Archives For Varina Patel

Havasu Falls, Arizona

Varina Patel —  May 17, 2013

Coloring Book

Map: Havasu Falls, Arizona

Havasu Falls is incredible. The waterfall and its turquoise pool are highlighted against a backdrop of rich orange sandstone. On this particular evening, the sunset painted the sky in shades of pink, purple, and blue. The colors feel as thought they could have been chosen from a box of crayons by a child who didn’t care about the “real” color of things… so I titled this one “Coloring Book”. But it isn’t imaginary. It’s quite real. And truly beautiful.

Getting here is tough. You won’t be driving to the campgrounds. The nearest road ends 11 miles from the village of Supai, so you have three options. You can hike, go on horseback, or take a helicopter. We carried our packs down into the canyon via a series of rough switchbacks. It’s a difficult path, but once you reach the bottom, you can follow the canyon towards the village. You’ll need a permit to camp here, and you can get all the information you need at: http://www.havasupaifalls.net/

We stayed for three nights before packing up and heading back home. Keep in mind that you’ll be making that final climb after a long hike, so be sure to bring enough water and conserve your energy for the final push. The website offers this advice…

“The hike is a moderate difficulty hike, 11 miles from Hilltop to Campground. Temperatures in the summer can exceed 110 degrees, and there is no water available on the trail until you reach Supai at about 8.5 miles. Know what your body can handle, and pack accordingly.”

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Brent Mail with Varina and Jay

Varina Patel —  May 16, 2013

Brent Mail

We had a great time speaking with Brent Mail about everything from RAW and JPG files to shooting lava on the Big Island of Hawaii. You can check out the podcast and a written synopsis of the interview at Brent Mail Photography.

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Treasure

Varina Patel —  May 14, 2013
Treasure - Varina Patel
I took this shot at Pebble Beach in California. This small beach is made up of tiny, multicolored pebbles instead of sand – and most of them are smaller than a pea. Large rocks along the shoreline have been scoured smooth by the waves, and they are carved with strange patterns and holes. I took this shot with a macro lens at f/8 for maximum sharpness.
Because I was so close, I was working with an extremely narrow depth of field. I took three separate shots with slightly adjusted focus points – and stacked them in Photoshop. That let me get all the little pebbles nice and sharp, and still show good detail around the edge of the round hole. I also filled a water bottle with sea water and poured it on the stones before shooting in order to bring out the colors in those pretty pebbles.
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Challenges

Varina Patel —  May 10, 2013

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People ask me all the time about the challenges of my career choice… and there are many. From difficult terrain with a heavy pack on your back to ridiculous weather conditions… and so much more. But all those challenges pale in comparison to being a parent. Don’t get me wrong – I love every part of it… even the stuff that drives me nuts.

When I’m on location, I’m always ready to drop everything and head back home in case of an emergency. Scheduling an upcoming trip feels like a bad comedy… trying to work around soccer games, theater productions, doctors appointments, and parent-teacher conferences isn’t easy. Of course, getting a break from the kids – a few days in the wilderness somewhere – is a treat. But coming home is even better. Every single time.

So, I don’t talk about my kids on my blog very often (I know this isn’t what you’re here for), but today I just want to take a moment to let you know that my kids are amazing. Each and every one of them.

I love you guys! Don’t forget to brush your teeth, and watch out for falling rocks! ;)

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How to Clean Your Tripod

Varina Patel —  May 9, 2013

Lanai Kai, Oahu, Hawaii (HI), USA

After shooting in salt water and sand during our trip to Hawaii, our tripods were badly in need of cleaning. Since it’s important to clean your tripod now and then, we thought we’d share the process on our blog. We try to clean our tripods about twice a year – more often if we’ve been shooting in sand, salt water, or swamps. Grains of sand can work their way into the grooves and threads of your tripod – you’ll know they’re in there if you hear a grinding or grating sound as you turn the knobs or make adjustments to the tripod. (Cringe!) Salt water can corrode some metals – so you should rinse your tripod after shooting at the beach. And swamp water – well, the bacteria that grows in swamps can climb right into your tripod legs and just hang out there… multiplying happily until you open your tripod and discover that it really stinks! Cleaning the tripod isn’t particularly difficult… though it can take some time. Jay and I usually clean both tripods at once, so we set aside a morning to do it. We’ve done it many times, so we’ve got it down to a science, and we can complete the task quickly.

