Bodie, California Ghost Town

Last week I went on a trip to Mono County, eastern California (right on the border with Nevada). I took many pictures of Mono Lake, Bodie (an old wild west ghost town, now a State Historic Park) and of two old abandoned gold mines in the hills beyond Bodie. So far I have only processed the Bodie shots. Here are four examples. The two of the car are tone mapped in Photomatix (five exposures, handheld, burst mode).

The most difficult part of photographing Bodie was to avoid getting any of the numerous other photographers in the shot. The whole “ghost town” atmosphere is rather ruined by stuff like that, especially as some people insist on wearing bright red shirts! (Photographers, at least have the courtesy to wear a color like brown, gray or black.) With patience, you can get a clear shot most of the time, but I would advise anyone else thinking of going to Bodie, not to do what I did, which was arrive at 1pm. For one, the light is at its worst at that time. But also, it is the most crowded. By 4pm, most of the other people had gone. (The park is open until 6pm, May 15th - October 31st.)

See the rest of the pictures in my Bodie gallery.

Sonoma Theatre

Just a quick post today of the theatre (note correct spelling) in Sonoma town. Used the ultra wide angle to give a distorted look, and to capture the unusual cloud formations. It just looked better in black & white.

Five bracketed shots handheld in burst mode, HDR in Photomatix.

Bad Ass Car Show Sonoma

That was the name of the custom car show in Sonoma last weekend, apparently sponsored by Bad Ass Cars – a custom car shop in Sonoma. Many of these cars are works of art, but they are quite difficult to photograph well due to the inevitable busy backgrounds – people hanging around, other cars, miscellaneous objects  - that distract from the car you are trying to capture. Also, if you just photograph someone else’s art, are you really creating anything yourself? Photography becomes an exercise in low angles / getting in close and cropping. The other problem is that with all the chrome on display, it’s hard to get a shot that doesn’t include your own reflection – a fool holding a camera to his face, staring right back at you. I avoided it mostly in these shots, but not so much in all the others. (Note to self – next time, don’t wear an orange shirt! Maybe something in gray.)

Here are three shots I was happy with. PP in Lightroom 4 – mostly more saturation and contrast. The red car interior was HDR in Photomatix – five shots handheld in burst mode. And yes, it really was that red.

 

The rest of the pictures can be seen in the Bad Ass Custom Car Show gallery.

Point Cabrillo lighthouse – Experimenting With Photomatix

Two weeks ago I took a trip up the Mendocino coast (N California) to photograph some of the coastlines and lighthouses. The trouble is, I hadn’t figured in the possibility that the whole area would be fogged in. And where there was no fog, it was completely cloudy with horrible flat light. See the first photo of the Point Cabrillo lighthouse – the only way I could make it remotely interesting is by crouching down and cutting out most of the sky.

So I figured - return at sunset. Maybe the setting sun will be below the clouds. Well, it was – not spectacular, but better light. See pictures two and three below.

Picture 4 shows the setting sun with the lighthouse in silhouette.

Then, on a whim, I put the camera on the tripod and shot 5 bracketed shots, one stop apart. When I got home I downloaded a trial version of Photomatix HDR software and produced the fifth image you see below.

This was produced using the “exposure fusion” option, which (as I learned last weekend, after much Googling) is not quite the same as HDR. It merges the five exposures but gives a more natural look. I also did some HDR with tone mapping, but I like this one the best. I do wonder though if I shouldn’t have increased the red in the sky before importing from Lightroom?

Anyway, my first attempt at exposure fusion / HDR. I liked the software so much I immediately upgraded from the trial. The trouble is, now every scene looks like an HDR opportunity. Expect more!