Jun 30, 2011 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
John Muir has been a hero of mine since I was 7 and first read his work. Later, I was deeply honored with the John Muir Conservation Award. And it brings us great happiness to live right in the heart of his Sierra, what he correctly called The Range of Light. It’s days like today when the thunderstorms roll in that the drama in the light underscores John’s love for these mountains. If you’re a photographer, the inspiration of his words and the scenery before you are a monumental challenge. Without that passion then you can’t feel the passion and if you don’t feel the passion, those looking at your photographs won’t feel it either. There is a reason Ansel traveled up and down the Eastside (where Mammoth Lakes is located) shooting black and white. He felt the passion and he shared it with us, the viewers of his photographs. And that’s what Photoshop for Shooters is all about!
I received 14 emails today seeking help with B&W photography. “Seeing” a color image in B&W doesn’t come overnight. There is as much feeling and seeing to make a good B&W. When it comes to a classroom to explore this, there is none better then John Muir’s Range of Light, right where Photoshop for Shooters is being held. Currently, the location list participants are being provided is 7pgs long. It includes everything from locations, lenses, time of days, directions, everything you need to be in the right place at the right time. From your explorations we then explore in class your findings, talk about the click and then go to finishing those clicks. We will spend a heck of a lot of time with B&W, what makes a great B&W and how to finish that great B&W. What you see here is just a small sample of what you’ll see in your viewfinder and on your computer monitor by the end of the weekend. And best yet, you’ll have it in your heart to take home with you. We have an opening for July and a couple openings in October (760.924.8632). We hope we can share this magical place with you!
May 26, 2011 | Landscape Photography
I was watching the news coverage of the tornadic activity in the Midwest. The iPhone chimed, a text from my dear friend in OK. All I see on the iPhone sitting next to me is a photo of a flattened home! Dread instantly grabs me as I lunge for the phone and quickly touch the photo to see the text message. No words, just another photo of a house, half gone! I text back quickly, I knew it wasn’t his home but wanted to know what was up. The Falcon Lake tornado that took a couple of lives is just a hop and skip from his house and he was there as a first responder. Our heart goes out to all those folks who have had their lives devastated by this amazing act of nature! While none live there now, Sharon’s family come from Joplin and tornadoes have come up in conversation more then once in the last three decades. It is a scary part of life in Tornado Alley.
In 2007, my dear friend Kalebra Kelby said, “I’m going storm chasing.” Without hesitation I said, “I’ll go with you!” There was no hesitation and by the next day I was all set for a May, 2008 storm chase out of OK. I wanted to see a tornado first hand and man, did we seeing 11 the first day! I will never forget standing on that ridge watching as CNN reported live, “A hog farm was just vaporized” as we watched hogs fly. That was my first tornado to ever see and its power though barely a EF1 was jaw dropping! Even so, it didn’t prepare me for what I was about to see a few days later in NE.
Kearney, NE, 29 May, 2008. Rail cars were picked up and dropped like match sticks as the tornado touched down in the middle of town and did what tornadoes do. No one was killed but it was the scariest beauty I’ve even seen in my life! It was very surreal, we’re racing towards the wall cloud hovering over Kearney (strangely, a town I now frequent while working with Sandhill Cranes) like some alien craft from Independence Day while residence are racing in the opposite direction. I was looking and shooting out the van window as we drove northeast along the dry line (the top photo is from that moment) and I could see the terror, fright and absolute fear in the faces passing us. I thought as we drove past this home, “Will it be here next time I drive by?” You can’t witness such an event without it leaving its mark. There isn’t a tornado I hear about to this day when those faces don’t come rushing to the front of my consciousness. And at the same time, being a photographer, I was so pulled into the magical world of light the tornado produces. That’s why I wanted to storm chase in the first place, the light and the photography but it soon became very obvious that it was the human element that brings the importance of storm chasing to the forefront. That’s because those chasers while out for the video coverage are the eyes on the ground letting the world know where that tornado has touched down. That’s still a critical element not detected by our technology. That knowledge does save lives.
