stephen_schoof

Flash compensation works in both Straight TTL and fill-flash TTL. As you guess, a straight TTL compensation is generally brighter than the same compensation in fill mode (because it doesn't include the camera's automatic compensation of ~-0.7 stop).

 

For nature work with slide film, I use both modes, but straight TTL more often, with compensations of -1 to -2, depending on the color of the subject, the % of the frame it covers, etc. Like you, I continue to learn and test, test, test....

Switch to slides if you want to publish and learn from your mistakes. Evaluate them with a color-corrected lightbox of the proper brightness (small ones sell for well under $100). You can get by without an expensive loupe IF you use something like a 10x jeweler's loupe to evaluate sharpness (a 50mm lens can be used for less magnification).

 

As you mention, your biggest problem will be sharing your work. Perhaps as a graduate student you can get occasional access to a slide scanner or projector. If not, you can either print your very best slides or just sit your friends in front of the lightbox.

Fontainebleau State Park across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans is nice -- I camped there and made some fine images of sunrise/set along the lakeshore. I saw a few coots and pelicans, but am really not sure of the full wildlife potential. There's also a short nature trail cutting through nearby forest. (And a restaurant named Billy Farrell's just down the road had the best crabmeat I have ever put in my mouth.)

Stephen and David are right on -- you have to shoot when there is still light in the sky, which limits you to a handful of days per month when the moon is roughly full. Experiment in the minutes after the sun sets (or before it rises in the morning). For a good saturated sky and silhouettes of everything else, bracket exposures around a spot meter reading of the sky itself. If you want details in the landscape as well, you'll have to use a split-neutral density filter to keep the sky from washing out.

I would think carefully before I turned them down (which would be a novel twist on an old theme. . . ). At least follow the previous advice to find out exactly what they want and are willing to take, and see if you can market them yourself at the same time. No one is born with a library of 100,000 images, and this may be an opportunity for you to invest more time and energy building your own portfolio.

 

I wouldn't worry about cardboard mounts. In my experience I've never encountered a publisher requesting them specifically.

I would be wary of a lightmeter reading under such low light, even if your built-in meter is reading. To be safe I would suggest using your photoguide recommendations and bracketing wildly. (Of course, record your exposures so you know what to do next time!)

 

As far as film, you might consider Provia F either at 100 or pushed to 200. I recently shot a moonlit lake with this @ 200 -- grain was fantastic and my best exposure was 20 short seconds @ f2.

Sorry, that's AL and MS, unless you want to go to Michigan.

I second the recommendation for Gulf Coast. My experience has been farther east (St. George Island in NW Florida) around Christmas. Very beautiful morning and evening light on white dunes w/ sea oats, etc. I'm sure AL and MI have similar spots.

 

The last I heard the Parkway was shut up tight due to all the precip we've had in Western NC lately. It's warmed up a bit, but I saw the Parkway from a trail in the Asheville (NC) area two days ago and it was still white (they don't plow). An alternative would be the Great Smokies, but Hwy 441 occasionally closes also.

I think the basic question here is, How serious are you about your photography? When I backpack I select pieces from my larger outfit, depending on what I think I'll need. The gear I take when I need pictures for articles or stock is different than if I'm just out with friends, but I always take at least an SLR, one or two lenses (usually wide and telephoto), appropriate filters, and a TRIPOD (a Gitzo 01 w/ Slik head, ~2 pounds). Obviously this adds up to about 5 lbs. total, but I usually carry the camera & two lenses in a holster pouch that keeps most of the weight balanced, off my back, out of the way, and easily accessible. It also means I can get just as high quality pictures as when I take my full kit and work out of my truck. My usual trips are 2 to 3 days, and I keep my pack weight around 35 pounds, including a 2-pound tent, gas stove, etc. I usually sacrifice camp chairs, extra shoes, Maglites, binoculars, novels, axes, and water if I can filter it on the trail.

 

If you decide on point and shoot, I will say that the Stylus Epic is a fine camera for the money. I can get high-quality snapshots of family, etc, but I would miss the control of an SLR or expensive P&S too much to take it backpacking. It is very durable.

Try my wife's 7th-grade classroom.

I should have included the Parkway road conditions phone number: (828) 298-0398. That covers the whole thing.

For landscapes, your toughest problem will be finding suitable subject matter, since the usual Appalachian cliches of lush forests, flowers, trees, waterfalls, etc. are (generally speaking) non-photogenic this time of year. However, there are wonderful opportunities for evening and morning light shows, particularly at higher elevations.

 

Lake Lure is less than an hour from Asheville. Mt. Mitchell (6,684', highest peak east of Mississippi River) and the Black Mountains are 1 hour north of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. One hour south on the Parkway will take you past Mt. Pisgah to Graveyard Fields and the Shining Rock Wilderness, a high, open area of balds and spruce forests.

 

The area around Hot Springs (a town of 500 about 45 minutes northwest of Asheville on US 25/70) is also worth checking out -- there's a 5-mile drive along the French Broad River and a 6-mile hike along Big Laurel Creek; both are nice in winter. If you want to go 45 minutes farther, you can check out Max Patch, a huge heath bald with great views in the middle of nowhere.

 

I'd also recommend Pisgah National Forest around U.S. 276 (southwest of Asheville), if you want to hike. There are two large granite domes, Looking Glass Rock and John Rock, rising out of the forest and offering great views. To catch the best light you'd have to camp near the summits or hike in the dark -- about 3.5 miles to each.

