Tamron Blog: Angle of View

Creating Panoramic Images

By Ken Hubbard

 

Recently I started to collect some images for a Tamron Enewsletter on Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York, one of eight state parks Tamron USA will be holding photo workshops in this year. I came across one image that was completely different than the others, and I had forgotten I created on my last trip to the park. What made it different from the rest is that it was a panoramic image created from 5 separate vertical images, when viewing this image I realized this is a technique that I do not use often enough.

The definition of Panorama is “an unobstructed and wide view of an extensive area in all directions” and in photography it is capturing elongated fields of view using either specialized equipment or software. The simplest way to create a panoramic “style” image is to use an ultra wide lens like the Tamron’s 10-24mm at 10mm’s to capture your scene, then in Photoshop software crop the image so it appears elongated either horizontally or vertically. The issue I have with this technique is that when using an ultra wide-angle lens is that you get the expansion effect between foreground and background subjects, which usually makes your foreground subjects look larger than they should and your background subjects look smaller.

Since I did not want the look of an ultra wide lens, I needed to capture this scene in a different way. So to create this horizontal panoramic, I turned my camera to the vertical position and with a Tamron 28-300mm VC lens set at the 40mm focal length I took 5 separate images from left to right, each a small part of the entire scene I wanted to create a final panorama of. When capturing the images I overlapped parts of the scene in each image by 15 – 20%. You will need to do this so that the Photoshop software can create a seamless merge of all the images. Once I had the images captured I opened Photoshop and imported them into the program through the Photomerge section which is under the FILE dropdown, then under Automate. Once the images are imported you have a few options to create the Panorama, in the case of this image the settings were: auto layout, I checked the box for “blend images together”. Once that was done, I clicked OK and Photoshop did the rest by processing files and creating the panorama. Today there are a number of very sophisticated software options besides Photoshop, and depending on the level you want to take your panorama images you have many options.

Colorado Continental Divide Winter Traverse

By Rob Moody

I’ve had a goal for a while to hike from Berthoud Pass to St. Mary’s/ Alice, Colorado where I live in one day. So a buddy of mine and I decided to attempt it. Of course, I had to bring a camera. The Continental Divide Trail runs along the backbone of the country. We would hike a small part in Colorado. We would start from Berthoud Pass and follow it along five summits (Mt. Flora, Mt. Eva, Parry Peak, Mt. Bancroft and James Peak) before descending through St. Mary’s Glacier and back home.

I know it sounds crazy, but I just love photographing adventures like this! There is something about the majestic mountain tops that summon me to visit. I am drawn to them like a magnet. Amazing blue skies against the foliage or snow as the sun dances between the clouds and paints the landscape. The crisp air, challenging conditions and grand landscapes keep me returning for more!

With more than ten miles to cover through wintery conditions and limited winter light, I chose to leave the tripod at home. Having time to set up and carefully compose seemed unlikely as we would be on the move. I would go handheld using the Vibration Compensation (VC) in the new Tamron SP 24-70 f/2.8 VC USD. This stabilization technology really locks on and holds still while shooting handheld. 

For some, going light means a point & shoot camera. For me going light means only taking a Tamron SP 24-70 f/2.8 VC with a polarizer and a Nikon D800 body. After all, I could bring several more lenses right? I took into account that high wind was probable if not guaranteed. Ice crystals, snow and dust would most certainly get into the body if I changed lenses, so I decided to go light and shoot the entire day with this combination. 

When shooting handheld, I constantly pay attention to the metering. I like to shoot aperture preferred mode, A on some mode dials AV on others. I desire higher f/stops for more depth of field, so I shoot between f/8 and f/16 for most situations like this and then monitor the shutter speed making sure it doesn't go below 1/60th of a second. With VC engaged, I get the results I’m after. Also, depending on the amount of snow, I use the +/- exposure compensation mode to over expose making the snow brighter, but being careful not to blow out the highlight detail.

