Apr 23, 2019 | Landscape Photography
The East Face & Mt Tom were simply gorgeous this morning! It was truly hard to keep my eyes on the road as the sun rose over the Whites lighting up the face. In fact, the pressure got to me so I stopped to shoot. With the drama in the light and the romance of the scene, going B&W was a given so that meant shooting with the Z6 as it does B&W so amazingly and then added to that, the razor sharp. Z24-70f2.8. But that wasn’t the real dilemma, including that one element was. Or was it?
If look really, really closely in the lower photograph in the upper right corner, you’ll see the moon. While standing there it was obvious but as soon as the eye goes to the viewfinder, it appears like what we called in film days, a processing mark. It was really simple for me, the upper photo shows off the drama in the early light so going wide to include the moon wasn’t an option. But many include that moon because, well, I don’t know why. If I didn’t point it out, you probably wouldn’t see it. So including it diminishes the drama that being together brings. It’s just something to think about when the moon is out but real tiny in the frame, appearing like a processing mark.
Apr 11, 2019 | Landscape Photography
Nebraska Sandhills
captured by Z7 / Z24-70
I’m shown a lot of sunrise/sunset photos and when asked what I think, well, I think to myself, “it would have been better-left unshot.” Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, one of my own photos. Saw this real purdy sunset when I was not prepared, so I went inside, grabbed the Z7 / Z24-70 (killer landscape rig), and walked back out to shoot the gorgeous sunset. The problem is, it was no longer gorgeous, just purdy. Those elements which made it gorgeous had faded yet, I went click anyways. And the photo just doesn’t make it. But because I had that memory and I had that photo, heck, it’s gotta be good, right? Actually, the memory is much better and it’s a great example of a photo that was better left unshot.
Apr 11, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
There are lots of shots I would love, love to add to my files. The only reason, they are ones that have eluded me forever. They are ones I have hints of from other photos. Those hints led my imagination to wonder what would the real, final photo be like? Would the reality be as good as I imagine? This is just one example.
Greater Prairie Chicken
captured by D5 / 800mm
Here you have your average male, Sharp-tailed Grouse on the lek displaying. I’m watching him through the D5 / 800mm using back-button focus to lock on and then not hitting it when I take the photo. I do this because I know that when he jumps up, the plane of focus for the eye almost never changes when he jumps. What I don’t know is just how high he will jump. It changes every time. I have him at the very bottom of the frame, sometimes cutting his feet off so when he jumps, he’s all in the frame. What you see is the closest I’ve come to that shot taken yesterday morning. Been trying for years for that shot, looks like I’m still trying!
Apr 4, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
One of the unique adaptations of the bird world are the Nuthatches. They’re the bird that walks DOWN the tree trunk, head first looking for a meal. When you think about it, it’s really smart ’cause all the rest of the bird species go UP the trunk looking for a meal. Those species miss the majority of the time stuff stuck in the top of the bark, but not the nuthatches. While I love all three North American species, it’s the White-breasted I work the hardest at getting that single, clean portrait. What makes up that portrait?
Well, there are a number of elements, two of the more important ones are the bird and the tree. In the spring the breast is its whitest. It starts to get dirty once nesting season begins and they are drilling out their cavity. So you wanna catch them early and on a trunk with character. Then, you need to be able to get close to them ’cause they are small! Lastly, you want a background that shows off their unique biology of traveling down a trunk, curving their head out looking for the next meal or, competition. Doesn’t seem like much to ask of a subject but having chased them for years, it’s easier then it sounds!
I was very fortunate to set up the D5 / 180-400VR / TC-14eIII on a trunk right next to a hanging feeder the birds loved. This one White-breasted frequented it making is easier to get the shot. You can see three photos here. The top one is my favorite as the wind has blown its feathers just a tad and along with its pose, gives the White-breasted a little gesture with the light and texture. The second one, yeah, not a favorite at all! It appears like I grabbed the nuthatch and threw hard against the tree where it stuck. Yuck! I like the light on the last one but a tad of the tail is out of the frame and gesture like it wants out of here. Just like portraits of folks, those of critters need to tell a story and share its character, especially the White-breasted portrait.
Mar 27, 2019 | Landscape Photography
As Columbus pointed out, the earth is round. That curve though is often the bane of our photography as we work to square everything up perfectly. Embracing the curve not only requires seeing and thinking about it but having the right lens at the right time to make it all come to life in the viewfinder.
What I have here is a real simple example of what I’m talking about. The bluff on Flaming Gorge Reservoir screamed to curve. So in grabbing the Z7 / 8-15Fish first set to 15mm (top photo) and them 8mm (bottom photo), I brought in the earth’s curve. Doesn’t work with every subject, but by having the 8-15Fish in your bag, you can embrace the curve.
Mar 26, 2019 | Landscape Photography
Flaming Gorge Bridge
captured by Z7 / 8-15Fish
There are times I just wanna take photos but the light, well the light just sucks! When this occurs the first thing I tend to look for are dramatic shadows because that’s what hard light is really great at creating. When I find those shadows I look at what is creating them (other than the sun) and then see if there is a story to be had creating the photograph. That how it was when we ventured down into Flaming Gorge. What we found was not what I was thinking!
Flaming Gorge Bridge
captured by Z7 / 8-15Fish
The Flaming Gorge Bridge isn’t huge but the span it bridges is deep. There are all sorts of signs saying don’t walk (or dive) on the bridge. But the light, the hard light, and its shadow were perfect. There were two cracks, almost perfectly symmetrical on the road leading up to the bridge. Grabbing the Z6 / 8-15Fish, I got right up to those cracks and made an easy, simply click. The storytelling and shadows encouraged me to become a troll and head underneath it. There, the ropes of those much more adventurous then I awaited summer a swing out and down. In shooting B&W in the Z6 produces gorgeous results that are all done in camera. Even in bad light, there are photos to be made, just gotta look for the shadows.
