Cathedral Range- Trip Report

“I'm back early and have photos for you. Missed my kids and punched out.

Thinking of heading out again in a day or so. Maybe Rae Lakes loop or something.

Anyway, enjoy the journal entry.

Journey of Body and Soul”

“Another great report! Too bad you left early, but I can understand why. How's the feet?”

“Beautiful pictures! Yosemite was on fire when we went thru, couldn't even see Half Dome at the time. Your feet! It hurts to look at that picture! Hope they heal soon.”

“Very nice stuff, Tekapo, and so spiritual. Really captures the essence of "getting away from it all" in the wilderness.

That said, some suggestions on various things. (I'm a photographer who participates in a board where we critique each other.) I realize you're not asking for a photo critique or other suggestions, but...

1. Please let us know how many slides are in the presentation. I started going through it this a.m. and then realized it was going to take a lot longer time than I had alloted to properly go through it. (Then, intead of feeling refreshed with the great photos and thought-provoking copy, I am left thinking, sheesh, when does this end, I have to go to work!)

2. If possible, let a person pick it up at some point other than beginning or end? I realize this might be hard to do, but just an idea.

3. What are you shooting with, camera and film? Are you using a filter? I see you have vignetting on some corners. I would think it's from a filter, but it appears no gradiated filter has been used, at least. (it would help fill in those very light skies.. hey, but who am I to talk? I get ripped on boards cuz I don't use one either. lol)

4. While it's cool to see hikers from behind... really feeling like you're out there hiking... how about getting ahead of them once in awhile, to get the shot of their faces looking around... the amazement.

OK, that's it. I love your work, but just have these suggestions. And depending on how "pro" a photographer you are, you may or may not care about the photo suggestions.

P.S. I post stuff to www.usefilm. com, where it often gets shredded. lol

My "portfolio" there has a link listed below. I'm no big pro, but like to **know** what I should do, even if I'm not doing it. lol I have a few landscapes if you look through. The site is fairly decent. I get in streaks where I post a lot, and then again, I don't.

photos by lizs”

“Ah yes, the feet. Pretty hideous huh? The stress fracture (?) is of the most concern since the only remedy is to get off your feet.

The blisters are fine as they're managable. A couple built up on top of caluses anyway. Thought I was past the blisters though.

Foot care is quite important.”

“Jeez, your pics never cease to amaze me Tekapo. They're so good, I sometimes don't feel the urge to head out west..... feel like I've already been there.

Thanks for sharing the talent & look forward to next trip report.”

“lizs, those are some thoughtful points. In fact, from spending time with your photography, I'm flattered. Think I might hang out over there for a bit. Probably will learn a thing or three.

There should be a way to set up an index so that people can easily get to a section of a journal entry at will. That's actually a better idea given these can get rather long and more journal entries are accumulating.

The slide film I usually use is Fuji Sensia 100 or 200. So far I haven't been able to keep Velvia protected enough for extended trips. I'd prefer it, or regular film (Superia 200) for day hikes. Haven't tried AGFA, but I've heard good things about it. Haven't really given Kodak a fair chance yet.

Not sure what the vignetting is about. Your probably right about it being filter related. I'm using a UV filter and a circular polarizer (works great for lakes). I've been looking for a neutral density filter.

I've bookmarked you site. There's considerable variety there and your experimentation comes through in your photos.”

“Dude take care of those feet!!!
I loved the Island Pass area when we went through there last year.
So Sylvester is still following you ...eh?
My favorite pic was "A colorful view of Shadow Lake" Wow that was awesome....Thanks for sharing!”

“BTW, here's the main rig:



Still much to learn about it.”

“tekapo: very nice job with the pics and especially "the journey". It must take a lot of time to put this together.”

“Yummy camera! lol

Vignetting (hope I'm spelling it right) is when you get dark spots in the corners of the shots. Some had it. I think happens sometimes on wide angle lenses, cuz they take in such a wide view, they capture the edges of the filter in the corners.

A gradiant or graduated filter is darker at the top and not colored at the bottom (and the change is made in smooth steps), so it would darken up and give detail to an otherwise very light sky. Hmmmmmm, maybe the circular polarizer is doing it, but I can't explain why.

Your film sounds like what most people would choose. I like Velvia too, but yeah, you have to keep it semi cool. (That said, I've had Velvia in some hot desert SW conditions at times. It's been OK, luckily.)

yeah, take a good look around that website: www.usefilm.com

Lately a guy named Kenneth Kwan has been posting landscapes nothing short of magnificent. He posted one that had to be the first one to basically have everyone call for it to be "Editor's Choice." (They have little ribbons on them)

He has two. Only took up photography in 2000. SHEESH!!! Such talent!

Kenneth Kwan gallery”

“OH and what do you use to do the slide show effect? Some software, or your own programming skills?

I love the overall effect. :-)”

“Thank you soooo much! I am headed up that way over Labor Day Week.
That was some hike. You are my hero.
Your pictures have saved me from a city funk more than once Tekapo.

Thanks again”

“Didjfan, where will you be? We'll be climbing Ritter that weekend. Maybe we'll see you?”

