A Real Trouper and a 5D Mark III/7D Mark II HDR Tip « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

A Real Trooper and a 5D Mark III/7D Mark II HDR Tip

What’s Up

My hip is feeling fine and my black and blue and yellow and purple bruise is getting larger by the hour. The 2nd Palouse IPT got off to a great start. This blog post, the 149th in a row, took about 1 1/4 hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Saturday, June 6.


rolling-fields-darker-early-morning-ligth-textures-_a1c6224-palouse-waE

This in-camera HDR Natural image was created at sunrise on the first morning of the 2nd Palouse IPT with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (at 377mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. +/- 2 stops around a base exposure as follows: evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/6 sec. at f/16 in Av mode. WB: K8000. Live View with 2-second delay.

Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF 1/3 of the way into the original frame and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a wider than usual version.

Rolling hill spotlit in early morning light

A Real Trouper

IPT veteran Phil Frigon’s flight from Wichita, KS to Denver was delayed inbound by fog in Denver. He missed his connecting flight and wound up first on a short wait list for the flight to to Spokane, WA. He was the only one on the wait list to make it. He got into GEG after 1:00am and picked up his rental car; amazingly two folks had stayed on duty to serve the folks on the delayed flight. He made it to the IPT hotel at 3:10am and met the group at 3:55am sharp for our first morning photo session. Phil photographed hard from the dark of pre-dawn and was the last one back to the cars well after dusk. As I said, a real trouper.

The First Morning

Our prayers for clouds, at least for some light ones on the eastern horizon, went unanswered. After the orange glow of predawn we concentrated on the 90 degree sidelit rolling hills to the south. With most of the frame in shadow, the sunlit hill lit up beautifully.

5D Mark III/7D Mark II HDR Tip

In early morning light Art Vivid is often over the top with the color, especially with the GREENs (which actually have lots of YELLOW). My strategy in those situations is to switch from Art Vivid to Natural and boost the color temperature from AWB to 7500 or 8000K.

Trooper vs. Trouper Update: 4:36am Pacific Time

I originally published this blog as ‘a real trooper.” Stuart Frohm alerted me to the fact that “a real trouper” is the correct English usage. Though “he’s a real trooper” is by far used more frequently and–as is often the case with the English language, will likely soon supplant the originally and still correct “he’s a real trouper.” Thanks Stu; I had never even thought of the alternative….


palouse-2016-card-layers

Subject and focal lengths from upper left to right and then around to center.

Palouse Falls: 11mm; homemade kiddie race car: 105mm; barn siding pan blur: 798mm; Rolling fields diorama: 110mm; Crayola drums: 343 mm; Hay barn interior: 19mm; vintage gas station: 40mm; Dilapidated farm building: 13mm; Denise’s tree Infrared: 20mm.

Images and card design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 3-7, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12

The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 10-14, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12

Double Header!

Maximize both your travel dollars and your learning experience by signing up for both IPTs.


denisepalouse-card

Images and card design by Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.

The Palouse IPTs

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.

To Sign Up

A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

With the spectacular success that we enjoyed in 2015 it seems quite likely that this one will fill up very quickly. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via e-mail: artie or denise.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

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7 comments to A Real Trouper and a 5D Mark III/7D Mark II HDR Tip

  • avatar Jeff Sielski

    Hi Art, Glad you are feeling better, excellent image, telephoto lens’s I feel work best for scenes like this. Awesome job!!

  • avatar Cliff

    What a beautiful image. I don’t usually think of longer lenses and landscape. I will from now.
    Arti, will you please post some images you took with the fisheye lens?
    Thanks for a great blog and so many useful tips.

    • avatar Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

      Thanks Cliff. I always think long. Will be posting some circle fish eye lens images at some point. a

  • avatar Helmuth Schumann

    Hi Artie:

    Yes, even in Canada, “a real trooper” is more common than the correct spelling. I swear like a trooper whenever I see it.

    Cheers,
    Helmuth Schumann
    Toronto

  • avatar David Peake

    Haha . That hip could be the subject of a colourful macro landscape, or maybe even a pleasing blur.
    Glad to hear the damage is not serious.
    Just a wee bit envious that I’m not on the trip this time.
    Hope to scratch that itch real,soon.
    Cheers
    DP

    • avatar Loren Charif

      hehe…I was thinking it might make a great hdr!

      Seriously, though, glad you’re feeling better Artie, even though you have some new artwork on your butt!