San Diego Magazine Cover Photo: Coronado Bay Bridge and Downtown
The February 2012 cover of San Diego Magazine is my aerial photo of the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge, with the bay and downtown in the background. The boat wake shaped like a heart (”heart” = “reasons to love San Diego”, get it?) was the work of the cover illustrator. This photograph was shot on a fun flight I made with Alaska photographer Ron Niebrugge a few years ago. We had clear air and warm sunlight to make our photographs of San Diego. Thanks for looking!
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Best Photos of 2011
Best Photos of 2011
In a past “best of” post I stated that one of my goals is to make a handful of really strong images each year, images that could be included in a career retrospective portfolio. This year I will admit that another of my goals is to produce a body of photographic work that outlives me, that has relevance throughout not only my life but those of my children and grandchildren. That’s a lofty goal and, truth be told, I will never know if I have succeeded or not. My hunch is that, of the photos I have made so far in my 20+ years of shooting, perhaps two or three may outlive me. Anyway, enough musing. Here are my favorite images, my “best photos of 2011″.
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| A humpback whale raises it fluke out of the water, the coast of Del Mar and La Jolla is visible in the distance. Image ID: 27142 Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae Location: Del Mar, California, USA |
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| Dusk settles on downtown San Diego with snow-covered Mt. Laguna in the distance. Image ID: 26716 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| The Milky Way galaxy arches over Arch Rock on a clear evening in Joshua Tree National Park. Image ID: 26792 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA |
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| Boulders and sunset in Joshua Tree National Park. The warm sunlight gently lights unusual boulder formations at Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Image ID: 26730 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA |
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| Earth Shadow lies over Point La Jolla at dawn. Image ID: 26444 Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
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| Horseshoe Bend. The Colorado River makes a 180-degree turn at Horseshoe Bend. Here the river has eroded the Navajo sandstone for eons, digging a canyon 1100-feet deep. Image ID: 26635 Location: Horseshoe Bend, Page, Arizona, USA |
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| Fisherman at dawn along the La Jolla coastline, waves blur as they crash upon the Boomer Beach boulders. Image ID: 26447 Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
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| Water falling from the fluke (tail) of a humpback whale as the whale dives to forage for food in the Santa Barbara Channel. Image ID: 27029 Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae Location: Santa Rosa Island, California, USA |
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| San Diego harbor and skyline, viewed at sunset. Image ID: 27146 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Breaking wave fast motion and blur. The Wedge. Image ID: 27079 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA |
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| Freediver photographing pelagic gelatinous zooplankton, adrift in the open ocean. Image ID: 26817 Species: Fried-egg jellyfish, Phacellophora camtschatica Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Yosemite Falls reflected in flooded meadow. The Merced River floods its banks in spring, forming beautiful reflections of Yosemite Falls. Image ID: 26888 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
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| T.A. Moulton barn with Teton Range, on Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Image ID: 26914 Location: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA |
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| Convict Lake sunrise reflection, Sierra Nevada mountains. Image ID: 26974 |
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| California sea lion underwater. Image ID: 27423 Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus Location: Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico |
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| King angelfish in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. Image ID: 27470 Species: King angelfish, Holacanthus passer Location: Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico |
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| Surf and sky at sunset, waves crash upon the sand at dusk. Image ID: 27234 Location: Carlsbad, California, USA |
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| Torrey Pines balloon aerial survey photo. Torrey Pines seacliffs, rising up to 300 feet above the ocean, stretch from Del Mar to La Jolla. On the mesa atop the bluffs are found Torrey pine trees, one of the rare species of pines in the world. Peregine falcons nest at the edge of the cliffs. This photo was made as part of an experimental balloon aerial photographic survey flight over Torrey Pines State Reserve, by permission of Torrey Pines State Reserve. Image ID: 27271 Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California, USA Pano dimensions: 5001 x 11896 |
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| Ocean Beach Pier, also known as the OB Pier or Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast measuring 1971 feet (601 m) long. Image ID: 27387 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
See also:
Best Photos of 2010
Best Photos of 2009
Best Photos of 2008
Best Photos of 2007
Pacific Harbor Seal, La Jolla, California
Cute Harbor Seal Photo, La Jolla, California.
This is the third of three images I had that were Highly Commended in this year’s Windland Smith Rice photography competition.*
This is one of the famous or, depending on your political position, notorious Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) the reside at the Children’s Pool in La Jolla, California. Some people really hate these seals and feel their presence on the beach has robbed people of the use of small cove and want to see the seals gone, forcefully or otherwise. Others love the seals and don’t want to see them bothered at all. I don’t really care either way, I just like to shoot photos of them. I’ve been photographing (and diving with) these seals since their colony first began forming in the ’90s. There are certain times of day when the light angles and water movement really work well here for photography. On this day, one of the more charismatic seals was moving about at the water’s edge and paused for a moment with its flippers raised, looking at me. I got off a series of photos and this was the most appealing of the group.
