I took a drive down US 395 past Topaz Lake (lots of water in Topaz, but still room for more!) and over Monitor Pass this morning. Lots of snow and water in places I haven’t seen water before – gorgeous views everywhere. A little chilly and occasionally breezy, but a nice drive and shoot nonetheless.
This image was taken from the east side of Monitor Pass, looking southeast. I thought you might enjoy a change of view (an image that’s not Jobs Peak).
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
I was running errands with my lovely bride yesterday and saw this beautiful view of Jobs Peak from the south end of Gardnerville. The clouds obscure the peak itself, but they seem to match the horizon line of the Sierras.
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day and treated their Moms like queens! I took care of my Mom earlier in the week and called her after her brunch date with Dad. Our son, Drew, joined us for brunch at the 1862 Restaurant at David Walley’s Resort. Great brunch – big thanks to the crew at the 1862! We had a couple surprises while we were there. Walking to our table, I heard my name and was greeted by one of my Eagle Scouts, now an engineer and helicopter pilot. What a great young man he has become. Also, on the way to the buffet line I bumped into a young man that I knew while serving in the Nevada National Guard. It was almost like old home week!
Today’s PS Challenge image was taken from Johnson Lane on our way to Walley’s. The light on Jobs Peak was wonderful, with a great assist by the clouds over the mountains.
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
Driving into town to run a couple errands this morning and the light on the Sierras was great. I processed this while waiting for the afternoon light to make some close up images in the yard.
Bracketed exposures just to make sure, then processed in Photomatix and PhotoShop, with an On1 Photo Raw filter.
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
One of my favorite magazines is Outdoor Photographer. I enjoy the content and have been getting wonderful ideas and information for improving my photography. The April 2017 issue had a great article titled ‘Grand Landscapes, Intimate Details’ by Dave Welling. The focus (pun intended) of the article was summed up nicely by the subtitle, ‘Tell a deeper story of a place by adding close-up images to your location portfolios’ The concept is simple – while you’re shooting that grand landscape, take a look around your feet and find something that connects the audience more intimately to the location.
I had the opportunity to employ this technique just yesterday. My lovely bride and I ventured into the mountains during yesterday’s storm, specifically driving CA 89 south of Markleeville CA. The road was wet from the occasional rain and snow, and there were few travelers besides us and a couple government vehicles. The sun appeared and disappeared, the snow blew and stopped, the mountains were covered and uncovered during our visit. (All the images below were taken within an hour of each other. You know what they say – if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes!)
The small valleys were running with water from the rain and the snow melt. Occasionally, the weather made rather ominous scenes in the recently burned areas.
I converted to grey tones to show the desolation of the fire, but the promise of renewal with the snow and running water.
As I walked to a bridge to capture an image of the raging river, a Stellar Jay landed on a rock about 15 yards away. He proceeded to dance about on the rock, as if to say ‘Where’s your big camera? You can’t take my picture with that little camera in your hands!’ (I had grabbed the PowerShot for the river image.) I got my river shot…
East Fork of the Carson River…the Grand Landscape! The Jay was on a rock to the right of this image.
…and ran back to the PhotoRanger for the big camera. Amazingly, the Jay stayed put as I returned and grabbed a few shots, moved a few feet and grabbed a few more shots, moved a few more feet and grabbed a few more shots, and so on.
Stellar Jay…the intimate detail!
There you have it, an example of Grand Landscapes and Intimate Details.
I hope you are enjoying the PS Challenge – I sure am! The process of using the PowerShot – learning its capabilities and limitations – helps to reinforce the principles of photography and composition.
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
My apologies for the long break between posts. I’ve been busy shooting, but I took a little break when my friend and photo buddy, Richard Hawkins, lost his battle with cancer. Many of you are familiar with one of Rich’s best pictures.
Richard and I were out with the wild horses a couple years ago. I had just made a few images and turned around when he grabbed this shot of me. Shooting with him was always fun – he had a great eye for images and helped me look at things a little differently. Rich bought a 1964 Olds 442 just before he received his cancer diagnosis. He dated his wife in a car just like it many years ago. At his first car show, he won the ‘under construction’ category. He also asked me to take his picture in the same pose he was in when he had his original 442. I was very happy to do so. God Bless You, Rich – my cameras and I miss you.
