And Will It Rain?

We headed down to Crowley for out 4th of July picnic dinner prior to the fireworks like I’ve been doing for 51yrs. There simply is no betta! As we left the house, the skies were dark o’dark and on the drive rain started to hit the windshield. I love out summer afternoon thunderstorms. The smell of the wet sage and rabbitbrush, the moody skies and the great light, it’s simply paradise. But not tonight, it’s fireworks time, a pyros favorite night of the year! Well we got down to like the the skies and let loose enough energy that they started to clear a little. Of course I had the camera so I had to make a couple of clicks.

What you have here are back to back, handheld 5image HDR images. I shot them at f/22 to get the starburst around the run. With the could moving, I knew the odds of getting it were slim but I tried anyways. You can see in the top image, no cigar. In the bottom image, I not only got the starburst but look at the funny “ray” of light in the right lower corner. I have no idea what the light is striking, rain, rain & dust, no idea what but it’s cool. The finishing just took seconds using Silver Efex Pro 2. Great start to the picnic!

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

John Muir’s Range of Light

John Muir has been a hero of mine since I was 7 and first read his work. Later, I was deeply honored with the John Muir Conservation Award. And it brings us great happiness to live right in the heart of his Sierra, what he correctly called The Range of Light. It’s days like today when the thunderstorms roll in that the drama in the light underscores John’s love for these mountains. If you’re a photographer, the inspiration of his words and the scenery before you are a monumental challenge. Without that passion then you can’t feel the passion and if you don’t feel the passion, those looking at your photographs won’t feel it either. There is a reason Ansel traveled up and down the Eastside (where Mammoth Lakes is located) shooting black and white. He felt the passion and he shared it with us, the viewers of his photographs. And that’s what Photoshop for Shooters is all about!

I received 14 emails today seeking help with B&W photography. “Seeing” a color image in B&W doesn’t come overnight. There is as much feeling and seeing to make a good B&W. When it comes to a classroom to explore this, there is none better then John Muir’s Range of Light, right where Photoshop for Shooters is being held. Currently, the location list participants are being provided is 7pgs long. It includes everything from locations, lenses, time of days, directions, everything you need to be in the right place at the right time. From your explorations we then explore in class your findings, talk about the click and then go to finishing those clicks. We will spend a heck of a lot of time with B&W, what makes a great B&W and how to finish that great B&W. What you see here is just a small sample of what you’ll see in your viewfinder and on your computer monitor by the end of the weekend. And best yet, you’ll have it in your heart to take home with you. We have an opening for July and a couple openings in October (760.924.8632). We hope we can share this magical place with you!

Simple Clicks – Surf Patterns

I could spend hours trying to make the best click of surf patterns as they recede. Simple gorgeous patterns.

Alabama Hills is B&W Gold!

I am asked ALL the time about B&W. I think Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 has a whole lot more digital shooters thinking B&W and that’s great! But just because we have an amazing finishing tool to go to B&W does every photo become a great B&W image. It all starts with the click.

As you saw, I shot a lot of color images. As you’re seeing, I also shot a lot of B&W images. Yes, when I pushed the button I was seeing B&W and that’s what a lot of photographers ask help with. The clouds in these photos come to life using the Structure sliders in Silver Efex Pro 2. It’s that knowledge that I use in part when arranging the elements in the viewfinder. I then look at the whites and the blacks, where they are in the frame, where they pull the eye and the story that is tolled during that travel. That’s where experience starts to come into play.

After thinking through that aspect of the photograph I think about contrast and brightness. That’s where the subject lives I think with structure giving the subject a place to live in the photograph. I came away with about 20 B&W images from the morning that I particular like, each because of some small subject that has a home in the photo. The bottom image is a great example of this. I like how Dave is in the scene, a microdot in size yet all the elements bring the eye to him. His solid black form stands you against the gray background. The one thing though that I feel all great B&W photos have in common is passion! B&W is the realm of romantics and without that key ingredient, while the technical might be present, the essence of the shades of B&W are not reaching out and touching the viewer.

Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS / 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital fim

It’s Starting to Feel Like Home

We’re down in Phoenix getting ready for our Air2Air workshop which is based out of the AZ Wing of the CAF. These great folks open up their doors and hearts and make us feel right at home. This is the home base for the B-17G Sentimental Journey and the B-25 Made in the Shade you see here.

