Storm Chasing

I was chasing the weather Saturday hoping for some good storm time-lapse sequences. While waiting for a sequence to record the iPhone came in handy to catch some still shots of the clouds. I'm still learning storm time-lapsing technique so the morning was otherwise a little disappointing. For the ultimate storm chasing experience and the source of my inspiration check: Vorticity

Technical: This was taken on the iPhone with Procamera8 app and processed with its HDR app.

Yellowstone Speed Bump

I'm currently in Yellowstone looking for wildlife. On my first morning into the Park there were a couple speed bumps to help remind me where I was. Out here they are called  Montana squirrels, at least that's what I was told.

Diversity

This view from the top of a prairie knob shows both a remnant of the virgin prairie and the current status of the prairie restoration. The image below was taken on the same property showing the diversity of this scientific and natural area: Cedar Mountain SNA. The name is somewhat of an oxymoron since this "mountain" is within in a mile of the Minnesota River, in the heart of the valley.

December Sunrise

This was taken on the way to my current project site. This tree caught my attention as I was driving by and I just had to turn around. I was reminded of a lesson which I often forget and regret when I do. When the scene inspires it is worth the time to stop. Clouds and fog descended the next day.

Technical: iPhone6, color enhancement with clarity, vibrance, and +2 saturation 

November Roar

  

The recent rain has made for great waterfall photography. The color may be a little flat but what a great time to spend an hour or so exploring the edges of the roaring water.

Technical: Recorded on an iPhone6.

Nest of Leaves

I was walking in the  rain earlier this week searching for any remaining color in fallen leaves. These rain soaked oak leaves nestled in a fallen log caught my attention. 

Technical: tripod mounted iPhone6 capture, WB 6100 using Procamera8 app

November Color

The golden color of October has faded. I'm grateful for blue sky in November. One of my current projects is recording squirrel behavior. Yesterday I donned an orange vest and went out looking of them. I saw a nice deer but the final shot of my sequence did not happen. 

Small subject, small camera

I was walking with my iPhone and saw this bright color on a log covered with green moss.  It was a perfect opportunity to test a close up lens attachment. The depth of field cannot be controlled but the focus locked nicely on the leading edge of the mushroom.

Technical: iphone6, iProLens macro lens, Procamera 8 used which allows white balance adjustment.

Storm Clouds

I normally don't race out the front door to take a picture when my wife says "You have to take a picture of this." However this time I grabbed the first available camera, an iPhone, and shot this storm edge. It was a rare event to have good light and see the edge of the storm. We had wind but no rain with the event. There is something humbling watching clouds miles tall bear down on you.

Curious Cottontail

Curiosity is not a good thing for those at the low end of the food chain. Rabbits are the toughest subjects for me to photograph. Adults remain motionless seemingly forever, then bound off. The result is a lot of empty footage or a very boring portrait.  Several have been on the paths after sunset in Flandrau State Park during the last month

Technical: Taken with iPhone6 using 2X extender (80 mm equivalent 35 mm focal length) made by iPro Lens. Final Cut used to adjust contrast and edit

Prairie Rose Cafe

I'm continuing my exploration of the prairie using high speed video recording on the iPhone. These small flies were busy one morning last week and tolerated the close up attachment that requires a distance of about an inch for optimum focus. Recorded at 240 fps which means one second of action translates into 8 seconds of video. Now if I could afford a more sophisticated camera that records in high speed. Most cameras limit the shooting time to a few seconds because of the intense onboard computer commitment to process and store that volume of information. The high end cameras have a pre-record feature so you can save the action after it has happened. This is a great feature since it can take several seconds for a camera to transfer the information to a memory card.

Bees & Butterfly Weed

I'm continuing my test of the iPhone for nature photography and videography. This piece was shot using the stock lens at 240 fps, replayed at 30 fps. Audio was also recorded at the time of capture. I used creative license and put the best buzzing at each of the flight times, along with dropping the level of background audio. New lens attachments are being tested and there will be a video available next week.

For those of you who are more interested in still photography I have started using Flickr regularly and can be found at:

Flickr Photostream

As always, just sharing my love of nature.

Enjoy,

Dale

My kind of foraging.

I love wild raspberries, especially over ice cream. They might be a little gritty if you are used to domestic berries that have had the seeds genetically minimized. There is something satisfying about finding the berries, picking them, and then enjoying them. There are lots of edible wild plants but none as sweet as wild raspberries.

Technical: iPhone6, ProCamera app, iPro Lens system macro lens.

Fireworks mimics Nature?

Am I the only one who thought of this while watching fireworks last night? Perhaps I'm anxious to get out in the prairie while July colors are still there, but then there are always the yellows and purples of August to look forward to.

Technical: iPhone6 capture, Lightroom to sharpen

A Tripod & iPhone

Standing out in the crowd

You can't get much lighter than that. My initial attempts iPhonography were dismal. Of course, it was the quality of the phone's camera. Then I noticed I was ignoring all the principals of photography. Getting back to the basics, a tripod and shooting the light, changed my shots. Technology in the 21st century may have changed but photography is still the same as it has been since the 19th century. Now I just have to remember to turn off the phone when out in the prairie.

Clematis in the Rain

An early evening shower gave me the opportunity to explore the slow motion capabilities of the iPhone6. It shoots at 120 and 240 frames per second which when played back at 30 frames per second gives video at 1/4 or 1/8 normal speed. For me slow motion works best when it is not obvious and the brain believes what it sees as normal. Watching a rain drop land is always a slow motion event is my mind so this was a perfect opportunity.

Another pleasant surprise shooting video with the phone is the excellent audio quality. For this video I looped the best audio of a clip for the entire sequence and put a Youtube soundtrack over it. Editing is done in Final Cut Pro X. 

Technical: Most of the slow motion shots were at 240 fps. I don't know which clips were shot at 120 or 240 fps.

Shadow Flower

Shadow Flower

I'm continuing to explore the range of photo possibilities with the iPhone6.  Yesterday I went into the park to see how it did with macro subjects.  I was so happy with the results that I ordered a couple lens attachments to further explore macro and movie options.

Sunday Morning Test

I've seen some great nature videos taken with an iPhone and yesterday was a perfect day to explore the slow motion video features on it. The camera was attached to a gorilla pod which was wrapped to a branch for stability. Natural sound was recorded as it happened. Everything was edited in Final Cut Pro X.

Technical: The white is slightly burned in some frames but the contrast range seems good. The last clip seems to have some focus searching. 

Iphone, Instagrams, & Nature

Can an iPhone6 capture an image your brain sees? That's the question I have been exploring since upgrading an old iPhone. Then what do you do with the images?  There are real challenges to getting a good iPhone image.  The stock camera app is weak for someone spoiled by DSLR settings, a much better app is Pro Camera which has full DSLR features for tweaking WB, exposure, and focus. It also has a good enhancing  platform. Of course, you can always use Lightroom to enhance your images. However, unless you go directly from the phone it is a lot of work to go to Lightroom and then back to your phone to get the images into Instagram.

Technical: Instagram only accepts square images. Image on left shot with fill flash. On the right human diffuser used on a sunny afternoon.

Bottomline: Share nature your images of nature any way you can. It is disappearing from the hearts and minds of too many people.