On to the images from this month. I picked up a point and shoot camera, a Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II, to enhance my camera bag. I’m learning the capabilities and limitations of this tiny little camera (it’s only 3.75″ wide, 2.5″ tall, and a narrow 1.25″ thick), but it makes marvelous images. I’m getting very nice landscape images, as you can see, and there’s potential for close up and macro photography, once I learn the camera a lot better. The PS challenge can be either ‘point n shoot’ or PowerShot, depending on my feeling that day.
I made this image just south of Woodfords CA. That’s CA 89 on the left. I made this image with the PowerShot.
I’ve driven by this section of the East Fork of the Carson River several times, and finally stopped to make the image. Great sky and great light!
The beauty of the PowerShot is the ability to stop and jump out for the quick shot. This image was made from the side of CA 89 (the Carson River is just behind and downhill from these trees) in an area where a wildfire burned a couple years ago. The tree on the left was completely burned but the other two were only burned on the bottom half. I hope they survive.
The last PowerShot image for this post – the West Fork of the Carson River in the middle of the Carson Valley. The Town of Genoa is visible at the base of the mountains, and Duane Bliss Peak is reflected in the river.
As much as I love my PowerShot, it will never replace the big camera for many things. The PowerShot will bracket exposures and focal length, but the big camera does it much better.
This is an HDR combined from an exposure bracket of the West Fork of the Carson River, in the mountains. There’s lots of ice in the stream still, as this section of the river gets very little direct sunlight in the winter months.
Another HDR of a usually dry wash feeding the East Fork of the Carson River.
This is the Bower’s Mansion, an historic structure on the west side of Washoe Lake, just south of Reno.
The Eagles are long gone, except for the nesting pairs, and the other Raptors are slowly leaving the area as spring approaches. Smaller birds are returning, so we have subjects to shoot and new challenges in shooting. Small birds are more likely to move as you approach, so a long lens and quick reaction to spotting them is critical.
I found this Western Meadowlark on a fence post in the wildlife viewing area on the south end of Washoe Lake. Chilly morning, so it was trying to fluff up and stay warm.
This Western Meadowlark landed on a branch near me, and posed nicely.
These Black Tail Deer are part of the Town of Genoa herds, although these 4 can be found a couple miles north of town on Foothill Road.
I’m not sure they were more worried about me or something to the right, but they held still long enough for me to make this image.
I had the opportunity to try a new technique I saw in Outdoor Photographer magazine – the wildlife panorama. I usually try to get my wildlife images as close and detailed as possible, but I love the concept of combining wildlife and landscape photography. Watch for more images like this.
I found these 4 another day, but they moved into a grove of trees as I approached. New challenge to get a good shot through the trees. This one moved in and stopped, not exposing more head for me. Changing my position wouldn’t have helped, as other trees blocked the view.
Spring is here – evidenced by the blossoms on some of our fruit trees. These are from the Flowering Plum in the corner of the backyard.
First close up of the year – almost a macro. Each blossom is only 3/4″ in diameter. As more flowers bloom, I’ll shoot more macros. Hopefully, the wet winter will cause the desert to bloom, and not delay too much the mountain meadows blooming.
Welcome Spring and the changes it brings. Thanks for reading this blog!
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
When people embark on a journey, they plan their itinerary in great detail. Hotels, fuel stops, meals, sightseeing and other tourist stops are set with a timetable and destination in mind. If one is on a journey of discovery, however, there is minimal planning – because it’s all about the journey. A couple years (and lots of posts, don’t forget!!) ago, I started a journey in creative photography. My only plan was to learn how to make better images. This blog has been my vehicle to document and share my journey.
In the last few weeks, I realized that I was approaching a creative crossroads. There are two roads for me; the first continues on the path to making purely photographic images, while the other heads toward more artistic images. I never thought about the differences until I visited one of my photo mentors to learn about his workflow to process landscape images. He opened my eyes to editing techniques that I never imagined, so I’ve been experimenting with new and old images. When an artist takes a new direction or pushes the creative envelope, there is always a period when the work may be considered ‘overdone’ as the artist tries to find a balance – it’s just part of the journey.
I won’t get into detail about the editing for the following images. I think I’ll let them speak for themselves. Let’s start with a few landscapes.
I made this image at the Eden Vale Inn near Placerville CA (a wonderful ‘b n b’ – we highly recommend it!). I’m not satisfied with the sky, but I love the rest of the image.
These fall colors can be found along SR 207, Kingsbury Grade, between the Carson Valley and the Lake Tahoe Basin.
