Saturday, August 28, 2010

City Escapes Nature Photography Newsletter - August 2010

Text Box:  Watercolor Rhinoceros

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

August, 2010

 

 

 

 

Mirages: The Result of the Heat – and Cold – of August

 

In the northern hemisphere, August reigns as one of the hottest months.  Mirages and heat waves are common, often appearing as shimmering puddles of water on roadways, parking lots, and desert vistas.  In the past, mirages were sometimes thought to be tricks of the eyes or even hallucinations, but in actuality they are neither: the images seen are real, and can be photographed.  When photographed, mirages are usually meant to convey the concept of sweltering heat.  However, they can also be used to add a wide range of completely natural artistic elements to an image that leave the viewer questioning whether the photograph has been seriously manipulated, despite the fact that it has not.

 

Mirages are especially common in areas containing large amounts of sand or asphalt.  This is because these two substances absorb large amounts of heat from sunlight, which in turn causes the air directly above them to be significantly hotter than the air further away.  As light passes from the denser, cooler air above into the warmer, thinner air next to the superheated sand or asphalt, the light gets refracted, or bent, in an upwards curve, causing what is known as an inferior mirage.  It is called “inferior” not because it is of a lesser quality than any other kind of mirage, but because the image in the mirage appears below the actual item being seen.  It is as if we are looking down into a bowl, and can see on the inner curve of the bowl what is actually atop the opposite rim.  This is why lakes and water are often imagined to be seen: the blue sky is being seen below where it should be, causing it to appear as a body of water on the ground.  It often shimmers, too: inferior mirages are unstable, because hot air rises and cool air sinks.  As the two air masses mix, they cause turbulence, distorting the light waves even more.  This causes the apparent pool of water to shimmer, and the characteristic waviness of the horizon, as illustrated by our featured picture this month, Watercolor Rhinoceros. 

 

However, mirages do not only occur in hot weather.  They also occur in areas where the temperature conditions are reversed, namely a layer of significantly colder air next to the ground, with a warmer layer above.  These mirages are, not surprisingly, most commonly found in the polar regions.  (Let’s not forget that August in Antarctica is in the middle of winter!)  In these instances, the light rays are refracted downward – as if our bowl were flipped upside down.  The item being seen is still on the rim of the bowl, and we are still seeing it on the bowl’s curve, but because the bowl is now upside down, the mirage now appears above the actual item.  These types of mirages are called superior mirages because of their location above the object being seen.  This can result in items appearing to float above the horizon.  An especially interesting aspect of superior mirages is due to the curvature of the earth: some of these mirages can even result in being able to see things that are still below the horizon.  Imagine taking our upside down bowl and putting it on the edge of a table, such that the rim where our object is located is now below the table’s edge, but the curve where we see the mirage is still above.  The table edge represents the horizon line; our object on the bowl’s rim is now below the horizon, yet we can still see it on the curved surface of the bowl.  How cool is that?  (Pun only partially intended…)

 

Throughout the ages of sea exploration, superior mirages were responsible for a good bit of confusion as to the possible existence of islands, ships, and other objects.  The mirages are often hazy and distorted in appearance, and may have led to the legends of ghost ships.  A particular type of superior mirage called a Fata Morgana, for example, is considered the likely origin of the legend of the Flying Dutchman (as well as many modern-day UFO sightings).  Some early polar explorers reported seeing mountains in the sky and flying ships, and even Robert Peary, famed Arctic explorer and the man credited with being the first person to reach the North Pole, named a land mass which he believed he saw in the far distance Crocker Land -- a land mass that later proved to not exist, and which is now widely believed to have been a Fata Morgana mirage.  A later search for Crocker Land cost one man his life and stranded the remaining crew for four years. 

 

Score: Mirage 1, Explorers 0

 

 

August’s Fun Facts

 

Since we’re all suffering through the heat (or cold) that August brings, this month we thought we’d put this sweltering / frigid day in perspective:

 

The highest temperature ever recorded was in Al ‘Aziziyah, Libya, on September 13, 1922: 136.0 F  (57.8 C)

The lowest temperature ever recorded was at Vostok Station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983: -128.6 F  (-89.2 C)

 

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

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CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154

 

Packing for Adventure Travel

 

After extensive experience packing for corporate meetings, and years of trips focused around our nature photography, I have come to the conclusion that it is almost impossible to truly pack light for photographic adventure travel. Clothing and personal effects are a miniscule component of the overall luggage that we take on our adventure trips. We bring multiple layers of clothing to deal with varied weather conditions while simultaneously reducing bulk, and make heavy use of quick-dry clothing, such as that produced by Ex-Officio, to reduce the number of outfits we need (e.g., typically no more than 3 shirts for a multi-week trip).  However, a successful trip requires being flexible and having the right gear easily accessible.  We always have hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, and at least a simple first aid kit (for our most extensive first aid kit, see the comprehensive first aid kit we used when we went to Tanzania). Depending on the type of activities we are planning, we could also be bringing snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit), winter clothing (thermals, sweaters, gloves, parkas, snow boots), hiking gear (good boots, poles, refillable water bottles, bug repellant), rain gear (for us and our camera equipment), or any combination of the above.  All of this adds up quickly and we find that we will often be checking one moderately full bag each with just this. 

