Yosemite National Park Experience

Ansel Adams relied on his trusty pack mule to venture into the Yosemite wilderness with heavy camera gear to capture epic vistas and breathtaking landscapes. I traveled with my family and reliable Peg Perego baby stroller through paved mountain passes to El Capitan and Tunnel View parking lots photographing tourist laden panoramas. I call this family wilderness photography with a wife and three kids.
 

The National Park Service warned us about a Hantavirus outbreak but never adorable and hungry baby cubs luring wary onlookers for constant attention and cherry lollipops. Through the looking glass of our minivan rental, we saw Mule Deer, a coyote, annoying squirrels and Stellar Jays a plenty!

 

With so much grand views of the Sierra Nevada, a bad photograph is hard to come by with this much eye candy. No 4x5 view cameras and plate glass emulsion in my bag during this adventure, but my full frame Canon EOS 5D Mark III ready for landscape detail. A good wide angle with minimal distortion is great for vistas but a zoom lens is even better for compressing forest mountain tops. Fill the frame!

 

Our Yosemite National Park visit was brief but memorable. The trip to San Francisco led the family straight to Jollibee and other "City by the Bay" landmarks. My son had his eyes on landmarks like souvenir gift shops and Jollibee Chickenjoy!

 

My fashion diva oldest daughter willingly posed a many in the picturesque Japanese Tea Garden by the Academy of Science Museum. The middle school fashionista dominated the city and wilderness with ease.

 

Too much family pictures and not enough nap time, make adorable baby cubs angry and short tempered. A bit of family picture advice for the novice, take baby and toddler photographs fresh from a nap and arm your self with loads of patience!

 

A 1080p video shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III at 29.97fps. Edited with Final Cut Pro 6.0.6 and used Compressor to get a 1.2gb h264 video file at best quality. I used the Canon E-1 Movie Plugin to automatically transcode to AppleProRes422. The Canon EOS 5D Mark III was paired with the Canon EF 17-40 f/4L, Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses. For audio, I used a Sennheiser MKE400 shotgun microphone. For stability, I used a Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head with Benro 3580 tripod legs.

 

The Golden Gate bridging gaps with one clam chowder filled sourdough bowl at a time. Considered a civil engineering wonder of the world, the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset strikes an ominous pause through my "L" glass. A sturdy tripod is a must on top of this windy overlook for the extra sharp details.



My four wonders of the world posing in hot pink, camouflage and Kirkland Signature Khaki in front of another grand wonder, Half Dome at Glacier Point.



You can view more in my Yosemite National Park and San Francisco 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III paired with the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses.
 

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Happy 7th Birthday Jude !

Where have the years gone by? My son turns seven years old this May and in reality it feels like twelve. The shyness and self doubt of a toddler are replaced with a sociable and confident grown boy. The "real" questions of life are asked of unsuspecting parents while my son tackles monstrous and complicated thousand piece LEGO building sets in record time. Time flies when you have three kids, so make sure to cherish the moment.



The seventh birthday celebration begins with a long weekend trip to Orlando, Florida with non stop aquatic fun. The family spent more time poolside than inside our Hilton Orlando Resort Hotel room. Who could blame us? Slide, lazy river, shallow pool, warm weather and never ending patio dining makes a happy family.



We come in peace. The people of earth have nothing to fear from the little green visitors to Hollywood Drive In Golf at Universal City Walk. My children bring the latest Apple mobile devices and the ultimate armageddon deterrents, dirty diapers and projectile vomiting. Even aliens from the far end of the galaxy fear the true weapons of mass destruction.



A double milestone celebration occurred this past weekend. The day my son turned seven is the day my youngest baby daughter took her first real steps to walking. I captured the spontaneous bouts of walking with my Canon 5D Mark III. Call it the "Cinema Verite" of baby steps.



First it was two steps, then five steps and then she kept on going and going. The family bear witness the evolution from crawling infant to walking toddler poolside. The family can now add one more walking menace to the group.



Little green men ran out of green body paint. The Blue Man Group performance at the Aquos theater in Universal CityWalk gave an outer body multimedia experience.



The creative Blue Man fusion of very loud music, bright technical displays and slapstick comedy honestly gave me a headache for a late Friday night. As for the short attention spans of my kids, the vibrant Blue Man Group celebration of art, technology and music illustrated with enormous "Gi-Pads" made it worthwhile.



