Stephen Paul's Guestbook

WOW
Thats the best compliment I've ever received! Thanks so much, its a good feeling knowing you've inspired someone to get outdoors. I hope to see your pictures of that adventure! It sounds challenging and tons of fun...

patience is a virtue
Thanks so much!! I guess I have a lot of luck you are right. but Sunset and Sunrise are always prime time photo ops. The rest is taking 4 hours to do what most peopel take 1 hour- that way you see things unfold more slowly!

patience is a virtue
Thanks so much!! I guess I have a lot of luck you are right. but Sunset and Sunrise are always prime time photo ops. The rest is taking 4 hours to do what most peopel take 1 hour- that way you see things unfold more slowly!

hmmm
Let me give you my Boss' phone number so you can convince him to give me 3 weeks off, because Im fresh out of vacation hours!

Thanks Sophie!
I love all your South America blogs, you take some great pictures yourself!!

Circular Polarizer
I never used to use filters, but a circular polarizer is sometimes essential to landscapes. It removes reflected light- hich takes out he reflections in lakes, rivers and ponds and also deepens the blue of the sky. It also filters out light and a poor quality polarizer makes the image less sharp. I heard a professional photographer say once "why would I cover up my $1000 lens witha $10 filter?" and it makes sense. But for a wide angle and lots-of-sky picture like 'land of the free'? A polarizer made all the difference! I use photoshop, but not heavily. I noticed after I began using the Nikon d80(or any other high quality camera) the colors are more vivid and balanced, thus less need for Photoshop. The other issue of a white-washed sky or a too-dark foreground is the central issue of any good landscape shot. professionals use an ND Gradient Filter- its like a lens of a sunglasses but with a gradual fade. This way you can compose your shot on the foreground, and the ND gradient filters out the overly bright sky to balance the image. All the juicy landscape photographers of the world use ND gradients with incredible success. On travelblog you should check out Cumberland Sausage- many of his incredible sunset shots are not possible without an ND gradient! Try this trick next time when taking pictures- squint your eyes. It takes out the detail, yet will show you if there is too much contrast to capture the scene without an ND gradient. You can also take 2 shots- one metered on the sky and one on the foreground, then merge the 2 in photoshop. Its the poor man's ND gradient!! :)