The first step is to take the tripod apart. Each tripod will be different – Jay and I both have Induro’s CT113 Carbon Fiber Tripod. The important thing is to keep track of where all those little pieces go, so that you can put it all back together when youree done. If you’re worried about putting it all back together, take some photos for reference as you work. You may find that there are more pieces than you expected. Here is a video that show you how we clean our tripods:

The frequency with which you’ll need to clean your tripod depends upon how you use it. If it never leaves the house, you probably don’t need to clean it at all. If you are shooting on the grass or a muddy path – just rinse the feet when necessary and you’re good to go. Rain won’t hurt your tripod – though prolonged exposure to moisture can cause some parts to rust… so take the time to dry it off when you come in and leave it open until it’s thoroughly dry. Always rinse your tripod if you use it in salt water – salt can cause corrosion as well.

Take simple precautions to help keep your tripod clean a little longer. When we are shooting in sand, mud, or water, we always extend the lowest leg of the tripod at least a few inches beyond the mess. That simple action keeps the joint up out of the muck. If you can avoid it, don’t immerse the joint in sand or salt water. But don’t worry too much if it does get into the joints. Just take some time to clean it up and you’ll be good to go!

If you want to learn more about photography check our eBooks & webinars:

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Histograms

Flower Portraits

Varina Patel —  May 7, 2013

Touched with Light - Varina Patel

Photographing flowers isn’t as easy as it looks. Getting close enough to the ground is a challenge in itself. I use a shortened center column on my Induro CT113, and I spread its lets out nice and wide. The small image below shows how low I can go with that setup… and I can actually turn the center column upside down if I want to go even lower! I can actually suspend the camera (upside down) less than an inch above the ground if I need to.

Lanai Kai, Oahu, Hawaii (HI), USA

The real trick with flower photography is finding the right angle. I usually take my camera off the tripod and look through the view finder in search of the best angle and composition. Once I’ve found my angle, I set up the tripod and make whatever adjustments I need to get the camera right where I want it.

Trillium - Varina Patel

Sometimes I want to be directly on top of the flower, looking straight down. At other times, I want to be on the same level with the flower itself.

Columbine - Varina Patel

Of course, I’m also acutely aware of the background in each photograph. I like to use a wide aperture to produce a very narrow depth of field. That way, the flower is in sharp focus, but the background is free of distracting elements.

Tom McCall Wilderness Area, Columbia River Gorge - Oregon, USA.

Shooting outdoors usually means you have to deal with wind and light, too. When wind is an issue, I’ll use a higher ISO to get a faster shutter speed. When it’s bright and sunny, I might use a diffuser to soften the light, or a reflector to bounce light onto my subject for a bit of fill light. I sometimes use a diffuser and reflector together to get the look I want.

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I love capturing the unique “personality” of a flower in its natural habitat. Can you share any tips for photographing flowers? I’d love to hear about the techniques you are using to capture flower portraits.

If you want to learn more about photography check our eBooks & webinars:

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Fine Art Prints: The End of Days

Varina Patel —  May 3, 2013

Today’s featured print is this unique shot from The Big Island of Hawaii. Right now, you can purchase a 24×36 inch print on beautiful Archival Quality Metallic paper for $265.00. Of course, you can choose from all kinds of different sizes and papers – or you can choose canvas or metal prints.

Kilauea Lava Flow, Big Island - Hawai'i, USA

I took this shot just after sunset on the Big Island of Hawaii. As the lava flowed into the water, it created great bursts of steam that rose as dramatic swirls. The reflected light from the lava itself added to the incredible, otherworldly effect. I used a long exposure to capture this chaos of  light and shadow.

Purchase a Print

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Put Your Brand On It!

Varina Patel —  May 2, 2013

I’m a firm believer in the importance of building a brand. If you see the Coca Cola logo (I bet you can picture it in your head right now) you can almost taste the soda on your tongue. Maybe you start singing the jingle in your head, or remember the last commercial you saw. Maybe you even start craving a nice cold soda all of a sudden. If you’re building a business as an artist, you want your brand to stand out in the minds of your clients in the same way that the CocaCola brand does. Maybe you want it to stand for high quality work, your own artistic style, your excellent educational resources… all the things that you want your customers to associate with your business.

