365 Project

11-11-16

by

dsc02493_15k

Day 316 / 681 –

I particularly like this shot.  It was taken from our patio at the hotel in Yosemite (and if we go back and stay there again, we are requesting that room for obvious reasons).  This was a two minute exposure.  I took a few that were longer, and will probably post one of those tomorrow, but this one has a certain mystery to it that I like.  The moon provided just the right amount of light on the falls.

To get the two minute exposure time, I used bulb mode, and controlled the shutter from the iPad app.  That way, I didn’t have to touch the camera and possibly jostle it, adding blur to the shot.

11-10-16

by

dsc02434_15k

Day 315 / 680 –

This was shot in Yosemite National Park (map to the waterfall).  I love doing nature photography like this.  It is a chance to slow down and really look around, get away from the noise of the city (like the helicopter that has been buzzing overhead for the last hour or so), and appreciate the things we didn’t pave over.

Of course, there are a ton of nature photographers out there, many of them (most of them) better than I am.  They have the hours and days and years of practice put in.  I’m a weekend warrior in this sense.  They also often have cameras and lenses that are way above the capabilities of mine, but that doesn’t matter as much as we like to tell ourselves.  Yes, a $6,000 camera (like the one used by the current nature photographer of the year) and heavy and expensive lenses can produce better results, mostly in image quality and technical areas.  But I’m shooting mostly with a Sony a6000 and the lenses that came with it (and a manual 12mm super wide lens).  I think I do OK.

They say the camera doesn’t matter, and I think that’s a bunch of hooey.  Of course the camera matters, but it doesn’t mean everything.  The best camera is the one you have in your hand.  Go take some pictures.