Nov 29, 2013 | Landscape Photography
make for the best photography! My rule of thumb is, if I can handle the weather, so can the camera. In this case though, we needed the assist of a big ass hangar. It was Sunday of the Wings Over Houston airshow. As is normal, we got to the Texas Flying Legends Museum hangar well before sunrise to get to work on the sunrise shoot. Driving to the airport, saw the lightning in the distance and looking at my favorite lightning app, RadarCast, I saw a whole lot more was heading right for the airport. We pulled in, got our gear into the hangar and the skies opened up, oh my, did they let loose!!!
The hangar doors were wide open and chairs set up, SOP. Grabbing a hot cup of coffee and watching the run rise behind all the aircraft with friends is a simple joy, but that wasn’t going to happen this morning. Within minutes, the rain was coming down so hard, it was bouncing up off the tarmac and bouncing into the hangar pushing us back at least ten feet and making us partially close the hangar doors. The heavens were putting on one helluva show, lightning bouncing every which way. As is typical pilot nature, I turn to see everyone standing under the wing of the Shrike even though we were all in the hangar. Then I see Jake setting up his camera … it was one of those Duh…. moments!
With the D4 / 80-400VR3 set up, I focused on the FG-1D Corsair parked right outside the hangar. It was to be the sunrise shoot but that was scrubbed at this point. What you see here are the photos taken during this time. They are 15sec exposures with all the lighting a combination of lightning and vehicles driving past. The rain pouring so hard created what appears to be ground fog and the long exposure with all the mixed light did the rest. No two images look anything like the next other than the Corsair which didn’t move.
What if there was no hangar? In this case, if I couldn’t find a wing to stand under, me and my gear would have been tucked away in the truck still. Those times when I can work in the rain, I don’t cover the gear with anything. I do have with me a dry, white towel that I will BLOT my gear dry (never, ever wipe). The thing is this, whenever you have a camera and you wonder if, follow that if especially in bad weather. If you wonder if there is a photo there, go for it! The least that might happen is, you delete that if. And the most, you’ll have a photo to always remind you of that wonder of nature you were able to capture in that click. The worst weather does produce some of the best photos!
Nov 26, 2013 | Landscape Photography
photo by Chloe Feres
Our fall B&H Photo / Lexar Moose Cruise was just a blast with a boat load of great folks! There was a father/daughter pair from Australia who were all smiles as we cruised. Now Chloe caught my attention right from the start. Now you might be looking at Chloe’s photo above (which is really cool) and thinking, “Photoshop” but such is not that case. And that’s how Chloe caught my attention.
Here, you can see one of the photos in the LCD and below, you can see Chloe’s technique. Yeap, the photo is a reflection that she creates on the surface of her iPhone and in one click, makes the photo. Now when I was across the deck looking at what she was doing, it really, really, really had me scratching my head. So I walked over and asked and got an education. Chloe’s smile the whole time she was shooting is what really told the whole story and whenever you see a photographer smiling like that, you know only good things are coming forth. Chloe, I applaud your creativity!
Nov 22, 2013 | Landscape Photography
There is a magic to the color of white when you find it in landscape photography. The eye grabs on to it and than takes every other color in view and puts it on a higher level. Working the hoar frost in Yosemite, the icing lining all the meadow grasses along with the ever changing mist made for simple killer images. Standing on the edge of the meadow, shooting in with the D4 / 80-400VR3, we simply looked for the pattern that worked and shot.
Nov 22, 2013 | Landscape Photography
I don’t profess to have the answer, but at least for my own photography, I have a hint. I’m using as an example these two photos with the simple topic, fall color. When it comes to telling the story and keeping it simple, quantity comes into play. Quantity comes in many flavors, quantity as in percentage of area and quantity as in sheer numbers. We can use either one of these by themselves or in combination but that danger is the lack of or over use of the subject. And I think the answer I like to use in solving this question is your imagination. I think that the more we can tap into the viewer’s imagination, the less we can have of the subject and still smack them between the eyes with the subject. The more the imagination, the more the storytelling takes over. Both photos were taken D4 / 58f1.4AFS so they are “normal” and they both have the same subject. But they both have different quantity. Which brings the subject to life? It’s for you to answer in your own photos.
Nov 18, 2013 | Landscape Photography
We had some high, fast moving clouds and that got me to wondering. I’ve seen some marvelous images of very blurred clouds by static subjects. With the clouds I was seeing over our heads, I wanted to see if I could do the same. So we headed down the Merced to a classic view of El Capitan, I mean, can’t get more static that that big ass piece of rock! To get the shot, it’s the same basic formula as blurred water, you need a slow shutter speed so the fast moving subject blurs during the exposure. The question is, how slow and how to get there. With water, I have a pretty good idea where to start, but not a clue with clouds. You see, I’d never done it before but thought it was a good time to. Unlike water, the clouds are going to be lit by the sun, so extreme measures were required. Call in the, wait for it … Big Stopper!!! (you should be hearing that word reverberate on your computer right now).
Shooting with the D4, 18-35AFS and Big Stopper, (all on a tripod of course) started by composing the scene. This is important for besides the obvious, you need to set the focus and determine shutter speed. Once that is done, set the camera to manual focus, remember the shutter speed (aperture doesn’t change) and set camera to Bulb. Using this really cool app my bud Scott Kelby turned me on to when we were shooting at Lake Tahoe, NDTimer, you then calculate the shutter speed you need shooting through the Big Stopper. For example, it an original shutter speed of 1/13, NDTimer told me (and very accurately) I needed to use 1:18 exposure. How accurate is it, really? Within 15min, everyone else owned NDTimer and was using it. It’s that good! Unlike water, getting cool shots of blurred clouds is not really a slam dunk just because you have moving clouds. I don’t have a formula yet in my head, but with these tools, it’s pretty easy so I’ll keep playing with it until I do.
Nov 18, 2013 | Landscape Photography
Oh man, what a week! It was simply a killer time in a gorgeous place with some down right really nice folks! Good food, laughs and photography sure does make the time fly. We had just one “moody” time in the valley so I took the group up to Glacier Point. Normally this time of year, the road is closed due to snow so regrettably while no snow, we had access. By the time we arrived at Washburn Point, the skies and light were perfect. The evening held a ton of promise for an amazing show. The clouds were wizzin by which always means great sunsets in the Sierra. When we finally arrived at Glacier Point itself and were in place, the wind and completely died and left the clouds stacked up and dark on our heads. It went from great to, OK at best but we still made the most of it. One of the best parts of the whole time was being with folks who had never experienced Yosemite or Glacier Point before. To see how big their eyes got when they looked over the edge, it was priceless! Another simple click made the the COOLPIX 7800
