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Fine Art Photography by David Morefield from Houston, Texas

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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.

  1. Scout locations by satellite view on Google Maps prior to travel
  2. Focus your location search on areas free of light pollution, I use DarkSiteFinder.com
  3. Map out as many possible locations as possible so that you can have a variety of foregrounds in your shots.
  4. Download the “Aurora” app on your phone so that you can stay up to date with aurora forecasts during your trip.
  5. 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.
  6. Check Weather and gauge your activities based on whether you can see the stars or not.
  7. 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:

  1. DSLR or Mirrorless camera that can shoot in manual mode
  2. 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.
  3. A sturdy tripod. Nothing is worse than taking long exposure photos on a tripod that can’t stay still ruining all of your shots.
  4. 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.
  5. A Headlamp – It’s dark out there
  6. A lawn chair
  7. 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.

Panama City Beach Florida

Florida-Blog-Post-Picture-PCB-PIer

 

By David Morefield

This past week, my family and I went to Panama City Beach, Florida. I have great memories of Panama City Beach as a kid, so I not only get to relive those memories, but make new ones whenever I go back.

The first morning that we were in Florida, my family and I went to Wright Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach, Florida where my cousin Jeremy Gates is the pastor. After church, we went to lunch and caught up on the past twenty years. I had not seen my cousin since I was in High School, so it was great to get to spend some time with him and meet his wife and daughter.

Tuesday afternoon, we rented a pontoon boat from Adventures at Sea and took it to Shell Island. If you have never gone to Shell Island, then I would highly recommend checking it out while you are in Panama City Beach. Shell Island is located across the bay from Tyndell Air Force Base and is not inhabited. Basically, you find a place to anchor your boat and then walk through the island to the other side where you can have a beach all to yourself. While snorkeling in the bay, we found starfish and countless sand dollars; which was a whole lot of fun. I even had a puffer fish follow me around for a while.

Wednesday morning, I woke up early and drove down the Russell-Fields Pier otherwise know as the City Pier. It was a cloudy morning and there were some ominous clouds in the sky, but thunderstorms come and go quickly in Panama City beach, so I figured I would get to the pier and see how the weather was. As I got out of my truck lightning struck the water about 500 meters past the pier, so I quickly aborted the photo shoot that morning. I ended up going to Thomas Donuts to pickup up breakfast and returned to the beach house as a hero.

The weather was more favorable the next morning, so I went back out to the pier around 5am. I love to shoot early in the morning and the light was perfect. The clouds in the sky reflect the colors of the sunrise and I just love the colors that can be captured at that time of morning.

The Russell-Fields Pier is a 1,500 foot long pier that provides not only some great fishing, but some fantastic views of the Panama City Beach coastline. I ended up staying out at the pier for a couple hours watching all of the activity. In retrospect, I was glad that I did not go to the pier earlier in the week. I observed Black Tip Sharks swimming within 30 feet of the shoreline and it’s probably best that I was blissfully ignorant of this earlier in the week while at the beach. I think sharks are cool as long as they are behind glass, but swimming in open water with them is not my idea of fun.

At the end of the week, we all felt recharged and had a great time. The beach house that we stayed in was great for a family week at the beach and was actually cheaper than staying in a hotel. If you are headed to Panama City Beach, Florida and you are looking for a recommendation of where to stay, look no further. The beach house that we stayed in not only had a great kitchen, but it even had an icemaker in the wet bar. This meant that I did not have to run out for ice everyday before walking out the backdoor to the beach, which was awesome. Here is the link to the Beachfront Oasis.

Hamilton Pool

Waterfall at Hamilton Pool by David Morefield

By David Morefield

This weekend, I went on a drive to Austin, TX just to get out and see what I could find. Early Saturday morning, I had planned to go to the University of Texas campus to get a shot of the UT Tower. Being an Aggie, I must plan to go there under cover of darkness so that I don’t risk life and limb. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with me on Saturday morning, it was drizzling and foggy.

I decided instead to go to Hamilton Pool out near Dripping Springs, TX. I have always wanted to go there, but the times that I have tried in the past, I got to the gate too late. This time, I was first in line to get into the park.

What can I say about Hamilton Pool aside from agreeing that it is an absolutely gorgeous area. You park and then walk about a quarter of a mile down a steep path to get to the creek and then walk another quarter mile along the creek to the get to the pool itself. This place is huge! What I found really interesting is that it seems completely hidden. I can only imagine what it was like when it was first discovered.

After taking some shots at the pool, I took the trail to the Perdenales River, which is a good mile in the other direction. Walking a mile or two shouldn’t be a big deal, but when you are on nature’s stairclimber, it is quite a workout; not to mention having to carry to all of my photography equipment. I was rewarded with a very peaceful view of the river once I reached the end of the trail, but again, the weather was not in my favor. It started raining, so I just enjoyed sitting in the rain while watching a couple Cardinals fly around chasing each other. Has it not been for the rain, I would have been all about taking some shots of the cardinals.

As the rain stopped, I thought I was going to have my chance, but then a group of people laughing and cutting up came bumbling down the trail, so I figured that it was time to leave.

If you have not been to Hamilton Pool, I would highly suggest that you go and check it out. The next time that I go to Hamilton Pool, I’ll take a book with me and just enjoy the escape from the rest of the world.

A Walk in the Park

HPD Officer Grave

 

By David Morefield

On Thursday, my doctor cleared me to pickup my camera bag and start shooting again. I haven’t been allowed to pickup even a jug of milk since I had abdominal surgery last month, so it was good to get behind the camera again.

My friend Tim Stanley and I first went down to Glenwood Cemetery near downtown Houston. Among those buried there are Howard Hughes and the Allen Brothers (founders of Houston). As we walked among the gravestones, we tried to piece together the stories of those who are buried there. Some of the markers had so much age on them they were hard to read.

The grave pictured above is that of a former Houston Police Officer. I had never seen the crest that is on his tombstone or even heard of the “Honor Legion”, but I thought it was very cool. I have looked and I cannot find any references for a Houston Police Department Honor Legion so I plan to follow up on this and find out what it was. I really like the motto on the banner in the Eagle’s mouth – “Fidelis ad Mortem” or “Faithful until Death.” Finally, my four years of Latin in High School has given me something cool.

After leaving the cemetery, we then headed to Hermann Park to shoot the Japanese Garden. When we arrived, we were greeted by Mario and Luigi of Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers. I still have no clue what the Mario Brothers were doing with their hammers in the Japanese Garden, but sometimes things are best left as a mystery.

We spent some time planning a trip in April. I am greatly anticipating that trip because I expect to come home with great treasures to share here. Until then, I am hoping to get some more shots around the Houston area soon.

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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 […]

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