Apr 21, 2014 | Landscape Photography
He made clocks by carving all their parts out of wood, he solved the mystery how Yosemite Valley was created, self taught and inspired, influenced presidents and the common folks, John Muir preserved much of the wild heritage we treasure today! He coined so many poignant phrases describing our natural world in his writings. One of our favorite describes our home to a T, “The Range of Light” as he went about talking romantically about the science he was unraveling. Many have asked who has influenced my landscape photography the most, it has to be John Muir. In ’98 when I was honored with the John Muir Conservation Award, it meant more to me than I think anyone could have imagined because of the influence Muir has had on me.
My favorite book of his is The Wilderness World of John Muir, writings that bring out the romantic in anyone gazing over the Sierra. My first copy was given to me by my future mother-in law (no, didn’t know that at the time, I was still in high school) and got so dog eared carrying it in my backpack walking the John Muir trail with my dad in the years to come, I had to buy another copy. An amazing storyteller, Muir used is words carefully to describe the wonders he was often the first to describe, so each word goes straight for the heart. One of my favorite quotes though is about Muir I would like to share with you.
If John Muir didn’t have the foresight to preserve Yosemite Valley, we wouldn’t have it today to enjoy. The question is, do we have the foresight to preserve what we have today for future generations to enjoy?
Happy Birthday John, thanks for all the gifts you left us!
Apr 16, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
It might still be cold from winter in many locations, the critters though know it’s spring. Our Red-shafted Flicker is on our chimney drilling away to announce his studness to the ladies. Our Brewer Blackbirds are back and dive bombing our dog in the meadow. And four boxes now have Mountain Chickadees calling them home. Oh ya, it’s spring. So, what are you going to do about it?
These images are a couple of my first nesting shots, the top with the F3 and the bottom with the D1. And this year, I’ll be out with the Df /80-400VR3 working nests. I’m going with the Df because of the WU-1a which permits wireless operation while seeing what’s happening through the lens. A “nest” has been created and sits in my office as a test platform to make sure it’s all working as planned. If all of this is totally greek to you, I have two resources for you. There is a post here on the site on Nesting Birds and there is a 5lbs book, Captured that you can buy. Photographing nesting birds is time consuming but is very rewarding. The time to start planning and finding the nests is now. Get your bins, get out in the field, find the nests, do your homework and explore an incredibly fascinating process of our wild heritage!
Apr 7, 2014 | Landscape Photography
Whenever we’re flying out, it’s a three hour drive from our home to the airport. For many when they hear this, their eyes get big and they say … wow! For us though, it’s what we see as just part of the price of living in paradise. This was our view of home yesterday as we started our trip to Atlanta and Photoshop World. A winter storm was blowing out, a gorgeous time to be out looking, shooting. As always I had a camera with me, Df / 24-70AFS because, well, this is the price you pay when you live in paradise.
Apr 4, 2014 | Landscape Photography
With over thirty lighthouses in the files, you could say I have a thing for them. Now it’s taken thirty years to visit thirty lighthouses so it’s not a big thing. Some lighthouses are a snore, others are classics and others are simply, serenity incarnated. Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the latter. When you come around the corner and see it there on the headlands, it just belongs and without it, the headlands would not be complete. It has as many moods as there are minutes in a year as the Pacific dances its weather around its spire. And rightfully so, many love to take this classic photo of this classic lighthouse.
But there is much more when you get more intimate with this grand old lady. The photo at top was taken from the ridge with the 24-70AFS (D4s) and as I mentioned, kind of the classic “I was here shot.” And ya, you gotta take this beaut but don’t stop there.
Like I mentioned yesterday, you can literally drive right up to the lighthouse, so do that. And after you take the close up, wide shot with your 18-35AFS, switch out the lens and get intimate. I went with the 80-400VR3 to come in on the details that start to tell more about the years this majestic lighthouse has stood guard. One of the definite challenges is there is nothing plumb. Looking at the symmetry, keeping the space equal on either side of the chimneys, the space between the chimneys and the lighthouse, can take a moment or two. But it’s worth it. Then you get in close to just one window and you realize they’re not square either!
And every face of the structure offers another photographic possibility. And with the changing light and ever changing weather, the possibilities are endless. And this is true for nearly every subject we look at intimately. This does take a little more of our time, it does require going beyond our comfort range at times, but you will come away with the rewards for the risk. Play the light, play the texture, look at graphics and combine it all with symmetry are the basics when going intimate. Bring out the character and your photographs will always be richer!
Apr 3, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
I love photographing gulls, learned long ago that if you just watch them for five minutes, they will do something silly. Well, we were at the Yaquina Head Light for our K&M Adventure last week and the gulls were just starting to go nuts with nesting season. What makes this location so amazing beside the gorgeous lighthouse is the offshore islands the birds like to nest on which are just an arm’s reach away! We’re talking gulls, murres, puffins, gillimots, cormorants and even Bald Eagles. Simply an amazing gathering of life in spring.
Shooting here is fun too. You drive literally right up to the spot, not even a 100 yard walk. It doesn’t take much in gear, I shot with just the D4s / 80-400VR3 but you can easily go longer. It would be a great spot for a 600mm / 800mm but you just have to deal with the public who seem to always come up when you have your eye to the viewfinder and ask, “Whatja shooting?” It would seem only photographers can see the thousands of white birds on the black rocks.
I went short for the very simple reason, looking to make the uncommon out of the common. You have a couple of important things going for you in these regards. First, you can get so physically close. Next, you can get access really early to take advantage of the cool lighting. Lastly, you have a white subject and black background. All of this permits us to have small, very small subjects that visually pop in the frame. And with it being spring, there are all sorts of antics. In this frame above, I like the shadow of the gull in the foreground that was about to fly through the frame.
And then there are simply their gestures. What is really cool is these opportunities are available to all across the globe. Gulls, which receive very little respect or love, are key members of our wild heritage. Studies have shown that if they were to disappear we would have a serious loss of our air quality. Pretty darn amazing to think the “garbage eaters” of the wild kingdom are linked to the air we breath. But then, Mother Nature has tons of surprises and it’s up to us to share them through our photography and their stores.
Apr 1, 2014 | Landscape Photography
When you have six photographers on a chilly morning with their feet in the cold Pacific, limiting them to just one lens and a specific lens at that, and they are all giddy, you know you’ve got something special. There’s a location I know about in Oregon that was made for just one lens. When you get to this location prior to sunrise and get yourself in place, just like the group that was with us did, you can only have fun with great images to remember it all by. A ton of fun! Now the look a got when I told the group what they were going to do and with one lens, you could say the van went silent. On the walk over, there wasn’t much talking. But once we were in place and they looked through their viewfinder, the smiles and laughter flowed freely.
What makes this cove so perfect for the Fish? The symmetry of the bluffs at the top of the frame and the shoreline at the bottom scream to be curved with a Fish. I’m shooting with the D4s with 16Fish attached. There a couple things you need to know about shooting with a Fish. With the horizon going straight through the center of the frame, you get a straight horizon (top frame). Point the lens down and the horizon curves kinda suggesting the curvature of the earth (bottom frame). The lens has a 180degree angle of view so when you point it down, watch out for your feet! And when it comes to metering, you’ve got to watch the range of light. The D4s with its Face-detection Matrix really did a great job with this task. So once folks got to the symmetrical center of the BIG circle, found a great foreground (I love the big smile) and kept their feet out of the frame, they had a cool image. And the whole time, had big time fun with a unique lens. What a great way to start the day!
Oh, and how can you find out about this totally cool location? Well, it and a whole bunch more are in the Romancing the Oregon Coast issue of the BT Journal which should be out next week.
