A Photographer's Quest to Capture the Mood of a Place

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 3200, ƒ/4, 1/500

No matter where I adventure to I am always wanting to capture a photo that encapsulates the mood that I felt about the location.

This week my family is enjoying vacation at Emerald Isle, NC. From our front porch you can see the ocean and from the back porch you can see the intracoastal waterway.  We get the sunrise and a sunset over the water.

The downside for where we are located is seeing all the telephone poles and the wires stringing along them and cluttering the view.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/30

Our neighbors up and down the coast are all in what appears to be a vacation mode. No one is in a hurry. Even driving down the road people are way below the speed limit rather than in a rush. It is peaceful and very relaxing.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, ƒ/7.1, 1/640

You see couples enjoying time together in the surf and walking along the beach. Here I enjoyed watching the couple from our 3rd floor balcony.

I can feel some of what I captured in the photos, but still I am not quite satisfied that I have a photo that truly captures the mood of the place.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/75

 No ships and quiet times along the beach in the evenings.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, ƒ/8, 1/800

I am also enjoying capturing the moments of the youth of today reminding all of us that are older of the times we spent playing football on these same beaches years ago. Here I have captured my nephew with our new member of the family who married my niece.  I think the activity captures a mood and takes me back.

Are these just memory joggers for me and my family or are they capturing universal understood moments?

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/5, 1/1800

Does the umbrellas on the beach capture what people around the world can relate? Does this help take people to their vacation memory?

This is what most photographers who shoot with a photojournalistic intent look for when trying to capture the mood of a place. Travel photographers, street shooter and photojournalists are looking for those triggers that create a mood and capture a moment.

Stay tuned and see what else I find the rest of my vacation on Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

Vacation Planning Guide for Photography

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 100, ƒ/5.6, 1/800,  Off camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 and SB800.  The Flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and being triggered by the Mini TT1 on the Camera with the AC3 to control the output of the flash. Flash is +2 EV and the camera is 0 EV.

I took the past week off for a family cruise of the Caribbean on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas with my parents, sisters and all of our families.  There were fourteen of us each evening at the evening meal.

I realized from watching so many folks traveling with cameras and from my own experiences I think you need a basic checklist of what you should bring for your vacation trip.

I am going to address two types of camera kits that you might want to use for your next vacation. The two kits are the Point and shoot camera and the DSLR.

Nikon P7000, ISO 1600, ƒ/3.2, 1/160

Point and Shoot Camera kit

First let me just list what should be included in your carryon bags for this kit.

• Camera
• 2 Batteries
• Battery Charger
• 2 Memory cards
• Lens cloth which can double for your gray card
• Bag or a plan for carrying what you need

The camera is obvious, but many people travel with just one battery. I recommend always having at least one spare battery always charged with you. At the end of each day, I recommend going ahead and charging the battery you used that day and if necessary your backup if you used it.  Too many people miss opportunities due to dead battery on the trip of their lifetime.

Today I would recommend carrying large capacity cards. Check with your camera manual and get the largest capacity possible.  Today many of these cameras will take a 64-gig card. Sometimes it may make more sense for the price to buy a few 16-gig cards than one 64-gig card.  If you take enough memory cards you can eliminate the need of carrying a computer or something like a portable hard drive designed to download memory cards.

Carrying a gray cloth that is designed to clean your lens can help you keep that lens clean and help for white balancing when you need to do so. Please remember to check your lens each day periodically.  Fingerprint on the lens will deteriorate the quality of the images.

Nikon P7000, ISO 100, ƒ/3.5, 1/1250

Which point and shoot should you buy if you don’t have one?

I recommend getting something with a decent zoom on it so you can get those images of things far away. I think most people will be able to find a camera in the $200 - $500 range that gives you a great deal of flexibility that can fit in you pocket.

