If you are of that ilk, I have some tour options for you. I’ve picked three sites to help get your ideas of traveling abroad going, plus a listing of my own photo tours, of course. The three sites are run by people I have befriended and would personally enjoy spending two weeks frozen in the Arctic with or a week sweltering in the jungles of Papua New Guinea or exploring the expanse of the Universe from the floor of Death Valley. Have a look if you’re looking for a photography tour or regular tour in 2012 or 2013.

NOTE: While this is a listing of current tours, all the operators here constantly update their sites as new trips are planned. They are all also available for customized tours if your trip idea is not listed.

Jim Goldstein

Jim is a San Francisco based photographer who loves the outdoors. Yosemite is in his backyard and he plans a number of trips there each year. His list of locations also includes Death Valley, the beaches around the Bay area and the American Southwest. Jim’s laidback attitude, while still being a tech-geek at heart, is a great combination of art and the technical aspects of photography making him an excellent instructor. Not only will you learn a ton from Jim’s workshops, you’ll want to hang out and have a beer with him afterward.

• Yosemite Moonbow Photo Tour – April 2012 – Yosemite, National Park, Moon, Waterfalls, Nature, Night Photography
• Tidepools & Macro Photography Photo Tour – May 2012 – Macro, Sealife, San Francisco
• Yosemite Moonbow Photo Tour – June 2012 – Yosemite, National Park, Moon, Waterfalls, Nature, Night Photography
• Glacier National Park, Montana – June 2012 – Glaciers, Nature, Wildlife, Night Photography
• Bisti Badlands, New Mexico – September 2012 – Night Photography, Macro, Desert, Nature
• Death Valley Racetrack – October 2012 – Desert, Nature, Night Photography, Light Painting, Experimentation, Landscape
• The Wave, Arizona – Fall 2012 – Patterns, Desert, Nature, Landscape, Sandstone

Jon Cornforth

Jon plans big. If you’re looking for pure adventure (which might read: some discomfort required to take in spectacular sites and awe inspiring nature) then take a look at what Jon offers. His tours are not for those wanting to sit five stories up on a cruise ship while maybe spotting a whale 3000’ away. His tours are perfect if you want to be in the thick of it; a hundred yards from a polar bear in the arctic or swimming with whales off the coast of Tonga. Really, he gets out there. Take a look at his offerings for the next couple of years:

• Humpback Whale Photography Tour – July & August 2012 – Whales, whales and more whales, sea life, Alaska, Tropics, Tonga, Adventures
• Polar Bear Photography Tour – October 2012 – Polar Bears, Arctic, Wildlife, Alaska, Land-Based, Sea-Based
• Mexico Sailfish Photography Tour – January 2013 – Diving, Sea Life, Underwater, Sailfish
• Japan Wildlife Photography Tour – February 2013 – Snow Monkeys, Cranes, Japan, Wildlife, Eagles

Beth Whitman

While Beth is not offering a specific photography tour, she has in the past. What’s more, Beth understands the idea behind traveling differently. Her tours don’t pass by the highlights at a 30 monument-a-day pace. She takes time to visit local villages and savor local flavors. Her tours are hand spun and she has personally inspected each location, having at least once lead a tour before setting up an itinerary. Her years of experience leading these tours (she’s never home when we gather for happy hour in Seattle!) and kind nature make her an easy choice if you want more of a mix of great photographic subjects and cultural connections.

Beth also offers women-only tours, something the guys above can never offer. ;)

• Vietnam and Cambodia Women-only Tour – March 2012 – People, History, Scenery, Culture, Villages, Angkor Wat, Mekong River
• Bhutan Women-only Buddhism Tour – Spring 2012 – Buddhism, Culture, History, Religion, Meditation, Yoga, Paro Festival, Tiger’s Nest
• Santa Fe Women-only Culinary Tour – June, 2012 – Food, Sun, Cooking Lessons, Native American History, Markets
• Papua New Guinea Mt. Hagen Show Cultural Tour – August 2012 – Co-ed, Culture, Islands, Jungle, Photography, Tribes, Mt. Hagen Festival
• Papua New Guinea Goroka Show – September 2012 – Co-ed, Culture, Homestay, Tribes, History, Goroka Show
• Rogue River Women-only Rafting Trip – Fall, 2012 – Rafting, Oregon, Outdoors, Wild And Scenic River
• Bhutan Women-only Culture and Festival Tour – Fall, 2012 – Jambay Lhakhang Teschu, Festival, Buddhism, Monasteries, Ritual
• Myanmar (Burma) Women-only Culture and Pagoda Tour – October 2012 – Culture, Cuisine, Religion, Tribes
• North India Women-only Cultural Tour – Fall, 2012 – Taj Mahal, Delhi, Bollywood, Hadicrafts, Daily Life

Peter West Carey

On to me. I endorse me because I earnestly love not only traveling but also teaching photography. My tours are focused on photography and experiencing local cultures. I keep my operations small so I can give personal attention to each of my guests, helping them learn photography while in exotic locations as much, or as little, as they want. My trips are centered around either an event, like the four day festivals in Bhutan, or an exotic location rich in photography subjects.  Take a look at what I have on deck for the next couple of years.

• India April 2012 – 16 Days – Delhi, Agra, Taj Mahal, Ranthambore National Park, Amritser, Jaipur, Varanasi – Tigers, architecture, festival, ceremony, religion, daily life, Ganges River
• Mountains, Waterfalls & Stars – 3 Days – Oregon, Cascade Mountains, Waterfalls, Columbia River, Mt. Hood, Night Photography, Mt. St. Helens
• Nepal Sept/Oct 2012 – 21 Days – Kathmandu, Sagarmatha National Park, Himalayas, Mt. Everest,Gokyo Ri
• Bhutan Oct. 2012 – 13 Days – Thimphu, Jakar 5 Day Festival, Bumthang, Religion, Ceremony, Tiger’s Nest
• Bhutan March 2013 – 13 Days – Paro, Paro 4 Day Festival, Thimphu, Tiger’s Nest, Culture
• Nepal Oct 2013 – 21 Days – Kathmandu, Sagarmatha National Park, Himalayas, Mt. Everest, Kalapathar
• India November 2013 – 16 Days – Pushkar 5 Day Festival, Camels, Nomadic Life, Taj Mahal, Architecture, Religion

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Title: Take Offs And Landings

Location: Portland, Oregon, USA, North America

Description: What’s going on here? First, this image was shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens with settings of ISO 100, 150mm, f/20, 30 seconds. What’s going is one plane is taking off and those are the streaks in the foreground, including the red and green wingtip lights. The little dots along those lines are created from strobes (lights that flash) on the wing tips. The bright lights in the middle and the front wheel lights.

The lights in the background are created from a plane on approach behind the plane that is taking off. As you can see, planes don’t often descend in a perfectly straight line. The last streak from right to left is front another plane approaching the other runway to the side.

Photograph Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

If you’re in the Portland area, I will be holding workshops on February 4th, 2012 and March 31st & April 1st, 2012.

More on this technique for Light Trails can be found here.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Description: Ama Dablam Panorama Exploration

Location: Himalayas, Nepal

Description: The hidden lake and North side of Ama Dalam, Nepal

Shot with Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

Are you interested in joining a photo tour in Nepal in 2012? Email me for more information or click here.

Note: You likely won’t see the image above if you are reading this via email or some RSS viewers. Click here to be taken to a full view.

If you want to see more Panoramas like this one, click here.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

To use this image, simply click and drag to move around. Use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out, or use [Shift] to zoom in and [CTRL] to zoom out.  And if you want to turn things up a notch, right click and choose “Fullscreen”. Have fun!

Description: Lima Cityscape Panorama Exploration

Location: Lima, Peru, South America

Description: This image was created from 33 individual images, shot vertically to get the most foreground in as possible. I then combined the images in the computer and stitched them together using Kolor’s AutoPano Giga software which handled all the magic. I will be writing about the process I use to create these images soon at Digital Photography School. If I were evil, I’d ask you to find the man walking his dog…but I’m not THAT evil, maybe.

Shot with Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens with settings of ISO 100, 28mm, f/8 and 1/640th of a second.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

Note: You likely won’t see the image above if you are reading this via email or some RSS viewers. Click here to be taken to a full view.

If you want to see more Panoramas like this one, click here.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Description: Colorado River Panorama Exploration

Location: Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA

Description: Just off the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park are numerous view points of the Colorado River, including this isolated spot. Visiting in March, there are few other tourists and the place seems as it has been for thousands of years.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

If you want to see more Panoramas like this one, click here.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

To use this image, simple click and drag to move around. Use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out, or use [Shift] to zoom in and [CTRL] to zoom out.  And if you want to turn things up a notch, right click and choose “Fullscreen”. Have fun!

