Dead Horse Point is both one of my favorite spots for sunrise and favorite spots for panoramas. Even though I have a number of good images from there, I usually shoot yet one more each time I'm in the area.

I also like the campground there, so it becomes the 'perfect storm'? Actually, I'm hoping for some good storms this spring since I got a Lightning Bug lightning trigger from MK Controls.

I go through phases when I take a lot of panoramas, and I have used a variety of setups to do so. I ultimately purchased a Pano Elements Package from Really Right Stuff for my tripod and ballhead. With this setup leveling the camera platform is as simple as adjusting one bubble level built into the rotating clamp.

When I have my camera platform level I set the nodal slide to my predetermined setting for the lens I am using. Then I pan across the scene until I find the portion of the scene I want to make sure is properly exposed and determine what exposure to use using my camera's meter and then set the aperture and shutter speed in manual exposure mode. Note that I typically do not use a polarizing filter for panoramas, but do often use graduated neutral density filters, which I mount prior to the exposure determination. The key to using ND grads with panoramas is to make sure the filter itself is level too,

I use auto WB a lot with my cameras, but set the WB manually when shooting panoramas.

When I have my exposure set properly I again pan across the scene taking my individual shots and leaving at last a 20% overlap between frames. If I will use HDR I take a set of exposures and each stop as I pan. I have found that with my current cameras (D700 and D3s) I don't need to shoot HDR very often, especially when I use ND grads.

I use PTGui to assemble my panoramas. I find it does and excellent job of blending. I do, however, use LR to convert my NEFs to TIFs before sending them to be assembled since I like the Adobe raw processor.

PTGui Pro has the capability to automatically do HDR, but I don't have that version. When I do HDR panos I generally do the HDR processing on the bracketed shots with the exact same settings, and then assemble the pano.

The pano above was done with a set of single exposure frames shot using a Singh Ray 2 stop hard ND grad with the midpoint at the horizon. The camera was in portrait mode and the excess sky was cropped.

Finally got around to wiring the trailer for solar, again with the help of my sons. The nose cone now has a nice connection on the outside to plug the solar panel into and the solar controller is inside the nose cone.

That completes all the wiring I wanted to get done before the upcoming southwest trip.

Now all that needs to be done is reorganize the trailer contents and redo the trailer weather seal.;-)

Got the wiring harness with the solar controller built and installed in the FJ Sunday with the help of a couple of my 'boys'. I also built the cable to connect between the vehicle and the 60w solar panel and got around to testing it today. All tested out fine and the next step is to do the same thing for the deep cycle battery in the trailer.

The FJ has a 40qt Engle fridge/freezer and, on days when I am not driving I will use the solar panel to keep the fridge from draining the deep cycle battery in the vehicle, and on other days I will use it to keep the deep cycle battery in the trailer topped off. I use the battery in the trailer mostly for battery charging and running the 17" MBP off an inverter. The MBP is a power hungry beast and likes the battery fully charged. :) I also use the trailer battery for the 12V LED lighting we installed in the tent for book reading before bed.

Really looking forward to getting the setup out on the road for an extended trip. ;-)

Is high ISO performance a requirement for landscape photography? Most would say no, and I would agree that it is not a requirement, but  I also think it is a very important thing to consider when selecting a camera for landscapes.

Now that Nikon has announced the D800 and D800E many folks are  attracted to it for landscapes, and I admit I am one of them. The feature set is impressive enough that it is obvious it is not an iteration above the D700 but in fact a whole new camera. Two things cause me a little concern, though: the reduction in high ISO performance compared to the D700 and D3s, and the 36MP image size.

The increased image size can be dealt with by getting a faster computer with more disk space, but there are cases even in landscape photography that, if it were not for the high ISO performance of the D3s and D700 I might have had to pass up a number of shot opportunities.

The image here is one of those. I like this scene and whenever the flowers are blooming I can't resist taking this shot, but when I was there last year it was very windy all the time and the flowers were constantly in motion. This particular shot with a D3s was 1/250 sec at f/22 to both stop the flower motion and get the DOF I wanted. To get this combination of f stop and shutter speed, though, I bumped the ISO to 2500. With the D3s I can get away with this, as I can with the D700, and I am curious to see how the D800 will perform in similar situations.

For now, though, I will satisfy my curiosity by looking at the photos of others, since I can't afford to take the plunge just to scratch that itch. ;-) I won't be surprised, however, if I end up convincing myself that I absolutely can't get along without one. :)

Plans for this spring's southwest trip in March and April are shaping up. We'll be hitting some new spots as well as some old favorites this year.

We'll start out with a little Natchez Trace and then on to Big Bend for a few days, then White Sands and Saguaro. We'll swing by Adventure Trailers for a quick visit then a few days in Mojave, followed by Death Valley and then Zion.

After Zion we'll spend some time around Page visiting White Pocket and Coyote Buttes South (entered the lottery for Coyote Buttes North but no luck). Then to Cedar Mesa for a day or two and then on up to Moab. Depending on the weather we might also swing by Dinosaur and Echo Park before heading back.

Going to tray a bit more off road camping this year, and have added a dual battery setup and solar to the FJ and trailer.

Should be back in plenty of time for some spring trips to the Smokies as well. :)

Had some fun this past week with a rented 600mm lens in the Smokies and at the Hiwassee WR. The lens takes some getting used to and the lighting conditions weren't always the best, but I got a few images that I'm not too ashamed of.

I rented from lensrentals.com and, based on the cost of renting vs buying and the frequency that I need that long a lens, renting seems to be the way to go.

Testing blog posting from iPhone.