Thursday (28-April-2011) — At Sea

Gone to See Central America and the Panama Canal. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop II with Michael Mariant. Day 2: At Sea.

We were out on deck early to catch the sunrise. There was a bit of confusion about what time sunrise would be since the ship changed to Central Mexican time zone overnight. Was the sun going to rise at 05:07 hr or 07:07 hr. It turned out to be 07:07 hr, which makes sense since we are on the west side of the time zone.  We then spent the day in class: “Welcome Orientation & Workshop Introduction”, and “Components to Travel Photography” taught by Michael Mariant. We are scheduled to arrive in Cabo San Lucas tomorrow morning. At the end of the day a fog bank came in just before the sun set.

Sunrise over Isla Cedros Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunrise over Isla Cedros Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec).
Pacific Sunset in Fog off the Mexican Coast. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pacific Sunset in Fog off the Mexican Coast. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec).

[Posts will be limited while on the M/V Explorer due to narrow internet bandwidth.]

Wednesday (27-April-2011) — California, Mexico, and At Sea

Gone to See Central America and the Panama Canal. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop II with Michael Mariant. Day 1: Depart San Diego; Travel to Ensenada, Mexico; Embarkation on the MV Explorer.

HDR composite of images of Sunrise over San Diego taken from my hotel room. Three images were taken with a Leica X1 camera (+2, 0, -2 EV) just as the sun started to show above the mountains to the east. The first image was processed with HDR Express, using its Artistic default. The second image was processed with Photomatix Pro using the Compressor Deep settings.

We left San Diego at about 11:00 by bus for Ensenada, Mexico. Once we arrived at the cruise line port we embarked on the MV Explorer to begin the Spring Enrichment Voyage to Central America and Panama Canal. It was good to see many friends from the Caribbean Enrichment Voyage and Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop I (UTPW-I) on board the ship.

After the ship departed Ensenada for Cabo San Lucas there was a small  green flash at sunset. The image was taken with a Leica V-Lux 20 camera (200 mm equiv). This is a good omen for the Voyage!!!

San Diego Sunrise. Composite HDR Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/13 sec +/- 2EV). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express (Artistic), Topaz Denoise, and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
San Diego Sunrise. Composite HDR Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/13 sec +/- 2EV). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express (Artistic), Topaz Denoise, and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
San Diego Sunrise. Composite HDR Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/13 sec +/- 2EV). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Photomatix (Compressor Deep), and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
San Diego Sunrise. Composite HDR Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/13 sec +/- 2EV). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Photomatix (Compressor Deep), and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
M/V Explorer Upper Mast. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
M/V Explorer Upper Mast. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Green Flash at Sunset over the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 20 camera (ISO 80, 49.2 mm, f/6.3, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Green Flash at Sunset over the Pacific Ocean off Mexico. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 20 camera (ISO 80, 49.2 mm, f/6.3, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

[Posts will be limited while on the M/V Explorer due to narrow internet bandwidth.]

Sunday (10-April-2011) — New Jersey

Springtime in New Jersey.

Snapshot of the CSX 7683 engine at a rail road crossing near my home in New Jersey. Getting a “grab” shot with a point & shoot camera is a challenge. After coming to a stop at the RR crossing, I had to get the camera out of my pocket, remove the lens cover, turn the camera on, adjust the zoom, and try to compose the image through the front window of my car. This was the second shot, and I was lucky get the train in the center. I didn’t get the best composition with the full rail road crossing sign being clipped at the top. Composition with a point & shoot camera requires a lot of luck with the delay between hitting the shutter button and the actual shutter release, and trying to compose the image with the rear LCD display. The other problem I discovered after the fact, was the camera was in “manual focus” mode, so focus for this image was just lucky.

CSX 7683 Engine at Local Rail Road Crossing in Skillman, New Jersey. Snapshot taken with Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/4.5, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
CSX 7683 Engine at Local Rail Road Crossing in Skillman, New Jersey. Snapshot taken with Leica D-Lux 5 (ISO 100, 14.9 mm, f/4.5, 1/800 sec).

Three-Years Ago (05-April-2008) — Louisiana

Gone to See America 2008. Springtime in New Orleans.

Dusita Naree on the Mississippi River in New Orleans. This image of the Dusita Naree was taken on this day in 2008. The Dusita Naree is a dry goods cargo ship. Note the members of the crew sitting watching New Orleans. For more images from this day along the Mississippi river see the 05-April-2008 blog.

Dusita Naree in the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 18-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Detail, and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Dusita Naree in the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 18-200 mm lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Detail, and converted to jpg with Photoshop CS5.

Monday (21-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 2: Working in South San Francisco.

A couple of images from my office while working in San Francisco on the first day of Spring. Although there was heavy rain last night and this morning, the sky cleared later in the day. The site where I am working near the UCSF campus looks over a large construction site for a new Hospital. I needed to work on the white balance since the image was taken through a window tinted green (auto white balance within the camera 6008 K) . The 2nd version has the white balance corrected (6514 K). Later on when I returned to my hotel I saw this sailboat at anchor in Oyster Bay.

View of Hospital Construction Site Looking Toward San Francisco Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
View of Hospital Construction Site Looking Toward San Francisco Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec).
View of Hospital Construction Site Looking Toward San Francisco Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
View of Hospital Construction Site Looking Toward San Francisco Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec).
Sailboat at Anchor in Oyster Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sailboat at Anchor in Oyster Bay. Image taken with a Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec).