PHOTOGRAPHING SAND DUNES 

I was lucky to have lived in Colorado for almost fourteen years. One of my favorite subjects to photograph during my years in Colorado was the sand dunes in Great Sand Dunes National Park. Living there allowed me to photograph them at different times of the day and at different times of the year.

Although my examples are of the dunes in Colorado, my tips and advice apply to other dunes in the U.S., such as the white sands in New Mexico and the dunes in California, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Lake Michigan, and North Carolina.

The key is to find different perspectives, angles, times of day, time of the year, and even shooting with telephoto and wide-angle lenses. Some scenes are more conducive for vertical shots; some more so for horizontal shots. Photograph them from the perspective of a photographer; not from the perspective of a vacationer or tourist.

That said, let me share some of my favorite images I was lucky enough to create of the sand dunes in Colorado, some of which rise to eight hundred feet!

I was there in the afternoon and shot on through late afternoon. As I positioned myself near an RV park on the east side of the dunes, I saw a sliver of late afternoon sunlight with the looming dunes in the shadows in the background. I included a tree in the foreground that received some of that sliver of late afternoon sunlight. It also serves as a sense of scale against the huge sand dunes. The effect was surreal.

I was driving away from the dunes after a day of shooting in and around the park. As I distanced myself from the dunes, I saw this awesome combination of plans, dunes, and mountains. I had to stop, pull over, and capture the beautiful layers of nature's art. The dunes seem to grow out of nowhere from the floor of the San Luis Valley. They look big against the valley floor, but pale in size when seen against 14,000' Mt. Herard in the distance. 

During one of my visits, I happened to see this unusual view of the dunes against the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The late evening sun gave the dunes a totally different hue. They looked like mounds of chocolate. 

For this image I got close to the dunes with a wide angle focal length and aimed my camera downward toward the sand at my feet instead of at the dunes, giving me this different perspective. When I got home, I converted the image to black & white. The result gave it a sense that I was on the lunar surface. 

For this next image, I backed away from the dunes and included the nearby creek, the people as they were dwarfed against the dunes, and Mt. Herard in the distance.   

This image really depicts how big these sand dunes are. You can barely see Medano Creek toward the lower part of the image. And, if you look closely toward the center left of the image you can see hikers hiking up the sand dunes. They look like ants against the Great Sand Dunes. They look more clearly in my high-resolution image. This is the color the dunes look in the middle of the day. 

This last image shows the context in which these awesome sand dunes are in. I was hiking down from a waterfall a few miles from the dunes when I saw this scene. It shows the valley floor, the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in the backdrop, and how much land these awesome dunes cover.

So, next time you get a chance to visit any of the sand dunes sprinkled throughout the U.S., think about these tips and go home with some keepers. Have fun! 

 HOT AIR BALLOONS

 Who doesn't like hot air balloons, right? They're fun, intriguing, imaginative, and colorful--perfect ingredients for photography. 

I like the shows, but I also look for those weekenders that are out for a joy ride in the sky. That can be fun too.

FOCAL LENGTH. I highly suggest a wide range of focal lengths, anywhere between 17mm (or wider) to 300mm. Those balloons are huge. I like to photograph them when they're still on the ground, but for those shots I need wide-angle focal lengths. I also like to zoom into them when they're in the air, and for those I need 200mm-300mm. The additional advantage of those focal lengths is that they give me the "illusion of compression"--they make the balloons appear as if they're much closer to each other than they really are. 

ISO. I like to keep my ISO around 100. However, if I need a faster shutter speed, I'll "pump up" my ISO to 200-400 or higher if necessary. Even with today's ISO improvements, I still prefer to keep my ISO to 800 or less. 

Depth-of-field. Make sure you have enough f/stops to cover what you want to cover. I use my depth-of-field preview button to give me a quick preview of how much depth-of-field coverage I'm getting. With wide-angle lenses, we need less f/stops to get good depth-of-field. With telephoto lenses, we need more f/stops to get the depth-of-field we need. So be careful and choose wisely. 