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| Pacific harbor seal, an sand at the edge of the sea. Image ID: 26315 Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
* I was fortunate to have three of my photographs receive Highly Honored recognition in this years Windland Smith Rice photography competition sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography. The first was a photo of photographer Garry McCarthy working in the Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park. The second was a composition of the Giants Marbles in Joshua Tree National Park. 21,000 images were entered in the competition, 500 made it to the final round of judging and 131 were winners or highly honored and appeared in the most recent issue of Nature’s Best Photography magazine. I am crossing my fingers that one of mine will also be featured as part of the competition’s six-month exhibition next year at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.
Torrey Pines State Reserve Running Photos
It is for views like this that I run. I’ve been running for 35 years and will keep running until my body can’t do it anymore. I estimate that I have run at least 32,000 miles (1.25 times around the Earth!) and it is views like this that keep me fired up for more. I have probably run the trails in Torrey Pines State Reserve (north of La Jolla, California) 1500 times or more during my life. The other night during my run I enjoyed one of the finest sunsets I have ever seen there. Clearing storm, golden light, clouds, wet sand. I had my iPhone strapped to my arm but I had no “real camera”. There was no one else on the beach and it appeared I had two miles of spectacular low tide beach all to myself which in San Diego is a virtual impossibility. I spent the last 30 minutes of the day composing panoramas of the golden waning light shining on the cliffs and breaking storm clouds with my iPhone. That night I fed a stack of 45 individual iPhone images to Photoshop. Photoshop cranked away all night making a panorama and the following morning the first image below is the result. I’ve checked it at full resolution and the quality is really impressive. Thanks for looking and keep on running!
Click any of the images to see them larger. In their full resolution form, all of these panoramas are quite large, made from 20-45 individual iPhone photos that are stitched together in Photoshop. Sizes range up to 10,000 pixels in length and 3800 pixels in height. In the images that include waves, there are stitching errors in the waves which are largely unavoidable. However, in the images that face away from the ocean there are few if any stitching errors and in my estimation the images are clean enough to print up to 30″ or more in length .
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| Torrey Pines seacliffs viewed at sunset from Flat Rock, Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla, California |
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| Torrey Pines seacliffs viewed at sunset from Flat Rock, Black’s Beach and La Jolla at far right, Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla, California |
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| Torrey Pines seacliffs viewed at sunset from Flat Rock, Del Mar and Solana Beach at far left, Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla, California |
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Giants Marbles at Dusk, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Giant’s Marbles, Joshua Tree National Park, California.
This is the second of three images I had that were Highly Commended in this year’s Windland Smith Rice photography competition.*
I made this photograph in Joshua Tree National Park just as the sun was setting, at a series of granite boulders that is quite popular (being near one of the campgrounds). The sun had already left the first of the Giant’s Marbles in shadow in front of me, but the warm light was still kissing to the topmost Marble perched atop the rocks. These nearly spherical marbles are natural anchors for any landscape photo of this boulder group, and indeed one sees various compositions of these rocks in many landscape photographers’ portfolios. This is my rendition. Thanks for looking!
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| Boulders and sunset in Joshua Tree National Park. The warm sunlight gently lights unusual boulder formations at Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Image ID: 26720 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA |
* I was fortunate to have three of my photographs receive Highly Honored recognition in this years Windland Smith Rice photography competition sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography. The first was a photo of photographer Garry McCarthy working in the Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park. . 21,000 images were entered in the competition, 500 made it to the final round of judging and 131 were winners or highly honored and appeared in the most recent issue of Nature’s Best Photography magazine. I am crossing my fingers that one of mine will also be featured as part of the competition’s six-month exhibition next year at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.
Photographer in the Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah
Photographer in the Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah
I was fortunate to have three of my photographs receive Highly Honored recognition in this years Windland Smith Rice photography competition sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography. 21,000 images were entered in the competition, 500 made it to the final round of judging and 131 were winners or highly honored and appeared in the most recent issue of Nature’s Best Photography magazine. I am crossing my fingers that one of mine will also be featured as part of the competition’s six-month exhibition next year at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.. Here is the first of the three, taken in a bend of the Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park. This is an utterly fantastic hike with spectacular photography possibilities at every turn, and a place to which I am anxious to return in 2012. My buddy Garry McCarthy serves as an “anchor” to lend some perspective to the scene and create a little tension from the corner of the composition across to the beautiful cottonwoods in the Narrows.