Here are a few models that I would consider:

Canon PowerShot SX280 HS

• Canon PowerShot SX280 HS – It has a 20X zoom, which is equivalent to the DSLR 25 – 500mm. It is a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor. ISO 80-6400
• Nikon Coolpix L610 – It has a 14X zoom which is equivalent to the DSLR 25-350mm. It is a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor. ISO 125-3200
• LUMIX ZS25: Compact Long Zoom Camera – It has a 20X zoom, which is equivalent to the DSLR 24 – 480mm. It is a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor. ISO 100-6400



There is another Point and Shoot camera model in between the small pocket camera and the larger DSLR. I call these Bridge Cameras.  They are cameras with incredible zooms that make them a little larger and look like their big brother the DSLR, except you cannot change the lens.  However, with the zoom on these who would ever need another lens.

Here are just three Bridge Cameras you should seriously consider before sinking lots of cash into a DSLR.

Nikon Coolpix P520

• Nikon Coolpix P520 – It has a 42X zoom, which is equivalent to the DSLR 24-1000mm. It is an 18.1 megapixel CMOS sensor. ISO 80-3200 [H2 pushed to ISO 12,800]
• Canon PowerShot SX50 HS – It has a 50X zoom, which is equivalent to the DSLR 24-1200mm. It is a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor. ISO 80-6400
• LUMIX LZ30: Long Zoom DSLR Alternative Bridge Camera – It has a 35X zoom, which is equivalent to the DSLR 25 – 875mm. It is a 16.1 megapixel CMOS sensor. ISO 100-6400

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 250, ƒ/8, 1/500

DSLR Camera Kit

Plan to carry this on with you for security reasons.

• Camera
• Off camera flash
• Zoom or fixed lenses to cover 24 – 300mm recommended
• 2 Batteries
• Battery Charger
• 2 Memory cards
• Lens cloth which can double for your gray card
• Bag or a plan for carrying what you need

The basic difference for the hobbyist and the professional is the need for backup on everything for the pro.  My comments for each are the same as before with the Point and Shoot cameras.

Plan for the plane’s you will fly. If you have one of those really small jets or propeller plans you can only put a very small bag on board with you. If you are carrying a lot of gear I recommend suing the ThinkTank roller bags and check them at the door of the gate.  They will give them back to you as you get off the plane. It is a little safer than checking the bag where it can get lost.

If flying internationally you really do need to watch the weight. This is where a camera vest can pay off because you can put gear in it and it doesn’t count as baggage.  Cargo paints will work great for a lens or two.

My two sisters gave me a surprise kiss during our family photos. Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12,800 ƒ/8, 1/30 with Nikon SB900 on camera with 0 EV compensation and slow-sync.

Here is a family photo that I setup and asked a person to push the button for us.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12,800, ƒ/8, 1/125 with SB900 direct flash for fill on slow-sync.

Vacation Photo Tip: Long Lens can compress the scene

Nikon D4, 28-300mm [56mm], ISO 100, ƒ/10, 1/80

We were on our quest to get a good photo of the Hollywood sign by going up the road to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. After parking we immediately took our first attempt here.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm [68mm], ISO 280, ƒ/29, 1/60

Now we move up the road to the observatory. Here the photo is a little better. Had there not been cars and road right behind me I might have backed up a little and used a longer lens. While I like the photo, I still feel that the Hollywood sign is just too far away.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm [190mm], ISO 280, ƒ/29, 1/60

To get the last photo we went further up the mountain. I used a longer focal length and to be sure the Hollywood sign was readable I stopped down to ƒ/29. I like this photo so much I did another one of my wife alone.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm [280mm], ISO 280, ƒ/29, 1/60

One last thing about that latest photo, notice how I zoomed in even more to 280mm focal length. The sign is even closer in feel and based on this if I had shot this with a 600mm it would appear even closer.

Just a couple of posts ago here I recommended composing the background first. This is still the case, but sometime You need to consider bringing the background closer.

Remember this is just the opposite of what they are doing when they shoot TV sitcoms. They are trying to make the most of the small space they often work in and therefore are using moderate to wide angles to expand the set.

Vacation Photos: Compose Background then add family and friends

Nikon D4, ISO 12,800, ƒ/5, 1/100, 28 - 300mm [No Flash]

Today I was touring the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California. We made a stop to see the set of the Friends TV show set.

While I enjoyed seeing the set and took many photos.  I took this shot and then put my wife and daughter into the photo.

