May 22, 2015 | Landscape Photography
One aspect of The Smokies I love this time of year is its green! The number of shades of green that carpet The Smokies mountains is so numerous, it takes the eyes miles and miles to see them all. That celebration of spring is an element I search for but on a smaller scale. There are many small roads and trails that take you into the forests and that’s where you can accomplish this.
Cruising with the D750 / 14-24AFS, I look for amphitheaters in the forest to visually talk about this explosion of spring. What do I mean by amphitheater? I want a curve to the trunks in the photo with no trunk dead center in the frame. This provides a visual depth and therefore an visual expanse to the grove and the green. The one addition to the photograph which you might think is unusual for me is the bright sky. It pulls the eye through the forest. Wanting a “bright” photo, a celebration of spring, I didn’t want a dark sky. It definitely limited the number of photos I took this morning but those I found, I really liked.
May 19, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Not that it’s just a Smokies thing, but in thinking about telling that story, I wanted blurred water. We all know the song, “Smoke on the Water.” If you’ve not been to the Smokies, you might not know that water is everywhere! It’s a prominent feature that truly helps define The Smokies as The Smokies, the water itself and its effect on all the foliage. So in photographing the water, I think in telling the story, The Smokies has to be in the photo, all of it.
So with that in mind, there is only one of these three images that to me, says “water in The Smokies.” While all three were shot in The Smokies, at the same locale at the same time, only one says Smokies. Now does that make a difference? No, not when it comes to taking purty pics. But to me in wanting to be a storyteller, it does. Two of the photos could have been shot anywhere and they say that visually.
The photos were taken simply with the Df / 14-24AFS / 70-180mic with no filters, just slow shutters speeds and something new. But the gear or technique isn’t what’s really important here. I feel passionately it’s the story that needs to be told. Cause blurry water is blurry water and can be shot anywhere and for the most part, look like its from anywhere. But once you complicate it by adding place, telling the story of where that water is, that’s when the photo comes to life. And as the week continued, we found better locations to accomplish this storytelling. Those really are the successes but I had to build to it. mtc
May 18, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Spent the last few days in the Great Smokies looking for the story “Great Smokies.” Summing up such a gorgeous locale as this in just a photo or even a series of photos was a challenge for me especially going after just the “smoke” aspect. To this story, I offer up these from our first morning.
I’ve not spent nearly as much time as I would like exploring The Smokies. It’s got lots of mysteries within its borders and lush forests. I’m fortunate to know a couple of cool locales for sunrise, this being one of them. The ground fog which forms easily here is of course the subject and what we chase. It comes and goes so quickly while defining the story. Capturing it just right, that’s the trick!
Shooting the Df / 24-70AFS, I jumped from spot to spot as the fog would dance about the field. I love this kind of action where no matter how fast you click the shutter, each image is different. While these are a good representation of the morning, I don’t think they are for The Smokies.
May 13, 2015 | Photography
Once the practice flight was over, the activity just increased. This was / is all about the WWII vets and they were as they should be, treated like celebrities! The over 120 news agencies present talked to them all it seemed and it was great. The smiles on their faces as they could tell their stories and share their insights were priceless. This kept on going for over 24hrs. It was truly special and at the heart of what the even was all about!
The folks at Texas Flying Legends Museum once again painted their C-53 is D Day Invasion stripes just as they did 75yrs ago in England. The public and press ate this up and they all learned a very important part of WWII history. This painting was done in just hours in 1944 to thousands of aircraft, painted with mops and rags in the dark of night. The stripes told ground troops the aircraft were friendly so they wouldn’t be shot at. Here, you can see the B-29 “Fifi” flying overhead.
My good friend Logan from Minot, ND became the press darling during this since he was the same age as those in England in 1944. He doesn’t like being in the limelight so it was a ton of fun to kid him about it. The next day when he face was all over the papers around the world, it was really cool to see how he brought history alive for so many.
While the painting went on, the Texas Flying Legends Museum FG-1D Corsair flew over practicing the Missing Man which they would be flying the next day at the ceremonies. And the “reinactors” are all ground crew for TFLM with one of these the genius behind a couple of their aircraft being restored to being airworthy. It was truly the most amazing apart of the whole event. A ton of patriotic, aviation passionate and thankful folks came together simply to tell one generation, thanks!
And the pilots whose skill and passion are flying these aircraft received overdue attention for their contribution. Here my dear friend and pilot of “Betty’s Dream” Alan gets interviewed about the experience and the mission. Not comfortable in front of the lens, he did a great job expressing for all present the honor we felt being able to participate in the event.
And this was very much a family affair for us. My lovely bride was busy shooting video the whole time. It’s fun to watch her because she gets so caught up in the vets and their stories, her smile just grows and grows. I cruised the afternoon events with the D4s, 24-70AFS and 80-400V3 and had the great pleasure of not being “on duty” and just shooting for myself which at an aviation event has become very rare. I was a fly on the wall listening and watching and it was such a pleasure and treat. Wow … what a day!
May 6, 2015 | Landscape Photography
One of Sharon’s and mine favorite past times is to wonder through Central Park in spring. It is simply a magical place where life is renewed. We wondered for about four hours watching the critters, from squirrels to people with great delight. I cruised with the Df / 85f1.8AFS clicking and elements came into play that said, spring in the park. Now it’s well known I’m don’t do macro, flowers very rarely so to post such an image is rather amazing! And wouldn’t you know it, when we came upon these tulips and I decided it would make a cool photo, the wind came up! Shooting at f/1.8 I focused on the one flower you see sharp and then ripped of over 30 images. I have one, just one where that one tulip is sharp. But that’s all I need, just one, to remind Sharon & I of our delightful walk during spring in the park.
May 6, 2015 | Wildlife Photography
We spent the morning at the awesome American Museum of Natural History. I went through the halls enjoying the exhibits until I came to the African mammal halls. You walk in to a very dark room and in dim lights, a herd of elephants seem to be move silently through. But in real life, elephants are anything but silent. As we went by the various exhibits with Bushbucks, Leopard, Cheetah it occurred to me, something was very wrong. The main important element of these critters was horribly missing. Life!
Then we came to the Black Rhino exhibit and it occurred to me, I might never see them other than as live mounts in an exhibit. Even though I’m going to where they should be in two months, the odds off seeing them are slim to none at best. And not that I’m trying to depress you, but I was rather depressed with that thought. Sadly, we’ve all experienced the passing of someone dear in our lives and know the emptiness that brings. Loosing a species to extinction and for such a stupid reason as poaching, well, leaves an even greater emptiness. Leaving that hall and those live mounts, it was simply a very sobering moment.
