Easy Release, a very cool app.

I came across a very nice iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch app. today.

Easy Release is its name, and you can see it here.

We all know that as photographers we need to get property and model releases all of the time, and this little app makes it much easier to do.

Now if only AT&T had 3G coverage in Montana, or if Verizon had the iPhone...

Beaver Lodges in Billings

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I have spent quite a few nights this month wading in Beaver ponds to photograph Beavers at sunset.

I have seen Beavers each night; but only one night actually provided good light.

I also shot a brief video as the distracting branches made for poor photographs, while the video was nice.

I hope you enjoy.

Yellowstone March 13th - 15th

PHOTOS ONLINE NOW

Time lapse, long exposure, and days of sitting and watching.

The trip started with shooting over 5,000 images to create a time lapse video of my drive to the park. I spent the early mornings and late evening scouting with no luck. I spent my mid days sitting and waiting for Ermine to come out and grant me a few images. I put many miles on my hiking boots and on my snow shoes during the trip while taking very few photos, other than the time lapse.

The temps ranged from about 10° to over 50°.

I experienced snow, rain, and lots of sun (even with sun screen I got a bit too much).

The bugs are begging to hatch along the Yellowstone river, bird activity is picking up (slowly), Bears are out and on the move (sorry no bear photos), Wolf activity is a bit slow; but still more than easy to view daily with scopes.

If you follow my postings on:
https://twitter.com/FragilePlaces
http://www.facebook.com/ShumwayPhotography
then you have had the play by play of this trip.

I hope you enjoyed being able to follow along during the trip.

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments/criticism, and also give your favorite photos a thumbs up on my site.

Enjoy

The Drive to Yellowstone

On March 13th, 2010 I decided to document my drive from Billings, MT to Yellowstone National Park (via Gardiner, MT) through the process of time lapse photography. What you see in the video is 5,183 photos taken 2 seconds apart from one another put together via Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended at 24 frames/sec. Initially it was 1080P; but I compressed it to 720P for the web. The images were captured via 50D with a 17-40/4.0L at 1/200, f/11, ISO400. The 2h52m drive became 3m36s. Alexander Blu contributed "TimeTraveler," big thanks to creative commons.

One thing that I did wrong was that I did not reset the cameras numbering before starting, so I had to edit two big pieces together in Final Cut, that is where I added the music too.

If you have questions on the process feel free to ask.

I hope you enjoy, I would not be surprised if I do a bit more of this stuff (not while driving) in the future.

Enjoy

Winter Star Trails Over a Marmot

I took a few hours to shoot star trails over my tent this weekend. The exposure is some 728 seconds, f/5.6, @ ISO100 shot from the 5DII with the 17-40/4.0L lens at 21mm. I used a tripod and cable release.

I awoke to a frost covered camera/tripod/release; but it was worth it.

More photos from the trip to come soon.

Enjoy

Golden Eagle - Billings South Rims, March 6th

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

Just a few shots of a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) crusing above a Prairie Dog town. I needed an afternoon drive and I most always take a camera.

Enjoy

Topaz Adjust

More tweaking to my most recent Yellowstone trip photos today.

I decided to play with the new sensation that is Topaz Adjust:
http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/
Save $10 with coupon code “newadjust” good through the 15th of March. (Thanks NSN)

I have nothing to do with Topaz other than purchasing one of their Photoshop plug-ins today and briefly playing with it. I will not claim to know the full potential; but I have played a little bit and see that this is a nice little tool to go along with great shooting and good editing.

If you go through my gallery and see two versions of the same photo you can see Topaz in action.

If you do take a look be sure and let me know what version you like best.

Yellowstone February 26th - March 2nd

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I took the day off from skiing so that I could get these photos edited and online.

If you follow my postings on:
https://twitter.com/FragilePlaces
http://www.facebook.com/ShumwayPhotography
then chances are you have had the play by play of this trip, and have had a chance to see the video footage.

I hope you enjoyed being able to follow along during the trip and I really hope you enjoy the photos and video that I have put online.

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments/criticism, and also give your favorite photos a thumbs up on my site.

Enjoy

Presenting at this year's PIY Expo

ALL THE INFORMATION IS ONLINE

For those who do not know, PIY is the Photographic Institute of the Yellowstone... a great resource for photographers in Montana and Wyoming.

I will be judging the photo competition and then presenting photos and information about my December 2009 birding trip to New Mexico on Friday evening. On Saturday I will be presenting the "Digital Workflow: From Shot to Print."

If you are in the area you should consider attending and possibly even entering a photograph or two into the show.

Phil Bell is a wealth of knowledge and his presentation, "The Art of Photography," will be excellent too.

Home from Yellowstone... with video to share

THE VIDEO IS ONLINE HERE IN HD

I was in Yellowstone from February 26th - March 2nd. The photos will take me a while to edit; but I put together some of the video clips for those who might want to watch. I have removed the audio from the Otters as there was lots of shutter clicking going on while I was recording. The (spoiler alert) Wolf footage has the audio on all except the last clip as the sound is the best part.

The footage of the Otter/s was captured with the 7D and 500/4.0L IS while the Wolf footage was captured with the use of telephoto converters (2X and 1.4X). The Wolf was a long way off and the atmospheric distortion is very obvious. The distance adds a cool element of delay on the audio... you'll see.

Enjoy