DIY Cable Cam

 Watch the video below to see how to assemble and rig this great little DIY Cable Cam!  

GoPro or Cell Phone Cable Cam

Supplies you will need

5ft - 1/2 PVC SCH 40 Pipe ( cut 3-12inch 2-1  1/2inch and use what's left to roll your cord on)

3 - 1/2 PVC Male Adapters

2 - 1/2 PVC Female Adapters

1 - 1/2 PVC Coupling

1 - 1/2 PVC Tee SxSxFPT

2 - 1/2 PVC Caps

1 - 1/2 PVC Plug

PVC Primer  

PVC Glue

1 set of 1 1/4 patio Door Steel Wheels

3 - Flat Corner Braces 2 1/2 inch  

6 - 1/4-20 x 1 1/4 inch Machine Screws with nuts

1 - 1/4-20 x 2 1/2 inch Machine Screws

1 - 1/4-20 Wing Nut

4 - 1/4-20 Nylon Lock Nuts

2 - #6 5/8inch Sheet Metal Screws

1 - 1/4-20 3/4 inch Machine Screw with nut

2 - Carabiners with key rings ( see picture below)

1 can of Spray Paint that Bonds To Plastic you pick the color

150 feet of 550 cord black

10 feet of 550 cord any color

2 - Aluminum Carabiners

1 - Figure 9 Carabiner

Found this at my local Home Depot.  

DIY Cable Camera  

I designed the rig to break down into 4 pieces that could easily be put in my backpack. If you did not need this feature you could omit the male and female adapters and get a standard 1/2 tee that could be glued on all three sides to save some money also the break is a nice feature but can be omitted as well.  

If you are mounting a GoPro, the standard tripod adapter screws directly to the bottom.

GoPro mounted to Cable Cam

If you want to mount you cell phone they make a tripod cell phone holder that works great.  

I always love to see your work, email me photos of your completed rig and videos from your projects using the cable cam!  

Click here to contact me 

Composition Rule #1

Composition is the most important thing in photography. What is Composition? Simply put it is the Layout or structure of your shot. Have you ever looked at a photograph in a magazine or a painting in a gallery and though to yourself this is an amazing picture. But what makes it amazing? Well the answer is Composition. Artest have studyed what it is that makes an image pleasing to the eye for centuries. You can see the rules of composition in the paintings, architecture, potery, and clothing of our ancestors. Composition is the foundation that your image is built on and without a good foundation you will not have a good photograph. These rules are absolutely fundamental, knowing them and understanding them is what separates an amateur from a pro. There are many rules of composition, I like to focus on 10 rules that are the most important and widely known. Starting with rule #1 the Golden Rule of Photoagraphy, The Rule Of Thirds.

This is a very simple rule and when applied you will have great results. When setting up your shot imagine your viewfinder divided up into 3 equal parts vertically and 3 equal parts horizontally. When you do this you will be left with four intersections. These intersections are the main focus points for your eyes, and this is where your main subject of the shot should be located. It does not matter witch point you choose but keep in mind the story and movement of your shot. See the example shots below.

The best way to describe the Rule Of Thirds is to show you what it looks like in real world images. These two shot show the rule in action.  I have divided them up into thirds,  so you can see the four focal points of the photo. 

From the images you can see the points and how the shot was framed using the rule. But you can also see how I tried to convey a story and movement as well. Take the first shot of the snail. In this shot I wanted to show this snail making his way across the road, with so much out in front of him as he slowly goes along inch by inch. His journey is there in front of him. The next image of the bird in silhouette, I framed this image with the bird leaving the frame, almost escaping the frame. As if I came upon him sitting on the shore and he took flight to get away. He is exiting.  

Using the empty space in the shot as a way to convey movement and story, just another way to use the Rule Of Thirds to take great images.  

Did you like this post? The 10 rules of composition posts started on the GO Newsletter. If your not a member of this FREE Newsletter, join today! 

National Trails Day!

June 06, 2015

34 hikers turned out.  

A Friend of mine and Gillette Outdoors, Jeff Sparks (find Jeff on Twitter) invited me on a hike this weekend for National Trails Day.  

What is National Trails Day? 

