New Year Sunrise Shoot!

January 10, 2025 • Leave a Comment

Hey Everyone! Hope you're having a great week! This week I want to tell you about a photography trip that I took on New Year's eve. This is an annual trip that my photography wingman Robert and I take every year to capture the first light of the new year. Places we have gone are Carolina Beach NC, Mt. Mitchell, Charlotte, Cape Hatteras and this year it was Kill Devil Hills NC. Last year we added a member to the crew Mike and this year we added one more Caitlin. So we had 4 photogs on this trip. We are all in the same photography club and go on outings with each other often. So let me tell you about our trip.

First we left early on New Year's Eve to head to the coast. First stop was Alligator Wildlife Preserve. Mike is the wildlife expert in our group and comes here often and knows where some of the animals tend to stay. We arrived about 9 o'clock and rode around on dirt roads looking for any type of wildlife. We really wanted to see a bear this day. We saw lots of birds from
Tundra Swans, Hawks, Buzzards and lots of other birds. But no mammals and certainly not any bears although there were signs that they were around. If you know what I mean. LOL We stopped and had a picnic lunch provided by Robert. There were roast beef sandwiches with homemade bread. He likes to take credit but we all know that his wife did most of the work. It was a fantastic lunch which filled us up. The next stop was to scout Kill Devil Hills and Jockey's Ridge State Park.

Scouting Jockey's Ridge, If you don't already know. Jockey's Ridge is a very large Sand Dune Array with lots of sand and a very big Dune. I would guess maybe 3 or 4 Stories high. They actually hang glide off of the dune. Mostly in the summer. The dunes are always shifting and changing and we wanted to see where we would set up for a potential night shot and for the sunrise shot that we came for. We had got permission to be on the Dunes from the State Park (Jockey's Ridge State Park) after and before operating hours of the park. We wanted to get our bearings before trying to find something in the dark in the sand and with the least amount of hiking in the sand which is hard. We found our spot for the sunrise shot but decided to go to Bodie Island Lighthouse for the nighttime shot instead of the dunes.

Sunset Shot. Robert and myself had done a little research and found a spot to do a sunset shot in Manteo NC and eat at a restaurant that we had gone to before for Supper. Prior to going to Manteo we went to our overnight rental and took a few hours off to rest before the nighttime activities started and we had gotten up real early . After our rest we headed off to Manteo which was only a few minutes drive away. What we had forgot in our planning is that it was New Year's Eve and the town of Manteo had some plans of their own.
All of downtown was blocked off for the nights activities so we had to park a lot further away than we expected and it took a little longer to get to our spot. The long shadows of the end of the day had started across our scene so the shot we had planned didn't go as planned. But there were lots of other shots to get. So we did those on the way back to our truck. We did have a great dinner at the restaurant that we had picked out. Then we headed to Bodie Island Lighthouse for our nighttime shot.

Bodie Island . Robert has recently got a Star Tracker to shoot the night sky with. This is a device that moves the camera at the same speed as the earths rotation so you can take longer shutter speed shots . This lets you lower your ISO and bring in more light and keeps the stars pinpoint sharp. The wind was starting to pick up speed as the night went along and it was just a little windy when we shot there. Robert went through all of the motions of showing us how to align the star tracker and taking shots with the machine. I went with my normal set up that I usually use here. Tripod, ISO 1000, Shutter at 20 sec and f/2.0 aperture . This combo seems to work well with my camera/lens combo and I got some really good shots. It got colder and started to mist. Almost a heavy dew that got on everything and made some interesting shots. After the nighttime shots we decided to head to the rental and get some sleep before we had to get up for a early morning shoot at Kill Devil Hills.

New Year Sunrise. We got up and headed to Kill Devil Hills. It was very windy maybe 25-30mph wind with gust even higher. It was 50 degrees with a wind chill of 38. We got to our starting point a little early so we waited in the truck until it was time to hit the dunes. I put on my insulated coveralls to stay warm. I grabbed my tripod camera/lens combo and headed up the dunes. The higher we got the winder it got. The wind was picking up the sand and blowing it across the dunes. Sand got everywhere to our equipment to our ears and eyes. We worked many compositions but I think I got what I wanted out of the shoot. After maybe an hour on the dunes it was time for breakfast! We stopped at a place that Robert and myself had gone to in the past and it hit the spot! We then started our way home. We stopped at Alligator River on the way home and saw less wildlife than we had seen the day before. I did see a couple of otters playing in the water but only got one shot of them.

