Minnesota Travel and Photography: Great River Bluffs

A small guide on the overlooks and bluffs in Great River Bluffs State Park and where to take the best photos. This park features several bluffs with different views of the valley and the Mississippi River.

Link: Minnesota DNR site for great river bluffs

Link: Photo Album of Great River Bluffs

Image licensing Guide and resources and information on creative commons licensing

Here are some links to pertinent information regarding different types of licenses:

1. Free Art License - I didn't go over this license, but its a copyleft license.The Free Art License grants the right to freely copy, distribute, and transform creative works without infringing the author’s rights.

2. Different Creative Commons Licenses. -- Different CC licenses.

3. Creative Commons Zero License. -- Creative commons zero license.

4. Library of Congress

Remember most photography produced under the government under government work hours and pay are public domain and cannot be copyrighted although exceptions may apply.

5. Model Release Information.

Equipment, location, and Setup for Astrophotography plus a small tutorial of how to find and remove spots in lightroom

The start of this video is about how to find and remove spots in lightroom but the bulk of this video is focused on the equipment, location, and other things necessary for shooting good astrophotography.

Lenses:

1. Rokinon 24mm 1.4.

2. Rokinon 14mm 2.8.

Basics of Astrophotography Editing: Bringing out the Milky Way

This is how to do some basic editing to bring out the Galactic Core in a Night Sky Photo of the Milky Way.

Canon 5d Mark IV vs Nikon D750 Camera Comparison

One of the most important questions a new photographer has is which line of Cameras to go with. Usually this comes down either Canon or Nikon. I've used both Camera lines pretty extensively and I think both brands make quality cameras but the models do have differences. This article compares the best-selling full-frame camera from each line, the D750 for Nikon and the 5d Mark IV for Canon. The brand line you choose is important because the lenses(where you will spend the most money) are not compatible with each other. After you've spent $10,000 on Lenses, you are pretty much locked into that brand. This article will look at several factors that are important to cameras such as dynamic range, auto focus, High ISO performance, pixel count, ISO range, battery life, weight, price, and others and make a conclusion about which camera is best for you. Note that full-frame cameras are much more expensive than APS-C Cameras so if your just an occasional hobbyist, I suggest something like the Nikon D3300 or the Canon T6i, which are fine cameras but much Cheaper. Now on the to comparison.

Dynamic Range:
Dynamic range on a Camera is the difference between the brightest and darkest spots on a photo which results is greater detail, especially at the ends of the range. The D750 has a Dyanmic range of 14.5 stops whereas the 5D Mark IV has a range of 13.6 stops. Both ranges are pretty good but in this area the Nikon D750 edges out the Canon 5d Mark IV. This may be important for things like sunrise where the sun is extremely bright but the surroundings are still fairly dark.

Auto Focus:
Auto Focus is how fast and how accurately your Camera can focus on an object. This generally effects moving objects your are trying to photograph such as flying or running wildlife or sports photography. This doesn't really matter too much for landscapes because the landscapes aren't going anywhere so you don't have to focus. This is one area where the Canon 5D line has always had the advantage over the Nikon Cameras. The d750 is no slouch when it comes to auto focus but trails behind 61 focus points of the 5d Mark IV(the D750 has 51) and especially the 41 cross type focus points(D750 only has 15).

Image Resolution:
Is you want really high resolution images then the 5d Mark IV is your choice because of its 30 Megapixel photos as compared to the 24 megapixel photos of the D750. However, if you really want high detail super large photos for things like giant ads, I'd suggest something like the d810(36MP) or even a medium format camera. I actually prefer the 24 MP of the D750 because the files are smaller and I can fit more of them onto a single memory card. Since I generally take photos for web use, I don't need the super-high resolution. However, if you need high resolution for large print photos, the 5d Mark IV does have the advantage in this category.

High ISO Performance:
This category is basically a wash between the D750 and the 5d Mark IV. The 5d Mark IV has a score of 2995 while the D750 has a score of 2956. While technically the 5d Mark IV is slightly better, realistically there is real no difference. This is a tie.

ISO Range:
This is another one of those areas where it looks like the Canon has the edge as its max ISO of 25,600 is higher than Nikon's 12,800 but realistically you aren't really going to be shooting at those ISO's because of the noise. I'd actually say this is a non-factor in the comparison as both ISOs are actually expandable to about 4 times their normal range with an expansion.