Nikon D4, ISO 12,800, ƒ/5, 1/100, 28 - 300mm [No Flash]

I had my wife and daughter get as close to the camera as possible without totally blocking the background.

The diagram shows how their was neon sign lighting my wife and daughter just over my shoulder.

Had we had more time and no one else in the room with us I might have tried a few other angles.

Nikon D4, ISO 12,800, ƒ/5, 1/100, 28 - 300mm [No Flash]

My tip is simple, first compose the background and then get the people as close to the camera as possible. This means they are most likely between three to five feet from the camera at the most.

Nikon P7000, ISO 128, ƒ/2.8, 1/250, -1 EV flash

Earlier we went to Disneyland. Here I just carried my Nikon P7000. I have a already programs my U1 [User Setting 1] where the flash is -1 EV. So in this last photo I used similar technique and got everyone close to the camera. I popped up the on camera flash and because we are so close to each other the subjects faces don't have those nasty raccoon eyes due to the sun directly overhead.

So the only last tip is to use a flash outside to fill in those shadows. 

Taking my own advice

This past week I have taken some of my advice about getting out of a creative rut.

November 9th Taylor turned 21 and the family headed downtown to Fat Matt's Rib Shack.  You could have probably called this a black hole for photographers. Very little light and I just took my point and shoot Nikon P7000.

Everyone was just having fun and so I just tried to capture the mood we were all in that night. I like being sure I have my camera with me for moments like these.  They are first in the slide show. I enjoyed the band to help lighten up the mood that night as well as the good BBQ.

We then enjoyed some cake at the house.  I just enjoyed capturing the moments of family life at our household.

After eating BBQ on Thursday, we were inspired to return to our new favorite BBQ joint in Blairsville, GA--Jim's Smokin' Que.  I wrote about our first visit and want to say they are consistent. The food was just as good this time, plus we also had for desert some peanut butter pie.

The road we took from Roswell to Blairsville was filled with twists and turns. Sine this was making our daughter car sick we took a different way than the GA400 and Hwy 19. We took the Appalachian Hwy over to Blueridge, Georgia. 

I remembered my friend from Showcase many years ago had moved there to open a Wine and Cheese shop with other fun things to shop for. So I looked up Sara Auman on my iPad and then we headed over to her store "Out of the Blue."

The best part of walking in the door was Sara remembered me by name. I always thought she was one of the best camera salespersons I ever knew.

What was rejuvenating about these past few days? Spending time with family. Enjoying good food and music. We changed the scenery and drove through the mountains. I visited an old friend.

I already feel better and encourage you to also take time with your family and friends. I recommend going to Blairsville for some great BBQ with Jim at Jim's Smokin' Que on the Gainesville Hwy.

Vacation Photos: Compose the setting first

To get this photo of my wife and daughter I took the photo below first.  It is then easier to have the people stand and fill in a part of the frame close to the camera. Nikon P7000 ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/40 fill flash to auto balance the background.

Nikon P7000 ISO 1600, f/3.2, 1/220

When you travel for vacations, be sure you do a good job of taking photos that show where you visited.  Don't get so close on your family photos that the photos could have been taken anywhere.

Also don't have the people so close to the background they are too small to see their faces.  Have the people as close to the camera without completely covering up your background.

Also, even tho you are outside on a sunny day try the photo with a flash and without.  Many times the flash helps improve the photo.

While this will work for your vacation photos, it will work for anyone you need to show in their environment.  Try this same technique for a person you might have a story about.

While I liked the picture of the Horwarts Train I really wanted to show our family visiting.  So after getting the camera angle I then had my family stand in and get a better photo for us.  Nikon P7000 ISO 100, f/4, 1/380

Adding my wife and daughter is easy once I have where they are composed.  Nikon P7000 ISO 100, f/4, 1/230

Nikon P7000 ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/400

Added my daughter to the photo above.  Again, by having a good background I am not only taking a photo of my daughter, but you can tell we went to Harry Potter Wizarding World Theme Park in Orlando, Florida.  Nikon P7000 ISO 139, f/5.6, 1/550 and fill flash used.