Good morning from a nice a toasty Miami. I just wanted to take this time before we all sit and fill our bellies with devious food to say thank you to all that have support us during the 2018 year. It has been an amazing year and we’ve had our ups and downs but we are not out. 2019 will bring a whole new adventure and we look forward in sharing it with all of y’all. So please stay tune. Merry Christmas to all of you and may 2019 bring peace and prosperity.
So you wanna do an art show, GREAT!! /
Sorry folks I must apologize for the absence from my blog. No, I did not drop off the face of the earth, although sometimes I wish it were that easy. No, I’ve been working on getting ready for my first art show up here in South Carolina. Let me tell you it’s a lot more difficult than the Miami show back in March. Back in March it was easy, I’d just go over to the folks at Work of Art Gallery and tell them which images I wanted printed and matted and which ones to print big. If you ever want really good customer service in a print shop you need to check out Marta and her crew. Well, when you are a one man show, you now become the printer and framer. It was tired some but rewarding all rolled into one. For weeks I had my printer chugging along and I had almost every square in of my apartment filled with prints, drying. I spent a few days cutting the mats and backing boards to mount these prints then framing and the rest would go into plastic sleeves to sell.
Now onto the big show. The dates were set for October 13-14 at the very historic Magnolia Plantation. Set up was on Friday. My plan was to drop off and build the tent and walls then head back to pick up my art, I did tell you that I’m a one man show, right? Well that took a long time and after a few trips to Walmart and Home Depot I got my tent up and running. Man, was I beat!
Here’s the tent and walls set up along with the art work hung up. Man, is that a lot of art or what?
Well let’s get to the showing right? Saturday Malena and I headed for the show and the folks were started to trickle in. We had a great spot right by the entrance to the plantation. Right off the bat I sold one of my barn wood frames. Oh boy did that feel great!!! People kept coming in and checking us out praising the artwork and purchasing a few other prints and frames. Then 3:00 rolled around, and the crowds just weren’t there. So at 5:00 we zipped her up and headed for the local sports bar to celebrate our first successful day of the show.
Sunday came around and my poor wife had some aching feet so I told her rest up and come on by later. So off to the show I went, and let me tell you I was scared. It was 10:00 A.M. before anyone came by and bought a print. I guess it’s because folks around here go to church and have brunch on Sundays. But the crowds came around and sold a few prints. All in all I think it was a successful show, 1) My art was seen by the people of South Carolina and of the many tourist that visited the plantation and 2) I set out to do this show with limited resources and lots of heart. I’m now looking at other shows around the area to do and showcase my work. So why did I title this “So you wanna do an art show? Well simple, if you believe that your artwork, regardless of median, is good enough to show case then do it!! It will do one of two things, 1) it’ll boost your moral and push you to be a better artist and 2) if the show didn’t succeed then figure out what didn’t work and fix it for the next one. Like that old saying goes, “if you fall off the bike, get back on and keep riding” I hoping not to go on along hiatus from blogging and I hope you continue to follow along and enjoy the ride.
I hit my first milestone /
Good morning/day/evening y’all. It’s been a great week here in Charleston. I’d like to thank all of you in helping me reach the first of many milestones. I’ve reached over a 1000 pageviews on my website. Now to some that’s not a major thing, but for someone who’s been doing this full time for only 3 months it is. And THANK YOU!!!
This week I headed out to Folly Beach, one of Charleston’s many beaches, to capture a sunrise. Well the colors just weren’t there so I worked on my minimalist photography. That’s were ther is just one subject. I also worked on my long exposure photography as well. I then photographed one of Chalreston’s oldest icons, The Angel Oak Tree. This tree is stated to be around 1500 years old and can you imagine the stories it would tell?
Well this week we celebrate Amaerica’s birthday, July 4th. So I’ve got a few tips for y’all who are going to shoot the fireworks.
1) Get a sturdy tripod. You’ll need it because of the long exposure times.