A long story shortened, it was a long grueling hike! We made it back home just before 10pm. The Vibration Compensation worked amazingly in harsh conditions all day long! The only downside was walking the last three miles through the glacier with a headlamp in the dark. Even with that, it was a great adventure! The following images were processed from RAW. Hope to see you out there. Enjoy!

High Wind Rocky Mountain Sunrise

By Rob Moody

I headed out with a headlight on a cold and breezy morning before sunrise. I wanted to get high on the unnamed point next to St. Mary’s Lake, Colorado to capture sunrise images. The sun emerged over the horizon as I neared the summit of the point. As I emerged from the tree-line, the cold breeze turned to bitter cold accompanied by extremely high wind.

I dropped my pack, removed my tripod and extended the legs. After hiking for almost an hour, I knew my camera and lens had made the adjustment to the cold conditions. For outings like this, I put it in a zippered case so it can gradually change to the outside temperature as I hike to the destination. I removed my camera and placed it on the tripod. The wind was so strong and continuous that I had to hold the tripod down as I photographed.

To keep your hands as warm as possible in these conditions, I try to anticipate the start settings I will use and set them in the camera before leaving the house. This way I will minimize removing my hands from gloves during the shoot. I also highly recommend using gloves with leashes that attach around your wrists so you don't accidentally have one blow out of your hands and down the mountain as you remove it. Guess how I figured that one out?

The settings I set in the camera before leaving are settings I know I want or I know will be correct. One of these is RAW+ small jpeg. I know I will process from RAW, but I like to have the small jpeg for immediate viewing. This way I can toss them on my phone or pad for easy quick review on the couch or on a plane. They may not be perfect, but are enough to review and choose for editing the RAW version.

Another setting is white balance or WB on your camera. I know I want the daylight, commonly the sun symbol, setting so I retain all the subtle hues in the sunrise. If left in auto white balance, the camera is likely to shift the setting from image to image washing out most as it attempts to turn yellow and magenta light into white as it would with a light bulb. Daylight white balance is a fixed setting that doesn’t change. 

For my nature landscapes, I like to use a quality circular polarizer. I rotate the polarizer to the dial in the look I’m after. Simply put, a polarizer removes or forces the reflection. I use it to remove undesired light reflection from atmospheric particles. In this case, mostly crystals of ice and snow blowing in the wind. They reflect the light, so I dial the polarizer to remove this reflection. Sometimes I dial to get the reflection. You can clearly see it through the camera as you turn the polarizer. Don’t forget to always turn your polarizer in the same direction it screws onto the lens to prevent it coming off, hitting the ground and rolling off a cliff! Guess how I figured that one out?

Finally, in a situation like this with high wind, take two or three images of the same shot. I do this because I’m never sure how the wind will gust or momentarily ease. I’m using f/stops to maximize depth of field which means slower shutter speeds at a lower ISO. Taking multiple images of the same shot increases you chances of getting a sharp image in high wind. I keep my hand firmly on the neck of the tripod holding the legs down. There is no reason to leave your camera packed away until it is warm outside. With the right game plan, a little suffering and the right equipment you can create some incredible images in the winter.

The following images were taken with a Tamron SP 24-70 f/2.8 VC USD lens and a Nikon D800. Also used was a circular polarizer and a tripod. Keep warm and Enjoy! 

St. Mary’s Silhouette

By Rob Moody

One of the things I do to keep sharp is give myself mini photo assignments.  I really enjoy hiking and climbing near St. Mary’s Glacier in Colorado. I have been there multiple times throughout my life as I grew up. There are a group of trees up by timberline next to St. Mary’s Lake that always capture my attention while I’m there. Of all the places in Colorado I have been, this is one of the most bitter cold and windiest in the winter time. Those words really don't do it justice because it really is brutal! 

I set out to shoot the area one cold morning after a snowstorm. I headed into the area to capture some winter landscape images. Winter landscape images are very compelling to me. Anyone can get out of a car in the mountains and take some snaps that will look good. Winter photography however takes commitment and a willingness to suffer. I don’t know exactly why, but I just love it! 

