Sunday Drive

October 17, 2020 By Kevin Raber

Debra, Kevin and our dog Maggie with our adventure Jeep Gladiator. We are a two jeep family. — Debra, Kevin, and our dog Maggie with our adventure Jeep Gladiator. We are a two jeep family.

The pandemic has caused many of us to drastically change our lives. It has affected me in many ways. Once the pandemic started, all my travel photography and workshops ceased. So did my Sunday drives with my wife, Debra.

BP (before pandemic), Debra, and I would go for a Sunday drive at least once a month. Where we went would be completely random. We would get in the car and then pick a direction. Our goal was to get on back roads and explore and see what we would find. Sometimes we would have to take the interstate to get close, but once in the vicinity, we would do back roads.

For the last few months, we have not done our Sunday drives. As many of you know, our family has suffered a lot as a result of COVID. Debra became very sick with it. So for the sake of safety, we, like many of you, have pretty much spent a lot of time at home. We managed to stay busy, but each week we became more desperate for a road trip.

Our gear for the day. Three tripods, The Sony a7r iv and Ap with lenses in the Think Tank roller, The Tamrac bag contains Debra's Fuji XH-1 kit. The smaller case has the Sony ZH-1. The case in the middle has the wine country filer system. — Our gear for the day. Three tripods, The Sony a7r iv and Ap with lenses in the Think Tank roller, The Tamrac bag contains Debra’s Fuji XH-1 kit. The smaller case has the Sony ZV-1. The case in the middle has the wine country filer system.

This past Sunday, October 11, 2020, we decided to throw caution to the wind and get out and do our first road trip in months. We had no idea where we would head until we got in the car, but we were committed.

Debra likes to photograph with the Fuji-X system. Her camera of choice is the XH-1. Keep in mind that we have an X100v, X-Pro3, and XT-4 and a wide range of lenses. I keep a backpack packed and ready to go. All I have to do is pick what camera or cameras I want to use, drop them in the bag, and I am set to go.

Debra's Fuji System — Debra’s Fuji System

My camera choice for the road trip was the Sony system. I keep a bag ready to go for the Sony system too. I chose the a7r IV and a9 cameras with a wide kit of lenses. I also brought my Sony ZV-1 blogging camera, but I never used it.

The Sony ZH-1 for video — The Sony ZV-1 for video

In addition, I chose to bring my Wine Country filter system and three tripods. Plus, for the first time, we thought we would bring our dog on the trip.

Maggie was Debra’s dad’s dog. We adopted her after Debra’s dad passed away from COVID. She’s a great dog and loves rides in the car. Bringing Maggie reminded us of packing for a trip with kids: We needed food, water, bowls, leashes, and poop bags. It was worth it, and Maggie is a great traveler and adventure dog.

Maggie the adventure dog — Maggie, the adventure dog

On Sunday morning, we loaded up the Jeep and hit the road. When we were in the car, we decided we wanted to head north. We picked our destination: Warsaw, IN. We plugged this into the Apple Maps app on the iPhone and picked one of the routes it gave us.

All set to go. Just need to roll the cover over and we are off. — All set to go. Just need to roll the cover over, and we are off.

Looking at the route, we decided we would make a beeline for a spot on the map and then get on back roads. The cool thing about Apple Maps and most other GPS guidance systems is that if you go off on a side road, the system will always try to get you back on the route, or it will map a new plan. This allows us to freestyle it all the way, and we can then stop and shoot whenever something presents itself.

We were presented with three routes to our destination Warsaw, IN. (This was Google Maps)

In addition, I record each trip with two separate programs that track from the iPhone or iPad (which I take with me). These apps are Gaia GPS and Route Tracker by Raah. I have a library on both apps from my travels, and they both pretty much give the same information. I get average speed, locations of stops that can even show images from the stop, stop times, moving time, altitude change, etc. This info is great in case I want to share a route, use it again, or get the stop locations. The apps work on most mobile hardware, and both let you set up an account to sync between devices as well as letting you access the data on your desktop machine.