2) Get a cable release, it makes photographing the fireworks much easier as you don’t need to touch the camera causing blurring images.
3) Set your camera to Bulb Mode (B) Choose an f-stop around f 9 through f 11.
4) For focus, I’d wait for the first fireworks to go off, let the camera autofocus system lock on then set it to manual focus.
5) As the fireworks take off, press and hold the cable release and don’t let go until after the explosion dissipates. That way you capture the trail and the explosion all in one shot.
6) HAVE FUN!!! It’s the 4th of July so sit back and enjoy the show. As photographers we get so caught up on getting the shots that we lose focus on enjoying the moment with friends and family.
So those are a few tips I have, for y’all who will just shot with your mobile phones, you can hold your phones up and try to anticipate when the explosion occurs as the tail takes off. I have taken a few good shots with my phone.
Well folks I hope y’all have a great short week, I’ll be off to Greenville this weekend, I’m going there to support a local and fellow photographer who’s doing his first exhibit at a gallery and to explore the Up Country.
Taken at The Washout on Folly Beach
This will be short, I promise!!! /
Good evening from beautiful, hot and, humid Charleston. It feels just like Miami. Well, since last week’s blog was a bit on the long side, I’ll keep this one short and sweet. Last Friday, I launch a new series on my website where you can purchase some of my images in different sizes. I will print, mat and ship them straight to you and all you have to do is put them in your favorite frame and hang them up. Simple. Click on the link: https://www.sabatierphotography.com/shopping/
Saturday, Malena and I sat around and watched some World Cup action, funny how we’re not really fútbol fans only when the World Cup is on. Oh, and by the way, Charleston has it’s own soccer club, check them out. https://www.chsbatterysc.com/
This morning I made the commitment to head out and shoot some sunrise photos, it’s been a long time. I was happy just to get out there and shoot, The sun wasn’t cooperating with me so I took some intimate, or minimalist photos. When you go out and shoot, don’t just shoot the grand vistas, but look around and get some isolated subjects.
Well, that’s it from me. Told y’all it was going to be a short one. I hope y’all have a great week!!
Taken at The Washout here on Foley Beach
The use of leading lines drawing your eyes through the image.
Well it’s been a while... /
As the title to the blog says, it’s been a while. My last blog post was back on May 23 when I was still in Wyoming. What a great trip, I spent 10 days photographing some amazing landscapes and wildlife around Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I went with fellow photographer Jason Eldridge who’s the host of The Nature Photography Podcast, if you haven’t heard his podcast go on over and check him out.
Friday was a long day, I woke up at the usual 4:30 A.M. and packed up, Jason dropped me off at the bus terminal where I would grab a shuttle over to Salt Lake City Airport. Once I arrived at the airport, I attempted to check in my baggage, well the airline had a different idea. They told me since it’s a midnight flight, I couldn’t check them in until 8:00 P.M., I’m like “ WTF!!” So I called up my favorite administrative assistant, my brilliant wife, who got me a great room at a nearby hotel. Ahhh....
Lucky me the hotel has a shuttle heading to the airport and picked me up and took me to my sanctuary. Dropping off the luggage and grabbing a quick lunch I headed out to explore Salt Lake City. SLC is a growing city with some history, I may have to go back and explore it some more in the future. I was dropped off in front of the capital building and it is a beautiful building. I then walked over to the Church of Latter Day Saints, AKA the Mormans. What an impressive place. Took a few shots of the front with its water fountain. But I had to cut my explorations short, I was feeling a bit tired and needed to get some sleep, so back to the hotel I went. After a nice shower and a quick power nap I was ready for the journey back home.
The first leg was the red eye from Salt Lake City to Charlotte, I’m not one for sleeping on airplanes but I did get some shut eye. Landed in Charlotte a few minutes early so it help with getting some food in me. That Charlotte-Charleston flight is quick, I calculated it was 45 minutes. Once I landed, got my bags and my lovely wife who’ve I have not seen for 10 days picked me up and along with her sister, we headed off to Lake Lure, N.C. For the long weekend. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “It must be nice to do all this traveling and photography.” Well, it is but, it is tiring. I guess if I did it for a living I’d get used to it.