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| Photographer in the Virgin River Narrows, with flowing water, autumn cottonwood trees and towering red sandstone cliffs. Image ID: 26106 Location: Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah, USA |
Whytake.Net
I received an invitation from Alister Benn recently to take a look at, and contribute to, Whytake.net. This new website and social networking tool founded by Benn and Rafael Rojas is designed to bring nature photographers together and help them share their work with the world. The design of Whytake.net is simple, clean and very appealing to me, and the quality of work appearing on Whytake.net from contributing photographers is impressive. Take a look today! Click the image below to see my portfolio on Whytake.net but be certain to check out the INSPIRE and EXPLORE links at the top of the page to see the work of other great photographers.
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iPhone Panoramic Photography, #3
iPhone Panoramic Photos.
If you like these, be sure to see my first set of iPhone Panorama Photos and a second set of iPhone Panorama Photos.
Why do I shoot photos with the iPhone when I have a “real camera”? Quite often we are out and about scouting locations to shoot later in better light. The iPhone lets me take a record of the place so I can better plan my return. Sometimes the iPhone panorama results are pretty good in and of themselves. And simply put, spinning off a panorama with a phone camera is fun, my kids love it and I don’t blame them. The Autostitch iPhone app ($2.99) lets you make a panorama in the phone itself and then upload it to Facebook or email it to friends. I usually keep the original photos on the phone until I get home so that I can stitch the panorama using Photoshop CS5 on cylindrical or spherical photo merge settings. Then I judge whether its worth keeping or not. Below are some new iPhone panoramic photographs, made on a quick trip up the Eastern Sierra Nevada to photograph Mono Lake and Sky Rock. These are all shot with the iPhone 4 and stitched with Photoshop CS5. Each of these panoramic iPhone photos links to a 2000-pixel version, but the full size of the largest of these is about 5000 x 11000 pixels — pretty big. Last weekend I also made a mosaic image — like a panorama but not quite — consisting of 125 iPhone photos blended together, and the resulting composite image weighs in at a whopping 600+ megabytes!
I’m processing “real” versions of these images and they will be included in my main stock photography collection soon…
 Mono Lake Sunset, California |
 Mono Lake Sunset, California |
 Ellery Lake, Yosemite National Park, California |
 Lathe Arch, Mt. Whitney and Lone Pine Peak, Alabama Hills, California |
 Whitney Portal Arch, Alabama Hills, California |
 Eastern Sierra Nevada viewed from Alabama Hills, California |
 Small meadow tarn, Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park, California |
iPhone Panorama Photos, #2
Making iPhone Panorama Photographs.
See my first set of iPhone Panorama Photos.
Here are a few more iPhone panoramas that I’ve made recently. These panoramas were all shot with my iPhone 4 by my daughter (age 11) and took about 60 seconds each to make! Normally, I stitch the individual frames into a panorama right in the phone using the $2.99 Autostitch Panorama app. In this case, these were cool enough that I downloaded them to my Mac and stitched them again using Photoshop CS5 Photo Merge. These are “quick and dirty” panoramas, shot with the camera that I always have in my pocket by virtue of the fact it is also my phone — and yet the quality is quite good and in many cases these panoramas will yield fine prints.
 Yosemite Falls and flooded meadow, Spring, Yosemite National Park, California Single row panorama: 28″ x 17″ (4200 x 2600 pixels) |
 Nevada Falls and Half Dome viewed from the Panorama Trail, Yosemite National Park, CA Single row panorama: 48″ x 17″ (7200 x 2500 pixels) |
 Horse, Meadow and Eastern Sierra Nevada, Bishop, CA Single row panorama: 39″ x 15″ (5800 x 2300 pixels) |
 Tuolumne Meadows and incoming storm, Yosemite National Park, CA Three row panorama: 50″ x 29″ (7500 x 4300 pixels) |
 Morning Glass, Bass Lake, California Single row panorama: 51″ x 16″ (7700 x 2400 pixels) |
 Yosemite Falls viewed from Cook’s Meadow, Yosemite National Park, CA Single row panorama: 29″ x 17″ (4300 x 2500 pixels) |
iPhone Panorama Photos
Making Panoramic Photographs with the Apple iPhone 4
 My tripod and Sarah’s Swirl, White Pocket, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, AZ Single row panorama: 48″ x 17″ (7190 x 2471 pixels) |
First, a Bit of Background…
I recently shared a fun roadtrip with some buddies for a bit of fresh air and landscape photography at a handful of iconic American Southwest locations. Each of us had the iPhone 4 so naturally we spent a fair bit of time monkeying around with the iPhone camera, photographing one another in mock-extreme action photography situations involving cliffs, canyons, and other dangers. We got to talking about how photography has changed over the last 25 years, both the gear and the industry. Now, if you have been a photographer for a while you’ve observed many stock photographers take on new roles as tour guides, travel agents, website designers and software instructors — a trend motivated in large part by severely declining licensing fees and an explosion of photographers who need help with their photographic pursuits. And you have also seen continuing development of both complex high end dSLR and exceedingly simple consumer gear — all capable of rending high quality imagery. So we figured we would try to concoct a little humor and formulate an April Fool’s announcement for the world’s first “iPhone Outdoor Adventure Photography Tour and Workshop”, brought to you by the “Institute for iPhone Photography”. We would, of course, be the workshop leaders and highly reknowned “Master iPhone Photographers.”
