Apr 21, 2014 | Landscape Photography
He made clocks by carving all their parts out of wood, he solved the mystery how Yosemite Valley was created, self taught and inspired, influenced presidents and the common folks, John Muir preserved much of the wild heritage we treasure today! He coined so many poignant phrases describing our natural world in his writings. One of our favorite describes our home to a T, “The Range of Light” as he went about talking romantically about the science he was unraveling. Many have asked who has influenced my landscape photography the most, it has to be John Muir. In ’98 when I was honored with the John Muir Conservation Award, it meant more to me than I think anyone could have imagined because of the influence Muir has had on me.
My favorite book of his is The Wilderness World of John Muir, writings that bring out the romantic in anyone gazing over the Sierra. My first copy was given to me by my future mother-in law (no, didn’t know that at the time, I was still in high school) and got so dog eared carrying it in my backpack walking the John Muir trail with my dad in the years to come, I had to buy another copy. An amazing storyteller, Muir used is words carefully to describe the wonders he was often the first to describe, so each word goes straight for the heart. One of my favorite quotes though is about Muir I would like to share with you.
If John Muir didn’t have the foresight to preserve Yosemite Valley, we wouldn’t have it today to enjoy. The question is, do we have the foresight to preserve what we have today for future generations to enjoy?
Happy Birthday John, thanks for all the gifts you left us!
Apr 7, 2014 | Landscape Photography
Whenever we’re flying out, it’s a three hour drive from our home to the airport. For many when they hear this, their eyes get big and they say … wow! For us though, it’s what we see as just part of the price of living in paradise. This was our view of home yesterday as we started our trip to Atlanta and Photoshop World. A winter storm was blowing out, a gorgeous time to be out looking, shooting. As always I had a camera with me, Df / 24-70AFS because, well, this is the price you pay when you live in paradise.
Apr 4, 2014 | Landscape Photography
With over thirty lighthouses in the files, you could say I have a thing for them. Now it’s taken thirty years to visit thirty lighthouses so it’s not a big thing. Some lighthouses are a snore, others are classics and others are simply, serenity incarnated. Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the latter. When you come around the corner and see it there on the headlands, it just belongs and without it, the headlands would not be complete. It has as many moods as there are minutes in a year as the Pacific dances its weather around its spire. And rightfully so, many love to take this classic photo of this classic lighthouse.
But there is much more when you get more intimate with this grand old lady. The photo at top was taken from the ridge with the 24-70AFS (D4s) and as I mentioned, kind of the classic “I was here shot.” And ya, you gotta take this beaut but don’t stop there.
Like I mentioned yesterday, you can literally drive right up to the lighthouse, so do that. And after you take the close up, wide shot with your 18-35AFS, switch out the lens and get intimate. I went with the 80-400VR3 to come in on the details that start to tell more about the years this majestic lighthouse has stood guard. One of the definite challenges is there is nothing plumb. Looking at the symmetry, keeping the space equal on either side of the chimneys, the space between the chimneys and the lighthouse, can take a moment or two. But it’s worth it. Then you get in close to just one window and you realize they’re not square either!
And every face of the structure offers another photographic possibility. And with the changing light and ever changing weather, the possibilities are endless. And this is true for nearly every subject we look at intimately. This does take a little more of our time, it does require going beyond our comfort range at times, but you will come away with the rewards for the risk. Play the light, play the texture, look at graphics and combine it all with symmetry are the basics when going intimate. Bring out the character and your photographs will always be richer!
Apr 1, 2014 | Landscape Photography
When you have six photographers on a chilly morning with their feet in the cold Pacific, limiting them to just one lens and a specific lens at that, and they are all giddy, you know you’ve got something special. There’s a location I know about in Oregon that was made for just one lens. When you get to this location prior to sunrise and get yourself in place, just like the group that was with us did, you can only have fun with great images to remember it all by. A ton of fun! Now the look a got when I told the group what they were going to do and with one lens, you could say the van went silent. On the walk over, there wasn’t much talking. But once we were in place and they looked through their viewfinder, the smiles and laughter flowed freely.
What makes this cove so perfect for the Fish? The symmetry of the bluffs at the top of the frame and the shoreline at the bottom scream to be curved with a Fish. I’m shooting with the D4s with 16Fish attached. There a couple things you need to know about shooting with a Fish. With the horizon going straight through the center of the frame, you get a straight horizon (top frame). Point the lens down and the horizon curves kinda suggesting the curvature of the earth (bottom frame). The lens has a 180degree angle of view so when you point it down, watch out for your feet! And when it comes to metering, you’ve got to watch the range of light. The D4s with its Face-detection Matrix really did a great job with this task. So once folks got to the symmetrical center of the BIG circle, found a great foreground (I love the big smile) and kept their feet out of the frame, they had a cool image. And the whole time, had big time fun with a unique lens. What a great way to start the day!
Oh, and how can you find out about this totally cool location? Well, it and a whole bunch more are in the Romancing the Oregon Coast issue of the BT Journal which should be out next week.
Mar 27, 2014 | Landscape Photography
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There is no doubt that the play of light on this marvel of nature bringing out color, texture and patterns was by far what I loved most about Slot Cyn. Though we shot on an overcast day which you’re warned not to do, I found the saturated light working perfectly for my style of photography. These images out of the D4s / 18-35AFS shot at ISO1600 f/8 were simply processed through ACR and then in Photoshop, where I ran this Nik Recipe (which you now have) that I created in Color Efex Pro. Hope you like the details as much as I do!
Mar 25, 2014 | Landscape Photography
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The power that was required to create Slot Canyon is the first and most lasting impression I came away with of this natural wonder. It’s not until you walk through the canyon (which only takes a few minutes if not shooting) that you witness firsthand Mother Nature at work that you come away its power. And it is this power that is the story of the canyon. How that power carved in stone, a phenomenon that is brought out in the light squeaking down from above goes beyond an artist’s pallet. This was my first time to visit and photograph Slot Canyon and it left a lot of impressions. I want to share in the photos of this post simply the impression of that power and wonder. There are many natural wonders in our world we are so fortunate to experience, and this certainly is one of the grandest because of its very intimate nature. Because what seems like a giant chasm is in reality a very small, narrow and diminutive space. You enter in at the eastern mouth into a seven shoot wide, 27 foot tall cavern that is only a single body in width at the other end. And as you enter and explore this amazing world, as photographers, the challenge is upon us to emerge with the story in our photos to inspire others to seek out other such wonders. At least, that’s what I came away with, the challenge of that one photo that would evoke the response I had when first entering. I don’t think the standard, “I was here” click does it justice. Nor the “dust in the air” light beam works, nor the sand pouring over the edge, but more of that later. There is no doubt though that the walk through the canyon is good for the soul. The rest is up to us.