The AZ CAF does an amazing job putting people together with our history which I personally think is so important. I wasn’t able to photograph it, but today a WWII B-17 radioman who was shot down and was a POW was flying in Sentimental Journey. When if got back down he was nothing but smiles. That’s an aspect of aviation photography I truly enjoy. I’ll be blogging through out the weekend, give you something to do as the weather is looking to keep many in.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Road Warrior View

Home for a few days, long enough to do some chores, some laundry, move snow, backed up images from the last two weeks onto the network drives, pat the dogs on the head, pack and back out the door we went. It’s that time of year again when I look in the mirror I see the road warrior view.

The Sierra is a magical place, one I’ve written about and shared in my images many times, I never get tired of them. They always seem to send us off and welcome us back without any conditions, just that we do comeback. We skirted out this time just as another big storm was coming in. You can see its beauty piled up over Mono Lake hiding the fact the fury that would be unleashed as the sun set.

We continued up the road without a hitch, just a gorgeous view as the storm piled in over the crest. We’re heading north past Carson City and just heading into Washoe Valley when the weather closed in. The winds were such the highway was closed to all high profile vehicles, it was blowing snow across the highway and in some places making is an icy mess. The normal 70mph limit was more then most felt comfortable with, 50mph seemed more cautious with the conditions. We were just about to get through the mess when in the southbound lane we saw a new, white, Ford F250 just as it started to fish and then the wind gust grabbed its empty bed, flipped it a couple of times over and over and dump it into the center island. There was no way or place we could stop but we were instantly on the phone reporting it. Moments later the ambulance passed us heading south. The rest of the details I’ll leave out but it’s not good. Life is so precious and yet it seems we get stuck in the fast lane and miss that fact until we get hit in the side of the head. Waiting until you loose something to realize that is too late. That too is sometimes the road warrior view.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Simple Click – Yeah Baby, Winter is Back!

We ate lunch at my favorite spot in Hayden Valley and watched winter return!

YA Wk2 D2-2

The weather went from bad to horrible so we headed up to Upper Geyser Basin to see what was happening. What do I mean the weather went to crap? Look at the skies….BLUE! I hate bald skies but when you want to photograph steam, they do have some benefit to your photography.

Since it was up to 39 degrees, it was too warm for anything other then geysers. This is Castle Geyser and other then darkening the sky in ACR with the blue slider, it’s straight from the camera.

I have to be honest, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen and photographed Old Faithful so to make a new shot is a challenge. The one hard thing about the photo is the fact you just don’t know what the old girl will do until it blows. How high, the direction of the steam are highly variable. So what I decided to do was stand where I had the best foreground, go B&W in post and click. I was pretty happy with the eruption as the wind took the steam back and to the right leaving the actual eruption up front and white. Perfect for a B&W image.

Photo captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

YA Wk1 D2-2

After making an A Stop, we turned south down the road taking us up the Firehole River. The day had warmed up to -10 by this point which isn’t great but still made for some great drama with light and steam. We came around the corner to see this gorgeous view. There was NO WAY we were going to pass up this magnificent offering to the B&W gods!

As I mentioned yesterday, the trick to making steam images I think is to click, click, click. In the case of both of these images, a total of 75 were taken to come up with these two I really like. What is it about them I like? The main subject, the couple of black, predominant trees amongst the rest. Those blacks set the stage for the rest of the shades of gray and white. Then there is the stair step pattern to those shades that is highlighted by the rising steam. The last key to the puzzle is knowing the power of Silver Efex Pro 2 and its Structure slider. It can pull out detail, subtle detail that makes the B&W really zing! What a great second stop to the day!

Photos captured by 24-70AFS / 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Over the Hills & Through the Woods

Sharon and I needed to get over to Stockton for a presentation tonight (can’t wait, talking bird tales) so we decided since The Pass was open (Tioga Pass) we’d take the shortcut over the Sierra. The drive is only 4hrs rather then 8.5hrs. The “shortcut” takes us through Yosemite Nat’l Park and as you might imagine, I had the camera out.

We opened The Pass this year and we closed it since it closed behind us by the winter storm you see pictured starting here. It was as always a gorgeous drive and a great start to winter at home.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-120AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film.