“tekapo - It's funny, Just before I found your splendid trip report and pictures posted I was thinking about you and wondering how the babies are doing. Take care of those feet, but it's nice to see that I'm not the only one with ugly feet.”

“wingding- LOL! mrs tekapo says that little Miranda ain't getting no boyfriends because she has daddy's feet! The way I see it, she ain't dating until she's 45 anyway.

Yes, the babies are doing great!”

“http://www.photo.net/

the above website has great camera education info for all levels of photographers.
I have even bought used equipment in their classified section.
Anyway,I get dark corners( vignetting) if i stack my polarizer filter on top of my uv filter when i use my 24mm lens.The vignetting doesnt happen with a single filter tho-soooo,you have to remember to take off the uv filter on yer wide lenses.”

“lizs- journal entries are done through templates set up with FrontPage. I set up the pages with tables, and their format.

The real assembly and time goes into the image handling and narrative work.

Basically, with the writing, it's out with the lights, headphones go on with loud music, and a cup-a-coffee (or cerveza w/ sunflower seeds) is prepared and away we go. Much of it is improptu. Takes about 2 hours for 50 slides. Depends on the outing though.”

“davex- "Travels with Samantha," of course! Spent a little time there. That guy gets around.

Seem to remember the lens sales guy saying that would happen with the 24mm lense. You can imagine the look I gave the guy.

I also thought maybe it was the 70mm hood. When on the trail, it's a dicey proposition to remove lenses unless I'm at camp. I'd be sure to smuge or drip sweat on something. Imagine, you get to a great photo spot and your heart is working hard and you hold your breath to take your shot. In the middle of that there's a filter change.

Wonder if a 28mm setting would do the trick.”

“Windwalker- you remembered.

Here's Sylvester

From time to time, Sylvester will just appear and I'm reminded of our first outing together. He shows up in some of the most unexpected places. Quite a spirit, that bird.”

“didjfan-

The section between Donohue Pass and Island Pass is simply stunning. Unforgettable.”

“Its caused by stacking the polarizing lens and UV lens. I was using a sunshade for awhile, and that kept getting in the way. I just use my hand to block the sun now. Sometimes the hand gets in the picture, and I have to crop it. (see thumbnail for Fall Colors hike, 10/8/00, photos were lost to photopoint, but you can see what the sunshade did to the picture)

I use a 28mm lens. I'm not getting the vignetting anymore.

Oh yeah, Windwalker remembers everything! LOL!”

“lizs,
that kwan guy sure knows his filters.His exposures are great.
I find getting killer exposure on a consistent basis is elusive.
I have a mint nikon fe with 24mm,50 and 75-150 lenses.
I got better exposure(lighting)with the more modern minolta maxxum7000 I had a few yrs ago.
Maybe the meter in my nikon is f'ed up-maybe i am!!
Id like to take some photog night classes to finally solve the proper metering/exposure dilemma.
As for film,I use the inexpensive FUJI HQ-a 4 pack of 24exp costs me 7bux in LA.It gets the same results as Kodak Gold which is also great but way expensive comparatively.

SN,
filters are nice to have on cuz they save yer lenses when you drop them by accident(stupidity if others witness it!)”

“After the JMT I cracked/replaced both the UV AND Polarizing lens. I can't tell you how many times that camera has been dropped. Mostly when climbing boulders or setting up the camera for a timed shot. When I took it in tonight, the guy was laughing. He said his looked like that too, and if he didn't have the warranty, he'd get rid of it.”

“tekapo - another great journey. I thought for sure one of those "unnamed" lakes would end up being called Miranda Lake.

Concerning missing the kids - I could barely pull myself away from my wife and Delaney (3 months) for an overnight so I can imagine the feeling. Can't wait to take her along!”

“Davex

I was looking through that guy's photos and think I now can explain the "reality-jumps-right-off-the-page-at-ya" look. Cuz I mean, he's using the same film as the rest of us.

On one shot he talked about doing channel mixing of colors in Photoshop, as opposed to just messing with "hue, saturation and lightness," which is what the rest of us do.

He has superb images, but now I'm now quite so sure about it, since he's totally messing with the color electronically. (He admitted to "enhancing it.") Or, then again, perhaps that's the shape of things to come.”

“He has superb images, but now I'm now quite so sure about it, since he's totally messing with the color electronically. (He admitted to "enhancing it.") Or, then again, perhaps that's the shape of things to come."

I was thinking about this as I scanned all of my Switzerland pictures. I found that my "enhancing" helped the image reflect what I had really seen. It also occured to me that this was the new darkroom. Printing pics in a darkroom involves using many techniques to create the image you want. How is electronic manipulation different in that regard?”

“I was hesitant about using Photoshop with my pictures until my friend explained that by manipulating exposure and aperture settings when you are taking pictures, you are "editting reality".

But like I've said before Photoshop can do wonders, but only God can make something from nothing!”

