Whales, Glaciers and More – 3 Day All Inclusive Kenai Fjords Photo Tour

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Imagine being anchored up for the evening in front of these amazing mountains and very active tide water glacier!  This is your view as you enjoy dinner and breakfast – tell me what restaurant can compete with this.  When we are not eating meals in front of this amazing view, we are running to shore to a place with wonder fields of wildflowers, in a place that often has numerous black bears.  And, this is just the first evening!

When we aren’t here, we are watching humpback or orca whales, checking out a huge puffin colony, or spending time photographing eagles, sea otters or at one of the numerous sea-lion haul outs.  I have timed this years tour around the peak of the wildflower bloom – the landscape possibilities are endless.  This is an awesome tour.

All this, for less then the cost of a typical 3 day tour into Kenai Fjords without a photography guide!  To learn more, check out our page here:  Kenai Fjords National Park photo tour.   I have room for two more folks.  I haven’t updated the page, but I need to add – the boat I am using now has two separate sleeping cabins, so a couple can now come along and have their own cabin.

Home Sweet Home – But Leaving Again?

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

An aerial of Seward, Alaska from last summer.

An aerial of Seward, Alaska from last summer.

Well it has been a very busy week – thus the lack of posting.  Cleaning, winterizing and towing our RV trailer back to our storage spot, and then the long day of travel back to Seward is a chore that is nice to have behind us.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the first day back in the office for unpacking etc. – and the day starts with an email from a very large TV production company we have been communicating with, giving me an opportunity to meet with them at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference in Las Vegas next week.  Truthfully, until yesterday, I knew very little about this conference, but the more I read, the more we felt this would be a valuable conference to attend – heck, there is even a master class in 3D filmmaking!

So we used miles and book flights and rooms and now before I had even unpacked, planned to leave again on Sunday!  I’m going to be traveling light and won’t even have my laptop, so unless I do a blog or two before I go, it may be a week or so before I post again.  See ya on the back side!

GoPro 3D Camera

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Joshua trees, Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Joshua trees, Joshua Tree National Park, California.

This was a still captured from a 3D time-lapse taken last Saturday night.  The sky ended up lighting up pretty nice – I take clouds for granted in Seward, but down here in the desert, they are a real treat!

I have been anxiously waiting the release of the 3D camera from  GoPro® HD Cameras.   It has been rumored for over a year.  In hindsight, I’m glad it wasn’t available because it forced me to create my own work-flow, one without the distorted horizons the GoPro’s have and better suited for the landscape and travel footage I like to shoot.  That isn’t to say these things won’t be really cool!  I will certainly be ordering a pair and will give further feedback.

It is interesting, but much like HD when it first came out, without content, there isn’t demand – kind of a chicken or egg kind of thing.  This isn’t lost on 3D TV manufacturers like Sony, which is one reason they are helping to subsidize new 3D channels like ESPN 3D and Discovery 3D.  I think the GoPro should be talking to Sony because user generated content by affluent young people might just be as valuable at these other channels.  I mean, it has to be really cool to see yourself surfing or skiing on a large HD 3D TV.  At least 3D TV’s don’t have the expense hurdle early HD TV’s had to overcome – a comparable 3D TV isn’t much more expensive then a similar sized flat panel HD TV.

There are a lot of things to like about the 3D GoPro® HD Cameras.  It can be mounted just about anywhere.   It can be used underwater or above in all kinds of conditions. But one of the great things is just how close together the two lenses are – this should allow the filming of subjects 5 feet away or even less.  The GoPro website confirms this – I look forward to having an option for these new working distances.

Along with the two cameras, the 3D GoPro® HD Cameras also comes with a free version of 3D software from Cineform.  I have been using 3D software from Cineform for about a year now, it is some wonderful software.  But, the program I have cost about $3,000 – nothing close to free!  As you might guess, the free version is a watered down version that only works on GoPro files, but still, that is a great feature.

I might note, GoPro announced the purchase of Cineform just last week – I have a feeling the delay in the release of this product had to do with working out the details on this deal – without the software, these cameras wouldn’t be usable.

There are still plenty of challenges with 3D that this camera won’t solve.  For one, it takes a heck of a computer to process two HD video streams at the same time, even when using the Cineform format.  And, although these cameras will be great for close up subjects, anything very far away won’t have much 3D effect, and there isn’t any way to adjust the stereo base.  There certainly is a lot more to good 3D then just two side by side cameras, but I have a feeling these things will work great in a lot of situations, especially the kinds of situations the typical GoPro user is filming in.   I look forward to trying them out!

Salt River

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

Salt-River, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Salt-River, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

The Salt River is a popular tubing location during the summer.  Looks fun!  And, I bet much warmer then the Gulkana River in Alaska – a place my friends and I would go tubing on warm summers.

One of the drawbacks with shooting a lot of 3D video on this trip is that I haven’t had as many still photos as I normally would for my blog.   So recently, I have made more of an effort to grab more stills while out shooting 3D – this is one.  For 3D, I like to find scenes like this with many layers to it.  Unfortunately, I won’t know what really if it “works” until I get home – I’m looking forward to processing the video from this trip.

Cosmo Las Vegas

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 19 Comments

View from a room balcony from the Cosmopolitian, Las Vegas.

View from a room balcony from the Cosmopolitian, Las Vegas.

Well we have taken a quick two night trip up to Las Vegas not only to photograph what is not only the most recent hotel and casino, but probably the last new hotel on the Strip for many years to come – The Cosmopolitan.  I not only wanted photos of the Cosmopolitan, but also wanted to take advantage of their amazing balcony views!

We are in one of the smallest rooms – it is still over half the size of our home!  Maybe that is more of a reflection of our home, but the place is nice.  We are here during one of the less expensive times – not only to save a bit of money, but to avoid the crowds.  Even at that, this place is still really hopping – seems to be the place to hang out these days.  Can’t imagine what the weekends are like.  I do know at times this room almost costs as much as our monthly house payment!

So, we are really here for the view and I’m doing everything I can to take advantage.  I have been shooting 3D and regular video and time-lapses, plus a wide range of stills including panoramics and HDR.  I worked late in to the night last night so that tonight after sunset we might be able to enjoy the property a bit.

Arizona Wildflower Update – 2011

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

What may not show well in this small photo is the nice field of yellow ground wildflowers.

This is definitely been a very poor year for wildflowers, but a stretch of warm weather followed by some a pretty heavy rain last Monday has seemed to produce a mini bloom of wildflowers.

In the two placers I have been spending time, Tonto National Forest, and McDowell Regional Park, I’m beginning to see a few poppies, lupine and brittlebush in bloom.  It isn’t the dramtic colorful hills and fields of wildflowers I have seen in past springs in this area, but at least it is a little something, something.  And, I would think it could get a bit better over the next week or so.

I’ll be making my way to the west side of the state in a few days, it will be interesting to see how that area is doing after the recent rains – I’ll follow up with a report if I find anything worth reporting on!

Saguaro Forest

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Saguaro cactus, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Saguaro cactus, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

With clouds in the sky, and a gap above the horizon to the East – I though sunrise this morning could be epic!  But, it was nothing.  So, I used the nice light to play with these guys instead.