David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.
I was working on my computer and noticed something large crawling up a window trying to get in the house. I quickly realized that it was a large green Praying Mantis. It walked right by a Stink Bug — turning up its nose. That’s too bad, as the Stink Bugs are making a major effort to get into the house before it gets much colder outside.
Early DIY Car Cam time-lapse video. Driving from Green River to Sedona. Eight hours travel time compressed to two minutes 44 seconds. Images captured with a Nikon One V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens mounted on a tripod sitting in my passenger seat. The 3934 images were processed with Photoshop CC and exported into a 720p 24p time-lapse video. Fast-forward to today, and I am about to mount a Garmin VIRB camera on my dashboard so I can do 360 degree time-lapse videos on future road trips.
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.
Best viewed in full screen mode — double-click on the image.
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.
Raw image bracket (-1 1/3 EV, -2/3 EV, 0 EV, +2/3 EV, +1 1/3 EV)
Above images processed with Capture One Pro (Built in Style, Legacy, Landscape, Landscape Color 2)
Best image with further adjustments using the High Dynamic Range Highlight and Shadow sliders
There is a lot of yard work that needs to be completed before winter. I set up the Garmin VIRB-360 camera to record the day on the front of my Lawn Tractor. I’ve ordered a powered mounting bracket to mount the camera in my car. A lot easier than when I mounted a camera on a tripod sitting in the passenger seat for recording time-lapse videos of cross country road trips.