Something to aspire to with aerial photography

Please look at this aerial photography. By hand. From a balloon. Above Everest. Now this is some aerial photography that I aspire to.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201090/Everest-revealed-British-balloonists-breathtaking-panoramic-shot-worlds-highest-peaks.html#ixzz0LvSga7WN

He took this picture using a hand-held 35mm camera with a wide-angle lens while standing in the balloon's wicker cabin.

Mr Dickinson, of Budleigh Salterton, Devon, said: 'This photograph is one of the finest I've taken, and I'm immensely proud of it.

'It took several minutes to set up - I was in the stratosphere and carrying bulky breathing apparatus - and I wasn't sure it would even come out.

'So when it was developed, and it came out like this, you can imagine my delight. It's a scene that I'll remember for the rest of my life.'

(via @jimmacmillan)

Kite eating tree

Its started out harmless. I just wanted an aerial photo of the lighthouse. I mean, how many aerial photos are there of light houses, especially this one.



But my disregard for the trees was my downfall.



And resulted in a climb, a struggle, snipping strings.


And finally I stuffed the kite in my hooddie for safe keeping and scored victory over the tree.

Photography is easy, and hard

From Paul Graham:

It's simply a way of recording what you see -- point the camera at it, and press a button. How hard is that? And what's more, in this digital age, its free -- doesn't even cost you the price of film. It's so simple and basic, it's ridiculous.

And...

It's so difficult because it's everywhere, every place, all the time, even right now. It's the view of this pen in my hand as I write this, it's an image of your hands holding this book, Drift your consciousness up and out of this text and see: it's right there, across the room -- there... and there. Then it's gone. You didn't photograph it, because you didn't think it was worth it. And now it's too late, that moment has evaporated.

via kottke.org

Oregon Coast

Some photos of our trip to the Oregon Coast. I was so busy playing, that I only have these few favorites.


This is the view from Cape Meares. Cape Meares has a lighthouse but I didn't take any photos of it. That's because I was busy with other embarrassing endeavors, that I'll get to in another post.


Haystack Rock is the "anchor" of Cannon Beach Oregon. This is the view from where we stayed.

Both of these photos are pretty much straight from the camera with a little cropping.

The lesson I'm taking with me from this trip is: Take more photos (see point #3). I don't know if I was just being lazy (lame), or was waiting for the right moment (lame), or just having too much fun (excellent!). Oh, and I took a few photos with my wife's DSLR, (traitor to the blog!) I may show them later, because they turned out pretty good.

Crazy month

June has been pretty crazy. I haven't posted in a while but I will... We're off to Canon Beach, Oregon next week.

Reflections on taking your time

Take your time.

We went to Washington DC last weekend. On Saturday we walked around the Washington Mall and visited some of the museums. What a great place to learn. We had such a good time just visiting the highlights and not rushing to see it all. We would return soon so there we'd get what we missed later.

At the end of the day I had a chance to visit the Lincoln Memorial on my own. It was packed with people so it was hard to get a simple shot of the monument. But I didn't realize that it over looks the reflection pool and the Washington Monument. I snapped a photo of the Washington Monument as I started up the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. I was there for Lincoln.


These were nothing special. They really are just snapshots. They aren't amazing by any means.

Then I snapped some quick photos of Lincoln. I was kind of in a rush to get back to my family so they were quick shots. But I kept taking more photos, really trying to get something different. This ended up being my favorite.


Everyone takes photos of Lincoln from the front. I was shooting for something different. He gets his photo taken hundreds of times a day. But it wasn't until I settled into taking my time for the photos that I started getting more creative and got a shot I really liked.

But then once I was in my "photo mode" I went back out and tried the Washington Monument again.

Just by taking a few extra moments I was able to get the shot of Lincoln that I was really happy with and this shot which was my favorite of the day. All it took was an extra minute or two. Sometimes that's all it takes just a little time.

I snapped these two photos again, and I liked them a little better. Then I walked down closer to the reflection pool.


I took this first shot, that I really liked. Then after taking a few more moments I reframed the shot which turned (below) out to be my favorite.



So take some time to get your shot. It'll be worth it.