Alabama Hills Star Trails Workshop

15-17 Feb, 2013 we’re pulling a couple of all nighters as we stare at the heavens and photograph the stars. We’ll meet in Lone Pine, CA on Friday evening to go over strategies, gear check and howdies and then head to the Alabama Hills for our first all nighter. The next day we’ll meet up long after the sun is up and go through our images, look at the different methods of assembling our previous nights work and get ready for Saturday night shooting. After grabbing an early dinner, we’ll go out for sunset and getting into position for a fun night of shooting and ghost stories. We’ll finish up after breakfast on Sunday morning. The price is $495 which includes preclass materials, instruction and guiding only. This is one workshop where bringing a sleeping bag might just be a must. Look forward to shooting the stars with you! 760.924.8632 / 661.204.1506 9-5 M-F. (no cancelation, refund for bad weather)

Come Float with me in NYC

Details

Argh Matey!That’s right, with pirate hate, sword and eye patch and camera in hand, we’re doing a 3hr Cruise on Circle O with the B&H and Lexar crew on 18 Oct! They are not only crazy enough to let me on board, give me a pirate sword but I also get a mic so you can hear me all over the boat! How sick is that?!

A whole lot of folks have been asking if we’re coming back to New York this fall. I am most happy to say we most certainly are. While everything is in place, plans made and logistics dealt with, details won’t be broadcasted until 8 Sept. I can tell you we’ll start the fun 17 Oct at Calumet, then B&H and finish up at Unique on the 20th with a WHOLE bunch in between. I’ll be doing formal presentations and shoots the like you’ve never seen done by me or in NY before and if all goes well, I’ll have an informal photo walk as well. So stay tuned, we’ comin back to the Big Apple..Yahooooo!

Yosemite 2013 Workshop

Ya! Winter Yosemite Workshop in 2013…can’t wait! The dates are 14-17, March 2013. You would arrive on the 13th for our evening get together and plan on leaving after sunset (dark) on the 17th. The price is $1695 which includes the workshop packet, transportation once you’re at Yosemite Valley and instruction. Once signed up you would get more info in regards to lodging.

We are talking about a lot of photography (not a bunch of hiking) and some of the best and least known locations. If we’re really lucky, we’ll have the snows and a winter storms that blow in great clouds and create gorgeous landscapes. We’ll photograph everything from critters, waterfalls, granite, trees and whatever stops in front of our lenses in color and black and white. We’ll spend time in the digital darkroom answering those kinds of questions and hopefully we’ll get an opportunity for a star trail or two.

Hope you can join us, we look forward to sharing our decades of wanderings with you. To register, call Sharon at 760.924.8632 (9-5) PST. You will need to pay a deposit of 50% to reserve your spot!

Moose & Griz

Many ask if I will be taking photographers to photograph Grizzlies again. I’ve not take photographers to AK for Griz for many years for many reasons. An opportunity has come our way that might make it possible for us to do this again. Part of the equation is you and if you would want to join us. And the big issue there is price and I more than realize this is not inexpensive but it looks like a participants price would be around $6k for 5 nights (In Sept) and that does not include transportation to AK (but does include everything once you get to AK). If this is of interest to you, give us a call 760.924.8632. Not taking sign up yet, just seeing is there is enough interest to pull the trigger.

DC Precon – The Video

I Actually Do Shoot Wildflowers, Sometimes

I’ve made many a joke about not sticking my ass in the air to photograph wildflowers, what my botanist/biologist friends call “belly rubbers.” While I do shoot them when I have too, this isn’t the such an instance. Mules ears are a BIG wildflower, I don’t have to set down on my knees for them. With the right winter and spring, the entire hillsides in the Eastern Sierra can be covered in these which makes even a wildflower neophyte like myself make a click or two of them. That’s just one of the subjects you might have time with at our Mono Lake Weekend.

Now why did I even stop to look let alone photograph these wildflowers? Those with me asked the same thing. The reason, the color of course! The top image, the Mules Ears were right next to the creek so the challenge of getting a sharp image (slow shutter speed for water, blossom moving in breeze) was a challenge. And then the yellow against the slate gray water, killer color contrast. the bottom photo, getting close with a really wide lens and finding the one blossom that to me had “attitude” what a different kind of challenge. If these types of challenges along with the beauty of Mono Lake strike your imagination, come on up to our Mono Lake Weekend and together, we can photograph wildlflowers

K&M Adventures Score Card

Want to thank all of you for your interest in our new K&M Adventures (what replaces DLWS). Many have been this week asking if we have space so thought I would simply post the info.

