Sandhills SentinelPosted by admin on January 18th, 2012

The Sandhills of Nebraska is an ecologically sensitive region that has been the subject of heated discussion due to the plans of TransCanda to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the area.

While I am glad that an increased awareness of this area has finally come, it should have come sooner and in a more positive light instead of the crux of a international debate.

The Sandhills is an area that is both beautiful and subtle, undulating hills and prairie as far as the eye can see. This is not the stereotypical Nebraska of corn and agriculture, but it is an area that comprises 1/3rd of the state. I have had the opportunity to photograph it several times and each time I know I will return. I encourage everyone to visit this place at least once if for nothing else, to hear prairie grass speak with every breath of the wind, to watch the clouds slowly traverse the azure sky and to experience the quiet solitude with only your thoughts as company.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 200mm, f/8, 1/2000 sec.
Ft. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska

Deciding When To Search For the “Best Light”Posted by drfl on November 14th, 2011

An autumn tree photographed in the morning, under full sunlight.

An autumn tree photographed in the afternoon, under cloudy skies.

While at the calendar signing at Costco this past weekend I was asked many questions. There were lots of people intrested in my stories and experiences from shooting images for a Nebraska calendar. Some long time residents of Nebraska had been to many of the locations depicted and indeed several were from the eastern part of the state, the region where 80% of the population lives. Of course, this was done for a reason – if people recognize a location, they are more apt to purchase the calendar. Others had lived in Omaha, some their entire lives without seeing hardly any part of the state. It was those that were often surprised at the diversity of the landscape in Nebraska and the Great Plains as a whole.

Without a doubt, however, the number one question I was asked and am asked at art shows is “How do you get the best light?” It’s no secret, I tell them, I only show you the images where I the light was right for the situation. Beginning photographers and those that only shoot occasionally have not yet learned to “see” the light. What this means, essentially, is that there is are appropriate lighting situations for every occasion. Early on, I thought I only wanted the best sunrise/sunset light and if I didn’t get it, I shot nothing and went home. Now, I know that if I’m not going to get that crazy light, it maybe a good lighting situation for intimate nature scenes, or wildlife, or something else. Seasoned photographers have practiced images in all kinds of light, and you know what, sometimes we even surprise ourselves with a lighting situation we did not expect.

There is a common mantra among pro nature photographers – There is no such thing as “bad light”, there is only light and what you make of it. If I had heard this as a beginner I would have retorted with a “Yah, right!”. I can understand it’s hard for new photographers to grasp this, but over time and experience, it becomes easier. Don’t let the lighting conditions limit your creativity, as I once I did, let it unleash it.

Technical Details – Long Way to Go
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/18, 1/200 sec.
Branched Oak Lake State Recreation Area, Nebraska

Technical Details – Electric Fire
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 87mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec.
Arbor Day Lodge State Park, Nebraska

Photo Friday: In The Light Of A New DayPosted by drfl on August 5th, 2011

In January and February I reported that I had acquired a new lens – the Canon 24 TS-E II f/3.5L. I made a complete report regarding the capabilities of this lens in my post Photo Friday: Winter Prairie Sunset. On my May trip to Colorado I was very excited to try out the capabilities of the lens. I’ve mentioned using the tilt feature on some images from Colorado, but in today’s post I utilized both the Tilt (for DOF) and the Shift (for stitching). To capture this scenic winter landscape, I knew I had to place the lens horizontal as a panoramic created by using a vertical shift might be distorted by the moving water as panoramic stitching often has issues with movement. Horizontally, the water and movement would be in one frame and the sky in another. I started with the lens centered on my image – that is the mountains were placed exactly center on my composition. I then tilted the plane of the lens until everything was in focus. It was at this point that I placed my filters and shifted the lens down. I captured the first image and then shifted the lens up, careful to make sure there was some overlap in the image and then capturing the second image.

Back in Photoshop I merged the two into one big 36 megapixel image. This makes an astounding large print due to the ability to tilt, the sharpness of the lens, and the added megapixels. While I would love every image to be like this one, the right conditions definitely presented themselves for this capture. I must say, this is one of my favorites of the trip, not just for the beautiful scene that nature gave me, but also for everything falling into place technically. Really, I recommend this lens to anyone wanting to capture grand landscapes, but it takes time and patience to understand all the nuances of the lens.

One added bonus – people are sometimes looking for a horizontal or vertical representation of a scene for a particular use. This image has the benefit of being a 24 megapixel vertical (2:3 ratio) photograph

or a 20.5 megapixel (2:3 ratio) horizontal.

Not bad for offering choices!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 24 TS-E II f/3.5L, f/14, .5 s, 3-stop ND-Soft Grad, 2 images stitched
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Photo Friday: Waiting for TomorrowPosted by drfl on July 8th, 2011

As a change from the recent wintry Colorado photos, today I present an image take just a couple of weeks ago at Mahoney State Park. Near the toboggan run, there are several large Burr Oak trees that I enjoy photographing on occasion. On this warm summer eve, I captured the setting sun through the branches of one of these large, old residents of the park.

Technical Details:
Canon 50D, 10-22 e-fs @ 10mm, f/20, 1/10 sec
Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, Nebraska

Photo Friday: The Long EmbracePosted by drfl on June 17th, 2011

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

Photo Friday: Around the TreePosted by drfl on March 4th, 2011

Prairie grass is fascinating to watch, especially when one is standing in miles of it.  Acting as one connected organism, groups of prairie grass move and sway in unison with even the smallest of breezes.  A quiet rustling accompanies the movement, gentle, calming.  On the prairie one can find peace and solitude with miles of nothing and nobody.  The vastness is engulfing and liberating, making one feel both small and large simultaneously.  It is endless and eternity.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/9, 1/60 sec.
Chalco Hills Recreation Area, Nebraska