Super moon photography tips for the Super blue Moon August 2023

Aug 30, 2023 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Full Moon, #Outdoor Photography, #Photography tips

You’ve heard the phrase “once in a blue moon”. Well, the August 30th Super blue moon will be the closest full moon of the year, making it appear much brighter and larger than normal. Different full moons throughout the year have different names and this full moon is called the Blue Moon. Not to be confused with the popular beer brand, a blue moon occurs only when the pattern of days in a year means there are 13 full Moons instead of the usual 12. But this will also be a super blue moon, making it even more rare. The previous one occurred in 2009. This will be the last super Blue Moon until 2037 so you don’t want to miss it.

I’ve taken tons of full moon photos over the years. Here are a few of my top tips for viewing or photographing the full moon.

Start shooting early.

To get the biggest, fullest moon possible, you’ll want to shoot it as soon as it pops up over the horizon. This year that will be August 30th at 7:49 pm here in south Arkansas. Now in the area that I live in, we’re mostly flat land with a lot of timber so it’s often hard to get long clear views of the horizon, but just do your best to capture it right after moon rise. The closer the moon is to the horizon, the more of the earth’s atmosphere that the moonlight has to pass through. This creates diffusion which spreads the light farther and makes it appear much larger and it picks up an oranger view as light refracts off of moisture in the atmosphere.

Incorporate other features in your moon photography.

While the moon is brilliant in it’s reflective radiance as it is, it always helps to incorporate other foreground elements into your photography for an even more interesting photo. By shooting early, you’ll be able to capture trees, buildings, and even play around with putting people into your photos.

Camera settings

Shoot telephoto. Have you ever shot a moon photo with your phone and even though it appears huge in person, your photo is less than impressive? Wide-angle lenses like your camera phone or even when used on high-quality professional cameras just can’t capture the beauty of the moon in its fullest. The compression that we love about telephoto lenses is really needed to bring out the details or enhance what we can see with just our naked eye. I recommend shooting at 200mm or higher if you can. There may be some exceptions to that depending on what you are trying to do, but that’s where I’d start.

Moon photography is not typical nighttime photography. The full moon is actually very bright. While you’d typically shoot with very slow shutter speeds and wide-open apertures at night to gather more light, with full moon photos, I often shoot at higher f-stops. F-8 or above. You can of course shoot wide open but finding focus at night can sometimes be a challenge so shooting at higher f-stops gives you more room for forgiveness if your focus point isn’t perfect. This means for slower shutter speeds sometimes. However, since you’ll be shooting telephoto anyway, I’d recommend shooting with a sturdy tripod. This will alleviate problems with camera shake both at longer focal lengths and with those slow shutter speeds.

Lastly, just enjoy the view.

I love photos but sometimes we get caught up in the technical details of creating a photo. Remember that take some time to enjoy the moment. I hope you get to enjoy the moon with people you love. Remember that He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever

Photography, Senior

Senior Year Photo Sessions

Aug 4, 2023 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Arkansas, #Outdoor Photography, #Photography, #Senior Photos

Senior year is a special time. It’s not just turning a page in life, but a pivotal page that needs to be captured. I love images that tell a story and show off personality. I’d love to highlight you or your senior.

I run my senior sessions as follows.

Senior Speed Session – $300

Perfect for when you just need a few photos for an invitation or your school’s yearbook? I like to have fun with senior sessions and this QUICK 20-30 minute session is as easy and painless as possible. We’ll meet at your local school or a similar location for the photo session. After the session is over, you’ll get an email to an online proof gallery. The session fee is $300 and includes the session, an online gallery to choose images from, and a $100 photo credit toward purchased photos from your session.

Senior Session – $500

A full senior session lets you show off a little personality. If you want photos that actually capture your interests and show who you are in more detail, this is the session for you.

A senior session starts off with a brief meeting where we can get to know each other a little bit and plan out your shoot so that we capture your interests. After your shoot is planned, The actual session will be scheduled for a different day. The session usually lasts up to 3 hours and can be tailored to various personal interests. If you are into sports, we can spend an hour shooting sports. If you have some other fun hobbies we can transition to that. We can get a variety of different looks in this one session. The session includes a proof gallery and a photo credit of $200 towards images or prints purchased.

