Photography Tutorials from David Morefield at Fluffyshotme Photography

Tips for Shooting the Aurora Borealis

The Preparation

When shooting the Northern Lights, there is a bit of homework that should be conducted before traveling to attempt to get any shots. This step is often overlooked and can lead to poor results when ignored.

Scout locations by satellite view on Google Maps prior to travel
Focus your location search on areas free of light pollution, I use DarkSiteFinder.com
Map out as many possible locations as possible so that you can have a variety of foregrounds in your shots.
Download the “Aurora” app on your phone so that you can stay up to date with aurora forecasts during your trip.
Visit the sites that you plan to shoot during the day so you can check for road conditions, whether the location is as good as it appeared on the map, etc… You may want to take an odometer reading from a reference point in order to be able to come back in the dark.
Check Weather and gauge your activities based on whether you can see the stars or not.
Okay, you have done the preparation and you are ready to leave to go shoot the Aurora! Well, not so fast. Before leaving to shoot the Aurora, I would recommend pre-focusing your lens (I will get into that in a minute).

What equipment is needed for shooting the Aurora?

In order to have the best chances of shooting the Aurora, I would recommend the following equipment:

DSLR or Mirrorless camera that can shoot in manual mode
A fast wide Angle lens somewhere in the 14-24 mm range. By fast, I am referring to the aperture; an f/2.8 is what I used and it was fine, but if you have a f/1.4 or f/1.8 that should work well.
A sturdy tripod. Nothing is worse than taking long exposure photos on a tripod that can’t stay still ruining all of your shots.
A remote shutter release – in order to minimize camera vibration, you will want to actuate your shutter with a remote and not touch your camera at all.
A Headlamp – It’s dark out there
A lawn chair
A slower runner than you if there are bears

Let’s talk about Focus

Before leaving to go to your location, you will want to Pre-Focus your lens. Once you are out in the dark, it is difficult to get proper focus, so this is very important.

By using the Photopills app, you should be able to look up the Hyperfocal length of your lens and camera combination. According to the Hyperfocal Table in the Photopills app, my 14mm wide angle will reach hyperfocal distance in approx 8 feet at f/2.8; meaning that if I focus on something 9 feet away, I my background will remain in focus.

I pick an object outside of the hyperfocal length and get tack sharp focus on it. In order to check, I look at other objects further away to make sure that they are in focus as well. Once I have my lens dialed in, I disable Autofocus and using Gaffer tape, I tape down the focus ring of the lens. Once taped, take a picture and zoom in to confirm that you are tack sharp, if not, you could end up hunting and pecking in the dark, which is no good.

Camera Settings to Start

Camera settings are going to vary given the environmental conditions, but I would say a good start would be to try to keep Shutter Speed around 4 – 6 seconds, the aperture open all the way (in my case f/2.8) and then adjust ISO accordingly to get the exposure that you want. I found that shooting around iso of 5000 was about right for me.

One Last Thing

While you are out there shooting the Aurora Borealis, don’t forget one thing – Have fun with it. It is unbelievably beautiful and it is an experience that you will never forget.

6 Tips to Getting a Good Shot of a Train

Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” leaving Palestine, TX

Union Pacific graciously sent their 4014 “Big Boy” Steam Locomotive on a tour this year. I went out and shot this train several times and learned some lessons along the way.

1. Plan for Safety

When planning a photoshoot, you must always take into account the subject that you are shooting and the associated risks involved. Many people don’t seem to understand that being around trains can be very deadly and it doesn’t take much to get hurt. If one there is something on the track, such as a penny that gets squeezed and dislodges at a high velocity, it can cause serious injury. Of course, getting hit by a train is always a risk too, so it is important to make sure that you are not too close to the tracks.

Always find a safe way to get the shot you want.

2. Shutter Speed

When shooting a train that is moving, you will want to shoot with a shutter speed high enough to eliminate any blurring (unless that is what you are looking for). I have found that a good shutter speed for a train moving around 25 mph or less is about 1/800 if using a lens with a focal length less than 300mm.

