Just don’t forget the basics…

April 13, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Desert flowers, Fallen Leaf Lake, Glen Alpine Falls, Lake Tahoe, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop, Quail, Scenery, Shooting the West, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Taylor Creek, Waterfalls, Wildlife photography, Winnemucca NV | 2 Comments

In the last several blogs, I’ve talked about new shooting and editing techniques and all the fun I’ve been having. These past few weeks have been truly amazing for me, up until a couple nights ago. I was reading one of my books on High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography – the chapter on tripods – and a I came on a little ‘Tip’ sidebar that said, “Rather counterintuitively, using a tripod in conjunction with image stabilization can result in unsharp images, so it is advisable to turn stabilization off whenever your camera is tripod-mounted.”

For a little quick background, many lens manufacturers build their lenses to correct for small movements and shakes, resulting in sharper pictures. Each manufacturer calls it something different (Canon says image stabilization and Tamron uses vibration control, for example), but they all accomplish the same thing. The problem is that when a camera is mounted on a tripod (versus handheld), these small movements and shakes don’t occur, so the lens panics (figuratively, not literally) and introduces some shake so the image stabilization system has something to do. It’s kind of like those overprotective parents in movies and TV shows that obsess over their children’s first date or outing with friends – inventing problems that aren’t occurring. It makes for a humorous story line, but it doesn’t make good pictures. The lesson: turn off the image stabilization (if the lens has it) when using a tripod!

Is this new information to me? No! It’s a basic action in photography, the same as turning on the charging the battery, turning on the camera, taking the lens cap off, or putting a memory card in the camera. Have I been doing it? Well, no. I have been concentrating so hard on the neutral density filters and camera settings, getting a good composition, and remembering the cable release to reduce camera shake on the tripod. I haven’t been turning off the image stabilization on my lenses! Silly me! The biggest problem has been blending the different exposures in HDR software, where I was seeing lots of ‘ghosting’ or blurred portions in the final image. I attributed it to wind blowing the tree branches or the differences in water flow, never thinking about that dadburned image stabilization. So, lesson learned and reminder to take care of the basics! Will I forget again? Yes! After all, I’m still learning.

For this week’s images, I’ll start with my recent trip to Glen Alpine Falls, on Taylor Creek upstream from Fallen Leaf Lake which feeds into Lake Tahoe. With all the snow the Sierras received this year, the Falls are running strong and are very beautiful. If you want to go see them, take CA 89 along the west shore of Lake Tahoe, a few miles south of Emerald Bay, and turn west on the road to Fallen Leaf Lake. The Falls are on the far west end of the Lake. I had to park at the fire station and hike about a quarter mile up a hill – an easy hike and well worth it! I had rented a Canon 10-22 Wide Angle Lens from Gordon’s Photo Service (gordonsphotoservice.com), to try something different from my lenses. It was fun to use that lens – with the short focal length and the natural distortion on the edges of the images, I had to adjust my shooting style – especially to create the panoramas.

Glen Alpine Falls – 5 exposures, HDR processed in Photomatix and Photoshop.

Glen-Alpine_Panorama1-2016-04-07-f-e1a-w

For this image of the Falls, I stitched together 4 images to create a panorama. I used the wide angle lens turned 90 degrees (long axis vertical), with a 4 stop neutral density filter to slow the water for the picture, merging in Photoshop.

This is Taylor Creek, downstream of the Falls. I made 5 exposures and blended them in Photomatix to bring out the beautiful colors in the rocks.

With Spring, our trees are flowering!

A macro of the flowers on a Perfect Purple tree in our backyard!

These flowers are on our Pear tree – hopefully, the bees will come and we will have Pears this year!

With all the moisture we’ve had this Winter, the desert is full of color. I’ve never noticed these desert plants before, but they are blooming all over the Carson Valley! This one is just up the road from our house!

I haven’t forgotten the wildlife in our area, although the Raptors are mostly gone. Here’s a few:

My education in bird identification continues. I was very excited to see this, thinking I had something exotic like a female Canvasback Duck. Turns out, it’s just a Mutt Duck. Apparently, Mallards aren’t very selective when they mate, giving us birds like this. It is, however, very pretty – for a Mutt!

