Jul 26, 2012 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
We are incredible fortunate to live in paradise! As I’ve mentioned probably too many times, summer in the Eastern Sierra is great with our monsoon storms. The clouds just play in the heavens as they float by. For this reason, I’m constantly heading out to the front deck to look up and see what is floating by. My favorite rig is the D4 with 24-70AFS, the format fits perfectly for shooting among the pines in the front. Here’s a series from last evening.
What you have here is the out of the D4 Jpeg and the finished PSD file. In this first image, first step in finishing is ACR using my Landscape preset. In Photoshop, the Apsens in the dead center of the frame were replaced with the Clone Tool with fir as in the rest of the frame. Then the image was run through Silver Efex Pro 2 and finished with Pro Contrast in Nik’s Color Efex 4. The entire finishing process took less than two minutes.
This next image in the series is the one I like the best. Camera gear and finishing all the same except this time, Pro Contrast was replaced with a Levels layer just to pull the blacks down a tad. Oh ya, I removed a couple of tree tops in the lower left corner with Content Aware Healing Brush. Why do I like this one the best? I have that “burning bush” feel to it, really strong graphics. I like that.
I like this last image more as a color than B&W, I think. I like the shape of the cloud but the tree is a little too bulky for me. The camera was all the same. In finishing, the first thing you’ll notice is the limb in the top left missing. That was done with Content Aware Fill. Then the rest of the finishing was done exactly the same as the first image. I hope this series will encourage you to just step out your door, no matter where you live, look up and make a click. Exploring the backyard and simple processing can open up all sorts of creative doors!
Jul 20, 2012 | Landscape Photography
This is our FAVORITE time to be home in the Sierra. That’s because all the babies are out and right now, the yard is busting open with kids! We’ve got our biggest crop of Stellar Jays ever I swear. When someone calls the office, they all comment on all the background noise caused by these kids. The Evening Grosbeaks fledglings are the most ever as well. And now the Hummers have shown up in force. What we’re not seeing are the chipmunk and squirrel kids, we’ve not seen a one. And of course, we have that Black Bear cubs like you see here. We have one that I swear as learned that just walking up and down the road gets all the neighborhood dogs upset. It does it all the time to a chorus of barking. The D4 with 300f4AFS is always out and left on because of all the activity. I get lost of exercise because every 10 minutes I’m up looking out all the windows to see what’s up. And the 600mm is on a tripod with the D800 looking out ground level waiting for the baby chipmunks to appear. It’s simply a great time to be home shooting in the backyard!
Jul 20, 2012 | Landscape Photography
“When are you taking folks to Yellowstone again?” This is a real common question that we get asked. It is definitely one of the most gorgeous locations on the planet in winter! But for me, it’s got to be winter to make it worth while going. What do I mean by that? For me, Yellowstone is great in winter when it’s -10 or colder. When it’s warmer then that like during our last trip in 2011 when the average temp was 19, lots of things just don’t happen. For example, the Bison don’t have half of Yellowstone stuck on their fur like you see here. The trees don’t have the hoar frost and steam frozen on them. There’s not much snow so the critters can spread out over the park rather then having to be gathered around the springs for warmth and open ground to forage. I don’t think this coming winter will have enough -10 or colder days to predict what days it will have to be in place to get the shots. So it’s going to be at least another year before we take folks back to Yellowstone in the winter. We do miss it so!
Jul 16, 2012 | Aviation, B&W Photography, Landscape Photography, Random Thoughts
If you do, then run! Run to find a great foreground and subject to put with them. Clouds have the magic to transform the common into uncommon just by their very being. The key is to place your subject in the clouds but not letting the clouds overcome the subject. You want to use the clouds to give the imagination to roam and then bring the mind’s eye back down to the subject. This requires not only a great shape but also highlights and shadows that move the eye through the frame. In this process, you might have to use a split grad and the point of capture and Curves in post to manipulate those highlights and shadows. But if you have clouds, you have photographic gold!
Jul 13, 2012 | Landscape Photography
Like most of the US, it’s hot here in Mammoth the last couple of days, it’s hit 84 (I know that’s not really hot). I don’t like hot, I really don’t! Sharon and I went and say our good friends in KS and that was hot. Then we went to Phoenix for a project and it was 111, but as CNN published today, these are by no means records.
The world’s highest recorded air temperatures
1. El Azizia, Libya (136 degrees Fahrenheit)
2. Death Valley, California (134)
3. Ghadames, Libya (131)
3. Kebili, Tunisia (131)
5. Timbuktu, Mali (130)
5. Araouane, Mali (130)
7. Tirat Tsvi, Israel (129)
8. Ahwaz, Iran (128)
8. Agha Jari, Iran (128)
10. Wadi Halfa, Sudan (127)
A bigger issue though is not the heat wave but drought which has a grip on much of the country.
If you’re a wildlife photographer, this is something you can take advantage of while doing critters a favor. Water features not only help critters get through the heat, but is a free way you can attract critters to come right up to you lens. Think about light, background and approach and build your pool today. You’ll soon have friends. It’s a great weekend project.
Jul 12, 2012 | Landscape Photography
“Have you ever been to Bodie?” The calls and emails have been coming in since my bud RC posted some of his images from his recent trip there with Bill Fortney’s workshop. Since we live not too far from the State Park, it’s a reasonable question. Until you head to Photography > The Bodie Series tag above and you see I have. I even wrote a book about the town (never published) and ran a workshop there for years in the early 90’s. But my relationship with the town goes back to 1900.
No, I’m not that old but at times you wouldn’t know it. My grandfather’s cousin was the superintendent at the Standard Mine from 1900-1902 which is why my family first started to come to the Eastside. My mom came to Bodie when she was a little girl when the town was still a inhabited town. So I grew up visiting Bodie before and after it became a state park to the present day. Back in the early ’90s when doing the workshop in Bodie, I was very fortunate to meet some of the surviving citizens of early day Bodie like the Bells. It’s not a real stretch saying Bodie is in the blood.
Naturally, photographers are interested in Bodie as a subject and for good reason. It’s a great subject even if you’re only seeing 15% of the town. The rest has been lost to fire and time. When it comes to photographing Bodie, my favorite time is in August when the summer thunderheads dominant the sky and in October when the light is spectacular no matter the skies. One of the photographic problems about Bodie is it is a state park so there are operational hours which aren’t really photographer friendly. Are there ways around this? Also, once in Bodie you can’t help but look inside the windows to an era gone by.
I’ve not ventured into a building in Bodie since I had keys to the town back in the early ’90s. To say things have changed is a vast understatement! I’ve been told but do not know for fact but you can pay a fee, in the hundreds of dollars and gain access to the town and interiors. The question many pose of me is, “Is it worth it?” Having a personal history with the town, to me I never turn down an opportunity to visit it. As a photographer, I don’t have the same response. When the end game is to capture a gorgeous images, Bodie is like any location where timing is everything. Light is great and there is no finer place then Bodie. When it comes to interiors, I simply don’t have a ying or yang to provide you. Back in the day, I spent all my time in the interiors shooting with scrims on the windows and a little flash fill. I’m told you can’t do that anymore which just leaves HDR to make the most of the light. You look at my parents photos of the interiors and than mine of the 90’s and than now and it’s changed a lot! I love Bodie and if you have the opportunity to visit it with your camera, do so! Just keep in mind it’s like any location, light is everything. And yes, there are ghosts in this living ghost town!
