numerous plants that stay green year-around and they’re not all conifers. This month’s plant could easily be mistaken for some kind of grass, which it resembles at first glance. I’m talking about slough sedge, Carex obnupta.
If you’ve visited a wetland almost anywhere on the west side of the Cascades you’ve likely seen slough sedge. It’s one of our most common sedges, growing in wet places throughout our region. Continue reading
I’d never make an astronomer. I go to bed too early. That makes it challenging for me to make images at dusk in the middle of the summer when it stays light until ten o’clock. This time of year, with darkness sneaking upon us soon after four o’clock, I can photograph at dusk and still be home for dinner.
Architectural photographers often photograph buildings at dusk. The rich blue of the sky contrasts with the warm tones of artificial lighting illuminating a building and coming from the interior through the windows. There’s not a lot of time each day when the conditions are perfect to get that balance right.
Bring your kids to the Holiday Port Festival the weekend of December 7-9 to visit with Santa and get a beautiful keepsake photo of them with the jolly man himself. Continue reading
You’re the designated family photographer and historian. You’re the one your mother is going to call to say, “Remember that deep-fried turkey we had for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago? Can you send me a picture?”
If you have an organized filing system for your photos you’ll be able to say, “Sure. Do you want me to make a print or just send you a digital file?” Then you’ll go to your computer, quickly pull up the Thanksgiving photo and get a copy on the way to mom. Continue reading