After I made the above image, I turned and saw this view into the Carson Valley. It was a beautiful stormy day, as you can see.
I made this image yesterday morning. The Carson River as it approaches SR 88, just south of Minden. The sun was just coming up behind the clouds.
This is the south shore of Lake Tahoe. I visited the lake last week, on a stormy day. I’ve never seen the weather cover the mountains so completely. I stitched together 10 images to make this panorama.
The recent storms gave us wonderful skies and light. This a Jobs Peak (the snow covered peak partially hidden by clouds on the left) on a wonderfully stormy day!
Here’s some new Raptor images.
I just love this Great Horned Owl!
I used the same filter on this Hawk image.
It was raining when I made this image. This Hawk was focused on a potential meal. This image was selected as the ‘image of the week’ by one of the photography froups on Facebook.
I got a little aggressive with this image. The dark streak in the background is actually a branch.
Same picture, but with an added twist in editing. A little more detail in the chest feathers. I love this, but it doesn’t look like a photograph to me.
This Hawk was hunting along an irrigation ditch.
A little extra during processing, and the image has a completely different feel.
I made this image last February. I struggled with the background.
New editing knowledge – new look for the image.
I hope you understand better my dilemma at the creative crossroads. I think my best direction is to assess each image independently and make the edits that bring out the best in every one. The journey continues – as does the fun for me! Using the digital medium, sometimes I will be a photographer and sometimes I will be a ‘cutting edge’ artist.
There’s much more on the way for this exploration. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
I’m so excited about my photography right now that I’m just about to burst! I know, it’s been 3 weeks since my last post and I’m sure you’re all asking, ‘if he’s so excited, why so long since his last post?” The answer is simple – I’m having too much fun to make a post! The problem with that, however, is the backlog of images to share. I still have two posts worth of images from my trip home last month – stay tuned for them!
We’ll get to current pictures in a minute because there are fun things I want to share. First, I’m waiting for my new lens, the Generation 2 Tamron 150-600, to arrive. I’ve been shooting with the first generation 150-600 since it came out almost 3 years ago and have always loved the results. The new lens has better optics, faster autofocus, and a shorter minimum focusing distance (by almost a foot!). I found a nice home for my old lens (the new owner has already made some great images, and has nicknamed the lens ‘Godzilla’), so I’m without a super telezoom for the short term. My withdrawal is almost as bad as when my camera body fried a circuit board last June and I was without my 7D for a time. I’ll get through it – I promise. With the raptors returning to the Carson Valley, I’m excited to try out the new lens!
Second, I’m launching my exploration into Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. For the last couple years, I have shot primarily in Aperture Priority (Av) mode, which controls light using the aperture opening. Aperture size impacts depth of field, or how much the image is in focus from the foreground to the background (large openings = shallow depth of field, small openings = deeper depth of field). For wildlife shots, especially birds, I shoot wide open. Large aperture openings also allow fast shutter speeds, capturing detail and freezing motion. I don’t worry about the background being in focus because I want to highlight the bird or animal in the image. For landscapes, I use smaller aperture openings to have more of the scene in focus. I shoot my landscapes from a tripod, so shutter speed is not really a concern. I use Manual mode for my landscapes, allowing me to control exposure with either shutter or aperture priority, looking for the best settings for the particular subject and conditions.
What prompted me to explore Tv mode? Sports photography! One of my son’s friends has two little boys who play flag football. I took pictures at a game last Saturday (they won – it was very exciting), and asked a friend/mentor to critique my work. His comments were very helpful, pushing me to explore the wild world of Shutter Priority. Here’s a couple pictures from Saturday.
He had just intercepted a pass and was running into the end zone for a touchdown!
These little guys take the game seriously – look at the intensity (or maybe fear of getting hit) on their faces!
As you can see, the focus is just a little soft. I shot these in Av mode, so a shift to Tv mode will give me a faster shutter speed to freeze the action better. I’m excited to give it a try!
A couple weeks ago, I went to Mormon Station State Park in Genoa to take pictures of Treffen Lake Tahoe, the Porsche Club of America’s cruise around the Lake Tahoe area. The tour made a lunch stop in Genoa. Go to my Treffen Lake Tahoe page (https://photorogr.com/treffen-lake-tahoe-2016/) to see my pictures from the day.
My retired guy ATV group made the ride up Mt. Patterson the other day. Here’s a few images from the trip!
I took this on the drive up, with my mobile phone. Note the smoke low on the horizon.
