hills » Traverse Earth

Coming through

Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

May 142012

Shooting in RAW

I’ve read a few articles on whether you should shoot in RAW or JPEG. Today’s photo is a good illustration of why you should shoot in RAW if your goal is HDR. I fired off three bracketed exposures, as I usually do when shooting handheld. However, the gorilla was moving to me so quickly that I could never combine these three exposures. RAW to the rescue. I was able to use the standard exposure to create the rest of my exposures. At the standard exposure the gorillas faces were far too dark. By expanding this image from -2 through to +2, I was able to recover this detail.

Today’s photo: Coming Through

I’d like to be able to claim that I carefully set my camera to blur the gorillas left hand and show movement. The reality is, with a gorilla bearing down on me, playing with the camera was not the first thing on my mind. Getting a few shots and getting out of the way was priority. I wouldn’t say I was particularly scared of a gorilla attack. I was more worried about being the asshole that gets in their way and disrupts their day. Nobody wants to leave a bad first impression with a silverback. After firing off a few shots I stepped quickly out of the way and directly onto Chris’s foot. You can here his muffled scream 29 seconds into this video. In this case I’m glad I didn’t succeed in freezing the gorilla’s motion. It’s blurred left hand makes it clear that this silverback is coming straight at you.

If you’re interested in buying a print: click away!

JE Smith Farm

Canada, Ontario, Toronto, Travel 1 Response »

May 132012

It’d be pretty easy to spend all of your time driving around Bruce County photographing the farms that dot the landscape. They’re all the stereotypical barn and silo combination. Most of them are positioned in the middle of flat areas. I particularly like this one, nestled at the bottom of a hill, with a lone tree to the right at the crest.

If you’re interested in buying a print, click here.

Masked Volcano, Rwanda

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 3 Responses »

May 052012

Operation Horseshoe Bay

First, a quick note on this. In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted any photos from my successful sunrise at Horseshoe it’s because I wasn’t as successful as I’d thought. For some reason I had my ISO cranked right up. This has resulted in too much noise in the original images for me to merge them to HDR. Always keep your ISO as low as possible!

So, I’m starting again. Tomorrow I’ll be checking the weather reports and picking a few days I think will be good for the sunrise down there. Tonight though, I’ve used the Photographer’s Ephemeris to realise that it’s a good time to photograph the smallest drawbridge in the world. So, I’ll be heading up there in about an hour. Using this tool has also allowed me to spot a few other areas nearby that should be good at sunset.

A friend of mine mentioned that the moon is currently appearing larger than usual, so I’ve also identified a spot to capture the moonrise from, something I’ve never done before. I just hope the sky’s clear for long enough.

Sun Behind Clouds Behind Volcano Behind Clouds Behind Farm Land and the Boundary of Volcano National Park

Rwanda’s landscape really is stunning. Every corner leads to breathtaking views. Here you can see the typical Rwandan terraced farming in front of one of the volcanoes that gives Volcanoes National Park its name. It’s also pretty clear here why Rwanda is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills.

Mike has commented on a few of my posts and mentioned on Tea Time that this intensive level of farming must result in massive pressure on local reserves/wildlife. One thing I found interesting, while driving through the hills, was just how defined the line between the farmland and the national park is. If you look at the volcano in this image, just below the cloud level, you can see this line.

Potato Farming, Rwanda

Africa, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

Apr 252012

After visiting the gorillas in Rwanda our guide took us on another route back down. It was a lot easier to enjoy the incredible views on the way down than it was on the way up, which was pretty hard work. We paused here for a break so I took the opportunity to grab a photo. The plants in the foreground are potatoes. I had no idea this is what potatoes look like as they grow. I don’t know what I thought they looked like, but I definitely wouldn’t have pictured little purple flowers.

Paradis Malahide Morning

Africa, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

Apr 062012

Another view of the shoreline of Lake Kivu occupied by the Padis Malahide Hotel. I was actually staying in the room you can see in the picture, just above the beach. If you look at this photo in full size you can see the church featured in this post. Just to the right of the frame is the dock where the fishermen set out every night and returned the next morning.

…and where do you think you’re going?

Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel 4 Responses »

Apr 042012

This gorilla is the same as the first of the gorilla shots I posted. After I’d shot the first photo he moved to this position and paused for a moment before he and the big guy behind him began walking towards me. I felt the guides hand on my shoulder and stepped back accordingly. The gorillas casually walked over the spot I’d just occupied and only a few feet from my current location. Amazing.

The Mysterious Sunken Fence, Rwanda

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 8 Responses »

Mar 282012

Trip Planning

I’m in the process of planning my trip to Iceland in June. I’ll be going for the summer solstice so will get to enjoy photographing sunsets that run right into sunrises through the night. I’ve also got a few interesting bits I’d like to do. The top of my list is snorkeling in the rift between the North American and European tectonic plates. Apparently, the water’s so clear you can look down for miles into the Earth and feel like you’re floating in space. I also need to photograph some puffins and want to go whale watching, as well as exploring some ice caves. There’s so much to do I wish I was going for longer. It’s going to be difficult coming up with a plan that won’t leave me totally exhausted. Despite the walls of my room having had sufficient insulation, I’m not entirely sure when I’ll sleep. If anyone’s got any advice on Iceland let me know.

Fish Farm, Rwanda

When setting out on a hike through a few of Rwanda’s thousand hills it’s reasonable to expect to find something interesting around every corner. You encounter sights ranging from a young boy juggling a football made of plastic sheeting and twine, to two men using a long saw to split a log (with one man standing 8 feet in the air atop the trunk being cut), as well as the subject of today’s photo.

It’s somewhat startling to find this large, man-made pool of water in amongst the sugar cane, maize and potatoes. Initially, what it is ain’t exactly clear. Then, you notice concentric ripples forming on the surface as if the water was being disturbed by a light rain. It’s not raining so the only solution is that there must be something below. The guide confirms that it’s a fish farm and begins explaining how it works. It’s quite fascinating, particularly the purpose of the fence pictured below. I’m intrigued to see what people think it is for, so have a guess in the comments section. I’ll see what everyone comes up with then add the answer in a comment of my own if no-one guesses.

This photo employs 5 exposures bracketed from -2 to +2. I had shot 7 exposures but decided that the other two weren’t adding anything so decided not to include them.

JE Smith Farm, Owens Sound, Ontario

Canada, Ontario, Travel 3 Responses »

Mar 262012

Bruce and Grey counties in Ontario, Canada are dotted with loads of little farms like this one. Most of them are on flat land and quite far from the road. I really wanted to get a photo of a barn and silo with the name on the side like this one. I was rushing to get to Inglis Falls before it got too dark. Just as we found the turning to the falls I spotted this farm across the street. The sun had just dropped behind it and I decided I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. So I parked the car and jogged back down the road a bit to get this picture. I still made it to the falls in time as well, so it all worked out.

Rugged Coast, False Bay 2

Africa, South Africa, Travel No Responses »

Mar 192012

I posted an image of the coastline of False Bay last week. This shot is taken just a few steps further down. Walking along the coast was interesting. We’d hopped off the train with an hour to kill before the next one arrived and our group split. Cameron and I took off up the coast towards a vantage point I’d spotted from the tracks. The others went down to the beach. One of the most striking things about walking along here was the huge numbers of mussels hugging the rocks, as well as the piles of shells of the unlucky ones.

Rugged, rocky coast of False Bay, South Africa with cliffs across the water.

Candid Moment, Gorillas in Rwanda

Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel 1 Response »

Mar 122012

HDR Tutorial!!

For those of who have been waiting on my HDR tutorial I’ve finally gotten installment one online (thank you Brooke for the gentle nudge in the comments). This will take you as far as taking photos for HDR processing . I’ll be working on the processing portion this week. I got on a pretty good roll and am hoping to continue with that momentum. Right now I’m focusing on getting step by step instructions up. I’ll be adding screen captures to make it all a bit clearer and making changes as I get questions.

Candid Moment

I concentrated on catching the gorillas eyes while photographing them. They’re so expressive and remind us how close they are to us. Despite that, I like this photo. It really gives the feeling of looking into their world, watching them go about their daily business which is how we spent most of our time with them.

Older Entries Newer Entries