Don't forget to sign up for the Digital Camera Basics class

Did you or do you know someone who received a DSLR camera for the holidays? Groupon is still offering my class for Digital Camera Basics you can check it out at the link below.  The class will be a hand's on class in my studio in Pleasanton. Learn how to use your menus, how to set up your camera and how to use the auto focus.

Link to Digital Camera Basics Groupon Deal

 Why do Elephants have such a good memory?  The reason is simple, they "need" to have a good memory to for the species to survive.  The female elephant depends each other to raise their young more than any other mammal. The  mother elephant can remember who in the heard is the most dependable, who is most trustful. 

Photographer's Gift Buying Guide

Every year many of us have the challange of finding the pefect gift for the photographer in our lives. As a professional photographer, I run across many products all year long that I think most amateur photographers would love to have wrapped up for them this holiday season.  Here is my short list for 2013 in no particular order.

My Passport

In the days of film, a good gift might have been a five-roll pack of Kodachrome 64, something a photographer would always use.  Now days with digital, hard drive space is what we all covet.

I've been using Western Digital almost exclusively over the years to securely backup and save all my images.  One of the most convenient small hard drives on the market is the My Passport version from Western Digital. These little hard drives connect to the USB port of your computer and work on Mac or PC and don’t need an external power source.   You can get them in a variety of colors including red, blue, black and silver.  Also, you can buy them in many sizes from 500 gigs to 2 Terabytes of storage space. You can never go wrong giving a photographer hard drive space.

Ball Pod

Next up is a gift for the photographer that needs a little support.  By that I mean the Ball Pod. 

Have you ever found yourself trying to set up a self-timer shot by setting your camera on a rock and tucking the strap under the camera to position it in the right direction? This can be a risky proposition.  The Ball Pod is a handy device where you thread you camera into the standard tripod mount and the flexible ball keeps your camera rock steady.

The Ball Pod is about the size of a large orange with a ¼ screw attached to a mounting plate.  On this plate you mount your camera with its threaded tripod hole.  Once snug, your camera can be placed just about anywhere.

The silicone outer shell has hundreds of beads inside that allow you position the ball on rocks, fence rails, fire hydrants, trash cans or just about anywhere.

This is the perfect accessory that just about any photographer or smart phone user will use time and time again.

Its small enough to fit in your jacket pocket and weighs only 11 oz.  The silicone outer shell is kind of tacky and will grip things like the hood of your car or many other slick surfaces.  Now it’s easy to carry a support tool, without having to lug around a huge tripod. 

Grad Filters

People often ask me what is the best filter to get the photographer on their list.  If they already have the basic: Polarizer and Neutral Density then I would steer them toward the Grad Filters.  Lee Filters makes some nice ones and they come in different sizes based on how large the camera lens is.

Grad filters are best used with a filter holder, but they can be hand held in front of the lens in certain circumstances. The idea behind a grad (graduated) filter is that the photographer can move the filter around to cover say just the sky in a landscape shot. With its effects “gradually” falling off.  The sky is an area that is typically over exposed but with a neutral density grad filter only the sky portion can manipulated and be brought down to the exposure of everything else. 

Digital Photography Classes

While I am partial to the Digital Photography Classes and Photoshop Classes that I teach but you may not be near the San Francisco East Bay but you still want to give a great gift. 

Terry VanderHeiden teaching Digital Photography classes in Pleasanton, California. 

Someone close to you may have an interest in attending a hands-on workshop where they can really learn more about their camera or a specific type of photography.  These small class workshops can give a fantastic learning experience to the photographer that is looking to get serious about their photography or to learn how to edit the images properly after they are done with a day’s shooting.

In order to find a class near you, type into Google: photography classes, (city or town) you should get a full range of classes and workshops near you.

Photography Workshops

Workshops can be held at specific locations teaching all about how to photograph in that spot of the world.  Many of them will take you out on location to show you where the best opportunities for photography are and the best time of day to be shooting.  Lots of these workshops will also have review sessions to talk about your images and  show you how to best  process the images digitally.  Some workshops can be destination driven in order to plan a complete vacation around shooting and learning. 