Lake Lure, N.C. what a great place to just unwind and forget about the world and its troubles. My brother in law has an amazing place up in the mountain top and with a view out to the valley. Sunday, we headed out and explored two waterfalls that were just incredible, not only to see but to one to get to. While hiking these trails I was planing on doing something for next year, you’re just going to have to wait a bit on that.
As Monday approached, we headed back to Charleston and home... Wow, after all the traveling and photographing I did, all I wanted was to sleep in my own bed. So I’ve been busy getting the real estate photography business up and running, I finally got South Carolina to accept me as a business, made some flyers and made some contacts. Things are starting to go forward. I’m looking forward to seeing what this next week has to offer. Which by the way, stay tuned, I have an announcement coming up. Until then, stay focus and enjoy yourself!!
Watching the rain and fog roll in from the comfort of home.
My Wyoming Chronicles, a hoot of a time! /
Today was some what of a wash... Last night prior to going to sleep, we checked the weather forecast and it showed rain all morning to late afternoon. Well my Miami peeps, I feel your pain. This morning as we woke up at 4:00 A.M. weather forecaster were correct. Not much to do but go back to sleep. In the morning I worked on a future project that I'll possibly make an announcement next week. so stay tuned.
Later on in the afternoon, Jason got some information that there were Great Grey Owls near the roadside. Time to hit the road and find out if they're still at the location. We arrived in the area and we saw quit a few cars in the area, which means they owls were still there. There were two, a male, which is smaller in size than the female. We spent about two hours photographing them, yes two hours for two birds.
Tomorrow will be my last sunrise here in Grand Teton so I'm going to miss this amazing place. I will be back. I hope y'all like my adventure as much as I have. Stay tune for some great information coming up in the next few days.
Here is the female Great Grey Owl.
The male owl, who hunts for food and shares it with his mate.
My Wyoming Chronicles A very long day... /
Yesterday we had made plans to visit Yellowstone National Park, with a quick stop to Oxbow Bend for a sunrise shoot. Wake up was set for 3:45 A.M. Yup, you read right, 3:45 A.M. We headed out and found Oxbow Bend was filled with other photographers attempting to take a sunrise shoot as well as us. The window of opportunity was very narrow to get that golden light onto the mountains. Here’s a tip for photographers. Set your composition and leave it alone, because light will change in the blink of an eye. And it did it that morning.
After that quick sunrise shoot, we headed north to Yellowstone. On the drive we would look at the outside temperature and that was heading south. As the fog rolled in it made for some pretty moody shots. Once we cleared the fog we headed to the most famous gyser in the world, Old Faithful. And the name doesn’t disappoint, it goes off every 90 minutes and like clockwork. We stayed for 2 separate eruptions. The first one was a wash, literally, as the gyser was erupting the winds shifted and the steam headed towards us.
After walking around the gyser basin we headed to Mammoth Hot Springs with a stop at the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is the one spring with all those cool saturated colors. I chose not to do the typical shot and worked on my abstract shots. With all the mineral colorations it made for some out of this world images. Let me tell you, this place was slamming with tourists with their annoying selfie sticks!! I cannot imagine what this place would look like during the summer time.
After a few hours in the car we finally made it to Mammoth Hot Springs. Here the only shots I saw were abstract ones. We all decided that we should head south and back home because we’ve been up since 3:45 A.M. and it’s now 4:00 P.M. We were about a 100 miles form home and the roads here aren’t the best in the world. A two lane highway and add some construction the drive would take about 4 hours.
