Here are some pictures I got of some lightning over Billings. I did some editing to them. I used a 20 second exposure on the first and a 15 second exposure on the second. The editing mostly consisted of trying to make the lightning pop out of the picture more. The biggest difference in these pictures compared to the raw images is that the city lights were much brighter in the raw. I had really had to dim the city lights in order to get the lightning to jump out more. I also had to improve the clarity and contrast. Overall for my first lightning pictures I think they turned out alright.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to take a picture in space? I have! There is a very famous photo of the earth called "Eearthrise". It was taken by astronaut William Anders, crewmember of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon. Nothing too special...except that its a picture of the earth rising above the horizon of the moon!. That's pre neat if you ask me. Well anyway I just thought I would share it with you.

 

photo taken by William Anderson 

According to lomography.com this is the camera equipment brought on to the Apollo 8 :

“A large quantity of film of various types has been loaded aboard the Apollo 8 spacecraft for lunar surface photography and for items of interest that crop up in the course of the mission.

“Camera equipment carried on Apollo 8 consists of two 70mm Hasselblad still cameras with two 80mm focal length lenses, a 250mm telephoto lens, and associated equipment such as filters, ringsight, spotmeter, and intervalometer for stereo strip photography. For motion pictures, a 16mm Maurer camera with variable frame rates will be used.

“Apollo 8 film stowage is as follows: 3 magazines of Panatomic-X intermediate speed black and white for total 600 frames; 2 magazines SO-368 (ASA 64) Ektachrome color reversal for total 352 frames; 1 magazine SO-121 Ektachrome special daylight color reversal for total 160 frames; and 1 magazine 2485 high-speed black and white (ASA 6,000, push to 16,000) for dim-light photography, total 120 frames. Motion picture film: 9 130-foot magazines SO-368 for total 1170 feet, and 2 magazines SO-168 high speed interior color for total 260 feet.”

Visit their website for more info - www.lomography.com 

Hey Again,

I was curious about underwater photography. So I looked it up on...you guessed it National Geographic...they are great. Anyway, I was wondering what kind of special gear one would need to get good underwater shots of nature. I found this information about the basic gear and settings for getting good underwater photos.

Here are some example pictures taken by our friend Raul.

   

Choose the Right Gear
When choosing what gear to use, keep in mind that there are two basic—and hugely different—systems: A point-and-shoot camera in a waterproof case and a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) in an underwater housing with external strobes, such as that shown here.
The first system has some advantages, including ease of use (no complex set up) and economy. Point-and-shoots are also fun for taking pictures on the surface, where there’s a lot of light. One of this option’s major disadvantages is the inability of the photographer, in most cases, to direct light, since the strobe in these cameras is integrated into its body. Also, manual control of exposure is difficult to achieve.
Most professional photographers use DSLRs, as we have total and absolute control over the system. With a DSLR it’s possible to control aperture and speed depending on the situation or desired effect, e.g., movement. It’s also possibe to point the strobes where they’re needed. But the system does have some disadvantages in that it can be cumbersome, hard to maintain, and expensive.—Raul Touzon


Be Familiar With Basic Settings
Here are some basic camera settings that will improve your underwater imagery. Remember, in some point-and-shoot systems you might not be able to reach these controls underwater in a fast and efficient manner.

1. White balance: For most cases put your white balance in daylight mode, especially if you are using flash.
2. ISO: Keep your ISO low (100 or 200). Higher ISOs will, in most cases, result in “digital noise” in your pictures.
3. Aperture: Depending on how deep you’re working, most of the time you’ll be shooting between f8 and f16. This will provide you with greater depth of field.
4. Speed: In the manual setting, it’s the right combination of aperture and speed that will yield the correct exposure. I tend to use speed as a creative tool—if I want my subject to be sharp and motionless I’ll go to a higher shutter speed: 1/125th or 1/250th. Or if I want to convey or capture motion, e.g., fish swimming, a slower shutter speed of 1/15th or lower is the way to go.
5. Focus: I tend to keep my focus in automatic and in single subject, which allows me to autofocus on the subject. In this mode, as long as I keep the shutter button down, it will hold the focus even if I recompose the scene.—Raul Touzon 

I do not take credit for any pictures in this post.B$ For more information regarding underwater photography visit

 http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/underwater-photography-tips/

Hey

I was wondering what the top 10 photography destinations in the world were. So I decided to see what National Geographic had to say about this since they take alot of pictures pretty much everywhere on the earth. This is what I found. I wish I could visit these places.

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/iconic-places-photograph/

Picture Critique

Picture #1: This picture looks like the photographer may have used a polarized lens. I like how the  bear is very clear and brown while not too dark and the water is not too bright.

Picture #2:  It also shows good use of layers used in a nature landscape. There is a foreground,middle, and background. Follows the rule of thirds.
           
Picture #3: This is really cool example of water in motion and slow shutter speed. I also really like how the white water contrasts the black sand and rocks.

Picture #4: This picture shows how a longer shutter speed soaks up more light. Normally you would
 not be able to see the mountains in that bright of light. I also noticed that the photographer used an ISO of 100 which works great for landscape pictures.

Picture #5: This picture has some good layers. It has five layers as a good landscape should.

Picture #6: This is a good example of a clear picture of the subject while having a blurry background. The photographer used a higher ISO and lower aperture value.

Picture #7: This picture looks a bit grainy. Also the water is really reflective. I think using a polarizer would help get this picture under control.

Picture #8: This picture uses the idea of reds being more attractive than other colors and the rule of thirds plays out nicely.

 Picture #9: A good example of using the quick shutter speed.

 Picture #10: This one is interesting. Shows contrast within the whites and grays.