Battery Life:
In this category, the Nikon d750 wins hands down as a battery will allow it to make around 1200 shots as compared to the 900 from the 5d Mark IV. This is actually significant if you are taking sequences of shots or are taking a lot of shots in the wild.

Continuous Shooting:
Canon wins this one by a small margin as the 5d Mark IV's 7fps is slightly better than the 6.5fps from the Nikon d750, allowing you to catch more of the action.

Weight:
The d750 wins this one as it is 50g lighter or about 6-7% lighter than the 5D Mark IV. This may not sound like much but when your hiking and climbing while taking shots, the weight matters. Outdoor adventurists who take long hikes will favor the D750's lighter weight.

Video:
The Canon 5d Mark IV's 4k video easily wins over almost any other camera not specifically built for video.

Other Features:
The Canon is a newer camera and so will have nice features like a built in GPS and an NFC connection which the Older Nikon does not. However, it lacks key features such as a built in flash and an articulating screen which the Nikon has. The canon, however, does have a touch screen. Overall I prefer the features on the Nikon as the Built in flash is handy for me because it lightens the other equipment I have to carry but which feature set you like is all on personal preference.

Price:
This is a huge win for the Nikon D750. The D750 is $1800 (body only) new while the 5d Mark IV is $3300. That is a lot of extra cash to cough up when the two cameras have about the same image quality. For the price of the 5d Mark IV, you could get the D750 and one or two nice lenses.

Conclusion:
Which camera you should choose depends on what you want to do with the Camera. The Nikon I prefer for landscapes and scenic and wildlife that isn't moving very fast. They are both pretty good for portraiture although I think outdoor portraiture slightly favors the Nikon because of the higher dynamic range. For sports photography and fast moving wildlife, I would prefer the canon because of the high fps in continuous shooting and the better auto-focus. The real decision is whether you want to focus on photography or whether you want to do some serious Videoaugraphy as well. If you plan on focusing on photography, I would suggest the Nikon D750(or the d810 if you want 36mp photos). If you want to do videos as well, the 5d Mark IV is probably the best choice.

Free Stock Photo Sites with Unique and useful content

Being in the Free Stock Photo Niche for years, I've come across many sites offering free stock photos. Half of them are just flikr search engines that produce the same content from site to site. Others are aggregates using the API of many sites to create their own content. However, there are some very useful ones that have their own content and are very useful for projects of all sorts. I only look for sites with CC0 Licenses so this list will only have sites whose photos are CC0 or public (...)

Read more

Lens I use and/or recommend for Nikon FX Cameras.

Here are the Amazon links for the lenses mentioned in the video:

1. Nikon D750 with 24-120mm lens -- Great Kit Lens for D750 Camera.

2. Nikon D750 with 24-70mm Lens. - Nikon D750 with better lens

3. Nikon 70-200 Portrait Lens. -- Great sharpness and zoom range for portraits.

4. Nikon 50mm Prime. -- Basic 50mm Prime lens.

5. Tamron 90mm Macro lens. -- For shooting insects and still life.

6. Nikon 600mm Wildlife lens --- Wildlife lens for those who have infinite amounts of cash.

7. Nikon 80-400mm Wildlife lens. -- Wildlife for those on a more modest budget.

8. Nikon 650-2600mm Lens -- Cheap super telephoto lens for basically shooting the moon.

9. Rokinon 14mm Ultra wide angle -- Great for landscape and astrophotography

10. Rokinon 24mm. -- Great f/1.4 lens for astrophotography.

Any questions, e-mail me.

Buffalo Trace and Maker's Mark Distilleries

Took a four day trip to Kentucky and Nashville lately and the first stops were Whiskey Distilleries. One at Buffalo Trace and One at Makers Mark. The Buffalo Trace one was free and the Maker's Mark one was $12. Both had tastings at the end. Buffalo Trace had a impressive showcase: The taste testing consisted of (...)

Read more

Painted Canyon at Night

On my last night back, I slept at the rest stop at Painted Canyon in North Dakota. It was a late moonset but the stars were beautiful as was and landscape of painted Canyon. The rest stop had lights so you didn't have to do light painted if you were doing star trails near it. (...)

Read more

Elkhorn Mountains

Upon leaving Helena, my last stop was the Elkhorn Mountains and the ghost town that is located there. The ghost town is the remains of a old late 1800s mining town. It is also the trailhead to Elkhorn and Crow's Peak. Here is the frat house of Elkhorn: And another cabin. There are only about 8 people in the entire ghost (...)

Read more