Once we got back to Jackson, our hunger needed to be addressed. It was 8:50 P.M. when we pulled in and the first place we stopped closed at 9:00 P.M. So we headed to the local Wendy’s. The manager told us that we had to take our food to go because he had a carpet cleaner coming to steam clean the rug. Mind you, he was not even there yet. I guess we were so hungry that arguing would not solve anything and I took my food to go. Walking into the apartment felt good. A quick shower and an upload of images I finally made it to bed around midnight. It was agreed that sunrise would have to be rescheduled. I have two more sunrises left in this amazing place so I have to maximize my time. Looking forward to tomorrow, are you? I hope so.
A behind the scene look at yesterday’s sunrise.
The fog made for a great moody shot. It was hard not to stop and take photos.
The crowds of people waiting for Old Faithful to make an appearance
Looks like this was taken on another planet but it wasn’t.
These majestic creatures were almost extinct but have made a comeback. This particular bison was getting close to the boardwalk. A safety tip, do not approach these animals. Give them the distance that is required.
Mammoth Hot Springs is a great place to work on some abstract art
My Wyoming Chronicles /
Greetings from Wyoming, yesterday was a off day. A day to relax and take care of some post processing, work on social media and the important laundry run. This morning we headed over to Jackson Lake for a sunrise shoot and it wasn’t disappointing. We then headed over to Oxbow Bend took a few shots while the light was good. As most of you know, sunrise shoots aren’t alway with the sun, but to chase that nice glowing light and the mountains face east so that’s why the mountains have that nice glow to them.
After Oxbow, we headed north to chase some “critters.” It’s kinda easy to find out where the wildlife hangs around, just look for the traffic jams. I got an opportunity to photograph “Blondie” a grizzly bear who is a cub from the famous Grizzly Bear 399. Blondie has two cubs of her own. Talking to the rangers, both 399 and Blondie hand out close to the road because it keeps them safe from the male bears who would attack and kill the cubs so that he can have his bloodline continue. This makes for a great soap opera, hmmm? “As the Bears Roam”
Tomorrow We’ll be heading north to Yellowstone to go photograph some of the best geological sites on earth as well as some wildlife. So get ready for some really cool images.
Sunrise on Jackson Lake. Those peaks glowed for a few minutes, but well worth it.
This is how you find wildlife in the National Parks. This reminds me of the Palmetto.
Here’s a small group of photographers taking images of the bears
“Blondie” going taking her morning stroll looking for some breakfast.
My Wyoming Chronicles, rain, wind and snow... /
Day 4 of my Grand Teton/Yellowstone adventure began with a 4:00 A.M. wake up and we headed to Jenny Lake for a sunrise shoot. When we got to Jenny Lake the wind was blowing a bit making the water a bit choppy and we had clear skies making for a non dramatic image. But as they say, “A bad day of photography is better than a day at work.”
Around mid-morning we headed into Jackson Hole and walked around a bit. We walked into The Wyoming Camera Outfitters store and met with some great bunch of photographers who operate the store. These guys are very familiar with the area and told us were to go to get some great shots. If you ever find yourself in Jackson and want some photo locations or camera gear check them out. https://wyomingcameraoutfitters.com/jackson-location/
We then walked into The Bookover Gallery. If you want to see some amazing images head over to his website, https://www.brookovergallery.com/ As I walked around his gallery I was just in awe from the images to the framing. Thanks Ben Osborne and Marta Echazarreta for showing me what to look for in good matting and framing. There are several galleries in Jackson Hole to get some inspiration. And I look forward to walking into them.
After some discussion and weather observing, we decide what to go around the Tetons over to Taghee National Forrest and to the Grand Taghee Resort which overlooks the west side of the Tetons. After an hour drive in pouring rain, we made it to the top of Grand Taghee Resort only to see that the rain was still coming down and there was fresh white powder on the ground. Unfortunately the sunset was a wash, no pun intended, but it was a great scout outing. So we hope to be back for a sunset shot. The weekend is upon us and that means that the park will be packed with tourists with their selfie sticks. So I’m not sure what we’re going do so stick around and find out.
Sunrise at Jenny Lake I used a 10 stop ND filter to smooth out the water and a circular polarizer to make the water clear.
