The final photo album from my trip to the mountains of North Carolina last month has finally been posted. This time, it’s a collection from Mount Mitchell State Park, located on the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. I enjoyed my visit to this park; it’s one that I will definitely return to.
I’ve just posted the fourth album from my recent trip to the mountains. This set showcases Chimney Rock State Park, which is a fantastic place to visit. Though it costs money to get in, the views and hikes are worth it. I’ve got one more photo album to post from this small vacation trip to the Asheville area; it should show up within the next week or so.
I’ve just posted the third of five photo albums from my recent trip to the mountains. This time around, it’s a set from a short visit to Whitewater Falls, the highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains (though that term is debatable). Visiting the park costs $2, but the views are worth it, in my opinion. Definitely check it out if you’re ever in the southwestern mountains of our state.
I’ve just posted some photos from Gorges State Park, the westernmost state park in North Carolina. This park is also one of the newest; visitor facilities are currently under construction. That being said, the views and hikes from this park are fantastic. I will certainly make an effort to return to this park in the future; this is one that definitely warrants multiple visits.
Late last week, I stopped at South Mountains State Park on my way to the Asheville area for some vacation. The park is located south of Morganton, NC, and has terrific hiking trails and beautiful scenery. High Shoals Falls, an 80-foot high waterfall, is located at the park. Knowing this, I took my tripod along, and got some nicer-than-usual photos in the process. If you’re ever in that particular area of North Carolina, I highly recommend a visit to this park. This is one I would love to return to!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I learned two photography lessons on my recent trip to the mountains of North Carolina. Today, I will be covering the second lesson I learned. In short, never fully trust your camera’s automatic white balance setting. While shooting under cloudy conditions, I found that the automatic setting resulted in photos that were way too cool in color, resulting in inaccurate representations of what my eye saw. Here’s a great example from my visit to Mount Mitchell State Park (a wonderful place, I might add):
Photograph taken with automatic white balance
Compare the automatic white balance photo with the following one, which was taken with manual white balance (on the “Cloudy” setting):
Photograph taken with manual (Cloudy) white balance
Note how this second image is warmer in color, with richer greens and reds. This second image is much closer to what I really saw, and the color difference was enough to be apparent in the little LCD display on my camera. The morning I visited the park, weather conditions were definitely cloudy. It’s interesting then that the automatic white balance didn’t pick up on those conditions better than it did.
One obvious solution to this problem is to shoot in RAW mode (assuming your camera supports it). My camera does not support RAW, and I’m not entirely sure that the additional post-processing work necessary with RAW photos is worth it (though I’m sure plenty of pros would disagree). As I have learned, you’re probably better off manually setting your white balance for a given scene. Just don’t forget to change it each time you go on a shoot. You wouldn’t want to shoot in “Cloudy” mode on a bright, sunny day.
I learned two very important photography lessons during my recent vacation to the southwestern mountains of North Carolina. Today I will cover one of those lessons, and I’ll get to the other one in a future post. As you might have guessed from this post’s title, the first lesson involves a tripod.
In my previous outings to the various state parks here in North Carolina, I’ve never carried a tripod with me. On a bright sunny day, it’s typically a tool I feel that I don’t need; lots of light, a steady hand, and my camera’s image stabilization feature help me out. On cloudy days, however, I inevitably end up with a load of blurred shots, especially when in a heavily forested area. On this particular trip to the mountains, I knew I would be shooting a number of waterfalls, so I was willing to haul my tripod down the trail with me.
Since I already had the tripod with me, I found that I used it for way more than the waterfall shots I had intended. Wow, what a difference it made! Instead of lots of blurred shots, the vast majority of my photos are keepers this time around, thanks to this handy tool. I’ve also learned a few things about the type of tripod I want in the future:
My current tripod is a tad bulky, and the multiple controls are a bother to work with. A multidimensional bubble level for my camera’s hot shoe connector would also be useful.
In short, if you’re planning a photo shoot in a forested area, or you’re shooting on a cloudy day, make an effort to carry a tripod along with you. Your end results will justify the extra effort of lugging extra gear down the trail. As an added bonus, carrying a tripod will pique people’s curiosity. I struck up more conversations with random people about photography on this trip than I’ve ever done previously. It’s a lesson I’ll remember for a long time.
The final photo album from my trip earlier this summer to California has been posted. This time around, the album is simply a random collection of photos taken in and around the Lake Tahoe area.
The penultimate photo album from my trip to California, Secret Cove, has just been posted. This location was technically in Nevada, and is one of the most beautiful spots along Lake Tahoe. It’s a bit of a hike from the parking area, but is well worth the venture. Be forewarned that clothing is optional at the beach area!
Yet another photo album has been been posted, this time featuring a few shots from our visit to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. It’s a small museum, but they had a few interesting exhibits.