3. Direction of the Train/Time of day

Unless you have a bunch of strobes, you will most likely be using natural lighting to shoot the train. If you can plan to have the sun at your back when shooting the train, this will help with getting a good shot. Of course, life isn’t always perfect and you may need to look at your histogram and shoot a little to the right if you are looking into the sun. Once the train heads your way, you don’t have enough time to make many adjustments and need to be able to focus on the shot.

4. What ISO should I plan to use?

This is a topic where I have heard a lot of photographers talk about using Auto ISO. If that works for you, then great. I do not use Auto ISO because I want to control the light in my shot. If you use Auto ISO and shoot into the sun, you are risking the meter in your camera using a higher speed ISO and the front of the train being too underexposed.

I say take control of all of the variables so that you can get consistent shots. If it doesn’t work out for you, figure out why and learn from it.

5. Plan your routes if you will be shooting more than one location

I would suggest driving the routes in advance if possible and time how long it took you. If you are location One and are en route to location Two, you need to have an idea of how long it will take you to get there. While planning for the shoot last week, I found that one of the roads was closed and I had to map an alternate course. Had it happened to me the day of the shoot, I likely would not have made it to the second location in time to shoot the train again.

6. Keep your plan flexible

Keep your plan flexible and check the schedule regularly (if possible). In the case of the Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy”, Union Pacific hosted a live map of where the train was along the route and updated any scheduling changes on their social media. This information is invaluable when you are looking 100 yards down a stretch of railroad tracks waiting for your 8 seconds of time to shoot a passing train.

I hope you have found this helpful. Please leave a comment below if you find this helpful or have another topic that you would like me to address.

How to Shoot a Building Implosion – 4 Items To Bring

In September 2012, I was fortunate enough to hear about the demolition of an old hotel in Houston, TX. The Ben Milam hotel was 80 years old and it had been abandoned for quite some time. A developer bought the property and contracted D.H. Griffin to demolish the hotel. D.H. Griffin weakened the structure considerably so that the building implosion would go flawlessly.

To add to the spectacle of a building implosion, this hotel sat right across the street from our Baseball Stadium, Minute Maid Park and a Catholic Cathedral (Annuciation Catholic Church) ; so the implosion had to go exactly as planned.

I drove out to the area to look around the night before so I could see what angles would give me the best shot. The problem was, I had no idea how big the safety perimeter of the building implosion was going to be, so I picked multiple locations for the shoot. This also allowed me to start debating internally on what lens to use for which distance and under what lighting condition.By Googling “D.H. Griffin radio frequency”, I was able to learn that D.H. Griffin had used 464.6000mhz for their radios on past demolitions, so I confirmed this the night before by listening to their radio chatter with a scanner. Always do your homework in advance!!

The day of the shoot, I took my camera gear, some dust masks, plastic shopping bag and radio scanner with me to the site a couple of hours before they dropped the building; but I’ll get to that later.

When I arrived, there were already quite a few people camping out to watch as the historic hotel came down. They had the safety perimeter marked and I was surprised that all of the spots that I had marked the night before were much further than I had anticipated. I ended up only having to be a block and a half away from the building implosion site. Of course, this greatly affected my choice lens for the job. I made a decision on the fly and took some test shots to make sure that I had plenty of light to shoot as fast as possible when they hit the charges. Clack! Clack!!

I ended up choosing a 35mm prime lens f1.8/640iso for the shoot. I was shooting with a Nikon D5100 in full raw, so I tested how many pictures I could get at 4 fps before my buffer slowed me down. This was a key element to planning how to shoot this building implosion, because if I missed it, it’s not like there was going to be a second take.

Let’s take another look at the other items that I brought with me to the shoot and will discuss their importance.

Items that you need to shoot a Building Implosion

Dust Mask

This should be self-explanatory, but I was the only one in the crowd that brought masks. I passed them out to a few friends. As people walked by, we got some strange looks, but I didn’t care. I have been around buildings when they collapse and whatever is in the building, comes out of the building at great pressures causing huge clouds of dust that can envelope multiple city blocks. Let’s not forget that no matter how hard the construction crew tried to remove it, there is probably some asbestos in that building not to mention the concrete dust alone can do all sorts of damage. Keep in mind that a building implosion means Large Clouds of Dust!

