Bandelier National Monument is located about 48 miles Northwest of Santa Fe New Mexico. This archaeological area is home to the ancestral Pueblo people. Long house was at one time an 800 foot stretch of adjoining multi-storied stone homes with handcarved caves as back rooms it may be what inspired Adolph Bandelier’s exclamation, “The greatest thing I ever saw. ” Adolph Bandelier was a self-taught archaeologist who came to the New Mexico territory in 1880 and who is the person the Monument is named after. Below is a slideshow of what you will see at this archaeological site.

Click on the photo below to view the slideshow.

Books & Maps

A Guide to Bandelier National Monument [Paperback]

Bandelier National Monument Map by National Geographic Maps

Bandelier National Monument

A photo walk of downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico . The historic Canyon Road is home to over 100 art galleries. A walk down internationally famous Canyon Road is filled with unique art galleries to suit anyone’s taste. The galleries specialize in Native American art, Southwestern art, Ceramics, Jewelry, Weavings, Kachina dolls, Sculptures, Paintings, Woodcarvings, Modern and Contemporary art and much more. A visit to Santa Fe and especially the is historic downtown Plaza and Canyon Road should not be missed. Canyon Road is just one half mile long but, the doors windows and gates along Canyon Road and the back streets are all quite unique and affords a great photographic opportunity. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit New Mexico, The Land of Enchantment.

Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in North America and is the capital of New Mexico today. The Santa Fe area was originally occupied by Pueblo Indians around 1050 A.D. The town of Santa Fe was established 13 years before the Plymouth colony in 1607. The architecture is heavily influenced by the Native Americans Indians, Latin Americans and the Spanish. All three of these groups had a major impact on the heritage and culture of the Southwest. On January 6, 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state of the United States of America.

The photos in this gallery were taken along Canyon Road and it’s back streets.

Click the photo below to view the slideshow of the Enchanted Doors, Windows, and Gates, of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Books and Maps of the Santa Fe and New Mexico

Frommer’s Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque [Paperback]

The Santa Fe House: Historic Residences, Enchanting Adobes and Romantic Revivals [Hardcover]

Santa Fe, Bandelier & Los Alamos Trail Map [Map]

New Mexico Road and Recreation Atlas (Benchmark Atlas) [Paperback]

Frommer’s New Mexico [Paperback]

Art Journey New Mexico: 104 Painters’ Perspectives [Hardcover]

This is a brief description of what High Dynamic Range photography or, HDR is. Have you ever looked at a scene and took a picture and said, Wow! This is going to be an incredible photograph!” only to realize once you get it home and loaded on your computer to realize that something is missing.  There’s no detail in the highlights like the clouds that are just a white mass, not what you remember when you photographed them. Or, the beautiful detail in the shadows that are now nothing but black. So what happened? Your eyes and brain are  incredible image processing computer mechanisms. They can see things that a camera can’t. You can see the detail in the shadows and highlights. Why is that? I think what you’re really seeing is when you record that image through your eyes is actually a short video recording that is processed in your brain. When you look at a scene, your eye wanders around and records the image and adjusts its sensitivity to also record the information in the highlights and the shadows. Then the brain processes the image and your perception is that beautiful scene with all the highlights and shadows intact. Your eye has a dynamic range as high as a 24 f-stop swing.  The camera, on the other hand, only has one chance to record the RAW image. A camera can only record a dynamic range swing of about 5 to 11 f-stops depending on the camera. But we can fix this by using a process called HDR. This process involves taking 3 or more photos at different exposures and then combine them in post processing with the program like Adobe Photoshop CS5 or HDRsoft Photomatix Pro to increase the dynamic range in the photograph. This process allows us to produce a photograph that can closely represent what our eyes can see. The process can also produce some pretty cool special effects, as well.

Basic camera setup for high dynamic range photography or HDR.