Jason Eldridge of Nature Photography setting up a shot.
The sunset that didn’t happen. Somewhere behind those grey skies is The Gran Teton. We’ll be back when there is better light.
This Week from Wyoming Bears and Mountains /
So, I said a few days ago that I’ll be blogging on a daily basis, well I missed yesterday due to a really long day. That day started at 2:00 A.M. with an astrophotography shot of one of the Moulton Barns with the Milky Way in the background. What an amazing night sky. I’ve been out and seen stars but that morning the sky was littered with them! After the clouds decided to move in, we took a quick power nap in the car. For sunrise, we headed over to the other Moulton Barn with the Tetons in the background. What an amazing sight to see when the sun came over the horizon an lit the barn and mountains.
Once we came back the the apartment, it was time for some much needed sleep. After some food in the tank we headed out to Jackson and Jenny Lake to scout out future sunrise spots. It’s funny how the body works, I could feel something was wrong and I remember what altitude sickness was and thought I should get some rest. So we headed back to the apartment and I was out by 8:00 P.M.
This morning we headed out to shoot a sunrise, after a few minutes wondering if we should go to Jenny Lake or go to Snake River Overlook. Well with the fog rolling in it was an easy decision to go to Snake River Overlook. WOW!! I got to stand in the same area as Ansel Adams did when he took his famous Snake River photograph. Last year I photographed Yosemite National Park and now I got to photograph Grand Teton, same as Ansel. I would describe the weather this morning as epic. Rain, wind and cold temperatures made these images look like they came right out of something from Lord of the Rings movie.
This evening we went out looking for some wildlife, bears in particular. While driving we saw two juvenile moose hanging around. Then we headed out to Pilgrim Creek to see one of the world’s famous bears, Grizzly Bear 399. She’s as famous that she has her own Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Grizzly-Bear-399-278005992220778/ While driving we notice a few cars parked along the side of the road and we knew what that meant, a bear jam. She was there with her two cubs looking for food and just being bears. We were glad to have found these bears because we were worried we couldn’t find any in the park. I think from here on out it should be good.
Tomorrow will be another sunrise in either Jackson or Jenny Lake, then a sunset on the other side of the Tetons. Hopefully I can do a quick blog with those images. Until then enjoy these below.
Milky Way over Moulton Barn with a few shooting stars.
The other Moulton Barn with the Tetons in the background.
Snake River made famous by Ansel Adams
The famous Grizzly 399 and her two cubs. Looks like one needs his back scratched.
This week from Wyoming /
Well I finally made it to Wyoming, home of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Two amazing parks. I’ll be out here with fellow photographer and host of The Nature Photography Podcast, Jason Eldridge, if you haven’t check him out I highly recommend it. I’ll be out here photographing the amazing landscapes and wildlife around here.
This afternoon we went out to an overlook where you see the Tetons with some nice sidelight on it. I’ll post below some shots with my phone. Tomorrow morning is an early rise, 2:00 A.M. Yes, you read that correct, 2:00 A.M. Why? Because we’ll be able to catch the Milky Way rise over the mountains. Then stay up for the sunrise. Well, I’m going to keep it short because I need to get some rest. It’s been a long day of travel, been up since 5:00 A.M. Miami time. In the meantime enjoy these behind the scene shots.
The famous Grand Tetons that Ansel Adams made famous. Shot on an iPhone
Here’s a #BTS of my camera and the Tetons
This Week in my Charleston Chronicles /
This weekend Malena and I headed to Miami to spend Mother’s Day with our family. What normally takes about 9 hours to drive took us a bit longer due to some traffic to include an 18-wheeler that rolled over shutting 2 lanes of I-95. But, we made it safe and sound. As I sit here typing this blog I am reminded of an old say “I’ve made another trip around the sun” and I am truly blessed to be surrounded by great people. From family and friends all wishing me a happy birthday. Hey, you only turn 46 once in your life right?
