Goodbye 2016!

Happy New Year!

Okay, it's still 2016 but only for a few more hours in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.! This will be my last post of the year to my blog. I recently posted somewhat of a review of my photographic year and it'll have to do. Now it's time to pop the cork on some bubbly, watch the ball drop, and maybe, if I'm lucky, kiss the wife (probably mine!).

Updates to my Post Processing Online Book

I haven't been out photographing for a while, instead I've been working on a couple of eBooks about photography.

This picture says it all!

I've already made my "Randall Morter’s Awesome Photography Post-Processing Notes" eBook available, and you can get to it at any time using the link on the right hand side of this page.

I've been adding more content and I think it's starting to have some value. I've added some details about exposure along with a bit of a tutorial including some processing notes for one of my photographs of Panguitch, Utah. 

I'd really like to hear from you regarding whether you find it useful or not. Especially now that there are likely some people that got their first DSLR for Christmas a week ago! How exciting that must be!

Thank you!

Thanks to all of you who have read my blog this year. I hope you found it interesting or that it had some useful knowledge.

I hope you and your families have a wonderful new year visiting beautiful places that you've never seen before or never seen in the same way. And be sure to take lots of pictures!

Dealing with a Fear of Heights

Missing Out

Horseshoe Bend - sort of

I believe I've mentioned more than a few times that I've missed shots because I couldn't bring myself to get out to the edge of a drop off to take a photograph. Believe me, that is disappointing.

I was at Horseshoe Bend once for a really nice sunset but I could not go to the edge. I ended up with a couple of shots of more brave people at the edge and this shot that barely shows the slot where the Colorado River cuts through the sandstone on the Colorado Plateau.

More recently, when my wife and I visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in October, 2016, I was unable to go out to various view points that I'd been out on the previous year. I was unable to go to Bright Angel Point using the path from the top of the rim (I'd tried and failed the year before, using the path from the viewpoints below the lodge).

Looking for Help

In November, 2016, when I went to visit Bryce Canyon National Park and got stuck in Utah for a week due to a blown transmission, I mulled over my fear of heights issue and the lost shots it costs me. It dawned on me that perhaps I could find help on remedying my issue on the internets. What a novel idea, eh?

View from my desk at my day job
Looking south down Central Avenue

I read quite a few different pages, blogs, etc. And found out that not all fears of heights are the same. In my case, I don't really have a fear of heights.

I work on the 23rd floor of my building in Phoenix. I have no problem going right up to the window and looking out. I did get out to one viewpoint at the North Rim that had good railings along the path (even though all I could do when there was hug the sign and then crawl back to the parking lot). I think I could easily do the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

I don't have a problem with the heights themselves. I have a problem trusting my balance and when the consequences of stumbling or falling are pretty significant, I apparently unconsciously try to keep myself from putting myself in situations that I may not survive. On the one hand I get disappointed that I can't go to the edge but on the other hand I'm amazed that I must have some built in guardian that is trying to keep me out of danger!

A lot of the information I found online regarding dealing with a fear of heights basically recommended that you address your fear by climbing on progressively higher platforms and getting comfortable with the height before moving to the next level. It makes sense to be afraid of heights to some extent because they can be dangerous however you can learn to live with the fear if you do it in baby steps.

Then I found a web page that I wish I'd bookmarked but can't find it to refer to it now. This source said it's not a good idea to blindly make people who claim to have a fear of heights try to overcome it by placing themselves in a precarious position. Because... Well, because sometimes the fear of heights is actually a fear of falling issue which can be based on physical conditions that mean that putting a person at the edge of Horseshoe Bend overlook could be putting them in peril.

That same page recommended that a person afflicted with a fear of heights should see a physician first in order to make sure there's no underlying physical problem. I'd like to thank whoever posted that sane information!

The Remedy (for me anyway)

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to provide any health guidance here so don't take what I say as applying to you or anyone else. My recommendation is to see a doctor.

I saw my primary care a few weeks ago. She did a very simple test - had me stand with my arms out and close my eyes. I was instantly wobbly (she was there to try to catch me). I think this might be a modified "Romberg" test. It was enough for her to clearly see that I have some issues with balance.

I was referred to physical therapy and had my first visit today. They found out a good number of problems (I couldn't easily walk heel to toe in a straight with my eyes closed while shaking my head around). I got a slew of exercises to do at home and will be having follow up visits.

This is somewhat of a relief. Now I know that I've got real, physical issues and that they can probably be resolved. I may get out to Bright Angel Point when the snow melts next year!

