Photo Friday: Quiet DawnPosted by drfl on October 28th, 2011

In the sandhills of Nebraska there are several permanent and temporary lakes that are formed from water from the Ogalala Aquifer. There are protests and meetings happening right now because of the TransCanada XL pipeline that is currently planned to cross over the region containing this large underground body of water. The primary contention of the protesters is that the pipe will break and oil will leak into the water tainting it for the region’s drinking supply and agricultural uses. Since going through Nebraska is in the path of the shortest distance between Alberta, where the oil resides in the oil sands, and Texas, where it will be processed, this is a key element of the current plan. In today’s post I present an image of the North Marsh Lake at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge one such lake created by the Aquifer, reflecting the morning sunrise.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm TS-E 3.5 II, .6 sec, f/9, 3-stop Hard ND Grad, 3 images stitched and cropped to 2×3
Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska

Photo Friday: Carhenge (It’s for Sale!)Posted by drfl on October 21st, 2011

I’m posting an image of Carhenge today because I just read that it’s for sale. For those unfamiliar with Carhenge, it is a display of cars designed exactly like Stonehenge in England. It’s in western Nebraska, just north of Alliance and it was dedicated in 1987 and receives more than 87,000 visitors a year. I’ve been there about 5 or 6 times and I can tell you that 87,000 visitors is a lot as it is not on the way to or from anywhere really. That section of Nebraska is sparsely populated and is away from any major Interstates. If you’re interested in buying it, you just need $300,000. I’m pretty sure that it would be a good property to own and develop as this appears on many “must-see” lists and I often see it on Yahoo or MSN’s top 10 kitschy locations.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ f/9, 1/125 sec., Circular Polarizer
Alliance, Nebraska

Ask Around: Calm Mist and Morning’s WelcomePosted by drfl on October 19th, 2011

The locals are often very helpful on good locations around the area. When I was exploring the Oglala Grassland this past September, I stopped into the lcoal ranger’s office to grab a map. While there, I asked the ladies where I should visit to get some good shots. They recommended an area on the north side of the grassland. One morning before sunrise, I took a road up that direction and saw mist rising from this reservoir. I drove up the two-track road, grabbed my gear and captured these photographs.

Meng Reservoir, Oglala Grassland, Sioux County, Nebraska

Technical Details (Calm Mist):
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 40mm, f/9, 1/160 sec., Singh-Ray 2 Stop Hard ND Grad Filter

Technical Details (Morning’s Welcome):
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 21mm, f/8, 1/100 sec., Singh-Ray 2 Stop Hard ND Grad Filter

Look Closer: Sandhill AbstractPosted by drfl on October 17th, 2011

Completely overcast and rainy conditions can present real challenges for landscape photography.  Often, photographers get caught up in the idea that successful landscape photography must be captured with a wide-angle lens.  Some of the most successful images, however, are captured with long lenses.  This image was captured with a 300mm lens coupled with a 1.4 teleconverter on a Canon 50D.  That’s long for a landscape!  I really wanted to isolate the abstract nature of the intense red and orange colors of the prairie grass that were emerged during the rain.  While I was initially bummed by the rainy conditions, I wouldn’t have seen these colors without it and if it had been sunny, the colors would be contrasty and hard to capture.  I found that when I looked closer I could find a more intimate and abstract landscape that I might not have seen otherwise.

Technical Details:
Canon 50D, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/7.1, 1/250 sec.
Cherry County, Nebraska

Also, I wanted to mention that if you have not “liked” me on Facebook, please do by following the link below. I will be adding some unique information, events and deals there in the future.

http://www.facebook.com/JourneyOfLightPhotography

Photo Friday: Nebraska’s BadlandsPosted by drfl on October 14th, 2011

Smaller than the South Dakota Badlands to the north, Toadstool Geologic Park in Sioux county exhibits much of the same geography and structures. Toadstools, layed sediment, and short prairie grasses rule here.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/9, 1/160 sec.
Toadstool Geologic Park, Nebraska

Embrace Your Conditions: From Another WorldPosted by drfl on October 13th, 2011

As I mentioned yesterday, for the next few blog posts, with the exception of the Photo Fridays, I will be presenting a photograph and then giving a little background on how I was either able to create the photograph or what I did that made the photograph different or better.

For landscape photography I generally want partly to mostly cloudy conditions with some dynamic light. Unfortunately, on my recent trip to extreme Northwestern Nebraska, I had clear skies on a couple of the days. Rural Nebraska, however, has very little light pollution and makes for great night photography. Instead of not shooting, I embraced my conditions and I took the oppotunity of having these clear skies to capture the Milky Way rising from Toadstool Park. It made me feel like I was standing on the moon!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/4l, 30 sec.
Toadstool Geologic Park, Nebraska