Monument Valley – Feb 2012 – FULL
FL Birds – April 2012 – 1 Seat
So Dakota – May 2012 – 1 Seat
Fall Tour – Oct 2012 – 2 Seats

I number of folks have asked for more details on our Fall Tour. The dates for our 2012 Fall Tour are 6-14 Oct, 2012. We’re going to be in ME (1 tour) & NH (2nd tour) spending half the time out of Freeport, ME and the other half out of Mt Washington, NH. We’ll be picking you up and dropping you off in Portland, ME (so far, all Adventurers have signed up for the both tours traveling with us the entire 9 days!). This will be a special adventure featuring fall color, sea ports, Americana, people, landscapes and some surprises thrown in. You have the option of signing up for one week or the other or, if you’re crazy enough, join us for the whole time. The price for just one week is $1995 and for both, $3550. We actually have a couple of suicidal smart folks who have signed up for the whole thing (they’ve traveled through eastern fall color with us before) so we only have 6 seats left (the max we take is 8). The price includes transportation to and from the airport and during the adventure, our wit and instruction and one helluva good time. If you’re interested in going, give us a call at 661.204.1506. We look for to adventuring with you!

K&M Adventures Fall Tour

We’re announcing our 2012 Fall Tour 6-14 Oct, 2012. We’re going to be in ME & NH spending half the time out of Freeport, ME and the other half out of Mt Washington, NH. We’ll be picking you up and dropping you off in Portland, ME. This will be a special adventure featuring fall color, sea ports, Americana, people, landscapes and some surprises thrown in. You have the option of signing up for one week or the other or, if you’re crazy enough, join us for the whole time. The price for just one week is $1995 and for both, $3550. We actually have a couple of suicidal smart folks who have signed up for the whole thing (they’ve traveled through eastern fall color with us before) so we only have 6 seats left (the max we take is 8). The price includes transportation to and from the airport and during the adventure, our wit and instruction and one helluva good time. If you’re interested in going, give us a call at 661.204.1506. We look for to adventuring with you!

K&M Adventures is Heading to South Dakota!

K&M Adventures is heading to South Dakota for another adventure. We’re have gorgeous landscapes and critters, interesting people and one heck of a wild time. Hosted by Kevin & myself, we’ll pick you up in Rapid City, SD 16th May and drop you back off on the 21st, 2012. In between we will cruise and see some of the countries most beautiful scenery and nices people. The price is $1995 and includes instruction, transportation once at Rapid and one helluva good time. We shoot a bunch, we work images together a bunch. We laugh a bunch and because you’re with me, you’ll have long days a bunch. It’s simply a bunch of fun! To reserve your spot, give Sharon a call at 661.204.1506 9-5(PST). We only take eight adventurers, sure hope one is you!

Eastern Sierra Adventure Spring ’11

Our home in the Eastern Sierra is one of the great photographic treasures. We’re very pleased to be able to continue on with our Eastern Sierra Adventures by announcing our Spring, April 21-24, 2011. With snow already on the ground, we will have an amazing spring and great photography. Now the exact locations we’ll visit during our adventure I really don’t know until the day before in part because it’s the weather in the Sierra that makes it so magnificent, put here are some of the possibilities.

We have Mono Lake, Lee Vining Cyn at high Sierra of Yosemite Nat’l Park. We have Death Valley, Mt Whitney, Owen’s Valley and Laws, the possibilities are really limitless. We chase the light, eat really well and have great conversations. We shoot when the light is great and visit the digital darkroom together a few times. Generally, we just make you feel at home in some really gorgeous country. We only take six folks and after our fall Adventure, we only have three openings for this one. The price is $1295 (half due at registration) which includes instruction only. If you wanta come along, give Sharon a call at 760.924.8632.

Air2Air Workshop Feb ’11

Oh yeah baby, the next couple of Air2Air Workshops are going to be HOT with the next one being 25-27 Feb, 2011. We’ll be based out of the Phoenix and with our friends at the AZ CAF providing their amazing planes and even more amazing pilots which makes the whole thing magical! What you see here is a small sample of what we were able to capture in our couple of days!

I can’t get over the response we’ve had to our first Air2Air Workshop with folks even from Europe coming to join us (we only have a few openings right now). We have an amazing workshop planned for you with the prize in our Air-to-Air photography a B-25 Mitchell escorted by a Blue-nosed Bastard P-51D Mustang (as long as they are flying, they do need maintenance so no guarantee). As backup, we’ll have to do with a B-17. In Nov., we had nine different aircraft in our two hours or air-to-air shooting, amazing! We have other aircraft scheduled for the other air-to-air (like a possible TA-4 Skyhawk) as well as a sunset/sunrise static shoots extravaganza! You’ll be learning everything from the art of air-to-air to the exposure and composition romance to digital darkroom and a whole lot more! (can you tell I’m excited?!) Along with Richard VanderMuelen, we even have one of the best air-to-air pilots in the business, Doug Rozendaal as not only one of our pilots but as an instructor. Hot damn, have we packed this thing!

You can be a part of this! All the information for the Air2Air Workshop can be found at the official Air2Air Workshopsite. Or, you could cut to the chase and call WRP @760.924.8632 and join us (1/2 due on registration). Cya in the skies over Arizona!

