May 16, 2008

Working with David Breashears: Peru

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My first story for National Geographic Magazine took me high in the Peruvian Andes to cover the discovery of a girl sacrificed by the Incas at almost 21,000' on Mt Ampato. We spent weeks high on the mountain and during the time I had the privilege of working with filmmaker David Breashears

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David had just come back from scouting Mt Everest for an IMAX film. I learned a lot about story telling and expeditions from David in the weeks we worked together. He is a gifted mountaineer and story teller.

Last Sunday Frontline broadcast his documentary about the 1996 climbing season at Everest that ended in tragedy. David has really poured himself into this film. It is riveting.

-Stephen Alvarez

May 15, 2008

Good Bye: Abkhazia

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Sergio kisses his girlfriend Pilar goodbye before entering Krubera cave with his friend Bernard Tourte. They were going into the cave for a 2 day trip.

Well, Krubera is a DEEP cave and as often happens on expeditions plans change. Bernard hurt his ribs and Sergio stayed underground with him. After Bernard felt better the two of them helped explore and push the cave even deeper.

2 WEEKS later they reemerged. The cave was nearly 2 kilometers deep.

Sometimes things do not go as planned. It did work out well for me. Not only are the picture and the story behind it good, but Pilar assisted me making pictures in the upper parts of the cave (my first assistant broke his hand in a rock fall but that is another story). Even when things don't go according to plan, they can go well.

Stephen Alvarez


Canon EOS 1v, 15mm 2.8 lens

May 13, 2008

Think Fixed Tech: Weekly Photo Links

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Ok, im not sure what has happened this week. Its like the photo app guys thought it was the week before June 9 and decided that they needed to get their updates out before WWDC. Note to you guys: We have another THREE WHOLE WEEKS, so relax. And thank you, though im not 100% sure what the hell to do with all of these links. Oh right, im going to put them in my new Wed spot here on the picturestoryblog.com because I was fired from Fridays. Turns out that people would rather look at pretty imagery on the last work day of the week rather than back up their photo database. Good luck with that.

Here are the links as they came to me and I honestly have never used a single one of them but they all look usable. The more pro (proer?) of you may turn your noses up at some of them because either 1) Every image you shoot is perfect in every way for every use or 2) You are like that guy in the Matrix who sees the ones and zeroes, except you do that with Photoshop. But the rest of us looking for shortcuts and technology fixes to our bad to average photos are lucky as hell.

Hydra: We have discussed Aperture before (anyone?... anyone?...) and Hydra is a plugin that extends its usefulness. It allows you to combine up to four photos of the same thing, at different exposures and combine them to create a perfectly balanced photo. Its called HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging and it compensates for that lousy CCD that you must deal with here in the 21st century. Cool, right? Oh, and its also a standalone program, so if you dont use the aforementioned Aperture, no problem. Leopard only but does RAW. Word.

Here is a cool article on trackpad gestures in Photoshop, for those of you who havent yet upgraded to the latest and greatest laptops. Oh how I pity you. It speaks for itself and is pretty cool. Yes I am aware that this isnt a new product, but it IS extending the usefulness of Photoshop.

Anyone ever use Acorn? Anyone ever heard of it? Its a simple, inexpensive ($50) image editor for those of you who have been using bootlegged or cracked versions of Photoshop and cant sleep at night anymore because you are sure you will be arrested by the BSA. Give it a shot, its powerful and simple. Plus, its made by a company that has the balls to call itself "Flying Meat".

Picturesque. Is. Kick Ass. Seriously, im not joking, its really cool because, well, it makes your images better. There, I said it: You need help with some of those images and unless you are some sort of photojournalist all hung up on truth and image fidelity, this baby can really make you look good. You artists out there hear me. Make something good into something new, whether its good or not. Have fun.

Batting last is Photon. Photon ($70) should have gotten a mention here, but I was too myopic in my analysis and none of you had the guts to point it out in the comments of that post. Thanks. No really, Thanks. Photon enters the DAM pantheon with a slick interface and boasts of rocket-like speed. Full resolution RAW processing and did I mention speed? Import/Organize was never this fast or sexy.

Whew. Remember to check them out and report back to me in the comments. I havent done anything but discover the golden monkey head; you must retrieve it and exploit the spoils.

Geof Bowie
www.thinkfixed.com

Milky Way: border of the Navajo Reservation, Arizona

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It was while working on Beyond the Blue Horizon that I really started to look at the night sky. Being with Polynesian navigators made me look at the night sky a whole new way, it is a map that can tell you where you are in the world.

While I liked some of the night sky images that I made on the story, I knew that with some work and planning I could do better.

The Navajo Reservation outside Flagstaff Arizona is dark and the air is very very clear. I arrived there near the new moon so that the sky would be extra dark. The camera is attached to an equatorial mount that tracks the earth's rotation. The stars stay sharp in this 6 minute exposure while the hills in the distance blur with movement.

The stars are so bright there that I felt like I could fall into the sky.