Add On Couple – $100

Senior photo sessions are intended to highlight the personality of one person. However, sometimes a high school sweetheart is a significant part of your senior year. We’re happy to capture that aspect as well, but a couples shoot is a very different shoot than an individual portrait session. Just let us know and we will add on up to 30 minutes into your senior session for your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Add On Speed Session – $300 $250

Do you have more hobbies than we can fit into your Senior Session? Book a separate Speed Session with your senior session.

A Year in the Life of a High School Senior

Sometimes High School Seniors have a lot of hobbies and interests that cover more areas than can be fit into just one session or even two sessions. For many people, it’s not just a few photos from one day that they want to capture. You may want photos to remember your whole Senior year. The senior year package consists of up to four different sessions spread across the year. The sessions can be customized but ideally, we’ll begin in the summer before school starts. We can spend some time capturing water sports or some other summertime activity, etc… The next session is typically scheduled just after school is starting and temperatures begin to come down. This session can be a Friday night lights theme or more of a casual session that captures the beginning of your school year. The next session is really special. You’re halfway through your senior year. If hunting is your passion, we can shoot your own outdoor life session. For the final session, you’ll be wrapping up school and spring hobbies or softball or baseball maybe your life. College or trade school or military service may be your next step. These decisions are huge. We’d love to capture that part of your personality as well.

The total investment in all 3 sessions is $1,500 with a 10% deposit due at booking, the remaining balance will be divided into 3 equal payments due at each session or before the final shoot. This helps spread the cost over the course of the year instead of one lump sum. These sessions come with your own private online gallery and a $300 photo credit toward photos from your gallery.

Add On Speed Session – $300 $150

Didn’t get everything you wanted in your Senior Session. Book a separate Speed Session with your senior session

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get the files with the sessions?

A photo credit toward the purchase of photos is included with each session, but your session fee does not include digital files and does not include sales taxes on photos. Prints start as low as $10 and digital photos may be purchased through your gallery at $30/photo or $500/full gallery of images. The session fee is a creative fee that covers the time spent planning your shoot, the session itself, and editing/organizing the files for a photo gallery of images from the session. If you need a digital copy of an image from your gallery, digital photos may be purchased individually or as part of a separate photo package using the photo credit which is included with your session. If you want to share your senior portraits with friends and family online (and who doesn’t!), you’ll want to share your digital online gallery from our website. The photos are watermarked and are not printable, but your photo gallery can easily be shared online to highlight your senior year and has no expiration date.

Do you travel?

I frequently travel for photo shoots. Travel within 1 hour of El Dorado, AR is included in the session fee. But if you have somewhere in mind that is beyond approximately 60 miles of El Dorado, additional travel expenses incurred will be added to the final invoice.

Events, Video-Photography

Willie Belton Purple Heart Hunt

Jan 16, 2023 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Hunting, #Louisiana, #Outdoor Photography, #pay-it-forward, #T.P.Outdoors, #Veterans

This past weekend, I was asked to come help film the Willie Belton Purple heart hunt near Columbia, LA with T.P. Outdoors Adventures.

The hunt was held by Louisiana District Attorney John Belton and a group of volunteers in honor of his late father, Willie Belton who earned a purple heart after injuries he received while fighting in the Korean war. Several purple heart recipients from all over Louisiana were invited to attend the hunt and four men graciously accepted.

Here are just a few of the photos from the event. Look for as these men hunt together and the community gives back to them in a future episode of T.P. Outdoors Adventures on KTVE or Youtube.

View Images

Photography

Photo A Day: The Commander Signals the Herd

Aug 31, 2021 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Outdoor Photography

This is one of my favorite elk photos. These are not practically tame elk in a tourist area of a national park. These are real, wild, free roaming elk. Although not necessarily the best, clearest, sharpest bull elk photo I have, it tells a story when you look at the details. I love that about photos.

