Balanced Light

Des Paroz's thoughts on telling stories through words, pixels and presentations.

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That Wanaka Willow

Commonly known as thatWanakaTree, the Wanaka Willow is a tree that grows out in the waters of New Zealand’s Lake Wanaka.

Supposedly the most photographed tree in the world, the Wanaka Willow attracts dozens of photographers each sunrise and sunset to capture imagery of this rather unique vista.

As with all of our experiences on the South Island, Wanaka was a wonderful place to stop and make images of mountains, lakes and of course #thatWanakaTree.

That Wanaka Willow was originally published on BalancedLight

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Wakatipu Reflections

A trio of images from the Queenstown area of New Zealand, featuring the stunning mountain ranges as a backdrop to the magic foreground of Lake Wakatipu.

The scenery around Queenstown is simply breathtaking and would keep any landscape photographer happy for years.

Wakatipu Reflections

Magnificent reflections on Lake Wakatipu. Driving back from Glenorchy to Queenstown we spotted this great vista, smooth surface and great reflections, and pulled over as soon as it was safe to make some photos.

Old Paradise Wharf

Roughly half-way between Queenstown and Glenorchy is the hamlet of Little Paradise, Mt Creighton. There’s not much there – basically just a lodge and the old wharf. This last site is a magic foreground for photos.

SUP Wakatipu

Taken from the Queenstown Gardens with the stunning mountains backdrop to the standup paddle-boarding and other water activities taking place on Lake Wakatipu.

Wakatipu Reflections was originally published on BalancedLight

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A New Zealand Adventure Begins

Queenstown, a city on New Zealand’s South Island, is sometimes referred to as the ‘adventure capital of the world’, a title it has earned through the variety of outdoor and adventure activities that can be pursued in and around this alpine city.

Even the flight into Queenstown is regarded as the world’s most scenic approach, as well as one of the ultimate landings for thrill-seekers.

This is due to the need for the pilots to fly in over Lake Hayes, navigate through some very mountainous valleys and finally land on a runway that seems to lead straight into Lake Wakatipu.

The image at the top of this page shows one of the valleys through which arriving aircraft must fly, and a careful look will reveal an Air New Zealand Boeing 737 on final approach. The second image, just above shows the final valleys and peaks to be navigated, with the runway of the airport leading to Lake Wakatipu.

Skilled pilots of major New Zealand and Australian airlines regularly and safely make this flight, but it is nonetheless an amazing arrival for first time visitors and residents returning home alike.

It is thrilling arrival to the start of an adventure to some of the incredibly picturesque landscapes in the world.

A New Zealand Adventure Begins was originally published on BalancedLight

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Diving PNG

I was surprised today to see blog post from DeeperBlue on Diving Papua New Guinea, featuring one of my images from a trip my wife and I made there in 2006.

We love PNG, and have dived at Kavieng, Kimbe Bay (Walindi), Milne Bay (Tawali) and Tufi. These are all amazing diving locations, and I am happy to see one of my images being used to promote diving in this part of the world.

New Post: Diving Papua New Guinea https://t.co/aRvVzeRG9j pic.twitter.com/328OOxCNfm

— DeeperBlue.com (@deeperblue) January 31, 2018

With that said, a bit of advance notice and link back would have been nice!

Diving PNG was originally published on BalancedLight

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Passage to the Castle

Castel Sant’Angelo must be one of the most photographed sites in Rome. Given that Rome is one of the world’s most photographed cites, that is really saying something.

Having captured several of the classic vistas of Castel Sant’Angelo, I set about finding different angles. This street leading up to the bridge across to the castle presented an interesting composition for an afternoon image, with the shadows in the foreground, and the brightly lit castle behind.

This image was shot hand-held, and some work was done in Luminar to get the lights and colours to match more closely the scene I saw on the day.

Image Data

C: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

L: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO

E: Lightroom CC Classic, Luminar 2018

View this image on 500px or Flickr

Passage to the Castle was originally published on BalancedLight

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Colourful Clarke Quay

Singapore is a colourful city.

I didn’t tropical business-hub to be so vibrant and vivid, so as a photographer I was delighted to experience not just the modern architecture mixed with Asian heritage, but also the colourful expression of city’s colonial past.

We explored the city mostly by foot, but a boat tour from Marina Bay to Clarke Quay was a great way to explore a variety of locations, and to scout things out.

Along the river several colourful areas were quite photogenic. With the sun direction on the day, Clarke Quay proved particularly attractive.

I created this photo in the middle of a bright, sunny day. With the sky and the water, my polarising filter was critical to getting a good base image. I did some colour correction in Lightroom, and a little bit in Luminar and the resulting image represents the picture I saw on the day quite nicely.

