Promise of the New Day

Sep 4, 2026 | Landscape Photography

Monument Valley “Classics” captured by Z 8 / Z24-70f2.8II

You’re on location you’ve spent lots of time and money to arrive at. You simply walk out the door of your home. You’re there because of the promise of the possibilities life might bring to your viewfinder. The only way you find out the promise of the day is to meet it at least halfway. You gotta show up! Not talking just physically, but technically and emotionally, ready to take in what you see and feel and make that into a single click. We fail at that at times, that’s part of the process and how we learn. There are times when we succeed, and those are the ones we treasure and push us for more. That’s the life of a photographer. We’re always greeting the promise of the new day.

Simple Elements

Aug 25, 2026 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Hardy Creek, MT captured by Z 8 / Z70-200f2.8II

Putting the viewer of our photograph next to us when we took the photograph is just part of the journey. We also need them to feel the heartbeat of that moment that made us stop in the first place. Adding to this is bringing a visual depth to our landscape photograph so the viewer can walk through it over and over again. In this pursuit, lots of small subtleties add up to big drama. Case in point, looking down the Hardy Creek canyon, MT. The foreground darkness brings up mystery while the soft clouds’ brightness pull the eye through. There is layer upon layer, each one a tad lighter until one comes to the God beam that then, brings the eye back to the foreground to enjoy the journey all over again. The drama comes from a bunch of simple elements.

Tint in B&W?

Aug 18, 2026 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

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Mitchell Mesa, right image with uncorrected tint captured by Z 8 / Z24-70f2.8II w/Breakthrough Mag CPL

Tint can and does play havoc with B&W, especially in certain situations. Those are when there is a preponderance of red or green. In Monument Valley, there is plenty of red. So if your B&W appears “flat,” you might have a tint issue and didn’t even know it. Simply go into ACR and lower the tint and watch your image. You will quickly see for yourself tint in B&W.

Heading Down

Aug 13, 2026 | Landscape Photography

Ft Benton, MT captured by Z 8 / Z70-200f2.8II

It’s heading down! The pedal was to the metal as we headed down the highway. A dirt road to the north gave us access to the vast landscape. It was a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It was so remote, a local, who saw us pull over came out to make sure we were OK (I love Montanans!). The Z 8 w/Z70-200f2.8II were quickly pulled out. WB set to 10k, exp comp to -1/3. Grid screen turned on, and the sun placed dead center. I watched as the sun set, and just before I thought it would kiss the horizon, I started to fire and continued until it was no longer a full circle. It was only then that I saw the God beams. It was a great evening enjoying the day and celebrating it with the sun heading down.

Time Machine

Aug 11, 2026 | Landscape Photography, Wildlife Photography

The Great Falls, MT 3 image pano captured by Z 8 / Z70-200f2.8II

In 1805, Lewis & Clark came upon the Great Falls and its surrounding 450′ bluffs and knew the going was going to be tough. What they thought would be a one-day portage turned out to be three weeks. The volume of water was monstrous, so much so that Lewis named the first of the five falls, Great Falls.

Went to Ryan Island to see what Lewis saw. While the rocks haven’t changed much, the falls have had a dramatic change. You can see what I saw in the second pano. I wanted to see what Lewis saw so I grabbed the time machine and rolled the dice.

The Great Falls, MT 3 image pano captured by Z 8 / Z70-200f2.8II

While I was standing there seeing the water come over the spillway, I was mesmerized. The B&W is in the camera, Z 8 magic. The trip back in time, that’s Photoshop AI. This was my first venture into using AI, so I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen. Ya, I’ve used AI for Masking in ACR, but going back in time, this was a first. In Ps, I selected the spillway, clicked on Generative fill, and typed in, “historically accurate Great Falls 1805.” Dang, on the first click, you see the results. Then I tried it on a single image, not a pano of the whole falls, and while it’s darn close, it’s not the same as the pano. That got me to thinking. It’s no replacement for standing there in 1805, but the camera and computer did put me there, and I can visit it anytime I want now, like when I read Undaunted Courage. It’s my own, personal, time machine.

The Great Falls, MT captured by Z 8 / Z70-200f2.8II

Looking for Lewis, Finding Moran

Aug 6, 2026 | Landscape Photography

Tower Rock, MT captured by Z 8 / Z24-20f2.8II

At our feet is the Missouri River as we stand on Tower Rock. This is the same spot Lewis & Clark were in 1805 on their momentous journey west. We’d been following their footsteps, using their journey as our photographic inspiration. The country is quite gorgeous, and all around us are formations that Lewis wrote about in his journal. Then this afternoon at Tower Rock, the light and, sadly, wildfire smoke, brought to life another famous old adventurer of the west, Thomas Moran. His paintings have long been an inspiration with their “heavenly light” and great visual depth. The only thing missing from the photo above is the snow-covered peak in the background. Even if there were one, it wouldn’t have been visible through the smoke. But it was great fun, looking for Lewis, finding Moran.

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