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Wednesday, June 08, 2005

A Trip to Yosemite Valley

Residents of San Francisco Bay area are very lucky to have so many beautiful and fun weekend getaways like Carmel, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite Valley!

We try to go to Yosemite Valley at least once during the month of May. During this period, the snow in the sierra mountains is melting and there is so much of water in the Falls. This year also, we planned a trip for May second weekend (although it turned out little different this time).

Also, this was my first trip to the valley with a digital cam in my hand. So I was very excited.

Preparation


  • A total of 1 GB of memory (1 of 512MB + 2 of 256 MB cards)
  • I grabbed the laptop also just in case I ru out of memory
  • Housekeeping camp, where we were staying, do provide an electrical outlet. So I was not worried about battery recharging etc.
  • For the camp fire side shots, I also bought a Canon 50mm F1.8 Lens (more on this lense in a separate post)

First Problem
I was testing my new 50mm F1.8 lens for sharpness and tried various very small apertures, and suddenly a hairline started showing in all the pics. Upon further Investigation of pics, lense and camera, I concluded that this was due to a scratch on the 20D sensor! This was a really BAD news as this would rule out all the long exposure (smooth water shots) ! I contacted Amazon and they promised to replace it. But for this trip I had to live within F9.0 or so! Anyways.

Overall, I took about 125 shots only ! And most of them I did not like once I got them on the computer. I mentioned about this feeling of "It looked better then this picture" feeling earlier too. Well, it was like Deja vu. But this time it was for different reasons. Check lessons learned. Pics posted below are the few I liked.

I wanted to do better post processing with Adobe Elements 2.0, but it is becoming so hard to find time for everything, especially when weekends are busy withmore opportunities for taking pictures. So finally I did simple fixes with Picasa 2, and created a gallery with Adobe Elements 2.0. Please View the Gallery for higher resolution images.

Entering the valley Floor
For the first time I hit bumper to bumper traffic in Yosemite National Park. Here are a couple of pics of Yosemite Falls that I snapped from the driver seat, when traffic was at stand still.




[View Gallery]
Despite our best attempts, we wasted a whole lot of first day in just reaching to the camp. And thet was the sunniest day of our trip!

Camp fire
I had grabbed the 50mm F1.8 lens especially for the camp fire shots. Here are some of the camp fire shots.






[View Gallery]


Curry Village
Between running behind kids (my nephews) and doing BBQ, I don't know how the second day was gone already. Both days, I wasted so many shots due to lack of Dynamic Range. I won't blame it on 20D though, it was just too bright and sunny and I was trying to take pictures in the middle of the day!!! Here is a decent one that came out nice, because it was in shade.



Pizza Patio at Curry Village


And soon it was evening, and then clouds and rain!!!

Leaving Yosemite
Next morning, we were wondering if we wanted to stay for the day. It had been raining all night and was still raining. Suddenly park rangers showed up and informed us that we had only 15 to 20 minutes to pack up and leave!!! All that sunny weather on the previous day plus the rain all night had the Merced River over flowing and it was about to move in our tents. We packed the cars in 10 minutes in rain and left hurriedly. I made BIG one mistake, placed the camera bag behind other stuff!!!

On the way out, we could see the river moving in our tent, which actually created an increased sense of urgency to get "out of the woods". Although it was nothing dangerous, we just did not want to get stuck in the park, if they close the access roads.

The best photographic opportunities showed up at this totally unexpected moment. Although I had passed up on the raging rapids of Merced river, the beautiful scenes below were just too good to pass, so I pulled over and had to get the camera out again. And I'm so glad I did :-)













[View Gallery]



Lessons Learned



Rushing out of the woods

Looking back, this did not turn out to be the kind of trip I expected. But I learned more about photography by making some mistakes and I guess that makes it worth. Here are some lessons learned.

