Photo Collection: Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability Clouds

As anyone who knows me will tell you I am passionate about the sky.  I love clouds, especially odd, rarely seen ones, and from an early age I have learned all I can about their names and what makes them form.  Today I will highlight my favorite "rare" cloud:  The Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability Cloud (or KH cloud, or wave cloud).  Its really only rare because if you aren't looking for it you probably won't see it.  It only lasts a few seconds to a minute (if you are lucky) and must be photographed "in the moment" or you will probably miss your chance.  As I have found its not so rare because I have quite a lot of pictures of them, and have also seen them when I haven't been able to take a picture.

First, what makes them form?

From what I have gathered from reading books and internet articles about them they form when wind shear moves past a cloud layer (liquid) going either faster than the speed of the cloud (liquid)or in the opposite direction.  A great example is wind blowing over water, creating waves (source).  This site also has a good explanation and a computer simulation so you can see how the instability works.

What do they mean for weather?

As the name suggests they indicate an instability in the atmosphere.  When you see these clouds it is very windy up there.  Airplane travel will be turbulent.  Generally when its really windy up there the weather will be changing.  I often see these clouds about 24 hours before a good storm rolls in when its summer.  Look around at the other types of clouds to see what's coming.  Most of our weather travels from West to East.

How did they get that funky name?

These clouds are name for Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz.  Lord Kelvin, a Scotsman, was a physicist and a mathematician.  Hermann von Helmholtz was a German physicist, physician, and philosopher.  Both contributed to the discovery of the instability wave and therefore both are included in the nomenclature.

Here are my personal photos that I have taken over the past three years from Vermont.  Most in my hometown of Milton.  I hope you enjoy them!

June 24, 2010 Milton VT

June 28, 2010  Burlington VT

August 18, 2010 Milton VT

Bands of KH instability at sunset August 18, 2010 Milton VT

July 22, 2011 Milton VT

July 31, 2011

September 9, 2011  Williston VT

July 25, 2012 Fairfax VT

April 16, 2013 Westford VT

The next 3 picture are also from the same date, but later in the afternoon!

Just beginning to form...

This is what it became!

This was another one on the same day in a different part of the sky.

May 22, 2013 Milton

June 28, 2013 Burlington VT

June 28, 2013 Burlington VT

That is what I can find in my archives, of all my most dramatic and favorite ones!  Next post I will highlight Pileus caps on growing cumulus clouds :)  Any comments or questions are welcome!

How To Create A Facebook Timeline Banner in Picasa

First, download Picasa 3.9 for free from Google!!  Picasa is NOT where your photos will be stored, it is simply a user friendly interface between your hard drive and a fun, easy editing tool.  It is fully integrated with Google+ also.

Open Picasa and at the top left choose Import.

This will permanently add this photo to Picasa's library (unless of course you delete it from your hard drive!).  If you want to temporarily edit a photo in Picasa and export it but not keep the original in the library you can also choose File>Add a File.

Import the file(s) you want to use into the library. When the import is done, select the photo(s) you want to use in your banner.  Essentially what we are going to do is create a "collage".  You can do this with 1 photo or many photos.

If you are using only one photo, proceed as follows:

Select the photo so it appears in the picture tray at the bottom left.  Go up to the menu bar and click on Create and choose "Picture Collage".  A new tab will open within Picasa that looks like this:

(click to enlarge)

On the left, make sure "Picture Pile" is selected as your style.  This allows you to move the photo around freely and also resize/rotate it within the collage space.  

Click on the page format menu drill down.  Choose "Add Custom Aspect Ratio":

For Facebook Timeline banners the ratio is 851x315 pixels.  Enter these into the Dimensions boxes that pop up and give it a name.

Choose that as your Page Format.  Next hover over your photo and position/resize it how you want it.

Click on "Create Collage" once you are satisfied.  It will only take a few seconds and then it will give you the collage in an edit window:

Click on the Text button and a list of fonts, sizes, and colors will come up.  Add your text and then use Ctrl+S to save.  If you do not save your changes they will not be present when you upload to Facebook, and it does not prompt you to do so.  When you save, if you do not redirect where the save is going to happen, it will save it in your Pictures Library (Windows 7) under a Picasa folder, and then inside a Collages subfolder.

Once it is saved it is ready to use!  You can edit this collage the same as you would edit any other photo in Picasa.  Frames, effects, retouching, etc. all of that is available on Collages.  There are also more ways than one to do things but this is what I have found to be the easiest!

How To Use Custom White Balance in Lightroom 3

I would assume the process is the same for Lightroom 4.  Currently I am still using Lightroom 3 because at this time I cannot justify a $100 upgrade for things I can do in LR3 already (although I do covet those wonderful brush options in LR4...)

