Jan 29, 2014 | Landscape Photography
If there is one color I prefer with snow over any other, it has to be RED! Red is also one of the more difficult colors to find, you gotta go looking for it. And find it where it snows! Now I was tempted to post a photo of a fire hydrant in the snow but figured that would be to obvious. When it comes to landscapes, as you can see in my images, I actually prefer a dominance of red over the white, but you can go either way. This top photo is one of the main amphitheaters at Bryce that we xcross skied into way back in the day. I really wanted the photo! Here, the white is about the same amount of the frame as the red.
While at the same location, Bryce, this photo was taken on a different trip when there was less snow. Now a side benefit of red on snow is what the white does for the red. Our mind’s eye says that if that is white, that is that particular shade of red. It intensifies the red because the mind’s eye has a known quantity and that just makes the colors that more amazing. At the same time, where there is snow, there is moisture. That soaks the soils, clays, making them even more color saturated. It’s simply a win-win.
Now things are really hot (as in your photo) when you have a pattern to the red, not just the color itself. That can lead you on a helluva hunt but it’s fun, a challenge and really great when you make the find. So what’s so magical, great and powerful about red on snow? There are certain color combos that our mind’s eye just can help but be attracted to. In fact, the three most powerful color combos are used in our everyday life. The number one color combo is, yeap, red and white or what you see all the time on STOP signs. So when you have enough of all that white stuff, looks for some other powerful color to put on the snow. You’ll bring a interest and power to your snow photography all will enjoy.
I have to come clean … I had an image selected with A LOT more red but … you get the idea.
Jan 28, 2014 | Landscape Photography
So I did my morning cruise of the property to find any evidence of the night time parties I might have missed. As I mentioned previously, we numbered our trees on our property so when we see something, we can say “Tree 3” rather than, “In the tree.” Well, under Tree 1 I found this. You might not recognize it, but it’s the tail of a Flying Squirrel. Now, they don’t tend to just “drop” part of their tail on the ground. And this is just the 2nd time I’ve found a tail on our property. I don’t have “smokin gun” proof, but I think a kitty cat ate well last night!
On a side note, this is another reason why I have always had “pocket cameras” even thought I own all the big stuff. This quick snap was taken with the Coolpix P7800 using the SB-300 flash. I simply put it on A, set the focus to Macro and went click. You see the results right out of the camera. Clean, sharp and fast. I like it!
Jan 28, 2014 | Landscape Photography
The one thing that we have working for us when it comes to snow is, everyone knows its white. That preconceived idea gives us a lot of leeway in our photos. For example, in the major drop of snow in the above photo, I could make the green appear bolder by removing the very definite color cast. But by leaving that color cast, not only does it effect the green, but if makes you shudder because that over abundance of blue makes you feel cold. “Feeling blue” is a very real thing we can take advantage of especially when we have green since it’s a complementary color.
The one thing that normally comes along with the green is a little brown. Brown in itself is a good thing on snow. Green normally comes in the form of trees and trees have of coarse, trunks. And just like we think of snow as white, we think of trees as green which gives us more latitude to push the color combo in talking about a landscape of snow. In this particular photo, you know the snow is “blowing” because of what you see in the top left corner. Since it’s a still image, you really don’t know from this how much the snow is blowing. But by using a tree that is wind swept, it lends to the feeling it “blowin” in you still brining life to the green which in turn, feeds back on the snow. And that’s the whole idea, bringing an intensity and life to the white stuff.
And I wanted to introduce the idea that you can speak of snow in a micro seen. In this case, getting up close and personal to a bough with a single pine cone (there’s that brown again). You can actually say snow, cold, winter with just a hint of white when you have a color like green in the photo. The really cool thing in the way our mind’s eye works, we can associate colors like this and that automatically triggers the mind into seeing a reality based on our perceptions. What if you don’t know how much green to incorporate into your snow landscapes? Bracket both the exposure and the crop and make the call back in the warmth of your home. What’s key here is, to make notes of what you select as your preference so next time you head out in the snow, you know!
