Sep 9, 2013 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
The desert is such a magical place especially when you look, I mean really look. When the monsoons are blowing through, they take on a kaleidoscope of colors as the miracle of water brings new life as summer takes its last bite at heat. Photoshop World is held in Las Vegas in September which is a drive from our home due east and then when coming home, directly due west. The route covers some amazing desert and desert ranges and it never fails to produce memorable images. Of course, they are memorable to us because we love the desert and the drive. The trick, to make the photo to help you fall in love with it.
There are a couple of critical elements needs to make this happen. The first are brakes, that means not that they are working on your vehicle (which is required no matter what) but that you have the time to use them. When traveling, stopping to take a photo takes time and that fact often stops folks from stopping. Next, you need to have your camera in your lap, or really close, so you can shoot out your window fast if need be. On this day, I shot with the D4, 18-35AFS & 80-400VR3, having all three right next to me. Then for me personally, I’m looking at the shadows, the blacks which define the shape, texture and visual depth. Those three elements are what I like to use to get you to fall in love with the desert. When it comes to finishing, I did my usual playbook, CC ACR and than Perfect B&W. With time being the key, the rest is simple, at least I hope it’s simpler with this because, I can’t help you with the time.
Aug 23, 2013 | Aviation, B&W Photography
I called out the directions and Kevin being Kevin, just followed them. I kept telling the group we were going to see Ms. Piggy. Now if in Hollywood, such an adventure wouldn’t be thought of as odd. Up in the tundra of Churchill, Canada, odd is putting it mildly! We’re there in May to photograph birds, not some Muppet character. We make the turn and leave the main road (which is dirt) and take another dirt road. We “run” through the snow patch on the road, get past the junkyard dog, we bumped down the rock strewn road and barely make the left that brings us up to a semi “parking” area. They look around and then I point up the boulder ridge and there is a gasp in the car. That’s because one wouldn’t think a C-46 Commando could “blend” in the tundra. Ms Piggy as it’s been called as long as I’ve been heading up to Churchill is an old cargo plane that landed a tad short of the runway.
There are many things that are very cool about Ms Piggy, one being is you can see it from the road and at quite some distance. But someone has to point it out the first time otherwise, this big “bird” does just blend in. Another thing is when you walk the wreckage, it appears like the plane was just “dropped” in place and didn’t “crash land.” Here’s the story of the crash:
This is a crashed C-46 aircraft that was operated by Lamb Air. She is found on the scenic route road along Hudson Bay shortly before it ends, close to the Institute of Arctic Ecophysiology. She is called Miss Piggy because she was able to hold so much freight and once did have pigs on board. On Nov 13, 1979 she was flying a cargo of 1 ski-doo and many cases of pop for the Arctic Co-op from Churchill to Chesterfield inlet. She lost oil pressure in her left engine shortly after departing Churchill. The crew of 3 tried to return the aircraft to the Churchill airport. They clipped hydro poles with one wing just before the IAEP lab and crash landed on the rocks there. 2 of the 3 crew were seriously injured. Investigation of the failed engine only revealed small metal chips through out. Her original paint of white and red with the Lamb Air markings has been painted over with gray for a movie
I really don’t know how many hundreds of photos I have of Ms Piggy, but I have more now. The clouds were perfect when I first said, “Let’s go photograph Ms Piggy” (wish I had a picture of the faces in the van when I said that) but once we arrived, well, you see them. But I was thinking B&W the entire time which is also partly why I picked the time of day. Shooting was really straight forward, D4 / 18-35AFS. The metering was straight forward as well since the D4 does so well in these situations. Then in the DD, it was ACR and Perfect B&W using the InFrared moving the Blue and Yellow sliders to modify the default. And in case your were wondering, yes, I was dying to do some stupid post about this was the plane we took, rough landing and the like but hey…
Aug 16, 2013 | B&W Photography
I’m up in Bandon, OR with my good friend Bob looking for shorebirds. It’s that time of year when the nesting shorebirds of the tundra head south and if you hit it just right, there’s not enough room in a photo to squeeze in a matchbook. The trick is, you’ve gotta see them! After putting in 12hrs, we had a break in the fog only to find a couple of Black-bellied Plovers and a Dowitcher before they were swallowed up again in the mist. This is a highly ify proposition, going after that one moment in nature to make the shot. But if you don’t try, you won’t get it. This is my first attempt at such a shot, going after one I saw back in the 80’s that I’ve always admired. And when you’re on the coast in pea soup, the logical thing to do is, find a lighthouse. Here’s the Cape Blanco Lighthouse where the volunteers said they hadn’t seen the sun, or the coast all day. A simple click, D4 / 18-35 processed in ACR and Perfect B&W. And tomorrow, we’ll start all over again with hopefully, less fog.
May 15, 2013 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
An over active imagination? Ya, I have one of those! My love affair with rocks is pretty well known and that’s due in part to my imagination. For example this one at Lake Tahoe, it looks like a fish monster rising its head from the depth to spit out some chewing tabaco on us dumb photographers getting up early on a bald sky morning to shoot rocks. Perhaps a little more nuts is not only seeing this but then shooting to bring it out. Getting down near water level with D800 (ya, even wanted extra detail in the head) with the spooky sharp 18-35 and then processing it in Perfect Suit 7 B&W. Of course, when I say out loud what I was seeing, I was perceived as nuts and that is probably very correct. But then getting up early on a bald sky morning, is nuts!
Apr 23, 2013 | B&W Photography
My latest class on Kelby Training, Master B&W Landscape Photography is now posted and ready for you! Why am I telling you this again? A whole lot of you asked why it was called Outdoor and not Landscape. Well, you’ll now notice it’s back to the original Landscape. Some have asked why there is Nik B&W and not onOne in the finishing. That’s because when we filmed the class, onOne hadn’t made their B&W public yet. Thanks to ALL of you making this one of my most successful launched.
Mar 29, 2013 | B&W Photography
There is appeared after 30min of fog and once I passed, the fog closed back in. Hwy 34 in MN this AM.