A herd of approximately 75-100 elk came out into an open meadow we call hidden valley on the Buena Vista ranch in New Mexico. Some of the elk grazed while others drank from a water hole to the right of this photo. These elk were being hunted by another group of hunters several hundred yards away. After a few minutes, sensing the approaching danger, the heard bull seen in the upper left, began to methodically round up his herd into a smaller, tighter circle just like a rancher would with cows from a horse. He was obviously the boss. Not just by the size of his antlers, but his presence demanded the attention of everyone. As you can see most of the other elk’s butts are facing the camera and they are all watching him or looking at the other elk playing in the pond off camera like a mother glaring at her kids for not paying attention during a Sunday church sermon. I saw his head tilt back and snapped this photo mid bugle as his scream echoed through the valley. The three elk to his left were the first to get the message and are already responding to the call. Within 30 seconds of this photo, the entire herd was moving out and up the other side of the mountain valley. Within a couple of minutes, there were no more elk in the valley. The danger was avoided and not only did the herd bull live to see another day, he protected his herd like a leader.

All this week I’ll be sharing some elk related photos to my photo a day gallery. You can order prints and photos and save 10% on your order with code PAD10.

Also I still have some dates available to video or photo hunts this year. Get on my schedule earlier than later. #elkweek #bullelk #bullelkbugeling #outdoorphotography #elkhunting #september #wildlife #sonywildlife #Arkansasphotographer

Chris Porter's Personal Blog, Photography

Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy Steam Engine

Aug 26, 2021 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Arkansas, #Outdoor Photography, #Photography, #Train

Yesterday, I played Leap Frog with the Union Pacific 4014 train from Atlanta, TX to Prescott, AR. It was a huge train and a huge turnout of people at every crossing. I get it Its a really cool train and who doesn’t love trains. I loved hearing the whistle blow and seeing it pulling into towns. A part of me wishes we could go back to the time when this happed every day instead of a special occasion. There really was something magical about it that transported you back in time. As people poured out, I could almost see business men or farmers coming to the depot to head out or ship their products and women coming out in their best dress to meet a sailor coming back from the war.

Challenges of Getting Photos

However for me, that’s not what this occasion was about. I was there to get some really cool steam engine photos and no one was dressed the part to be in them. So, it turned into quite a challenge just to find places to photograph it without people crowded around. There were so many people on the tracks at each stop and at every road crossing. Almost saw one photographer get smoked by a log truck. I’m pretty sure dude never even looked as he ran across the road in the middle of a bridge in front of a log truck to get a photo as the train ran by underneath. I’ve done some quasi crazy stuff to get a shot before too, but I hope he got the shot because I missed mine looking out for him.

With so many people on the tracks. I didn’t even bother with Texarkana. I skipped ahead, but due to a problem on the track, the train got held up in Texarkana for several hours. I had already moved closer to Falk, AR and had picked out a great spot. By the time the track was repaired, the sun had moved and my location was no longer photo worthy. So, I scouted out another spot further down the track.

Thankfully I met a landowner who allowed me to come onto his private property to shoot from a soybean field. It was only he and a couple of what I assumed to be family members there at the time and I thought I’d found my spot with no one else around. I knew the train was getting close but I got setup and realized that my truck was in the shot. So I ran back and moved my truck. A couple more cars with people were pulling up at this point but I quickly made my way back toward my spot. I could hear the train coming as I ran through the muddy field toward my spot and then looked back to see three yayhoos who had just arrived walking to where my truck had been parked previously. At this point, I had less than 30 seconds to get a shot as the train approached and no time to move or readjust. Thankfully, I was able to photoshop them out, but I hate having to do that.

So what did we learn

I’m a professional social distancer. People can be so inconsiderate of other people. I’ve been social distancing since before it was cool but this is why.
It doesn’t matter if you are a hobby photographer or a professional, Always be aware of your surrounding when taking photos. It’s easy to get so focused on getting the shot or watching a scene through your camera that you forget what’s around you.
On top of thousands of dollars worth of camera gear and thousands of hours learning how to use it prior to this, I spent a whole day, a tank of gas, a few hundred miles to get really just four of what I consider Print worthy photos of the train. So the next time you wonder why photographers charge so much or are protective over a picture, this is why.

If you’d like to order a photo from the gallery below, Click Here

Super moon photography tips for the Super blue Moon August 2023

Start shooting early.

Incorporate other features in your moon photography.

Camera settings