I’m going to keep this short because tomorrow I leave for Wyoming. I’ll be there with my friend and fellow photographer Jason Eldridge. We’re planning on hitting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. So, I’d like to try to blog at least everyday to show y’all the beauty these parks have to offer. So for now, sit back and enjoy the evening.
This Week in my Charleston Chronicles 05/07 /
Yet another week has come and gone. This week, well let’s just say it went to the toilet. Started out pretty good with editing some photos of the Blessing of the Fleet, then worked on my pricing sheet for the potential real estate clients. Then Wednesday rolled around and I join a few other retirees for lunch. I guess they add me just to keep the average age of the group below 80. No, they’re a great bunch of guys, some are native Charlestonians. Yes, that’s a word y’all. That evening Malena and I hit up one of our favorite pizza joints. Then a few hours later... Disaster. I felt horrible for the next two days. I guess it was either a stomach bug or something I ate but man did I feel horrible. All I did was watch tv and suffer for the next two days. Friday was May 4th and for all us Star Wars geeks a day we live for, but not this year! I celebrated it right in front of the tv watching Rogue One. Malena nursed me back to health with her chicken soup and TLC. Thanks babe.
Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, an American celebration of a Mexican victory over Spain in some battle. I guess we need an excuse to party. Our neighbors invited us to go with them over to some friend’s house and celebrate both Cinco de Mayo and the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby. What a beautiful home they have, right on the banks of the Ashley River looking at the Ravenel Bridge off in the distance. Pretty cool place to watch a horse race. The weekend finished off with meeting a few more potential business clients and a documentary movie on the history of Freeriding mountain biking at a local brewery.
Next week is what I call the holy day of obligation and looking forward to another year with friends and family. Malena and I will be down in Miami for the weekend to spend it with our mother’s. Then on Wednesday, I fly out to Wyoming. I’ll be there for the next ten days photographing The Grand Teton and the famous Yellowstone National Park. So today I started to pack all my camera gear. Lots of gear and other gear I rented that should be there when I arrive. I’ll post a picture of my gear. Well until next week, make it prosperous and have fun.
Here’s my photo gear that will be traveling with me. I use Canon gear but there’s a Sony in the mix as well. 6dm1, 16-35mm f4, 28-75mm f2.8, 70-300L, Samyang 14mm 2.8, 28mm f1.8 a 10 stop ND filter, 2 circular polarizers, a Sony a6000 with a Rokinon 12mm f2.8, a few cable releases and that little orange box is a MIOPS controller. It does a little bit of everything, it’s my lightning trigger, intervelometer, cable release. It’s controlled all via Bluetooth to my phone. And my rocket blower to clean out the sensors. All that plus a 15” laptop computer fit into that backpack.
Here it is all packed up and ready to go. I guess I’ll make my appointment with the chiropractor when I get back.
This week in my Charleston Chronicles /
Well another week has come and gone. We are closing on April and coming up on May. At this rate the holidays will be here in no time. I had a very productive week, met with my SCORE mentor, this is a free service that South Carolina offers small business owners in order to help them be successful. Took in a great amount of business information from him. Did a bit of exploring and photographing in downtown. Thinking of a few personal projects while walking around, more to come on that later on. I had my first business meeting on Thursday and it went well, let’s see if I can start drumming up some business.
Over the weekend I took a matting and mounting class where I got to mat my own photograph. This will help me with several things; 1) it’ll help me distinguish myself from the rest of the local artist who just use plain white mats and 2) help reduce the cost in having someone else do it. I’m only going to do my own matting for the smaller prints, all my other pieces will be done by professionals.
Sunday was a great day. Malena and I took part in the annual “Blessing of the Fleet” where the local fishermen parade down the Cooper River and are blessed by the local clergy in hopes of a good and safe fishing season. After the Blessing we headed over to Water’s Edge, a local eatery on the banks of Shem Creek where you can see the fleet of shrimp boats. If you ever find yourself in Charleston, come check out Shem Creek. Let’s make this week and every week a great one!
