Use of Natural Objects in the frame

Another Natural Arch at Arches National Park Utah
Originally uploaded by Arun Sasidharan (www.asasidh.com)

This is one quick and easy tip that could improve the quality of photos many fold. Instead of the regular straight on approach to taking the picture, look around for some natural object that can be included in the frame as a foreground or to enclose the subject. This would become a natural frame for the photo. In this case I tried to include a tree in the frame to make the subject a bit more interesting. Sometimes you may need to add a bit of fill flash or else the foreground will appear very dark. Adding a string foreground or a framing to the composition will make it stronger.

Alpine Tundra Vegetation of Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) has a lot vegetation and wild life to offer. However above 11,000 or 11,500 feet ASL, we are above the tree line and all the vegetation will give way to the Tundra. Thats the only kind of plant life that grows in these High Altitudes. The word Tundra itself means "Land of No Trees"

Tundra is subject to extreme weather of freezing temperature, high altitude winds, long periods of snow cover etc. During June to August the Tundra blooms and there is a wide variety of flowers.

Tundra grows at a very slow rate of less than an inch over 20 years. It would take hundreds of years for the Tundra to grow back when damaged. Visitors to the park are required to stay on established trails to avoid damage to the Tundra. However every time I have been to the park, I can see people running around, taking shortcuts, posting for photos etc inside the Tundra vegetation. When you bring children to the park, its your responsibility to educate them on the importance of the delicate environment they are in. What you see in this picture is Tundra vegetation at around 12500 feet ASL. the damage done by walking over them would take several years to heal due to the harsh environment and the slow growth rate of the plant. Damaging the Tundra could cost you a hefty Fine

I am told that there are over 330 variety of Alpine Tundra in the rockies. The best way to have an up close look is to take the Trail Ridge Road inside the RMNP. Please make sure that you educate your group regarding the importance of preserving the Tundra vegetation. Enjoy them from a safe Distance and Dont allow the children to run about on them. Summer time is a good time to visit this place if you want to see the Tundra Bloom. But the season is short and probaly somewhere around June. Please make sure to call the Park authorities and check before planning your trip.

For further reading:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/romo/visit/weather/scenicdrives.html
http://www.us-parks.com/rocky/scenic_drives.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

This is an HDR (I will post an article on High Dynamic Range photography soon) rendering of Bear Lake inside Rocky Mountain National Park. I have been to this National Park several times and i still don't get bored. There is always something new to see and learn here. Bear Lake is one of the well known spots inside the park and its a very short trail to here. Unlike some other exotic places inside the park, this one is very accessible. The above picture was taken late in the evening before sunset. I liked the colors cast on the distant mountain and the reflection in the lake. I set up my tripod inside the Lake and was standing in water to take this picture. Technically the picture could have been improved if i was using a polarizer. But then that will keep be going back there again.. in search of the perfect light and shots. Thats what photography and exploring light is all about.

Technical Details
HDR Rendered from Three Different Exposures
Aperture: f18
Shutter Speed: 1.6 sec, 0.4 Sec and 0.8 sec
Focal length: 21mm

Deers spotted at Royal Gorge

This pic was taken at the Royal Gorge, Colorado which is promoted as Colorado's Natural Wonder. We had finished our day there and were heading back to the Car parking when these deers appeared from no where. They were crossing the road into another part of the wilderness. I took my camera and quickly fired off. Did not get much time to frame and all. But it turned out okay. Applied a little warming tint to the picture to set a mood.

Technical Data:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/13
Focal Length: 48 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV

Please let me know if you need any more info

Who shoots the Moon ?

This is the first in a series of photo blogs that i am planning to publish here. The above picture was taken on Jan 30th 2007 from outside my balcony of my house in Denver,CO. When I Got a few minutes break before my 4 Hour Long Running Baseline Scenario load test, i decided to give this a shot. Taken with a Canon EOS Rebel Xti (EOS 400 D) . Aperture f4 at a focal length of 200 mm Manual Exposure for 1/400 sec.

It is impossible (at least for me) to get a decent shot of the moon with any of the automatic settings in the camera. Actually, this is a perfect example of where we need to go for the manual mode. The moon is against a black sky here and all the blackness in the sky will confuse the light meter in your camera. If you have a semi pro camera like the Canon EOS 30 D and a long lens like 400 mm prime or a 100-400 then you could try the spot metering and get a good meter reading with the moon centered in the frame. This was not an option for me as I had a 400 D that does not have a spot meter.

Since I was dealing with high shutter speeds here, I did not need a tripod. Actually it is also a bit impractical for me to use a tripod leaning out of the balcony looking straight up to take this shot.

For this shot, I used the longest lens I had in my kit, the 70-200 4L. A longer lens or a 2x TC would have helped a lot in this case. So what i did here is, I deliberately underexposed the picture to capture the details on the moons surface. for this I went for a high shutter speed for 1/400 sec. After this I did a little bit of post processing in Picasa to highlight the shadows. Shooting the moon is definitely something i want to keep trying and improve upon. I will be able to spend more time in the open in a couple of months So you can expect more in this series soon.
Until then - Happy Shooting
Arun
www.asasidh.com