Gai Map route after our trip — Gai Maps GPS route track after our trip

Our goal was to find some fall color and enjoy what was an absolutely beautiful day. Below are some of the images we captured. We also found a great place to eat (in a safe outdoor environment). I have put captions with the images. Some (most) were worked on in post (Capture One) or, in the case of iPhone images, in the Photos app editor or Snapseed.

I didn’t come back with any portfolio images, but we had a great time. We got together time and a great meal. We got to share the adventure with our dog, and I’ve been happy playing around with the images for the last few days.

I can’t wait until we can travel long distances and do overnights somewhere. It’s still a dangerous time out there with COVID. Having seen the devastating effects of COVID, we take this virus very seriously and do everything we can to stay in our own safe bubble. Please do the same.

The Results

Nothing for the portfolio but a lot of fun, and we were out photographing, and that is what counts.

Our first stop was a mini silo. We spent a bit of time playing here.

This image was processed in Capture One, output as a tiff, then converted to sepia in Silver efx Pro.

This is what I would call a picture in the picture. I looked around and shot several parts, or as I call them, elements of the silo.

Then I saw this image of Debra and Maggie. I love it!

I had to shoot the Jeep. I love this truck. I get 25 years younger everytime I drive it. So much fun! — I had to shoot the Jeep. I love this truck. I get 25 years younger every time I drive it. So much fun! I also did a sky replacement just for giggles using Luminar AI Sky replacement.

This was the original before shot of the Jeep shot above. Notice how black the shadows are under the jeep and in the wheel wells

I warmed the image up a bit and, using Luma masks in Capture One, recovered the shadow detail.

Luma mask 2. Shows the area selected in the luminosity mask that will be corrected. This is a very cool feature.

I had it in my mind that I would find water, rivers, creeks, or lakes with lots of fall colors. Total fail on my part as what water we did fund was barely running, and the trees had not changed color.

For the image above, I used a luminosity mask in Capture One to make the trunk of the tree stand to better. Pretty easy to do. The above image was a bit zoomed in, so it was easier to apply the mask.

I always say look up and around you when photographing. I did lookup for a couple of tree shots — I always say look up and around you when photographing. I did look up for a couple of tree shots

Don't forget to lookdown. too — Don’t forget to lookdown. too

This was fun. An iPhone pano shot panning vertically

And then look sideways. Don't be afraid to crop. — And, then look sideways. Don’t be afraid to crop.

We finally made it to Warsaw, and after a dinner at really great restaurant, we found Debra took the dog for a walk and came back with some images.

We ate outside on an open porch and had a marvelous dinner that surprised us. Lucky find. Of course, I am busy editing images. Always working.

Debra and Maggie self portrait — Debra and Maggie self-portrait

Debra was a bit creeped out by this. What is it?

Closing

We got out. We had fun. We took pictures. This pandemic still scares the crap out of us. We properly social distance and masked up when we came near anyone. While these aren’t the best photos ever, they are our photos from a day of driving and exploring. I encourage all of you to load up your car and get out there. It’s a lot more fun if you do it with a friend, and I was fortunate enough to have two of my best friends with me, Debra and Maggie.

I hope you enjoyed these. Please stay safe.

Kevin Raber
October 2020

Kevin Raber
Indianapolis, IN

Photography is my passion and has been for5 0 plus years. My career in photography has allowed me to travel the world, meet some of the most interesting people on the planet and see things I could never have dreamed of. My goal is to share the passion of picture taking through photographs and teaching with as many people as I can, hoping it brings them as much joy and happiness as it has me. I do this through photoPXL.com, this site, as well as Rockhopper Workshops, and other projects, as well as teaching as Artist In Residence at the Indianapolis Art Center.

Tagged With: Sony a7riv, Fuji, fall colors, road trip

Article Type: News, Columns, MISC

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