Oct 04 2008
Another Photo Shoot
“Cause I live in a van, down by the river!” One of my favorite Chris Farley scenes ever. Today, I went down by the river. The Minnesota River, that is. I decided to take a drive down to nearby Shakopee and wander along the wandering river. I made my way down to the bank, and kept my eyes open. I had been wanting to try out some more HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, so I brought along my tripod.
HDR photos are created by shooting a series of bracketed shots (from 2 stops under exposed to 2 stops over exposed), and merging them together in Photoshop. When done correctly, the result is a photo with significantly more dynamic range than you could achieve with a single shot. I shot four such photos, and one came out well. It’s the last photo of the series.
I was finishing shooting one HDR series, and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. Two little birds with long legs were flitting around in the water. I quickly swapped lenses and put my long telephoto on. I spun the tripod around and started snapping shots. The little birds were quick, but I got a few good images.
I also came across a waterfall. I had been wanting to do more long exposure times with waterfalls, and this provided me a great opportunity. I nearly dunked myself in the creek in an effort to get in position; I hadn’t counted on the bank being so soft, and my foot sunk up to my ankle when I stepped to the edge. I actually wanted to climb out right into the water fall and shoot from there, but I couldn’t come up with a way to get out there and keep the camera safe and dry.
It was a great day of being outside. The light was nice, the temperature was just about perfect, and the sky couldn’t have been any bluer. I definitely want to go back to this spot in a few weeks when the leaves have turned. Check out the photos…