This was a great trip and love going with my photog friends. Fun was had by all and lots and lots of laughs were had. Can't wait until next year I wonder where it will be. Until Next Week Get Out and Shoot!

Photography New Years Resolutions

January 03, 2025 • 1 Comment

Hey Ya'll! How's it going this week? Me? Great! Thanks for asking. Well it's 2025 and a new year is upon us and it's time for resolutions right? Don't know if I've formally done this before, I know I've stated upcoming projects and the such but not really resolutions . So this year I'm going to make a couple and one big one! As you know I have been dabbling with photography for many years and decades. (since the mid 1970's) This will be the first photography related resolution that I make and I'll try not to break them. So let's get on with the resolutions.

Finish Projects. My first resolution is to finish projects that I have set for myself. Mainly my Small Towns Project that I started last year and didn't finish. I also want to complete my Medium Format Film project. I discuss this project in a future blog so I won't go into detail with it. I also have my continuing Posting 365 day project where I post to Instagram each day. I'll leave a link below for you to follow my progress if you want. Dedication and planning will be the key to finishing these projects and with doing so I hope to become a better and more rounded photographer.

NO NEW GEAR! Yes I said it. No new camera gear for 2025! This will be very hard to keep as I am a gear hound with lots of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I have great gear and really don't need anymore, although I do have a lens I've had an eye on! LOL But I'm going to resist because I cover the focal length with lenses I already have. This past year I purchased a lot of gear from lenses to film cameras. Yes that was plural quite a few film cameras. Although they weren't as expensive as one digital camera there was quite a few. So many I'm having trouble picking which one I want to use every day. Hopefully my medium format project will keep me in focus with one film
camera. Maybe? Now it doesn't mean I won't buy stuff that is camera related. Like film or accessories for cameras but no more bodies or lenses. Of course if I come upon a killer , can't pass it up, once in a lifetime deal I will jump. But they hardly ever show up. The money that I spent on camera's and lenses I'll try to spend on trips and adventures instead. Still photography related but not gear. Yes this will be hard for me to control myself. I order so much stuff my wife periodically ask me what I have ordered. LOL She asked me the other day and I didn't have anything ordered . A first! LOL

Fine Art Black and White film Photography. This year I want to work hard on making really great Black and White film photographs. From the metering to the final scan into my computer. I want to perfect the process. I shoot color and process color film too but I do that pretty well but the timeless look of Black and White and shapes and tones that the medium shows I think is stunning. So you will start to see much more Monochrome photo's from me in the future. We have a guy in our club who is new to photography but his Black and Whites are stunning and I wan't to do the same with film as he does with digital. I also want to become proficient in the Zone System of metering which was created by Ansel Adams. I've already started studying and trying to learn the system. Maybe there will be a blog on this but I must get much better and proficient than I am now before I can talk about it.

Well those are my New Years Photography Resolutions. What's yours? Have you started a Photography Project for the new year? I think they are great and a lot easier than trying to loose weight or to stop smoking. Let me know what kind of photography resolutions you come up with. Until next week Get Out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 post there. Here is the link

Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

365 Day Projects!

December 27, 2024 • Leave a Comment

Hey Y'all ! Hope you're having a great day and week! Today is Christmas and the big event of opening presents and family doesn't start until tonight. There is only one blog left for this year as there is only one Friday left. So what a better time to talk about 365 day projects. There are many types of 365 day projects and today I'll go over 3. Now to accomplish these projects you don't need any fancy gear no new camera or film or even a camera at all maybe just your cell phone. But a camera would be easiest. What you produce doesn't have to be winner shots because who can make a winner shot every day? But they should be well thought out and planned to make a successful project. The three projects are Posting Once A Day, Photo Once A Day and Print Once A Day. I have tried and failed at each of these but one I have been successful for at least a few years. So why would you do a project like this? It keeps you shooting! You've heard practice makes perfect and you must put in 10000 hours of work in something to be proficient at it. Well that's why you take on a project like this. It makes you Shoot , Think and Plan about photography. Let's talk about all three of them. flickr flickr

Post a Photo a Day, This is the one I have been doing for quite a few years. I post once a day to Instagram. Instagram is a social media site that used to be only photography but has become a lot of video but that's where I post. It could be to Flicker, 500px or even Facebook. If you would like to see the kinds of photo's I post I'll leave a link at the bottom of this blog. To me posting once a day is easier than the other two types of 365 projects. I have tried both and failed miserably. But it is the most visible and acceptable. If you take a photo once a day but no one see it there is less pressure to produce and for me it was easier to fail. To print a photo each day means you have to have lots of photo's on hand to choose from so not only are you taking photo's but you are printing them also and like before no one see's them but you.