Image Data

C: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 L: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO E: Lightroom CC Classic, Luminar 2018

View this image on 500px or Flickr

Colourful Clarke Quay was originally published on BalancedLight

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Pre-setting your camera for likely images

My photographic origins in the underwater world have taught me the importance of thinking through the photographic objectives for a shoot (dive), and pre-setting your camera.

In underwater photography one key mantra is to get close – minimising the amount of water between subject and your camera1.

For this reason, and the fact that lenses cannot be changed underwater2, most UW photo situations revolve around one of a small number of basic setups.

Wide angle lenses that allow the photographer to get close to large subjects.

Close up lenses that get the photographer close to small subjects.

Macro lenses that allow images to be made of small to extremely small subjects.

In reality a good macro lens is also a very capable close up lens, further reducing the number of setups to just two.

Before a dive I spend time setting up my camera rig for the setup – not just the lens and ports, but also choosing strobe (flash) arms and getting everything about right for the dive. I make sure that I have a formatted

As I became a more experienced UW photographer it dawned on me that I could extend the preparedness concept to include camera settings. In each different style of photography I could reasonably anticipate the settings, and then prepare accordingly, saving the need to fiddle with adjustments underwater. The following table shows some examples of common pre-sets that I use:

Macro Close-Up W/A – Reef/People Big Fish, Moving Fast Lens 30mm 30mm 7-14mm zoom 7-14mm zoom Port Flat Flat Dome Dome Strobes 1-2 1-2 1-2 0-2 Arms Short Short-Medium Long Long Camera Mode A A A S Likely Aperture f/16-f/22 f/11-f/16 f/5.6-f/11 N/A Likely Shutter Speed N/A N/A N/A 1/125–1/500 ISO 200 200 200-400 200-400 Strobe Power ¼-½ ¼-½ ¼-½ ½–Full

Before I enter the water with a close up / macro right, then I will likely preset as follows: – Shutter mode: Aperture Priority (A) – Aperture: f/16 – ISO: 200 – Strobes: ½ power

With this setup, any changes for the first subject scene I come across are likely only to be a click or two on a dial or two. I have similar checklists for my wide angle photo scenes.

The concepts extends to my topside photography:

Landscape Seascape Street Lens 12-60mm 8-18mm 20mm Mode A A A Starting Aperture f/8 f/11 f/6 ISO 200 200 400 Image Stabilisation 3 Off Off On

Obviously the above table can (and should) be extended to different lighting situations – blue hour, golden hour, daylight, night, etc.

I hope this post seeks to provide some insight into how I think about my photography before a shoot. There are variations to the above, and equipment, shooting genre, artistic style, etc, should all influence how you pre-set.

In any case, thinking ahead and creating simple checklists including these settings and perhaps a reminder to have a formatted memory card, fresh battery and even to check the camera’s date and time settings, can help to allow you to focus on your photography when on a shoot.

Water filters light, removes colour and refracts light in a way that causes a subject to lose sharpness and colour, as well as adding gunk (technical) terms that further kills the quality of an image. ↩

There are some low quality or super-expensive rigs that do allow changing of lenses, but the majority of setups do not. ↩

For landscape and seascapes I am generally shooting on a tripod or clamp, so stabilisation should be off, while shooting handheld (i.e. street) stabilisation should be on. ↩

Pre-setting your camera for likely images was originally published on BalancedLight

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Marina Bay Sands

I love spending time around the Downtown Core area of Singapore whenever I visit the exotic Asian city.

The island nation has developed a unique combination of the old and the new, of Asian and western and of formal and casual.

Photographically, the Downtown Core is a dream. There are many buildings, bridges, and other structures to make images of and the waters of Marina Bay provide a delicate balance to the formations and the sky.

This image was made mid-afternoon, so a polarizing filter helped to reduce the glare.

Singapore is a great destination in its own right and is a comfortable stopover for travellers flying between other Asia-Pacific destinations and Europe. Well worth a visit, and for photographers, there are some great camera stores to be found with reasonable prices.

Image Data

C: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 L: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO E: Lightroom CC Classic, Luminar 2018

View this image on 500px or Flickr

Marina Bay Sands was originally published on BalancedLight

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My Mirrorless Experience

I made the switch from DSLR cameras to the Micro Four Thirds (m43) based interchangeable lens system in about 2014. My last dSLR was a Nikon D200, and I switched to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 that I am still using.1

The switch to m43 has been awesome.

My personal photography revolves around underwater, seascapes, landscapes and travel photography. For all of these genres a balanced and lightweight rig provides an a lot of advantages for me.

Advantages of m43

Travel is getting more restrictive, and there is a clear move by airlines and security agencies to increasingly limit the amount of gear we can travel with, particularly carry on. Many of the destinations I go to are accessed by small aircraft, placing even greater restrictions on the kit that can be carried.

In my photography, I tend to move around a lot, and the smaller rig allows me to more easily carry all my kit in one bag.