ESA – Day4am

We woke up to the start of a major storm, Mammoth had major winds and rain, not the best of conditions for photography. Definitely not the best conditions to have any fun. So we headed towards the east, away from the storm. I took the gang to a spot I’ve never taken folks before, a special locale when the clouds are talking to us, the photography is amazing! What you see in the distance are the White Mtns and Nevada. mtc

Photo captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

ESA – Day2pm

It might seem like a real stretch but I tend to take folks on our Eastern Sierra Adv to my favorite places in the Eastern Sierra to shoot. One on the top of the list is Horseshoe Lake. A true lake not messed with by man, it screams Sierra, especially when storms are blowing in like this day.

Our participants were a bit lost probably because I ran to one spot in the bottom of the lake and planted, simply spinning around in place in a circle shooting like a mad man.

With the high winds blasting the clouds past overhead, the scene was constantly changing. Shooting really wide, I simple kept turning and in a short time had clicked over 200 frames, each basically different. I’ve not gotten through all of them, just grabbed the ones that caught my attention.

This is by far one of my favorites (I know, it’s a repeat). The Maple Leaf looking design in the water’s edge is what caught me attention and then finishing in Silver Efex pro made the rest a snap. The key to making this type of photography work are the trees in foreground, they give scale and sense of place. It was a gorgeous afternoon.

Photos captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film

Simple Click – Too Much!

ESA is cranking, weather is cranking, images are cranking, I’m headed back out to crank!

No Rain, No Pain, No Maine

You gotta love mother nature. No matter what you plan, it really doesn’t matter because she is going to do whatever she wants to do. So the sign in the Appalachian Cafe was so true. No Rain, No Pain, No Maine!

The first day, we didn’t even try to get out, the nor’easter pretty much kept us pinned up. The next day despite the rain and drizzle, we made an attempt. We drove up to Baxter State Park and waited in the truck for 90min while the worst of the rain went by. We then made the short walk up to Sandy Stream Pond only to stand in the wind in drizzle. With the best eyes in teh business scanning the pond, after a couple of hours, we called it.

Heading back to the room wasn’t an option so we started to cruise the park looking for targets of opportunity. We were pleased to see that even with the big rains, leaves still remained in some locations. So out we popped to make some clicks.

Why B&W? The wet trunks just suggested to me that B&W worked better so, B&W it is.

Photos captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

While Waiting for the Paint to Dry

“You can always find something to do while you’re waiting for the paint to dry!” Being a year older then Sharon, I “waited” around to start college the same fall as she did. So I took a cool job for that year. Working in a woodshop where we had to finish the work, while that paint was drying we found other tasks that could be completed. I guess you could call is a work ethic, something we’re finding to be critical in moving things forward.

So yesterday while sequestered in our hotel room because of the weather we had a couple of options. Yeah, we did take a moment to just catch our breathes but then after that, it was to work making the most of our “idle” time. Since I’ve been on the road now for six weeks, not all my images have been dealt with. So, I got all my Reno Race images keyworded (the only thing I do Keyword). With that really fun task done, I decided to reward myself with finishing a couple from a special shoot from the races.

I’ve already written about and posted images from the flight, but before that all the shooters were provided an opportunity to photograph the very special and rare P-38s Lightnings and F7Fs Tiger Cats. The top frame is one of my favorites of the week because of the shadows in the foreground. It communicates the excitement of all the photographers able to photograph this special event. After that, trying to make clean clicks was a real challenge. The only real option for cleaning up the background was lying on the tarmac which is what I did (watching not to lay in oil). After that, the rest was cleaned up in Photoshop. So even though I wasn’t out behind the lens like I would have preferred, thanks to photography I could visit some good memories and finish them. Pretty cool!

Photos captured by D3x, 24-70AFS / 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

DLWS ME Day1-PM

We headed towards the coast this evening, to a sleepy little port Sharon & I fell in love with a year ago. We call it So Bristol but that’s not really its name. This time of year the fleet is working the offshore lobster beds. It’s a long lens kinda of place if you’re working the boats, permitting you to find cool little scenes, isolating the subject while excluding all the business that is a harbor. It was a marvelous little place to spend the evening.

Photo captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Simple Click – Finished

Yeap, B&W was the final, the drama really pops in shades of gray.

Simple Click – Sheer Power

That’s simply one bad ass cloud dumping serious snow. And look at that light. Sheer Power!

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