Another beautiful Charleston sunset. That is St. Phillip’s in the background. (Image shot for my IPhone)
Ben Osborn of Eastbound and Down Framing who taught a workshop on how to matte and mount your images. I learned quite a bit from Ben who’s a transplant from Austin, Tx. And yes, we both agree that Lewis BBQ is the closest thing to Texas BBQ in Charleston.
A collage of images from The Blessing of the Fleet event in Mt. Pleasant.
This week in my Charleston Chronicles /
Well, I’ll categorize this week as a semi productive week. We drove back on Tuesday from spending the weekend down in Miami. I then got to work more on the business side of things. Man, it’s what they all say about entrepreneurship. Owning your own business is rough. I spend more time sitting in the chair typing away then behind the lens. I guess in order to build a good business you need a solid foundation.
Over this past weekend, Malena and I visited the Francis Marion National Forrest. We did part of the Palmetto Trail system which starts here in the low country and ends up near Columbia. I was scoping out good spots for some astrophotography so there might be some Milky Way shots coming. We then headed to Shem Creek in Mt. Pleasant for a sunset dinner. On Sunday, I met with some potential clients and viewed some homes for sale.
I have two business meetings this week, one with my business mentor, and the other with a realtor and their broker. Things are starting to look good here in Charleston. It’s been a month now and I’m really excited to be living here in the Low Country. So I’m going to leave you with this image taken on Saturday evening during the sunset. Now, I have to say it’s one of the best ones I’ve seen yet.
Sunset at Shem Creek Park. That’s the Ravenel Bridge in the background. The colors were amazing that day. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these.
This week in my Charleston Chronicles 04/18 /
Another week has come and gone and I hope the cold weather as well. This week was a short week form me, nothing too exciting to report other than we closed on our Miami home and I have officially become a South Carolina residence with that dreaded visit to the DMV. Wow, I guess they’re all the same experience.
On Friday, we drove down to Miami for a long weekend and catch up with family and friends. This week is going to be a much more productive week. I’m hoping to upload a few new images I have in mind to shoot and a business meeting towards the end of the week. I’m looking forward to the challenges I face this week and everyday as I continue to grow as a photographer and business owner. For now, I’ll leave you with a simple shot of a nice home in downtown Charleston that I want to go back and properly photograph her.
One of the many historical homes in downtown Charleston. Shot on an iPhone.
Lots of these alleys to explore. Shot on an iPhone.
How I took the Shot /
How I took this shot?
St. Michael’s Church in downtown Charleston
So how do you get those clouds to streak across the sky you ask? Well it’s by using a 10 stop neutral density (ND) filter. It’s like sunglasses for your camera. What a ND filter does is it slows down your shutter speed, which is the amount the aperture stays open, giving time for the clouds to move across the sensor of your camera. There are several ND filters that offer different “stops” of light. 3, 6, 10, 15 stops are the most common ones out there. They also come in round, screw in, or square. The round ones screw into the thread on the end of your lens. The square filter requires a filter holder. He’s a tip, if you do buy the round filters, go with the largest diameter of the lens you have. Then buy step down rings for the other lenses. If you’re good with math it’ll be easy to figure out, but we are in the age of technology so there’s an app for that.
Figuring out the right exposure
When trying to calculate the correct exposure with a ND filter, you have to figure out what the “proper” exposure is without the ND filter first. In the case of the image used, I got a proper exposure of 1/400th of a second at a F/Stop of f10. So if I use a 10 stop filter I would get an exposure of 2.5 seconds. Now I’ll be honest here, as an artist, I went with a longer exposure to really get those clouds moving across the sensor creating movement. I used a 30 second exposure. That’s 5 stops longer then what the filter is for. But since the day was overcast and showers were forecasted, I knew I can get away with a 30 second exposure and not “blow” out, most of the image will be overexposed, my image.
