Category Archives: Background

Photography in the Fog!

Background

Do damp, drizzly, foggy days keep you inside? If the answer is “yes”, you are missing some unique and challenging photographic opportunities. At this time of year in northern Minnesota fog is often present. Warm air from the south blows north and meets up with cold Lake Superior. Even though today is June 1st, the temperature of the deep blue water of Gitchee Goomie is still in the 30’s. The net effect is a fog factory.

Last week we had plenty to days with fog. Temperatures rarely broke 50 degrees, but I still spent lots of time outside with my camera. While like everyone else I love clear blue skies, in my part of the universe the sun now rises around 5 am. This means the “golden hour” is over before many people even awake for the day (not me). During the middle of the day, the bright sun makes fine photography a challenge … enter the foggy day!

Fog evens light out, and provides the opportunity for “disappearing act” images. Bright colors seem more vibrant on gloomy days. Unlike the golden hour which is at best 90 minutes long, the foggy conditions change constantly as the fog rolls in and out with the shifting wind.

Thus take your camera and venture outside! Here are just two of my foggy day photos from last week. A good time was had by all!

American Goldfinch in the Fog
Y2-M05-American-Goldfinch-After-The-Storm

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Ghost Ship (Duluth Harbor)
Y2-M05-Ghost-Ship

Minnesota Bird Search Engine

Background

The search engine which I built that indexes Minnesota bird web sites was updated this morning (June 1, 2015). New sites added include:

The search engine now indexes 31 Minnesota birding sites. I welcome submissions. You will find the full list of currently included sites on my Bird Search Engine Web Page. The site not only indexes written content, but also images.

Learning from other photographers!

Background

Curious to learn what settings other folks use for their photos? For instance, I love to prowl the wilderness of Northern Minnesota, and photograph the Aurora Borealis when the lights shine out over the northern skies (see my Northern Lights photos). Using a tool from Flickr, one may compare images taken used by photographers who have the “same” exact camera as yours. Flickr allows one to check what camera settings (ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc).

Follow this process: (also works for bird photographs)

  1. Browse to Flickr Camera Finder via this url: https://www.flickr.com/cameras
  2. Click upon your “brand” from the list (scroll a bit down the page to find the “long” list of camera manufacturers)
  3. Select and click upon your camera model from the long list of cameras models for your brand (scroll down the page to find the “long” list). Use “search on page” for your browser to find your camera. Only search for part of the “text string” as Flickr may abbreviate your camera a bit differently than you think. For instance, I own a Sony NEX-5T, but on Flickr it is just NEX-5 for the Sony brand.
  4. When your Flickr camera model page loads, scroll to the very bottom of the page and find the search box. Try some searches such as “Aurora” and “Northern Lights” or “Birds in Flight”
  5. Images taken by other photographers will then load. Click upon any picture you like. On the resulting page that loads, find the “EXIF” link. Click upon that link. It will then display all the information for that particular photograph such as ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, etc.

Remember, the EXIF data will not tell you how much light was present that night the Aurora shined (i.e. variables like the moon, backlighting, light pollution, etc), but by checking a bunch of photographs for your model camera you will learn what other people are doing in terms of settings when they utilize the exact same camera that you own. The same reminder should be considered for bird photos … light conditions will vary, but you still will learn from other photographers who have identical equipment to yours!

Finally, remember … there are not “right” or “wrong” camera settings. Taking photographs is an art form. The important fact is that YOU like your images!

Finally, here are two of my own Northern Lights photos taken this past March. If you want the EXIF data, follow this link to my Flickr Aurora photos.

Northern-Lights-Little-Stone-Lake-3 St-Patricks-Day-Aurora-03