Jan 27, 2014 | Landscape Photography
While the title for this post probably had you truly wondering if you should click and look, I think it can be at times very important! Right now, all we have is brown, no snow, here in the Sierras but many of you are lucky enough to have the white stuff so this is for you (and hoping we see some). The monochromatic, all white landscape is for sure incredibly gorgeous but if you’re blessed with lots of the white stuff, there comes a time when you get tired of all the white. It’s those times we look for other colors that can work with the white to still say winter but with a twist.
There are a couple of colors I love with white, brown is definitely one of them. Rock is the first brown I try to find. Now brown rock you might think is pretty common, but actually it’s not. Where I live, it’s mostly gray rock so you’ve gotta go looking for it. And when you think about it, the rock has to be in a location or position where the snow won’t collect hiding it. In this case, it’s a cliff face. Now the little pine is an added plus with it’s green, but it’s the brown and more specifically the tones to the brown from being wet that make it interesting. The next brown I go for are tree trunks. The Bamboo forest of Takayama, Japan is an example where the hint of brown of trunks brings to life the snow.
But it’s perhaps the feeling of warmth brown brings to the winter scene that really makes brown such a powerful color with the white of snow. This line shake in the Blackhills of SD is a good example of what I’m talking about. Now in post, the Color Cast has been removed so the brown doesn’t have a blue cast to it, but the hint of warmth changing the entire feeling of the scene and that’s the whole point. You might be wondering if there are other colors that work well with the white of snow. As I dream of snow this week and our home which has nothing but dirt, I’ll post some other color themes to give you some ideas when all your see is white.
Jan 23, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
Ten months ago, I first posted my discovery why we weren’t having any Flying Squirrels coming into our feeders at night. I’d looked out and seen a young Bobcat perched in the tree right above the feeder. Over the last ten months, we’ve seen it only a couple of times. I was looking forward to snow being on the ground so I could more easily track it. But with no snow, didn’t know if it was even still really around. Then a week ago it reappeared and has been here every night since. In fact, it’s out there on the limb right now as I type. And I haven’t a clue why and it’s driving me nuts!
While we have rabbits on the property and they had young again a couple months back, we’ve never seen any sign of them ever being prayed upon. And Bobcats love rabbits, their relationship well documented in the literature. A number of years back, we did find the tail of a flying squirrel and always assumed a Pine Martin got it as we have them. Now though, I just don’t know. All I do know is the squirrels have moved around the corner of the house to the other feeders where I can’t photography them and the Bobcat, it’s just not been wanting to play. Until last night ….
I seem to check all night long to see if first, it’s present and second, what it’s up to. The first few times months ago, it would either leave or go so high up in the tree, I could not see it anymore. But the last few nights, it just has laid on the limb and watched me. Yes, I talk to it because, well, what else is one to do besides stare. When I found it last night, it was on a lower limb and as you can see, there was very little obstruction between it and me. So after studying the situation for a while, I went back inside. Ten minutes later I went back out to see he it had moved, it was still asleep. So I went back in, grabbed the D4, 200-400VR2, set the ISO to 12000, set the zoom to 400mm, put the Fenix Flashlight in Sharon’s hands and went back outside. Well, we walked under the tree, Sharon lit up the cat, I shot some frames which at the end, it kinda peeked at us and then we went back inside. I went back out an hour later and it hadn’t moved. Went back out another hour later and it was gone. And as soon as it disappears, the squirrels are back in the feeder. I really wish the snow would come, I really want to find where it goes during the day. I just love having here at night. A photographic challenge is well under way and the jinx has been broken!
Jan 13, 2014 | Landscape Photography
I’m often asked about finishing sunsets. I thought I would post a little Behance lesson on the subject. This is a simple click with the Df / 58f1.4 AFS from our incoming storm this past weekend. The key is when looking through the viewfinder ask yourself “What’s the subject” and than answer that in your photograph.
