Thanks for enjoying the ‘Be There’ series. This is the final chapter in that series.
From our recent trip to Wyoming, specifically to Grand Teton National Park. The images are of the stunning Teton Range. I took a photo workshop from the Nature in Focus team. We were based at the Triangle X Ranch (awesome food and great accommodations!)
Our first morning, David and Cecil got us on the road early (like before sunrise early!) for a sunrise shot from the Snake River Overlook. This is the spot where Ansel Adams made his iconic image of the Grand Teton in 1942. It was a touch chilly, but definitely worth going.We returned to the Ranch for breakfast and I caught this scene in front of the Lodge!We had the morning to ourselves, so I loaded up a couple new friends and ventured out in search of pictures. This cross country skier passed by at an opportune time.This close up of the Grand Teton is a triptych (one image in 3 prints, each print 19″ tall x 13″ wide) in my Study, displayed above the digital darkroom (aka my computer table).I used my Canon RF 800 f/11 lens for this really close up of the Grand Teton. I’m not sure I’d want to climb this in the best conditions.During the week we were there, the mountains were visible like this only a couple of days. We stopped at one of the many scenic turnouts along the highway for this shot. Thanks to the tourist for venturing into the snow to add a nice element to the picture.We stopped at the only tourist shop that was open for a quick pit stop and I grabbed this shot with my mobile phone.
If you haven’t visited Jackson Hole and the Grand Teton National Park, you’re really missing out! Winter was a fantastic time to visit (even though I wore long underwear and insulated pants every day!). I hope the ‘Be There’ series makes you want to go! After all, it’s the first rule of photorgraphy!
Ever since I was a little boy, Bison have been one of my favorite animals. When I was a little boy, the City of Cheyenne had a few Bison in pens in Lions Park, on the north side of town. In the summer months, we’d make lunch and head to the Park to have lunch with Dad. We’d frequently go by the Bison pens and marvel at their beauty. Eventually, the Bison went away, along with the Deer and Elk that the City had in adjacent pens. The Terry Ranch, south of Cheyenne on I-25, rebranded itself as the Terry Bison Ranch and we were able to see lots of Bison on our trips to and from Colorado. The Terry Bison Ranch also operated a restaurant with Bison on the menu. When we visited Mom and Dad, we stopped by for a delicious Bison Burger. After I got serious about photography, I’d stop by the Terry Bison Ranch for pictures.
Another favorite venue is the Bear River State Park in Evanston WY. I always stop there on my way home, say howdy to the Bison, and visit with the Park staff. It’s a great rest stop!
When my lovely bride and I visited Yellowstone National Park four years ago (has it been four years already?), we encountered Bison up close in the Hayden and Lamar Valleys. Taking pictures of Bison is challenging. Their bodies are dark, so the tendency is to overexpose to bring out detail. In bright light (like the middle of the day), that’s a deadly combination. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn’t. On that trip, the magic was mostly ‘doesn’t.’
Our recent trip to Wyoming, however, was a different story! We saw Bison on the North Fork of the Shoshone River, the road between Cody WY and the east entrance to Yellowstone, near Meeteetse WY, and along the road in Grand Teton National Park. The skies were frequently overcast, diffusing the light, so I was able to make some great Bison images on this trip. I hope you like them!
North Fork Road (along the Shoshone River between Cody WY and Yellowstone National Park):
Snow was present but so was the sagebrush, making photos a little easier.Don’t worry, I really wasn’t this close to this one. I love my zoom lenses!Watching the magnificent animal glide through the sagebrush was a wonderful experience.
West of Meeteetse WY:
This group was grazing the hillside. The light was great, but they were very far away.
Grand Teton National Park:
Fast forward to the Tetons Workshop. We encountered this herd along the road near the Triangle X Ranch, our base of operations. They became our subject a couple of times. The sky was overcast, diffusing the light which really helped. Sadly, the overcast obscured the Tetons causing us to look for alternative subjects.The famous snow face shot! In deep snow, Bison find food by pushing their massive heads into the snow until they reach the grass below! Photographers must be sharp, because they only ‘come up for air’ for a couple breaths before they plunge back in. We waited for one Bison to raise his head for more than 15 minutes. My arms were tired from holding the camera up in anticipation. Again, I wasn’t close – love my zoom lenses!One of my favorite Bison shots, and one of the few I made in portrait mode (meaning taller than wider – landscape mode is wider than tall). This beautiful Bison started walking towards our photo line, but didn’t get close enough to get worried! This Bison stood still for some time. Obviously not hungry, it didn’t go digging for food. It’s only movement was to look at the photo line before turning its head to give us a nice full profile.I changed my position a couple times to try to avoid the brush from obscuring the Bison. That’s the difference between this one and the previous shot. And of course, the head is turned.
