An HDR Photo Shoot
Haven't been around these parts in a while, been missing the photography, so today's goal was to get in a solid HDR workout. I have been working on the airplane quite a bit recently so I haven't had much time for the camera. Just a quick review: HDR is high dynamic range photography; it is software based, and used in situations where lighting is high in contrast, such as shooting into a setting or rising sun or into a bright sky. The human eye adapts very nicely to these situations, much better than the camera, so the idea is to take 3 to five images of the same subject, bracketing the exposure so that you end up with one or more underexposed images, same number of overexposed images, and one correctly exposed image. The software then processes the exposures and blends all the images into the final HDR photograph.
So today's subject was my RV-6 at sunset. I had been making a new tail wheel fairing to match the main gear fairings. The tail wheel fairing is completely optional--not necessary for the airworthiness of the aircraft at all. So its purpose is mostly aesthetic; however, there is also an element of cleaning up the aerodynamics of the tail wheel area. Not enough to appreciably reduce any drag or add any speed, but certainly it doesn't hurt--anyway, it sure makes it look about 20 knots faster! I had this fairing since the building days and it was just gathering dust on a shelf in the hangar. So I finally decided to fit it and paint it to match the other pants [make that "wheel" pants - thanks, Britt!] on the airplane. It just adds a nice finishing touch to the airplane in my opinion!
Baseline shot prior to HDR photography.
So I took the airplane out to my favorite setting: the compass rose on the airport. I just like the way the rose lines play with the symmetry of the lines on the airplane. I also took a few HDR shots in front of the hangar and inside the hangar which I've included at the end of this post.
Here is a hand-held shot of the airplane on the compass rose to establish a baseline for the HDR shoot. I just used a little fill flash to take out the shadows caused by the fading light.
Notice how the small amount of flash tends to wash out the sky in the background. The object with the HDR exposures is to use only natural light provided by the setting sun and its reflections off the sky and clouds. If you're lucky, the combination of sun angle and cloud cover can make for a very pretty sky at sunset. The problem is that shooting into the sunset tends to underexpose the parts of the airplane that are in the shadows, or you overexpose the sky and sunset. Your eye can see it rather well, but the camera cannot--so HDR tends to simulate what the human eye would see in this situation. Here is an example:
On the Compass Rose at Sunset - RV-6 with New Tail Wheel Pant
Notice how the sunset bathes the airplane in a nice, warm glow, compared to the rather harsh look of the flash fill.
Here are a few more taken out in front of the hangar:
RV-6 with Wind Sock & Pink Flamingo
RV-6 with New Tail Wheel Fairing
RV-6 with New Tail Wheel Fairing
I took these pictures using a ground pod, an item of photographic equipment whose purpose it to get the camera as low to the ground as possible while keeping the camera steady and in the same relative position to the subject. I'll include a photo of the ground pod at the end of this post to give you an idea of how it works.
Here is an HDR image of the airplane in the hangar. The problem here is the bright light coming through the doorway that contrasts with the shadows on the tail of the airplane. Again, HDR does a nice job handling the high contrast conditions.
In the Hangar: RV-6 Sporting Its New Tail Wheel Fairing
Homemade Groundpod
On the left is a picture of my homemade groundpod.
It is basically just a piece of plywood with an old tripod head mounted on it. The tripod head allows for camera positioning in 3 planes. The three legs are wooden dowels covered with plastic chair leg ends.
Commercial groundpods sell for several hundred dollars, but really all you need is the simple apparatus pictured, which is made easily and inexpensively in a home workshop.
As always, just click on a photo to see it in full size.
New Kayak
Today I tried out the new Hobie Revolution kayak. It comes with a foot drive and it will be my new platform for wildlife photography. The foot drive works great and allows your hands to be free for taking photographs. Felton and I paddled from Pepper Park over to the Fish House restaurant in Fort Pierce for lunch. Here are a few photos from the day.
The dance of the pelican, with seagulls.
The pelican was taken with a Nikon D90, Nikor 58-200mm zoom, at 200mm, shutter priority @ 1/1250 sec., f/5.6, ISO-200. High shutter speed to stop the motion.
In the next photo, I was trying to blur the motion of the Blue Heron's wings on takeoff, so I used all of the same settings as above except a shutter speed of 1/320 sec.:
Great Blue Heron at liftoff.
My brother, Felton, with the Cat he covets in the background.
This last photo was taken coming out of the Harbortown Marina in Ft. Pierce. Felton would like to have the Catamaran "Flyer" in the background.
All Five Members of the Owl Family
When I first arrived at the owl tree today, I was startled to find only one fledgling and the mother in the tree. I first assumed that the other two babies had flown away, but after searching some adjacent oak trees, I found both Grumpy and Happy perched near each other about 50 yards away in their own tree. So, we can say that Grumpy and Happy are fully fledged, obviously. Sleepy, the straggler, was near mom and appeared a little tentative about flying still. Dad was in his usual place, in another oak tree just north of the nest tree, overlooking his now almost complete, fledged, or weaned family, whichever term you prefer. Last year they were all gone by the middle of March, so I expect that this family will be gone in about a week. Until next year, best of luck, guys!
Here are today's pictures of each member of the family, perhaps for the last time.
You did a good job, mom, you should be proud.
Dad kept the family well fed while mom looked after the kids.
Grumpy, you were the largest, progressed the fastest, and are probably female.
Happy, you were in the middle and second to fly, probably a male.
The always photogenic Sleepy, the last to fly, also a male.
And here's an extra photo of Sleepy, my favorite. Sleepy was always the funniest, most laid back, and therefore the last to get serious about getting airborne. Mr. Personality, too:
Sleepy, you were the funny one, always ready to be photographed!
A Few Shots from This Weekend
Chloe had a horse show on Saturday. She had quite a breakthrough: Won two first place ribbons and had the high score for the show. Thanks to her new instructor, Jeffrey, she broke through a stubborn plateau of her learning curve that had been really frustrating her. She has really taken her canter to a new level--huge improvement! I'm sure she's on cloud nine at the moment. Here are a couple of moments from the day:
Chloe and Shela in the canter.
First Place (Twice)
Went to check on the owls today and found two of the babies had ventured well away from their nest. Here is Sleepy peeking around a tree branch at me.
Sleepy venturing out of the nest!
Mama keeping a wary eye on her babies.
Mom was nearby watching over the two that had ventured away from the nest (middle photo).
Grumpy was way up there (bottom). Only mama was higher up. This appears to be part of the fledging process. First they venture out of the nest. This requires that they flap their wings to keep their balance and to help them jump to higher branches. Next they will start flapping their wings while firmly gripping a branch. All preparatory to first flight.
Grumpy is definitely on the fast track to first flight!
Happy, meanwhile, was keeping warm in the nest, not venturing out yet, apparently.
Checking Into the Owls
Just a couple of shots taken with my friend Frank yesterday. Thanks to Frank for pointing me to the Better Beamer flash extender, which I used for the first time today. Results were outstanding for my first try! The Better Beamer is one of those photographic tools that you only find out about by hanging around with pros like Frank. I am using a new Nikon SB-600 flash, and in a situation like shooting these owls, the flash and extender are only used for fill-flash. The problem is caused by shooting into a bright sky, like you do when shooting birds from below, so you need a little flash to fill in the shadows caused by the high-contrast lighting. I was really pleased with the results today, and I'm still tweaking the settings for the flash & extender combination.
These pictures are dedicated to my little niece, Seren! Love you, honey!
Sleepy and Grumpy
Yes, all three are still in the nest!