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Southwest Perspectives

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Southwest Perspectives Participant makes cover of Outdoor Photographer!

Dean Cobin, one of Southwest Perspectives' workshop participants has an amazing image from our Monument Valley Workshop on the cover and inside the latest edition of Outdoor Photographer! Congratulations Dean...we couldn't be more proud!


Friday, April 5, 2013

TIPS and TRICKS
  


There are many important elements that go into creating a great photograph of the full moon:

Having the right equipment, mastering the technical aspects, & finding the right location to create a pleasing composition are key.


First off, you’ll need some specific equipment. Having a decent telephoto lens will magnify the moon to an extent that it is more than just a very small element in an otherwise normal landscape shot. Wide angle shots of the landscape with a full moon can be effective but what we’re talking about here is a shot that features the full moon as the principal subject.
At the very least, you should have a 200mm lens on a full frame body. The above image of the full moon rising in the spires of Sedona’s Cathedral Rock was captured with a 400mm lens coupled with a 1.4 converter, creating a focal length of 560mm. With a full frame, 21 mp Canon 5D II to work with, the image was cropped by around 30% resulting in an effective focal length of around 700mm.

While you can spend lavishly on this type of telephoto set-up, it’s also possible to find a fully usable set-up for $600-$1100. Canon, Nikon, Sony, third party lensmakers like Sigma & Tamron all have available lenses in this price range. Derek and Suzanne use the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L and the Canon 1.4 converter. Relatively inexpensive, compared with the thousands that can be spent on the absolute top of the line long telephotos. Shop wisely (eBay and www.fredmiranda.com are good sources for quality used equipment . . . someone’s always selling something for some reason). As well, this set-up can also double as a fairly decent wildlife lens especially with the wide range of usable ISOs with the most modern DSLRs.

As with all really quality landscape photography, there are technical & craft-related considerations that must be dealt with, principally exposure.

Most people tend to want to try and shoot the full moon on the actual day of the full moon. Because the moon rises after the sun sets, this will always result in a pronounced luminosity imbalance . . . that is, to properly expose the exceptionally bright full moon, the unlit, shadowed foreground will be underexposed, being essentially, in most cases, a silhouette.

Exposing for the foreground results in the moon being severely overexposed.

But shooting on the evening of the actual full moon, if well-planned, can produce good captures. This is usually the result of a good choice of nice silhouetted framing elements for the moon.

Some will argue for an HDR treatment, but our experience is that this mostly results in a technically proficient exposure of both the bright moon and the shadowed foreground, while the image is aesthetically imbalanced. Very rarely does the shadowed foreground match the beauty of the full moon and you end up with a tale of two photographs, that is, the eye is drawn to the beauty of the moon, and the foreground, both literally and figuratively, pales in comparison.

The remedy is to simply shoot the day before the full moon! Depending on the time of year, you will have 30-60 minutes during which time the 99% full moon will be rising as the sun makes its way toward sunset. You’ll be able to combine the rich, magnificent low-angle light of the setting sun, illuminating your foreground, with an equally luminescent rising, full moon!! AAAhhhhhh . . . the best of both worlds and a relatively simple solution, both technically (exposure) and aesthetically (balance), to the problems you’ll experience shooting the actual day of the full moon.

We have found that a directly-lit foreground (in our case, the amazing sandstones of Red Rock Country) and an equally bright full moon are a stunning compositional match for each other.

With the great distances involved, most likely an f/stop around 5.6-8.0 will give you the depth of field you need and initially will yield a shutter speed around 1/200th @ ISO 100. You should always keep your shutter speed faster than 1/80th because the moon will begin to blur at slower speeds than this. As the sun nears the horizon, the light will slowly dim and you should be ready to increase your ISO accordingly. We will often finish shooting at ISO 400 or even ISO 800.

The final piece of the puzzle is finding the right location. It might seem obvious but . . . no moon, no moon shot!! It’s not really so silly, if you consider that capturing the moon rising within compositional elements like red rock formations means it will be mostly unseen until it emerges.  

Remember, you’ll probably only have 10-15 minutes (sometimes only 2-3 minutes!!) in which to shoot the moon juxtaposed with other elements. Pre-scouting, some basic internet research, patience, and tolerance for some mistakes in your first attempts will eventually produce great results.

First, you have to know where and when the moon is going to rise. One of the best sources for the rise times and directional location (azimuth) of the full moon is Photographers Ephemeris.  With the rise times and a compass in hand, you’ll be able to find the precise position of the rising moon.

As with many things landscape-related, boots on the ground are invaluable!
Generally, we are out the day before the day before, seeing the where moon rises and extrapolating the rise location for the following evening.

You’ll also have to begin to understand the concept of altitude, that is, where and at what time the moon will be in the sky as it rises at a diagonal ‘path angle’ of around 45 degrees. Pre-visualization is key; remember, the moon prior to peeking out into your carefully planned composition will be hidden behind the very compositional elements into which it will rise.

Careful planning, a printed out display of the sun/moon calculator (set for every five minutes, 60 minutes before & 20 minutes after sunset . . . compass reading set to display magnetic north [found in the preferences]), a good compass, patience and the ability to react quickly as the rising moon reveals herself, will produce incredible images.

As you find yourself running around like a maniac chasing the moon, remember these key truths about positioning the moon in your shot: if you need the moon to move left, move to the left; if compositionally the moon is better to the right, move to the right; moon too high in the sky, move forward and position your contextual elements higher in the sky; moon too low, get to higher ground (usually farther back).

Not as complicated as it may first seem, experience will blend all these calculated and empirical parameters. We guarantee you, the first time all the elements come together, you’ll experience the most amazing adrenaline high as the larger-than-life beauty of a glorious full moon comes into your viewfinder.


                               Friday, June 21 - Sunday, June 23, 2013

Summertime in Sedona offers a stunning variety of landscape photography opportunities: the world famous vistas of Red Rock Country, the intimate waterfalls and reflecting pools along Oak Creek with freshly blooming high desert wildflowers, plus extraordinary glimpses into Native American culture and the Old West. The highlight of the workshop will the opportunity on the first two evenings to shoot the full moon nestled in sunset-hued red rock spires of Sedona's iconic Cathedral Rock.


  

We hope you'll join us. Sedona's sunrises and sunsets are legendary; the early summer electric green foliage; high elevation canyon temperatures comfortable for long sessions; the town, with its accomodations and restaurants, friendly and welcoming.Over our four days together, we'll visit the most iconic locations in Sedona: red rock vistas like Cathedral Rock, Coffee Pot Rock & Schnebly Hill; waterfalls & reflections along spectacular Oak Creek; the Sinaguan ruins at Palatki, and we'll even take a short trip across Verde Valley to visit Gold King Mine, a fascinating ghost town near Jerome with an amazing collection of vintage cars, trucks, mining equipment and reconstructed buildings from all over the West (think Bodie but with a lot more to shoot!).Suzanne & Derek will guide students to the very best compositional perspectives and provide nuanced technical tips specifically related to the challenges posed by the wide variety of photo opportunities available in Sedona. We'll shoot flowing water, employing the longer shutter speeds necessary to obtain the classic 'silky' water effect! As they capture world-class photographs, students will gain technical mastery of their cameras, see compositions in new ways and begin to understand the spiritual connection between themselves and the landscape.