Elderhostel “Photography in the Southwest” Workshop Day 1. Star Trails.
The following image is a composite of five 30 minute night sky exposures taken during a Elderhostel/Road Scholar photography workshop at Kelly Place outside of Cortez, Colorado in 2008. It was really dark other than the Christmas lights at the main building, and you could see a lot of stars in the sky. I moved the tripod as far away from the lights as possible and decided to do this series with a fisheye lens that would give a 180° field of view. The five images were combined using Startrails. This program is old (only works with jpg or 8-bit tif files) but works better than when I try to merge the images as layers in Photoshop.
Winter night sky looking north at Kelley’s Place near Cortez, Colorado. Composite of four images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 30 min). (David J Mathre)
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 15: Hosteria Lago Grey.
Early Morning Rainbow from Hosteria Lago Grey, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Composite of two images from a Nikon D3x and 24-120 mm f/4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec) combined using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 10: Los Notros Resort, Boat ride and Hike on Perito Moreno Glacier.
This morning we took a boat across to the Perito Moreno Glacier. There after some history of the glacier by the local guides we hiked to the glacier where we were fitted with ice crampons. These were a relatively old style crampon that fit any boots. The guide then took us for an 1.5 hour hike on the glacier. This was a great photo opportunity to see the deep blue ice and all of the features on the glacier up close. At the end of the hike, we had a drink with glacial ice. Even though I only took one DLSR and one lens, I got many great images on this hike. During the afternoon, I started working on some images from the early part of the trip.
Glacier Calving. Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 f/1.4 mm lens (ISO 200, f/9, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)Thom Hogan climbing Perito Moreno Glacier without any ropes. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/7, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 9: Depart Hosteria El Pilar, Travel to Calafate, Los Glaciares National Park, Perito Moreno Glacier, and the Los Notros Resort.
This was a travel day. But first, one last chance to view Fitzroy at dawn. Unfortunately, it was hidden behind some spectacular orange clouds. Also, on more image of lupine wildflowers. After checking out and loading the bus, we drove to Calafate. The group stopped for lunch (big hamburgers with eggs and ham, French fries with eggs), and Thom found a dentist to repair a crown.
We then drove along Lago Argentino on the Magallanes Peninsula back into Glaciers National park to the high-end Los Notros resort. Every one of our rooms had a large bay window looking across to the Perito Moreno Glacier. After checking in, our first stop was to the boardwalk overlooking the Perito Moreno Glacier and the Canal de los Tempanos (iceberg channel). The Perito Moreno Glacier is in relative equilibrium. Periodically, the iceberg closes the channel which results in the lake on the south side increasing in height until it breaks through again. Right now there is a narrow open channel through an ice bridge. The ice bridge looks like it is ready to collapse soon. Indeed we heard and saw several ice calving events while on the boardwalk. Once back in the hotel, I set my camera up on a tripod to do time-lapsed images of the glacier and night sky.
Patagonia Dawn Panorama from Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Composite of 5 image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 400, 50 mm, f/4) using Kolor AutoPano Giga Pro. Unfortunately Fitzroy is hidden in the orange clouds. (David J Mathre)Lupines at Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina – Patagonia. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 400, 50 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, f/22, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/11, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 7: Hosteria El Pilar, Southern Hemisphere Night Sky, Fitzroy Massif at Sunrise and Sunset, and Chorrilla del Salto Waterfall.
Since everyone was tired from the long hike yesterday, we decided to take day 7 as a relatively light day to rest. This gave me the opportunity to do some early morning night sky imaging. This was good in that the weather forecast was for us to start seeing more clouds. I went out at about 03:00, knowing that it would start getting light sometime after 04:00. The further south we go, the shorter the nights!
As the sun started coming up, I got more images of Fitzroy from within walking distance of the Hosteria. After a leisurely lunch at El Pilar, we went into town and on the way back stopped at the Chorrilla del Salto waterfall for some photographic instruction. A lot of the local residence were using the waterfall to cool down on a hot summer Sunday afternoon.
While eating dinner at the Hosteria with a view of Fitzroy we observed a beautiful display of pastel colored clouds. Everyone stopped eating before the dessert could be served and ran to get a camera (if they didn’t have one with them). The view was magical.
Southern Hemisphere Milky Way. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 50 mm f/1.4 G lens (ISO 100, f/4, 50 sec) (David J Mathre)Reflection of Fitzroy in the Morning with a Horse. Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 400, 50 mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec). Patagonia workshop with Thom Hogan, Day 7. (David J Mathre)Colorful Caravan under Lenticular Clouds in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 8 mm, f/8, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)Chorrilla del Salto Waterfall near El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 87 mm, f/8, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)Silhouette of Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia at Dusk with Glowing Orange Clouds from Hosteria El Pilar in El Chalten, Argentina. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 5 camera (ISO 80, 19.2 mm, f/5.6, 1100/sec) (David J Mathre)