After creating some sunrise images, I proceeded to the batch of trees I always visit while in the area. There is one tree that has stood in the face of the weather for years right at timberline. Brutal constant wind combined with extreme changing temperature throughout the seasons and over the years have given this tree a unique weathered character. 

My mini photo assignment was to work this tree into many images from different perspectives. Many beginning photographers tend to camp out in one place after finding a decent place to take an image. I do this exercise to remind myself to walk completely around my subject to get different looks at it. I make sure to raise my tripod to its highest and lowest setting during the exercise.

Here are a few of the images taken during this exercise. Don't forget! With digital, once you own the equipment, shooting is free. You just erase what you don’t want. So take lots of pictures.

Equipment Used:

Tamron SP 24-70 f/2.8 VC USD lens

Circular Polarizer 

Nikon D800 body

Carbon Fiber Tripod

Long Exposures and Seaside Piers

By Ken Hubbard

One of my last blogs that I posted a few months ago, I was talking about the not so winter I was having on Long Island and having to travel to Montreal to see snow.  Well, that turned out to be a real bad idea, because mother nature decided to finally hit us with some bad winter weather and then follow me around for a while on my travels.  One of the places I was looking forward to was Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Nature Photographers Assoc. was having its annual convention there at a hotel right on the beach.  I thought to myself "boy, this is going to be nice... Beach, sand and warm weather".   The beach was there, and my room on the 12th floor looked over the beach nicely, but as far as the warm weather goes, I don't think it ever went past 55 degrees. A bummer for South Carolina!

No matter what the weather is, and after this past winter I can't believe I'm complaining about 55 degree weather, I still try to find some time to shoot where ever I am. In this case the Apache Pier was within a few hundred yards of my hotel and seemed like a good place to capture some long exposure night images.  I really liked the patterns in the support planks and noticed that I got a mirrored look to them when I put one of the posts directly in the center of the frame.  The image below is a 30 second exposure shot at F/22 and an ISO setting at 800.  I used an LED flashlight to light up the entire inner structure, since there was so much light coming from the pier itself my first few images without it came out very dark.  Since LED lights can sometimes come out a little on the cool side I used one of Rouge Light Modifiers warming gel filters, that normally go onto a speedlight, over my flashlight to warm up the color a bit.  Another thing to remember when using a flashlight on long exposures, always keep the flashlight moving and don't leave it pointing at one spot too long,  this will cause a hot spot on your image that will not look good.

Over Exposure

By Rob Moody

Most of the time when you are rock or ice climbing, you are either climbing or you are on belay with the other end of the rope to manage. This makes photographing these activities difficult if not impossible. On this day, there would be two other climbers allowing me to roam freely while photographing the ice climbing. 

I am myself a mountaineer and have climbed steep ice a few times. I am intimately familiar with all the moves, techniques and equipment involved with the sport. Even though this is the case, it doesn’t actually matter to me whether I am totally familiar or completely unfamiliar with a sport because I do the same thing before photographing. I read and learn about it taking in everything I can. I review past photographs from photographers who regularly shoot the sport to become familiar with the key moments to photograph. Then I actively pre-visualize the key moments and me releasing the shutter at exactly the right moment to get the shot! I do this every day until I am actually there to photograph the event.

One of the things about ice climbing that makes it difficult is the bone chilling cold. Of course, in order for waterfalls to exist, they must be out of the direct sunlight and very cold. For this reason, management of both equipment and personal comfort become the keys to freeing your creative energies for the shoot. I use zippered camera bags for this to manage the extreme change in temperature. As I walked from the warm car to the ice climbing routs in Vail, my equipment had over 30 minutes to slowly become the same temperature as the outside shooting environment. This helps to prevent fogging of your lenses and condensation inside your camera body.

As with snow, the key to ice climbing photography is exposure, over-exposure to be exact. While a modern camera is excellent at auto exposure most all of the time, snow or light sand will cause the cameras meter to under expose images. This is because images composed primarily of snow, ice and light sand are, as a whole, brighter than the gray value a cameras meter is set to base its exposure on. This is why we still need manual settings so we can compensate for this exposure difference. I can shoot it in manual mode, a challenge with gloves. Alternatively, I can use program or aperture priority mode along with exposure compensation to get the right exposure. I prefer aperture priority or aperture value on some cameras. 

