Back from San Jose

Well here I am, back from San Jose. I must confess, I didn't get all the shots I was hoping for, but I did learn alot. And since the whole purpose of this blog is to share my knowledge, let's get to it.

The first thing I learned is that it is extremely difficult mixing business with pleasure trips. My wife and I were meeting friends up there so we had no car and it wasn't really our itinerary. Our friends were extremely generous, and drove us around to the wineries and were even kind enough to take me to a place where I could shoot the Golden Gate bridge. The difficulty is that it's best to shoot early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is lower in the horizon. That way you get that beautiful golden light and no harsh shadows. When we were at the wineries it was usually around noon-time so the light was very harsh, and when we went to the Golden Gate it was a little too late so the images were much darker than I had hoped. I also took much longer than they all thought and were worried about me as they waited in the car and I was gone for nearly an hour. That wasn't really fair to them. I think in the future, I'll either take trips specifically to get shots, or I'll make plans to go out and take shots during certain blocks of time or on specific days. That way I can get where I need to be when I need to be there and not convenience everybody else. If you want to be serious about photography, make it a priority.

The second thing I learned is that it's really good to know your equipment by feel. When I finally got to where I wanted to be to get the Golden Gate shots, it was fairly dark. There were no lights at the beach/park, and I didn't have a flashlight on me. When I use my camera for shots like this, I always do the auto-feature that snaps 3 shots at 3 different exposures - one step below the "ideal" exposure as indicated by my built-in light meter, a shot at normal exposure, and a step above "ideal" exposure. To do this I have to go into the menu on my camera and set it up. I couldn't see the buttons at all on my camera, but from memory and by touch I was able to find the menu button and advance to the correct screen, which I could see on the LCD. As I said before, the shots didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped, but I was still able to attempt to get the shot under less-than-ideal circumstances. Know your equipment.

The third thing I learned is I still wasn't as well-prepared as I should have been. Before leaving on the trip, I had removed the ring from my 70-200mm lens that is used to attach the lens to a tripod because it weighs much more than the camera. This would have been an ideal lens to use for the Golden Gate shot, but in the dark with what little light there was quickly fading away, it was impossible for me to try to re-connect the ring to the lens and use it in time. Had I attached it earlier, I could have pulled the lens out and used it. Who knows? That might have got me a much better shot than what I took. Or I should just put a flashlight in my backpack so I can work in low-light situations (I think I'll buy a Microlight). Either way, preparation is critical.

In the end, the trip was wonderful. We did lots of wine tasting, had a lot of great food, and had a fantastic time with our friends. I did get some vineyard shots and pictures of wine barrels that may be usable for stock photography - I'll try submitting them and see what happens. But one thing is for sure - I will be better prepared for my next outing.