For the Nepal fans out there, especially those who have trekked to Everest basecamp, you can see the Tengboche Monastery as well as the trail from Phortse (the village on the left shaped kind of like an hour glass) to Pengboche (not visible just around the corner).

Title: Nepal Himalaya Panorama Exploration

Location: Mong, Nepal

Shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 28-300mm L lens at 28mm. I shot this with bracketing, meaning I took one shot at the camera’s prescribed exposure, then one shot over-exposed by a stop and one shot under-exposed. I then combined the images in the computer and stitched them together using Kolor’s AutoPano Giga software which handled all the magic.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

Are you interested in joining a photo tour in Nepal in 2012 to this exact location? Email me for more information or click here.

Note: You likely won’t see the image above if you are reading this via email or some RSS viewers. Click the page link to be taken to a full view.

Be sure to check out yesterday’s Photo Of The Day for the same experience at Machu Picchu.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

So check out this first installment from Machu Picchu. I’m still getting used to the program and will be creating more panoramas as time goes on (possibly even 360 degree versions).

To use this image, simple click and drag to move around. Use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out, or use [Shift] to zoom in and [CTRL] to zoom out.  And if you want to turn things up a notch, right click and choose “Fullscreen”. Have fun!

Title: Machu Picchu Panorama Exploration

Location: Machu Picchu, Peru

Description: It’s Machu Picchu, but all zoomable and stuff.

Shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 10-22mm EF lens. I shot this with bracketing, meaning I took one shot at the camera’s prescribed exposure, then one shot over-exposed by a stop and one shot under-exposed. I then combined the images in the computer and stitched them together using Kolor’s AutoPano Giga software which handled all the magic.

Photographs Creative Commons Copyright Peter West Carey

Note: You likely won’t see the image above if you are reading this via email or some RSS viewers. Click the page link to be taken to a full view.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Light Trails take a bit of imagination to conceptualize and shoot. While not vital, it helps to be able to plot out how you want your image to appear to understand the camera settings for this type of photography.

Here’s the deal; light comes in to your camera and hits your sensor. As mentioned previously, your sensor’s pixels and little scales measuring the amount of light ‘weighing’ on them (‘striking’ them is another way to think of it and is more accurate). The more light that hits the sensor, the higher the scale reads. Most pixels have a scale from 0-255. 0 is black. 255 is all filled up with that particular pixel’s color (red, green, blue…if you need a diagram, check out the post on ISO).

All fine and well. What happens to create a light trail is light from a source moves across the scene in front of the camera and is emitting light (or reflecting it, but lets stick with an actual light sources here, like a lightbulb, or the glowing eyes of the Yeti which actually emit light, look it up). As it moves from left to right, let’s say, it essentially ‘paints’ the pixels in its path with something brighter than what was behind it. Often these shots are taken at night, so the background is really dark, maybe a 20 on that 0-255 scale. Now this bright light comes along and pushes the pixel ‘sensors’ up to 240 or even maxes them out to 255.

The pixels can’t go back down the scale and thus they show the bright 240 reading even though the light source has moved on to the pixels next to them. Confused?  I kinda am, so let’s look at a pretty picture.

In this Fourth Of July shot I had the kids stand completely still. I then took a lit sparkler and traced it around them. It’s one of the few times I could get my daughter to remain still, so I I tried it many times to get the above image. Because the sparkler (emitting light all over the place) was brighter than background, and the shutter was open for 30 seconds, I was able to trace and have that movement recorded on the sensor.

Another pretty picture.

Now over to Nepal with its mountains and chances to see stars. The exact same thing is happening here, believe it or not. Well, kinda. On a simple scale I am holding the camera still on planet Earth and it is rotating. The stars are (perceptively, but not actually) holding still. So when the camera moves and the light source holds still, the light appears to move. Which is cool! In this case, the shutter was left open for 445 seconds.

There are two basic ways to go about recording light trails, be they Earth bound or in the heavens.

Method 1 – Long Exposure

This is the method in the first image. I left the shutter open for 30 seconds in Shutter Priority mode. If you have a cable release or remote control for your camera, you can hold the shutter open even longer (or just hold down the shutter release when in Bulb mode, which might require switching to Manual mode). The long exposure method has its limits and challenges.

First of all, your subject needs to not move ideally, otherwise it will appear blurred while the light trail is painted. I’m talking here about the subject, not the light that is doing the trailing. Having kids stand still for 30 seconds is about the limits of this challenge according to the laws of physics. Even a relatively slow shutter speed can create light trails. Take a look at this .8 second long exposure of the Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier in California.

