The Break Between the Storms

Jan 23, 2012 | Landscape Photography

When multiple storms blow through the Sierra, winds plays a big part of the whole process. We typically know a storm is coming because winds proceed it. When we have multiple storms, the wind still comes but as it goes over the Sierra crest, it tends to create windows in the clouds. And these are just great subjects for B&W photography. I’m incredibly fortunate that I can, just like I did here, watch out the windows and when I see the light happening, step out and shoot. How do I know when to step out and shoot?

I look first for some blue sky and then a pattern between that blue and the clouds. I do this because I know this pattern when I do to B&W is what brings the eye into the frame. The Structure slider in Silver Efex Pro pulls out amazing texture and I’ve come to rely on that in these types of images. I first use the blue slider under the Luminance Tab in ACR to darken the blue sky which sets up the contrast with the white. This brings the drama to the B&W. It’s pretty much that simple.

In the Bag
D3x
24-70AFS
Lexar 32GB UDMA
The Winter Wonderland … Mother Nature

It Finally Arrived

Jan 23, 2012 | Landscape Photography

“The driest winter since 1933.” That’s what was said about our winter here in the Sierra until Friday. We started off with rain which turned to a brief freezing rain then snow we call Sierra Cement. It gets called that because its moisture content is so great that other then looking like snow, you’d think it was water. It’s a horribly heavy slush that’s just murder to move. But photographically it works wonders. Sierra cement sticks like glue to trees and stays stuck until we have a real warm day. Snow on trees is critical in my book when photographing “winter.” Looking out the office window, the view is so calming it makes it hard to work. Photographically, it’s a real simple click that is then brought into ACR where I clean up the whites that are then finished in Silver Efex Pro (which was just updated). mtc

In the Bag
D3x
24-70AFS
Lexar 32GB UDMA
The snow … Mother Nature

What about Water & Wildlife

Jan 19, 2012 | Landscape Photography

Many have asked what the lack of snow in the Sierra this winter will do to the wildlife. It’s a valid question considering a week ago we had wildfire warnings in the middle of winter! As of right now, we have zero snow on our property. There is a prediction of big snow this weekend. We need all the moisture we can get but will it be enough? How will it effect the wildlife? I really don’t know those answers. Typically winter causes issues with my projects by raining them out. That has not been an issue this year. This photo from our San Joaquin Kit Fox project was shot two years ago and shows the normal winter scene, dead grass, In a few months, if the rain comes the grasses will turn green and the pups will emerge from the den. And if not, the real possibility that not all the pups will survive. As for the Sierra, the lack of snow right now means no water this summer. That causes two things possibly, less fishing and poorer fall color. Water is a vital resource, hopefully this weekend we’ll get some really needed snow. Time will tell.

Snowy – Root – Light

Jan 18, 2012 | Landscape Photography

All three of these images are using the same principle to make the subject pop. I wrote about this a week ago (It’s All in the Light) and it has brought in a number of questions that I’d like to answer. The problem is, when you’re looking through the viewfinder, you see all the distracting stuff in the mangrove roots, aircraft hangar or barn but the camera doesn’t. Why is that? It’s a matter of light range, camera dynamic range and how your meter plays the game.

When our range of light we see in the viewfinder starts to get beyond five stop, the camera has two options, discard shadow detail or highlight detail. Today’s camera’s and their computers tend to protect highlights and let shadows go where they may in this scenario (yes, I am greatly generalizing to move the discussion along and basically explain how I look at this stuff). If you take a photo and look at your LCD with your Highlight Warning turned on, you will more then likely see it blinking like mad at you. When you want to capture that shadow and highlight detail in this scenario you use HDR. If you want to use it like I have here, I dial in -1 Exp Comp and shoot like a mad man. Why dial in minus exp comp? I want to push the shadows deeper into the shadows and at the same time, save some highlights. Will I save them all? Mostly likely not and I know that or I’d be shooting HDR. Do you need all those highlights? Look at these three examples and you be the judge.

What happens when the shadows aren’t beyond five stops? Look at the two photos below when the range of light is five stops and four stops. You’ll see more background creep into the photo. Nothing wrong with that and when we want to see information in the background to tell a story, you work hard to capture it. But when you’re looking for a little extra drama in an otherwise “common” shot, this is a simple yet effective trick to make some drama happen. One example of this is “highnoon” light, that hard light many tend to not shoot in. The Snowy Egret shot was taken in just such light except, the egret was in the shade and not direct sunlight. You can tell the P-51C is in direct light and I believe the marshall was as well but there is a Tri-Grip diffusing the light. At the bottom is another lame drawing to help describe the situation better. Afterwards I had a Duuh moment. I forgot to turn on the Moose Cam which really would have been much better. I hope this helps and permits you to take advantage of this simple yet effective photographic technique.