Bison are magnificent animals! In the right light, they photograph very well. Or, if one is a good photographer, one can account for the light better! Regardless, the most important thing to remember is ‘Don’t Pet the Fluffy Cows!’
In part 3 of the ‘Be There’ series, I’m highlighting the beautiful Deer that my brother-in-law and I found in the Meeteetse WY area, near Upper Sunshine Reservoir. We found these lovely creatures on the road to the Reservoir, and they were very accommodating for our cameras. My brother-in-law had expressed interest in ‘upping his photography,’ so we loaned him my lovely bride’s camera. He didn’t do too bad!
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
This herd was up hill from the road (obviously) and the rocks brought an interesting element to the composition. One of my brother-in-law’s shots, this herd was making their way up this wash towards the road.Breaking trail! This young buck was crossing above the wash. Thankfully for him, the snow wasn’t too deep in this area.The herd moved right to left and were contemplating their options to jump the fence and cross the road. Animal behavior is interesting. Deer will jump fences. Pronghorn Antelope will dive under a fence. Bison will just walk through a barbed-wire fence!Decision made – up……and over!The obligatory wildlife portrait! A good looking specimen!
Due to the extreme weather conditions all morning (described in my previous post), our workshop facilitators did a wonderful job of getting the shots but also caring about the comfort of the participants. We split the outside shooting into a couple of sessions, allowing us to get inside more frequently and stay warm.
One of the great elements of this particular workshop is the lighting. Steve Crise has been a photographer for many years (no, I won’t tell you how many so you don’t guess how old he is!), and is a master of setting up a lighting system. His classroom sessions on lighting are wonderful, but then we got to put that information into practice. Because of the weather, he devised some lighting schemes inside the Machine Shop and Engine House to teach us more. For these sessions, he has each participant put the light controller on their hot shoe and control the shot.
We had a couple of scenes to shoot. This is one of the NNRY employees in the Blacksmith Shop. There were two strobe lights on him, and one strobe inside the furnace. The furnace strobe had a gel to create the yellow color.
Of course, once I got my turn at the strobe lights, my attention turned to other areas.
In the Machine Shop, a fun composition of one of the walls.This is the NNRY’s Rotary Snow Plow. The machinery is probably 10 feet in diameter. I bracketed exposures and then had some fun playing with different filters in post processing. This is a yellowed filter in Nik Silver Efex.
When the light begins to fade, we settle in for the evening session. Our facilitators got very creative for this year’s evening session. I call it, “Fun With Fire!”
We’re all in the Machine Shop, in total darkness. We hear Steve say, “3…2…1…open shutters!” We open our shutters and several strobes fire, lighting up NNRY worker Ben who is standing on the front of Locomotive 81 making lots of sparks. After a few seconds, the shutters close and we repeat the process.
With the number of participants, space was a little tight in the Machine Shop so I looked for different places to stand. For this shot, I stood on the stairs to mechanical equipment in the ceiling and got this shot looking down.We stopped and allowed everyone to change their view every few minutes. For this shot, I went low and perpendicular to the locomotive.From the front of the locomotive, and I mistimed my shutter and missed the strobe light. In some ways, I think it’s better than other images I made. Note the wet floor – not for safety, but for lighting effect.In automotive photography, this is called a 3/4 view because the front of the vehicle is about a quarter of the total image. I timed the strobe well, as I got great light in the scene. For these shots, I tried several different settings. I settled in at ISO 250, f/7.1, 2.5 – 4 seconds of shutter speed.For this shot, I stood at the top of the landing for the exterior door. One of the early shots on the night, I overexposed and clipped the center of the spark shower. Not fatal, as this is still a nice composition.
And so, a day of challenging conditions and much learning for me. Shooting in a driving snow storm, followed by strobes and fun with fire – new experiences all day.
A quick note about post processing. I always shoot in RAW format, which requires that all image files are processed on a computer before being able to share them. For the snow images, I still had to tone down highlights and bring out the shadows. The interiors just needed some tone adjustments and filters. The FWF images were lots of fun. Due to the strobe lighting in some (but not all) combined with the bright sparks, each image file had to be processed independently to bring out the strengths of every image. I also use filters from the DxO Nik Collection or Topaz Studio, and I used both – sometimes together – to make the image really pop.
