Photo Friday: Under Western SkiesPosted by drfl on November 11th, 2011

Today’s image comes from Valentine National Wildlife Refuge which lies in the heart of the sandhills. As I have mentioned previously, this is the area that is causing reviews of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline proposals. In an article dated yesterday (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45242052/ns/us_news-environment/t/us-orders-alternate-routes-controversial-oil-pipeline/), it appears that other routes may be researched. I’m not sure what the end result will be, no one is sure, but what I can say is that the Sandhills is a unique region that has a distinguishing landscape all its own.

This was a somewhat difficult image for me to capture. The winds were blowing 30-50 miles per hour which made not only the tripod and camera unsteady, but it also made for a very uncomfortable shoot. As the name implies the Sandhills are made of sand. They stay in place by the grasses and plants that grow, but that doesn’t keep all the sand in place and with wind that fierce, the sand whips up and stings. I sat here for about an hour and a half and almost left because I thought there would be no light, but my patience was rewarded when the sun descended behind these clouds and gave me this show.

Because of the winds, I was unable to capture the grass stationary, so I used it as an opportunity to use a slower shutter speed and blur the grass. I was happy with the ultimate effect. During my entire stay in Valentine the winds were fairly strong so I captured a video with my 5D Mark II to show what I was dealing with. I’ve embedded a 42 second video of prairie grasses waving in the wind at the Niobrara Preserve not far from Valentine.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/11, 1/4 sec., 2 Stop Singh-Ray Hard ND Filter + 3 Stop Singh-Ray Hard ND Filter
Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska

Filed under: Clouds, Fall, Godbeams, Grasses, Landscape, Nature, Valentine NWR | 1 Comment

Familiarity Breeds Appreciation – Welcome to WonderlandPosted by drfl on September 24th, 2009

Welcome to Wonderland

Often, travel photographers tend to go to different locations to shoot. The tendency is to grab a few shots of the grand scenics, the locations that are familiar to the masses and then move on. From a commercial perspective, these are probably the shots that sell the most as they are the locations that people remember when visiting a popular location. The saying “familiarity breeds contempt” comes to mind to describe these individuals. There are some photographers, however, that like to explore an area and find images that don’t fall into the “shoot and go” mentality. It is those artists that gain a greater appreciation for a place the longer they visit.

My wife and I have visited the Black Hills and Badlands area in South Dakota three times together. Before that we both traveled there multiple times as children. Indeed, it is a popular destination for people that live in Nebraska as the Badlands is the closest national park. We both have fond memories of this area so it was no surprise that we decided to take our 2 year old on this trip. Each time I return I gain a greater appreciation for the landscape, the wildlife, and the nature of the area and I find myself shooting areas that are not the “popular” locations. Today’s shot, while close to an overlook, is not a popular spot and I found myself hiking a little ways for a new perspective. The weather was very cooperative and gave me some god beams shining down on the ridges in the distance. I saw only one other soul while shooting, and he was photographing a deer (I think). It was a peaceful, serene morning in a place of which I was familiar and appreciate.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 29mm, f/11, 1/20 sec., Singh-Ray 3-Stop Hard Grad
Badlands National Park, South Dakota

This photograph can be viewed on my at: Welcome to Wonderland – Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Filed under: Badlands NP, Fall, Godbeams, Landscape, Nature, Photograph | 3 Comments

From the Archives: Radiant OmahaPosted by admin on March 11th, 2008

A combination of being ill with having the pre-spring muddy mess outside contributed to another review of the archives. As spring is just around the corner I went through the old season shots to see what I should be getting ready to shoot. I almost skipped over this old downtown Omaha file taken from the Gene Leahy Mall from 2006, but decided to give it another view. I had processed a vertical of this same shot about a year and a half ago and it didn’t give the scene the sense of grandjuer I had witnessed. A new Photoshop version later and more experience with the tools allowed me to process this image more like the actual scene I witnessed. Yes, the godbeams and clouds were actually brilliantly like this, it was a very calm nice spring stroll through downtown. I only used a polarizer, I didn’t even carry my tripod with me. Goes to show what you can capture when you make sure to have your camera with you.

Technical Details:

Canon 20d, 10-22 ef-s lens @11mm, f/11, 1/200 sec., Polarizer
Downtown Omaha (June, 2006)

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Filed under: City, Clouds, Gene Leahy Mall, Godbeams, Lake, Landscape, Nebraska, Omaha, Photograph, Spring, Urban | 1 Comment
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