"American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day® (NTD) is a celebration of America’s magnificent Trail System, occurring annually on the first Saturday in June. NTD features a series of outdoor activities, designed to promote and celebrate the importance of trails in the United States. Individuals, clubs and organizations from around the country host National Trails Day® events to share their love of trails with friends, family, and their communities. NTD introduces thousands of Americans to a wide array of trail activities: hiking, biking, paddling, horseback riding, trail running, and bird watching and more. For public and private land managers alike, National Trails Day® is a great time to showcase beautiful landscapes and special or threatened locales as thousands of people will be outside looking to participate in NTD events.

National Trails Day® evolved during the late ‘80s and ‘90s from a popular ethos among trail advocates, outdoor industry leaders and political bodies who wanted to unlock the vast potential in America’s National Trails System, transforming it from a collection of local paths into a true network of interconnected trails and vested trail organizations. This collective mindset hatched the idea of a singular day where the greater trail community could band together behind the NTD moniker to show their pride and dedication to the National Trails System" (Nationaltrailsday.org)

Joshua Creek Trail Head, Charles Bronson State Forest. 

As we made our way into the forest from the Joshua Creek Trail Head we followed the Blue blazed connecter trail over to the familiar Orange Blazed Florida Trail (FT) the photo above is of a small section that was blanked in fern. 

Damp and humid, this is the perfect home for ferns of all kinds.  

As the FT twisted and turned we went from scrub, to pines, to hardwoods, and even a low grassy flat where we found a rare Pitcher Plant in bloom. 

These carnivores plants growing in clusters. 

Here is the oddly beautiful bloom of the Pitcher Plant. 

These strange plants are just off of an old access road that the local hikers have named Hog Trap Road.  How did the road get that name? Our trail guide was the one who named it! Here is her story.

All alone the trail from beginning to end grew wildflowers. When I could, I tried to stop and snap a few photos to share.

#1

#2

#3

I am not a plant expert, if anyone is please let me know the names of these in the comments below and I can go back and caption them properly. 

Here is Jeff and the group checking out a Butterfly Orchid way up in this tree. 

In all 5.5 miles hiked and some new friends and memories made. I would like to thank Jeff for inviting me on this awesome hike and for celebrating National Trails Day with me! I would also like to thank the Florida Trail Association (Follow the FT on Twitter and Instagram) for putting on this great hike.

Steel Wool Photography

When people ask me how this shot was done they always look at me like I am crazy when I say, all you need is a six foot dog leash, a piece of steelwool, a small flashlight, and a metal kitchen whisk. 

I am going to take you all step by step through the making of this shot. I will try to make it as simple as possable, but if you have any questions at all feel free to ask in the comment box below this article.

First of all I want to start by saying that there is a level of danger when it comes to doing a shot like this. You will be useing fire and very high temp metal that could burn you if you are not careful. Every precaution should be taken to avoid injury to yourself or others and the serounding area.  

Ok let's get started! First let's talk about the steelwool or that swirling fireball serounding me. This is what you need.

1. One pack of steelwool 002  

2. Metal kitchen wisk

3. Six foot length of rope or dog leash

4. Lighter  

This setup is simple, just attach the rope or leash to the end of the metal wisk as shown in the image. You must find an all metal wisk that has a hole in the handle for hanging. I got mine from the dollar store. Also I found this six foot leash at the dollar store as well, the clip makes it easy to attach. When you are ready to shoot your image you will pull off a small piece of the steelwool and stick it in the wire end of the wisk. Hold the leash about half way down so that the wisk is hanging about a foot off the ground. Use the lighter to light the steelwool, it will light surprisingly easy. You will start to see bright orange strands of metal in the area you lit right away. Now simply swing the wisk in a circle vertically, like in this image, or horizontal for a different effect. Be very careful when doing this, long sleeves, safety glasses, and water near by is a must. Also it is a good idea to do a shot like this after a hard rain when the ground is not so dry. And remember this hot metal will travel a long way depending on how fast you spin it, as you can see from the image fifty or sixty feet easy. So be smart about where and when you do this, I know it looks like I am in the woods but I am actually standing on a dirt road so as not to start a forest on fire! Safety First.

