Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Eighth Annual Nikonian Photography Adventure Trip. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.
Sunset Panorama of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. There were many photographers (in addition to the Nikonian group) lined up at the Tunnel View parking lot to photograph sunset. Many left thinking nothing was going to happen, then all of a sudden sunlight came in from the west under the clouds to light up both sides of the valley with this incredible orange color.
Sunset Panorama from the Tunnel View Observation Point. Composite of 5 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite created using AutoPano Giga. (David J Mathre)
Best viewed in full screen mode — double-click on the image.
Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Eighth Annual Nikonian Photography Adventure Trip. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.
Reflections on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1/30, 1/50, 1/80, 1/125, 1/200 sec). For many years I would take an exposure bracketed series of an image. For example with three images (-1 EV, 0 EV, +1 EV) or with five images (-1 1/3 EV, -2/3 EV, 0 EV, +2/3 EV, +1 1/3 EV). Then either pick the best exposure, or use a post processing program to combine two or more of the images to get a high-dynamic range (HDR) image. This allows more detail by recovering data from dark underexposed areas or blown-out overexposed areas in the image. This was especially important when dealing with digital images with 8-bits of dynamic range (i.e. jpg). The sensors in modern digital cameras are able to record images with 12 or 14 bit of dynamic range. This allows programs such as Capture One Pro to pull out more data from a single image to simulate a HDR image without needing to combine data from multiple images.
Above images processed with Capture One Pro (Built in Style, Legacy, Landscape, Landscape Color 2)
Reflections on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 1/80 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro (Built in Style, Legacy, Landscape, Landscape Color-2). (David J Mathre)
Best image with further adjustments using the High Dynamic Range Highlight and Shadow sliders
Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Yosemite National Park.
I arrived in Yosemite National Park a day before the beginning of ANPAT-8 and spent the afternoon driving around Yosemite Valley. A storm had just gone through and there were a lot of low clouds in the valley. The 3000 foot tall granite rocks surrounding the valley are impressive. Then realizing the small specks going up El Capitan are rock climbers.
El Capitan in Yosemite Valley on a stormy autumn day with low clouds. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/11, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.
Gone to See America August 2010 Road Trip. Day 6: Eastern Sierra Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant. Bodie State Historic Park.
Images taken on my second visit to Bodie State Park in 2010. California maintains the park in a state of arrested decay. The park is a National Historic District, and is known as a wild-west gold mining ghost town. I also got an image of the Schoolmarm’s hat on my first visit to Bodie.
Schoolmarm’s Hat. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.
Gone to See California. Day 6: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.
On the second day of the workshop we started the day before sunrise at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Fortunately, this was not very far from Stove Pipe Wells where we spent the night. We did have to hike in the dark from the parking lot to the sand dunes. This was the reason Michael had geomarked the trail the day before. If you are going to do this remember to bring along a flashlight or headlamp, and watch out for sidewinder rattlesnakes It also was a bit chilly out. All of the images have been re-processed with Capture One Pro, including conversion to B&W.
Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.
Hey – The Moon is Behind You!!! Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
