Mar 27, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Sharon & I are down in Georgia at the Georgia Nature Photographers Association meeting having such a grand time! What a gang of really nice folks, truly the definition of southern hospitality. We were invited down and amongst other things, lead a couple of walks at the gorgeous Callaway Gardens. We’d never been here and sadly, never heard of the place which is a shame … it’s great!
It’s known for many things and top on the list are the Azaleas. Now its 6500 acres have a lot more than that, but the fields and hillsides when they are in full bloom are legendary. Sadly, they are a couple of weeks late with the hard winter the south had this winter. And not at the top of Moose’s list to photograph are azaleas because as many of your know, I’m just not a macro kinda guy. Lucky for me, the plants are high and there was little wind so I didn’t have to stick my butt in the air nor wait for my subjects. So had a great time looking for subjects. I shot with the Df / 300PF / TC-14eIII the whole time using the focal length and narrow DoF of f/5.6 to make the clicks. What you see is what I shot, I got real lucky but had fun doing it. Not enough to explore macro further, but to surely enjoy our afternoon!
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.
