Feb 1, 2016 | B&W Photography
Had a marvelous week up in Minnesota with some great folks enjoying new territory for me. Cruising the countryside, we meet some more nice folks and saw some really cool pieces of Americana. Originally when we stopped for this photo I was seeing it in color but as we shot I went from long lens to short and from full sun to partial. After I switched to the 24-70VR, the sun went behind the clouds and that combination changed my mind from color to B&W. What changed is the play of whites from the foreground and the sky when the cloud came. It sounds likes a simple thing but it’s all it took for my mind to see this in color and then B&W. It’s a small thing but it’s the little details that make all the difference.
Jan 26, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Most think of heat shimmer as a summer issue when in reality, it can happen anytime. The last place folks think heat shimmer might occur is in winter and with snow on the ground. What you have here are two images, soft images because of heat shimmer. The top image is the most common example of heat shimmer issues, a photo that you know should be tack sharp but simply isn’t. The bottom photo if you look at the elements behind the Coyote, you will see a “shimmer” in them, elements not sharp but lines are just not straight. Both were taken with the 800mm / TC-14eIII with the subject across an expanse of snow. There is only one way I know of dealing with heat shimmer when it occurs, wind. When there is a breeze heat shimmer disappears. So in this case I watched the grasses around the Coyote and when I saw them moving in the breeze, I would shoot. And when I saw the grasses still, I didn’t shoot. Hope that makes sense because seeing heat shimmer through the lens is a bitch!
Jan 22, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
We’d past it some time back on the road, a bunch of vehicles had gone by the coyote, it just kept on trotting down the road. Along the Firehole River in Yellowstone, the groomed road the NPS maintains is a highway for critters as much as folks because it’s easy walking for them. This individual seemed very much on a mission so we went passed it and up towards Fountain Pots and began photographing the steam on the landscape. We shot with the wide lenses (24-70VR) and pulled out the really long lenses (800mm) and even drank some coffee. We spent some time just taking in the gorgeous view! Then we saw the coyotes make the bend in the road still walking on the road and coming our direction. Then the wait began.
Where we were parked in a pullout that was alongside a massive meadow so figured the Coyote would leave the road and start across it to go hunting. It did for a short moment and then came back on to the road and continued walking towards us. It was kinda mousing, stopping and listening for little critters under the snow it can make a meal out of but still seemed to be on a mission. But it kept coming down the road. I switched to the 300PF with the TC-14eIII on the D4s and laid down on the road next to the giant tires of our vehicle. And there I waited. Just when it about filled the frame (still a ways away) it stopped, listened and a moment later went off into the meadow and started to hunt. Shooting from the snow, shooting long (420mm) wide open (f/5.6) is what creates the intimate view of this distant critter. But the real key was to let the Coyote do what it was going to do and as it turned out, its hunting path was on the road we were shooting from (where I shot this pano). All of this combined along with time is what made the final click. It was just an half an hour later.
Jan 21, 2016 | Landscape Photography
Simply put, I love the white stuff! I realize at the same time that not everyone shares the same passion for snow, that being cold thing. With that in mind, I’m always looking for photographic opportunities where I can give the viewer the feeling of snow without them having to get cold. Whenever it’s actually snowing, the flakes are falling, my mind turns to this challenge. On our adventure in Yellowstone last week, had a number of opportunities to explore this challenge and one time in Hayden Valley was the best!
What were the conditions that made it great? The first was the light which is always essential. The light was sidelight and spotty which means it was playing dodgeball with the clouds. Next, the clouds themselves were dark and ominous in the west. This combo, the light on the white snow and the dark cloud in the background provided the contrast to see the snow in the photo. Lastly, the snowflakes themselves were large and blowin pretty hard. This combo gives them some density which is important to the final photograph. With all that in place, just had to go click.
Capturing these images took a little thought behind the camera. First was using a longer lens, in this case the 300PF. Why a longer lens? Snowflakes are small to start with and if you use a wide lens, they often look like dust spots in the frame. With the longer lens, you can take a slice out of the sky and in sense, compact the density of the flakes so they show up in the frame and snowflakes. Then to make the photo no look “so cold” I over exposed by +.07. I shot at a fast shutter speed, 1/800 and lens closed down a tad, f/8. Yes, some of the detail in the photo is gone, paper white but I don’t feel you need to see that detail there to know it’s snow. I mean, if you do, then the whole photograph is a failure. Finishing was real simple, ACR and then Nik’s Pro Contrast and done. Now I realize you’ve gotta really bee into snow to go after these kinds of photos. I hope that these simple tips might give you the strength to go out in the cold and brave the elements for those not so willing so they can experience the winter through your photos. Here in the Sierra, we love snow and this time of year, all we say is let it snow!
Jan 20, 2016 | Landscape Photography
The vast underground plumbing at Yellowstone provides a lifetime of fascination watching it in action. The geysers, something like 1400 strong, have a life of their own, each being very unique based on hydrology, geology and ologies over my pay grade. But that doesn’t stop my watching them in amazement as they put on their shows. One of the reasons why I love being in Yellowstone in the winter and want it cold is because the geyser steam takes on a life of its own once caught in the wind. You take that and add great light and skies, and the photographic possibilities are really limitless!
How to tell this story of site and sound in a still image? The first thing I think is key is the light. I prefer sidelight and a little diffused. Too diffused and the ripples in the steam cloud are lost. Too strong and the same thing, the shades of gray are lost. It’s the shades of gray the help give texture and shape to the steam clouds. Then you need the right background, darker than the steam is my preference. So this day Fountain Geyser was erupting at the perfect time, we were there, the light was great and the skies near perfect. Last thing was to capture the detail in the eruption to give it life. I shot with the D750 / 18-35AFS and once I say/heard the next burst of water, hit the shutter release and shot off a series of 5-9 frames. I then selected back at the computer those eruptions that communicated the power and emotion I felt standing there. The one thing the still image can’t bring to life is how cold it was standing there in the wind nor the tremendous sound. It’s so very cool to listen to the earth and hear the explosion!
Jan 19, 2016 | Wildlife Photography
Click to see larger image
The Bison of Yellowstone have always held a special fascination with me. Any critter that can stand in water that can boil an egg with an air temp of minus -32 (the coldest I’ve seen them), and go on chewin their cud as if it were just another day (which it is for them) I find fascinating. In the past, shooting one click and having it filled with Bison wasn’t a challenge. This latest trip with the warm temps and not historically high snow levels, tons of Bison just weren’t to be seen. At the same time, they are a range animal with the main herd kinda always on the move as they graze … and they call one of the most gorgeous and special places on the planet, Yellowstone, home. How do you say that in a photograph?
I first went long, shooting with the 800mm trying to compact those that were available. That didn’t work so I then added the TC-14eIII giving me 1200mm and that didn’t cut it. So I went to Plan B, not trying to tell the story with one click but with three creating a pano. I put the 300PF on the D4s and went clickin. That took care of showing the story of the Bison, but what about Yellowstone? Shooting in the world’s largest caldera, had to say that so shooting with the camera plum to the earth was important. That shows the slope of the side of the growing caldera. Then including the stormy skies as a backdrop for the steam was required. After that, it was a three click assembly in ACR and done. Would I have loved the perfect herd in perfect light? Heck ya but that’s not what I had so I told the story with the elements at hand, they dot the landscape.