This is the view looking west from the top of Mt. Patterson. It was mid-day when we arrived and I wasn’t happy with the light. I made the image anyway and am pleased with the result.
The view to the north. Lots of smoke low on the horizon. The signage going up the hill described Mt. Patterson as ‘Mars with vegetation.’ I love the colors in this mountain.
On the way to Mt. Patterson, we passed the turnoff to CA 120, the Sonora Pass Road, and I just had to go back and drive Sonora Pass. The leaves are starting to turn, and the PHOTORANGER loved the drive.
The PHOTORANGER at the summit of Sonora Pass.
Fall colors, on the east side of the Pass.
Hopefully a sign of a good fall color year. I found a great book on fall color in the Sierras, with excellent information on where to go. Fall color exploration, here I come!
I was amazed at the amount of water still flowing.
The mountains had a fresh dusting of snow.
This panorama was stitched from 8 images, then processed using a couple Nik Color Efex Pro filters. Some of my mentors/friends think it’s a little overdone. I like it!
The scenery was stunning, everywhere I looked.
I made several images of this mountain. I like this one for the trees in the foreground.
I didn’t forget to make images of the yard. Here are a few.
Remember the discussion of Aperture Priority above? This flower was shot with a wide open aperture and close up filters. The foliage in the background becomes a pleasing blur, while preserving the detail in the petals, stamens, and pistils. When I master focus stacking, the petal at the top will also be in focus.
I finally found a Daisy bloom that hadn’t been molested by the rabbits.
I love these Roses, but they are proving very challenging for me. I am constantly fighting the monochrome of the petals and work to introduce meaningful shadows to separate the petals. I was drawn to this composition by the dead bloom at the bottom of the image, in contrast with the vibrant blooms above.
The last image of this post. I took a quick trip into the Pine Nut Mountains, just a couple miles east of our house, one evening last week. The sun was going down and was shining through some clouds. I’ve never made an image like this, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m not totally happy with the result, so I’ll be working to improve my image capture processes in these lighting conditions.
That’s a lot of fun for me. I promise that I’ll get the images from my trip done and posted. They’re worth the wait – I promise.
Thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
There’s nothing like a three week break between posts to demonstrate how much I’ve slowed down in my shooting. Just to be clear, though, it’s only my shooting that has slowed down! I’m spending more time studying new techniques and continuing work with those I’ve already added to my ‘toolkit.’ Also, it is Spring so I have to spend a little more time at home working on the yard and taking care of business in general.
I’ve continued my exploration of in-camera High Dynamic Range (HDR), as you will see below. As explained in a previous post, HDR is the process of combining multiple exposures to utilize the best parts of each image for best detail from shadows and highlights. After figuring out the settings, it works much better than I originally thought. I noted an interesting part of the in-camera process the other day. While reviewing several sets of exposures, I saw that the camera floated the ISO setting to obtain the underexposed image. When I manually create multiple exposures, I usually float my shutter speed to create the over- and under-exposures. I never adjust the aperture because of the impact to depth of field. In addition, I’ve been exploring the Nik Efex filters and the variety of options available in Photomatix Pro. I made these pictures at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park, with the Sierras as the background. They will demonstrate better than words.
In-camera HDR with minor adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). Another problem with in-camera HDR is that the file is in JPEG format, which limits post-processing options.
This image was made from the same set of exposures as the one above. I combined the exposures in Photomatix Pro with additional processing in Nik. I received feedback from another photographer, telling me I needed to change my camera settings to minimize noise and also be careful of chromatic aberration. I’ll discuss these topics in future posts.
This in-camera HDR was processed in ACR.
Also in-camera and processed in ACR.
I should have shifted a touch to the left to keep Jobs Peak from hiding behind the wheel spoke.
My lovely bride and I are members of the Friends of Dangberg Home Ranch, and I’ve been working with the Curator on some note cards for them to sell. Here’s a couple of the options we are discussing.
I took this image several years ago when I didn’t know what I was doing photographically. There are those who will argue that I still don’t know what I’m doing, but I’ll leave that alone for now. This image was shot in low resolution JPEG format at the wrong time of day, but I was able to work it enough to make this image – formatted for a large note card.
Just for grins, I made it monochrome and applied a sepia filter. This will probably not make the cut for the final note cards.
Better light and better angle. Jobs Peak is visible in the left side of the picture. This one will be on the note cards.
The Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park teamed up with the Carson Valley Arts Council for an event called Something in the Wind. A kite group from Oregon came down and put on a wonderful event. The wind cooperated, sometimes just a little too much. Here’s a little of the color from the two day event.
These spinners were on poles – very fun and beautiful.
Can you tell we had good wind? The spinners came down soon after I made this image.
Lots of colorful flags, too!
And then there were the kite fliers – all shapes and sizes! This little guy worked his kite pretty hard.
The bubbles were quite the hit on Sunday!
Kites are very beautiful these days! A far cry from newspaper and sticks that we used.
The kite folks put these in the air and tethered them, and they flew all day!
This young man walked by my booth and proudly announced that he just turned 7 and he got this box kite for his birthday! I enjoyed seeing a father and son spending time together.
I stopped by my favorite Owl venue and captured this Barn Owl!
Looks like a young one by the puffy feathers. I shot this handheld, so it’s not the best focus (camera shake from me and my hands – the low light and long shutter speed also contributed). A cutie nonetheless.
The nice wet winter brought lots of flowers to the desert.
This is the introduction for my next shooting technique – Macro Photography! Stay tuned!
The mountains west of the Carson Valley.
Shot from the road, looking up hill. But the flowers are gorgeous!
I’m really looking forward to my exploration into the world of Close-up and Macro Photography. Thanks for looking at this blog.
Enjoy – PHOTOROGR
Time is running out! In just a few days, I’ll be in Winnemucca for Shooting the West (shootingthewest.org) and will be making my presentation Saturday afternoon. I’ve been working on the presentation for a couple months, going through my pictures from the last couple years to select the best ones to showcase. Last week, I was feeling good about my selections and was starting to make the cuts necessary to meet my 15 minute time slot. I asked my lovely bride to go through the slide show with me, as the cuts were becoming more difficult to make. At the end of the first run through, she says that I haven’t included my best shots! Holy cow!!
We opened up the hard drives and looked for the shots that she thought I should include. After adding in another dozen or so, I started the ‘deselection’ process all over again. I have the presentation down to 78 slides now, which is on the high side of my original target of 70+/-. I think it will work. There’s time for more fine tuning.
I made a big addition to my editing toolbox this week – software to calibrate the color on my computer monitor. ColorMunki from X-Rite is my choice – simple to install and use. The ‘before and after’ showed small adjustments in the colors, but I move forward with more confidence in my editing.
I managed to get out a bit – I didn’t lock myself in the study, after all! Here’s a few images from the last couple weeks.
I have a new photographer friend in Carson City who showed me a different group of wild horses. We were standing in a saddle with multiple bands, probably 100 or more horses. There was a group of 16-18 bachelor studs showing us their physical prowess. It was very exciting to see!
These two started a fight in the middle of the group of horses – a common occurrence during our time there!
This is my favorite shot from the day. These two had moved away from the group and were serious for several minutes.
I also got a couple shots that were less ‘exciting.’ The scenery shot was featured on a local morning show during the weather report this week.
This is the view looking south towards the Carson Valley, and was the featured image on the Channel 2 Weather Report last Wednesday!
This foal is proudly leading the band up a hill. The rocks made a wonderful background!
I had a little fun this week, too. I went to a local ranch to see if the ‘kids’ were out and about, and they were! I also spent a little time in the back yard.
Remember Pickup? Here he is again – climbing a tree and getting into mischief. You don’t see that every day!
My exploration into macro photography and creative filters continued with these Lilac flowers from our back yard.
Some flowers from one of our Crab Apple trees.
This Quail and its partner were making their way through the plants in the back yard yesterday. By the time I grabbed my camera and headed outside, they had gone up the hillside and were in the rocks.
I needed a break from the computer one day last week, so I made an impromptu visit to a location where I’d heard about an Aerie. I wasn’t disappointed. After making several images of this Bald Eagle sitting in the nest, it took flight and gave me quite a show! Here’s a couple from the day!
Coming in for a landing. This image was made microseconds after touchdown.
The in flight image. What a magnificent Raptor!
Sorry that the blog is short, but I have to finish my presentation, pack my bags, and try to fit in a ride with my ATV group before I head for Winnemucca. I’ll give a report on Shooting the West in my next blog! I look forward to seeing old friends, making new ones, and meeting face to face with people I’ve ‘friended’ on Facebook. Until next time – enjoy!
PHOTOROGR
The PHOTOROGR Project 