Aug 10, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP5721.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
Jake had the itch to photograph some shorebirds so early Sunday morning we headed to our favorite coffee shop and with a brew in hand headed to Mono Lake. August is just not a great time to be finding wildlife on the Eastside. Most breeding birds are done and leaving, their kids too stupid to be photographed. Falls migrants from the north are just starting to show up and unless you want to spend hours just finding them, you ain’t going to get any glass on them. No matter, we checked out one, two, three locales. We got skunked.
We were heading home when I said, “How about checking out that plateau up on the ridge?” A few seconds later Jake had the truck whipped around and heading back up the highway. We started out at 7700′ altitude and when we finished climbing the peak, we were just short of 10,000′! It was a wonderful new area we found to explore and if the light hadn’t sucked, I would have images to show you here. As it was when we reached the top of the peak and catching our breaths we had this great view of Mono Lake. We are planning to go back when the smoke from the fires has cleared, should make a great pano.
Photo captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital fim
Aug 7, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DLCMCGL2320.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
I’m always asked, “How much time do you spend on the road?” The answer is six months out of the year which means, we spend six months out of the year at home and I like that! The Eastern Sierra is a gorgeous place! It’s not full of wildlife but just enough to keep me shooting. But it is overflowing with scenery and landscapes at every turn. This sunset from last night is just one example. I made turn out the door and then a turn down the deck and made the click. The biggest challenge, which end of the deck to shoot from.
I’m often asked how I get the depth of color in my images. This photo which is right from the camera is an example of what I’m talking about. While I’m normally in Auto WB, when shooting sunrises and sunsets I switch to Cloudy WB and typically, but not always, set exp comp to -1. In this case, I set it to -1.5 stops. Then I just shot.
Photo captured by D3x, 45PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 24, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP0942.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
We were heading out to go get dinner when I saw this formation over the mountains. While we were pulling over, I had visualized in my mind a totally different cropping for this image so grabbed the 70-300VR. I was going to go in tight, I thought the dead space above and below the main clouds as needing to go away. But when I looked through the viewfinder, I didn’t like what I saw at all. I quickly switched back to the 24-70 and zoomed back to 55mm and went click.
Looking at the image for awhile, I’m pretty sure that without the foreground and space in the sky above the clouds, they just seem less mighty. They need that space to breath, spread and be all that thunderheads need to perform their magic. It was a good lesson, one I’ve tucked away in the back of my head.
Photo captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 24, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP0918.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
I know I’m not alone in the attractions of clouds. We’re starting our normal late summer monsoon season which can produce killer formations in the afternoon. This afternoon was no exception. We went up to Mono Lake as that’s where the tallest clouds were performing. By the time we got there, they had gone east but as they went over the mountains, some moisture was squeezed out and the sun caught the drops creating some cool towers. When it comes to the B&W thing, that was Nik Silver Effect. You can learn how I use that by heading the video library and clicking on the link.
Photo captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 22, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP0810.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
All the thunderstorms we’ve had this summer have prolonged the spring growing season, made the plants thicker and more colorful. It’s something I witness everyday when I go out to the meadow that is our front yard. When folks go out in the morning to walk the dogs, they usually take the newspaper or a cup of coffee or just open the door and kick the dogs out. I’m kinda weird, this time of year I go out with a camera on my shoulder. I just never know where the sun is going to hit the meadow and what combination of plants are there in sweet bloom. This morning, the pretty blue and white ones were looking darn nice (sorry, I don’t do plants). So, while the dogs did their business, I did mine.
Photo captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Jul 15, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/landwk1.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
There is probably no more beautiful locale in the fall in the Eastern Sierra. A couple of fans have asked over and over and over again for me to do a landscape photography workshop here in the fall. They finally twisted my arm. Oct 08-11 this year, we’ll cruise from Lee Vining to Lone Pine photographing some of this lands most amazing landscapes.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/landwk2.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
We have a huge laundry list of locales to visit: Mono Lake, fall color everywhere, Lee Vining Canyon, Bristlecone Pines (weather dependent), Alabama Hills, Death Valley, Ultra Wide Panos, Star Trails, long days with tons of digital darkroom time (OK, hours), it will be a tiring event!
We’ll be based one night in Mammoth Lakes, two nights in Lone Pine. It’s limited to just 5 shooters with only a couple of spots available. The price is $1100 which includes instruction only. If you can handle four days of Moose, landscape photography and no sleep, this might be just for you. Just as a FYI, this is just days after the Las Vegas Photoshop World, a five hour drive from Mammoth. If you want in on the fun, give the office a call 760.924.8632.
The top photo is of the Tufas of Mono Lake captured by D3 & 24-70AFS. Bottom photo is Mt Williamson, D3 and 24-70AFS. This is just a small sample of the possibilities the Eastside presents.