The notion was to offer a workshop specifically tailored for iPhone photographers, at some of the most amazing locales on Earth. Sunrise and sunset shoots would be coupled with insightful and informative — and incredibly brief — lectures. Steve Jobs would offer 30 seconds of technical guidance and encouragement on “How to Press the Button on Your iPhone’s Camera App.” A two-minute presentation “How to Build Your Brand and Market Your Photography Using Social Media on the Internet” would be given by Mark Zuckerberg, walking us through the iPhone’s Facebook App. Adobe would conduct an “Photoshop for the iPhone” technical session using the Photoshop Express App (3 minutes). A 45-second lecture on panoramic photography with the Autostitch App would be followed by a 60-second panel on timelapse photography using the Timelapse App. A discussion on geocoding your photographs on the iPhone was considered but canceled because there is nothing to do (its all done automagically by the iPhone as soon as the photo is taken).
The first problem with our feeble plan is that the iPhone’s photos are too darn good. Seriously. We cannot make a joke out of them. When used properly, the camera in the iPhone 4 produces publication-quality images in many situations. Have you seen DeWitt Jones’ iPhone photos on Facebook? If not, you should follow him because the images are great. It is a constant amazement that such fine images can be made with such a tiny and simple device. Plus, if you love Hawaii like I do, you will find DeWitt Jones’ images a real joy. Check them out.
Our second problem: we learned that there is at least one fellow offering iPhone Photography Workshops, teaching people to use simple iPhone apps to take snapshots and turn them into amazing photographs. Clearly, we are behind the power curve on this one.
Cut to the Chase…
So, no April Fools Day joke this year. (2009’s joke is still online, although I removed the comments so that the poor folks that fell for it remain anonymous.) So, what is the point of this post? It is simply to share with you a few iPhone panoramas that I’ve made recently, in the hope that the potential this phone offers is motivation for those of you who own one to get out there and use it. These panoramas were all shot with my iPhone 4 and were stitched in the iPhone with the $2.99 Autostitch Panorama app. The result is, in some cases, images that are sharp enough and have sufficient resolution that they can be printed quite large without uprezzing the image to get there. (I consider 20″x30″ “pretty big” for an image that originates from a phone.) Each of these thumbnails links through to a 2500 pixel version so that you can judge for yourself how this app stitches the separate frames together. (Also, keep in mind that if Autostitch produces artifacts or stitching errors, you can always restitch in Photoshop CS 5 “Photo Merge” with usually excellent results.) Autostitch does offer in-phone cropping, but in some instances I show the uncropped version so you can see how well the Autostitch app handles a series of handheld images that are poorly aligned due to photographer dizziness. It is an amazing app that, for $2.99, seems a real bargain. Combine it with the free Photoshop Express app, which allows you to fiddle with exposure, contrast, hue and saturation and a few other things, and the iPhone photographer has the ability to produce great photos “in-phone” and then share them with the world in seconds, all without using a dSLR or computer. Granted, you can probably find some flaws in all of these images if you pixel-peep closely enough. The point is, consider the potential this camera and these apps offer to produce reasonably large prints. It’s there, now.
