[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5276.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
Moving back and changing the angle of attack to minimize that cloud still isn’t getting it. The tree is now “flat” against the mesa and with that massive rock, it’s just lost in the frame. Like John Shaw once said, “Your tripod has legs, so do you!”
Photo by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5252.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
OK, I move closer to the Juniper and use part of the Juniper to block part of the cloud so now that bright, white mass at the top of the frame isn’t pulling the eye away from the tree. But what has happened to that beautiful shape of the tree when I got closer. To me, it’s lost its drama.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5252bw.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
And in case if you were wondering if there would be any improvement by going to B&W, I don’t really think so. The graceful pose still is lost being so close to the tree.
Photos by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp5249.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
What is the subject? If we got with just the tree, then how do we arrange the elements in the photograph to support that subject? I moved physically a little close to the Juniper for this shot. When I did that, what happened to the cloud? Look back at the 1st posting if you need to but when I moved closer, I effected that could and that changed the whole image. Can you tell? The cloud is now higher, bigger and bloody white! The eye screams to it and there is stays because there is nothing else in the frame bringing the eye back down to the tree. This is not a workable solution to making the image.
Photo captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film
The Valley of the Gods is an amazing location that I just love to visit. I’m making plans to spend a whole bunch more time there, but that requires different travel plans.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp4661.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
This incredibly small slice of UT when the storms are rolling through is simple, without a doubt, hands down one of the most romantic landscapes in the southwest. There’s a ton of red here, not a issue. I wanted to do a little exploring in B&W and was happy with my results. I can do better but that requires days of on foot exploration. I always love having to have to return to a location :)
Photos captured by D3x, 18AF, 16Fish on Lexar UDMA digital film
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP5386.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
I don’t think there’s a means of travel to a project I’ve not taken at this in in time, from the Fuji Blimp to Navy PT Boat and each have their pluses and minuses. The one means of travel though that I use the vast majority of time is a truck. Our adventure this time to the far north was no different. The 10 hour drive up the Haul Road, yeah, you read that right, the 10 hour drive up the Haul Road scares of many as it should. This is not the first time for me and nowhere the last and I love each and every time I cruise this highway of imagination. What’s the secret or art of traveling in the back seat of a F350 for ten hours? It’s to simply look out the window and take it all in.
Photo captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
With the great puffies and gorgeous July light, a trip to Bodie was a must. Bodie is not new to me, in fact, my family has been going to Bodie since 1900. So it was with great delight we took the group there to share not only it’s photographic wealth, but also it’s colorful history.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3858BW.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3890BW.swf, 585, 473 [/swf]
There are many, many ways to approach photographing Bodie. My approach this time was to have corrected buildings in B&W. The first obstacle most fret over are all the people that walk through your photo. There are two ways of dealing with this. The first is simply wait, most folks don’t stand at any one place for more than 30secs. The seconds is simply use Content-Aware fill in Photoshop. I used a combination of these two in these photos.
Next, I shot with the 24PC-E handheld. I seemed to have opened Pandora’s box by talking about these lenses so much, all I get are questions on how to use probably one of the simplest of photographic tools. We have a video being posted this week which will hopefully make this simple tool simple to use.
Lastly there is the B&W. What I did was create 1 image HDR and then take that Tif through ACR 6.2 for the B&W conversion. It’s really easy to do and as you can see, it creates pretty dramatic results. But the key to all of this is the one thing we have zero control over, and that’s the clouds. They make the whole image happen. Without them, all the rest is just talk.