1. READ YOUR CAMERA MANUAL
2. Set your ISO to 100 or as low as possible. Do not use AUTO ISO
3. Set meter pattern to matrix.
4. Turn off LCD automatically rotate. You don’t need it anyway.
5. Use a sturdy tripod and shutter release cable or remote. I don’t recommend handholding your camera.
6. For best results set your cameras to the raw file format.
7. Set your camera to aperture priority exposure mode. Do not use shutter priority mode.
8. Set your cameras EV steps to it’s highest setting — 1 or 2 (2 is better if available).
9. Set the camera to auto exposure bracketing.
10. Set the number of exposures to at least 3 (some cameras have 5, 7 or 9 exposures).
11. You will need at least a 4 EV swing.  If you’re highest EV setting is 1, you will need at least a 5 exposure setting.
12. Set the camera burst rate to high if available.
13. Turn off your image stabilizer.
14. Switch to manual focus and don’t forget focus the lens.
15. Use and understand your camera depth of field preview button.

Expanded explanation for these settings.

Tripod and Remote

Use a tripod with ashutter release cable or remote. Using a tripod will ensure all of your bracketed images are all in the same position and minimizes camera shake. The cable release or remote will ensure you don’t move the camera during the shooting sequence. However, you can shoot with out a tripod but, you better have a steady hand.

ISO

Set your ISO to 100 or as low as possible. Do not use auto ISO. ISO refers to the sensitivity of your cameras image sensor. Using a high ISO setting will inject noise into your final photograph.

RAW or JPG

For best results set the camera to the RAW file format, if available.  RAW files have all the information and will even have more detail in the shadows and highlights that are lost in the JPG file format.  JPG files from your camera discards a lot of useful information that can help in HDR post processing.

EV Steps

Set the exposure compensation EV steps to 1 or 2. (2 is better, if available). Common values in cameras are 1/3, ½, 2/3, .7, 1, 2, 3.

Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)

Set the camera to auto exposure bracketing.  Set the number of exposures (most cameras have at least 3 but some have 5, 7 or 9).  Just remember, cameras with a maximum 1EV or less may require 5, 7, or even 9 exposures to achieve a 4EV range or more. Auto exposure bracketing is probably the most important camera setting for HDR photography. In the most basic setting, 3 exposure bracketing the camera will shoot one exposure over exposed, one photo under exposed and one photo properly exposed.  In post processing all three of these photographs will be blended or combined together using a program like Photomatix Pro or Adobe Photoshop. EV stands for exposure value so one EV equals one f-stop.

High Speed Burst Rate

Set camera’s burst rate to high, if available.  This will minimize ghosting of moving objects. Burst rate refers to how many photographs can be taken in one second.

Aperture Priority

Set the camera to aperture priority. This will produce multiple images at different exposures and all with the same depth of field. Do not use shutter priority. If you set your camera to shutter priority instead of adjusting the shutter speed, it will adjust the aperture which will affect depth of field. This will cause problems in post processing as each photograph will have different depth of field characteristics which will not provide a satisfactory image.

Image Stabilizer

Turn off your image stabilizer. The image stabilizer works great when you’re handholding your camera but, in most cases, it is not necessary on a tripod.  Plus, the image stabilizer may ever so slightly shift your images and cause a slight blur or make it hard for the HDR software to align the images properly.

Manual Focus

Switch to manual focus and don’t forget focus the lens. When shooting for HDR you are shooting between 3 to 9 frames. By using manual focus you eliminate the chances your camera will refocus partway through the bracketing sequence. This is very important because you want every photograph in the sequence to be at the same focus on every shot.

Time to Shoot

HDR Video Tutorials

HDR Software

HDR books

Aspen Colorado, once an old mining town in the 1800s, is now known as one of Colorado’s best ski destinations.  Aspen was also home to the musician and composer John Denver who died in 1997 in a plane crash off the coast of California.  He recorded over 300 songs in his lifetime.  In the back streets of Aspen along the Rio Grande Trail and the Roaring Fork River is a small sanctuary in honor of John Denver.  This is a place that is not to be missed if you are a John Denver fan.  It is a very peaceful place with large boulders that are in-scripted with the lyrics of some of his songs.  One of the most famous, Rocky Mountains High, was adopted as the Colorado state song in 2007.  The song best represents Colorado with its beautiful mountains, aspen trees, high mountain lakes and streams. The Aspen area is one of my favorite areas in Colorado to photograph.  So don’t forget to visit the John Denver Sanctuary in beautiful Aspen Colorado.