.8 seconds might not be long on the back of a bull, but it is long enough to give just enough movement to the lights on the wheel. In this case, it was pretty easy to get the pier to not move (barring earthquakes).

Get a tripod. Or, if no tripod is handy (as in the picture above) use anything that you can that won’t move. In this case I set my backpack down on the sand, positioned the camera on the back of it and used a timed shot to help ensure I wasn’t moving the camera, burring the pier.

Another example. This shot is 20 seconds long and is taken in downtown Langley, Washington.

Method 2 – Stacking Multiple Images

The other main method is to stack multiple, shorter shutter length images into one final image. This takes a special program or Photoshop skills. I downloaded a simple program that costs $17 call Image Stacker. And it does just that. The method used to create light trails is called “Brightest”. Opps! Let me take a step back.

So step one would be to take the images. You would setup your camera on a sturdy surface or tripod. Something non-moving (which begs the question of why I attempted this demo in California). Using either your finger to keep pressing the shutter lease, or a handy product called an intervalometer, you take a series of images, one after the other, as close together as you can. This can lead to hundreds of images, or maybe just a dozen if you like.

In the computer, you would then throw these images (in JPEG or TIFF format) at Image Stacker, choosing the ‘Brightest’ option. The program then looks at the same pixel in each image and only uses the brightest one. It does this for how many ever millions of pixels you have. If you are shooting at a mainly black sky, for instance, it will see black in all of those pixels except for when a start moves across. Then it will just show that bight spot.

In this way you get trails, which may have spaces in them depending on the time between shots and how fast the objects are moving. By way of example, let me show you a test I did this week.

I shot 150 frames of the view from Santa Monica towards LAX airport to the south. Each frame was .8 seconds long and a shot was taken each second. The frames were then assembled the images using Lightroom and this cool plugin. The video it spit out looked like…

If I take those same images and stack them, I receive the image below:

Kinda cool. If I had taken one second exposures, the spaces in between lines would be gone.

I hope those two methods of creating light trails start you thinking about what you can create. Don’t look to the stars for all your inspiration, grab any type of light and see what you can create!

Next Up: How I Edited It

31+ Days To Better Photography is a series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey on The Carey Adventures.Com. The series is designed to unravel the mysteries of photography so you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

So here are my picks from 2011. These might not be my most popular posts, as indicated by comments, reshares and all that other social media jargon, but they are images I enjoy viewing from this past year. Each for a different reason. They are in no particular order.

This is where I live. Can you believe it? People ask me if I’d ever relocate permanently and I say no, because of sights like this. This is in December, of all the cloudy months in the Puget Sound. And it’s taken from one of my favorite local coffee shops Anchor Books and Coffee in Clinton, Washington. The mountain is Three Fingers and this image is captured just as the sun snuck between clouds. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 200, 260mm, f/5.6, 1/100th of a second

You can’t go wrong with a sunny morning at Machu Picchu. This was my second trip to the city and I was blessed with great weather and a guide who let me wander around to take pictures. Why did I go a second time? Because I won a trip thanks to a random drawing from Meet, Plan, Go! Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 28mm, f/6.3, 1/100th of a second

Next up is a stop in India where I did some scouting for a photo tour I am leading in April of 2012. You should come along if you have the time! This is the Presidential Palace and shot through a barely open gate. I just love the simplicity and symmetry of this shot, plus the strong, orange earth. Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm EF lens, ISO 100, 22mm, f/6.3, 1/200th of a second

Let’s stay in India for my next shot. It’s a unique view of the Taj Mahal, a time honored classic subject that has been photographed in just about every type of light and angle. Sure, I have the classic reflecting reflecting pool view, but I wanted some thing different. The fine folks at BorrowLenses.com had lent me a Sigma 4.5mm fisheye lens for this trip and it was just the ticket. This shot was taken from the Eastern most building to add another dimension to this beautiful architecture. Canon 7D, Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye, ISO 250, 4.5mm, f/6.3, 1/1000th of a second

Let’s skip on over to Nepal next. This shot was taken while hanging out in an Internet café and realizing I didn’t have an umbrella. My attempt at outlasting the rain did not work and as the café shut down, I was forced out into the dark, wet night. Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm EF lens, ISO 400, 10mm, f/5, 1/60th of a second

