Out cruisin with my Valentine this morning and the Df / 35AFS and came upon this cool work of art. The only thing on this that is from an actual motorcycle are the rims. Everything else are common household items to that make it look like a motorcycle. I just thought it was really cool looking. The image is right out of the camera other than running through OnOne Perfect B&W with a touch of its Glow.
Yeap, B&H put the new 35f1.8AFS in my hands PDQ and I like! Sharp lens especially at f/1.8. Autofocusing – fast and responsive. Really sick MFD with outstanding corner to corner performance. Physically small and compact, slightly odd fitler size but for the price, it’s a screamer. First impressions … blows away my old 35f2!
As far as these photos go, top one is looking north and the bottom one is driving 45 miles north and looking south on the same clouds. Finishing was a simple single click using Nik Silver Efex Pro.
The entire gang from our Yosemite Adventure wanted the shot of the tree over the rock. I said Olmstead Point was the place to go. Once there, they said, “Where’s the tree?” so i turned and pointed up, up the mountain. And before you could say Half Dome (which we shot at sunrise), up the hill we went. Two folks unknown to me until we got down, had sever fear of heights. But when it comes to getting the photo, even that didn’t stop them from climbing to the top as well. I went up with minimal gear, D4, 18-35AFS & 16Fish knowing two things, I wanted the big vista and was shooting B&W (also, I was going up so less was more!). In the background is Clouds Rest & Half Dome, so this is the lang of big vistas and B&W! The dome behind Olmstead Point itself is a picture rich area so we shot all the way up and all the way down. With the sun just coming over the horizon, it offered us many great opportunities, this is just one of them.
This dome is polished smooth from the same glacier creating Yosemite Valley. The pines that find a crack to germinate and grow all have great character. This is one of the larger ones so the combination of it and granite, well make for a photo. So with the 18-35AFS attached shooting at 18mm, I bent down and took the shot. It’s truly one of those, “I was here shots” at best. Boring! I knew that there was a photo here, had to get it out. What was it lacking? First was the sun, it wasn’t helping. Close the lens down to f/22 and then move so it was just peaking through the tree, we’d get the starburst. OK, with that I can change position and use the shadow as a line for the eye to move through the frame. To do that, I need to go wider so the 16Fish replaced the 18-35. OK, making some improvement but we can do better. OK, gotta nice boulder, small but it works. Lay on the granite face, get close to the boulder in the left corner (knowing I was going to light it in post) and move so the sun was peaking through the tree and wham, a photo was born. There are those times when you know there is a photo but the first click just doesn’t work. Those are the times when you gotta dig down and ask yourself what’s not working and do the dance. Because your heart knows a photo exists, you’re in there somewhere.
K&M Adventures is taking on the the elements with a winter Oregon Coast Adv, 19-23 March, 2014! This magnificent region is one Kevin & I have journeyed to and photographed many, many times. The coast in the winter is a spectacular photographic playground as Mother Nature chisels away at the rock! As you might notice, I think it’s a great place for B&W and is the same region featured in my Kelby Training Black and White Landscape Class. You’ll wanna fly into Portland on the afternoon of the 19th (by noon) and fly out on the 24th (after 2pm). We’ll pick you up from the airport and escort your around until we take you back to the airport. That, along with instruction are all included for the price of $2195 (limited to 7). We spend from breakfast until last up together shooting, eating, shooting, digital darkroom, laughing and other things you just can’t imagine! Which means you might find yourself in front of a subject you never imagined. (Unlike our other Adventures, there will be a lodging change half way through the trip. Lodging not included in the price). And after those long days, you want to kick your shoes off and relax. Give the office a call 760.924.8632 and we’ll get you all signed up!
We’ve had a number of calls asking about our K&M Adventures for 2014. Well, we’ve had a bunch of past participants that had so much fun together (and you know who your are buds!) that they had K&M create custom Adventures just for them. With only so many days available in a year to offer them, that’s why you don’t see the many listed. So, here’s your opportunity to join us.
Yeap, the Nat’l Parks are closed but they are still OUR lands to enjoy and love, even if behind closed gates. That’s what we did today and the Tetons put on one helluva show for us! Yeap, we have clouds and you all know how I love them. Sunrise was a fin shoot and really with what was provided for us, darn simple. This is a simple click, D4 / 18-35 pointing up to have just a mere slice of foreground and letting the clouds suck you in, down and around. Post processing was no more than ACR and Perfect Suite 7 B&W. Even if the park were open, I would have ended up at the same locale because the Tetons and the clouds with a whole bunch of passion determined where we shut, not a shutdown.