Click on the photo below to view a slideshow of the

John Denver Sanctuary

Video

John Denver’s Rocky Mount High

Lightroom Overview

Before we get in the Lightroom 4, let me explain what Lightroom is. Lightroom is all about photography, speed and workflow. It was designed for the professional photographer along with the advanced amateur who needs a fast way to process their images. For more detailed editing Lightroom works seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop CS5, along with older versions of Photoshop. If you can’t afford Photoshop, consider using Photoshop Elements with Lightroom. There’s a cool plug-in from photographers toolbox that allows you to run Photoshop Elements 8 or newer through Lightroom. The plugin requires a small donation to activate.  Not only is Lightroom a great photo organizing tool with its library module, It is also a fast photo editing tool in the develop module. In the web module you can create website flash galleries fast and publish them on your website. In the slideshow module you can create slideshows  with sound that you can share on YouTube, Facebook or save as a video file. The print module is all about printing that allows you to print picture packs and individual prints.

What’s New in Lightroom 4

In the new version of Lightroom 4 Adobe has added two new modules. The Map module lets you view and organize your photos by map location with your geo-tagged photos. You can also manually add the GPS locations to your meta data. In the new Book module you can create books right within Lightroom and publish them directly to Blurb, the photo book publisher. You can also save books to a PDF file format to self publish or send off to your favorite book publisher. The hot new feature in Lightroom 4 is the ability to organize, view and edit your videos. Videos can be viewed and played right in Lightroom 4. Videos can also be trimmed at both ends and minor adjustments can be made like color temperature, tinting, exposure, clarity and vibrance. There are many more enhancements in Lightroom 4 and is well worth the upgrade price.

Lightroom 4 Try it Before You Buy

If you have never used Lightroom before you can download a free 30 day trial or you can buy it  here  Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4

Learn Lightroom 4 and Photoshop

If you are new to Lightroom, or have been using Lightroom for a while, lynda.com is a great resource for learning Lightroom and Photoshop. There are 14 courses on Lightroom and 129 courses on Photoshop. One of my favorite instructors, Chris Orwig, is a photographer and instructor at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. Chris alone has published 37 courses at Lynda.com. What’s really nice is you can try these courses out for free. Just go to Linda.com and find the course you’re interested in and click on any module that is highlighted in blue. It’s that easy!  You can also sign up for a 7-day free trial to lynda.com. I’ve been using Lynda.com for software training for a little over a year now. Sign up for Lynda.com for for a small monthly fee and some of the courses are even available on DVD for purchase.  Chris is a very enthusiastic instructor and makes learning Lightroom and Photoshop fun, fast and easy.  Watch the videos below and see if Chris Orwig is the instructor for you.

There are 3 Video Courses on Lightroom 4.   These courses include:

Photoshop Lightroom 4 new features

Photoshop Lightroom 4 Essentials: Organizing and Sharing with the Library Module

Photoshop Lightroom 4 Essentials: Enhancing Photos with the Develop Module

Lightroom 4 Sample Video Courses

Late last summer we made our first a trip to the Medicine Bow National Forest.  This is an absolutely beautiful place in the snowy range mountains in south central Wyoming.  Admittedly, this breathtaking place is out in the middle of nowhere, but if you’re used to travel in the Southwest, you know how it is.  To get there take the Snowy Range Scenic Byway (Laramie to Saratoga), Hwy 130 west from Laramie. Now, this is the real old west so you’ll see lots of  ranches, prairie grasslands, the snow range pass at 10,847 feet, Libby Flats with views of the Colorado mountains,  beautiful snow-capped mountains, crystal blue high country lakes and spring wildflowers in September.   This drive is a photographers paradise and makes the drive well worthwhile. Medicine Bow is a great side trip if you’re in the area that is not to be missed.  Activities in the area include hiking, climbing, fishing, camping, mountain biking, picnicking, 4x4 trails, horseback riding and skiing in the winter. So plan a trip to the Medicine Bow National Forest and don’t forget your camera.

Click on the photo below to view the slideshow

Need Lodging Visit

Bed and Breakfast.com laramie Wyoming  or  Bed and Breakfast.com Saratoga Wyoming

Books and maps on the Medicine Bow National Forest

Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest — Third Edition [Paperback]

Medicine Bow National Forest Map — Waterproof by US Forest Service

The Medicine Bows: Wyoming’s Mountain Country [Paperback]

Welcome to the DNP Photo Equipment & Bookstore. Find all the latest photography equipment, photo software, photo accessories, memory cards, photo printers, photo DVDs, photo books and much much more.