Lately I have been having trouble with some of the photos my Nikon D7000 is putting out.  I notice that a lot of the time there is a pinkish color cast on images that I capture indoors (and sometimes outdoors too...).  It could entirely be the fault of the Sigma 18-200mm lens that I'm using and not the camera itself.  I really do not know.  Either way, its been frustrating to look at photos that were taken in a gymnasium which has mostly yellow and blue tones, and see them in pinks and purples!  Here is an example of what I'm talking about:

He's got some swagger, alright.  But why are the white walls pink?  And his skintone looks off.  And I've got over 300 photos like this!

I contemplated opening up Photoshop Elements 11 and trying to remove color cast.  But then I would have to do it for each one, I think.  I don't actually KNOW if I have to do it individually or if I can do it in a batch because I haven't had time to learn that yet.  I do know how to use LR3 quite well already so I figured I'd stick with that for now. 

While in the Develop window I remember once seeing this eye dropper item and not knowing what the crap to do with it:

All I knew is that when you click on it you pick it up and when you drag it around it puts a box up on the screen that changes colors as you go over your photo with it:

So I figured, what the heck.  I'll click on the back wall and see what happens.  I felt an instant sense of relief. 

Problem is basically solved.  I did tweak it a little to warm it just ever so slightly, and brought the tint to the right (towards pink, but not nearly as much as it had been before) and this is the final outcome:

Now to get the other photos effortlessly to match up I selected all the ones that had similar color cast and then clicked on the Sync button in the lower right hand corner of the window.  I then went to other groups of photos that had wrong white balances, fixed one with the custom eye dropper, and then selected the rest and synced them.  The best way to go about doing this is to have your Develop window open, bring up the bottom slide menu that shows the thumbnails of all your pics, and select them down there using either Shift mouse click or CTRL mouse click, keeping the one that you fixed as your main selected photo (the one that shows up big on the screen).  

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

I hope this helps someone out there!  White balance is one of the trickiest things about photography I am finding.  The other thing I want to master is light metering.  Very very tricky.  When I learn new things about these two issues I try to always blog about them as that is where I have found my most valuable bits of information: the life experience of others.

My Review

Originally submitted at Adorama

I Love This Camera, But...

By Moonshine Photography from Milton, VT on 2/26/2013

 

4out of 5

Pros: Solid but not too heavy, 2 SD card slots, Easy to Hold, Long Battery Life, Very customizable, AutoFocus, crisp clear photos

Cons: A LOT OF BUTTONS, Hard To Switch Lenses, Awkward Autofocus Button

Best Uses: Professional Shoots, Everyday photography

I want to start by saying that I bought this as a refurb, and the first one I received was defective. It would only autofocus randomly, and even on full Auto shooting mode it refused to focus. This is not Adorama's fault because it comes to them factory sealed from Nikon and is supposed to have been checked out thoroughly by Nikon. After a seamless hassle-free return and exchange my second D7000 works like a dream. I use it with an 18-200 Sigma DX lens, a 35mm Nikkor and an 18-55mm Nikkor and an SB-700 flash. I upgraded to this camera after exhausting my Canon Rebel XSi and needing something more professional to use. I'm blown away by the image quality and the customizable menus. I purchased a book on how to master this camera because there is so much to learn and it is really helping me. I generally take photos of children and the autofocus tracking so far has proven to be phenomenal. It has a focus lock that allows you to set a time limit on how long it stays locked on a certain object, such as a bird flying, if a closer object appears in the viewfinder. That means that if a tree or a road sign were to come into view when you are tracking the bird it will ignore them and stay locked on where the bird was for x amount of time, after which it will refocus on something else. Definitely a must have for candid child photography. I also do landscapes and am still learning how to configure the menus for optimal colors and white balance. Looking forward to summer when there are actual colors around.

What I don't like so far about this camera is more of a personal preference matter. I don't like how many buttons there are and how many require me to use my left hand. The ISO, WB, and playback buttons are all located on the left hand side of the LCD screen. On my last camera it was the opposite. I'm sure I just need to get used to it. I also have trouble remembering that the autofocus mode change button is on the side of the lens mount (not the lens itself, but just next to it on the body) and it is a bit awkward to push as I do have a bit of a fingernail and it is set inside of a switch. To change AF modes you have to hold this down while turning one of TWO dials on the right hand side of the camera. I am finding myself having to think an awful lot when changing modes and settings on this camera. This can cause me to lose a shot or two but again, I need to get used to it.

Changing lenses is also more challenging than it was on the Canon Rebel. It turns in the opposite direction and does not seem to slide into place the way my other one did. I am hoping this does not result in sensor dust as time goes by.

I bought this camera because I wanted something more challenging than the Rebel and more professional to give me confidence in taking my hobby to a new level. I do feel that this camera has fulfilled these desires and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to upgrade to a prosumer camera.

