Vietnam :: Hanoi & Ha Long Bay PhotosHanoi, Vietnam

I've recently just signed up for Photoshelter again, they had a 30-day Free offer I couldn't refuse! 

I've started to upload my archive there, with hopes of getting some better exposure, sales, and SEO online.  My trip to Vietnam earlier this year was first on the list for this upload.  Below are a couple galleries from the start of the trip.


Hanoi

Hanoi - Vietnam - Images by Alex Evans

Ha Long Bay

Halong Bay - Vietnam - Images by Alex Evans

Get The Most Out of Your Canon PowerShot

A while back I discovered that in many Canon digital camera models, a fairly easy hack to be added (through the memory card, so it's non destructive) which gives you a bunch of added functionality to your camera.   Enhanced Image Capture, Additional Information On-Screen, and Additional Photographic Settings are a few of the major changes you can make to your camera.

The site to check out is the CHDK Wiki dedicated to all this stuff.  Lots of information on that site, but first thing to do is check your model number and firmware version to see if your camera is supported.

With this add-on I was able to create a time lapse movie last year of my trip through the Rockies from Revelstoke to Calgary.

A bunch of other mini-programs can be downloaded and used from the site mentioned above - like time lapse, motion detection and advanced bracketing.  So if you have an old Canon PowerShot lying around, give it a try!

Another interesting article over at Lifehacker about getting the most out of any point and shoot camera found here.  And a more extensive overview of enhancing your camera through CHDK here.

Travel Photography - Preparation, Shot Lists, and Gear

While I've been on a few trips, this is the first trip that I've been preparing for with a specific plan to take potentially marketable images - either for stock, fine are, or editorial.  I'll be traveling to Vietnam for a few weeks in March, and will be taking in the major site of Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, Ho Chi City, Mekong Delta, and Island. 

Preparation

Researching the different locations, noting the top sites, times of day that might be best in certain locations.  For stock photography I've visited a number of existing sites to see what types of images exist already, what ideas I may generate from these images, and how I need to make my images different and unique to become more salable.   Some of the sites I've visited, searching for various keywords, have been: Photoshelter, iStockphoto, Alamy, and Getty Images.

Shot Lists

Knowing what you want to shoot, when, and where will be key in saving time and making the most of the limited time you'll likely have at each place.  A few major categories I'll be concentrating on in each place:

• Skylines, expansive views with a sense of place
• Street scenes, people, restaurants (exterior, interiors, food)
• Culture (customs, juxtaposition, old/new)
• Historic monuments and buildings (hopefully with unique angles / perspective)
• Shopping (markets, buying/selling, interaction)
• Story telling close-ups or details (image series, multiple angles of same subject)
• Special events, holidays, etc. in each place

A couple articles I found with more information on putting together and researching a shot list are here and here.

Gear

In previous trips, I either didn't have an SLR Camera or chose not to take it, trading off image quality and flexibility for a lighter load and less liability.  From those trips to this one I'm much more focused on images and capturing that sense of place, than I am on a camera that fits in my pocket.  I'll still be taking a relatively small amount of gear with me, which would be considered Amateur and not Pro, but the potential for better images has increased ten fold from my previous point-and-shoot trips. 

Nikon D80, with 18-200mm VR II DX lens
GorilaPod tripod, mainly for night shooting or indoor
Memory Cards (4-16 GB)
Charger
GPS / Battery Pack for Geotagging photos (see previous post)

A Long Hiatus

A long hiatus from this blog...over a year!!  But I'm back and have resolved to get some regular posting in.

I've recently revisted my ambitions of becoming a pro photographer.  While, at this rate the going has been very slow, I'm excited at the possibility of growing my knowledge and skills as a photographer.  And if it takes a while, if ever, to reach that label "PRO" then so be it.

I haven't been shooting nearly as much as I should be, but I think that's the case with most photographers.  Makes me think of the book title from Chase Jarvis I cam across the other day "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography".  I haven't read the book, but inspiring none the less.

A few Photos from 2009:

Vancouver Skyline, Float Plane Overhead

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Peyto Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta

Panoramas: Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro

More Vancouver Photos: Jericho Beach to the Sea Wall

UPDATE: I've now actually moved to Vancouver and have started a blog with daily posts here - Vancouver Daily Photo
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It's interesting that after all the editing, I only chose one colour image and the rest are black and white.  These first three images are from Jericho Beach Park south of downtown Vancouver.  The remaining two images are from a walk around the Sea Wall at Stanley Park.

 

 

 

 

I wanted to get quite a contrast and silhouette in this photo, so I cranked up the dark and light to near max in post production.  Although there is much more detail in the original photo, I really like how the blown out areas and over-dark areas work in this image.

Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver

Vancouver Panorama

I recently grabbed this shot from a series of 7 shots in Vancouver.  I've stitched them together with Hugin, and have been quite impressed with the seamless stitching it produces.

I always find it difficult to appreciate a big panoramic image on the screen, since you have to scroll along at any decent resolution.  The image will definately look better in a separate window (click image).

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UPDATE: I've now actually moved to Vancouver and have started a blog with daily posts here - Vancouver Daily Photo

My Geotagging Workflow

Google Earth Screenshot - Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil) with images and Data Logger Track

1.) Sync Camera time with Local Time

2.) Take photos while logging your location continuously with a Data Logger

3.) Import JPEG photos and Data Logger log (.nmea format) onto computer

4.) Use software locr to combine JPEGs and location log, embed into file. This program can also export your geolog file and photos into Google Earth. And if you happen to forget to sync your camera time to your local time, you can shift this time by minute/second/hours to match your geolog (which will be on UTC time)

5.) If using Picasa, the newly geotagged photos won’t be recognized by this program (something to do with the format of the GPS data). I got around this by using this GUI to change the format of the GPS EXIF data to something Picasa could read. If you don’t use Picasa then you shouldn’t need this second step.

6.) More on Geotagging RAW images in later posts.

Now as GPS becomes more integrated into cameras, then there will be less need to have separate devices logging your location as you take photos. I haven’t tried any cameras with this integrated technology yet, but I think it’ll become a feature seen in many more models to come.

Theme: Interesting Rock Textures and Formations

After submitting this first image below to a local competition here in Calgary through the Foothills Camera Club, I thought I'd hunt around for some other interesting rock formations in my catalog.  After a bit of searching, I've found these three.

Garganta Del Diablo (Devil's Throat),  Valles Calchaquies, Chile

SD700 IS, 1/60 sec, f/2.8

Mystic Beach, Vancouver Island, Canada

D80, 1/60 sec, f/4.0, ISO100

Atacama Desert, Bolivia

SD700 IS, 1/200 sec, f/5.6

Geotagging Your Blog Posts

Being a big fan of Geotagging and with news from the Google LatLong Blog that Blogger now supports geotagging for blog posts, I thought I'd take this opportunity to geotag some older posts (that have relevant locations obviously).

I've added a map gadget to the sidebar of this blog showing all the tagged posts for this blog. Enjoy.

Getting Back to Morocco

I'm finally getting my files more organized and have migrated to Lightroom 2.0 for this process. This process has many many steps, especially when going back to files originally on film. I'll be creating more detailed posts on my digital asset management (DAM) process, but during one of these steps I went back to 2003 for a while, organizing my photos from Morocco. Below are a few favorites.

Salt Harvesting in Bolivia

The salt flats in Bolvia stretch for miles, and only a small portion is actually used for salt harvesting. None of the salt leaves Bolivia and is only used for local consumption. It is first scraped into piles (top left), then brought outside the oven (bottom left) to dry a bit more before going to the oven area (top right).