Monday, October 22, 2007

Brush Fire in Irvine

We got home last night from our Big Sur trip shortly before this fire broke out. I resisted the urge to go out and shoot that night because I was beat but decided to get up early to see what I could see. Since my previous brush fire pictures are some of my best sellers in iStock I thought it would be worth it.

It's been my experience that it is much easier to find a place to park and just walk to a good location rather than dealing with the traffic and road closures. I initially parked in the shopping center at the corner of Sand Canyon & Irvine Blvd. I was walking across the street in front of a barricade when the officer manning it asked if I was there to take pictures. Considering I had my tripod with 400mm lens slung over my shoulder I thought it a silly question. I told her I was and she said if I wanted to go get my car she would let me through the barricade to get closer. What luck! I unknowingly fooled her into thinking I was some sort of professional.

Once inside the protected area I drove for about a half mile before foolishly consulting another of Irvine's finest on where I could go. He asked to see my credentials (doh!) and when I couldn't come up with any made me turn around, which I did with my tail between my legs. Next time I am in such a situation it is key to pretend like I actually know what I'm doing there.

I retreated back down Irvine Blvd and grabbed some sunrise shots through the smoke. They opened Irvine back up a few minutes later so I went through and turned down Modjeska Cyn. right into the heart of Portola Springs. This entrance was blocked off about 10 minutes later so I got lucky and was able to get up close & personal with some fire and got a face full of smoke & ash.

Sunrise through the smoke on the corner of Irvine Blvd. & Jeffrey.

Helicopter on smokey background.

Big line approaching homes.

More Santiago Fire Pictures

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Hummingbirds

I recently started trying my hand at hummingbird pictures. These little devils are so fast it's hard to get a good clear shot. Initially I was juicing up the ISO and shooting wide open to get the fastest shutter speed, then realized that there is a much easier way. Shooting around f8 I set my 430EX flash off to the side and try to stick the shutter somewhere in the 1/200 - 1/300 range. I have been experimenting with a couple different methods and so far have had the best results using rear curtain synch. The hummers seem to get spooked by the flash and/or the loud shutter on my rebel XT. If they are sitting at the feeder and I take the pic they flap their wings a few times. The pictures that are captured are funny looking with the wings sometimes covering their eyes or head. With the rear synch the flash fires and freezes them with wings fully extended.... Usually a much more interesting pose. Although they seem to be getting used to the sound and having me so close so sometimes they don't react at all to the shutter.

Our feeder is hung in a nice spot, shaded in the afternoon sun but the tree directly behind it gets full light. Shots with the flash are filled in nicely and the background has good exposure as well. This afternoon I came up with some of my sharpest ones yet.




Full gallery can be seen here:
http://scottvickers.smugmug.com/gallery/3547976

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