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on Jul 17, 2019 in WRP Ed Zone, B&W Photography

Just Take ONE Step Forward

There are times that you just gotta shoot! Time is everything and waiting and takin time to make everything perfect, you lose the shot. But those times when you do have time, one thing that can often improve your photograph is simply takin one step forward. Literally, place one foot in front of the other and move forward. How can something so simple work? It comes back to what I call the dance. That’s excluding elements that take the eye away from the subject while including those elements that support the subject. Taking one step forward is just one method of doing the dance that works. Here is a simple, gorgeous, sweeping vista that was literally right alongside the highway. I stepped out with the Z7 / Z14-30 that was in B&W (Monochrome) mode as it was that kinda light and drama. I took the first shot (bottom image) as things were moving quickly. I didn’t like the bush on the left and felt I wasn’t inviting the viewer...

on Jul 16, 2019 in Landscape Photography

4600 Miles Later

My sweetie and I pulled into the garage after a seventeen-hour straight drive home last night culminating a 4600-mile road trip. And it was great!!! We saw so much new parts of our country making tons of notes of locales to go back and explore to a greater depth with the camera. Meet lots of incredible folks like the lead engineer for the Apollo LEM who worked for Gruman and WWII Navy engineer who landed on Iwo Jima in the first wave. The best part might have been the quiet time to just drive, look and think. I hope you have a road trip planned for this summer and if not, you just might consider it. I might move your photography forward without even having to pick a camera...

on Jul 11, 2019 in Landscape Photography, B&W Photography

Dead Center Continues

I have a thing for barns, especially lonely old barns. And in Montana, it’s pretty easy to find them. The challenge is finding them when light and mood makes it worth stopping and photographing them. In the past week, I’ve been able to photograph over a dozen as the skies just keep performing. And they all have ended up being dead center in the photograph. Dead center you say? I thought that was bad! You’ve probably read or heard that dead center is bad. Did you know that dead center is the most powerful form of composition we have, if … if the elements in the frame support it. In photographing the lonely barn or building then, being lonely in part supports being dead center. The sky is what really makes it all work. I wish I had a formula for you when it comes to the skies, but I don’t. The main element in skies I look for is mood which is a combination of lights and darks....

on Jul 11, 2019 in Landscape Photography

Math Map Geek

There is a section of track up by Big Timber MT that goes for miles dead straight nearly due east. If you are lucky, you’re at the right section so when the sun rises, you have it dead center over the tracks right on the horizon. Or if you’re me, you geek out a little with a map, compass and sunrise chart to put yourself at the right section at the right moment. It’s really no big deal, it’s just one of those little challenges that if everything works out, you have a photo of shinny railroad tracks. If not, you don’t. In this case, Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 (-2exp comp, 8kWB) was in the right place. Not earth shattering but in its own way,...

on Jul 9, 2019 in Landscape Photography, B&W Photography

Big Sky Country

When you put your camera up to your eye, how do you arrange the elements? How do you expose? And most importantly, how do you tell the story of your subject, your find? These are very common questions that either goes unasked in the picture making process or, if asked, stump the photographer. Perhaps putting the photograph into simple terms might help in this quest. Been up in Montana shooting, such a gorgeous place with a great history. How do you put that into a photo? You might by summing it up with three thoughts: big sky, the west, romance. With those thoughts, you might go wide rather than long. You might find a subject that looks old and western and you might tie that all up in black and white. For me, this meant shooting with the Z7 / Z14-30 and putting it into B&W mode which then turned the whole process to a basic, “point and shoot.” That’s simple and with that simplicity, fun! It starts in...

on Jun 27, 2019 in Wildlife Photography

The Long Days of Summer

While we mammals tend to love the warm days of summer, those who grow long, thick, winter coats to not! Most big game falls into this category and you can tell this time of year who they are. That’s because they are molting. Really, they look like they’ve run into a hungry flight of moths! While I don’t say it out loud in their presence, they’re ugly. What do you do when you have a shot like this of an Mtn Goat nanny & kid and moth is molting? You take the picture of course! But you try to minimize the “molt” however you can. In this case, the kid’s gesture of “You want me to go where?” as he looks down the cliff was the best that could be done at this moment. Are there other options? It really depends on the situation but shadows, body positioning, size in frame, action, and gesture are all tools you can use when they fit. But until all the hair molts...

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