Now let's talk about the camera setup. This image is what's known as a long exposure, which means that the shutter of your camera remains open for an extended period of time during the shot. To do this it is best that you put your camera in "M" manual mode. In manual mode you have control over all settings so you must know how to adjust them on your specific camera. So dust of your cameras owners manual or search for your model online for the correct setting adjustments. When we took this shot it was about 1o1pm with no moon under a thick canopy of trees, so needless to say it was dark. So dark that you could not see your own hand without a flashlight. With this low light you need l set your camera up to be able to bring in any light it can so first let's adjust your apriture setting. Now from lense to lense this setting will change because of the inner diameter of the lense but just set your apriture "F#" to the lowest possable number. The lense I was using let me go down to F3.5. This is going to open up the inside shade of the lense and allow the most light to get into you sensor. 

Next is ISO, I have found that it is better to use a low ISO setting when shooting shots like this because you tend to get a lot of noise when your cameras sensor overly sensitive. So believe it or not I keep with an ISO of 100 even in this dark situation. I would rather give the camera more time than worry about grainie shots. Which leves us with one last setting which is shutterspeed. With this you have a few options first you can use a pre timed shutterspeed that your camera has built in. Most cameras will have at most a 30 sec exposure time, so if you can get your shot done in that amount of time then that will work. Or you can set your shutterspeed to "bulb" witch allows you to open the shutter and leave it open until you want to close it. 

With my camera the bulb mode setting can be controlled in two ways. First you have the shutter release button, press and hold this button and the shutter will remain open until you let your finger off the button. This will work but it is hard even with the best tripods not to move the camera while holding the button. Option two is to use a remote shutter release button, you can pick one up for your camera online for relatively cheep. With the remote you push the button once and the shutter opens and you push the button again to close it. Much easier and completely hands off the camera and tripod makes for no movement in the shot. I always recommend the remote method for anyone trying to do this type of shot and if you are attempting it alone there is no other way.

Lastly, in the dark your camera will not be able to autofocus, so you will need to set your camera to manual focuse mode. To focus your shot put bright light on your main subjects and set your focus and leave it. My lense has an infinity setting on the lense that puts everything in focus so check your lense, you may have the same.  

Camera setting recap

Apriture  F3.5

ISO 100

Shutterspeed "bulb" 45-50 seconds  

Manual Focus  

Now I shot this shot in two ways, with the steelwool only, and with the steelwool and lighting on the trees. Both are great effects and give very different results. Let's talk about light painting the trees. 

Light painting is a method I like to use a lot as you can see from my gallery. To break it down to basics it's lighting each object in the shot individually with a small flashlight. Now look closely at the image and you will see me in the background spinning the steelwool. But what you do not see is the rest of the crew walking from tree to tree with small AAA cell led flashlights shinning each tree. As a matter of fact they are in the shot the entire time the shutter is open but there is no sign of them at all. Why? Well with light painting the camera will only see the object that is being illuminated, so as long as they do not shine the light on themselves the camera does not see them. 

In this shot as I spun the steelwool Rocky and Brad walked from tree to tree shining the lights up and down there trunks for a few seconds each. In between trees they would shine the lights straight up into the tree canopy to illuminate the beautiful green leaves.   

To pull a shot like this off it is a good idea to bring some friends and or family along. It would have never happened without the help from my team! So thank you Rocky for running Lights and Safety, Brad for lighting and cameras, and Dylan for making sure we were all on point out there in the dark. You guys are awesome! 

Highlands Hammock

Just one of the many beautiful boardwalks in the park

Located in Sebring Florida, Highlands Hammock State Park is one of my favorite parks in Florida. This park is best known for its thousand year old oak trees and amazing boardwalks, but it has so much more to offer such as more than 9000 acres of the most biodivers land in the state. A hiker can go from sandy pines and high grass land into hardwood oak hammocks full of palms and old florida fruit trees, and then find them selves atop beautiful Boardwalks that meander through old growth Cyprus swamps. 

We found this guy on the Fern Garden trail. 

With all of these divers landscapes also come an abundance of wildlife. Thousands of birds fill the forest, swamps, and grasslands all year. The black bear and Florida panther also make the lush habitat home. Don't be surprised to see alligators and turtles sunning on logs in the swamps or deer and raccoons passing along side your tent.  