  • Dynamic Range:
    I had not even thought about dynamic range before this. Dynamic range in short is the range of brightness the camera can capture from the brightest object to dakest object in the scene. Anything brighter then upper level shows up washed out or white anything darker then darkest level of the range shows black. In very bright situations like what I faced, either I can get a beautiful bright and blue sky or I can get details from shadows in the trees. Getting both is tough. Either the sky will be all washed out and white, or all the shadow details will be dark underexposed. Many of my shots of falls did not come out right. I lost the detail in water while trying to make sure the surrounding greenary came out properly detailed. More on dynamic range some other time.
  • Viewfinder does not show Dynamic Range
    Now, think about this. When I shot the picture, viewfinder showed an excellent detailed optical view, so I clicked. But, the viewfinder in no way indicates, what will be underexposed/overexposed. You have to review your image closely in preview. I did some preliminary review, where I missed the fact that water was completely whitened out(overexposed). This would have been OK, if I was taking long exposures at very small apperture for that smooth water flow effect. But due to sensor scratch problem I was limited by F9.0. So at faster shutter speeds (no smooth effect) , the overexposed water made the picture look mediocre to totally bad.
  • Time of the day is important:
    because, Sun does not follow your time table. If you wanna get good shots, get out of the bed/tent earlier or wait for late afternoon or evening. Atthese times, Dynamic range is smaller and with patience, you can get a good shot. My evenings were reserved for family activities, and mornings ... well... I went there for rest too :-)
  • Pack your Camera First, but keep it on top of the luggage
    Later on, in the evening I saw the park being closed, and the Merced river rapids that we passed by, regreting not taking pics. Safety first, but leaving the camera in an easily accessible locationwon't hurt.
  • Make a Plan
    I was more disappointed because, I really did not take any trips to more scenic places like Mirror lake etc. If you go with other family members, your options can be limited. Advanced planning would have helped. I guess, I am just spoiled because Yosemite is a weekend getaway for us here in Bay Area.


Leaving Yosemite
Since this trip, my camera has been replaced by Amazon and I think I learned some valuable lessons in this trip. I hope to visit Yosemite again before end of summer!

Please feel free to post any comments or share your experince.


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10 Comments:

Blogger Dorion Rose said...

You have a great photoblog. You seem to be where I want to get to eventually. I am cutting my teeth with a Olympus 5050 but I am hoping to upgrade to a SLR as you did. I'm thinking a Nikon D70 since my old 35 mm was a nikon and I never had any problems with it. . .(plus I have a couple lens.) Anyway, I enjoyed what I've read on your site and look forward to reading more.
photorose.blogspot.com

6/13/2005 11:25:00 AM  
Blogger saanga said...

Hello Dorion,

Thanks for your comments. Sure D70 is a great camera. I am sure that you will be able to use your existing lenses with the D70, however, you may not get the full field of view. Entry level dSLRs like D70, 300D, 350D, 20D ... have sensor smaller compared to a 35mm film. So if you are planning to use your older lenses with D70, you will get a cropped view. Do search on "Crop factor" or "Field of View crop" etc. to research on this. D70 has a 1.5x crop factor. So your pictures will look zoomed in compared to if they were taken using the same lense on a 35mm film dSLR. For example, my 20D has a crop factor of 1.6X, so pictures taken with my new 50mm F1.8 look like they were taken with 50 x 1.6 = 80 mm lens. If you are a tele lense lover, then this will make you happier. On the other hand, if you are more into wide angle photography, this is bad news :-(

Regards,
-Saanga

6/13/2005 12:34:00 PM  
Blogger Daniel Hyams said...

Your best friend on image preview is the histogram. I always set my camera such that after each shot, the histogram+small preview shows up (rather than just the large preview). The histogram will immediately tell you whether or not you have under or overexposed, *and* the preview will flash any overexposed pixels.

To solve the dynamic range problem, you have to either reduce the range of the scene using graduated neutral density pictures, or (this is what I do) take two to three shots of the same scene, exposing properly for the sky once, and for the landscape once. Then, blend the two pictures in photoshop.

11/11/2005 08:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,

Check out my website for the easiest way for you to preserve, organize, share & enjoy your beautiful pics with others.

catchthewave.myphotomax.com

Tom in Cleveland

2/11/2006 10:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Saanga,

I was googling for the tips on Shooting Photographs in Yosemite and I landed here....

Your blog is pretty impressive. I am in the same boat sailing in the same direction like you but couple of miles behind you...

I got my new 30 D, I am planning to shoot in Yosemite this weekend. Your tips are really good. I will try to follow them....

Thanks,
Dheer

4/13/2006 01:41:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Any idea on following up on that promise for an entry on dynamic range entry any time soon?


Thanks

10/23/2007 02:30:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those photos are incredible. I've just bought myself an Olympus E410 digital SLR so i'm hoping to start taking some serious pictures myself.
Any tips?