 My Shadow and Torrey Pines Sea Cliffs viewed from Flat Rock, San Diego, CA Single row panorama: 38″ x 22″ (5619 x 3239 pixels) |
 Valley of Fire State Park, NV Single row panorama: 45″ x 18″ (6714 x 2604 pixels) |
 Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, CA Single row panorama: 41″ x 14″ (6129 x 2052 pixels) |
 My Shadow on Sandstone Fins, sunset, AZ Single row panorama: 54″ x 15″ (8175 x 2229 pixels) |
 Two Photographers, Valley of Fire State Park, NV Single row panorama: 64″ x 16″ (9545 x 2480 pixels) |
 My Shadow on the Beach, Torrey Pines State Park, San Diego, CA Single row panorama: 62″ x 21″ (9285 x 3163 pixels) |
 Brain Rocks and Clouds and My Shadow, White Pocket, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, AZ Single row panorama: 49″ x 16″ (7338 x 2430 pixels) |
 Photographer About to Plummet into the Colorado River, Horseshoe Bend, Page, AZ Three row 21-frame panorama: 54″ x 33″ (8064 x 5019 pixels) |
Photography Travel Gear Checklist
Below is my pre-trip photography gear checklist, to make sure I don’t forget anything. On any photography trip I take it is guaranteed that I will forget something important, but by using my little list I keep the forgotten gear to a minimum and I can usually improvise with what I remembered to bring. Note that while this looks like a LOT OF STUFF, it all fits in one photo backpack (Thinktank international size) and one roller duffel. So I buzz through the airport with a minimum of hassle. The only time I have a problem is when I take both the 300 and 500. For most landscape travel I leave the telephotos at home and bring a single mid-zoom. Note that this is not my gear list for a diving trip, however, as that is a whole different can of worms!
Important: the photo posted here has nothing to do with a photography gear checklist.
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| A hiker admiring the striated walls and dramatic light within Antelope Canyon, a deep narrow slot canyon formed by water and wind erosion. Image ID: 18009 Location: Navajo Tribal Lands, Page, Arizona, USA |
Perhaps this gear list will be useful to you. If it is, cut and paste and modify it for your own purposes!
1Ds III and charger, spare battery
1Ds II and charger (time lapse, spare batteries ?)
5D II and charger, spare battery
15mm fish
16-35mm and polarizer
24-105 or 24-70 ? and polarizer
70-200 and polarizer
300
500 (and Wimberly head ?)
Teleconverters ?
All CF cards
Flash ? Better beamer ?
Timer remote controller (both ?)
Grad ND filters, ring, holders ?
ND filter (water ?)Big tripod
Ball head
Small tripod (time lapse ?)
L plates for all bodies!
Extra base plate
Allen wrench for plates, ball headAA Batteries and holder
GPS and memory card
Head lampsChapstick
Sunscreen
Mittens
Gloves
Woolen hat
Sunscreen hat
Ball cap
SunglassesIPad (sync)
Laptop ?
Colorspace and power cordPrinted copy of passport, drivers license, permits, flight itinerary
IPhone:
Passcode and lockout for travel
Sync calendar and contacts
Contacts for hotels, car, guides
Car charger / room charger
E copy passport, drivers license, permits, flight itinerary, car rentalNav computer for rental car ?
Hiking leggings
Hiking pants
Running shorts
Shorts
Flipflops
Hiking shirts
Nice shirt
Fleece
Jacket
BootsCash and tip money
Charge cards
Gas cards
Drivers lic
Passport ?Big backpack or small backpack
Hip sack
Tags on bagsBars
Fruit
Water bottle
Wine and chocolate
This is a generic gear list of things I need to consider for any topside trip. If you want to see what I specifically took on my trip to Antarctica last year, and what I recommend for next time, see my Photography Gear List for Antarctica, South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands.
Greg Boyer Photography
Greg Boyer has a new website, www.GregBoyerPhotography.com. Start with his “portfolio” link (upper right corner). His first Sierra Nevada image is wonderful, and the inspiring images continue through his website. It is his Sierra images that first caught my attention a few years ago, but now that I see the range of his California photography I am more impressed. Greg Boyer’s collection of images is characterized by rich vibrant color and appealing composition. Check out Greg Boyer Photography, you will be happy you did!
A Tale of Two Panoramas and One iPhone
Recently I encountered two panoramic photo situations in which the software that I am accustomed to using for stitching panoramas failed. It gave me the impetus to try Photoshop for panoramas, with mixed results explained below. And the biggest surprise of my recent panorama efforts has been with, well, you’ll have to read to the end to find out unless my clever post title gave it away. Fair warning: if the entire notion of stitching and blending multiple images into a long, high resolution panorama makes your shutter glaze over, click away now!