 

The real weight starts when we bring in the photography equipment. For domestic travel, we have a very large Pelican Case. It is an extremely useful container, because it is practically indestructible, is waterproof, and holds the equipment securely in place with customizable foam padding (important if you have ever watched a baggage handler toss / drop a box marked fragile).  You can also lock the case using TSA approved locks to prevent snooping – since Pelican Cases tend to attract attention. Finally, it comes with wheels and a handle that make moving it around, at least in the open, a lot easier than you would think.

 

This huge container will carry everything we typically bring, including our tripods, but can easily top the scales at about 70 pounds – more than most airlines will let you pack without an additional handling charge.  To get around that, we also have a LowePro Super Trekker backpack. This backpack is large enough to carry all of the lenses and camera bodies we need for a trip, including the large 600mm lens, and will fit in most overhead bins on the larger planes. We then check the tripods and monopods in our normal luggage.  If we are not taking our largest lens, we use a much smaller backpack from Tenba.  It is much easier to carry and maneuver, yet still holds all of our gear, including a tripod.   Note: while the Pelican Case is sturdy enough to adequately protect our gear when checked – and it is lockable --, we never check any backpacks containing camera equipment.  Though they may provide good protection for normal bumps and thumps, when it comes to our camera gear, we only subject hard-sided containers to the rigors of checked baggage.

 

What we bring on any specific trip depends a lot on the nature of what we expect to see and whether we will have a vehicle or will be carrying everything on our backs. Typically, for a longer trip, we bring the following items, and select a smaller subset to carry with us for day-trips:

-          Primary camera body (Nikon D300)

-          Backup camera body (Nikon D60)

-          Water- and shock-proof point and shoot camera (currently a Fuji – yes, we take snapshots, too, plus Jodi needs something that will survive her kayaking!)

-          Waterproof shoot-through dry-bag (note: we do not trust this bag enough to submerge it, but it works well to protect the camera and a smaller lens while shooting in wet, misty, or drizzly conditions)

-          Quick set-up tripod (QSX DigiPro 8500 with a Joby Ballhead)

-          Heavy-duty tripod (Gitzo tripod with a Wimberly head)

-          Monopod (Gitzo)

-          Nikon Nikkor 600mm lens

-          Nikon Nikkor AF VR  80-400mm  4.5-5.6 lens

-          Nikon Nikkor AF-S  18-200mm  3.5-5.6 lens

-          Quantaray  28-200mm  3.5-5.6 lens

-          Quantaray AF  19-35mm  3.5-4.5 lens

-          Nikon AF-S 1.7 Teleconverter (TC-17EII)

-          Quantaray 2X DG Teleconverter

-          Kenko Extension Tubes (12mm, 20mm, 36mm)

-          Nikon SB-600 Speedlight (flash)

-          Sekonic Flash Master L-358 Light Meter

-          Expodisc

-          Circular polarizing filter for each lens size (except the 600mm)

-          UV filter for each lens size (except the 600mm)

-          Graduated neutral density filters (Lee .3 and .6)

-          Solid neutral density filter (Lee .9)

-          Lee filter holder and lens attachment rings

-          Lumiquest Mini Softbox

-          Big Bounce light reflector

-          Two collapsible light reflectors

-          About a dozen memory cards

-          Cable release

-          At least 2 spare camera batteries (charged)

-          Spare AA batteries for light meter and speedlight

-          Sanho Hyperdrive Colorspace (for backing up memory cards; smaller and more convenient than a laptop)

-          Cell phone

-          Battery chargers for everything (including the phone) as well as power adapters

-          Double axis Spirit Level

-          Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly (for cleaning lenses)

-          Visible Dust Sensor Loupe

-          Lint-free towels

-          Lens cleaning fluid (note: if carrying my gear on a plane, this must be in my one-quart liquids bag)

-          Small multi-purpose tool (similar to a Gerber tool)

-          Small container of Krazy Glue

-          Gloves that can fold back to become fingerless

-          Bandana

-          Scrunchy and clips to pull back Jodi’s hair

-          Assorted Ziplock bags

-          Instruction manuals

 

 

 

Terence

City Escapes Nature Photography

http://www.cityescapesphotography.com/