Travis Rowan Photography Blog: 2009

Canon G11: new gear

I picked up a new tool (toy) today and can't wait to put it to work.

The Canon G11 is a pretty sweet pro quality compact that I've had my eye on for awhile.

I have a Lumix LX2 already, but haven't really been impressed with the image quality. What really drew me to the Canon is the hot shoe for off-camera flash possibilities and it's ability to focus at 1cm. I intend to use it as a small carry everywhere camera and for doing some cool macro stuff.

The key points for me are:
RAW files
Hot shoe
Manual controls
Compact enough
Low noise at high ISO
Close focusing

Shooting at night is always a challenge. First off, the low light means long exposures and additional equipment. (tripod, cable release, flashlight etc.) I've always enjoyed shooting in low light, showing motion and in general the technical challenges of creating images in the dark.

In addition to my photography addiction, I also have an "Indiana Jones" complex at times. Those two coupled together led me to Bagan in Myanmar (aka Burma) to photograph the 1100 year-old temples by moonlight. It just sounded like an interesting trip. The complete story of that adventure will come in a future post, but for now I'll share one of the simplest shots from that expedition.

The above shot is a 40 minute exposure of some of the temple ruins just outside the town of Nyaung Oo. Shooting in the dark is always an experiment. In most shooting situations I'm pretty confident in the camera meter's ability to determine a proper exposure. However, in a night scene like this with virtually no light, I'm confident that the camera's meter has no clue. So what do you do? Go manual, guess and take notes.

In the spirit of Halloween, here's a shot I put together using the Nikon CLS system. I'm really getting to love the possibilities.

First off, the cat is one of my favorite animals and "Eddie" this black persian is a fine specimen. (He's named for the rock guitar icon Eddie Van Halen)

I first imagined the shot one morning when I saw Eddie sitting illuminated by the streaming light coming through a window. His long black hair was glowing in a halo of fire.

More pics and the lighting setup below.

Yachts are like birds, they go south for the winter too. I shot these two yachts last December in Antigua. Caribbean skies, underwater lighting and $100 million dollars worth of toys. The two yachts pictured are the 60 meter M/Y Amnesia (left) and the 90 meter M/Y Nero (right).

Gear: Nikon D2x / 17-55mm 2.8 / Manfrotto tripod and ballhead.

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

Mirrored Aviators

This is a fun shot for a lot of reasons. It's a simple recipe, if you can get the ingredients together:
-a beautiful woman.
-a white sand beach in the Caribbean.
-mirrored Aviator sunglasses.
-a little Photoshop masking.
Done.

In a follow up to my previous Zoo Portrait Post, I wanted to share this new shot from...the zoo. By shooting a tight frame, the lions could be anywhere. The late afternoon back light added some nice dimension and detail.

I followed up the RAW processing with black and white conversion in Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Gear: Nikon D300 / 80-200 2.8 lens

Exposure: ISO 400/ F5.6 / 1/640th

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

Borobudur Temple and the Moon

On the island of Java in Indonesia, is one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world. Borobudur Temple is just outside the city of Yogyakarta and a stone's throw from the active volcano of Mt. Merapi. A stone's throw, assuming it was the volcano doing the throwing.

At over 1100 years old, Borobudur is from the same time period as the other Buddhist sites of Angkor in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar. It had been one of my goals to visit them all. I had visited Angkor multiple times and spent nearly three weeks at Bagan in the last five years and finally in 2007, I made it to Borobudur.

Bangkok, Thailand is famous for its ubiquitous food stalls. Thai food is world famous and the immense diversity of places to eat in Bangkok is ridiculous. You can spend $1 or $30, but the only real difference is usually the venue in which you choose to eat. The food is always good.

Here is a shot of the rooftop restaurant and bar called Sirocco. It's open air and perched on the 63rd Floor of a the State Tower building. This would be one of the more pricey options...

The shot is actually two shots merged to achieve the panoramic format.

Exposure: unrecorded. If memory serves, it was a 20mm lens, F11, ISO100 and maybe 5-10 second shutter.

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

DAM!-cool buildings in Denver-part two

The Denver Art Museum...I could photograph this building all day. There are so many angles and different lighting possibilities and I didn't even go inside yet.

There's no message in the above shot, I just thought the red looked cool against the blue sky.

There was a little problem with this shot though. The stop sign was in shadow while the building was bathed in beautiful afternoon light. Nothing that a little pop-up flash and careful exposure control couldn't solve. more below.

I've mentioned this before, in my other life, I work on yachts. After my eight month break / slash photography session, I'm returning to work.

Yachts not only pay well, they are a fun job and afford a unique platform for seeing and photographing the world. If you can find the time....

Above is M/Y Tuscan Sun, a 145 foot private yacht. I grabbed this shot while I was on the foredeck preparing to enter a port in the Mediterranean.