D7000 using 18-55mm lens and SB-700 Flash

Tags: Made with Product, Jumping

Handheld with no flash and ISO 2000

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)

Fireworks In The Snow

Last night was the first time I have been to our town's Winter Festival.  Usually I'm a wimp about cold and going out at night into a blizzard seemed a little crazy but it was actually BEAUTIFUL out and I'm so glad I went!

My camera is now 3 years old and the other day while photographing my bread making adventures it slipped out of my hands and landed lens first on the floor at a bit of an angle.  My favorite lens, the 18-55mm kit that I use for EVERYTHING took the brunt of the impact and now no longer will autofocus.  It makes a sad little noise.  I am able to use it with manual focus which is a major pain in the patooty.  I do have a Quantaray 28-200mm lens that a friend was nice enough to give me a while back and its the closest thing to a wide angle lens that I have now.  It actually takes really nice sharp pictures BUT the thing that drives me nuts is the barrel (zoomer) turns in the opposite direction of all my other lenses!  This can be a real problem if you are quickly trying to zoom in on something and your brain is trained to turn it to the left, but the lens turns to the right!  Other than that, its a great lens.

We arrived at the Rec Park at 6:45pm.  My friend Becca and her two kids joined us at our house and we walked over as I live very close by.  We only had my 3 year old daughter with us and she rode in a sled.  Unfortunately when we arrived she played in the snow for about 5 minutes and then her hands got cold and she freaked out and was miserable for the rest of the time.  My friend and I walked back to my house and got her car which has a video set up inside and ended up letting Autumn sit in it the rest of the time watching Zhu Zhu Pets dvds!  Oh well!

At 8:00pm the fireworks show started.  Now, this is the night that Blizzard Nemo was to come through the state.  It had been snowing all day from a clipper system that came over us from the Great Lakes  (we live in Northwestern Vermont) and we had accumulated about 8-10" of snow from that.  It was still snowing pretty good last night, but right around 8:00 is when the winds from the Nor'easter started coming through.  I set up my tripod (a nice heavy one thank goodness) and my camera and started shooting.  I used an ISO of 100, an aperture of f/14, and a shutter speed from 10 sec to 15 sec for most of these.  Any faster of a shutter speed and I wasn't getting the dramatic look I wanted.  There were two snowmobiles parked in my foreground and multiple people standing around watching them in front of me.  I was the length of 2 soccer fields away from the source.

Here is a link to my album on SmugMug, where the quality is much better than Facebook:



The Festival continues this weekend.  If you live in the area and want to know more about the events click on this link to the facebook event page!

Christmas Moon Photo

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  I got one of the things I really wanted: Photoshop Elements 11!  I have been using Lightroom 3 for my portraits and everyday shots, Picasa for quick editing when all I need is a watermark or a slight tweak, and GIMP for actual cut and paste editing.  I had tried PSE before in earlier versions and found it confusing and hard to use.  GIMP is very technical and I had some stuff figured out but even the help files can be rough.  Picasa is fun and cool but limited and instagrammy.  Nothing wrong with that but it only takes you so far.

I was impressed with PSE11 immediately.  The user interface (UI) is simple and based on common sense.  The terminology is easy to follow and there are links to help files all over the place.  The help files themselves are also simple to understand and actually answer your questions instead of causing more!

For instance, it took me about an hour to create this photo in GIMP:

I cut the moon out of another photo using the "Paths" tool.  This is painstaking.  I had to click every centimeter or so around the outline of the moon in order to try to get it to come out without any black edges and then figure out how to select the path that I had made (took 2 tutorials to get to the root of it, and they were outdated so it actually wasn't useful info) and then I skewed it so that it was the size I wanted.  Next I had to frig with the levels, the hue/sat, and the contrast to get the color tones correct.  Next came a tutorial I had to watch to figure out how to export the file properly.  Once I had exported it and went into Picasa to put my watermark on I ran into another problem.  The file was a .jpg but it kept saying that it was locked or not available when I would try to save my edits in Picasa.  Turns out that there is something wrong with how GIMP's new version saves the metadata.  After searching through Google file after Google file I finally found out how to fix it.  I had to go back and re-export it from GIMP and uncheck the "Optimize" and other boxes that were pre-checked so it just exported the file with no added data.  What a pain!!!!  But I'm a cheap Scotswoman so I was just dealing with it for the free program.  Oh and when I downloaded GIMP in the first place it put some adware on my hard drive that my virus scanner had to kill.  Nice.