The trees here are so magnificent  

The park offers an informative tram tour that takes the visitors to some beautiful locations in the park that are restricted to the public. Also the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) museum takes you back in time to show you how and why conservation is so important to our history and future. 

check out my new tent! Click here to see my gear review on it and to learn more. 

Camping at Highlands Hammock is the best way to experience everything the park has to offer. But I will warn you that this campground stays full most of the year so plan early and make your reservations ASAP! The campground has 143 sites available ranging from RV to tent sites offering electric and water on site. Restrooms, showers, laundry, and dish sinks are located in the campground and are all wheelchair accessible. 

The first time I traveled to Highlands Hammock I was Geocaching . This is a global treasure hunt that you can do on your smartphone. If you have never done it I highly recommend it, it is free! This park has some amazing caches and is a part of the CCC Florida state park caches. This is another great activity that you can do with the whole family at this park. 

My dog Emit taking in the amazing views!   

Pets are also welcome at the park so bring your best friend along for the fun!  

If you have any questions or would like to know more contact 

William@GilletteOutdoors.com 

A Journey Home

I went out for a drive this morning to find some golden-hour beauty. With my DSLR in hand, I found myself down back roads and trails I had never been before. Fog hung lightly in the air; the fresh dew on the grass seemed to glimmer in the warm golden light. 

Along the way I met a few friends. I sat quietly, listening as they ate and put on their show. They made several loud outbursts; the sound cut through the forest like a knife. Their calls where answered a few moments later from the other side of a swampy cypress head. An early morning conversation. 

When I reached my destination, the air was still and the forest quiet. The swampy creek was a looking glass, reflecting the golden light of morning. A warm glow surrounded me as I sat, concentrating on the sound of dew dripping from the branches and moss hung high in the trees of this peaceful sanctuary. This was my first time in this place but, somehow, it felt familiar. It felt like home. 

Just A Thought

The people that really know me would say that I have a great relationship with nature, not that I am a tree huger but that I am at home anywhere I go as long as its down a road less traveled. To some people a 15 mile walk up and down hills and valleys sounds like punishment. To me it's relaxation, meditation, it's truth. I want to know what is around this next corner or just over that hill. Most trails I walk have a purpose like a waterfall, overlook, sinkhole, or an old fort wall eroded away by time. Some are just a small loop in a public park that was put there to allow you to get away from the city for just a bit to clear your head. What ever the reason for the trail to me the outcome is the same. It was an adventure, it was a bright red bird landing on the trail in front of me, or the loud crack of a stick just off the trail that freezes you like a statue in hopes the animal that broke it does not see you. It can even be slipping on a slippery mud bank into a small stream completely soaking your cloths with mud. Someone once said " if you had a dollar for all the trails you walked you would be a rich man" to which I replied "I am a richer man for having walked them"

Guest Blogger, Jeff Sparks

The Elusive Woodpecker

I took an early morning hike in the Econ River Wilderness Area just north of UCF. The ERWA has a large habitat diversity – if you want to show out-of-towners the natural side of Central Florida, it would be hard to go wrong with bringing them to this spot. The Red Blaze Trail is flat and well marked. It also leads to the Econlockhatchee River, where you can see one of the few north-flowing rivers. Expect a hike of 3-to-3.5 miles, round trip.

During my hike, I stopped and could hear some birds – Sandhill Cranes and a woodpecker. The rat-a-tat sound of the woodpecker is distinctive. I soon determined the direction of the sound but couldn’t see the bird. 

I moved in the direction of the sound, about 100 feet, before stopping to listen. Rat-a-tat. There it was. I moved closer several more times, using my best stealthy walking technique. I continued to hear hear him, searching for food. Rat-a-tat.

By now, I had determined what area he was in but I still had not seen him. I decided to get just a little bit closer, stopping again to listen. This time, the sound was further away – he had flown to another area without me ever seeing him. Better luck next time!

Follow Jeff on Twitter or his new Instagram! 

Thank you, Jeff, for sharing your hike with us. We really enjoyed the adventure and can't wait to hear more from you in the future!

If you would like to share an adventure with Gillette Outdoors, email me at William@GilletteOutdoors.com.

Now get out there! 