I drove past a Western Meadowlark a couple months ago, so when I saw this one I was determined to get the picture. I posted this to the ‘Yep I’m from Wyoming’ page on Facebook and, at last count, I was well over 130 likes! For those of you unfamiliar with my home state – the Western Meadowlark is the Wyoming State Bird!

These Owlets live in the Carson Valley, and share the nest with Mom, Dad, and two siblings.

This Great Horned Owl was on a branch over the nest, with 2-3 Owlets in the nest. Not sure if it was just the wind, or if the kids were acting up that day, but I love the look on its face.

This Quail was running around my backyard, but stopped long enough for me to get this picture!

I’ll close with a few scenery shots.

This is an abandoned ranch house in Hope Valley, just across the border in California.

This waterfall is on CA 89, on the west end of Emerald Bay.

The Carson Valley is one of the ‘go to’ places for soaring. These two gliders were in the sky over my house. They weren’t as close as it appears in this image.

My lovely bride asked for a short drive last Sunday, and we happened on this scene along Waterloo Lane in the Carson Valley.

Shooting the West (shootingthewest.org) is only a couple weeks away! I’m putting the finishing touches on my presentation and am very excited to be a part of this great event this year. If you’re near Winnemucca in a couple weeks – stop by the Convention Center and see the pictures! This Sunday is April 17, the day the Ford Mustang was introduced at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. It’s National Mustang Day, so I’ll be driving the Bullitt to celebrate.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

I’m having lots of fun again!!

March 20, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Alpine County CA, Carson River, flowing water, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Sierra Nevada Mountains | 2 Comments

My apologies for taking so long to post a new blog, but when one is having as much fun as I am, one loses track of time! I’ve spent a lot of time along the East and West Forks of the Carson River in the last couple weeks, followed by a lot of time on the computer. The learning curve has been steep, but the results have been extremely rewarding. I am truly having fun again. My focus (pun intended) has been to make images of flowing water, specifically tack sharp images with silky smooth water.

For background, let’s talk about exposure for a couple paragraphs. In The Complete Guide to Nature Photography, Sean Arbabi begins his chapter on exposure this way, “The primary function of a camera is to collect and record light. Exposure, in photographic terms, is recognized as the total amount of light permitted to enter a camera and received by the image sensor (or film plane) through the course of capturing an image.” Most of us don’t worry about exposure. Our mobile phones/cameras don’t allow us to control exposure settings, and the ‘Auto’ function in cameras is adequate for most of the pictures we take. I worry about exposure in every image I make, and much of my journey is learning how to achieve good exposure given the different light situations under which I shoot.

So, how do we control the amount of light permitted to enter a camera? There are two ways: aperture and shutter speed. Aperture is the opening created by the lens to allow light into the camera, and the size of the opening is measured in ‘stops’. A smaller aperture refers to a larger opening – I’m not going to explain why, but there is a real reason out there. Shutter speed is the time the shutter is open, and is measured in seconds. When combined with ISO (the sensitivity of a digital sensor or film), aperture and shutter speed determine the exposure. But enough technical stuff – let’s talk about my time on the Carson River!

The keys to creating beautiful flowing water pictures are: long shutter speeds (to the camera, even 1/6 of a second can be a long time) for the silky water; a stable camera position for sharp images; and good depth of field (how much of the picture is in focus). I use a sturdy tripod to hold everything in place (handheld just won’t do!) and a remote shutter release to minimize camera shake. I also use a function called ‘Live View’ which allows me to use the LED screen on the back of the camera to compose the image and check exposure, and also reduces camera shake because the mirror is already up. Live view is a killer for battery life, so it must be used judiciously! To control the light entering the camera and maintain flexibility with depth of field, I use Neutral Density (ND) filters. ND filters are dark, like sunglasses, and are rated by how many stops of light they reduce (like the size of the aperture). For the following images, I use multiple ND filters totaling 7 stops of light to get the long shutter speeds.

In addition to learning photography, I’m also learning Photoshop software to process the RAW images (see my blog All RAW – All the Time, June 8, 2015), and wanted to explore exposure bracketing (making multiple copies of the same image at different exposures) to try new processes in Photoshop. To make things easy for all of us, I’ll briefly discuss editing techniques with each picture. WF = West Fork Carson River; EF = East Fork Carson River.

