Let's see your Tacos in scenic places!

when is the best time to go there to see the borealis driving from south eastern USA?

 

Deschutes River, Oregon

 

Vermillion Cliffs

 

Central Washington

 

Mt Shasta

 

Jackman Maine

 

Those tires look beast on your truck!
Nice looking rig & great shot!

 

Some fall color pics

 

Adding to @TacoEspecial Fall Color tour!! Fall is in full swing in Northern Michigan!!

 

Presidential Range: New Hampshire White Mountain National Forest

 

Day trip

 

Spent the weekend at one of my secret spots. Just about 6500' elevation at the camp spot and the nights were coooooold.

 

The colors Duke, the colors! All the Autumn updates got me itching.

 

Grand Canyon, north rim last weekend:

 

Correction, north rim was two weekends ago. Last weekend was Mojave National Preserve... got back last night:

 

Alright, y'all take killer pics. If you had to give a few quick pointers for better photos to a cell phone camera guy, what would it be?

 

Montanna

 

I'll bite...

Not to downplay the skills involved, there are a couple of very good reasons guys like @mk5 and @turbodb always produce outstanding photographs. The equipment you use and what you do with that digital file that is produced play a huge roll in outcomes.

Yeah, phone cameras have come a long ways, but they still only produce pics. Their optics just can't match up.

 

This is true, and I learned it "the hard way," (which was actually quite easy given my teachers) on the first trip I ever went on with Mike @Digiratus (and Monte @Blackdawg, and Ben @m3bassman... and anyone else I'm forgetting who was also taking pics at the time, but I think those were the three).

I was running around with my (new at the time Google Pixel 1) phone saying how great it was (b/c the camera was really good for 2017), but it took only that one trip for me to realize that it just can't compete with real glass and RAW files that contain actual information. Of course, phones have gotten (a lot) better since then, but so have "real" cameras. And so has the software.

Will AI* change that? Eventually, probably. The 5x zoom (120mm equivalent) on the new iPhone is pretty amazing with what it can do once the AI is applied. But even then, the range you get is so much more with something like the Canon R5 or R6, or Sony/Nikon equivalent. (Range being zoom distances, workable light conditions, etc.)
* They call it AI, but I'm not super comfortable with how overused that term is these days. It's smart programming and adaptive/multiple exposures, but we don't have SkyNet cameras, yet.

But most importantly, and even with all of the hardware discussions, the "real" truth for me (and everyone I know) is always the same: If you take enough photos, some are bound to be decent.

I have four recommendations:

1. Take a lot of photos with whatever camera you use.
2. Shoot in RAW+JPG, no matter what device you use. You can use the JPG to see how "AI" would edit the file, and then see if you can do better with the RAW.
3. Get a non-cellphone camera. It can be a point-and-shoot. It can cost less than $500. Even then, it will be amazing. There's a guy who posts trip reports (not Tacoma based, mostly hiking around the Colorado Plateau), who is probably the most inspiring photographer (for me). I always thought he shot with some amazing camera, but just a month or so ago, I found out he uses a little point-and-shoot. It's amazing what he can do.
4. Get as far away from your truck as you can, and then zoom in as much as possible. That will compress the background and give you a really nice perspective. Plus, the truck should rarely be the center of attention. Let the landscape be the center of attention, and make the truck a "roaming gnome" style decoration.

Edit: Five recommendations.

5. Always be "learning."

Look at what others are doing and unabashedly steal their ideas/techniques. I've been on countless trips with Mike and Monte and Ben and Zane @Speedytech7 now, and I've seen them do things I'd have never thought of doing, but are now second nature (a la "The Pivot" in the truck to take a photo of the rest of the group)

I went on my first trip with Mike (@mk5) a couple years ago now, but even before that, I loved his photos - he's a/the master at low-light IMO - and started trying to copy some of the techniques. Poorly, but I tried. I've since had a chance to watch him in action at night, in mine shafts, etc. His patience is amazing. I'm still working on that, albeit poorly.