A ND filter can also be used on smoothing water movement making it nice and silky. One other important thing; Prior to you putting on the ND Filter, make sure your subject is in focus then turn off the autofocus on your lens. This will prevent the lens from trying to focus through that dark piece of glass.
So go out there and play around with ND filters and long exposures and let’s see what you get. As a fellow photographer says “hey, pixels are free.”
Location: Broad Street/ Meeting Street Charleston SC 03/30/18
Subject: St. Michael Church
Camera: Canon 6D
Focal length: 28mm Tamron 28-75 f2.8
Aperture: f/10
Exposure: 30 second time exposure
ISO: 100
10 Stop ND (neutral density)
Here I am exposing for the shot. As you can see there are a few cars, but with a long exposure those cars disappear or can add motion to the photo.
Here’s my setup. I use square filters. I use a Colin filter holder with a Haida 10 stop ND filter.
This week in my Charleston Chronicles /
Well another week has gone by living here in Charleston. This past weekend was great, on Saturday my wife, Malena, ran her first event here in Charleston. It was the 41 annual Cooper River Bridge run. A run that starts in Mt. Pleasant just across the Cooper River and finished in downtown Charleston. Approximately 40,000 runner turned out this year. As she ran the the course, I headed out to do what I like to do, take pictures. Well, the light wasn’t all the best but as that old saying goes, “A bad day of photography is better than a day at work”. Then I headed over to King Street and see the runners come by. I had found a great donut shop, imaging that, and hung out and did a bit of people watching.
Sunday, we headed out to Summerville, a little town just north of Charleston where there was the Azalea Festival going on. We went with some friendly neighbors here in our complex. Greg and Nancy are transplants from Minnesota and are the unofficial welcomers of our apartment complex. Well the festival was great, lots of people walking around but no flowers to been seen. As I walked around I was getting ideas for next year of possibly doing a booth here and showing off some of my art, so stay tuned for that. Well another week has started and I’m officially a South Carolina resident, as I did that dreaded line at the DMV. Man, they’re all about the same no matter what state you live in. Okay folks thanks for reading. Maybe my next post I’ll do it from the MIA? Catch y’all on the flip side.
Bed & Breakfast up for sale
We saw this nice Bed and Breakfast that’s currently up on the market. If anyone is interested in.
Lots and lots of people walking at the #Azalea Festival
a little #BTS of my Sunrise during Saturday morning
Look Ma, here come the tourist...
Royal Caribbean Cruise line Grandeur of the Seas coming in for the day. Carnival Cruise also comes to Charleston.
Wanna Live here? /
Well I made it through week #3. Last week was crazy with the Improve Photography Retreat. Meeting with friends from New York, California and South Carolina we shot a few models and spent some quality time. The business side is going well, I finally got around to doing the paperwork in order to do business in South Carolina. Now I just have to mail it to Columbia. Who mails things now a days? The weather has finally cooperated with me and it’s nice and warm 70’s during the day time. I’m slowly getting acclimated to the “Low Country” way of life. Y’all take care and enjoy your weekend. I’ll leave you with this image I took will hanging with the Fab 6 boys in their AirBnB home on John’s Island.
My First Week /
Well it’s been a week since the move to my new hometown of Charleston, S.C. it’s been a roller coaster of events. First, it was the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Charleston. Then the dreadful event of unboxing, I can honestly say that I really hate moving. During the week some of my much needed office furniture arrived and got my computer up and running, so get ready to see some new images coming. I then attended the Improve Photography Retreat which I did last year in Phoenix and met some amazing photographers who I now call friends. It comprises of long days of photographing models and landscapes, yeah yeah, go ahead and shed a tear for me. Then the icing on the cake was a boat ride as part of the retreat over to Morris Island Lighthouse. What an adventure, cold wind and rain equals a great photo, more on that to come. Well it’s off to work on week two of life in Charleston. Go out there and make something special.
Future home office of Sabatier Photography
My desk won’t be this clean for long.
Printers almost ready to go...