To properly expose for the ice, I start at 2/3 (also shown as +0.7) of a stop over exposure and create a test shot of the ice with a climber included. Just as with snow, it is important to over expose enough to make ice lighter, but also to retain detail in the ice. My goal with this is to get the ice closer to its actual brightness without over exposing. Then, if needed, I go the rest of the distance in post production.

I want cut time at the computer to a minimum, so I believe it’s best to do all you can to create the best image possible in camera during the shoot. I refine all photographic processes to achieve this. Unlike the old days of film, I over shoot these kinds of activities because it doesn’t cost me a thing. I believe that once you own the equipment, shooting is free whether taking one shot or a million. For this reason, I fill my cards with images knowing the worst thing that will happen is that I will have to erase images. The images were created using a Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC and a Nikon D800.

Out On The Ice

 

By Mike Moats

It's that time of year here in Michigan when the ice freezes solid enough on Stoney Creek lake to walk on, and capture some of the leaves that lock in the ice. There is a section of the lake that the westerly winds blow fall leaves into the lake which freeze over. I used my 18-270 Tamron to shoot these images.

Here's what I'm looking at, and I search out any interesting subject.

Website, Workshops and E-Books

Himalayas in Black and White

By André Costantini

About 125 miles west of Kathmandu you will find Pokhara, the second largest city in Nepal. It is located at the base of the Annapurna mountain range, which is part of the Himalayas. Now although you will not be anywhere near the famed Mt. Everest, you will be near only three of the top ten highest peaks in the world and be privy to quite a view from town and the surrounding hills.

Pokhara is a famous destination as a launch point for travelers to spend weeks trekking the Himalayas. With only several days to stop by, we didn't have time for a proper trek, but had plenty of time to hike about and take in some of the spectacular scenery.

The deceptive thing about this landscape is that without anything for scale you really have no sense of how massive these mountains really are. The peaks in the image are over 23,500 feet tall. The altitude I am making these images is probably only 3,500 feet. The peaks are roughly 30 miles away and there is a tiny paraglider in the bottom center of the image, probably at about 5,500 feet and probably only 2 miles from us.

The conversion to black and white was done using Nik Silver Efx Pro 2.0 which is a really great black and white plug in for Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture. The density of the sky was so blue even without the use of a polarizer, that the black and white conversion came pretty easily with a dark sky without much manipulation. In this case the key was to use the software equivalent of a red filter on the camera, which makes the blue tones, blacker.

Certain images tend to lend themselves really well to black and white. This image was one because there was nice contrast from the snow and the clouds against the sky. In the original image the intense blue color hues overpower the form of the clouds and mountains. But when the color is removed now our focus shifts to the contrast of the clouds and mountains against the sky for something a little more striking. I have included the original image below for comparative purposes.

This image was taken with the Tamron SP 70-200 f2.8 VC. The focal length was 70mm and the aperture was set at f7.1 at 1/640th of a second.

Cold Weather Camera Tips

by Jillian Bell

December 21, 2012 marked the start of our winter solstice. In Minnesota this means 20F temperatures, warm scarfs and beautiful winter landscapes. Anytime you are out photographing in below freezing temperatures, be weary of how your camera can react. Batteries deplete faster, condensation can build on fast warm ups, lenses can fog. To help keep your gear at its best, follow these guidelines.

Tips for Shooting in the Cold

• Pack extra fully charged batteries. To extend rechargeable battery life, keep them warm in your pocket rather than in your camera bag. When possible, non rechargeable lithiums or alkaline batteries are preferred and have better cold weather resistance (an adapter might be needed for SLR cameras).
• Always travel and use rain covers. These keep cameras dry in the snow and sleet.
• Only change lenses outdoors when necessary. If possible go inside, or a sheltered area. If your equipment gets wet, dry as soon as possible.
• Keep microfiber cloths handy for cleaning, and keep dry within plastic bags / containers. Plastic film containers work well for this. Also, know where your cards are stored. Use a waterproof card case to keep cards dry if they ever are dropped into the snow. Brightly colored cases are easier to find.
• I prefer fingerless gloves for dexterity. Mittens can be worn over for warmth. Find a system that works best for you.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY - When you are bringing your electronics back inside, warm them up slowly. Put your camera inside a sealed plastic bag, or I put my whole case inside a cooler. Place them in the coldest area inside to warm equipment up slowly. This minimizes the risk for condensation and shock to the new environment.