Reflections of 2016

Looking at 2016

I just received an award at my day job yesterday for being an employee for 15 years. It is near the end of the calendar year. Both of these events have caused me to reflect on this last year of 2016.

My DJI Phantom 3 Advanced

I spent a lot of time this past year dealing with health issues. Nothing too terrible, just sinus infections including Allergic Fungal Sinusitis, a nasty little collection of issues that resulted in a lot of down time and 3 surgeries.

At the beginning of the year I added a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced to my photography kit. I wanted to like it but ended up being very disappointed with the still image quality to the point that I am selling it. The video capabilities might be fun for some but I am not looking to do video. The still images are barely useful for posting on social media in my opinion.

I also don't like flying the thing. I got it after it went on sale at the beginning of the year for about $800 for the basic drone but it's still too much money for me to want to lose by running it in to something. It's just not for me.

Arizona's Raptor Experience 

Luna the barn owl
Arizona's Raptor Experience

I didn't really get out to shoot photography until May when I visited the Arizona's Raptor Experience in Chino Valley, Arizona, with a fellow shipmate from my last Navy ship, the USS Paul F. Foster DD-964 where we served together for such fun deployments as the first gulf war.

We spent a few hours shooting various raptors as the owners placed them on various features such as stumps which they had staged around their grounds. It was pretty amazing! I got a few shots that I liked, but the ones of the Harris Hawk in flight made me realize I don't have much practice or skill at capturing birds in flight!

Snowy Egret at Gilbert Riparian Preserve
Gilbert, Arizona

I did get this image of a snowy egret at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, Arizona, which is my best shot of a bird in flight to date.

My birding experiences made me realize that I really wanted a longer lens. After reviewing the Sigma, Tamron, and Nikon lenses, I chose the AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR. I didn't get out and try it much until later in the year...

In May I also dovetailed in a 1 night excursion  to the Chiricahua National Monument to shoot the Milky Way. I got a decent capture of it and enjoyed my overnight trip.

And, in May, I squeezed in a very short and unproductive visit to Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona. Unfortunately I was only there during mid-day and did not even bother taking any photographs.

After my birding excursions I had a couple of surgeries and during the recovery (as well as a lot of the entire year) I spent my down time reading John Muir books which generated a great desire to visit Yosemite National Park. I put in a request for vacation for the first week of September, following the Labor Day weekend (a holiday for most people in the United States).

California Here I Come

I stayed in 3 California parks: Joshua Tree for one night, Yosemite for 3 nights, and Sequoia for 1 night. I got some shots that I like a bit but I know I could do better so I'm planning to head back sometime. I really want to get back to Yosemite in the early spring in order to try to get some photographs of snow on the ground. And, when I was there in early September, there was very little water in the falls. Yosemite falls was non-existent.

Moon over Joshua Tree National Park, California

Half Dome and El Capitan
Yosemite National Park, California

Sequoia at Sunrise
Sequoia National Park, California

More Parks for Me!

After I got home from my California parks, I was still feeling good (must have been the steroids I was on!) so I decided to take a day trip with my wife and our dogs up to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Waputki National Monument, both near Flagstaff, Arizona. After she saw that, I talked her into spending a couple of nights at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Sunset in Ruins
Waputki National Monument
Arizona

We went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for another 3-day holiday weekend for Columbus Day. I got a couple of shots of the canyon that I like but I also got some shots of wild bison that captured a wonderful experience of sitting on the ground  a few feet in front of wild and un-caged bison!

Sunrise at Walhalla Overlook
North Rim Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona

Wild Bison
North Rim Grand Canyon National Park
Arizona

And finally, not wanting to be done for the year, I decided to visit Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park over the Veteran's Day 3-day weekend in November. This trip ended up with the transmission on my Ford Explorer giving out so my visit at the actual park was cut short but I got a shot or two that I like. 

Sunset at Sunset Point
Bryce Canyon National Park
Utah

Six National Parks in 2016

The year's not quite over but I'm not sure if I'll get to any more National Parks before the end of the year. I've got half a notion to try to get to the Petrified Forest National Park but we'll see if I make it. Regardless, I visited 5 National Parks and 3 National Monuments this year that I had never been to before (I visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2015). 

In every park I got to see something that was new and amazing. There were always photography opportunities that challenged my artistic eye and photographic abilities. Some places actually took my breath away when dealing with the view or the heights or the bison.

