Nov 29, 2012 | B&W Photography
You’d think for a guy who’s been on the road for three months, he might just stay home after just getting home. What can I say, moss doesn’t grow under my %&#)&.With a presentation in Los Angeles and a “big” snow storm coming in, Sharon & I threw the dogs in the truck and headed south to the warm home of our marvelous friends. I’ve written many times and shared many an image from the Eastern Sierra when a storm rolls in. The skies, the light, the texture, the mood is just something else. Not every storm is the same, each has its own character and this one was no different. This one had wicked winds and at two different altitudes which created some amazing skies. The big problem was, I would be driving and see some amazing photo but by the time I found a place to pullover, the winds had scrambled everything. I would stop, scene changed so I went then stopped again, get out and shoot, jump back in and repeat. I did that for nearly three hours. I loved it!
Shooting with the D800 & 24-70AFS mostly, and what you see here is a 24mm shot (top) and a 70mm shot (bottom) but both taken knowing I was shooting B&W. Why one focal length vs another? It has to do with the light and bright ratio to the clouds with dark character. I love to play those two against each other so I’m always looking at that ratio in the viewfinder. At the same time, I’m looking at the lines those clashing tones create to lead the eye around the frame. It’s all of that in combination which for me, determines the focal length.
And this photo? This is what it looked like behind me. That peak which is just short of 12,000 feet has disappeared all but its base in the snow storm that chased us out of town. We did finally make it down to a very warm home with great friends and food with a whole lot of images on the flash card and little gas left in the tank. A perfect road trip!
Nov 9, 2012 | B&W Photography
A few years back, Sharon & I started a new tradition of spending Veteran’s Day down in Mesa, AZ. With snow knocking at the front door, we got in the truck and headed down the road. It was a gorgeous day to drive through the desert! With D800 / 24-70f2.8 AFS in my lap, we dumped the dogs off with the sitters and off we went!
Now when I say, “Shootin down the road,” I mean just that. The window goes down, the camera gets stuck out and the motordrive goes clickin away. I started doing this long ago because there never seems to be a place to pullover when I see the shot. And if there is, it’s never where I want to stop or, I go by it so fast, it’s too late when I see it. So, I go shooting down the road!
I’ve gotten real good at sighting over the lens barrel, guessing pretty closely to the framing and then laying on the shutter release to take a whole bunch of frames. Leveling I have down because of how I rest the camera on my left arm, old habit. Finishing was real simple, Silver Efex Pro 2. mtc…
Oct 29, 2012 | B&W Photography
This past weekend was simply great! We held our last Mono Lake Workshop for the year with simply a really great group of photographers! Lots of great shooting, laughs, teaching and of course, gorgeous Eastern Sierra weather. I’m always intrigued how each workshop seems to have its own tone, theme and techniques that want to be learned. They are never the same and this weekend had its own. In that process, I get in a couple of clicks here and there. We had two very different mornings with one being pretty typical of no clouds and another with some high, scattered clouds.
A number of folks asked about me and clouds. They’d noticed I shoot a lot of them and on occasion, they turn out pretty good. So they asked what was my secret. There is really only one, and that’s selecting the clouds and matching them with the subject. Clouds tend to have a pattern to them, a pattern that “points” to something. So the trick is having an interesting something. Once you recognize that, you then just have to decide how you want to wrap the bow on it. In this case, D4, 18AF with Silver Efex Pro is how I decided to wrap a bow on it. Oh ya, I started with a 5 image handheld HDR assembled using Nik HDR Pro. mtc
Oct 25, 2012 | B&W Photography
Taken from the market shopping lot, a winter storm left Mammoth blanketed in 8″ of new snow. Just gorgeous!
Oct 24, 2012 | B&W Photography
The romance of B&W, I want everyone to enjoy this gorgeous art. Hope this helps!
Oct 8, 2012 | B&W Photography
Pemiquad Lighthouse is no stranger to my viewfinder. This is a simple click with simple finishing on a nasty, gray day!
