Aug 23, 2013 | Aviation, B&W Photography
I called out the directions and Kevin being Kevin, just followed them. I kept telling the group we were going to see Ms. Piggy. Now if in Hollywood, such an adventure wouldn’t be thought of as odd. Up in the tundra of Churchill, Canada, odd is putting it mildly! We’re there in May to photograph birds, not some Muppet character. We make the turn and leave the main road (which is dirt) and take another dirt road. We “run” through the snow patch on the road, get past the junkyard dog, we bumped down the rock strewn road and barely make the left that brings us up to a semi “parking” area. They look around and then I point up the boulder ridge and there is a gasp in the car. That’s because one wouldn’t think a C-46 Commando could “blend” in the tundra. Ms Piggy as it’s been called as long as I’ve been heading up to Churchill is an old cargo plane that landed a tad short of the runway.
There are many things that are very cool about Ms Piggy, one being is you can see it from the road and at quite some distance. But someone has to point it out the first time otherwise, this big “bird” does just blend in. Another thing is when you walk the wreckage, it appears like the plane was just “dropped” in place and didn’t “crash land.” Here’s the story of the crash:
This is a crashed C-46 aircraft that was operated by Lamb Air. She is found on the scenic route road along Hudson Bay shortly before it ends, close to the Institute of Arctic Ecophysiology. She is called Miss Piggy because she was able to hold so much freight and once did have pigs on board. On Nov 13, 1979 she was flying a cargo of 1 ski-doo and many cases of pop for the Arctic Co-op from Churchill to Chesterfield inlet. She lost oil pressure in her left engine shortly after departing Churchill. The crew of 3 tried to return the aircraft to the Churchill airport. They clipped hydro poles with one wing just before the IAEP lab and crash landed on the rocks there. 2 of the 3 crew were seriously injured. Investigation of the failed engine only revealed small metal chips through out. Her original paint of white and red with the Lamb Air markings has been painted over with gray for a movie
I really don’t know how many hundreds of photos I have of Ms Piggy, but I have more now. The clouds were perfect when I first said, “Let’s go photograph Ms Piggy” (wish I had a picture of the faces in the van when I said that) but once we arrived, well, you see them. But I was thinking B&W the entire time which is also partly why I picked the time of day. Shooting was really straight forward, D4 / 18-35AFS. The metering was straight forward as well since the D4 does so well in these situations. Then in the DD, it was ACR and Perfect B&W using the InFrared moving the Blue and Yellow sliders to modify the default. And in case your were wondering, yes, I was dying to do some stupid post about this was the plane we took, rough landing and the like but hey…
Aug 16, 2013 | Landscape Photography
So, back in my room overlooking Bandon after a great dinner at The Loft, I’m typing away when the gray light is replaced by a golden glow. I look out to see a whole in the fog lets the setting sun stream through. I grab the D4 / 80-400VR3 and makes some clicks.
Now here’s the deal with these types of photos, not everyone likes them. They have no definitive subject and really depend on the mood and experiences of the viewer to work. They also lack a real defined black and that is a very important color. Now I like these images, don’t love them but I do like them. They are so full of atmosphere that can’ help by leave me with a warm feeling. But then again, they are my photos.
Aug 16, 2013 | B&W Photography
I’m up in Bandon, OR with my good friend Bob looking for shorebirds. It’s that time of year when the nesting shorebirds of the tundra head south and if you hit it just right, there’s not enough room in a photo to squeeze in a matchbook. The trick is, you’ve gotta see them! After putting in 12hrs, we had a break in the fog only to find a couple of Black-bellied Plovers and a Dowitcher before they were swallowed up again in the mist. This is a highly ify proposition, going after that one moment in nature to make the shot. But if you don’t try, you won’t get it. This is my first attempt at such a shot, going after one I saw back in the 80’s that I’ve always admired. And when you’re on the coast in pea soup, the logical thing to do is, find a lighthouse. Here’s the Cape Blanco Lighthouse where the volunteers said they hadn’t seen the sun, or the coast all day. A simple click, D4 / 18-35 processed in ACR and Perfect B&W. And tomorrow, we’ll start all over again with hopefully, less fog.
