Photography and Time-lapse Essentials-a 'Quick Start Guide'

08/02/2026

Step back…zoom in…when taking group photos

This class photo was taken nearly 60 years ago but NOT with the best exposure. I am still friends today with several of the students.
The camera was too close to the group of students causing those in back to appear much smaller than those in the front row. The students in the back row were probably twice as far away causing their relatively smaller appearance.
If the camera had been moved back, and zoomed in, the photo would have been better. The entire class would have appeared nearly the same size.
Our eyes and brains do this naturally. Cameras do not.
It is the same with my group/Monkees photo from last year. My camera was several feet away and zoomed in.
The Monkees photographer must have used a similar technique.
Of course, during the late 1960’s there were no digital cameras with their LCD screens that enable instant review.
Keep this in mind when taking group shots, even with smart phones: step back, zoom in.

04/01/2026

Photo restoration using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop Elements…
Pictured are two close friends, Kevin (left) and Jon. We graduated in 1972 from Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. This photo is 50 years old. It was taken in downtown Phoenix.
Jon recently posted the original photo in memory of Kevin. We lost him in 1977.
Another friend requested that I restore the original.
Both Lightroom and Photoshop Elements were used. Both are from Adobe. You might be able to use Photoshop Elements by hunting and pecking around the menus.
Lightroom is Photoshop on steroids.
In my opinion, becoming proficient in Lightroom requires some formal training. I had mine from an excellent online school: Ed2Go.
The other photo is Jon as he is today.

03/11/2026

In a pickle…pickleball action shots

We tried taking some action shots of our recently acquired passion: pickleball.

Action shots of people in sports are best shot at a fast shutter speed of 1/800 second of faster to freeze the action. My Canon T6i was set to “Tv,” (time value mode). It shoots every image at that speed and automatically adjusts aperture (f/stop), and ISO.

It was set to Auto focus. These images had a relatively high ISO of 800 at f/5.6. The 18-55 zoom lens was zoomed at 55mm. The high ISO compensated for the fast shutter.

The camera was on a tripod directly in front of me. The shutter was set to continuous shooting and operated by a corded shutter release by my wife.

Portraits of people either posed or in action shots like these are challenging and rewarding.

Please contact me for help with your photography project.

02/24/2026

Cool!
My photography was used in a commercial advertisement for the band, ‘Ass Pocket Whiskey Fellas.’
They used two of my photos in a promotion.
I took these shots unsolicited during their concert at San Diego’s Balboa Park in August 2021.
They call themselves “Back Pocket” (not ASS Pocket) when performing in Balboa Park.
I sent my shots in an email to the band leader, Ethan van Thillo. He replied that they are some of the best photos he had ever seen, “Fantastic. Thank you and great photos!” he said.
The photos of the banjo player and accordion player are mine. The group shot is not.

I started in photography after retiring. Taking online courses and an intensive one-on-one course helped a lot (see images).

02/23/2026

Humm along with us…
Some hummingbird photography ideas for you.
On Feb. 21, 2026 we tried our Myler reflectors to reflect sunlight. Our feeders in this location at home receive almost no direct sunlight.
However, the best photos need bright light. Bright light enables fast shutter speeds to freeze the wings.
The gold reflector was the best. It was aimed by hand.
Here are the results:
A collage of five images.
1) Taken from our covered patio looking out. No reflector. Too dark.
2) Reflector shot. Taken from inside the patio looking out. You can see the reflector. It caused some glare because the photo was taken looking toward it.
3) Taken outside the patio in same direction as the reflector shines. Shutter speed 1/2500 second. The wing is frozen.
4) Shutter speed showed to 1/800 second. Too bright. Wing is frozen. For “action shots” (sports, etc.) a minimum shutter speed of 1/800 is best.
5) The best. Shutter speed of 1/4000 second.
A copy of Image #5 with the hummingbird made brighter for comparison is included here.

A total of 438 shots were taken. All processed in Lightroom. The camera is a Canon T6i in Manual mode. On a tripod. Shutter operated remotely in Continuous shooting mode via a wireless intervalometer.

A collage of the setup is shown: camera on tripod and the reflectors. The receiver of the intervalometer is seen mounted on the camera.

02/09/2026

Still looking…
More images of plane trails of airplanes on approach to SAN and star trails. The first image is a composite of 30 images taken February 7, 2026 near my home in Eastlake, California.
The second image is a composite of 28 images taken on February 4.
The goal is to capture the circumpolar star trails in the heavens above the planes. Both images show this. The celestial north pole is off both photos to the upper left.
Another goal is to include the celestial north pole in the photos. It would include the star Polaris, the North Star. The composite star trails would resemble complete circles.
However, from my location city lights make it nearly impossible to see Polaris. My camera, a Canon T6i, is aimed by dead reckoning, by guessing. Its lens is 75-300mm zoom at 75mm.
The second image was made using a light pollution (LiPO) filter. That might be the reason for the blue cast in the image.
The camera must be aimed higher and to the left to include Polaris. A wider lens will be used next time. We want to capture airplane trails that might be off the bottom of the images. The standard 18-55mm lens might work. My 10-18mm lens is even wider.
Some trial and error in the aperture (f/stop) and ISO settings might be needed. Exposure time of 2 to 3 minutes is pretty good. Longer exposure times from the sky glow of city lights become a problem.
Please stay tuned.

02/05/2026

Polar vortex…
No airplanes were harmed in this photography project.
Here are light trails from 28 passenger jets on approach to San Diego International Airport (SAN) on February 4, 2022. SAN is 20 miles to the northwest (see map).
The goal was to capture the circumpolar star trails as the planes passed over my location in the Eastlake neighborhood in Chula Vista, California. This is clearly seen.
Eastlake is directly below the flight path.
The celestial north pole lies off the photo to the upper left. The star trail circles get increasingly smaller in that direction.
This image is a composite of 28 separate images shot from 6:37 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The exposure times ranged from 15 seconds to 5 minutes.
The three images on the bottom of the photo are planes flying in from cities in California. The upper most exposure of those was cut off after 45 seconds.
The other trails are all from cities to our east. The Flight Aware app shows the details for every plane.
The challenge is finding the best exposure settings for my Canon T6i. Experimenting with aperture (f/stop) and ISO helps. We will add our light pollution filter to the lens next time.
The photos were first developed in Adobe Lightroom. The composite was done in Photoshop. Final tweaks and the logo were done in Photoshop Elements.
Please contact me for help with your photography project.

02/02/2026

'Moon Power'
This was our full moon last night,
and the daytime scene.

01/21/2026