PS…if you didn’t know that I photograph aircrafts, head to my Moose Aviation Photography website where you can view over 1200 images in the galleries.

Eastern Sierra Adv – Summer Edition

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It’s one of my favorite times of year and we couldn’t be happier then to be sharing it with photographers. We have a great group of adventurers with us exploring all the magic the Eastside has to offer in summer. Typical Moose fashion, we were up before the sun so we could greet it. Using an old technique from film days, shot prior to the sunrise, minus 3 exp comp dialed in and nothing else permitted the color, gradation and moon to be captured in one click. No filters needed, just lots of coffee!

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Working at nearly 10,000 feet, the sun comes up early. Working the ridgeline, you can find little isolated pockets of light on really cool subjects. For me, a total wildflower moron, this is important. Sticking my ass up in the air at all let alone that early in the morning, it better be darn easy. This little Mtn Phlox though is a the perfect example of what I’m talking about. I borrowed Jake’s 24-70, zoomed to 70mm, bent over and shot. Dialed in -1.5 exp comp to make the shadows go black and I was done. By 7AM, light was hard and the call of the wild pancake could be heard from the mtn tops. Damn good morning and great start!

Many have asked if there is a Eastern Sierra Adv for the fall. There is, it’s based out of Mammoth Lakes and even though we’ve not announced it or dates (waiting for last minute for best guess on fall color) there are only two openings left. Give Sharon a call at the office if you want to join in.

Photos captured by D3x, 45PC-E / 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

The Temp is S L O W L Y creeping up

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Yeap, we’re down in TX and the weather started to turn in our favor today. The temp hit 98.3 this afternoon and with that the birds started to pour in. This is a Scale Quail which was kind enough to hop up on a stump to pose. Now if only next time it will move a little to the left so the background is just a little cleaner. I know, I know, yesterday I was moaning it was cool, today the birds need to go to modeling school. What’s next?

Photo captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-20e3 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Eastern Sierra Adv day3pm

The winds that greeted us in the morning never stopped, in fact they kept building as the day went on. We battled our way out to Badwater and some other Death Valley favorites and while there was a couple of cool pics to make, it wasn’t really fun. Then came the evening and Stovepipe Wells.

She expresses the afternoon perfectly!

She expresses the afternoon perfectly!

This is what the Eastern Sierra Adv is all about. Simple Pleasures, simple clicks, romancing the landscape!

Eastern Sierra Adv day3am – B&W

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The moment called for B&W.

All finishing done in CS5

Photos captured by D3x, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film

Eastern Sierra Adv day3am – B&W

This movie requires Flash Player 9

The moment called for B&W.

All finishing done in CS5

Photos captured by D3x, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film

Eastern Sierra Adv day3am

The tires hit the hwy at 03:30. For two hours we drive east and downhill, a shooting star lighting up the sky in the beginning but slowly, the stars disappear. The air coming through the vents gets warmer and warmer, the truck get buffeted by more and more wind. On we travel, the sunrise calling us further and further east.

Before the sun can kiss the sky, we’re in the parking lot and walking up the path. We’re at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley NP and on the right morning, a very magical place. We lucked out because the clouds worked their magic because otherwise a desert with bald skies is, well, as my assistant would say, blech!

The clouds were just too magical for any lens other than the 16Fish at one point. They wrapped the heavens and the earth is a bow that was for that moment, truly special.

Photos captured by D3x, 24PC-E / 16Fish on Lexar UDMA digital film

Eastern Sierra Adv day2pm

When we park at the old rail warehouse and I gather the folks, there is a uniform look on their faces saying “WTF?” It happens every time with every group. This comes in part because many don’t understand how I go about “landscape” photography. It also comes in part because Keeler at first glance is anything but a photographic heaven. But once you let Keeler in….

You wouldn’t know it by the looks of the town now, but it was once the place where tons of gold was shipped and society was in full swing. The warehouse now stands quiet, time is its only visitor. That and us when I bring a group to town.

I don’t know what it is about these old TVs but they suck me in every time. I approached them differently this time and finished them differently and like these results but I know there is more here. I’ll be back.

The Shadows take over Keeler as the sun slips behind the Sierra fifty miles away. This is a another stop I wish I had tagged along with Fausto because he made images I’ve never seen come from this town. Stephanie headed out and made a couple of real sweet images as well, one with my 24PC-E that she borrowed from my bag. I can see that being an expensive loan in the time to come

It was near the end of the day when the group meet up with one of Keeler’s residents and they found the treasure that is Keeler that the goal of the afternoon was meet and a window into what I think landscape photography is all about that we found Keeler’s true gold. While I didn’t make the best images of the afternoon, I was rewarded just as much as the rest of the group with a simple stop at a simple place!

Photos captured by D3x, 24/45/85PCE on Lexar UDMA digital film

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