Gear: Nikon D2x / 12-24mm F4 lens

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR

DAM!-cool buildings in Denver

I've been back in Denver for about a month now. I grew up here and left as soon as I figured out how. Denver is a great city and a beautiful place and it's also where my family lives. I visit once a year or so but typically only stay for a week or less.

This time, I'm in town for a month and have taken the time to check out the city again and actually get out and shoot it. It's been well over ten years since I just wandered around downtown with a camera.

Group family shots don't have to be boring. Here's a fun example of my sis and family hanging out in their backyard on a summer evening.

Fire is always fun to shoot, so I jumped at the chance to get some shots when my sister lit up the fire pit and busted out the skewers. (I also enjoy marshmallows on occasion!)

It’s never easy approaching complete strangers on the street, not for me anyway. I like to photograph people though and I’ve found that shooting with a long telephoto lens on the sly can yield interesting candid portraits, but it’s cowardly and some might say a little creepy. I think the word is paparazzi.

If you want to get nice intimate portraits of your fellow humans you just have to go up and ask. Cooperation is necesssary. But… You need to be prepared to get the shot you want. You have to have a strategy. I figure if you’re going to approach somebody and ask him or her for something you might as well get what you want.

I get prepared before the “approach”.

I've just put some equipment up for sale on Ebay. It's all nice gear in excellent condition.
Check them out here:
Lumedyne 400 w/s strobe kit
15" MacBook Pro

Studio in the Garden

This praying mantis was hanging around the garden of my little bungalow in Bali. It was late evening so I decided to get out some flashes and get a few "portraits".

I had picked up a Nikon D300 a few months ago so I could start using the iTTL Creative Lighting System. (CLS). For the non-photo-geek, that means I can shoot with multiple wireless (infrared) Nikon flashes which I can control individually from the camera itself.

I've often used off camera flash but I have always used them manually, meaning that I physically set the power on each flash and make adjustments to eventually get it right. For each power adjustment, I had to walk over to the flash and make the change.

More shots and the lighting setup below.

TED talk: David Griffin of Nat Geo talks about photography. (video)

I'm a huge fan of TED.com. I just watched this presentation by David Griffin, photo director of National Geographic. Good stuff.

If you can't see the entire frame, click HERE to go directly to it on the TED website.

If you don't know about TED.com already. Check it out. Interesting, intelligent, successful people discussing something that matters. Beats the hell out of facebook, twitter and the other mindless banter polluting the bandwidth. This blog included. Peace, TR

Time-Lapse video, Building a Yacht

I’ve always been fascinated by the time-lapse movies of huge construction projects like what you see on the Discovery Channel. This was an opportunity to make my own miniature version.

The movie is made up of 2400 photographs taken at intervals ranging from one every 30 seconds to one every minute. Although this project took several months, the movie only shows a few decks of the yacht coming together over a period of 10 days.

Watch the movie then read the story.

The video includes audio; you may want to adjust your volume before beginning.

Here’s the story

There’s a saying: “It’s the journey, not the destination.” I normally subscribe to this little nugget of wisdom, but this was not the case in my effort to photograph the future president. For me, the journey sucked but the destination was great.

I was based in Virginia for about six months in 2008 on a yacht project. The presidential campaign in was in full swing and I heard that Barack Obama would be at the Virginia Beach convention center for a campaign rally on the weekend. It would be a great opportunity to see him speak and be apart of something exciting.

More shots below

There is a place in St. Martin, Dutch West Indies where you can stand on a picture perfect Caribbean beach and get jet blasted into the water. Not your standard postcard moment.

You would never be able to get this close to a huge passenger airliner anywhere else in the world. In this day and age, it’s hard to believe they still allow it. But they do and it makes for some really interesting photographs if you can avoid having a heart attack.

More shots and a video below

“Don’t go in the rainy season.” That’s what the guidebooks say, but for photography, rain is not always a bad thing. If you only have a few weeks, you probably don’t want to go in the rainy season. (Especially if you’re headed to tropical Southeast Asia.) Understood.

I’ve traveled to Angkor Wat in Cambodia two dozen times. Sometimes shooting for assignments and other times on personal projects. It’s one of my favorite places to visit and photograph. I also prefer the rainy season in Angkor because the daily showers keep the jungle green and the moats full.

More shots below.

Animal portraits can be hard to come by. Wildlife photography is a very specialized and challenging art. Not only do you have to be able to survive “out in the wild” you‘ve got to know your subjects very well and wait for them to appear.

You could easily spend months waiting for a shot to come together and you rarely get a second chance. Hats off to the wildlife photographers who spend their lives getting the shots, they are truly dedicated.

Most of my wildlife photography has been done underwater. Dolphins, Sharks, reef fish etc. I’m pretty happy underwater

Tanah Lot sea temple is one of the most sacred Hindu sites in Bali. Balinese temples aren’t generally known for their size or extravagance but rather their spectacular locations.