Part 1 of 3: Failure then Success
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| Panoramic photo of San Diego embarcadero, showing the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina (center), Roy’s Restaurant (center) and Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel (left) viewed from the San Diego Embacadero Marine Park. Image ID: 26565 Location: San Diego, California, USA Pano dimensions: 3889 x 9831 |
This above panoramic photo of San Diego’s Embarcadero Marina, including the Marriott Hotel, Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, Roy’s Restaurant and the San Diego Convention Center, is a composite of three original frames. I used Panorama Factory to stitch an initial version, and was disappointed to see some severe distortion artifacts on many of the buildings. I have encountered these occasionally in the past, and usually solved the problem by lessening or increasing the number of control points, or changing the perspective (spherical/cylindrical), or resorting to “full automatic stitching”. I think each of these alternatives changes the way in which Panorama Factory is constrained to correct for distortion, tilt and roll. By trying a few different alternatives, sometimes Panorama Factory is freed of enough mathematical constraints that the distortion artifacts go away. However, in this image the artifacts appeared, strongly, in all versions I made with Panorama Factory. For example, the following detail is from the top right corner of the Marriott Hotel, and shows ghosting (which is easily fixed in post by modifying the layer masks that Panorama Factory provides). The ghosting actually serves to illustrate the point that distortion is observed in both layers that overlap at this point. In other words, simply resorting to one layer or the other does not solve the distortion problem (although it would solve the ghosting).
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| Panorama Factory, severe distortion flaws |
I decided to give the stitching a try in Photoshop PS5’s “image merge”. In the past I did not have much faith in Photoshop’s “image merge”, given that it is nearly a “full auto” process and there is no allowance for the user to input, say, control points to ensure alignment. I’m a control freak, and giving complete control of the stitching to Photoshop did not appeal to me. For example, it does not even permit the user to offer such a basic starting point as defining what order (left to right) the images are to be considered — Photoshop figures this out on its own. So imagine my surprise when Photoshop produced as flawless a panoramic stitch as I have ever seen. On hindsight I should not have been surprised that Adobe, with its vast resources and programming talent, could produce an excellent panoramic stitching engine. Nevertheless, I was floored. I’ve scoured the detail in Photoshop’s version of this panoramic photo and have not found a stitching flaw or noticeable bit of distortion yet. For comparison, the same detail from the Photoshop version of the panoramic photo:
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| Photoshop Image Merge, no distortion flaws |
Part 2 of 3: Failure (Boo, Hiss!)
I encountered a second example of panoramic stitching challenges last week when my daughter and I enjoyed the sunset and made photos of Scripps Pier in La Jolla. In this case, both Panorama Factory and Photoshop failed, but in different ways. First, the full panorama looks pretty good at first glance:
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There is plenty of wave movement in this composition, and I knew in advance that blending the waves would be near impossible. (I really should have used a 3-stop ND filter and f/22 to blur the water movement as much as possible, lessening the detail and making a pleasing blend more attainable. And next time I’ll do just that!) However, Panorama Factory shows significant distortion on several sections of the pier:
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| Panorama Factory, severe distortion flaws |
Panorama Factory does produce a layered PSD file complete with blending masks, and I tried to compensate for these distortions in post but was unable to remove them satisfactorily. When the distortions exist they exist in both layers being blended at that point, which makes it impossible to use the layer masks to solve the problem.
On the other hand, Photoshop shows a much better blend of the pier but a more jarring discontinuity in the waves to the left and right of the rightmost set of pier pilings:
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| Photoshop Image Merge, jarring blend at pier pilings and waves |
Photoshop’s panorama product does NOT provide a layered PSD with masks, so I am unable to make further improvements to this image. That’s too bad. One of the strongest features of Panorama Factory is its ability to provide a layered PSD with blending masks, since this can be fine-tuned afterward in Photoshop to remove most ghosting artifacts and sometimes address distortion artifacts as well (although not in this case).
Part 3: Success, Unexpected!
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Lastly, Sarah was fooling around with my iPhone while I used the “real camera”. She produced the above panorama in about 60 seconds using Autostitch for the iPhone. This just blows me away. For crying out loud, this is a 10-year-old using a phone and a $2.99 app to produce panoramas that would have been difficult for some computers to produce just a decade ago or less! It will be interesting to see what the iPhone and apps like Autostitch can do in coming years. Panorama Factory and Photoshop had better watch their heels.
Here are a few more I shot while running. I stop for about 60 seconds to shoot 3-6 photos, then Autostitch takes 10-20 seconds to blend them into a panorama, trim the overage off and upload a reduced-size version to Facebook where my family can see them long before I am back home and near a computer. I don’t have my glasses on, can’t see for the sweat in my eyes, and my hands are shaking. And still they often turn out pretty darn good. The full res version can always be accessed via iPhoto the next time the phone is synced to iTunes. These thumbnails link through to the unretouched full res versions if you are interested in seeing how much ghosting or exposure flaws there are in the final versions. Amazing!