 

Of course, Lake Lure and the Rocky Broad River/Hickory Nut Gorge area themselves are worth spending some time.

 

If you want to expand your driving time, I'd recommend the high areas of the Great Smokies and/or the Parkway between Graveyard Fields and the Smokies -- lots of fantastic views and spruce/fir ecology. The same goes for Grandfather Mountain and the Linville Gorge Wilderness, north of Asheville. From Lake Lure you could count on ~3 hours.

 

I can't comment too much on sure-fire wildlife opportunities, but you might consider Cataloochee, a remote section of the Smokies accessible from I-40, or Cades Cove in the Smokies, which is over two hours.

 

Also be warned that the Parkway tends to close at the first sign of a snowflake. This time of year there probably won't be any old snow on the ground -- just whatever might come out of the sky while you're here.

I can't answer for Cromatek, either, but here's my experience with the Singh-Ray NDs:

 

With Singh-Ray there is not only a choice between 2- and 3-stops, but soft-edged (gradual gradation from clear to full ND) and hard-edged (sudden transition from clear to full ND). There's also a "reverse-grad", where the clear suddenly changes to full ND, then backs off toward clear again. What you need depends on the subjects you shoot.

 

Here in the Southeastern U.S. I can handle most landscapes with a 2- and/or 3-stop soft-edged. I often combine them for 5-stops of ND. If I had to pick one I'd choose the 3-stop, but lose lots of pictures where a little less or little more ND is needed. The filters are expensive but I believe they make a much bigger difference in my photography than any particular camera body I've bought, so you should consider more than one. I don't personally see the need for a one-stop, but then I prefer having too much ND than not enough.

 

There are times I could use the hard-edged versions, and occasionally the "reverse-grad," but the soft-edged are probably easier to use for a beginner.

 

Hope this helps more than it confuses!

My vote is also for June, especially if you want the classic lush look. I will mention that Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg is one of the nastier places as far as crowds go, as are all the trails Steve warned you about. The quieter park entrances like Cosby, Big Creek, Elkmont, etc. are better, and hiking does leave much of the crowd behind.

 

I think Cades Cove is probably the best for wildlife (also very busy); also, I almost always see deer in the remoter Cataloochee Valley. The above-mentioned entrances are good for creeks/woods/waterfalls. If you want views without hiking very far you'll probably have to drive 441.

 

Incidentally, I've avoided the Smokies in recent years just because of their popularity. Their amount and variety of scenery are hard to top, but there are plenty of lesser-known (though still busy) places you may want to try, like Roan Mountain in Pisgah National Forest (lots of rhododendron on RM and on open balds along the Appalachian Trail), the Parkway north of Asheville (Craggy Gardens [more rhodos], Mt. Mitchell and the Black Mountains, Crabtree Falls, Grandfather Mountain [privately-owned mountain park with exhibits of captive injured animals]), and Linville Gorge Wilderness in Pisgah NF (some old-growth, waterfalls, and fantastic rock outcrops with open sunrise/sunset views on Table Rock and Hawksbill Mtns.). Closer to the Smokies, the Parkway section Kenny mentioned is also spectacular.

 

High temperatures are typically in the 70s to low 80s, lows in 40s to 60s in June at mid-elevations. High mountains can be much chillier (down to 30s and windy), so prepare. Rain gear is a must.

I thought the US method was to just charge everything.

1/4 to equipment, 1/4 to travel, and the rest to the Nature Conservancy.

Any straight lines on your focusing screen are obviously helpful in lining up a horizon (my Nikon has two brackets marking an autofocus zone that I use). Sometimes I try lining up the camera's baseplate with the horizon. Possibly the most useful technique I use for any aspect of composition is to look away from the scene momentarily (time permitting), then look through the viewfinder afresh and imagine I'm seeing the finished slide projected on a screen. Usually this reveals tilted horizons and other flaws.

 

Incidentally, I don't find much use for "bubble levels" on tripods since, here in the mountains at least, a level tripod does not insure a level-appearing image.

I've tried lower-contrast films for my outdoor hiking/scenic work, but always come back to Velvia. A polarizer and/or fill-flash helps avoid the blown-out reflections and dark shadows of midday light (in case you haven't tried this). If you must have 100-speed, I'd use either Provia F or E100VS, which is about as contrasty as normal Velvia but probably less so than Velvia pushed a stop in bright sun.

I guess I should add that if you can possibly come the weekend before (16/17) you might have better luck.

You shouldn't be too late, at least for the mid- to low elevations. Right now in western NC we haven't even peaked yet at the 2000 to 3000-foot level. Early trees have turned (sourwood, tulip poplar) but most oaks and such are barely starting. I haven't been to the Tennessee Smokies yet, but I'd guess you could find some good color any time through the next 3 to 4 weeks just by driving up and down the slopes.

I'd check with the magazines involved to be sure they have no problem with prints. Even if they have some "transparencies-only" policy you can explain the situation and hopefully change their minds. I agree that shooting the birds (!) on slide film would be tougher than normal even for an experienced photographer. Of course your vegetation samples would be simpler.

 

Either way, you should take a flash to lighten dark shadows and bring your parrots out from the background.

 

Shoot a couple test rolls with similar subjects/situations before doing the real thing (regardless of the set-up you decide on).