I can also use a smaller, lighter tripod to stabilise my rig – important in my photography.

The m43 gear also tends to be ahead of the curve, compared to most DSLR gear, in terms of introducing new tech.

This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the key things that work well for me.

Disadvantages and Mitigations of m43

Clearly the smaller sensor size (compared to the misnamed ‘full frame’ cameras) means lower resolution. My GX7 is 16 megapixel2, and to be honest I’ve never found a scenario where I have wished for more. For most photographers, anything upwards of 12 megapixel will be more than enough.

Autofocus on (most) mirrorless cameras is slower. If I were to be shooting high speed subjects (e.g. sports) this would be a concern. For my shooting, not so much.

Bokeh is more difficult on smaller sensors. I won’t go into the maths, but the depth-of-field is actually greater for the same f-stop, so you need a bigger aperture to achieve the same result3. To meet this requirement, some manufacturers are now making super fast lenses for m43 and other mirrorless cameras. One of my favourite lenses is the Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7, and there are at least a half dozen lenses with a maximum aperture in the order of 0.95.

Final Thoughts

The move to mirrorless has been the right move for me. I am glad I started down this path, and will stay the course with m43. If I was starting over I would happily choose m43 again, although would consider the Fuji mirrorless system.

I also find that I make more photos, more regularly, because I really have fun shooting mirrorless.

I am not advocating m43 (or other mirrorless) cameras as the perfect solution for all photographers, but for landscape, travel and underwater photographers there are many reasons mirrorless should be considered.

What is certain is that we are in an exciting time for photography when we can choose a wide range of cameras and accessories to make wonderful images.

I am in the process of upgrading to the Panasonic Lumix DC-G9, but will keep my GX7 as a backup and second scene camera. ↩

My upcoming G9 will be 20 megapixel. With some smart hardware/software magic 80 megapixel images can be made. ↩

On the flip, the mirrorless depth-of-field is outstanding for my macro photographs. ↩

My Mirrorless Experience was originally published on BalancedLight

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Wangi Falls

Wangi Falls in Litchfield National Park is a spectacular place to visit for great photography opportunities. During the Top End’s dry season it is also a great place to swim and enjoy cool, clear water.1

Waterfalls provide an interesting range of shooting opportunities, with my preference being for silky smooth water as seen in this image.

This image was created in the middle of a bright, cloudless day, so to achieve the silken look I used a Lee Big Stopper 10-stop ND filter. This resulted in a 25-second shutter speed at f/8.0. This slow shutter speed also resulted in a smooth surface on the lagoon, and enhanced the reflection of the waterfall.

View this image on 500px or Flickr.

Image Data

C: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

L: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO

E: Lightroom CC Classic, Luminar 2018, Photoshop

F: Lee Filters Seven5 Big Stopper; Lee Filters Seven5 Polarizing Filter.

Always check and heed signage at all swimming spots in Litchfield – dangerous undertows can be present, and this is an area where saltwater crocodiles are regularly seen in the Wet Season, resulting in the lagoon being (sensibly) closed to swimmers. ↩

Wangi Falls was originally published on BalancedLight

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Crowds and Clouds

Late Autumn is a great time to visit Rome as the crowds are much smaller than they would be during the Summer months.

This image was created from the Spanish Steps, with a perspective down Via dei Condotti, an upmarket shopping street in city’s centre. The presence of the crowds gives some indication of what the city might be like in the busier months. I am glad we visited when we did.

It was an overcast day, but the use of filters and some image editing in Luminar helped to bring out the detail in the sky. The final image is much closer to the way I saw the sky on the day.

Take a look at my Italy 2017 Photo Gallery.

View this image on 500px or Flickr

Image Data

C: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

L: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO

E: Lightroom CC Classic, Luminar 2018

Crowds and Clouds was originally published on BalancedLight

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The Temple of Castor and Pollux

The Temple of Castor and Pollux is one of the ancient ruined buildings in the Roman Forum.

Today the temple consists of three marble pillars, some foundational structure and little more. It can be seen from a variety of vantage points from around the Forum.

I composed this image to get maximal sky between the columns, providing what I feel is the strongest image.

A polarising filter was an important addition to my kit for this shoot, allowing me to minimise glare.

The Temple of Vesta is also a key feature in the Roman Forum, and from this vantage point we can see that there is another view of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

This one also has reasonable sky, but there is a bit more clutter. Both are interesting images, but for my liking the featured image, with less clutter, is the better perspective.

Regardless of your preference, exploring a site and getting multiple image of a subject from a variety of vantage points gives maximum chance of getting a ‘keeper’.

Image Data

C: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 L: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO E: Lightroom CC Classic, Luminar 2018

Check out my Italy 2017 Photo Gallery.

View this image on 500px or Flickr.