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| Above: iPhone and Autostitch, Scripps Pier, full res: 10519 x 1635 pixels |
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| Above: iPhone and Autostitch, Balboa Park, full res: 8510 x 1647 pixels |
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| iPhone and Autostitch, La Costa Valley sunset, full res: 7429 x 1888 pixels |
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| iPhone and Autostitch, La Costa Valley sunset, full res: 7220 x 1920 pixels |
En Línea con la Ecología - A Photographic Exhibition in Mexico City
En Línea con la Ecología is a major natural history photographic exhibition on display now in Mexico City. Sponsored by Telmex, the goal of the exhibition is to show viewers the extraordinary biological diversity and beauty of the landscapes of Mexico and heighten interest and a sense of ownership in Mexico’s natural wonders. Included in the exhition are landscapes and wildlife portraits representative of Mexico, including rain forests and lowlands, mangroves, grasslands, temperate forests, deserts and coral reefs. I am fortunate to have five images included in the collection, alongside the work of some of the best photographers in the world.
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The exhibition is held from February 1 through March 6 at Circuito de Galerías Abiertas de las Rejas de Chapultepec, Entre Reforma y Gandhi. More information can be found here, here and here. Telmex’s Facebook page includes a gallery of all the images.
If you are curious, four of my images can be seen in the above two photos.
Antarctica Pictures on Photoshelter
Natural history stock photographs of Antarctica
I have placed a selection of my photos of Antarctica on Photoshelter. Here is a little slideshow:
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South Georgia Island Photos on Photoshelter
Natural history stock photographs of South Georgia Island
I have placed a selection of my photos of South Georgia Island on Photoshelter, which makes it easy to offer a slideshow:
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South Georgia Island Pictures - Images by Phillip Colla |
Photos of the Falkland Islands on Photoshelter
Natural history stock photos of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
I have placed a selection of my Falkland Islands photos on my Photoshelter site, which makes it easy to offer a slideshow:
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Photos of the Falkland Islands - Images by Phillip Colla |
Best Photos of 2010
Best Photos of 2010
A good friend once told me that his photography goal was to shoot two or three really good images each year. I’ve tried to keep that in mind in the years since. It is only on looking back over the last year’s photographs, having now removed myself from the emotion and excitement that was present when the images were made, that I can judge whether I have succeeded in making a small number of really notable images. I feel pretty good about what I produced in 2010. So in true shameless promotional fashion, here are my personal favorites, in no particular order. These are not necessarily the images that I feel will sell best (although I hope they do well in that regard!). Rather, these are the photographs that best recall emotion and remembrance of where I was and what I was feeling when I made them. I owe a big “Thank you” to my wonderful wife Tracy, to my daughters and to my friends for your support and encouragement!
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| Adelie penguins leaping into the ocean from an iceberg. Image ID: 25005 Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica |
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| Archangel Falls in autumn, near the Subway in North Creek Canyon, with maples and cottonwoods turning fall colors. Image ID: 26097 Location: Zion National Park, Utah, USA |
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| Red gorgonian on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. The red gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 25393 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Giant redwood, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park. The coastal redwood, or simply ‘redwood’, is the tallest tree on Earth, reaching a height of 379′ and living 3500 years or more. It is native to coastal California and the southwestern corner of Oregon within the United States, but most concentrated in Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California, found close to the coast where moisture and soil conditions can support its unique size and growth requirements. Image ID: 25795 Species: Coast redwood, giant redwood, California redwood, Sequoia sempervirens Location: Redwood National Park, California, USA |
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| Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders, float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface and sunlight, where the leaf-like blades and stipes of the kelp plant grow fastest. Giant kelp can grow up to 2′ in a single day given optimal conditions. Epic submarine forests of kelp grow throughout California’s Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 25396 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Blue whale, exhaling as it surfaces from a dive, aerial photo. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, exceeding 100′ in length and 200 tons in weight. Image ID: 25953 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: Redondo Beach, California, USA |
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| Wandering albatross in flight, over the open sea. The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, with the wingspan between, up to 12′ from wingtip to wingtip. It can soar on the open ocean for hours at a time, riding the updrafts from individual swells, with a glide ratio of 22 units of distance for every unit of drop. The wandering albatross can live up to 23 years. They hunt at night on the open ocean for cephalopods, small fish, and crustaceans. The survival of the species is at risk due to mortality from long-line fishing gear. Image ID: 24071 Species: Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans Location: Southern Ocean |