 - William

Editing On The Go

Here are a few of the apps I use every day for retouching, color correcting, watermarking, and titles. These are great for editing on the go and for easy, quick posting to all your social media sites. 

PS Express:

Most photographers will be familiar with this program. Photoshop Express comes from the leader in photo and video editing software: Adobe. This is a go-to app when you need to adjust color, temperature, exposure, tint, ect. This versatile app gets the job done and is as simple to use as it gets. edit and crop your photos for Instagram and really pull out that rich color with this app!

Pixlr Express:

Another app that has some great features for editing on the go is Pixlr Express. While slightly less user friendly than PS Express, Pixlr Express is a bit more in depth when it comes to tools. Now, this can be both good and bad, so try both apps out to really see what features you will most use from each. 95% of the time, I turned to PS Express as it is simplified and more straight forward than Pixlr Express, but there are times when I need that one filter or some funky thing PS doesn't have. This is the app I turn to to fill the gap.

IWatermark:

IWatermark is the app I use to add watermarks to the photos I post online. If you are looking for a watermark program to protect your photos, this is the best I have found. I have tried many different apps for this task, but nearly all of them cut your picture quality in half. As a photographer, that is the last thing you want. IWatermark maintains photo quality and integrity while also being extremely easy to use. Once you've made your watermark, just load an image, select your mark, place it where you want and save or upload directly to your social media sites. It's that simple!

TitleFX:

For simple, clean and high quality titles on the go, I use TitleFX. Again, quality is key when working with photographs. You don't want to slap a grainy, fuzzy title on your photo and call it a day. TitleFX may not offer a ton of fonts to choose from, but what fonts they do offer are among the cleanest and most commonly used. Many apps will tout "2000 fonts," but who uses DingBat or half of the crazy fonts out there? TitleFX gives me the good ones on the go and lets me get the job done right.

Wyoming

Mountains, planes, rolling hills, rivers, lakes, and streams, here in Wyoming there are so many different types of topography all in one location. On this trip we visited a beautiful section of Wyoming called Seminoe State Park. As we exited the interstate we passed a small sign that read Seminoe State Park 30 miles ahead. That 30 miles of open road went from pretty to beautiful to amazing into unbelievable. The drive in was full of wildlife, antelope herds of fifty or more ran along side our car. Their bright white and tan fur blended together as they ran, so well that you could hardly tell where one antelope stopped and the other began. In a few locations along the roadside I stepped out, camera in hand to get a shot of the passing herds. The antelope quickly let me know that having that many friends watching your back makes for a quick response and an even quicker getaway! 

About half way in we came upon enormous sand dunes! No rocks, no trees, just the softest finest sand in many shades of red, tan, and white. I am told it is an ATV'ers Dream! My sister in-law, brother in-law and my nephew trailer their ATV's into Seminoe whenever they can to enjoy the endless riding trails and magnificent mountain views. They have told me so many great stories about the trials and dunes. We plan to come back in the spring to do some back country rides with them, I can't wait. 

As we rounded a bend I caught sight of an enormous valley and down at the bottom was a beautiful lake. This lake is man made and it was made by damming up the Seminoe River. Along side the lake sits the boat club, a group of small cabins next to the docks and launch that gives access to this recreational boaters paradise. 

A bit farther down the road we came to the camping area, a well maintained small group of sites with all the hookups and comforts you need. As we toured the campground we noticed a small group of wild horses grazing by the roadside. There were all different colors from white, tan, painted, and an all black horse that's fur was so dark it looked as if it was velvet. My wife Nancy and I jumped out of the vehicle and slowly made our way down the road toward the horses. As we approach they did not seem to mind us in their space. I snapped a few shots from a distance and a few more as we got closer. We watched as they slowly moved along and crossed the campground road in front of us. The large painted horse turned toward us and slowly came in our direction he stopped about 30 feet in front of us and seemed to pose for a few pictures before going back to his group. 

Over all our trip to Wyoming was so amazing. But as all trips, it was way to short. So much to see and so much to do, Wyoming we will be back for another ride next year and we can hardly wait! 

Friend Me! It Will Be Fun!

