Category Archives: Photo Tips

Kauai Images, best time to take pictures.

Photographing waves or wildlife on Kauai, is often far more productive in the mid day light. In a world where most photographers shoot in the pre dawn or pre dusk (Golden Hour) light. Kauai and its tropical waters and reefs are best shooting when the sun is high in the sky, bringing out the many shades of blue and purple
this tropical locations has to offer. When visiting Kauai, sleep in and enjoy your morning, the best light is yet to come 🙂

Wave explodes on the rocks of the North Shore of Kauai

 

Wave passes over a Kauai reef.

Blue wave, against storm clouds. Kauai

 

Dolphins, bathing in the light.

 

Passing Honu, Poipu Beach, Kauai

 

 

Art Gallery Question Of The Week – Materials

As art consultants, we are often asked what is possible in our gallery. Each week we will highlight a FAQ on our blog to help you get the most out of your art shopping experience.

Question: What are the image finish options?

Response: At Latitudes, we take pride in offering a wide assortment of material options to fit any decor. We can print any of our images in all of our finish options. The most popular options, include;

Metallic Acrylic –

 

 

 

 

Quarter inch thick polished plexiglass with a metallic print mounted to the back of it. Ready to hang with a french cleat.

 

 

 

 

Metal –

 

 

 

The hottest new printing material! The image is printed directly onto the metal and will take on a brilliant sheen unlike traditional printing materials. It comes ready to hang with wire and hooks.

 

 

 

 

 

Artisan Wood –

We create the platform of choice and prep it for our image to be directly printed onto the surface. Our in house artist will create the “rustic” appearance by carving out portions of the wood around the outer edges. The image is sprayed onto the surface similar to an inkjet printer, just on a larger scale.

Option 1: Planked Style –  

 

 

 

 

Rougher texture with spacing between each slat of wood.

 

 

 

 

Option 2: Grooved –

 

 

One solid piece of wood with horizontal or vertical lines carved into the wood surface.

 

 

 

 

Option 3: Solid Smooth


Option 3: Modern Edge –

 

 

 

A clean cut option without carved edges.

 

 

 

 

Gallery Wrapped Canvas –

 

 

The image is printed onto fine art canvas and wrapped around a wooden stretcher bar with a finished look on the sides. Ready to hang with wire on back.

 

 

 

 

Luster Paper –

Standard photographic paper with a luster finish, ready to frame

 

Framed Premium Hard Mount Canvas –

 

 

Our high end canvas option for those who want a traditional framed look without the maintenance of a stretched canvas

Wave Photography

IMG_2438_webIMG_1462_webAfter receiving a new water housing from Sean at SPL Water Housings last month a whole new world has opened up, shooting wave photography is beyond challenging 🙂 Photographing anything at a Gallery quality level is extremely difficult, having that composition disappear in the blink of an eye is mind boggling :0 I am learning to see and react to scenes that have not yet materialized and maybe never will 🙁
But when they do it’s a thing of magic. Here are a few Images from my attempts at understanding this difficult but extremely rewarding new path!

Enjoy!!

PierfectionAqua Curtain
Wind Surfing Pelican

Coastal Lifestyle Images

Since moving back to my old stomping grounds in Hollywood Beach, I have made it a point to be up and out of the house before day break, walking the beach and capturing the incredibly diverse wildlife and ever changing shoreline. Here are a few of my recent images.

Willets trying to stay warm in the pre dawn cold.
High Surf and Tides created large foam formations.
Offshore winds and large waves create perfect wind surfing conditions for this California Brown Pelican.
Early morning Surf Session silhouette.
Sanderlings racing in and out with the tides in search of food.

Enjoy!
DSC_0494webWind Surfing PelicanSanderlingsDSC_2007web Wave Foam

Photographs of Humpback Whales at Santa Cruz Island

Got to spend the day at Santa Cruz Island with my older brother Mike, I had asked him to put his wood carving talents to work and to carve a series of Humpback Whale pieces to display at upcoming shows we are participating in and what better way to gain perspective of your subject than quietly observing these giants at times just a few feet away.

The display included fin slapping, tail slapping, surface lunge feeding and an interesting obsession with floating kelp paddies. It was quite an experience and education in Humpback behavior. Looking forward to seeing what he can come up with.

Humback whale fin near the coast of Santa Cruz Island.

Humback whale fin near the coast of Santa Cruz Island.

Humback whale fin slapping

Humback whale fin slapping

Photography Shooting Tips:
The day was overcast with not much contrast. The whale would appear for only seconds and then be gone.

  • #1 I set my ISO to 800
  • #2 I set my shutter speed to 1/1000 on TV mode (shutter priority)
  • #3 I set my exposure compensation to + 1

The ISO is high to ensure that I can use a fast shutter speed to allow for the quick change of direction the camera and lens have to make to follow the action, it also with give a more useful aperture f/8-f/11.
The +1 compensation will help with the expected flat dull light.
Shutter priority (TV MODE) are a must in this situation where the camera in constantly on the move, it also gives great sharpness to the drops of water on the tail and fins.

-Steve Munch

Hampback Whale

Hampback Whale

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