Happy New Year Everyone, Enjoy these photos from our last snow fall - Jillian

My Top Ten Favorite Images Of 2012

By Mike Moats

Even though 2012 has not come to a close yet, I couldn't wait any longer to post my top ten favorites of 2012. Well actually I lied about the number I'm posting, I just couldn't narrow it down to ten, so I came up with twelve images. There is a nice variety of images, many that I shot when I was out on the road doing my Macro Boot Camps. Images were shot using either the, Tamron SP 90mm macro, Tamron SP 70-300mm VC, or the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD.

I will start with this image shot in the winter of 2012, and work through the spring into the fall. This was shot in a small frozen puddle in a park near my home. I liked the design of the leaf on the right and the bubbles. The thousands of tiny bubbles add a nice texture to the black background.

_____________________________________________________________________

In March I was in Raleigh, North Carolina for a workshop, and one of the local photographers and friend Susan Bailey asked if I would like to visit the Duke Universities Arboretum as the flowers were starting to bloom. I like the flow of the petals in this flower, and the soft pastel color.

_______________________________________________________________________

While I was at the Duke Gardens the tulips were just starting to bloom, I like how this budding tulip was being cradled in this leaf.

____________________________________________________________________

Now moving into April, I was presenting at the Bird and Photo Festival in St Augustine, Florida, and I visited a small park. It was early morning and I found this pair of Bird of Paradise leaves that were backlit by the sun. Nice abstract pattern.

______________________________________________________________________

While still in St Augustine, I strolled down to the beaches in search of feathers or shells. I found lots of nice shells composed in the sand and this was one of my favorites.

___________________________________________________________________

Back in the spring I started playing with different subjects outside of nature photography. Its been lots of fun and I've produced some very cool stuff with all kinds of subjects. I had a blast photographing water and oil. This was my fav of the oil and water shots.

____________________________________________________________________

Now we're heading into the fall, and I'm in the Boston area doing a workshop and had a day off to shoot, so headed up to Rockport, MA. Stopped by a small harbor of boats and saw this nice reflection in the water of the boat and ropes.

______________________________________________________________________

I heard about this very cool place called Old Car City. As I was on my way from Savannah, GA to Cincinnati, OH, I stopped in at Old Car City, which is 50 miles north of Atlanta, and 2 miles off I-75. There are over 4,000 classic cars scattered over 6 miles of trails through out woods and fields. Had a blast and got tons of great images. I scheduled a 2013 spring workshop there that sold out within days. People love shooting rusty junk cars.

_____________________________________________________________________

When I made it to Cincinnati after Old Car City, I stopped at a small Arboretum and found this unusual looking succulent. I used the Solorization filter in Nik Software to get this really cool look.

____________________________________________________________________

I had two weekends of workshops in the twin city area in Minnesota. Jillian Bell who is a Tamron Tech Rep lives in that area and went with me to the Minnesota Arboretum, which is run by the University of Minnesota. The indoor area was just a small building with some tropical plants, but I found this nice succulent that turned out very nice.

_____________________________________________________________________

While at home and in between traveling to workshops, I started visiting some of the local Detroit area museums. This one was shot at the Henry Ford Museum.

____________________________________________________________________

We have another nice car museum called the Walter P Chrysler Museum. Too bad attendance over the years wasn't strong enough, so the museum is closing as of January 1st. This is a cool abstract of reflection in the fender of one of the cars.

That's my 12 favorite images of 2012, thank you for stopping by and viewing them.

__________________________________________________________________

Website and Workshops