Take a Photo a Day, This is a very challenging project. You must have some sort of camera with you all the time and believe me it's a struggle to find something interesting to shoot every day. And with our busy lives just finding the time is a problem. I think that you should have a detailed plan on what to shoot every day maybe a list of 365 things to look for to shoot every day so your eye is always searching for something new. As I have said before I have tried and failed this project a few times. But I think that this would be a fulfilling project and something to talk about. I completed a 365 shoot a day project. Not many can say that. It's like hiking the Appalachian Trail. Many have tried but only a few have done it.

Printing a Photo a Day, To me this may be the hardest to complete. First of all it takes a monetary commitment. Ink and paper aren't cheap. And what happens if your pinter dies? And you still have to take the photo's to supply. But the rewards would be great! 365 prints a year. And if they were 8x10 think of the memories and heirlooms that you could pass on. And you would become a master printer in the process! I can defiantly see the benefits of this Photographers Eye project.

For me the post project is the easiest. I usually shoot maybe once a week or so and that shoot say a photowalk supplies me with photo's . I call it feeding Gram. LOL I have to have enough to keep posting something new. The shoot once a day is very hard and it could be combined with posting which would make it even harder. The print one is the hardest I think because not only do you have to feed that printer but printing is a skill I really don't have and then there is the ink and paper that you would have to provide which sometimes cost more than the printer. But there you have it three 365 projects that you can do next year. Until next week Get out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 post there. Here is the link

Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

The Most Expensive Part of Photography.

December 13, 2024 • Leave a Comment

Hey Ya'll! Hope you're having a great day! It's the holiday season and folks will be buying photography gear for Christmas. I've already had a couple of people ask me for recommendations for loved ones. This week I want to talk about the most expensive item in Photography. It doesn't matter what brand you used whether it be Sony, Canon, or Nikon or any other brand. And it's not an item per se but an element in the exposure triangle. Its Aperture ! Let me explain a little. Aperture is the opening in your lens. The f/stop that people are always talking about. The largest size aperture will determine the total cost of a lens to a certain point. It can make the price of lenses double. If you've bought many lenses you know that they are expensive enough. I have written about Lenses in the past like which is better prime or zooms and other topics. But I was watching a YouTube video and it was the basics of photography and this guy said that Aperture was the most expensive part in photography. And I started thinking about it and it is. I have never thought about it before but it really is. For almost any type of photography the Aperture (especially in zoom lenses) is the most important part of the equation . I've always said invest in good glass not camera bodies. Good glass is expensive but it will last much longer than the body will. New technology will make the fancy new stuff on your shiny camera body not so new after a couple of years but a good lens can last decades. Good Zoom lenses aren't cheep but one with a low aperture can almost cost as much as that fancy new camera body does. For example in Amazon a Sony 20-70 f/4 G lens cost 998 dollars today. A 24-70 f/2.8 GM cost 2299 dollars today. By comparison a Sony A7IV which most Sony professional portrait and wedding photographers use at 33 megapixels cost 2098 dollars. Now it's not the biggest and baddest Sony body but you can see that a a low aperture zoom lens cost money. And most folks want a zoom lens.