One more cold day in Ely, but it wasn’t snowing! Until next time – enjoy! PHOTOROGR
I knew it was going to be an interesting day of photography when I looked out the hotel room window at the driving snow storm outside. There are numerous books on taking pictures in extreme weather, and I felt prepared. The camera batteries were fully charged. I had the weather covers all ready. (I did ask the nice folks at the front desk for a couple of the hotel shower caps – they came in very handy for covering the second camera body I was carrying. It’s a great tip for those times you don’t have a rain cover in your kit!) I put on my long underwear, insulated boots, photo gloves (so I can use fingertips without freezing my entire hand), and numerous layers, and headed out.
Our first shoot is always the locomotives exiting the Engine House. On sunny days, this side of the building is in full early morning sun and the light is fantastic. This year, not so much. Still good light, but not the great direct sunlight.
The 93 leaving the Engine House.The 93 was the only locomotive running for this year’s workshop, which limited our options for shooting. Some images just look better in black and white, especially with the snow.The snow and the smoke dominated this composition, but the Topaz filter created an ethereal feel.
I had just read Jason Bradley’s article, Winter Exposures, in the December 2020 issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine. In the article, author Bradley discusses the challenges of winter exposures: extreme contrast and highlights “off the charts.” He discusses the challenges of film versus digital regarding winter exposures. Basically, with film one must “get it right the first time.” With digital, “…our goal is to maximize the amount of collectible RAW data without blowing out highlights in critical areas of our composition.”
Then he gets into a lengthy discussion about ETTR, or Expose to the Right. Using this technique, the photographer will push the histogram as far to the right as possible without clipping. To explain, I defer to National Geographic’s Complete Photography.
“A histogram displays all of the brightness levels of the image, from dark to light, left to right. If high peaks slam up against the left or right sides of the graph, the image is “clipped” – it may contain areas of pure black or pure white, meaning no detail was recorded. A well exposed image will have detail throughout the entire range of darks, midtones, and bright areas.”
(Note: histograms are also used to show levels of RGB (red, green, and blue) color in an image file. Camera sensors record color as differing levels of RGB in individual pixels, but that’s another big topic altogether.)
Many cameras can be programmed to show clipped highlights using “blinkies.” Author Bradley says this, “The blinkies are terribly useful. While histograms can tell us if our highlights are going off the charts, the blinkies show us where in our composition that’s occurring.” Go to your camera’s playback menu to turn on or turn off blinkies.
Lots of things to think about while setting up for our shoot. But wait, there’s more! (…to quote a commercial…) For static subjects (like landscapes), a photographer can account for bright highlights and dark shadows using exposure bracketing (shooting the same composition using different exposures) and blend those exposures using HDR (high dynamic range) techniques. (I’ve discussed HDR in other blogs, so I won’t get into them here.) What about white balance? The built in meter will be going wild because of the snow.
So, the stage is set, except for the most important thing – I’m shooting a MOVING, BLACK locomotive in BLOWING SNOW. Exposure bracketing is not an option because the locomotive is moving. If I want a nice middle of the histogram exposure, I lose detail in the locomotive. Well, I decided the locomotive was the most important so I exposed for it and didn’t worry about the snow. By overexposing one stop, I could account for some of the white balance and keep some detail in the black locomotive. Now, did I do it for every shot? No! But these were the things on my mind as I approached shooting during the day.
One of my favorite images on the day, and my current cover photo on Facebook. I was able to freeze the action but still allow the snow to streak a bit. I decided to go black and white during processing.I played with this as a color image and in black and white. The green trees and reds in the locomotive and ore car added enough to show the color version. I pushed the highlights even higher during post production to create a white foreground and background.A nice winter picture.The RIP Building sure helped, although we were in shade on this side of the building. To get enough exposure to keep the details, I will often bump up my ISO. That could introduce noise if set too high, so one must be careful.I didn’t discuss the light on the front of the locomotive earlier, but it didn’t cause too many problems during the day. The light dominates this image, but I love the ethereal feel.
That’s my discussion on shooting in the snow. Lots of challenges, but the results speak for themselves. In my next blog, we’ll get out of the snow for some indoor shooting. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
The PHOTOROGR Project 