Stephen Alvarez

Canon EOS 5d 24mm 1.4 lens 6 minute exposure

to set this image as your desktops background check out the "Wall Paper/Desktop Pictures" link on the right.

May 12, 2008

Tawi Attair: Oman

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Nancy Pistol climbs out of the "Well of the Birds," Tawi Attair, a 100 meter pit in Dhofar, Southern Oman.

In general, women don't do things like this in Dhofar. It was a surprise to the Jebali tribesmen who live near the well. One of them was so impressed with Nancy's bravery that he fired his .303 rifle off just over our heads as I was photographing. Later they assured me that shooting just above someone's head was a way of greeting.

Even though it is on the Arabian Peninsula, Southern Oman gets a seasonal monsoon and so for a few months in the summer it is lush and green. The rolling hills are shrouded in mist.

My Scottish assistant Ben commented, it looks just like home here, except for the camels...


Stephen Alvarez

Canon EOS 1v 17-35mm 2.8 lens Fuji Velvia

May 11, 2008

planning purchases

This is a bit of a follow up to Geof's Friday post.


It always amazes me how one purchase drives another.

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Take my latest camera the Canon EOS 1ds Mark III. It is a great camera. 21 megapixels. It captures a huge amount of information so I knew I was going to have to upgrade the hard drives in my RAID to 1 TB drives. And I knew that I'd need to carry more than two 8 GB compact flash cards as they fill up pretty fast now. Also the hard drives that I carry in the field to download pictures on would need to be upgraded.

What I didn't count on was a new version of photoshop so that I could convert the new cr2 files or worse yet, my old G5 desktop is starting to seem a little slow running through the bigger files. I was hoping to get another 6 months out of it but now maybe not...


It is though, an astounding camera. Would anyone like to hear a review? Happy to do it if there is interest.

-Stephen Alvarez

May 09, 2008

Girl on Fire: Lost Cove, Tennessee

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As I said in an earlier post, Lost Cove is one of my favorite places on earth. I've been really lucky to grow up and live in a place this magical. Now I am even luckier, I get to share that sense of wonder with my children.

Last weekend we camped in the cove. Using a long exposure I traced my daughter's outline with a burning stick from our campfire.

My son operated the camera so the credit on this picture should read: Rachel, Joshua and Stephen Alvarez.

Have a great weekend.


-Stephen Alvarez

Canon EOS 5d 24mm 1.4 lens 30 second exposure

Think Fixed Tech: Timing a Purchase

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It will never fail. You will decide to buy a new piece of technology, especially a computer, and within weeks, a newer version at the same price will be available. What to do? You cant just wait around but the frustration you anticipate is almost worse! Never mind that, here are some tips to help live with the uncomfortable nature of Moore's Law:
Step 1: Decide what your needs truly are. If today's model is sufficient to meet these needs, you know that you at least have made a smart choice.
Step 2: Pay attention to major Apple events (or related conferences in the field). WWDC and MacWorld are events that almost always bring updates and upgrades to ensure the obsolescence of your new purchase.
Step 3: Get on the rumor mill. There are some great sites that will help to guide you in decisions to purchase now or after the new release. Mac Rumors and AppleInsider are good places to start. However these days anything Apple does seems to generate mainstream rumors.
Step 4: Bust out the Zen and live with your decision. Get what you need and worry not about how much shinier or how many more megapixels you missed out on. If you were true to Step 1, you have no reason to worry.

And since im just making all this up, I think I will stop there and recommend to anyone that has been living in a cave to not buy that iPhone just yet. The aforementioned WWDC happens next month and everyone is sure there will be a new iPhone. You betcha.

Geof Bowie
www.thinkfixed.com

May 08, 2008

Kayaking: Palau

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If you ever have the chance to travel to Palau, it is well worth the flight. Besides world renowned diving, there are countless rock islands to explore. I was in Palau on assignment to photograph skeletons found in two caves in the rock islands and at one of the sites the only way in and out of the cave -at least when tide is out, is by kayak.

One interesting thing about the skeletons is that they were found by a palaeoanthropologist on vacation. His wife had chosen Palau for their vacation because she was certain that there would not be human fossils that he would find interesting.

-Stephen Alvarez


Canon EOS 1ds mark II 17-35 mm lens

May 07, 2008

Orphan Works Bill

Sorry to post this here, but the Orphan Works bill drastically effects the future of online publishing.


An Orphan Works Bill is making its way through both houses of Congress. The House is meeting about it a 2pm eastern time today.
The bill significantly changes the rules for copyright enforcement. In essence it moves rights away from the photographers, writers and artists who create the material that we all enjoy.
If H.R. 5889 (the house bill) or S.2913 (the senate bill) become law many photographers would have to reconsider how they make a living.
There is a link here to help you register your opposition.
I've already talked to my representative Lincoln Davis's office. Although his office has yet to let me know his position on HR 5889.

I urge people in the US to contact their congressional representatives (house senate) and make their views known.

-Stephen Alvarez

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