Shutter speeds. Hot Air Balloons move slowly. That said, they are moving. As general rule-of-thumb, if you're shooting hand-held, make sure your shutter speed is equal to or greater than the focal length your using. For example, if shooting with a focal length of 300, make sure your shutter speed is at least around 300. That rule-of-thumbs ensures that your hand movement will not show in the final print as a blurred photo.  

White balance. I keep mine on Daylight/Sunshine all the time.      

Picture control. I shoot mostly Aperture Priority. I set my picture control to "Vivid." Keep in mind that different cameras have a different designation for "Vivid," for example, "Landscape," and other designations. 

Composition. Vary your compositions to create more interest. Otherwise, all your balloon images will look the same. Get vertical and horizontal shots. Include one balloon and several balloons, on the ground and in the air, tight shots and wide-angle shots.  

Exposure. This is the biggest challenge with hot air balloons. Their brightness and colorfulness will trick your built-in exposure light meter into creating under-exposed images. This is especially true when shooting up and into the bright sky! Now you have bright balloons against a bright sky! Learn how to take advantage of your exposure compensation dial in your camera to make exposure adjustments on the spot! 

With that long introduction, I will share a few images of hot air balloons in all settings.

The balloons had already taken off. I didn't give them time to spread out against the early-morning sky. I zoomed in and got this dramatic tight shot. 

Several folks were staring toward the early morning sun as one balloon took off. At the same time, I loved the backdrop of the giant balloon still on the ground behind them. 

Heating it up, getting it ready for flight.

I really zoomed in on this one to simply capture its intricate design. They can get pretty creative.

Now, this one was tricky to capture. I had to look straight up, yet making sure I got it sharp enough, with the right exposure. It was fun doing this one, though. As you can see, it's the same one as above. 

This was fun watching. I had never seen this before. There were two balloons still on the ground. Then there was that other balloon that was struggling to lift off. At one point during its struggles, it gently tapped one of the balloons on the ground before it finally floated toward the sky.

I chose just two balloons for this composition, with one just showing its colors rather than the balloon itself. 

  

This scenario just begged for a photograph. It told a story: people mingling, enjoying and admiring the balloons, one giant balloon still on the ground while the other two had just taken off--lots of eye flow. 

Research your county or state for any hot air balloon festivals. You can also search for hot air balloon clubs. Have fun with it. Hot air balloons and festivals offer us unique photo opportunities.

 

 

RIGHT BRAIN PHOTOGRAPHY

(Be an artist first) 

I first published Right Brain Photography in 2015. It is now in its fourth edition. I still teach it throughout the country, via ZOOM, and still get raised eyebrows and head-scratching. 

Years ago, a student, trying to describe RBP to another student, said, "He's a magician."

I will not share every point I make in the book. However, I will share some key photographic and life concepts I introduce in my book, classes, and workshops.

Let's start with, what is Right Brain Photography all about? It's about:
--Being an artist first, photographer second
--Seeing with your imagination, not your eyes
--Seeing something before you see it
--Making the common uncommon and the mundane insane

I introduce two of my paradigms, or models, in the book that serve as the creative force for RBP: I.S.E.E. SOMETHING and Eli's 5-Pt Photo Art Model  Below are some of the key life and photographic concepts I mention. Yes, life concepts. I talk about several philosophical life concepts that I apply to my photography. Below is a list of both.

--Follow your intuition        --Scan what you see in front of you        --Find Impressionism in life and capture it with your camera        --Find Surrealism in life and capture, or create it, with your camera
--Ask yourself, "What made me Stop?"        --Ask yourself, "What does this moment give me?"
--Find ways to detach yourself from pre-programming        --Ask yourself "What if?" questions
--Get into the habit of un-labeling           --Understand the truth behind impermanence 
--Understand the concept of interdependence in life        --Apply mindfulness    

The above is not a complete list, but it provides enough for you to ponder. I go against the rules, against the grain, against conventional wisdom, and against common photographic "No-No's," like ignoring the histogram. There is no such thing as the correct exposure. There is only the right exposure, as defined by me, the photographer.

With that introduction to Right Brain Photography, let me now share several images that reflect what my right brain sees when it talks to my left brain and says, "I have an idea, and this is what I need from you." In the book, I talk about how I created these images. Today I will share several images and mention the general concepts I applied.