Over the next 6 days I will be doing some traveling to a great American city. One rich in history and beauty. What will I be doing? Geocaching, hiking, photography, history, celebrating my wife birthday, visiting some beautiful places and so much more! Where are we going? You need to follow along to find out! I am going to be posting all photos from the trip on Facebook this time. So if you would like to come along for the ride friend me at www.facebook.com/gilletteoutdoors i will see you there! 

William Gillette

Share It

 It's worth sharing. What is better than witnessing something amazing? Sharing that moment with someone else. Have you ever had something happen when you were totally alone and thought to your self they will never believe what just happened? Most of the time you tell your story later but it just doesn't have the same energy or excitement. That memory goes by the wayside even if it was amazing. Now take that same event and ad one friend seeing it with you, Wow the stories you will tell, bouncing that emotion back and forth between the two of you. your friends and family listen to your story start to get excited and it becomes a moment. Years could go by and your friend will say remember that time we... And you will laugh and get to relive it again and again, that moment will not only live on but that relationship is stronger because of it. Me and my best friend A.K.A my wife do this often, a silent car ride one minute. The next minute we are both laughing so hard we have tears in our eyes, one "hey remember when.." Will create hours of open conversation. So go on an adventure, do something new, bring your friends, and family, create some "remember when..." Moments. Life is worth sharing!

life

Sitting by a small stream on a cool spring day in the middle of the forest takes me back. The time spent by the waters edge is short but the good it does last a lifetime. When I was just a boy I remember camping trips with my mother, our site always on the water. Or trips to Formar,a nature reserve in MI with my sister to go on short hikes. know matter what we would always stop by a small babbling creek just long enuf to take it all in. Or try to cross it on a large fallen log. Why do we as humans have this deep connection with water? To me it is because it is ever changing, like life. Rain up stream means high water and a faster current, the creek will surge to life taking with it sand and debris that will forever change its banks. Over time it will change the landscape, it will change corse as rocks or trees obstruct its flow. All the time pressing onward never to be held back. But for this one moment in time as I sit closely by it feels familiar, it is never the same yet it is always the same. I know that there will always be obstacles to overcome. Adapt change corse and all ways press onward never giving up, this is life.

Your Tracks

Walking down some forgotten trail in the middle of nowhere often times I will come across a track left by a fellow hiker. My mind will often start to wonder what this persons story is. What I have found out is that as you fallow a strangers tracks down a trail you start to learn many thing about them, things that they may not even know. And from these things your mind starts to draw conclusion. First off the obvious, shoe size and distance between steps. Weight how deeply the track sinks into the soil. But more than that, I can tell if a person is careful or careless by how they choose to walk around a puddle or walk through it. I can tell a respectful person from a disrespectful one by the way they step around a flower or plant in the trail or on it, if they break branches on the trees as they move down the trail. Even things like a fresh chewing gum rapper thrown on the ground as they walk. I can tell a level of passion by the way they stop and turn to look out at a great view or a small stream. All of these small things ad up to big conclusion in my mind, I begin to get an impression of this person before ever even seeing there face or hearing what they have to say. Often times these things come to a head and if I do come across this person on a trail I have made the decision to talk to them and share story's or a quick hello is all they get. It is funny how much this parallels your every day life, often times someone has already made a first impression of you before you have even met. They have seen something along your path that has given them resin to think they know something about you. What kind of tracks are you leaving?

Up a creek! (Campfire story #3)

One spring day Nancy and I decided to head over to one of our favorite state parks here in Florida. O'leno State Park located in High Springs FL sits on the banks of the Santa Fe River which is great for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. This area has some of the most beautiful oak lined riverbanks and I recommend it to anyone looking for a nice paddle and fish location. 

This trip marks the first time my wife and I every went fishing from a canoe, and the last. As we paddled up stream enjoying the beautiful forest we passed so much wildlife along the way, deer, pigs, birds, turtles, and alligator sat near the shore warming them selves in the sun. The water was a bit low this time of year so on occasion we would need to get out of the canoe and push it over logs and shallow spots in the stream. About two miles up river we passed one of the largest alligators I have seen in the wild and in person. As a nature lover and a Floridian I know that these beautiful animals want nothing more than to be left alone and to be given there space. If you leave them alone they will leave you alone. Respect is a two way street in the wild. We watched him from a far for a few minutes and then continued up the river. About fifty yards up stream we came to a section of river that looked a bit deeper and we decided to try our hand a fishing from the canoe. 