Nikon has just announced production of the new Nikon D800 & Nikon D800E. This is going to be a pretty cool camera in the Nikon line and the Nikon D800 SLR Digital Camera (Body Only) will sells for about $3000. That may seem like a lot but, these two new cameras use the FX full frame sensor with 36.3 megapixels Wow.  Some of the features include 4 frames per second shutter speed, 5 frames per second in DX mode, HDR mode, live view and movie live view, 900 exposure battery life, ISO 100 to 25600, 100% image view, 3.2 inch LCD monitor, full HD 1080p video at 30 or 24 frames per second,exposure bracketing in 2–9 frames in steps of 1/3,  1/2,  2/3 or 1 EV, dual card slot with one compact flash card slot and one SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot. The Nikon 800E which features a low pass filter without anti-aliasing properties facilitate maximum sharpness levels when shooting raw files. The Nikon D800E SLR Digital Camera (Body Only) will sell for about $3300. These two cameras are available for pre-order at B&H photo video. The Nikon  D800 should be available sometime in April and the Nikon D800E should be available sometime in March.

The Video below at bottom of this post was shot with new Nikon D800

Nikon D800 HD Video: “Joy Ride” by Sandro Miller from Nikon_USA on Vimeo.

The Denver Botanic Garden is having its annual orchid exhibit from January 12, 2012 through February 20, 2012.  The event has more than 200 flooring orchids on display.  The garden is open from 9 AM to 5 PM.  The exhibit is put on by the Denver orchid Society. Below is a video of our recent trip to the Denver Botanic Garden. This was a great photographic opportunity to photograph these beautiful exotic flowers.

Music by Jimmy Gelhaar. All music made available through the www.jimmygelhaar.com website at:
www.jimmygelhaar.com — Film Composer and Music Downloads

Books on Orchids

Understanding Orchids: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World’s Most Exotic Plants [Hardcover]

Four Seasons of Orchids (Gardening) [Paperback]

Orchids For Dummies [Paperback]

New post Update visit: New Lightroom 4 is Here! Learn it All!

Adobe has just announced its release of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 beta. I am really excited about the new features in this version of Lightroom. I would like to also introduce Chris Orwig photography instructor. Chris has just released his free new 2 hour training video on Photoshop Lightroom 4 Beta at Lynda.com. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is an elegant powerful photo organizing and editing tool that will improve your workflow. It is for both professional and advanced amateur photographers.

Lightroom 4 Beta

First, we’ll start with some of the new features on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Beta.

• Highlight and shadow recovery — Bring out the detail in the shadows and highlights more efficiently.
• New Tab — Create photo books — Easily create photo books with easy-to-use templates and then publish right from Lightroom to blurb or a PDF file.
• New Tab location-based organization — You can now organize your photos by GPS locations with GPS enabled cameras and display them in Lightroom on Google maps within the program.
• White balance brush — With the new white balance brush. You can now adjust the white balance of a specific area of your photograph.
• Local editing controls — You can now reduce noise to a targeted area of your photograph without affecting the rest of the photograph.
• New Tab expanded video support — easier organizing and viewing of videos plus adjusting exposure and trimming of video clips right within Lightroom.
• Soft proofing — Easily preview your images before they are printed.
• E-mail directly from Lightroom — You can now e-mail your photos directly from lightroom using the e-mail account of your choice.

With these new features Lightroom 4 will be an exciting new upgrade that is going to come out sometime in March 2012. But you don’t have to wait to try out Lightroom 4.  You can Click Here to download the beta version of Lightroom 4 right now or you can Click Here to try out the current version of Lightroom 3.6

learn Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 with Chris Orwig

Chris Orwig one of my favorite authors at Lynda.com and has just released a new two-hour training video on Lightroom 4 beta.  You can view the entire video tutorial series for free. Just Click Here to view the entire course or watch 2 introductory video bellow. Either way, this is a great way to try out Lynda.com for free and see why Chris Orwig is such a great instructor. Chris Orwig is a photographer and  a teacher at the Brooks Institute of photography in Santa Barbara, California and has also produced 33 courses at Lynda.com. There are over 1000 courses at Lynda.com and a good majority of the courses our on photography, video editing, graphic design and many other business software titles.

The New Book Creation Tab

The New Video Tab