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Don's Destination:
Sugar Beach, Negros Island, Philippines
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As I sit here in Colorado on a cold, blustery day with more snow in the forecast I can't help my thoughts as they flow with anticipation of going somewhere warm. We may do that this winter, we just aren't sure where we'll go quite yet. But I saw this image and was fondly reminded of Sugar Beach in the Philippines. While traveling through the Philippine archipelago a few years back, other travelers told us about this place and we had lots of time to get there and enjoy it. It isn't an easy place to get to and is only accessible by boat, so once there you feel isolated and cut off from the hub-bub of hectic daily life - in a good way. A very nice private bungalow with bath and intermittent electricity runs about $25/night. There is no town and no traffic and the only way to get around the area is by walking. But then there isn't anywhere to go either - Sugar Beach is the type of place you get to...and simply relax under the shade of a palm tree with a drink in your hand and your toes in the sand (those might make good lyrics to a song). So as we dream about the places we might go this winter the Philippines are in the running since we have many fond memories there and surely lots of new places to discover. I do recommend it for adventurous travelers who find themselves in the Philippines with time to spare.
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Don's Promotion:
Venice & the Dolomites, Italy Photo Tour
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May 29-June 7, 2020
The entire area of the Italian Dolomites is a UNESCO World Heritage site and rightly so. It is simply stunning! Venice just might be the world's most unique city. Come with me on this tour and experience both places - in-depth and unhurried. Have fun, learn photography, travel with a small group.
$4495/participant includes your lodging for 10 nights, plus ground transportation, some meals and much more.
Begins and ends in Venice, Italy.
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The Fog
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Don's Tip of the Month:
How to Photograph Fog
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There are some weather events which nature photographers love and generally fog is one of them. Here are some quick tips to make your foggy day images better:
- The most important thing about fog photos is the exposure. You don't want your fog to appear dull and dim. You want it bright and light.
- If exposing for the fog itself the proper exposure is +1 stop from the zero point (where your in-camera meter is zeroed out).
- A photo of just fog of course is nothing. You need other elements of some sort in the frame to make it interesting.
- I normally expose for those other elements (in this case, the foreground larch tree) and be sure they are properly exposed and that the fog is also nice and bright.
- The areas of bright fog in your shot won't have detail and your histogram might show overexposed, (blinkies) but this is correct - true bright fog doesn't have any detail. In the image above that area I am talking about is in the upper right corner of the frame.
- Fog has a great way of reducing the sharpness of distant objects and this is also a good thing and lends that needed mystery to your fog shots.
- If your camera is having trouble autofocusing due to lack of contrast, simply turn off autofocus and manually focus on your foreground object.
- Since the overall light is dimmer on a foggy day, use of a tripod will help get sharp photos since shutter speeds will be slow.
Photo here is of a larch forest at Lake O'Hara, Canada. Taken with a Canon 5D Mark IV camera and Tamron 28-300mm lens.
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Taveuni Island, Fiji
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Anya's Pick of the Month:
Kids on Taveuni, Fiji
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This image of mine, chosen by Anya for the month of November, 2019 shows a bunch of kids on the island of Taveuni, Fiji. About this image Anya says: "I think this is the funniest photo. We had been staying in a small village on Taveuni, Fiji for several days and Don had photographed these kids a lot. They'd swim or play soccer or whatever and Don would be nearby taking photos. One day some of them were waiting their turn for the rope swing and as soon as Don pointed the camera the one boy made that face. It makes me laugh every time I see it."
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