Posted
on March 9, 2010, 6:27 pm,
by Reid,
under Photography, Travel.
Well, I have tweeted this and also put it on Buzz, but yes, I have finally posted my Galapagos pictures.
One thing that I’ll add is that post-processing I think made a huge difference in the photos. I used a free beta of Adobe Lightroom 3 to process my photos, and I’m very pleased with the results. There’s a ton you can do with the program – besides normal changing contrast, saturation, and hues, you can also add a watermark (thanks Kolina!) and compare the photos to the original to see what affect your edits had. Case in point, the example below:
This photo was taken during sunset at the top of Bartholomew Island. The clouds were pretty grey and cast some shadows over the island; I played with a lot of the settings in Lightroom to bring more color to the sky. I do think the extra bit of work has paid off, but it does add a significant time investment to get a photo up. So much for point and shoot – time to emphasize quality over quantity!
Posted
on February 24, 2010, 11:39 pm,
by Reid,
under Travel.
A highlight of my trip to the Galapagos was getting a chance to snorkel. We went to several sites throughout the trip and just like seeing wildlife on land, the ocean was teeming with life. In several instances, we were lucky enough to see sharks, penguins, and sea turtles! I didn’t bring along an underwater camera, but got a chance to go on one dive with my Dad’s Canon Powershot D10. This waterproof camera not only takes pictures, but also video, allowing me to get a few shots of a sea turtle that swam by me. I used iMovie to make the super-cheesy cool intro! Watch it in 480p!
Posted
on February 23, 2010, 10:54 pm,
by Reid,
under Travel.
When we landed on Espanola in the morning, sea lions were basking in the sun on a white, sandy beach. They really had no fear or aversion to us, so we were able to get really close to them for some incredible pictures. Even in the Galapagos, fleas like to buzz around the sea lions, who spend a lot of time lazily swatting them away. You can see the trio pictured below covered with them:
Got through about 10 more photos tonight…just 300 more to go.
Posted
on February 18, 2010, 9:44 pm,
by Reid,
under Travel.
I’m slowly going through the thousands of photos I took at the Galapagos Islands, so instead of uploading all of them at once to Flickr and Picasa, I thought I would share some of my favorites as I continue to post-process. This is the first time I’ve invested time in significant post-processing – I’m using Adobe Lightroom 3 (beta!) and even learning all the features of the program is taking time. It’s definitely a departure from my spray and pray photo mentality (thanks to large memory cards), but I think the payoff from editing is paying off.
My first substantial photo I’ll share was taken on the island of Floreana, one of the southern-most islands of the Galapagos. Our group landed at sunrise on Punta Cormorant and saw a few sea turtles heading back to the ocean have a night of nesting on the beach. The short walk inland brought us to a brackish lagoon which is home to one of the largest populations of Galapagos flamingos in the archipelago. Many were nesting far from our viewing location, but as we moved to a spot next to the lagoon, one slowly walked by, dipping its head in the water to feed.
I really loved the vibrant colors of the flamingos. Their graceful movements in the water are hard to capture and they are constantly using their beak to preen their feathers.
