Jun 7, 2018 | Landscape Photography
After an afternoon looking for the rare forest endemic bird species of Kauai, we came back down from the mountains to spend some time in the gorgeous Waimea Canyon. There are a number of turnouts and overlooks in which to take in this incredible view and the one I select normally is dependant on the rainbow. That’s because, in the afternoon, there is usually at least one rainbow, if not more.
The gear part was a snap. The D850 with the 70-200f4 and 8-15Fish was all that was required. This permitted both the tight horizontal and vertical shot of the canyon and the rainbow. And with the huge vista, the 8-15Fish took that in oh so elequently. That took care of the arranging of elements, then there were just a few settings to finish it all off.
I shot in Vivid, underexposed by -1/3 stop and set the camera to Cloudy WB. That was it, easy peezy and the memory is saved to share with all. Cause this kind of natural beauty is meant to be shared with all!
May 18, 2018 | Landscape Photography
White Balance, the relationship of the light falling on the subject and how it is captured, sets the stage for so much that we communicate photographically. In its simplest use, creating a “gray day” or “warm moment” is only the difference of 3000k. But that can make all the difference in the story you want to tell!
I went with a real simple portrait setting to make my point. The Boys as always were just hanging out and more than willing to be models. The photograph above was taken when we first arrived at Mt Rushmore. The bottom photo was taken 45min later just as the sun was disappearing. The mood set with the “cold” or “blue” light is dramatic compared to the “warm” or “orange” light. And this difference directly affects how the viewer of your photograph “feels” about the subject. And while this is easy and obvious, like anything in photography, White Balance tends to perplex photographers. I can pass along to you what I tell most photographers when diving into learning White Balance. Use Auto White Balance for everything (Auto Natural Auto on D850) except when you see red in the sky, then use Cloudy. And if you see a change that you like, then delve into it even further.
May 15, 2018 | Landscape Photography
The Black Hills experienced a pretty big wildfire this past November. And while it was devasting, Mother Nature has turned it around this spring with the most amazing green carpet of spring grass I’ve ever seen!
One of the magic ingredients to the green is the rain like what we had this afternoon. The past few days of heavy fog soaked the grasses and with the bit of warmth we had today, a spectacular thunderstorm belted us with pea size hail and gorgeous skies.
It was one of those afternoons you could point your camera anywhere and come away with a sweet click. Capturing all the detail was easy with the D850 with the 8-15Fish, 18-35AFS and 70-200f4 attached. I did create a hole in the ground with the circles I made constantly turning to capture the show. Simply gorgeous spring thunder!
May 11, 2018 | Landscape Photography
I know one thing I won’t accomplish in my life, going into space. The earth though holds a humungous hold on my visual imagination after growing up with the images from Apollo. Getting a photograph of our planet from earth, I depend on my vivid imagination and the 8-15Fish. I point it up towards the heavens, trying to not tip over backward in the process, staring at the skies with their clouds looking for the “earth” in my viewfinder. I got one of my better ones yesterday. Just another split second of my imagination.
Apr 30, 2018 | Landscape Photography
Have you ever made plans to go shoot at a location, months in advance and then once you arrive on location, you can’t get to that spot? We ventured to The Palouse Falls last fall, it was gorgeous! I was soooo looking forward to photographing it with the winter runoff but sadly because of a tragedy, it was closed to the public. That meant finding something else to shoot and with a week of gorgeous, rolling hills and red barns, it was time for a change. I was told about a ghost town, Elberton, so decided to check it out.
We all conjure up different mental images of a ghost town. With my decades at Bodie, that’s what came to my mind. Elberton is nothing like Bodie and certainly not The Palouse Falls. So when I parked, disappointment instantly set in. And with disappointment comes, yep, no desire to take photographs. This is especially true when you aren’t as a friend of mine would say, “Not feeling the love.” SO what do I do in these situations?
There are a couple of things I do personally when this scenario happens. The first is to pull out a lens that is the least likely to be the natural for the location. In this case, I started with the 8-15Fish on the D850. With that, I went looking for a subject. The light on the hoop caught my attention (there were only 4 subjects to pick from so not really difficult). OK, that first click was passable so the funk started to fade. After some time walking, the light mellowed and looking back at the hoops, I got out the next unlikely lens, the 105 f1.4 so the background business would disappear somewhat and the hoop would pop. Then as the light faded, even more, I saw the last shot that I really like. I always surprise myself when I successfully work through a photographic funk. Next time when I’m in one, I’ll remind myself of the time with the ghost hoop.
Apr 27, 2018 | Landscape Photography
One of my favorites places on The Palouse is the Cordelia Church founded back in 1883 and is still in use. With the bald skies, there was no clouds to help bring drama to the “church on the knoll” so I turned to the D850 / 8-15Fish.
The first two photos are strictly to provide you a sense of the walk up the hill to the church. It’s the last two photos here that tell the story I wanted to present on this incredibly beautiful, peaceful and tranquil place. And the gorgeous 8-15Fish did a marvelous job in the telling.