Besides the bison, I got to see some other wonderful animals in their natural habitats which is much better than a zoo. I had some medical issues to contend with but it ended up making me appreciate the times that I got out even that much more and makes my photographs more personal as well since they captured what I was able to see and do in 2016. I hope your year was good for you too!

Tether Tools Case Air

A New Toy

Er, a new essential piece of photography equipment, that is. I posted a recent blog about not needing anything for my photography addiction, but I guess I was wrong. I was watching Scott Kelby's "The Grid" Holiday Gear Guide (Episode 260) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh_39bWAack&t=198s, about 27:50) while having dinner and he mentioned 1 or 2 things I think I must have. So, I got one of them...

Tether Tools Case Air - What it Is

Tether Tools Case Air

The Tether Tools Case Air is a wireless tethering device that attaches to your camera via the USB connection (not the "accessory connection" that my GPS connects to) and can mount on the hot shoe or external flash mount, as shown in their advertising photograph at right. They also provide a lanyard that allows you to hang it from the camera strap connection.

The Case Air transmits and receives data via its own WiFi, connecting to your devices that you likely already own such as a smart phone or tablet or desktop computer. They have free software called "Case Remote" for both iOS and Android smart phones, as well as for PC and Apple computers.

Tethering allows you to use software on your device of choice to view the live view image that the camera sees, adjust many of the camera settings including and especially the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, focus, and you can press the shutter release and the image is uploaded to your device! That is too cool! It does not provide control over zooming, panning or tilting.

I know there are other solutions out there, but this device is only $159.99. There is the CamFi for about $100 and the CamRanger for about $300 and I haven't used either one. Scott Kelby got me interested in this unit and when I found out they're here in Phoenix, that made up my mind to try their unit.

Why I had to have it

Tethering is a very nice thing to have in a studio for a few reasons. You can control your device while it's on a somewhat fixed tripod. Because of the file upload, you can rapidly show your client the images or you can quickly import them into Lightroom. With wireless tethering you avoid having cables on the floor to trip over or that may come loose from the camera or remote device.

I don't do studio shooting though, I do mainly outdoor shooting.

One of my problems is when I want to have the camera down low, perhaps only a few inches off of the ground. I often have a hard time laying down and looking through the view finder or even the live view monitor. Part of it is because of age and the shape I'm in but another part is because of the rocks and prickly things there are on the ground in the desert areas that I tend to shoot photographs.

I've seen other options, such as the Nikon DR-5 Screw-In Right Angle Viewfinder for $200, or external monitors. But for a lower price, the Case Air also allows me to adjust focus and take the picture remotely. I can't wait to get out and try it!

Purchasing My Unit

My Case Air Wireless after unpacking

I went to the Tether Tools company headquarters at 2202 E. McDowell Rd, Ste 5, Phoenix, AZ 85006 to shop for my copy. Josh brought one out that was hooked up and ready to go. Everyone there was very nice and helpful. This is not a paid ad for them, I just thought it was cool to meet their staff and get the unit from its birthplace.

When I got home, I first plugged the unit in to charge the battery, only to find out there was already sufficient charge to start using the device.

I plugged it in to my Nikon D610 and fired everything up per the instructions (I'd actually installed the software on my iPhone 5 the day before). When you start the system up it checks to see if a firmware update is required for the Case Air and it checks to see if an update is required for the remote device. In my case it let me know a firmware update was required so I installed it per the instructions.

Afterwards I needed to shut everything down and restart and then I was controlling my camera from my iPhone! Everything seems to work as advertised and I'm pretty happy so far. I'll wait until I get it out in the "wild" before saying much more about the performance.

It's nice to get a piece of gear that actually does what it advertises (most of my photo gear has been great that way). This actually surprised me a bit...

Surprise!

I had read a lot of the downloadable manual but had glossed over the details about the bracketing, HDR, and focus stacking shooting.

Case Remote Software
HDR Control Panel
from Tether Tools Manual

I don't get the difference between the bracketing and HDR modes, except that with the HDR mode it will cause your camera to shoot up to 9 images where it changes aperture, shutter speed, or ISO between exposures. You get to choose which exposure aspect you want to change and by how much. The bracketing mode is similar but with only 3 shots. It seems redundant to me - I think the HDR feature should be called bracketing and the existing bracketing function is unnecessary.

But, my Nikon D610 only offers 3 shots and I've often wished I had more shots like the 5 on the D810. Now, with my Case Air, I've got up to 9! And, since I can control it remotely, I don't have to touch the camera in order to change things, for example if I wanted to shoot a burst of "HDR" shots by changing the shutter speed and then wanted to try another burst where the ISO changes. Surprise!