Tanah Lot is perched on a natural lava island that lies just offshore above the pounding waves. It’s joined to the shore by a lava bridge that appears at low tide. After winding your way through the maze of tourist stalls you find this beautiful little temple and most likely a ceremony taking place.

Waterfalls just beg to be photographed. I can’t pass by one without getting a few shots. It’s never a quick process though. You see, I’m fascinated by moving water and I feel the need, especially in the case of a waterfall, to show that motion.

That means setting up the tripod and a cable release,

No matter where you go in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia you can see the Petronas Twin Towers. At one time, they were the tallest buildings in the world but were quickly outdone in 2004 by Taipei 101 in Taiwan and this year the Burj Dubai will take the crown. At 88 stories, the Petronas Towers are still the tallest "twin towers" in the world.

More shots below.

One of my most memorable moments traveling and taking photographs was on my first trip to see the 1100 year-old Buddhist temples of Angkor in Cambodia. It was in October 2001 and I arrived at Angkor Wat at 5am to photograph the temples at sunrise.

It was still very dark so I stumbled around the temple grounds looking for a place to set up my camera and watch as Angkor appeared before my eyes.

Having a blog is a great place to show some nice shots that don’t necessarily belong in my portfolio. This is one of those.

It’s a quick shot I grabbed while in Colorado a few years ago. I was up in the mountains to see the aspens changing color but I was a few weeks late to see the real show.

Ever since the movie Top Gun came out I’ve been fascinated with fighter jets. As a kid, I went through a phase where I built model airplanes like crazy. It was a bit of an obsession. At times, I would build 2 or 3 models a week. More than 20 model planes and helicopters hung from the ceiling of my bedroom and I knew all the specs for each aircraft. (Girls were discovered later.)

More shots below.

I always get a funny look when pull a tripod out on a moving boat. I understand. I mean, where can I set it up so my camera won’t move? Believe it or not, there are ways to use a tripod on a moving boat.

This is a shot of a Balinese dancer during a traditional Barong dance performance. Photographing shows in stage lighting is challenging. In bad stage light, it can be a nightmare.

With stage lighting, I normally shoot in Manual mode. Spot lit performers against dark backgrounds will fool a camera’s meter every time.

The subject will end up overexposed. Stage lighting is usually very uneven around the stage particularly in small third-world venues where I tend to hang out. This means it’s tough to shoot all over the stage. So I look for the best lit spot on the stage, which is often the center but not always. This is the zone where I want my subjects to be.

There are some really interesting little hotels in Indonesia. I was staying in this cool little A-frame cottage just a few steps away from turquoise waters of the Gili Islands. It was a great little room with a beautiful outdoor bathroom (Bali style).

I was in Australia out on the Great Barrier Reef a few years ago. On a small spit of sand not far from Lizard Island. I came upon this young osprey chick that had been blown out of its nest. The wind was steady

I was in far north Queensland, Australia shooting for the magazine Asia Pacific Tropical Homes in 2004. I was photographing interiors and architecture of some of tropical Australia’s most distinct private villas.

I was lucky enough to be staying in one incredible villa situated back in a lush rainforest. At night, the sounds of the jungle were deafening. Insects, birds, bats and frogs all trying to outdo the other screaming into the darkness. I’m sure they had a purpose other than keeping me awake.

An amazing array of frogs would end up congregating on my patio on any given night. It was bizarre.

I was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia shooting various assignments. I was instructed to photograph various aspects on the cyclo drivers that pedal people and goods all over the dusty capital city.

I had this idea for a shot that could be a good opening spread for the story and I just needed to bring all the elements together. I set out with a motorbike

Angkor Wat in Cambodia is one of my favorite places in the world. The 1100-year-old temples are the jungle ravaged remains of the mighty Khmer Empire. I have been lucky enough to visit Angkor more than two dozen times and it seems I always find something new.

This shot of the apsara relief in the central gallery of Angkor Wat is a good one to demonstrate the need for off-camera flash. It was early morning

In my other life, I work on yachts. Simply described, they are the big, luxurious toys of the super rich. It pays better than photography (in my experience) and working and living on these beautiful boats does have its perks.

This is a good example of how many complex shots come together. You have a plan then everything changes and you have to improvise and get creative.

This is a shot of Christina fire dancing on a beach in Mexico. I had intended to photograph her much earlier in the evening. I wanted the sky to have some nice evening blue to complement the orange fire, but we missed the window.

More shots below

It doesn’t take long to discover the limits of having a strobe mounted on a fixed arm. The first time I went diving with a Nikonos V and 105 Substrobe, I did like most people and mounted the strobe on the arm and base plate blah, blah, blah. It made sense, it was part of a kit and that’s how it looked in the manual. Good job.

I found a huge moray eel back in a dark crevice and was futilely trying to angle my camera / strobe in such a way to throw light on the eel. It wasn’t going to happen.

Find Stock Images

Search This Blog

There's a story behind every image

My Portfolio Sites

Subscribe To

The Complete Blog Archive

My Daily Rounds

Labels