We brand our work in a thousand little ways – from giving out business cards when we speak for a group, to displaying our logo in the header on our websites. That logo appears on the cover of our eBooks, at the beginning and end of our educational videos… even at the top of each invoice. So, you get the picture. I think branding is pretty important to building a business. In this post, I want to show you how I make sure my brand is visible when someone orders prints from my online store.

prints page

Maybe you already know that we use SmugMug for our print sales. They offer some really great branding options for artists – letting you keep your brand visible to your clients. This is how I’m using these services for my own business.

If you have a SmugMug Pro Business Account, SmugMug will display your branding in the shopping cart, include a 4×6 “thank you print” with orders, and place a sticker on the packages that contain your prints. That means that people are seeing your brand again and again… which is great marketing. It costs a dollar for the Thank You print and/or sticker. The branding banner on your shopping cart is free. (If you don’t have a SmugMug Pro account, you can use this 20% discount code to get one: SMUGMUGPATEL)

I started by designing my branding images in Photoshop. Make sure you check the size recommendations on the SmugMug website – click on Account Settings > Branding > Manage. You can upload the finished images from that page as well.

Here’s the image I created for my 4×6 “Thank You Print”. I always include a Certificate of Authenticity with my prints, and this is a great way to do that.

smugmug thank you print

I also created a simpler image for the sticker that will be placed on each shipment.

smugmug sticker

And, I made a simple graphic for the shopping cart banner.

smugmug branding

Once the images are ready, the next step is easy. Go to your Account Settings, and click on the Business icon, and then choose Branding from the menu. You can see that I already have branding set up on my site. If you are ready to set it up, just click on the Manage button under Branding.

branding page with circle

The Pro Branding page will let you upload the files you’ve created. Just click the Choose File button and navigate to the files you’ve created. Once the images are uploaded, you’re done.

upload page

SmugMug will show the Shopping Cart banner during checkout – like this:

shopping cart

Nice, eh? They’ll place the sticker you created on the outside of the box for each order – and inside, your client will find the nice thank-you card.

Now, I did have one minor issue when I was setting all this up. My first attempt at creating a shopping cart banner ended up looking like the image below. (I was using a different image at the time, but it was sized correctly according to the suggestion on the upload page.) You can see that part of the logo is cut off, and the displayed area is square. Weird. Support got me a solution right away. If this happens to you, go to your Gallery page, and click on the Settings button under your “My SmugMug Site Files” gallery. (This gallery is not visible to the public unless you make it so.) Scroll down on the Gallery Settings Page to the Look and Feel section, and make sure that the Thumbnail option for this gallery is set to Original. That should solve the problem. Of course, if you run into any problems, you can always contact support. They’re great about getting back to me quickly every single time.

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If you are looking for more information about our experience with SmugMug, you can read this post.

SmugMug Pro account 20% Discount Code: SMUGMUGPATEL

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Ink on Parchment

Varina Patel —  April 30, 2013

Lanikai, Oahu - Hawai'i, USA

As we hiked down from a ridge overlooking Lanikai Beach on Oahu, I noticed a small cactus flower blooming beside the trail. The mid-day light was shining through the flower, creating a subtle glow inside. When I got close, I could see brilliant, red veins scribbled across the thin membrane inside the flower – so I pulled out my macro lens to take a shot. By the time I finished, I was sweating… but I had the shot I wanted.

I got in as close as I could for this shot – pushing my macro lens to its focusing limit, and cropping the finished image to get in even closer. The repeating patterns are particularly appealing to me. They remind me of writing… I think it’s poetry. Don’t you?

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Bisti Wilderness, New Mexico

Varina Patel —  April 26, 2013

Cracked Eggs - Varina Patel

Map: Cracked Eggs, Bisit Wilderness, New Mexico

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area is one of the most bizarre and beautiful locations I’ve visited. The area is huge – more than 40-thousand acres. Access can be difficult or impossible in bad weather. The landscape changes from one place to the next in here. You’ll find a ridiculous collection of formations formed by erosion – from hoodoos to flat flood plains. The badlands are scattered with sandstone and shale and mud and silt… and such a variety of colors and patterns that you will hardly know where to begin. It’s a fantastic compositional challenge.

Bring along a good pair of hiking boots, lots of water, a hat to keep off the sun, a good map, and a GPS or compass. It’s easy to get lost in a place like this… so be smart about it and plan your trip.

We explored this spot earlier in the day and then returned to photograph these cool formations at sunset. I simplified the composition as much as possible by choosing a single stone as a foreground element and choosing an angle that allowed me to line up the rocks in a curve that pointed towards the distant sky.

You can find more information at the Bureau of Land Management Website: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/wilderness/bisti.html

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