I’m in KS now, I’m not storm chasing but I will be watching the skies. I’m am completely sucked in to the power and beauty of nature in all of its forms which includes weather. I dedicated a whole issue of the BT Journal to storm chasing and if you’re looking for even more info and to see some incredible storm photography, I highly recommend you chech out Jim Reed, an amazing person and photographer! All of those who have had their lives changed by this beast, our prayers go out to you. Having seen this first hand, I realize there is little if nothing I can do and while it seems so trivial I can only relay the one thought I always have. The sun will rise tomorrow.
May 25, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Don’t get too excited, this top image is the before image. Now that you can breath again, continue on reading. There was a time when I use to go after cactus like I do birds and mammals. For the life of me I can’t remember what got me so excited about them originally, but I do have all of California Cacti in my files. The funny thing, I had only one in digital until my last trip to the Alabama Hills. While once I had all of these species committed to memory, sadly that knowledge has slipped away. But when I saw this gorgeous example in the morning light, I just had to take its pic. And it’s a perfect example of one of my favorite techniques for shooting a smallish subject while showing where it lives all in one click.
I’m shooting with the 14-24AFS at 14mm at f2.8. The top image is what I see many photographers do when trying to photograph a smallish subject while recording its surroundings. Now there is nothing wrong with that top photo, but I feel it can be improved. Let’s start with lens selection. I went wide so I could bring in more elements into the frame. With the goal being to eliminate elements you don’t want while including those you want, with a wide lens getting closer to the subject is a great technique. In this case, the unwanted element was our dog Benson who wanted to water my subject. Now if you just bent over, the top photo is what you would end up with. By eliminating the horizon in the photo, the expanse of the landscape, the loneliness of the cactus in the landscape is lost. How do you get that horizon line back in? You go down to almost bug level and then get close again to emphasize its size, shape and more importantly, its world. But just getting low isn’t enough, we can do better.
What I like to do is go down low but then come up a little bit and tilt the lens to shoot OVER the top of the subject. You could almost say the film plane is at a 45 degree to the subject. This angle permits you to get a little bit closer, minimize how much you see above the horizon and my favorite, minimize your DOF while still capturing a lot even at f/2.8. How can that be? The subject is kinda round, not square. By moving in very small increments, an inch or two, one way or the other, even at 14mm you can make big changes in what you include or exclude. You can see this technique in lots of my images because while I might have forgotten the names of cactus, I’ve not forgotten this favorite technique of mine.
Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 20, 2011 | Landscape Photography
I love the light, the lines, the color and the vanishing lines. Just wish I made more images like this. Ah…a challenge for the future!
May 20, 2011 | Landscape Photography
OK, so I was missing the light so I thought I would work on communicating the vastness of the vineyard so when I have the opportunity again and the light is working for me, I can talk about the vines. I am fascinated by the pattern of the vines wrapping along the land going over the rise and coming back up. I shot at various f/stops looking at this problem and seeing how just DOF would communicate what I wanted.
As it turned out, I like exactly what I thought I wouldn’t like as much and that’s a real narrow DOF. Both of these images were taken at f/2.8. You might notice that I’m shooting down just the side of one row, working at not including both sides. I think that’s why in part I like the narrow DOF. But as you’ll see in my favorite shot of the day, things do change.
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 20, 2011 | Landscape Photography
The photographic challenge, photograph a vineyard while walking around with a glass full of delicious red wine. That’s the challenge we put to our DLWS participants on our last day and I am very pleased to report that every single person passed with flying colors. Not a single drop of wine was split! And the photography? It was really fun. We were the guests of Sausal Winery being treated like royal guest by the owner, David himself. We started off in the tasting room tasting. We then went through the barrel room and then walked the vineyard ending in the 135yr old vines. It was killer!
I have to admit, I did not come back with any photos that I felt really did it justice. Why? I’ve thought about it for a day now and I think it is in part because I didn’t know the subject well enough. Don’t get me wrong, I know my wines and have no problem drinking them. No, I didn’t know the vineyard well enough. I never seem to reach the right spot at the right time for the right light. I felt like I was chasing the light the entire time and my photos look that way. You, the viewer of these images don’t know that since you were there and that is part of the saving grace of photography. But I know and that’s the reality of photography.
Photos captured by D3x, 24f1.4AFS / 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