Heading up into the hills for my Nepal Photography Trek, we reached the town of Khumjung after a few days on the trail. Night photography became a popular event on this tour. Here, I got a quick shot in before the fog overtook the town. Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm EF lens, ISO 200, 10mm, f/4.5, 139 seconds

Up and over to Tengboche, the spectacular gate to the monastery was a perfect foreground object to place in front of distant Mt. Everest (on the right, in the middle of the ridge). The long exposure allowed for some star trails to add punch. Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm EF lens, ISO 100, 10mm, f/6.3, 332 seconds

Let’s see some mountains! It one of the main reasons to come on a trek like this. And they are all around. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 105mm, f/8, 1/200th of a second

Sunrise lit this mountain side on fire. You don’t always need a shot of Mt. Everest to be classic Himalayas. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 300mm, f/9, 1/125th of a second

And sometimes, they just beg to be turned black and white. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 130mm, f/5.6, 1/800

You can’t forget the animals that make trekking in this region so popular. Beasts of burden, indeed. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 70mm, f/10, 1/800th of a second and a lot of running to get in front of the dzokyos before they came around the corner.

Skipping on over to Bhutan for another photo tour with a different flavor of Buddhism and architecture, this is Punakha Dzong. A fortress in older times, now it houses local government offices at the confluence of two rivers. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 80mm, f/9, 1/500th of a second

Prevalent in all aspects of society, devotion to Buddhism is widely evident in this small, mountainous country. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 210mm, f/9, 1/4000th of a second

Without a doubt, the people are what will be drawing me back to Bhutan for the tour this year. Warm and inviting, these strangers invited us into their home for tea. Canon 7D, Canon 10-22mm EF lens, ISO 2000, 10mm, f/3.5, 1/30th of a second

Colorado was nice enough to invite me over for a press trip in the Summer. And it would not have been complete without a full fledged, local rodeo. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 200, 270mm, f/6.3, 1/25th of a second

Now let’s head back to Washington state where we have no problem finding puddles to splash around in. Canon 7D, Canon 100mm Macro L lens, ISO 1000, 100mm, f/2.8, 1/400th of a second

We also have some beautiful mountains to see. In this case, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams as spotted on a flight from Seattle to Portland. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 40mm, f/5.6, 1/800th of a second

And our sunsets over the water? Gorgeous. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 300mm, f/11, 1/100th of a second

I leave you with the view from the island I live on, looking across at the foothills of the Olympic Mountain Range. Canon 7D, Canon 28-300mm L lens, ISO 100, 170mm, f/11, 1/100th of a second

2011 was awesome and I look forward to more great photos in 2012.

Oh, and if you would like to join me on a photo tour of India, Nepal or Bhutan, just drop me a line. Thanks!

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.

Again.

This time I left behind all my memory cards but took my camera. Thinking the bag was properly packed, I spotted Mt. Baker very bright and shiny off the starboard side of the ferry boat while taking Sabrina to school. Walking to the aft deck I whipped out my camera and….”No Card”.  BLAST! I checked the bag (one I am testing and not fully packed) and found my hard case which can hold up to four cards. It held exactly zero. DOUBLE BLAST!

I’ve gotten better at not overreacting in the past three years. When the water goes up, I go up, or so a Zen Buddhist story goes.

My brain started working on how the heck I left ALL my cards behind. It was a simple mistake on my part because all my cards look the same and the one I thought was in the camera was really in the card reader. After noodling on how to prevent this in the future, I realized it would be a good topic for a blog post on Digital Photography School, a blog I get paid to write for. (That post should be up next week, in case you are wondering how to not be an idiot like me.)

I hammered out most of the post on the way back home on the ferry as inspiration was still high (and Mt. Baker was far gloomier under a wintery Washington sky). I did have a point and shoot camera and I used that one, which would not have captured Mt. Baker well at all, to take a photo of the “No Card” image on the back of my Canon 7D. Copy file, drag, drop, spell check, grammar check….and post to blog queue.

Some blog posts for DPS take 4-6 hours to write if I’m struggling to explain a new concept. This one took maybe an hour in total. Relatively speaking, an easy payday (mind you, I have to do a LOT more writing to make it an actual day’s pay).

I could have left the boat fuming about missing the great shot, and it was a beautiful view this morning. Instead, because I have been slowly training my brain to find opportunity in ‘bad’ situations, I have a few more pennies to put toward purchasing a new lens.

Have you had any moments when things didn’t go your way, but you were able to make them pay off (monetarily or not) in the end?

©2012 The Carey Adventures. All Rights Reserved.