Mar 20, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
It was one those classic winter morning sunrises on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon! The light slowly builds in the depths of The Canyon like a perfect symphony rise to a crescendo as sunrise approaches. We scan left and right watching it build and photographic opportunities as they come and go. The air temp might be only a single digit, it doesn’t matter as the excitement warms the air and builds with the light. I have the D850 / 24-70VR in hand as I patrol the rim looking for opportunities taking photograph after photograph. I’m scanning over to the North Rim when from below in the morning exchange of air brings a gorgeous Peregrine Falcon up in front of me as it riding on an elevator in the early sunrise light. And there it hangs in front of me, close enough to reach out and touch so by instinct, I put the camera to my eye and shoot. I’ll never forget the experience!
The one problem for me is I have a D850 / 24-70VR in my hand! In my world, I don’t have a photograph that shares this experience. Yes, you see one above but it’s one where the image was severely cropped in post to get the image size you see. You must understand, I don’t crop in post. After I missed this shot, I did put the 300PF on and waited. The Peregrine didn’t appear until I went back to the 24-70VR, doing that twice to me, so I never got “the” shot with the right lens. It’s really hard for many to understand the stringent standards I put on myself for my photography. But it’s because I know how weak I am and if I let myself slide on this or that standard of a photograph (a standard set by my clients and my desire to make money), I’ll always let myself slide. In the photo above, not only is the image severely cropped, the exposure was corrected because I was shooting for the landscape at -2exp comp, not an amazing Peregrine right in front of me. If I wasn’t writing this blog post, you’d never, ever seen this photograph. And for me, it’s that simple, I’ve got to get it right in the camera. I won’t sacrifice the welfare of a critter for a photograph and when it comes to my wildlife photography, what you see is what I saw. I know of no other way to improve my photography but always asking can the bar be raised?
Mar 7, 2018 | Landscape Photography
Sunrise, sunset and sunrise again the last 24hours at the Grand Canyon. Simply the most gorgeous place to be with a Fisheye lense!
The only “trick” is to watch the horizon and make the decision how you want to tell the story. You can see how I made the call for these three images, each a little different, each accomplished by simply pointing the lens more up or down.
It’s just simply a gorgeous place and photography to bring back the memories just makes it sweeter!
Feb 23, 2018 | Landscape Photography
Yes, I talk about the tools all the time but the one tool I talk about the most seems to get the least amount of attention. That’s the tool between your ears that connect to the thump in your chest. The word photograph means write with light. So in the photographic process, you need to want to tell a story using light as your alphabet.
Yosemite Valley
captured by D850 / 70-200f4
It sometimes reminds me of that question, do you dream in b&W or color? Do you see the romance in a particular landscape in your viewfinder as a B&W or color? It’s important to see it there to see it here! There are subtle but to me important finishing difference between these two photos so when you look at them, they appear the same other than its flavor. And that brings me back to my original question. Your flavor is?
Feb 23, 2018 | Landscape Photography
I LIVE for these kinds of shots! When your subject can be the smallest element in the frame but the one that not only smacks you in the face WHILE telling the story, well they are just gold to me! This was all serendipitous, nothing planned other than my being crazy to stand in a snowstorm looking for opportunities. This delightful image just unfolded and when the person turned to look in the direction of the gorgeous oak outlined in snow, I knew it was a good day to be a photographer. That because I so love tiny!
Feb 22, 2018 | Landscape Photography
Glacier Point
captured by D850 / 70-200f4
Up in The Valley this week and fortunate enough to have snow come in. A real simple click of the moment snow meets granite. A peaceful collision.
Feb 21, 2018 | Wildlife Photography
There are so many “things” that go into a photograph! There is the great, brand, f/stop, shutter speed and of course, the Photoshop concerns. The one “thing” that I find many photographers don’t consider or act upon is the most important element to go into a photograph, themselves! Ya, there are all the worries, the … will this qualify for the camera club judging or the … will I get a bunch of likes on Facebook, but what about your wants, desires, your favorites? What is it YOU want in your photograph? This is the most difficult because all I just listed and more plus the fact there is no, (insert your name here) Menu Setting or Slider that automatically puts (insert your name here) instantly into the formula. Do you even know what that might be if you could have such a setting?
I can tell you some of mine, the Glossy Ibis above is a good example of them. All my images require light, not just light but a light that captures the imagination to tell the story. Then, there is what you see is what I saw, no cropping or post finishing. That’s a must in my critter photos (landscape and aviation see Photoshop but still no cropping)! Next, I have to have the light that’s going to lead your eye through the frame. Then the critter has to share with all of us that moment of, of, of, well there’s the important part that I don’t have a word for. I hate to say gesture because so many don’t understand this important element in a photograph. With the Glossy Ibis, it’s not just its stare but how the light brings out the white eyebrow above the bill that follows the stare that goes with the curve of the bill that the light kisses that are framed by the reeds … etc, etc, etc. That’s the gesture that made me stop to wait for the moment.
And that, in a long-winded explanation is what I wait for in all my photographs that I want to share, to reach out to the viewer and if all goes right, grabs heartstrings. But I know that’s what I want, what I’m looking for, what I need in my own mind as a formula that BEGINS the photographic process. That “other stuff,” the technical is there, in the background, for a heartbeat and then it’s thrown by the wayside as it comes time to record the moment. I think knowing YOURSELF is really the key here more than knowing brand for exposure equation. I honestly feel you need to know what’s in your favorite!
