Oct 3, 2012 | Landscape Photography
Wait for it…The 5th Dimension starting…Once you can pull yourself away from all the fire, you see balloons taking flight. It is really cool, the sound and sight as they balloons simply lift into the air. There is no way you can cover all the liftoffs, you have to make a choice and go for it. I simply looked for a pattern in the balloons I liked and went for it.
I went for one of the 5-6th balloon to go aloft. I did that because I wanted some flat, some inflating and one balloon going up. I lucked out! The balloon I locked onto went floating right one by as if it were scripted.The basket was heading for a hole in the background so I moved to keep it in that hole hoping it would turn on the burner. That burner not only help with the feeling of hot air lifting the balloon, but being bright, it take the eye right to the basket. My luck had run out, it lifted off without any more assist.
It no sooner got past the spot I wanted with the burner going and it lit up! At that point, the symmetry of all the balloons as lost so while I have flame (I like flame), I had lost the shot. The D4 / 24f1.4 combo though was perfect, between the fast FPS and narro DOF, I thought is was the perfect combo. And I loved working the framing with my feet, it’s a great challenge! So while I like these photos, none knock my socks off, they are just a cool remembrance of a fun morning! Oh, the image finishing…all done in ACR.
Oct 1, 2012 | Landscape Photography
They initially “blow up” the balloons with large fans, inflating them but giving them no lift. The lift comes from the heat created by the blowers. It all really takes just moments. One minute the balloon is just material on the ground and the next it is towering overhead. It was really cool to see the field all come to life at once as balloon after balloon stood up in the sky. There was a carful balance in how much heat was blown into the balloon to get it up while not enough to launch. The crews were fun to watch, you knew they’d done it before as each knew their place and role. The ambient light level was still low enough so the flame could give the balloon and those folks in the basket a slight glow. That’s what I wanted so I moved quickly looking for the right basket and background to bring that out. I still shot with the same basic MO, blasting the D4 with the 24f1.4AFS (I so love that lens!). Seriously, fun like this almost seems sinful!
Oct 1, 2012 | Landscape Photography
I had the opportunity Friday morning to go out with some of the good folks from the 4C convention to the Posner Balloon Festival. I yearly festival that’s been held for decades, it’s a great event where I’m told 30 hot air balloons come to have fun. Arriving in the dark, my favorite time to start, we wondered over the field where the balloonist had parked.
I talked with some of the folks to get an idea of how they would handle the launch and then just started to watch. Knowing their general MO, in the dark of morning I looked for those with their baskets set up first. This takes a little time, hauling it our of the trailer, getting the rigging set up and clear in the dark getting ready for the preburn.
It was pretty simple really, you want to show that fire, you need a dark background. So once I saw the first basket ready to warm up the burners, I positioned myself with a background that told the story, was dark yet showed a little of the predawn light and waited. People are part of the story, so I wanted to include them as much as I could as long as they were active in the launch process. I tried to move about though to eliminate others who were just watching.
Anybody who knows me knows how much I like fire, so I was a kid in a candyshop! I mean, the sound, the length of flame, makes you want to grab a hotdog on a wire and cook! Now just like shooting blurry water, to make the shot I ripped the motordrive on the D4. This is because you just can’t see the pattern the burn is going to make, recognize it, tell your finger to shoot and the camera to fire fast enough. So when just as the big burn would go, I let the camera rip off 15-20 frames and then selected my favorite flame pattern back in the computer. I shot with fixed lenses, doing all my “zooming” with my feet. I did this because I wanted to shoot at f1.4 to make the most of the available light and minimize DOF for crowd control. These images were taken with the 50f1.4AFS and the bottom with the 24f1.4AFS. On the tech side, WB set to AWB, metering Matrix with Exp Comp at -2 to -1.3. While from the time when we arrived till the time we left was less than 2hrs, it was a great morning off to a great start. mmmm…fire…good!
Sep 28, 2012 | Landscape Photography
Making the drive to the airport yesterday, I was able to survey the fall color scene. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being killer, it might be a 5 this year. Sure, there are some pockets which will be sweet in the next week but generally, the trees are going from green to brown. My favorite grove on Conway Summit is already half brown, this scene from 2010 might happen in small sections in the next week to ten days. But don’t let that stop you from going out and shoot fall color. Look for those small splashes of color and work them. Find just one tree on a blue sky day and exploit it with a polarizer. All it takes is that one, perfect leaf and you’ll have a great day of shooting. I would suggest on the Eastern slope, look for the small draws that still have water running for the best color and photography. But any day outside beats any day inside, especially if you have a camera with you!
Sep 21, 2012 | Landscape Photography
They are predicting our first snowfall in the Sierra this weekend. Not that it will stick, but snow means lower temps and lower temps along with the shorter days triggers critters into winter mode. Talking with folks around No America, it would seem the Farmer’s Almanac is right. We’re in for a wet, long winter and it’s just starting. As wildlife photographers, we need to take note of this and prepare accordingly. When it comes to birds, migration is in full swing in most regions and the numbers heading south at one time seem greater than normal. This can produce extra drama you might not have seen in the last few years.
While it might be obvious, just wanted to point out that traditional migration stops for waterfowl and shorebirds might be the place to be the next month. Some are saying the birds might head further south this winter, a combination of the winter prediction and climate change. With that comes the assumption that they might stay fewer days in their traditional stop over locations. This means we might have a smaller window to photograph this incredible spectacle that is part of our wild heritage. My suggestion is if you don’t own long glass, you contact BorrowLenses.com and get one reserved. When it comes to looking at dates, try to find a time around the full moon as that tends (weather dependent) to increase activity during migration. And where to go?
These images of Lesser Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese were taken at Bosque del Apache, a mecca for fall bird photography. But there are LOTS of locations around No America you can tap. Personally, I start by looking at the Birding Hotlines for my area to see what birders are seeing. Spending your time behind a lens rather than travel makes the most sense to me because one day a pond could be empty and the next day overflowing. Another great resource to finding congregations of birds are hunters. While the birds might be more wary, often they will land just outside the hunting zone which provides you a shooting (with camera) opportunity. Do your homework now, think through gear and location and you’ll have a great fall shooting!
Sep 19, 2012 | Landscape Photography
We continued west and when we came down from Westgard Pass and looked towards home, we saw the eastside in gorgeous light with God Beams showing us the direction. Of course we stopped, got out and enjoyed the view and preserved it for all time with our clicks. John Muir called this the Range of Light for a very good reason. It is nearly a daily occurrence, this gorgeous light on an spectacular landscape making photography really quite simple. To make the shot, I made a 5 image handheld HDR that was finished in Nik HDR Pro.
Sharon & I are very fortunate to have two incredible sons who not only like hanging with mom and dad, but are also shooters themselves. We have been doing this photography thing as a family from the very beginning but we never really thought it would turn into a family affair. With that being said, you have to be careful, especially when you hear the request to “hold still.” In this case, Jake was kind to dad making a cool capture. But there are times when my very Photoshop wise sons take creative license with their photos of mom and dad. We are very fortunate!
