Upcoming California Trip, photo advice needed

dmohalloran

Hi,
At the end of the month, I am taking a road trip through California, and also taking in Las Vegas for 5 days.
Does any body have personal favorites of sights to shoot. My main stop off points are Las Vegas, LA, San Luis Obispo, Monterery, and San Fran (in that order). I've been there before but never with my camera. Any tips out there?

Also I am thinking of getting a circular polarising filter. Would this be a good investment for the trip, will it add to my photos, say the sky's the sea, etc. Or would a ND filter be a better investment? Any recommendations.

Thanks

kjt

I would deffo get an ND and circular polarising filter. I used both a lot when over there. Would you think about going to the national parks, they're amazing!! Do a search through the forum, somebody was going over to the states a while back and we all posted google map links on where to go!

OK, I found it for ya

Hope that helps a bit!

CabanSail

dmohalloran wrote: »

Also I am thinking of getting a circular polarising filter. Would this be a good investment for the trip, will it add to my photos, say the sky's the sea, etc. Or would a ND filter be a better investment? Any recommendations.

Both are useful filters, but both are different. It's a bit like asking should I buy an Umbrella or a Scarf? Both can be useful but in different situations & can be used together too.

Technically filters never "add" anything to your photographs, they work by taking something away. The CPL takes away light of certain polarity & this can then be used to reduce reflections & improve the contrast in the sky. The ND actually takes everything away, by a known amount, thus allowing you to increase the exposure time (decreased shutter speed) or reduce depth of field. Sometimes these are graduated (ND Grad) which can be very useful for landscapes, especially on film. If you shoot Digital & RAW you can often reproduce this effect in Post Production.

AnCatDubh

Apart from the locations and the places, you should heed this tale of woe and backup, backup, backup.....

Burnt

In terms of the sights in Vegas, the water show in the pond in front of
the Bellagio after dark is spectacular; the inside is quite nice as well.
The Stratosphere is also worth a look after dark.

There are helicopter tours out around the Grand Canyon depending on
your budget.If your carrying your gear around while your out on the town
you should be discrete. Some of the clubs and bar have metal detectors
on the door and they may ask to have a look at your gear.

Cabaal

In vegas go up the efiel tower, you'll get great shots of the strip from the top floor of it...atleast I did

trishw78

I'd assume you'll be travelling up the PCH to San Fran so many scenic spots to stop off. Worth your while crossing the San Mateo bridge and travelling up to Napa before returning across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Fran.

Fenster

I live in Las Vegas. Give me a shout. mark@bhalash.com or 702 354 3227 while on the ground in the states if you'd like to do more than wander the Strip. I could probably give you a walking tour of the seedier parts of town.

Best tips I can give is that in most of southern California (San Bernardino county), the landscape is very flat and very brown. I mean sure, we have our pretty places - Red Rock, Hoover Dam and Mount Charleston are within easy reach of Las Vegas - but the rule is flat, dusty and boring. The golden hours are your friend.

A circular polarizer is definitely your friend while in the desert.

dmohalloran

Thanks for the feedback,

I shoot digital, Nikon d40, and have Lightroom 2 and elements 6, so post processing is an option, still trying to perfect my skills.
Yeah, I am traveling up the PCH, I've done the trip before and loved it. thanks for the idea of heading further north up to NAPA, i like that, I'm pretty free as regards time and itinerary.
Seedy Vegas sounds like fun.

Dave

rstans

Drove PCH from LA to San Francisco ten years ago. Took two days to do it because we weren't in any hurry. Stopped overnight in San Simeone.
Nearly broke my wifes heart by stopping every ten minutes for a "Kodak Moment".
If you have time, wander a bit inland, explore the non touristy places, small towns, ghost towns etc. As I said to my (now ex) wife "What's the point in travelling all that distance and coming home with the same pics as we saw in the brochure?"
For example, we saw a sign advertising strawberries for sale. Bought some but instead of going straight back to the highway drove past the farm a few miles and now have a cool pic of a deserted farmhouse complete with falling apart windmill in the background.
Don't be afraid to step off the beaten track and you'll come back with spectacular shots.