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This winter’s weather has not presented many opportunities for wintry photography. I did manage to get to a frozen section of Wherspann Lake here in Omaha and do some leaf and ice abstracts. While leaf in ice photographs are fairly common, each is still beautiful in it’s own unique way.
Technical Details:
Canon 50D, 50 CM lens, f/11, 1/100 sec.
Chalco Hills Recreation Area, Nebraska
Badlands National Park is a playground of shapes and forms, patterns and colors. Whenever I visit I explore these rock formations with a longer lens to capture a more intimate view of the park. The light was especially nice on this morning giving a warm pre-sunrise glow. To see what this area looks like from a wide-angle lens check out Morning Illumination taken 2 years previously. On the right side of that image you can see the area on which I chose to focus for today’s post. I also decided on the panoramic view because I felt the wide horizontal lent itself well to exploration of the shapes and colors in this image.
Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 127mm, f/9, .6s
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
For years I have visited DeSoto, my family often in tow. My eldest daughter, Riley loved to run the halls of the visitor center and look at the artifacts of the old Bertrand steamboat that had met its end in the mud and muck of what became DeSoto lake. I would occasionally visit by myself, finding a quiet solitude on the Cottonwood trail or on the shore of the lake.
The flooding of the Missouri this past spring, summer and into the fall affected lives, changed landscapes, and even modified the course of the river. Nuclear power plants stayed shut down, roads and highways were under water and destroyed, houses and farms were devastated. DeSoto was among the areas that was hit hard. The lake rose several feet and aerial photographs showed a large body of water covering the land that once existed in the former oxbow of the Missouri River.
The water has now receded. A week ago I returned to photograph it once again with a friend, Jayson Alder. Today I am presenting some images from that trip. I invite you to also check out Jayson’s blog to see what he captured as we hiked along the Cottonwood trail. I would also like to thank him for letting me use his 100 2.8 Macro lens. I really don’t need any help in wanting more equipment, but I must say the lens performed well. From the short time I used it, I do recommend taking a look at getting one if you are interested in doing some macro. Right now I use a 50 CM lens which works well, but you have to be close to your subject and it autofocuses ssssllllloooooowwww. Of course, it is one of only two lenses that remain from Canons original EF lineup from the 80s! The faster focus and longer distance of the 100 2.8 Macro was nice!
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
I was enamored with the foggy conditions that prevailed for the first few days at Rocky Mountain. Today’s Photo Friday is another foggy composition of some evergreens in Horseshoe Park.
Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 118mm, f/4.5, 1/250 sec.
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
As I mentioned yesterday, I am in the process of processing (yes – process) my latest images. I have recently returned from a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and have a few thousand to go through. One of the first things I noticed as I was sorting my images was how my subjects have changed. Whereas I used to be all about the grand image, I now shoot more introspective smaller scenes. That doesn’t mean I don’t have the grand image, but I think I now have a better variation of subject matter. Another interesting thing I noted was that the images I processed first were these intimate scenes. I didn’t realize it until last night, but of the 17 images I have processed, only 4 are wide-angle landscapes.
I believe this is a good thing, for if I shot the same type over and over I think I would be bored with the art. Additionally, the more varied one’s work, I think that allows greater creativity in all aspects. Today’s image was taken from a location in the park known as “Many Parks Curve”. It’s essentially what it sounds, a curve on the road to the top of Trail Ridge (the main road through the park) that overlooks many of the parks in the park. This particular day was incredible with fog rolling throughout the valley engulfing the trees. As the sun rose, the trees emerged from the fog. I found myself shooting with telephoto lens mainly and although I have some wide-angle shots, I haven’t even begun to think about processing them yet. This image spoke to me first, so it was one of the first I processed.
With that I suggest that everyone go out and try to capture something a little different. I know this is something I’ve espoused before, but sometimes we need a little kick to get us out the door. Consider this your kick!
Technical Details:
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Canon 50D, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/5.6, 1/125 sec.