The Temple of Castor and Pollux was originally published on BalancedLight

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Boats on Sanur Beach

Sanur is considered the original upmarket tourist destination on the Indonesian island of Bali, and remains a photographically spectacular place today.

The long beach looks over towards Nusa Penida island (which can be seen in the background of this image).

I only had a couple of days in Bali on this trip as I was visiting for a seminar, so didn’t have the flexibility to shoot at the times that would have better suited. That said, I did enjoy the chance to explore the beach, and really liked the traditional fishing boats all along.

The challenge here was isolating the subject. The beaches are busy, and there is a lot going on. I managed to isolate the image nicely and using a polariser I reduced the glare of the mid-morning sun.

View this image on 500px or Flickr

Boats on Sanur Beach was originally published on BalancedLight

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Apps for Photography

My iPhone, and to an extent my iPad, are really important parts of my seascape, landscape and urban photography.

The iPhone itself makes for a good scouting camera, a good camera for a sneaky pano and a tool for making images of my image making. Its true power, however, lies in its abilities to assist in planning, managing, editing and sharing photos.

I thought I’d share some of the apps I use, and how I use them in my photography adventures.

Planning

Modern Atlas is a wonderful app that allows you to explore an area ahead of time with a map based interface that pulls in data from Wikipedia and other sources. It also features a lot of photography of an area, so it is a good planning tool.

500px and Flickr are two apps that allow you to pre-explore an area to see what other photographers have done. Its a good source of ideas for image making starting points in a destination.

The Photographers Ephemeris is perhaps my most used planning tool. Once I get an idea of where I want to shoot from TPE allows me to work out optimal times for shooting, noting sun angles and elevations, as well as timings for sunrise/set, golden hour and blue hour.

Weather Apps are an important planning tool to know whether it is worth planning to get up early, and what you can expect as far as temperatures. At home in Australia I use WillyWeather, and when travelling internationally I tend to use the native iOS Weather app. Rain Parrot is a great tool for providing me with alerts if rain is expected.

Maps – While I use Apple Maps at home and when I have good 4G coverage, I really like Maps.me when travelling internationally where I might not have good data coverage, or very limited data allowance. Maps.me is a superb tool for planning and then locating a photo location, even when coverage is unavailable. I am also playing around with what3words as a very interesting concept for planning and tracking locations.

Bear is my place for logging my ideas for both writing and photography. It provides a cool interface on macOS and iOS for notes using a modified Markdown format.

Shooting

Geotag Photos Pro 2 is a tool I use to do GPS logging for my images.

Panasonic Image App is a remote app for shooting with Panasonic Lumix cameras.

MiOPS is a tool to integrate with my MiOPS smart triggers.

LEE Filters – Stopper Exposure – I use Lee Filters Little Stopper (6 f-stop) and Big Stopper (10 f-stop) filters for many of my images, and this app allows me to quickly calculate the shutter speed I will need for a given aperture.

Managing

Photos – used mainly for supporting images taken on my iPhone. Getting more and more powerful with every release.

Adobe Lightroom CC – I do most of my digital asset management (DAM) on my Mac, but the new version of Lightroom CC allows me to do some of this work on the go.1

Editing

Affinity Photo – I do most of my editing in Luminar 2018 on my Mac, but when I do need to do stuff on the go, Affinity Photo is a very capable editor on iOS.

Plotagraph+ Photo Animator – I love still images, but adding some movement to a still is a different way of enjoying photography. Plotagraph+ is a fun and easy tool to do just that.

When I am editing in Luminar 2018 on my MacBook Pro, and I don’t have a Wacom tablet with me, I use Astropad Studio on my iPad with an Apple Pencil to bring graphics tablet functionality to the table. This is very on the go.

Miscellaneous

Lenstag is a great tool to allow me to track my camera and lens equipment.

Sharing

I’ve mentioned before that I use 500px and Flickr to plan, but they remain great ways to share my best images.

Micro.blog is a great, relatively new, platform for owning your own content, but sharing with a social layer. I am finding this to be a great way of sharing my images and photography thoughts not only to the Micro.Blog platform, but also to Twitter and Facebook (if I want to). Find me on Micro.Blog

New Additions

Really Good Photo Spots is a social based photo location sharing and planning tool. It has potential, but I haven’t used it enough, yet, to incorporate it into my standard workflow.

Conclusion

The biggest challenge with much photography, particularly landscape photography, is the challenge of time. It is a limited resource, and good planning and execution makes the job of making photos simpler and more fun.

The above apps have made my life easier. I’d be interested to hear other’s experiences, and also any suggestions on other apps worth considering.

I haven’t emotionally committed to Lightroom at this time – still waiting to see what the upcoming DAM features in Luminar will look like. ↩

Apps for Photography was originally published on BalancedLight