Once we got the tackle and poles out and finally got our lines wet the fish started to bite right away. Nancy catching the first, a large fish know as a Bowfin. If you have never seen a Bowfin take a second to look one up. Let's just say they are very large and they have a mouth full of teeth! She reeled the fish up next to the boat and I pulled it over into the canoe, it must have been about 24 inches long. I worked the hook free from his sharp scary teeth and held him up one last time before setting him free. 

Back to the fishing rods, I cast my bait in the area Nancy had been fishing before and that made her look for a new spot to cast her line. Just then she decided to turn around in the canoe with out warning to me her sudden movement flipped the boat completely spilling us and all of our stuff into the river! Rods, bait, tackle, lunch, shoes, cloths, paddles, and cooler gone! And suddenly that shallow creek that just a few minutes before was not deep enough to float a boat in was way over our heads.  

My first thought was to grab the now sinking canoe, as I hold the canoe in one hand and tread water with the other I remember that only about fifty yards up stream is a giant alligator and I just released a giant fish with giant teeth in the exact spot I was now treading water. I would be lieing if I said it didn't make me a bit worried, suddenly the boat was pointed strait down as I held the front end of it. This was a 15 foot canoe and it was not touching the bottom the water must have been twenty feet deep or more. One slip of the hand and we would be walking two miles though some of the thickest Florida forest I have seen back to camp. We slowly made our way over to shore which was almost to steep to climb. It took some team work to get the canoe back afloat, I jumped in the boat and paddled with my hands down river to find our paddles and cooler stuck in a fallen tree. The whole time Nancy walked along the shore asking me if I was mad that she flipped us. At the time I was just happy to be alive! By the time we made it back to camp we had laughed so much about it my sides hurt. That is one of my favorite memories.

Depth Of Field

Photo by William Gillette

One thing that separates a DSLR camera from your standard point and shoot is the dramatic range when it comes to Depth of field. 

depth of field (DOF): is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.

TRY THIS

Put your camera on a tripod, go outside and find a fence. Set up yor camera so the legs of your tripod are touching the bottom of the fence and rotate the camera so it is looking down the fence line. Set your DSLR setting to "A" (Aperture Priority mode) and adjust you the dial on your camera that controls the Aperture setting or the F# on your cameras readout. If you have never adjusted these setting on your camera dust off the manual or search your cameras model number online for info on your specific cameras adjustments. 

Adjust the apriture (F#) to the lowest possible number for you camera, each lense has a different range of apriture so this number will be different depending on you lense. Take a picture down the fence line.  

Now without moving your camera adjust the apriture (F#) setting to the highest possible number. Take a picture down the fence line.

Compare the images.  

You will see that they are very different. Let's talk about the first image you took, with the lowest apriture (F#) setting. In this image the section of fence closest to the camera should be blurry and out of focus, as the fence gets farther away it should become clear and in focus and than as the fence goes on it will become out of focus again. This is short or shallow Depth Of Field.

Now in the second image the fence should be almost completely in focus the entire way. This is a long Depth Of Field.  

Left apriture F22, Right apriture F3.5

Depth of field is a great tool for telling a story in an image, it places the focal point of your shot front and center. Also the out of focus portion of the image adds mistery to the shot. Play around with your apriture setting and practice useing this setting. It's setting like this that make good images great images. 

Location, Location, Location!

A very wise man once said "if you want to take more interesting pictures go to more interesting places". Now as a young photographer I remember running around trying to make somthing out of nothing when it came to locations, and some times it worked. But as I have gotten older I now realize that location and timing are everything in photography.

Now that's not to say that sometimes the stars don't align and you get that unbelievable shot that no one could plan for. It is more realistic that you put in the time on scouting and light mapping and timing everything out to give you the best possible chance of getting the shot you are working toward.  

Some important thing to consider when looking at a location for outdoor photography. 

When I find a location I like, I always look at the angle I need to be in for the shot. In the compass app I take a screen cap with my phone (above) so I have the information at hand when I am planing my shoot. From this screen cap I can tell I am shooting west into a setting sun. This is good info to help plan.  

