Rita Crane Photography: Holiday Lights, MacCallum House, Mendocino
One of the most beautiful Victorian homes in the historic village of Mendocino, the MacCallum House was built in 1882 as a wedding gift for Daisy Kelley and her husband Alex MacCallum.
TECHIE NOTES:
This is a single exposure, using a tripod, and the following settings: 6/10th of a second @ f/3.5 and 200 ISO.
Getting this shot took some planning. I wanted to show the house all lit up just before nightfall, yet still have some daylight in the sky. I arrived ahead of time to be able to do some test shots and be ready for the moment. Because it was slightly windy, the clouds were moving quite quickly and there was enough movement in the bushes and decorations that they would get motion blur, so I couldn't do a very long exposure. I tried several shots, and eventually settled on f/3.5, at 6/10th of a second, and ISO 200. I guess I could have increased the ISO but my experience with the Canon EOS 20 D, suggested it best to keep the ISO as low as possible to minimize grain in the final shot. This final and most successful of the evening's exposures was taken at 5:48 P.M. in mid December (several years ago).
Northern California's Mendocino Coast was home to many Native American tribes until Spanish conquistadores, and Mexican settlers -- and later Anglo settlers from the East Coast -- arrived and systematically took over tribal lands after, sad to say, decimating the native populations. There is an excellent museum at the Cabrillo Lighthouse just north of Mendocino village which pays tribute to the culture of the first true Americans - the Pomo - to have lived along this coast.
As for more recent history, here is more information about the Kelley family, one of the first Anglo settler families to establish themselves in this area in the mid-1800's, see: www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/
Rita Crane Photography: Holiday Lights, MacCallum House, Mendocino
One of the most beautiful Victorian homes in the historic village of Mendocino, the MacCallum House was built in 1882 as a wedding gift for Daisy Kelley and her husband Alex MacCallum.
TECHIE NOTES:
This is a single exposure, using a tripod, and the following settings: 6/10th of a second @ f/3.5 and 200 ISO.
Getting this shot took some planning. I wanted to show the house all lit up just before nightfall, yet still have some daylight in the sky. I arrived ahead of time to be able to do some test shots and be ready for the moment. Because it was slightly windy, the clouds were moving quite quickly and there was enough movement in the bushes and decorations that they would get motion blur, so I couldn't do a very long exposure. I tried several shots, and eventually settled on f/3.5, at 6/10th of a second, and ISO 200. I guess I could have increased the ISO but my experience with the Canon EOS 20 D, suggested it best to keep the ISO as low as possible to minimize grain in the final shot. This final and most successful of the evening's exposures was taken at 5:48 P.M. in mid December (several years ago).
Northern California's Mendocino Coast was home to many Native American tribes until Spanish conquistadores, and Mexican settlers -- and later Anglo settlers from the East Coast -- arrived and systematically took over tribal lands after, sad to say, decimating the native populations. There is an excellent museum at the Cabrillo Lighthouse just north of Mendocino village which pays tribute to the culture of the first true Americans - the Pomo - to have lived along this coast.
As for more recent history, here is more information about the Kelley family, one of the first Anglo settler families to establish themselves in this area in the mid-1800's, see: www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/