Last Day Sunrise Grander

The radar showed clouds and in just the right places so I knew exactly where I wanted to take the gang for their last sunrise shoot. That is one of the big advantages of the Eastern Sierra Adv, I do know my backyard pretty good for just such occasions.

Horseshoe Lake is one of the very few that man doesn’t mess with. It’s waters come and go on natures clock. Right now it’s just one giant mirror reflecting the incredible beauty of the Sierra crest.

There’s a really good reason John Muir called the Sierra the Range of Light. Just wait five minutes and it will change as you see here. Sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse but it will change. Was it worth getting up oh dark thirty to greet the day? Hell ya!

Photos captured by D3x, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film

Back to the Ol Homestead

With the great puffies and gorgeous July light, a trip to Bodie was a must. Bodie is not new to me, in fact, my family has been going to Bodie since 1900. So it was with great delight we took the group there to share not only it’s photographic wealth, but also it’s colorful history.

There are many, many ways to approach photographing Bodie. My approach this time was to have corrected buildings in B&W. The first obstacle most fret over are all the people that walk through your photo. There are two ways of dealing with this. The first is simply wait, most folks don’t stand at any one place for more than 30secs. The seconds is simply use Content-Aware fill in Photoshop. I used a combination of these two in these photos.

Next, I shot with the 24PC-E handheld. I seemed to have opened Pandora’s box by talking about these lenses so much, all I get are questions on how to use probably one of the simplest of photographic tools. We have a video being posted this week which will hopefully make this simple tool simple to use.

Lastly there is the B&W. What I did was create 1 image HDR and then take that Tif through ACR 6.2 for the B&W conversion. It’s really easy to do and as you can see, it creates pretty dramatic results. But the key to all of this is the one thing we have zero control over, and that’s the clouds. They make the whole image happen. Without them, all the rest is just talk.

Quick Trip to Monumnet Valley

We’ve got a great group of folks with us here on the Eastside so thought we’d take them on a quick trip to Monument Valley. In miniature that is.

OK, we didn’t drive to Utah overnight, rather we left at 4AM and headed to a favorite locale. After doing some star trails, we headed down and got on our knees. We got on our knees, elbows and stuck our butts in the air as we photographed these very delicate and fragile sand tufas.

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OK, so getting down on your knees is part of making the photo, what else is? The top photo was taken with the 18AF, the bottom with the 24PC-E, one with tilt in and the other corrected. I don’t think either one is required to make the shot. Nope, to make the shots come alive required the great clouds and light and then a good dose of romance. No matter how big or small your landscape, I feel the same ingredients goes into all of them in order for them to be successful. Oh yeah, having good knees doesn’t hurt!

Photos captured by D3x, 18AF / 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film

In the Sierra, Always Have Your Camera!

We headed down to the airport to pick up Stephanie so like always, I grabbed the camera as we left the house. Looking out the window told me what lens I should have attached.

It’s the summer and the pattern has turned so we get our very dramatic afternoons. The thunderheads started to form early all around Mammoth but not over Mammoth. I knew heading to the flats, they would be off in the distance and not overhead which is why I selected the one lens I took along.

The clicks were easy, I parked in the middle of the road, shot out the window what you see at around 80mm, -1 exp comp with AWB. Pretty easy stuff. I knew with the drama in the sky these would be B&W photos. That was done in a SNAP in ACR 6.1 and then a simple click into Photoshop and another click on the Poster Action and it’s back out shooting. It’s all pretty easy stuff for anyone to do. The hardest thing for most folks though is that first step, always having your camera with you.

Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Perhaps the Next Question Should Be – Color or B&W?

A challenge for so many when they put the camera to their eye is, “Do I shoot vertically or horizontally?” Moving forward from that question for me for my landscape work is the question, “Color or B&W?”

So we just looked at the subtle change just turning the camera can have to a landscape image. In that process of doing the dance, what does the option of B&W bring to the dance? First, many have a hard time just seeing their world in B&W. Try just squinting your eyes, this will take those highlights that will blow out become gone to your vision and those areas that will be lost in the shadows, black to your vision.

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With that, you should start seeing those areas in your photo that are the highlights. In this particular example (every photograph is different) the subject is the highlight and when you turn the camera vertically and your go to B&W, damn if the subject doesn’t smack you right between the eyes. And when you do that with your subject, the viewer of your photograph can’t help but see the subject and that’s when you win! And you’d be surprised when you do that correctly, those little things you missed that shouldn’t be in the photo, magically disappear! I’m looking forward to sharing this with the folks next week when they come to our Eastern Sierra Adv and play with our puffies in their viewfinders! And yes, this is what I saw when I clicked, a vertical, B&W photo.

Photos captured by D3s, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

A Common Question – Which Way To Turn?

A challenge for so many when they put the camera to their eye is, “Do I shoot vertically or horizontally?” That is a real good question!

Now if you’re shooting for the cover of a magazine, well, the question is answered for you. Since that’s not what I do (I’ve only been asked to shoot a cover once and that was a portrait) then the question is answered by….the subject. Yeah, the subject is what dictates to me if I turn the camera one way or the other. How does the subject have such power? It’s its story that we’re telling the should tell you which way to turn the camera.

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This is a simple click of a dissipating thunderstorm over the house last night. What’s the subject? In the top photograph you have to scratch your head. That’s because I shot horizontally and the “junk” on the sides takes the eye in a different direction then to the subject. Now when you turn to the vertical image, the “junk” on the side has been removed so now the trees in the center of the photo reinforce the cloud that is the subject.

Landscape photography is really a concert of subtleties that when in sync adds up to big drama. I call it doing the dance, removing the elements that distract while including those elements that tell the story. In doing that dance, one tool you have to creating the drama is simply how you turn the camera!

Photos captured by D3s, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

Springtime in the Sierra

Yeap, it’s May 23 and it’s snowin here in the Sierra. It seems every year just when the daffodils boom, it snows. Doesn’t really help their growing effort but I do love the oxymoron the photo opp provides.

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Whenever there’s fresh snow, I think photography. Tracks in the snow, patterns of the shrubs and trees trying to find air, critters scratching out a living, there always seems to be something for the camera.

This morning when I went out, I instantly look at the daffodil bed and thought photo opp. Then panic set in as the dogs headed straight for it. The whole mountain heard me yell stop!

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Thankfully they left me a couple of buds with snow on them. The play of the color, white and yellow and the pattern of the snow outlining the blossoms just sucked me in. Anyone who happened to drive by just saw my butt sticking up in the air, not the most scenic way to start the day, but I was having fun!

Photos captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Simple Click – Canyonland NP

Simple, gorgeous! What makes it all happen though are the winds that came along with the thunderstorm kicking up the dust for the light to play with.

The click made with the 70-200VR2 with -2exp comp dialed in. Beauty just doesn’t come any simpler!

The Magic of Light!

Like moths to a flame, I head towards the light and sometimes, like a guided missal. Mesa Arch has been always very good to me with some of my best ideas being generated by its magic. This morning was no different.

I wanted a starburst, but just not any old “close down the aperture” kind. At the same time I had a huge range of light. So I had a “What If” thought run through my mind and when I wonder an idea or concept, I now know to follow them. Most of the time they go down in flames, well into the trash at least but this time, I like the results. Now, if I can repeat it, I’ll be happy with the technique and it will be worth sharing. For the moment, we can just enjoy the magic of light!

Photo captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film

The Magic of North Window

And when the clouds broke, they flooded the North Window of Arches with light like I’ve never seen here before. You could hear the comment from the group, “Never seen or knew Moose could move so fast!”

Photo captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film

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