This evening was literally exhausting switching lenses and Picture Control as the sun went south. There was one great set of could to the north, another to the east (bottom photo) and to the south (top photo). The one thing that was constant was the WB was set to 10k. When I switched to the Z70-200f2.8 for the south, I dialed in Monochrome and -1. When I went east, I would go to the Z14-24f2.8 and start in Monchrome and then back to Standard. Then I might put the Z24-120 and Monochrome and shoot a pano starting east and continuing to the south. Then the Z70-200f2.8 and turn west for the God Beams coming through the clouds. And this happened EVERY NIGHT! It’s one reason I love going back to Philmont each October, Philmont fall skies magic!

Fall color is a seasonal splendor that many, myself included, look forward to celebrating in our photography. We often travel great distances for those reds, oranges, yellows and the patterns they creat in the distance and up close. The mellow fall light and polarizer helps us bring romance to this last salute to spring as it goes out in a blaze of color. It’s that time right now but are there other colors we can use to celebrate fall?

As you can see, I think there are and they include black, white, gray and all the colors those colors combined can produce! Walking one of the canyons in the spectacular Philmont Ranch (great workshop BTW) I went simply armed looking at its oaks for their glory. The sun had yet found its way down inside the canyon but the leafs of the oaks were already a blaze. Their trunks though were still draped in the darkness of the morning. That made the entire click an easy one to make. Simply switched the Z 30 to monochrome and the photograph was done. Not every swath of fall color looks celebratory in B&W, but when I find one that does it is obvious there are others color for fall color.

I love Mammoth Hot Springs! It never ceases to amaze me what Mother Nature has created and shared with us when I walk its boardwalks. The majority of the time I do it in the afternoon, the hours the critters are typically taking a siesta. When in Yellowstone my priority is the critters so landscapes are taken only when there is nothing else the majority of the time. This early morning though as we passed the terraces, the light and sky just screamed for our cameras so we hit the boardwalk. The backlighting is what made them jump out at us. As they are all white, the light is bouncing everywhere so then it’s just a matter of arranging the elements to move the eye through the frame. In the black & white, I closed the aperture down to create the starbursts to move the eye around. In the color version, it was the algae I used as an anchor for the eye. And in both the backlit steam set the stage and brought the romance of the landscape to the image. We so enjoyed our time on the boardwalk even after we learned we missed a bear. It was a gorgeous morning for backlight color & B&W!

I was at the surf line with the Z 9 / 800AFS photographing the American Avocets in the surf and the Black Skimmers feeding right in front of us. To the east we saw the nasty storm that had formed up and was coming our way. The light had gotten real sour, the birds moving away so I started to search with my eyes for the light if there was any. As I spun I had done a complete 180 when I saw behind us, behind the truck, off in the dunes this lone cross. Behind it, a light under menacing clouds. At first I shook off the thought of going for a photo. I was here for critters and I knew that giving them a few moments, they would be back. But the light was in a different direction. I didn’t want to make the walk, get another camera dirty but the light, it ate away at me. After a few minutes I headed for the light. I grabbed the Z 30 / Z16-50 out of the truck and headed over the dune. I no sooner than crossed the small rise when I saw a cloud of bugs come up to greet me. The light was pulling at me so I made the click. That’s when I noticed I was covered, covered with mosquitoes. I ran back to the safety of the beach wiping them off. Then I looked at the photo, one of the finest landscapes I’ve made in a long time. As I madly scratch the tens of bites on my legs and hands this morning, I know I need to make some mental changes towards some photos. The cause your find ’em in the darnedest places!