Port Aransas is a nice vacation destination...but for landscape photography, there is nothing much there. It's flat and no interesting geological formation. Here I found a puddle of water on the beach. I got really close to it with my wide angle lens, probably only several inches off the water and took this picture. With good clouds, sun rise and the joggers, all the sudden, this boring flat beach became photographically interesting. You can do this at any beach. You just have to wake up early in the morning on a semi-cloudy day. If I got little lower, I probably could make the jogger look like they were running on the water. (Sony a7R, Sony/Zeiss FE 16-35 F4 at 20mm, 1/60, f/11, ISO = 100, Vivid JPEG, Tripod, No post processing). Difficulty: 4/10. Shibuya Score 3/10 (what is this?)
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This is one of the famous shots, looking at Watchman over Virgin River in Zion National Park. Though it's famous and attractive, it's extremely easy to get this shot. No hiking required. Driving from St. George, go north on IS-15. From 15 go east on 9 toward Hurricane and toward Zion. After Springdale, pay $25 to enter Zion National Park. Once you enter the park, drive about 1 mile and you will see a junction to go into the valley. People call it "Canyon Junction" but it's not on the Google Map. If you go left (or North) you will enter the main Zion Valley via Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, but hold your urge and don't enter the scenic drive (you can't go in anyways during the peak season anyways. It's only accessible with their shuttles). There is a small parking area right after the junction which fit about 3 cars. From the parking area go back towards the bridge you just crossed (it's only about 100 feet walk), then you have the view, facing south. There is not much space to stand on the bridge, so be careful with the cars. You can walk down along the river on the paved trail but you won't see any better view than this (I tried). The map below is not accurate because I can't point it to the junction but the place is past Springdale. (Sony A7R, Zeiss 16-35 mm FE at 35 mm, f/20, 2 sec, ISO = 100, JPEG in Vivid mode, with tripod)
White pocket (there are multiple pockets but it's singular) is probably the most amazing place I've ever been to. Southern Utah and Northern Arizona have the most interesting formations in the world. That means good photography opportunities. But these places are not easy to get to. For this picture, you need a 4x4 truck and really good sense of direction. People actually can get lost, stranded and die in middle of nowhere. Pictures would look nicer if water is in the pockets with all the reflexion. But it only happens few times a year. You really have to be really lucky. When rains, it's almost impossible to get there; but if you wait too long after rain, then the water evaporates quickly in the desert. I was so lucky to have this shot. To get this we had to drain 1/2 tank of gas from the 4x4 car to make the car lighter and take some air out of its specialized tires to get more traction in the mud. Despite all the trouble, It was so worth it. (Sony A7R with Zeiss FE 16-35mm at 16, f/8, ISO=100, 1/200 sec, JPEG in Vivid mode). Difficulty: 9
The main entrance of the Texas State Capital is on the south side but the best photo opportunity is on the back (north) side of the building, capturing the extension with the main building. Get your widest angle lens and capture things at near and far. Focus about 1/3 from the bottom. With the widest angle around 15-20mm, the depth of the field is large enough to make everything sharp at f/4. To minimize noise, get yourself a tripod and shoot at the lower ISOs. To minimize the camera shake on a high MP camera, a remote or timer is necessary. This was the 36 MP Sony A7R. With the slower shutter speed, pushing on the shutter button with the finger can blur the image. One other pearl is that you should turn of the grid to make sure that the image is nice and symmetrical. It's hard to correct asymmetry post-processing. (Sony A7R, Zeiss 16-35mm at 16mm, f/8, ISO = 400, 1.3 sec, tripod, taken JPEG, Standard mode, post processing for lens distortion correction)
Moving water is fun. The best examples are silky falls and misty shore, artificially created with long exposure shots. A part of what's fun about photography is you can create something you don't see with you naked eyes. Set your camera on your tripod on a calm cloudy day and shoot water falls with more than 1/3 sec exposure. The only thing moving is the water so you get this cool effect, the silky water falls. In order to achieve long exposures without washing out your pics, you need to lower your ISO, tighten up the aperture, pick a cloudy day and sometimes need a neutral density filter. Otherwise, it will be too much light going into the camera. This shot was taken at Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania. It's located on the west side of the Delaware Water Gap. This is the main fall not much hiking required to get there. (Sony A7R, Sony FE 24-70 mm F4 Zeiss at 24 mm, 0.6 sec, f/11. ISO = 50, exposure compensation = -1)
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