Simple Click – Light We Found
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Tuolumne Meadows is just gorgeous right now!
Quick Trip to Monumnet Valley
We’ve got a great group of folks with us here on the Eastside so thought we’d take them on a quick trip to Monument Valley. In miniature that is.
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OK, we didn’t drive to Utah overnight, rather we left at 4AM and headed to a favorite locale. After doing some star trails, we headed down and got on our knees. We got on our knees, elbows and stuck our butts in the air as we photographed these very delicate and fragile sand tufas.
OK, so getting down on your knees is part of making the photo, what else is? The top photo was taken with the 18AF, the bottom with the 24PC-E, one with tilt in and the other corrected. I don’t think either one is required to make the shot. Nope, to make the shots come alive required the great clouds and light and then a good dose of romance. No matter how big or small your landscape, I feel the same ingredients goes into all of them in order for them to be successful. Oh yeah, having good knees doesn’t hurt!
Photos captured by D3x, 18AF / 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film
The Small Rewards of Just Getting Out
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There is no doubt that you have to live in the mountains and be into history for these subjects to seem romantic to ya. I love living in the mtns and love history so these are very romantic. This is an old time cooling rack attached to the kitchen of a 1900s cabin. Put wet burlap around it on the outside and you have a cooler. Pretty clever considering it’s in the middle of nowhere, a little modern convenience created through ingenuity.
And this is no more than a study of time. The century this little out building has survived being buried under 30′ of snow each winter. The study of time as the light of the day slowly slips up the side before disappearing and saying good night. Damn, what a great day to be out and be a photographer!
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Too Much Blue – Take Cover!
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That’s what I do at least, I head for the shade, muted light and look for subjects when there are bald skies. Chasing light is what it’s all about and in the forest, there are always beams of light coming through the canopy, the challenge is finding something interesting in those beams. Well, I headed to a locale that has provided some in the past.
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i never can remember the real name for these plants, only the trivia that the natives used them as disposable diapers. Always a good thing to think of when shooting them if your photos turn out shity. In the muted light, it takes very little backlit to make things start to happen. Now I’m no marco photographer but I do like to play, once a year, with this subject and sometimes they turn out better then normal. The top image, good idea but…. The bottom image is different and I’m not sure if that’s why I like it or because I really see something in the image to like. I’ll have to stare at it for awhile. At least I don’t have any bald skies in the photo!
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Bald Sky Challenge
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Yeap, when you are expecting glorious thunderheads, bald skies can be a real mental bummer. Yeah, blue skies are nice but when it comes to making the simple click, they are a design nightmare. This is an old fishing hole on Lake Mamie that not only had plenty of blue sky, but had plenty of blue sky reflection. When I shot it, I was thinking about this issue and thought I had a post finishing plan but then I looked at the image again. It just didn’t pop as much as it could so a thought crossed my mind.
I processed the image as a one image HDR. I then processed the Nef again normally in ACR. I then Loaded both images in The Stack and used Auto Blend of the two images. What you see are the results. I’m kinda intrigued so it’s something to play with more in the future.
Photo captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film
“Just Don’t Shoot a Stump!”
Yeap, I have this thing against ugly stump and stick photos. Yet, not sooner then I warn the group not get sucked into shooting stumps and sticks, the next thing they know, I’m shooting a 30foot tall stump. What the?! I just walked a short distance and I saw this stump and as I walked around it, I got to this spot and saw a woman in a long dress carrying a bull statue. I know, I know, I need some rest. Then the “I wonder” went across my mind and no matter what, I follow those thoughts. So I hassled getting the 16Fish out, set up in this tiny slot between the trees, danced around the sunburst coming into the lens, shot the damn HDR, processed it only in the end to be reminded of one thing. Whatever you do, don’t shoot the stomp!
Photo captured by D3x, 16Fish on Lexar UDMA digital film