Apr 2, 2013 | Landscape Photography
As it happens, great sunset often leads to…not so great sunrises…at least as the color goes. Without those clouds and a little prairie dust, the sun comes up just like any place else. That’s OK though, the Cranes provide lots of magic. Here’s a couple clicks from this morning’s lift off. Birds with the falling water levels were further away then I like but that’s OK too! I shot with the D800 and the 80-400VR3 (D800 had a firmware drop today BTW) when I didn’t simply just sit and watch. Honestly, it’s a spectacle EVERYONE should witness once in their lives. mtc…
Apr 1, 2013 | Landscape Photography
At a stimulating 20 degrees in the blind, my fingers are barely functioning right now outside the warmth of my gloves. But I’ve just gotta share the magnificent flyin tonight on the Platte River, NE. The Lesser Sandhill Cranes are simply the most amazing critter in migration as they seem to celebrate every moment in the air and on the ground together. Shooting with the D800 and the 80-400VR3 (which did a FANTASTIC job!), we had about 20min of thousands of cranes coming in as the sun set. Shooting in Cloudy at -1, I pumped the colors up a tad but what you see is what we saw about a hour ago. Now, we’re locked in the blind until about 10am tomorrow and the temps seem to be dropping and the wet chill settles in. That’s OK though, I love going to sleep in the warm sleeping bag listening to the cranes sing outside. mtc…
Apr 1, 2013 | Landscape Photography
It’s an annual right of spring, for me at least, to head out to NE where my good friend Mark lives, jump into his truck and head to the Platt River. There, we’re locked into a plywood box for 14hrs on the hope and the prayer that while inside, the Lesser Sandhill Cranes land in front of us and give us a show. I’ve done this many years now and as of yet, that magic just hasn’t graced us. We’ve gotten close, but no brass ring. And so we go again.
I came this year with what might seem like the wrong gear for such an adventure. I have the 200-400VR2 and the new 80-400VR3 to as my main lenses. In years past, I had my 600VR2 and with a 2x attached shooting HSC, that’s how I got the top image. That’s because the cranes were so far away. Even if the new 800AFS had arrived, I probably would have still gone with the same gear because, if that magic does happen, the 800mm would have been too much lens. And that’s kind how wildlife photography often goes. We might be present, we have the gear and surely the spirit is willing, but the critters and the light gotta wanna play with us.
Now, because I’m nuts and because I have the technology, I’m going to try to, from the blind which has no power (or heat) to blog somewhat live as the next two days unfold. Now if all we have in front of the blind is mud, I won’t have much to blog (mud is a bit boring). But if we are graced with a couple of thousand of cranes outside our windows, then I’ll be sure to post an image or two.
Mar 28, 2013 | Landscape Photography
I checked in my room in MN and instantly went to window to see the view. Right out my window is this lone tree. Don’t know what it intrigued me but of the next two hours, I kept looking out, shooting it and watching.
Shooting with the D4 and 80-400 at around 105mm, I made a series I really like. Here’s the middle and end of the show I enjoyed out my window.
Mar 27, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Blurry water has always done right by me, it’s a challenge that when met produces images that simply make me smile. At the same time to be perfectly crase, they sell like hot cakes. So when the spirit strikes, I’m all over them and spring time is a great time when you have the winter run off. And when I have the opportunity to shoot straight down on water from like a bridge, I’m like a blood hound looking for that great water, like here in Yosemite a couple of weeks ago. Now I have a basica formula for creating those that I like. It’s pretty simple, here’s my formula. One thing I should add to that formula, there has to be at least one sharp element of the photograph. Typically, it’s just a rock. The eye needs that one sharp element to latch onto and make sense of all the out of focus elements in the flowing water. Here’s an example of when I didn’t follow my own advice. There is not ONE sharp element in the photograph and I really like the photo. Now other than this posting, will I put it out in front of folks, that I’m not sure about yet. But for now, I enjoy looking at it so that’s a step forward.
Mar 27, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Bermuda is a magic isle where color is celebrated! The homes and buildings are painted the most colorful, pastel, eye popping combos I’ve ever seen. I asked if there was an “official” Bermuda blue since it is a common color from water, buildings to sky (there isn’t one). So when we went to the northern Sea Glass Beach, it was no surprise that the dock was painted, yeap, blue!
When you walk up to the top of the bluff and first look down on the beach, you can’t but help but notice the blue dock. Then as your eye wonders about the beach, it comesback to the dock and you gotta ask, “What am I missing?” With that in mind, we wandered down the stairs to the beach itself. There are two sea glass beaches on Bermuda and this one has literally tons of sea glass. That’s because there is a big sign saying removing glass and you go to jail. There is a ton of other stuff like rusted out engine blocks, axels, pullies and other stuff I assume come from the old military docks just up the coast. Your wanderings inevitably bring your back to, the dock to nowhere. Just what the hell is with this beautiful blue structure?
I have no clue! The dock which as you can see has a sea wall around it, protecting it from the potential storm. But there is a reef all around it so no boat could dock to it. And you might notice, it starts out in the water and ends long before the sea wall. All I can assume is, it’s another piece of “art” that goes along with the other “stuff” on the beach. I can tell you that I couldn’t stop shooting it! We made two visits to this beach, this was our first, brief visit when a gale literally blew us off the beach minutes after we hit the sand. These are simple clicks made with D4 and 18-35AFS with the color courtesy of Bermuda.