Aug 7, 2013 | Landscape Photography
On my flight back from Oshkosh, our flight was deverted to the north of this huge storm over Missouri. It was quite a show! I pulled out my Coolpix S9100 and shot a couple of stills (a challenge with a Coolpix) and then shot the video. The storm was really talkin!
Aug 2, 2013 | Wildlife Photography
There is something good for the soul laying in the sand at the edge of the sea! It’s even better for one’s humility as you lie there with this giant lens and folks walk by, scare off the bird you’ve waited 20min to come close, than stop and ask, “Whatja doin?” I’ve been lyin on the beach for a long time and truly enjoy photographing shorebirds this way. And the Willit is a favorite subject of mine. It’s probably because of their personality which they seem to have tons of!
Why lie on the beach? While I like having sand between my toes, I don’t like a ton of it in my photo (or my gear for that matter). By getting down low, your depth of field is so narrow that the critter flies off the page. At the same time, when you get down low, the shorebirds tend to come right up to you. You have to pick your background carefully because once down, you’re committed for while. You can see this technique in action on my Kelby Shorebird class. Well, I used this same still technique to shoot the video. It worked out pretty well except those times when folks came up to ask that darn question!
Shooting with a D4 , 600VR2 with TC-14e attached (to maintain Auto Area AF) mounted on a Walt Anderson’s Panning Plate inside a freebie, the DP-6 made a HUGE difference in following action and smoothly especially with your neck all bent lying on the ground. Needing reading glasses these days, this really, really helps! This is an edited down from the 5hrs of video shot to just 5min. I did the editing on the iMac with all the vid residing on the ioSafe N2 and doing the editing right in Premiere Pro CS7. The final video once completed will be much longer than this clip. The goal is to show the comical, methodical approach they have to foraging the tide while maintaining their peaking order. They always leave me with a question, will it? Mother Nature is just amazing!
Aug 1, 2013 | Landscape Photography
The great prairies of North America had to have been one of the greatest wildlife theaters on the planet in the early 1800s! You read the Lewis & Clark Journals, Edward Warren or Jedediah Smith and you can’t help but drop everything and head to our midwest to see what’s left for yourself. The one critter they talk about a lot in great reverence and romantically is the Pronghorn. I think it was that and knowing it’s our fastest mammal in North America first took me out to the Black Hills and Custer State Park to spend time with this majestic animal.
If you receive our BT Journal, you know who much I love to spend time with these critters since I have a whole issue on them. They are so connected to the prairie that everyday they live a slightly differently than the day before or they will tomorrow. This flow is what makes them great to just watch. It’s what makes photographing them not on a challenge, but incredibly rewarding. Now you can find Prong in many places throughout the US but I prefer Custer because the restrictions are not restricting. If a Prong walks right up to you, you don’t have to run, you can enjoy the moment and photograph them. And it’s very common when you stay in your vehicle and simply give them a moment, they will do just that! And they have great eyes!
Photographing Pronghorn I turn to my favorite combo: D4 , 200-400VR2 mounted on a Wimberley / Gitzo for the video. For the stills, I was inside the truck so handheld the rig. Still wanting to do a romantic video with zooming while shooting was in my mind but as you will see, I didn’t achieve that goal. But getting more serious about my video, I continued to use the DP-6 which makes a HUGE difference in following action and smoothly. This is an edited down video from the hour of video shot to just 5min. I did the editing on the iMac with all the vid residing on the ioSafe N2 and doing the editing right in Premiere Pro CS7. My only regret is that my video panning skills are not even up to the running of the Prong. I was stubborn and kept trying to do it with the long lens which is difficult, especially compared to shooting with a shooter lens. I’ve not given up though and with more practice, I’ll get that video I want to express the grace of these prairie critters. Mother Nature is just amazing!
