Feb 16, 2011 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
The weather went from bad to horrible so we headed up to Upper Geyser Basin to see what was happening. What do I mean the weather went to crap? Look at the skies….BLUE! I hate bald skies but when you want to photograph steam, they do have some benefit to your photography.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp24911.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Since it was up to 39 degrees, it was too warm for anything other then geysers. This is Castle Geyser and other then darkening the sky in ACR with the blue slider, it’s straight from the camera.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp25431.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
I have to be honest, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen and photographed Old Faithful so to make a new shot is a challenge. The one hard thing about the photo is the fact you just don’t know what the old girl will do until it blows. How high, the direction of the steam are highly variable. So what I decided to do was stand where I had the best foreground, go B&W in post and click. I was pretty happy with the eruption as the wind took the steam back and to the right leaving the actual eruption up front and white. Perfect for a B&W image.
Photo captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 16, 2011 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp38451.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
I guess mother nature celebrates Valentine’s Day the day after we do. We’re out on the Madison as the sun rose of a small herd of Bison. It’s wasn’t very cold so we had no crusties but we did have some great looking critters so we spent some time with the herd. Put the time in and more often then not, you are rewarded!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp38951.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Now this is not the kind of reward most folks have in mind, but it’s what we handed. Spring is a long ways off but not to this pair. They spent a good 20 plus minutes doing the “Bison Shaffle” and then in a couple of second, the love was over. It was a great start to the day!
Photos captured by D3x, 200-400VR2 w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 15, 2011 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp24851.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
For those of you who saw the video, I didn’t want you to think we don’t do the same think in the field. Work it doggie, work it….
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp25021.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
That’s it, give me more cheek, more cheek….
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp25201.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Perfect, tilt the head and give me the cheek…..
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp24941.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
Alright, I don’t think this is your best side but we’ll do it for a change. Great…it’s a wrap!
Photos captured D3x, 200-400VR (handheld 1/20) on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 15, 2011 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp23911.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Then….the sun creeped over the ridge line and lit up the hoar frost on the pines across the river. OMG, it was gorgeous! I instantly grabbed the 200-400, zoomed to 400mm and made the clicks. Now the highlight bouncing off the water bothered me at first but it’s not driving me as nuts now.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP24011.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
It was amazing to me how within heartbeats the color and mood of the light changed as the sun rose over the ridge. Why in the world did I even question the wisdom of doing back to back weeks in Yellowstone? All it takes is an open eye, mind and heart and the images come right up and smack you in the face! I can’t wait for tomorrow to come and see what the old girl will offer up to our lenses!
Feb 15, 2011 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp24251.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Let’s put the cards on the table. I wasn’t sure doing this back to back Yellowstone Adv would work for Moose. Especially after just having a killer week with some amazing photography. Looking at the weather forecast for the day and seeing the warm temps, I was sweating this out. Would there be “new” subjects or “improved” subjects enough to keep my enthusiasm for shooting up high enough not only for myself, but this great group of shooters I have with us this week. I should have known the old lady would put on a show and that all I had to do was show up!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp24181.swf, 404, 600 [/swf]
My Hayne at sunrise was simply, gorgeous! There was nothing to do by click, what you’re see above is right out of the camera. AWB, -1/2, Vivid f/8 and click. FWIW, we were at this exact same location last Monday and we never even photographed Mt Hayne. Though it was 7 degrees, it was still cold enough for the magic to happen.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_bmp14151.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
And when you turned west (looking south here), the Madison River was putting on a show of its own. The steam, sunrise, snow are all working together to make the image come to life. But this is nothing…check out the next posting!
Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS / 200-400VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Feb 14, 2011 | Landscape Photography
At this point, I’ve gone through all my images from our first week in Yellowstone (which was great BTW) and picked out those I personally like the best and finished them in post. Of those 100+ images, narrowed it down to 15 the images that bring back the week and put a smile on my face. “Favorite” images I think should be those that put a smile in your heart. That doesn’t mean they are the greatest photographs, but simply those that bring back the memories of that moment. That’s what you have here. How were they finished” You have everything thing from straight out of the camera (yeah, that is permitted) to images finished with just ACR or with that with Nik Glamour Glow, Tonal Contrast or Silver Efex or a combination there off added to the mix. I never spent more then two minutes with finishing any given image. Enjoy and if I’m lucky, an image or two will put a smile in your heart!