I was in New Orleans, Louisiana and had been shooting for a couple of hours. I didn't feel I had captured the essence of New Orleans, until I saw a street performer, a pantomime, across the street that grabbed my attention. I then looked behind me and saw an artist painting southern-themed paintings on shale. She depicted blacks in the South picking cotton. My right brain kicked in. I photographed a couple of her paintings, with her permission, horizontally, knowing that I would create a double exposure. I then went back to the pantomime and photographed him, vertically. 

Below is a rotated version. You can see the artist's paintings on shale.

Here is another double exposure. The subject is nothing but giant willows in winter along the high country in northern Colorado. I saw more than willows. I saw watercolor willows. Impressionism.

This is my zoom-n-stop technique. In this case, I propped up my student's beautiful bass guitar against a makeshift wall. I placed a large piece of black flannel material behind the bass. During a 15-second exposure, I zoomed in, stopped, zoomed in again, stopped, then zoomed in again until the 15 seconds were up. Voila!

When I detach myself from labels, I no longer see an outside wall of a Taco Bell. I see this.

My left brain saw a tunnel. My right brain saw this. Surrealism.

I took a long hike. On my way back, I saw this old road surrounded by pine trees. I could imagine what it might look like as a double exposure. In this case, it transformed from a picture of an old road to a painting. 

For this next image, I totally ignored my histogram. I gave the scene 233 percent less light than my camera thought I needed. I did that to create what my imagination saw, not what my eyes saw.

Yes, I love the effects of double exposures! A grouping of tulips in spring, with trees as a backdrop.  I got a very painterly effect.

I set my exposure based on the brightest spot on this simple giant leaf, transforming it from a leaf to something more mystical. Take the labels off. It's more than just a leaf. It is lit within.

This is just one example of my "swirl" technique. I simply swirl my camera around my wrist during a slow exposure. It's about having fun with your camera. Our eyes have limitations; our imaginations do not. Think like children before they are taught to think linearly. Be spontaneous!

I call this piece, "Swimming In Abstracts." It did NOT look like this to the naked eye, but it looked like this in my imagination. It was the kind of scene most photographers would have walked by. It was that mundane-- a duck in the water. I saw much more and created this by underexposing the scene 200%. It's not what I see; it's what I imagine. It's not what's there, but what's not there.

When we see photos of sunflowers we see them from the front. One day I decided to photograph one from the back. For this one, I did just the opposite of the image above. I overexposed the flower by 266%! I did that to lighten the yellows and the sky. No, it didn't look like this to the naked eye. And therein lies what I call the limitations of the eye. When we see something that doesn't look good to the eye, that is, it's not worth a picture, we keep walking. See with your imagination.

I don't see subjects or objects. I see color, design, shapes, form, texture, feelings, and mood. The subject becomes secondary. This next scene was a huddled mass of people in the rain, standing next to the venue's wall, patiently waiting for the concert to begin. I liked all the colors and umbrellas in the scene. I decided to do a double exposure to see how it would look. I liked it.

The Alamo. When we think of San Antonio, Texas, we think of The Alamo-- where Davy Crocket, James Bowie, and other Texas heroes tried to defend it. I wanted to do something different with it besides taking a great photo of it. My right brain came alive. How would it look if the heroes of the Alamo woke from the dead and walked through it? A double exposure had to be the answer.

 

No, these are not car oil stains in a puddle in a parking lot. I was hiking at an elevation of around 10,000' when I spotted this small puddle of water. Yes, a puddle of water, which other hikers jumped over as they continued their hike. I saw much more than a puddle of water. I saw nature's art, right there in front of me. It looked just like this. The eyes see too much. We're waiting for something to hit us between the eyes and say, "Hey, here I am!" Mountains jump out at us, nature's art does not.

That particular day, I was on the right path.

I saw Aztec dancers in downtown Boulder, Colorado. After several minutes of "taking pictures" of them dancing, I wanted something else. Common photographic wisdom advises using fast shutter speeds to "freeze" the fast-moving action of the dancers. I went in the opposite direction to capture the essence of the dance, not the dancers. I titled this, "Cara En Sueño"--face in a dream. 