“lizs,
the rich colors in his pics remind me of TomTill's colors.And TT uses a medium or large format and uses crazy development stuff.
After having spent enough time in utah and cali,I kinda know when a pic has been enhanced.Sometimes this can be seen as misrepresenting the subject and sometimes u can just say 'man that looks awesome'.
Phot manipulation by filters,development procedures will always be debated.
Lastly,dont worry about this guy being so good so fast.He states he started up photography 2 yrs ago-well,at least "seriously".Im sure he had a pretty good idea about lighting,composing before he got serious.Also,given that he has only 20 pics up hes probably had a ton of bad ones.
Anyway they're nice to look at!”

“Those are great pics, Tek. I spent a week in July trapsing about the Minarets, both on and off trail. It was great with plenty of amazing climbs (read strenuous while scenic) and beaucoup mosquitos. I'd love to go back up there with proper mountaineering equipment! Truly is a gorgeous area. Still have to get my film developed!”

“Since you're in the mood to critique... what's your opinion about these two shots...
Don't be to harsh, remember I'm just a point and shoot guy ;)

Wotan's Throne

Aspens of Paradise Valley”

“those are great-im not lizs btw,but wtf!!!
i took great pixs with an olympus p+S.
sometimes i wonder why i have an slr...but since i enjoy taking pix so much i have no problem with lugging it around.I think wanting the perfect shot makes me reflect on what is before me and makes me want to explore whats over the next hill :)”

“Wind Walker, nice pics, but I don't know why, they don't "draw me in." I'm a person into vibrant colors and Velvia film... maybe that's it??

The Wotan's Throne one.. I would think that red rock would be more intense at sunrise or sunset, which I take it is when the shot was taken. I'm impressed with the range of colors captured, cuz you have the very bright rock in the distance and it's not totally blown out. You can still see details. The trees in the front might be a tad dark, however, with details lost. Then again, I don't know that it's that important here. Were you looking for detail or a silhouette of the trees?

I think the second shot has potential, but it needs better light. Some kinda magic light shining on those "ghost trees." You just have to be there at the right time, sunrise or sunset.... or maybe some nice ray filtering through the clouds at midday. It's pretty flat as is.

And there, my HC ("Harsh Critique") lizs opinion, FWIW (maybe $.02?? lol)”

“lizs'

I like the colors in the pics cuz they are likely way more accurate.Velvia seems way oversaturated color.Especially for greens.
Some people like it,some dislike it.”

“I took the same picture, but mine is a little fuzzy. I used my little Olympus on that trip, its having problems. Will probably replace that one with a digital (for snowboarding).”

“yup, davex, I'm truly a Velvia Baby. Gimme those saturated colors, especially the greens. I dunno, but I see those greens in real life!! REALLY!! I do! Course I'm in Iowa where we have lush alfalfa fields, corn fields, etc (thrown a golden oat field in there for some nice contrast)... lots of opportunity for real-life saturated colors at the right times of day.

And pictures? I have a shot I took between Tropic and Escalante on Utah's Highway 12 that I love and others might think is just plain bizarre!! It has flat lighting. A pond in the barren hillsides with muted red, yellow and green grasses in the water....and fog descending onto the pond. Looks like some alien landscape. And I love it!!! LOL! Some day I'll get the slide scanned.

There are times of day known for their good light (sunrise, sunset)... and other times that depend on personal preference.”

“Thanks Lizs, I knew you could be way to honest.

For my skill level...those are about as good as it gets. I really enjoy photography, maybe I should try to learn more about it and take it more serious.

Wotan's Throne was taken at sunrise with that warm Sierra apline glow.. here is a pic without the sunrise warming it up.
Just good old Sierra Granite :)
Wotan's Throne before dawn

Paradise Valley is in shadow most of the day (deep Canyon)....the pic of the Aspens was taken at about 3:00 in the afternoon.

Both are raw photos taken with my little digital camera...so there is no option for Velvia ;) I don't know enough about photoshop to do anything with them either. Like I said....I just point and shoot :)”

“I'm playing on your thread.

Aspens Enhanced

(Adjusted color saturation and used a salt and pepper filter lightly... in paintshop pro)

Aspens (Normal)”

“It's hard to know how to adjust for the image since I didn't see the original scene.

Okay, here's my hand at your photos. Spent about 5 minutes with it.

Windwalker's Original Shot:

Tekapo's Adjusted Image:

IMO, your objective should be to most closely replicate what you saw or felt.”

“lizs got me thinking about how to index photo journal entries, so I set up a template.

It'll take some time to go back and do the earlier entries. Going forward, I'll have one of these available within photo reports.

Uncached, should take about a minute on a 28.8k modem. Couple seconds on cable or T-1.

Here it is.
Cathedral Range

Thanks for the tip, lizs.”

“Beautiful shots, as usual, Tekapo !!”

“Wow! Thank you for sharing again Tekapo!!!”

“Good idea! I've spent the better part of the last few days changing my site to a one-picture per page format, eliminating my thumbnails.

I may do an index page like that though. Shouldn't take too long to batch-process all my images to thumbnails on my new computer!

The Backcountry”

“They really capture the Fall light and the feeling (melancholy?) of a late season trip. I get the feeling that I'm actually walking along on the trail with tekapo. Thanks for the journey.”

“I can only say this one time!

Dude you say some of the best things in your pictures and the pictures are breathtakeing!

You do great work.

WOW!!!!!

8D”