1. Location, ( literally GPS or address) I always grab a quick GPS location on my iPhone. I do this so it is easy to go back to this place in the future or if I am working with others I can send them the location in google maps so they can easily find it. I also meet a lot of other nature photographers out on trails and it's nice to be able to help them find new exciting locations. 

2. Light, look around for issues regarding light. Will a setting sun be to bright to shot in the direction you will be set up? You might need to try sun rise. Are you in thick tree canopy and need the sun to be overhead to give you the best chance for proper exposure? Again a smartphone compass is a great tool that almost everyone has on them at all times. 

3. Climate, here in FL we deal with bad rain storms almost daily. I know that between 2pm and 5pm during the summer I need to make sure I have a plan in place to deal with storms. Or that in the winter months our high water table causes thick fog in the early morning hours. Researching things like this will also help in determining the direction you want to take in telling the story with your shot. 

4. Terrain, when scouting a location take carful note of the terrain you will be shooting in and anything along the trail you will be traveling to get there. When planing  a shoot the gear you bring will be drastically different if you need to hall it 18 miles up mountains and across rivers, And being prepared when you get there is a must. Tripods, filters, lens, cards, remote shutter, rain gear, water... This stuff gets heavy don't overload with stuff you will not use, plan the shoot and shoot the plan!   

All of these factors will come in to play when out on the trail. I don't plan out every photo, sometimes they come by chance. But when you find a great location and really want to make that capture special. Take the time to plan and give you image the best chance of being the one you have in your mind.

Photography Basics : The Rule Of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a very basic rule that is so simple but goes so far when it comes to its application in nature photography. 

Rule Of Thirds ; dividing an image in three equal parts vertically and three equal parts horizontally. The intersections made by these lines are the focal points of an image.    

If you look at these images you will see that I have divided them as per the rule of thirds. When I set up these shots I purposely placed the subjects that I wanted to highlight into the intersections. By doing this I made these subjects the first thing you look at when you see the photo. Your eyes will go to these focal points first automatically without you even  knowing it is happening. 

Why? It is a natural thing that you do. Survival as a human depends on it! You have been doing it your entire life. Every day you use this skill without thinking twice about it. You first learned it as a baby. When you where a baby and could not communicate with your mom and dad you looked at there faces to get your information. More importantly you looked at there eyes and mouth. If they were smiling you knew everything was ok and you where safe, there eyes bright and wide and the corners of there mouth upturned. If they where scared  you also knew to stay close to mom and dad. If you have kids you know how this works. It is the reason a baby smiles when you smile it makes them feel safe. 

"Controlling Light" Part 4

This is the last video in a four part series called "Controlling Light". A photography basics video that will help you better understand the Manual (M) settings on your camera. Knowing what these settings are and how they affect your camera will help you understand how to use them

Phototogrphy Quick Tip!

Photo by William Gillette

 Here is a Photography Quick Tip. Straight lines are pleasing to the eye in photographs because they give your eye a path to follow through the shot. Your eye will automatically go to the end of this bridge first, because that is where all of the lines lead. In Landscape photography this is used often with images of roads, paths, fences, even rows of bushes or pines on a hillside can give you great lines. Practice useing straight lines like this to help your images tell a story to the viewer. When I framed up this shot I wanted to show the viewer how long and narrow this bridge over the gorge was. I chose this high angle with my focal path directly down the center of the image. I tried to give my viewer the same feeling and focal point I had when I first came up to this bridge. Only AFTER I located my destination point on the bridge did I look around at all of the beautiful view, and that is the way I wanted my viewer to see it as well.

Keep in mind the story you are telling may not only be visual but also mental. If I shot this image at eye level, you would have seen the bridge I wanted you to see, but by elevating the camera 12 feet above the walkway of the bridge I tried to capture the feeling you get when stepping out onto a suspension bridge 100 feet over a river. 

Practice is the only way to become a good story teller in photography. It may take 200 shots from 30 angles to get the look and feel you want. Keep try, keep thinking outside the box "pixels are free" every photographer in the world has 100 times more bad shots than good. After you get that shot that tells the story you want to tell, you will always remember the technique you used to get it for next time. And working through a shot like that is what makes good photographers great photographers! 

Now Get Out There!