Mar 3, 2020 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
Thor’s Well
captured by D750 / 18-35AFS
Like most shooters, I have locales across the globe I’d like to shoot at someday. One of those is Thor’s Well. Totally on a fluke, I found myself there one evening when Sharon & I were traveling with dear friends. Serious photography was not even on our minds, there was zero planning involved when we found ourselves at Thor’s Well. We didn’t even know it was in the neighborhood. It just so happened our timing was good for the tides and the sky were OK. And while we had a great time, great time, the photo is at most just a quick click of all that fun. But when it comes to the photographic moment, I missed it. This photo is just OK, it could have been so much better and does that knowledge bother me? Na, because it was not a photographic journey, it was a happy moment. And that’s OK! What this photo does do is not only remind me of that evening but put a fire in me to get back and do the photo right. Next time you don’t come home with “the” click, remind yourself that is was only a missed moment.
Feb 11, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Old Faithful
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
When you conjure up winter, white is predominant the color that flashes to mind. It takes only a short microsecond traveling through Yellowstone in winter to come to know that white has a run for its money when it comes to color. The one color you see a lot of is gray, as in, gray skies. That color too might make you think that there isn’t much color in Yellowstone in winter. Traveling about even under gray skies you find colors of nearly every shade around every corner of Yellowstone. Heck, its name tells you that even its rocks have color, yellow! When Old Faithful erupts into those gray skies, even the steam stands out from that gray. The colors can be that subtle yet powerful visually.
Mudpot Basin
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
Going from the size and grandeur of Old Faithful to the edge of a small pool in the Mudpots, the colors are unearthly. The yellow of the algae (or is that yellow stone?) against that amazing blue of the hot, deep pool, who comes up with this stuff?
Mudpots
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
They thought Bridger was making things up when he talked about mud bubbling like boiling water. He didn’t mention the red hues outlined in white with the pockets of turquoise blue. Then you have this layer of steam wisping around hiding parts and sharing others. And with the crisp air of winter, all very much alive changing every second.
Midway Basin geyser
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
Then there is that yellow stone … again …
Grand Prismatic Spring
captured by Z7 / Z14-30
The algae mat that lives Grand Prismatic Spring does just that, lives and thrives! In water temps that would cook an egg in less than a minute, the algae bloom constantly changing the colors of the springs. The smallest kiss of light brings out an assortment of colors that change as your turn about. When the wind is calm and the temps are cold, steam creates a backdrop taking your imagination back to a primeval time.
Lower Yellowstone Falls
captured by D5 / 180-400VR
With winter white comes winter cold, so cold the might of lower Yellowstone Falls freezes in part. The freshwater turns a shade of blue that gives you shivers looking at it, not having to even know the air temp to feel cold.
Porcelain Basin
captured by Z7 / Z14-30
And amongst the hot pools at Norris Geyser Basin is Porcelain where the earth really cooks! The white soil and lining of the pools make the blue minerals dissolved in the steamy waters display their spectacular colors. As the steam dances about in the breeze, the landscape constantly changes so fast even the camera’s motordrive can’t keep pace.
Porcelain Basin
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
Next time you think about the color of winter, especially in Yellowstone, white might now be on the bottom of the list. That’s because there is a lot more to Yellowstone’s winter color.
Jan 28, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Clepsydra Geyser
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
It’s just steam, but wow, what Mother Nature can do with it! I was fortunate to be at Beehive Geyser in Yellowstone when it erupted and it sounded like a 737 engine at launch! The water lew out with such power for so long, it almost got boring! I kept asking, “just how much water is down there?” And it’s not just hot water but has all these dissolved minerals which is what makes the cone at the base of the geyser. It’s simple, mind-blowing!
Beehive Geyser
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
Photographing really is pretty simple. Number one, don’t let that steam hit your front elements. It can take the coating right off the lens (yes, I personally experienced that mistake). Next, let the shutter fly! There is no way you can see the perfect explosion during an eruption, then tell your finger to fire, at least I can’t. When I see a series I like, I will take 5-7 frames and then pick the right one later. It’s a gorgeous display so shooting is a pleasure and watching that eruption all over again back home, that a sheer pleasure!
Jan 21, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Haystack Rock
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Breakthrough 10x ND
Bringing movement to a still image, I simply love that challenge. I’ve explored many methods of accomplishing this and now I’m exploring to me a new one. Recently I decided to explore the long exposure afforded by the 10x Neutral Density ND filter to see what it might bring to my quest. My goal is not just to blur everything because, I can. I want to bring movement to just some elements in the photo, those elements I “feel” moving as I stand there that the story. This means that the subject is not the blur. The blur tells the story of the subject.
Peter Iredale Shipwreck
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Breakthrough 10x ND
Braving the elements (it poured and haled taking these images), I relied on the elements to bring a mood and romance to the photo along WITH the blur. I LOVE the Breakthrough 10x ND (I got at Bedfords) and used it for these images. I shot with the Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 which performed perfectly in these elements. I relied on ND Timer to determine my exposure. I’m far from feeling like I have this under my belt so I’m successful every time I pull out the 10x. But I’m encouraged enough by my results to keep at it.
Jan 17, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Cape Disappointment
captured by Z7 / 70-200f4
The lighthouse, the lone sentinel protecting seafarers from dashing on the rugged rocks and reefs of the coast. This incredibly romantic symbol of our coastline draws me in over and over again. Just how do we tell the lighthouse’s story to draw our viewer in when they have seen lighthouses over and over? If the moon is going to be part of your story, that’s a major challenge. If you want the light from the lighthouse and its path never reaches the land, that’s a problem. The way I went about capturing this scene was to shoot at 10am (not PM) and underexpose once the sun was behind a cloud. I used a cooler WB to suggest night. I waited until a wave was in the foreground to provide some visual depth. And finally, added the lighthouse beam in post. And if I did my job right, you look at the photo and feel a little of the romance of the sea.
Jan 14, 2020 | Landscape Photography
Haystack Rock
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8
Just how mad were those seas? How angry were those skies? For a fact, you don’t really know. You only have what my photo communicates to you. Was the exposure at 0, + or – comp? That anger and I feel the emotion in the photo, comes from not just the elements and how they are arranged in the scene, but the exposure I choose to tell the story. Was the storm brewing, raging or on its way out? Underexposure makes the drama come out in the photo, the anger of a raging storm appears and that’s the romance I wanted to bring. It’s such a simple thing and then again, it’s a big thing.