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| King penguin, showing ornate and distinctive neck, breast and head plumage and orange beak. Image ID: 24581 Species: King penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus Location: Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island |
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| Paraglider soaring at Torrey Pines Gliderport, sunset, flying over the Pacific Ocean. Image ID: 24286 Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
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| Southern humpback whale in Antarctica, with significant diatomaceous growth (brown) on the underside of its fluke, lifting its fluke before diving in Neko Harbor, Antarctica. Image ID: 25647 Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae Location: Neko Harbor, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica |
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| Eureka Dunes. The Eureka Valley Sand Dunes are California’s tallest sand dunes, and one of the tallest in the United States. Rising 680′ above the floor of the Eureka Valley, the Eureka sand dunes are home to several endangered species, as well as “singing sand” that makes strange sounds when it shifts. Located in the remote northern portion of Death Valley National Park, the Eureka Dunes see very few visitors. Image ID: 25249 Location: Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California, USA |
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| Adams River sockeye salmon. A female sockeye salmon swims upstream in the Adams River to spawn, having traveled hundreds of miles upstream from the ocean. Image ID: 26161 Species: Sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka Location: Adams River, Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada |
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| Racetrack Playa, an ancient lake now dried and covered with dessicated mud. Image ID: 25264 Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA |
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| Cathedral Range peaks reflected in the still waters of Townsley Lake at sunrise. Image ID: 25764 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
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| Sandhill cranes flying, wings blurred from long time exposure. Image ID: 26225 Species: Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis Location: Bosque Del Apache, Socorro, New Mexico, USA |
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| A young girl has fun swimming in a pool. Image ID: 25291 |
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| Tabular iceberg, Antarctic Peninsula, near Paulet Island, sunset. Image ID: 24778 Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica |
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| Two Adelie penguins, holding their wings out, standing on an iceberg. Image ID: 25050 Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica |
See also:
Best Photos of 2009
Best Photos of 2008
Best Photos of 2007
There are approximately 2700 “keepers” that I made in 2010 and that are now in my stock photo library. The following gear was used to make them. These proportions come from the metadata filter tab in Lightroom.
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III: 55%
Canon EOS 5D Mark II: 23%
Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II: 21%
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3: 1%
Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye prime lens: 4%
Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L II zoom lens: 12%
Canon 24mm f/2.8 prime lens: 1.5%
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L zoom lens: 0.07%
Canon 24-105mm f/4 L zoom lens: 24%
Canon 70-200mm f/4 L zoom lens: 14%
Canon 300mm f/2.8 L telephoto lens: 26%
Canon 500mm f/4 L telephoto lens: 19%
Cloudy Morning in Paradise Bay, Antarctica
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 64° 51' 51.79" S, Longitude: 62° 48' 30.49" W, Coord: -64.864388°, -62.808472°
Filed under: Antarctica, Southern Ocean, Time Lapse, Video on 12/19/2010
Last night we sailed down the Lemaire Channel a second time, after a visit to Peterman Island. This morning we awoke in Paradise Bay. We would remain here for a few hours while we ate breakfast. As I was below in the galley enjoying eggs, cheese, fruit and coffee (the food was great on the M/V Polar Star), I left my camera alone out on the deck shooting one frame every 4 seconds. I slapped them together into a time lapse video, which you see below thanks to Youtube!
Next: Neko Harbor, Antarctica
Previous: Peterman Island, Antarctica
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Blue Whale Aerial Photos
Blue whale aerial photos
This blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) was photographed from the air as it surfaced off the coast of Redondo Beach (near Los Angeles, California) to exhale and take a new breath, before diving underwater to feed on krill.
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| Blue whale, exhaling as it surfaces from a dive, aerial photo. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, exceeding 100′ in length and 200 tons in weight. Image ID: 25953 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: Redondo Beach, California, USA |
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| Blue whale swims at the surface of the ocean in this aerial photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, exceeding 100′ in length and 200 tons in weight. Image ID: 25952 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: Redondo Beach, California, USA |
I recorded the GPS position (latitude, longitude) each time I took a photo of a blue whale. Curiously, the blue whales remained in a small area directly over the submarine canyon that lies offshore of Redondo Beach, as seen in the below screen shot from Google Earth. My hunch is that the krill upon which the blue whales were presumably feeding was gathered in, or near, the canyon. You can click the image below to bring up the Google Earth display, showing the images superimposed where they were photographed above the Redondo Beach submarine canyon.
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To see more blue whale aerial photos, or stock photos of Balaenoptera musculus, click on the links or use the search box at upper left.
Keywords: blue whale, aerial photo, Balaenoptera musculus
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Updated: February 7, 2012
