Posts by regis

Death Valley National Park is far away enough from cities that it requires a three day weekend to go visit. But that’s the point, Death Valley has some of the most amazing sky you will ever see. That’s because there is no light pollution, the air is very dry, no clouds, perfect for some night photography. Our plan was simple, leave Friday night from the Bay Area and come back Monday night, lodging was also simple: we would camp. We’ve been to Death Valley once before and specifically to the Racetrack, so we had a good idea of what to expect. This time I was interested in getting deeper into Death Valley by following some of the off road trails. In order to do that and being safe, we had two 4WD cars with high clearance and we would follow each...

It’s really hard to find images of San Francisco you have not seen before. A few months ago, I met with a helicopter pilot (a photographer himself) and he was complaining that no one thinks of using helicopters for taking pictures. First it’s expensive, second it’s dangerous (strapped on the side of helicopter), third you need a very clear day to make it worth it. Then the stars aligned and I booked a 60-min open door helicopter ride with him. The day was very clear and I’m pretty pleased with the results. After the first flight I was hooked, I love aerial images. Especially for San Francisco where the nice views are over the bay. So when last summer, the America’s cup AC45 races were in San Francisco,  I had the chance to get...

The Golden Gate Bridge is like  few monuments in the world (Eiffel tower in Paris, the statue of liberty in New York, the opera house in Sydney, the burj khalifa in Dubai), it’s an iconic symbol that almost everyone recognizes instantly. It’s also extremely photographed and making a unique image of the Golden Gate Bridge is almost impossible. I have a strong attraction for this bridge and the map below that shows the GPS point of where I took my images reflects that fact. I have shot the Golden Gate Bridge at night, at sunrise, at sunset, from a boat, from a helicopter, from a car and there are still images in my head I want to make that have not happened yet. View San Francisco Photo Spot series: The Golden Gate Bridge in a larger map The...

I’m often asked to photograph some of the robots SRI International is working with. Those robots are always one of a kind (ok sometimes there is more than one) and it’s challenging to capture a robot as an image. You see a lot of videos of robots on Youtube but rarely images. The reason I believe, is that we think of robots as something in motion, therefore our mental representation of a robot is not static. A robot is per definition something that moves, grabs, fold, paint, etc. (you get the point, it’s not motionless) while a photograph is motionless. How do you capture the concept of robot in a photograph ? The idea I have used (in the image above) is a multi shot image where you can see the robot grasping the object. The other technique that...

Here is how we got to get all these pictures: Triple D Game Farm Stephen Oachs (link), Scott Bourne, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, they all know about Triple D Game Farm. Scott Bourne wrote in his book that he discovered Triple D Game Farm in the mid-80s! Part 1 and part 2 showed you some of the animals and the great pictures you can take at Triple D, but this post will explain how it works. Each day starts the same way, you meet at the Triple D ranch, you have coffee and pastry and look at the board. Depending of the weather, lights and the animals, Triple D lists what species you will be able to photograph that day. They choose the location, based on the size of the animals (a mountain lion needs a bigger space than a fox). Triple D rents sites...