The baby days are over. We welcomed you seven years ago into a world of LEGO's, Apple mobile devices, Call of Duty: MW3 and complicated adults. You are a true blessing made simple to this family.



Happy 7th Birthday, Jude! You are growing faster than I can snap pictures, process the RAW files, transcode to AppleProRes 422 and render my Final Cut Pro timeline with my 2006 MacBook Pro. No worries, there will always be more Carvel Ice Cream Cake with chocolate crunchies to celebrate future milestones.



You can view more milestones in my Happy 7th Birthday Jude 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon 5D Mark III paired with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS, EF 70-200mm f/4L IS and EF 35mm f/1.4L lenses.



Even large scary alien robots fear soiled diapers. Be courageous and Become a Fan on my Facebook Fan Page and follow me on Twitter!

Happy 9th Birthday Madeline !

9 years old and counting. Father time is ticking until your Confirmation, then your Driver's Permit and then your High School Graduation. On top of all the family events in between milestones. The petabytes of future photos and videos are staggering to imagine. Hopefully by then, they will have a 1 gigabyte Apple iPad 10 available at a premium price. Of course, replaced with a better upgrade 6 months later.



From newborn photos shot with the 35mm film Canon EOS 3 camera 9 years ago, SLR technology has changed dramatically with the times. Hauling separate still and video cameras in the past are now replaced with hybrid HD DSLR's that can achieve both with stunning Full HD quality. My daughter can only look forward to smaller, faster, better and cheaper imaging technology in the near future. Anyone interested in a mint 35mm film camera with battery booster?



A summer birthday welcomes a celebration with extended family at a local swimming hole. Local meaning Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida. Luckily, a housekeeping fiasco kept each room a long and comfortable distance from each other. Thank you very much kind random acts of fate!



From Holy Water to swimming pool water, my newly Baptized baby daughter has grown accustomed to her sea legs. Just like her big sister, newborn Serena loves Hello Kitty!



Call of Duty Black Ops has trained my son well in the art of water warfare. The NERF Super Soaker is like an extension of his arm unleashing aquatic surgical strikes against older annoying sisters on their birthday including innocent bystanders.



You can view more in my Happy 9th Birthday Madeline Gallery shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV paired with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II lenses.



This is a 1080p video shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV paired with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II lenses. Edited with Final Cut Pro 6.0.6 and used Compressor to get a 422mb H264 video file at best quality. I used the Canon E-1 Movie plugin to transcode the h264 movie clips to AppleProRes422. For audio, I used the budget priced AZDEN ECZ-990 Supercardioid Shotgun Microphone.

Stay updated with the latest HD DSLR gear by becoming a Fan on my Facebook Fan Page and following me on Twitter.

Canon EOS Discovery Day

I am calling all aspiring and advanced photographers in the Tampa Bay area to attend the Canon EOS Discovery Day seminars on Saturday, May 22nd 2010. Yes, this is an obvious plug for my most favorite camera store, North Tampa Photography. I carry no shame when it comes to taking pictures. I bring that shame to even a higher level when photography knowledge is willingly shared with other passionate photographers.



Meet Scott Alexander and Drew MacCallum. They are the featured Canon instructors for the day at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Tampa, FL. Scott and Drew are chock full of helpful advice and instruction for any level.



North Tampa Photography is expecting a large turnout of budding photographers who share the same desire for great images. More people the better, as I would say! Making contacts and networking with other photographers creates a more festive atmosphere.



Go ahead and bring your gear to the seminar. You will learn photo basics in a conventional class setting and a "hands on" approach with your own camera.



Camera snobs are not welcome to this event. Even image professionals in the industry go to some type of continuing education later in their careers. So advanced photographers with some experience under their belts should not be shy to the intermediate seminars.



Interested? Go and sign up on the North Tampa Photography EOS Discovery site or the North Tampa Photography Facebook page.



I will see you there with Canon camera in hand. I will be the one shooting HD DSLR video for my next PhotoBlog post. You should also check out the HD DSLR Videos I will be playing ,like the one above, during the whole day of the seminar in the lobby. It may inspire you to shoot some HD video yourself. Watch out Vincent LaForet and Phillip Bloom!