Mar 24, 2015 | Landscape Photography
You just never know who might just become a dear friend, I would never have thought it would be Harry. It’s not that he’s a Canon shooter, but we come from life at two different directions. He’s got an amazing sense of humor, a great storyteller, a mind boggling view on life, great laugh and is a most excellent photographer. I’ve lost track how many times we’ve gone shooting together but as all photographers can relate to, there is no lack of “Nikon / Canon” banter between us and Harry takes as well as he gives. Like when we were in Costa Rica last month where Harry arrived with his new 800mm lens (gorgeous glass). Screwing with him, I acted as if with my 800mm lens, I could focus on something really close. He looked through his lens and he couldn’t focus that close so he backed up, backed up, backed up and backed up until finally he could. At which time, all were laughing because they knew I couldn’t focus that close either. I was just pulling his chain! And because of photography, we have all that time while celebrating the craft. It’s truly a gift. Thanks for a great week Harry!
Mar 23, 2015 | Landscape Photography
I dunno but every time I’m standing at the seashore with my sweetheart and there is a lighthouse, I’ve just gotta have that light in the shot. To me, a lighthouse is either getting the lost mariners in safely from the brutal sea or, is the warm and safe shelter where they are having hot chocolate after the storm. On this morning with the gorgeous sunrise, it was hot chocolate time for the mariners and my sweetie. The capture is pretty straight forward, D750 / 24-70AFS with the light produced in post. And the rest, well that up to your romantic inclinations.
Mar 23, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Chuck had that sad, puppy dog big eye look when he answered my question what’s wrong. “I still have issues with wide,” he said. We had just got onto Bandon Beach, a favorite locale that has a different face every time you walk it. I stopped right then, grabbed Chuck and walked over to the scene you see above. Now just standing there, it wasn’t obvious there was a photo to be made. But once I pointed his D810 / 18-35AFS down, got close physically to the rock and zoomed out to 18mm and said to Chuck, “Get close, shoot across the top, shoot wide” and had him look through the viewfinder, he said, “Ahhhhhhh.” We talked a little further and off he went down the beach with a smile in his hop.
I went back to exploring the beach with the D750 / 14-24AFS when after a while, I looked up to see Chuck bouncing from rock to rock to rock to rock across the beach, shooting the same thing we just had done, just with different rocks. I caught up to him and said, “What in the hell are you doin?” He said, “Looking for wide shots like we just did!” I then pointed at this God given gift of a scene you see above and screamed, “That’s a wide shot too!” To which he said, “You tell me things and I instantly get in a rut.” To which I said, “You know what a rut is, it’s a grave with its ends knocked out.” Chuck looked puzzling at me.
Chuck and I had a marvelous week talking about wides and ultra wides as we explored the CA / OR coast. It started with explaining what I mean by the dance and ending with the above exchange. The Dance is where you exclude all those elements that take the eye away from the subject while including those that tell the story. We also talked about White and Bright, finishing and a whole lot more. And by the end of the week, we finished off with the most important lesson. Because after the two photographic examples above, the skies opened up and the beauty was just about too grand for a pixel to hold. It’s then I told Chuck the most important elements when working with wides and landscapes. I said, “and after all of that, you have to insert your heart!” He smiled the smile of knowledge, shook his head and said with that great smile of his, he got it! Great week, thanks Chuck!
Mar 19, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Had a marvelous day with some really nice folks going back to my landscape roots. The first place I really tried to apply myself as a landscape photographer were the Coastal Redwoods of No. Cali. I painfully remember throwing roll after roll after roll of film away after trying to shoot the huge range of light of the redwoods with film and its three stops. Oh, the pain! Today, it is Soooooo bloody easy to do it, it makes wondering amongst these giants a sheer delight. Been a long day so just wanted to get up a favorite click from this afternoon to share the view. Shot with the D750 (In Flat) with the 14-24AFS lens and in this case, @f/22 and pinched the light to get the starburst. Flat gives us so much range we can get shadow and highlight detail in one click. The redwoods are so majestic, just good for the soul to shoot and only think and photograph the trees from the forest.
Mar 16, 2015 | Landscape Photography
I was talking landscape photography with folks a week ago and a very good question came up. “What elements do I look for in a landscape?” I took this question to mean in part, do I have a mental check list of what I’m looking for in a scene to make me stop and make a photo? I do but it’s not a list that has any particular order. We will pass past a scene and Sharon will often say, “That’s gorgeous” which it is. “You wanna stop and take a pic” she will often ask. And at times, I will say, “Nope, no light.” Then in answering the question, light is what makes me stop to explore a landscape but it alone is not enough to make me go click. I’m using this photo taken this last week at Ding Darling with the Nikon 1 V3 to kinda illustrate my thought process (love this camera for landscapes!).
There is no doubt the God Beams is what took my attention away from the Roseatte Spoonbills. And it helped in making my mind up where to stand, but lens selection, exposure and finishing were decided on other elements. For even in a landscape, I feel storytelling must happen and passion flow. With that in mind, the flock of birds in silhouette needed to be included for time and place. The grander of that sky requires visual depth which requires a foreground, middleground and background. Placing the God Beams in the frame to take advantage of the vanishing point they create (reality and reflection) is part of it. Then there is the color that is created in part by using Cloudy WB and underexposure. After the light, which element I incorporated next, and then the next and then the next I really don’t know. So I guess in answering the question, I know where I start but after that, the elements need to fall in place and the camera craft lines them all up. Oh ya, there is one last element I forgot to mention and perhaps it is the one that comes first come to think of it. Love for what’s being experienced.
Feb 23, 2015 | Landscape Photography
The Oregon coastline has some amazing natural features and one of them is Thor’s Well. You could kinda think of it as a blowhole in reverse. The big show is as the water drains back through the hole after a wave washes in. Seen some amazing photos of it so when on the coast last weekend with our dear friends Scott & Kalebra, we went to check it out. Now this wasn’t a photographic weekend, we were just goofin so in that spirit, we did no homework that normally goes into making one of those classic photos. In fact, we didn’t even really know exactly where Thor’s Well was (a turn out on the highway). Well, luck was with us.
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So here’s the deal. You want to be at Thor’s Well when sunset and high tide are at about the same time. This would be ideal for getting the cool sky (if you’re not cursed with the OR Coast marine layer) and the best flow through the hole. With this, it is a given you are going to get wet! In fact, in a big tide action or during a storm, it might be really dangerous going after this shot! Well, we were there while the tide was still rising at sunset which for us, worked out. There was a moment when we had a killer sunset with great God beams, but no wave action. And the wave action is really the biggie in this whole thing. I was shooting with the D750 / 18-35AFS (on a RRS tripod with rock claws) and the key I think, was the Vello Wireless Shutterboss.
So you’re standing there watching the waves. Not everyone performs, in fact, few ever really do the “biggie” that floods 360 around the hole giving you the great blurred water feel. You can see in the series above just about every version of blur but the perfect one. I never got it. You can see the great sunset, but how little the water performed. And then there is the timing. I varied shutter speed from 2-8sec and this was because often, you only could get one click in per wave. You have to guess how much water is going to come up, overflow and then slip back down. If your timing is off or, shutter speed too slow, you don’t get “the” shot. The single image you see above is my favorite, but not the best. Don’t get me wrong, standing out there with Scott was great fun! Seeing his face when that last, big wave hit just when he said, “Just one more” is something I’ll never forget. It’s a gorgeous part of our wild heritage that I’m so glad we got to enjoy with friends!