I don't have any functionality built in to my D610 to do focus stacking and I'm not aware of any camera that does. This is really cool and is another surprise! Again, you can select to shoot up to 9 images where the Case Remote software changes the focus between each shot. I've recently been discussing focus stacking with a fellow photographer (actually he's mainly a videographer) and this just seems really amazing.

Additional Notes

Another couple of things I noticed about the system are:

1. The software doesn't work well when the D610 is in a "user" mode (U1 or U2). I couldn't control the camera until I switched to the "manual" mode (M), which is basically the same as a user mode.
2. That's okay because you can store a lot of camera settings in the Case Remote software including auto focus settings, and you can name and load settings in Case Remote. That means you could save some settings for wildlife vs. landscape.
3. The software does not upload RAW files to iOS devices (Josh informed me of that). That means you can't zoom in on an actual image UNLESS you shoot it as JPEG (or in my case RAW + JPEG at a minimum). That sounded like a drawback until I noticed you can flip between shooting RAW and JPEG format quickly on the Case Remote software - you can change to JPEG, shoot an image, upload and inspect, adjust and repeat as necessary, then switch to RAW to take your "real" file. And, if desired, you can delete all of those JPEG files from the Case Remote software! That is convenient!

One final note - I also installed the Android software on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet that I use with my DJI Phantom 3 Advanced. The software installed and worked fine on it too but there are differences. The iOS version has more controls available and the layout is a bit different. However, the Tab 4 has a much bigger screen than the iPhone 5 and it allows you to upload RAW files (not that you can do anything with them once they're on the Tab 4). I just wanted to mention that the software works well on those 2 devices. I haven't tried it on my PC yet.

Photoshop CC 2017 Update

The New Phone Book is Here!

Regarding the new Photoshop version, I'd like to be as excited as Steve Martin was about seeing his name in a phone book. I keep hoping! But this version seems to only have some minor updates or enhancements, at least for photography users.

I don't use Photoshop that much to begin with, and I keep hoping I'll see more reason to use it. I primarily use Lightroom. I find it quicker and less fiddly than Photoshop. There are times, however, especially for healing or cloning items that you don't want, where Photoshop provides the control that you just don't get in Lightroom.

As for my wishlist, I wish that they'd re-organize their user interface. Maybe it's just me but I don't see the distinction between filters and tools, or why there are links for some types of layers (Brightness and Contrast) above the list of layers. I don't understand why things are scattered all around the display without much apparent reason or order. But I am probably too old school and too little millennial to enjoy having to search for things in a cluttered and nonsensical user interface. I'm also one of those people that hate the Microsoft "ribbon" garbage.

I recently had occasion to look at a book I likely hadn't opened once in the last 35 years, "Standard Mathematical Tables", 27th Edition, by William H. Beyer. I no longer remember how to use many of the various equations, but it was a pleasure seeing how well organized complex information can be.

I remember a software program I wrote in the mid or early 1980's that provided parts breakdowns for recreational vehicle equipment and how well it was organized, allowing you to drill down to find an individual part for a specific automotive refrigerator manufacturers model for example.

I think there is often a disconnect in software user interfaces because software developers create something such as an enhancement to Photoshop and stick a link to it in the menu that they were working in when they came up with the idea rather than considering where it might be better placed with regard to work flow. I've done it and seen it. Rogue software developers end up adding functionality to a user interface instead of leaving that to (in this case) a photographer (or other end user type) that actually uses the software.

Granted, Photoshop has a lot of functionality in it that I don't even use, such as creating 3-D objects. They've somewhat addressed the issue by offering different user type layouts. I just wish they were more flexible or that the functionality wasn't laid out so confusing in the first place. I'll end my rant here.

FREE: Randall Morter’s Awesome Photography Post-Processing Notes

A Free Post-processing tip sheet!

Cover of a valuable literary achievement

I've made my post-processing tips document available to anyone who is interested (and I'm sure just about every photographer will be). Actually, I don't have a ton of content in it yet but since I keep having to look up how to do things that I've done in the past, such as how to process a milky way shot, I thought I'd at least start a document that either has the instructions in it or links to the sites I find helpful.


You can get to this valuable information from this link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nBKCPCy3-NbRe8xXzr5uh2SRgJGMXvpjfZMSXrfMIYI/edit?usp=sharing

There's a link to the document on the right hand side of this blog page (on the desktop version anyway) called "Randall Morter’s Awesome Photography Post-Processing Notes".