Eye Protection

You only have two sets of eyes, so I recommend wearing eye protection even if you are far away from the building implosion. Clouds of cement, asbestos and other harmful things will be in the air, so it’s best to protect your eyes. Again, Large Clouds of Dust when around a building implosion.

Plastic Shopping Bag

Again, this sounds a little self-explanatory, but a shopping bag works just fine as a quick means to cover your camera in order to protect it from a ball of dust that is going to rush towards you once you are done shooting the falling building. There were a lot of folks that ended up putting their cameras in their shirts or bags, but if you have been in a dust storm before, you know that is only partially effective. I am not a camera repair expert, but I can only imagine what concrete particles will do to the sensor/mirror of your camera. It’s cheap, looks funny, but it works.

Radio Scanner

This is completely optional, but if you are going to shoot at a building demolition, then a Radio Scanner is a great tool to have at your disposal. I was not one of those who was sitting around with my camera in the “On” position for hours waiting; I heard the foreman do his checks and then give it a go for launch. Having a radio to listen in to the action definitely gave me the upper hand when it came to timing. If you have a scanner and it is possible to go out there the day before to make sure you have the right frequency, then by all means, make that a priority in your forward reconnaissance of the site that you will be shooting. Had I waited until the day of the shoot, I might have been lost on the timing of the implosion. Among other things, it was funny to listen to the guys talking on the radio and entertained us until the hit the switch.

I mentioned my buffer earlier and how my camera will shoot 4 fps until it loads the buffer and then the camera slows down? Well, knowing this, I wanted to make sure that I got the shots of the building in motion, not just standing there while charges detonated. I watched quite a few building implosions on YouTube in order to get a better idea of when I should start holding the shutter. I waited until about the 4th charge detonation before I even touched the shutter, wanting to save my fastest frames for when the building was in motion. Again, preparing in advance was essential because otherwise, I probably would have started holding the shutter button at the first charge, resulting in a long series of images of the building just sitting there stationary – not the shots I really wanted.

So in review, make sure to do your homework ahead of time. Take the proper safety equipment with you (Mask/Goggles) and arrive early so you get a good shot.

This was my first shoot of a building demolition, but I can guarantee that it will not be my last. It was the bomb!

by David Morefield

5 Tips for Planning a Photography Trip

By David Morefield

1. Make a List of Locations to shoot on your Photography Trip

When planning a photography trip, I like to make a list of locations (complete with addresses) that I would like to shoot in advance of my trip. This saves time and eliminates downtime. If you only have a couple of days to visit somewhere, you want to know in advance of some places that you would like to shoot in order to maximize your time. Of course, along the way you will likely find things that you also want to shoot and that is what makes a photography trip exciting. You may leave thinking you will get one thing and by the time you are back home, you found a gem along the way. The picture above is a great example of something that I did not plan to shoot, but the opportunity presented itself and I am glad that I took the time to shoot.

2. Research the locations that you have selected for your Photography Trip

When travelling to a location to shoot, it is wise to research in advance in order to find out if they rules regarding photography. For instance, Grand Central Station in New York City requires that you get a permit in order to shoot inside using a tripod. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time in advance of my trip to New York City to get a permit, so I was not able to get the shots that I wanted. Of course, when I return to New York City, I will apply well in advance so that I can get a permit.

Another example on my recent trip to New York City was the Empire States Building. They do not allow professional cameras on the observation deck, so I borrowed a mirrorless camera to take with me so that I could get some nice shots to stitch into a panorama.

The bottom line is that you want to identify obstacles in advance, if possible, so that you can avoid unnecessary delays. Time is precious on a photography trip.

3. Remain flexible on your Photography Trip

I would advise against trying to plan every moment of every day on a photography trip. Part of the adventure for me is going some place and discovering things to shoot along the way. Your list of locations is a great blueprint for where you want to go, but keep your eyes peeled for opportunities along the way. The picture above is of a street vendor that I found near Rockefeller Center.