So what does all of this mean? Well what it really means is to decide what kind of photography do you shoot? Do you really need that low aperture lens? If you are a professional portrait photographer and need the separation or bokeh or a wedding photographer maybe you need that fast lens. And if you're a professional go ahead and buy it you can claim it on your taxes as a business expense. But most of us are not professional and don't have the easy access to cash. Take me for example I am a hobbyist and take photo's for fun I'm retired and on a fixed income so money is tight. Do I really need the wide open apertures when I shoot most of my stuff? My main lens is the one mentioned above the Sony 20-70 f/4 lens and I bought it used from MPB used to save even more money. I don't shoot portraits where I need things to really blur out in the background. If I do I don't use a zoom lens like mentioned before. I use a prime lens which is less expensive and I can get wider apertures like f/1.8. Let me share a shoot I just did. It was the Christmas parade. In our town it starts at 4pm which means about mid-way through it will get darker and on the f/4 lens my ISO's will rise dramatically . So when it started to get dark I put on a 50mm f/2.5 lens and got great results. So if you want to shoot with wide apertures Primes are the way to go. You can get them at f/1.8 reasonably cheap and that is plenty of aperture for blurry backgrounds. They do make f/1.4 and smaller but you get back to the expensive range again. So if your a landscape or really any type of photographer that's not a portrait or wedding photographer I would go with lenses with say a constant f/4 for the maximum aperture . It's a middle of the road aperture lens. Not the cheapest kit lens with variable apertures. Most modern lenses use software to correct lens flaws that more expensive lenses correct optically making them more expensive. The middle of the road works great for me and how I shoot and I don't want for the biggest and baddest new lens that just came out. If I need separation or the blurred out bokeh I grab one of my primes. In the big picture it's a lot cheaper and I get as good or better results.

Well that's enough for today until next week grab the gear you own and Get out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 post there. Here is the link

Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

Photography Year End Review

November 29, 2024 • Leave a Comment

Hey Ya'll! We are in the last month of the year and I think it's a time to remember the last year and the photography highlights. Seeing what we have done and planning what we will do is an annual process for me. I think that planning is important part of having a successful year. I try to plan trips and projects as much as I can but looking back is a process that we should do also. This blog is about looking back at the great year that I have had.

Projects: I had a few projects this past year. This blog is one of my photography projects. It's a way I can express myself and give my opinions about stuff Photography and otherwise related subjects. It's quite an undertaking coming up with topics, trying to make it interesting and Photo's to go with the text. This is at least the third year of weekly blogs. I feel obligated to put one out each and every week. My next project was the Small Town project. This is where I would pick a small town and spend a day taking photo's and documenting the town. I had about 25 small towns picked out in eastern North Carolina. I got to about 2/3rds of them but not quite all. So I didn't finish this project. But it really gave me a weekly thing to do. I would travel each week to a different town after doing a little research and photograph the town. Sometimes my wife would accompany me and we would make a day of it. But for some reason I didn't quite finish this project and will begin again next year to finish and when I Virginia Shed finish I will make a personal book on it. So that will go on the next years goals to finish. Maybe my biggest project was the film project. In this project I took vintage cameras shot film and processed it at home and bring into Lightroom and process like digital photos. I absolutely loved this project and it took me back to my roots of photography. It started out slowly but became a main part of my photography for the year. I bought inexpensive film cameras cleaned them up and ran some film through them. I even bought a Medium Format Camera. I got better at the processing and the photography and by the end of the year I was getting good results. I did make a book of the photo's. I made it like the old fashioned books with printed photo's Charleston West Virginia attached to the album with the little sticky corners to hold the photo's in place. This was a great success and I carry a film camera everywhere I have my digital. The last project is like every year making a book out of photo's that I think were winners. I have completed this book and it will be mostly an heirloom passed down through generations I hope. To me it's a way to preserve my photography by printing a book.

Trips: I was very lucky this year and was able to go on a few trips . Me and my photography wingman Robert went on a few trips . First there was our annual New Years trip to Cape Hatteras that Mike joined us to bring in the new year. We also did a couple of other trips one to a local farm to shoot a cabin , one to a friends house to shoot some of his live stock. We went to Virginia a couple of times once to shoot the milky way and another to shoot race cars at the Virginia International Raceway . We did some back country roads trips also . Our longest trip wast to Indiana for a Bicycle road race that he was going to ride in. We made a road trip out of it and hit 8 states in 5 days. We make a great photography Duo and hope to take many more trips in the future. My photography club also had two trips this year not to count the monthly workshops which sometimes included day trips. Our first trip was to the low country of Georgia and South Carolina hitting Savannah and many spot northward. It was a fantastic trip with a great group of folks. The other trip was the Fall Colors Trip to West Virginia. We were in the New River Gorge National Park area and had wonderful colors and as always a great group of people to photograph and share the experience with.

Over all I had a great year and am looking forward to the next . I have already started planning for next year and hope to have a busy photography year next year. How was your year? Let me know. Until Next week Get out and shoot!

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New Year Sunrise Shoot!

Photography New Years Resolutions

365 Day Projects!

The Most Expensive Part of Photography.

Photography Year End Review