Famous Mesa Arch in southern Utah. Thousands of photographers have been there, and they know the magic of the arch begins right at sunrise when the early rays of the sun set it aglow! I have captured that, but one year decided to do the opposite--photograph it after sunset, in the middle of December. I wanted snow in the distant mountains, knowing that I was going to "paint" the underside of the arch to get a surreal effect. Painting with light simply means that I paint the subject with an artificial light source, in this case, a large off-road emergency flashlight.

Impressionism. I love the art movement from Europe in the mid-1800s. I create my impressionistic images using different techniques. This is one of the simplest of all--shooting through my car windshield during a rainfall.

I will end my discussion on Right Brain Photography by showing you Before and After images. The Before images are what the eyes saw. The After images are what my imagination saw, from those same scenes. This will drive home the concept of seeing with your imagination, not your eyes. 

                      What the eyes saw                                                       What the imagination saw

           

          

         

                  

Now you know what I mean when I say:
--Be an artist first, photographer second

--See with your imagination, not your eyes

--See something before you see it

--Make the common uncommon and the mundane insane.

Right brain photography is about letting go, seeing what is not visible, making the unknown known, and just having fun with photography. We don't need hours with AI, photo editing software, or photo apps. I don't "take pictures;" I create images.  

The etymology of "photography," means "painting with light." Have fun seeing with your imagination. 

Contact me if you have questions or want a lesson.
vegaphotoart@gmail.com          www.elivega.net 

 PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE

I don't consider myself a people or portrait photographer. That said, there are, some people that grab my attention. You who know me know that there are no strangers in my life--I'll talk to anyone and everyone. That part of my personality allows me to add unique images of people to my collection.

The key ingredients are simple. I let go of the social cocoon walls around me--it allows me to approach people. Smile, be friendly, be me, and, if appropriate, compliment them on something; anything. All this breaks the ice between us and relaxes both of us, Then I introduce myself as a photographer and ask them if they would mind me taking their picture? There have just been a handful of folks who declined, and this is after thirty years of doing this! 

I always photograph people without a tripod, again, to keep things relaxed and informal. I want that direct connection between us. And, to no surprise, they will usually try to pose themselves, try to smile, and ask me what I want. I always tell them that the way they are is fine. In fact, sometimes, as we're discussing those details, I get a couple of shots off, to make sure I don't get that "smile!" look.

I like unique lighting, if available. If it's not available, I create it by underexposing the image. I want my images to tell a story, to translate a feeling, or to beg for questions. 

My "people" images are not portraits. Sometimes the people in the image don't take up that much space in the scene, but because they are so unique it's hard not to find them in the image.

So, with that introduction, let me share some of my "people" images.

I saw this Muslim woman, believe it or not, at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Denver, Colorado.
I used a 300 mm lens to keep my distance, yet get a tight close-up. 

As I photographed throughout the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, I saw this cute young street performer playing a giant tuba. Look at the duct tape used to hold his instrument together!

I was getting shots of this Plein Aire artist in unique and historic Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I decided to convert the image into B&W, except for the artist's painting and his make-shift palette.

Here are some more street performers, this time on Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. These guys were painted in silver! I waited patiently until something interesting happened. Then, the young guy in the middle took a quick glance at me. Click! 

I seem to be attracted to street performers. This guy, "JAMBOT," really got my attention. I saw him, not performing, but walking down the street in Denver, Colorado. I quickly found a parking spot, grabbed my camera and chased after him. After a few minutes of introductions and casual conversation, he let me take his picture. 

I have received a lot of comments on this next image. It's the kind of image that begs questions. Who is she? Why is she there by herself? Where is she going? Why is she dressed like that? 

Walking along Pearl Street Mall, in Boulder, Colorado, I saw a man, Michael, sitting inside a Subway. after a few casual moments together, he let me get his photo. I liked the studio-like lighting.

I saved this one for last. I like shooting in the rain--some of my best images have come from shooting in the rain. As I did that one day in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas, my current hometown, I saw this young woman with her umbrella. A lot of folks, including me, were staring at her. I stared with my camera, hoping to get a good shot before I lost her. I shared this with one of my former students and she said, "I wonder how long it took her to plan that outfit?"

So, go out there and find some interesting people to photograph. You might get that "one in a million" shot!!