Kind of funny, but something that I got in a fortune cookie has stuck with me, “Be like the bamboo tree, sway with the wind but keep strong roots.”

4. Ask Permission to Shoot at Locations that you Stumble Across on a Photography Trip

I was staying my friend’s apartment in Manhattan recently and just down a few blocks away there was a very cool Barber Shop. The men running the shop were outside opening up one morning and I stopped to speak with them about shooting inside of their Barber Shop. Not only did they agree, but they were very friendly and inviting.

This is one of the aspects of a photography trip that I really enjoy – meeting people along the way and hearing of their stories. If you are ever in need of a haircut in New York City and want to go to a really cool place, then I would suggest that you visit the Blind Barber in East Village and ask for Robert.

Robert is a second generation Barber and provides a classical Barber experience in a very trendy neighborhood. they even have a speakeasy in the back, so you can get a shave, trim and then a drink; what a great idea!

5. Keep a Journal on your Photography Trip

Something that I enjoy is keeping a journal of my travels. This not only helps me write on my blog later, but it provides personal enjoyment when I go back and read my notes about my trip. Coupled with the pictures that I take on the trip, the Journal brings back memories of the sights, smells and the emotions that I felt on the trip.

During my trip to Washington D.C. with my son, I wrote about how proud I was of him for knowing so much about history. My son is a huge history buff and schooled me a few times at some of the locations that we visited. I love history, but admittedly, he is more advanced in some areas. It was very fulfilling to sit back and listen to him tell me about places; he is only 15 years old. Yes, I am a proud father.

When I read back through my journal, it’s like I am right back in Washington D.C. with my son having a great time and I am able to reflect on his accomplishments, our trip and it helps me extract details that I will use later when keywording my pictures for sale or writing their descriptions.

How did you Learn Lightroom?

By David Morefield

One of the most common questions that I get asked by beginning photographers is, “What do you use to edit your photos?” I use Lightroom and Photoshop. The best way that I can explain the difference is that Lightroom is my General Practitioner and Photoshop is like a specialist; I really only go to Photoshop when I need to perform major surgery.

Of course, the follow up question is, “How did you learn Lightroom?” Honestly, much of what I learned about editing from from a photographer in Paris named Serge Ramelli.

Serge Ramelli has some excellent YouTube videos that he has shared, but those are just introductions into what he teaches. In order to get the full benefit of his tutorials, you really need to purchase his tutorials. Not only does he do a good job of explaining what it is that he is doing, but he includes a copy of the photo that he is working on so that you can follow along and learn how he achieves those effects during post processing.

Of course, as a photographer, when you have a vision of what you want the end result to look like and you know what is needed in post-processing, you can better plan your shot when you are on location. I find that many times, I am walking backward through my shot starting with what I want as the end result and then it is up to me to capture what is necessary in order to produce that finished product.

Without a full understanding of Lightroom, I would not be able to connect the dots from what my vision is to what I take with my camera. This is where I believe Serge Ramelli’s tutorials will become a great tool and help you learn lightroom, I know that I learned a lot from them.

Follow the link below to check out his tutorials

Tips for Shooting the Aurora Borealis

The Preparation

What equipment is needed for shooting the Aurora?

Let’s talk about Focus

Camera Settings to Start

One Last Thing

6 Tips to Getting a Good Shot of a Train

1. Plan for Safety

2. Shutter Speed

3. Direction of the Train/Time of day

4. What ISO should I plan to use?

5. Plan your routes if you will be shooting more than one location

6. Keep your plan flexible

How to Shoot a Building Implosion – 4 Items To Bring

Items that you need to shoot a Building Implosion

Dust Mask

Eye Protection

Plastic Shopping Bag

Radio Scanner

5 Tips for Planning a Photography Trip

1. Make a List of Locations to shoot on your Photography Trip

2. Research the locations that you have selected for your Photography Trip

3. Remain flexible on your Photography Trip

4. Ask Permission to Shoot at Locations that you Stumble Across on a Photography Trip

5. Keep a Journal on your Photography Trip

How did you Learn Lightroom?

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Photography Tutorials

Tips for Shooting the Aurora Borealis