This next photo was edited using PSE11 last night.  It took me about 30 min to figure out and apply the edits that I wanted to get this final result:

I used these two photos to make it:

f/22, 1/30 sec, ISO 800 using 300 mm lens at 300 mm

f/4, 2 sec, ISO 1600 using 70-300 mm lens set at 70 mm

What I did was use the smart lasso tool in PSE and capture the moon.  Now, the moon is not quite full so I had some trouble with that lower left corner where its darkest.  I had to go into the "Refine Edge" option and shrink my selection area to exclude the darkest bits.  After that I just adjusted brightness to make it so it was almost bright as the original but you could still see the crater shadows just enough so that it was realistic.

Then I got a challenge to add a moon to this photo:

Its a photo of my parents' house in Westford, VT.  I did a long exposure of 6 seconds at f/8 and 1600 ISO. I removed the noise caused by the long exposure and the high ISO in Lightroom 3.  The moon was behind me as this photo was taken at 6:22 pm facing West.  I used the same moon photo as above (the one with the black sky) and cut the moon out in the same way.  Next I shrank it manually using the little boxes that around surrounding the selection of the moon.  I moved it where I wanted and then did the same "Refine Edge" option but since my sky is darker here in this photo I didn't have to shrink my selection as much.  I then used one of the layer filters Hard Light blend mode on just the moon and it gave it the right contrast and coloration that I was looking for.  The final result is this:

I wasn't completely happy with how it looked right out of the PSE gate so what you also see here in the above photo is my use of Picasa's HDR-ish filter with radius and strength slider almost all the way to the left and slightly faded into the original, and also a slight Orton-ish filter used to "bloom" the highlights and deepen the colors.  The end result being slightly surreal but pleasant.

I am looking forward to learning more about this program and hopefully creating some more moonscapes!

Star Trails Experiment

Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with astronomy.  When I was 6 years old my favorite book was Our Universe, which was a huge NASA publication filled with fascinating facts and artist's renderings of what we knew at the time.

In 2nd grade (I was 8 years old) I did a huge science project on the Challenger, including writing to NASA, receiving a bundle of photos and literature from them (pre-explosion), and I even got to pick photos that were then used on the memorial.  I listened intently to the lift off and cried when it blew up.  Christa McAuliff was my hero.

Something I have always wanted to try was astrophotography.  Unfortunately I don't have a lot of the equipment needed, or the time to get away in the middle of the night, or a dark back yard so I don't have to get away.  My camera's ISO only goes up to 1600 which kind of puts a damper on a lot of things.  BUT I do have the drive to at least try.

I set up my tripod in my not dark at all back yard the other night.  I was determined to get SOMETHING in the way of star trails, and to learn a new software technique called "stacking" that I have seen others get really cool results with.  I downloaded StarStax (free) and for one hour I took as many 6 minute shots as I could.

I followed the setting recommendations:

• ISO 1600 (highest mine will go)
• f/4.5
• Widest angle I can get with my lens, 18mm
• I also turned off Image Stabilizer, Auto Focus, High ISO Noise reduction, and the other noise reduction that is an option in my custom menu.  
• Shoot in RAW format as the software only wants TIF files and won't work with JPGs. 
• TRIPOD a must. 
• Used BULB mode and my wireless remote.

One small note here that I discovered:  turning off those noise reduction features really made a huge difference in how long it took to process the photo in-camera.  What I mean by that is I have finally figured out why I had such bad camera lag when shooting long exposures with a higher ISO than 200.  For the longest time this has baffled me.  Its just about instant now even when shooting a 6 or 8 minute pic!  Glad that mystery was solved.

Here is my first attempt:

enlarge for detail

Meh.  That is a 12 photo stack.  The brightest streak to the right is the planet Jupiter.  The reddish one under it is Betelgeuse.  I had thought I aimed at Polaris, the north star, but clearly not the case.  I also didn't like how I barely had any stars at all.

My second attempt, using a method in where I take 120 shots at 30 seconds each.  My camera will only let me program it to take 10 shots in a row.  Bummer.  So I had to keep getting up every 5 min, running outside (it was frecking cold out), and having a 10 second lag in between because to use that drive mode it simply HAD to have a 10 sec timer in between each 10 shots!  BLECH!  So annoying.

enlarge for detail

The first one here is with me warming the tone and adding a slightly reddish tinge, just for fun.  The bottom one is the original with my camera's white balance set to Tungsten.  You can see I did squeak the North Star in the top left corner, but just barely.  This shot took me over an hour to do so I really didn't have time to make another one.  The trees are light on top because one of my neighbors insists on leaving every light in their house on and their back porch light 24 freaking hours a day, 7 days a week.  

I will be out again next time its clear and cold.  There are aurora about as well, which I am dying to shoot, but I would have to drive 20 min to a very dark place to see them at about 2 in the morning, and with 3 kids and a lot of responsibility that requires me to not be a walking zombie I am having a hard time getting out there.  I just need to be patient.  

For some awesome inspiring aurora/star trail time shots visit my friend Brian Drourr's smugmug page.  I hope to shoot with him someday.