Break time
Taken near the Pacific Crest Trail near Palm Springs, CA.
Taken near the Pacific Crest Trail near Palm Springs, CA.
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Oct, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken up in the foothills of Whitewater, CA. about 15 miles from downtown Palm Springs, CA. This area is also where the Pacific Crest Hiking Trail comes through from Big Bear to the San Jacinto Mountains. The Pacific Crest Trail spans 2,650 miles (4,265 kilometers) from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington.Time
I was working my day job and happened to be in this area for the day. I drive around to many locations for my job and always carried my camera and tripod with me just in case anything interesting came up. This photo was taken on 4/19/2012 at 7:22 AM. All in all I would say I spent about 10 to 15 minutes to get a few shots of the area. I may have taken about ten shots total.Lighting
On this day it was full sunshine and was still early morning. The sun was low and behind me shining brightly on the windmills ahead of me. I knew I wanted this shot to be a long exposure and with the bright sun I knew that would be difficult. I used my tripod and an Infrared filter to slow my shutter speed. This would give the windmills the appearance of motion while the one not spinning shows that they are windmills.Equipment
I used my Canon T2I with the 18-55MM lens and a 720 Infrared Filter with a Proline carbon fiber tripod and a cabled shutter release button.Inspiration
I had this photo in my head for awhile and this was the first opportunity to try it. I really wanted the windmills to have that feeling of motion. I was at work and my partner was up in the hills and I was down near the freeway. We were on the phone with each other and all of the sudden I heard him yell! After a seemingly long few seconds he tells me that one of the turbine blades had broken off and landed 500 feet from where he was. So of course I drove up there and took pictures. So I basically had the idea in my head for this photo and then the opportunity presented itself to happen.Editing
I used Photoshop to tweak the levels of darker blacks and whiter whites to give the spinning blades a little more visibility.In my camera bag
I have my Canon T2I with a 18-55 and 55-250 lens. I have two cabled shutter release buttons one with a timer for Time lapse Photography. The lens filters I carry are UV, Neutral density, Polarizing, Magnifying along with two flash units and a sun shade. I carry a microfiber lens cleaner and a battery back up unit.Feedback
When trying to do long exposure in the direct sun of the day it is best to use filters to block some of the light to get a long exposure. Using a Infrared filter blocks out all other light but red and will allow you to adjust the shutter time. This photo was a 3 second shutter speed. Shooting digital for long exposure is great because you can play around with time. Put the camera in bulb mode and use a remote, cabled or wireless and try a shot with a few seconds holding down the button and then adjust for lighter or darker by the amount of time you hold down the button. I usually go about three to thirty seconds depending what I am shooting.