Go Pro Hero3

While this is not technically a still camera nor do they take any great amount of skill to operate but the GoPro video cameras are a blast to play with. Starting at a couple of hundred bucks the diminutive video cameras pack a lot of fun in small package.

Just about any computer savvy, creative type will enjoy putting their imagination to work coming up with new ways and locations to use the GoPro.

GoPro has three models this season.  The top of the line model, Black, has Wi-fi built in and can transmit what you have shot, the view of the camera and other important information back to your smart phone for instant gratification. 

Searching for Gold in the Sierras

Many states are quite popular for their fall colors and with good reason, New England in October is hard to beat.  However, closer to home in California, reside some spectacular viewing locations for fall colors. 

This grove was shot at sunset near Mcgee Creek in the Eastern Sierras

October in the Eastern Sierras is a great time and place to check out the fall colors but keep in mind you are most likely to see "California Gold" dotting the hill sides.  Seems as though the Aspen trees are found along just about anywhere there was fresh water.  From the creeks that flowed down the mountain sides to the crystalline lakes along the  section from Bridgeport to Bishop on the west side of highway 395, make great spots to see the aspen trees in full splendor. 

Convict Lake

Bears at Mammoth Lakes

Last month, while I spent time photographing the landscape in Mammoth Lakes, California, I saw bears just about every evening. It's hard to see these massive animals and not want to point your longest lens toward them. 

This cub was born in February and is one of six (2013) cubs roming the Mammoth Lakes area.  Somehow in 2013 this little guy lost his mother and will be braving his first winter, alone. 

The main challenge to photographing bears is light.  Most bears are only out after the sun goes down and back in their dens as the sun comes up.  The conditions for light on your dark subject (the bear) is normally very low.  However, today's cameras can allow you to shoot in very little light without strobes or too much image noise. 

Autumn photography can increase your odds of finding a bear in decent light in that they are much more active for longer hours.

I spoke to Mammoth Lakes Wildlife Specialist, Steve Searles, star of the Bear Whisperer television show (Animal Planet) about the Black Bear's habits during the fall season. 

"These bears are drinking about five gallons of water per day and feeding some twenty three hours per day."  Searles said. "They are also not urinating or defecating during this last few days before hibernation."

As the bears bulk up for hibernation they are out and around more and more during daylight hours.  This can be a nightmare for the Searles as he is responsible for bear management in Mammoth Lakes. He spends his days trying to limit the contact that humans have with bears.

Just before we arrived, a bear was taking a late night shopping trip into Von's to help himself to some apples and other fruit. 

Searles also told me that the bears are feeding on the small seeds that drop out of pine cones this time of year.  It no doubt takes quite a bit of foraging to fill up a hungry bear trying to stock up for the winter.  

These are some great tips about photographing bears.  You now know their most common food source, pine nuts. You know they need water and they are busy extending their feeding habits to include some time even before the sun goes down. For me, I looked for several crushed pine cones and kept my eyes out late in the day.  I photographed most of these bears with a Nikon D4, 600mm mounted on a tripod and shot at 250th of a second at f/8 up to ISO 6400.

American Dipper

In my travels photographing the Eastern Sierras, I decided to settle down on the edge of Mammoth Creek and sit with my telephoto lens to see what creature may happen by.

After a few minutes of waiting, I tracked a couple of Mallard ducks as they fed in the stream.  This is pretty simple photography work. Just hunker down in a warm dry spot and with a gimbal tripod head, that will allow you move your camera around to track whatever comes by. After watching the ducks for while, a couple of non-discript birds landed on the creek and started feeding as well.  So I called my long time friend, photographer and naturalist,  David Bozsik and he gave me the information on these birds. (When you are done reading this blog, click on his link and go check out his work.)

These birds are called the American Dipper (or the Water Ousel).  These clever little birds make their home in small creeks, streams and rivers.  They have highly water repellent feathers that allow them to submerge themselves by grabing on to the creek rocks on the bottom of the stream and work their way along feeding on invertebrates on the creek bed. 

Their nesting sites are built out of mosses and are typically found under waterfalls, which make the nest very hard to find for predators and photographers. 

Next time you are in an area where these birds are found, sit still and and maybe you can  watch these fascinating birds work the waterways.