3/19/2008 03:27:00 AM  
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4/19/2009 06:32:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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經驗
更新日期:2009/08/25 17:19

(中央社訊息服務20090825 16:19:17)大環境不景氣,工作難找,有不少人就想乾脆自己創業當老闆。為

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展」歡迎蒞臨參觀。針對國內一窩蜂創業加盟潮,餐車

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,但若選擇加盟,品牌知名度、產品獨特性及是否擁有

差異化優勢就顯得格外重要。
近年來以成本低的小吃餐車最受創業者青睞。沒經驗的失業族 大部份都選擇餐車擺攤,最多人都想在創

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的經驗來現身說法。以國人創業首選的小吃餐車來說,如何在同質性高的市場中殺出重圍?雖然是路邊攤

小餐車,營運上的重要撇步是關鍵;在企業經營戰略中,唯有領先核心競爭,保持差異化優勢才是生存之

道。
陳總分享成功關鍵,「五路財神餐車與其他路邊攤最大的差異化,在於餐車外觀亮眼與眾不同的加分效果

,及秉持結合好的小吃產品用品牌方式來經營的理念」。總部成立初期因觀察到傳統路邊攤想要爭得一席

之地,大多考量商品創新的迷思,卻忽略創業者經營能否持久性的問題。所以五路財神餐車將傳統小吃商

品,用創新工法為策略,顛覆傳統路邊攤的概念,長期下來在台灣建立起最多元品牌的餐車王國。
很多創業者最憂心沒經驗,業界首創從餐車打造、生財器具、原物料配方、技術教學、促銷廣告、開幕指

導,「一條龍的創業輔導」模式,使得五路財神餐車品牌特色更為彰顯。陳總說,不景氣下小吃餐車經營是加倍艱辛,建議創業者不但要瞭解

小吃經營的核心價值,凸顯產品獨特性及差異化之外還要定期和你商圈的客人互動,「好餐車、好商品、

好客人」,三個好,如此才有可能成為「不敗的小吃攤」。
|加盟創業|滷味加盟|

|餐車|安親班|廚具

||開店|新民管樂|哈比|Eric

8/26/2009 08:44:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

小吃餐車加盟連鎖「一條龍的創業模式」複製成功開店

經驗
更新日期:2009/08/25 17:19

(中央社訊息服務20090825 16:19:17)大環境不景氣,工作難找,有不少人就想乾脆自己創業當老闆。為

強化國內創業能量,五路財神開店總部於8月20

日-9月20日舉辦「2009夢幻小餐車創業成果

展」歡迎蒞臨參觀。針對國內一窩蜂創業加盟潮,餐車

達人陳滌五總監提醒創業者,加盟不失為一條創業捷徑

,但若選擇加盟,品牌知名度、產品獨特性及是否擁有

差異化優勢就顯得格外重要。
近年來以成本低的小吃餐車最受創業者青睞。沒經驗的失業族 大部份都選擇餐車擺攤,最多人都想在創

業市場闖出一片天。在台中成立的五路財神開店總部,小吃餐車用品牌方式來營運,總經理陳滌五用自己

的經驗來現身說法。以國人創業首選的小吃餐車來說,如何在同質性高的市場中殺出重圍?雖然是路邊攤

小餐車,營運上的重要撇步是關鍵;在企業經營戰略中,唯有領先核心競爭,保持差異化優勢才是生存之

道。
陳總分享成功關鍵,「五路財神餐車與其他路邊攤最大的差異化,在於餐車外觀亮眼與眾不同的加分效果

,及秉持結合好的小吃產品用品牌方式來經營的理念」。總部成立初期因觀察到傳統路邊攤想要爭得一席

之地,大多考量商品創新的迷思,卻忽略創業者經營能否持久性的問題。所以五路財神餐車將傳統小吃商

品,用創新工法為策略,顛覆傳統路邊攤的概念,長期下來在台灣建立起最多元品牌的餐車王國。
很多創業者最憂心沒經驗,業界首創從餐車打造、生財器具、原物料配方、技術教學、促銷廣告、開幕指

導,「一條龍的創業輔導」模式,使得五路財神餐車品牌特色更為彰顯。陳總說,不景氣下小吃餐車經營是加倍艱辛,建議創業者不但要瞭解

小吃經營的核心價值,凸顯產品獨特性及差異化之外還要定期和你商圈的客人互動,「好餐車、好商品、

好客人」,三個好,如此才有可能成為「不敗的小吃攤」。
|加盟創業|滷味加盟|

|餐車|安親班|廚具

||開店|新民管樂|哈比|Eric|校友隊|高中畢旅|總統府|全國音樂比賽|特優|痞子英雄|薩克斯風

8/26/2009 08:51:00 PM  

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