EF: when I first looked at this image, I thought it was going to be a great texture and not much else. I may still use it for a texture sometime but, after a little editing, I determined that it’s a pretty good image after all. This doesn’t show the silky smooth water that many of the other images do, but I still like it.

WF: I stacked three exposures and used layer masks to bring out the detail in the dark foreground while maintaining the nice exposure in the bright background. I love this water.

WF: also three exposures and layer masks, but this is my first successful use of the Burn tool, which allowed me to darken specific areas of the image.

WF: more layer masks, three exposures.

WF: one exposure, standard editing.

WF: one exposure, standard editing.

WF: for this image, I used a single exposure to create two images, one color and one black and white. I stacked the two images and used a Gaussian Blur on the color image. Then I used a Blend Mode to combine the two images and used standard editing techniques. It’s still a little dark in a couple places, but I’ll figure that out as I become more proficient in Photoshop.

WF: this image is a combination of three exposures using the High Dynamic Resolution (HDR) software in Adobe Camera Raw. It’s the same view as the above image, just zoomed in closer in camera. I have a little more work to do, as I have a white spot to deal with (thanks for the critique Katie!).

WF: this is another single exposure edited as a color image and a black and white image, then layered. This editing process worked a little better here, but I still have some dark spots to correct.

EF: This is a single exposure with standard editing. I have a little vignetting in the upper right corner, a byproduct of my filter stack.

So, that’s it for this blog. As you can see, I am enjoying my current effort and am hiving fun. I need more practice with creating bracketed exposures and much more practice with my editing. I just finished a book on landscape photography, so I can start my book on HDR. Who knows? I may have to get some new software to really get into HDR. My birthday is coming up – could be a great time for new software!

Thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Inspiration – the Key Ingredient!

January 30, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, CV Chamber of Commerce, Eagles, Eagles & Agriculture, Geese, Hawks, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Pine Nut Mountains, Raptors, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Turkeys, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography | 4 Comments

In my last post, I talked about luck (right place, right time, right settings) and the importance of being prepared. In the last month, I’ve discovered another ingredient that I feel is key to the creative photography process – inspiration!

Inspiration comes in many forms and governs everything. For example, I have to be inspired to go out with a camera, inspired to stop and make an image, inspired to spend time processing an image, and then be inspired to share the image. In the last month, my inspiration (and sometimes lack of inspiration) has been all over the map. I’ve been excited to fire up the PHOTORANGER and go looking for subjects. I’ve just stayed home because I just wasn’t ‘feeling it’ that day. I’ve pulled over for something I liked, and often driven on and sometimes missed a shot. When I’m back home and downloading images from the day, I’ve said ‘yuck’ to everything (you don’t see those!) and resolved to correct technical errors or find better subjects, and resolved to get out there again. And then a whole month passes between posts (I really need to work on that). You know how the inspiration roller coaster works.

In the last week, the inspiration peaks and valleys have become less extreme – returning to almost normal, in fact. Subjects have been plentiful and my settings have been good, improving my images and increasing my inspiration. Here’s some images from the last few weeks. I hope you enjoy and are inspired by them!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Every winter, the eagles visit the Carson Valley for calving season. I found this Bald Eagle along US 395 a couple days ago. Eagles & Agriculture is only 3 weeks away!

This Bald Eagle was hunting along Foothill Road, on the west side of the Carson Valley. Not sure he knew about his ‘shadow.’

This juvenile Bald Eagle was in the southwest part of the Carson Valley.

I’m not sure what these two were discussing, but they sat for pictures for quite a while.

I found the Carson River Road turkeys in the trees a few weeks ago.

Remember that ‘right place right time’ discussion.

These two are part of another turkey flock, generally found just over the California line.

I’ve seen this nest many times, but didn’t see an occupant until the last couple days. I’ll watch and see what develops.

This little fella’ flew from fence post to sign to sign while I followed and took pictures. I’m not sure if he’s sending a message here…

Remember that ‘right place right time’ discussion? I forgot the ‘right settings’ piece, as I was zoomed in too close when this Hawk took flight…

…but I got this Red-Tailed Hawk just fine.

This Blue Heron was focused on his next meal and didn’t worry about me as I got closer and closer…

While he looks unconcerned, he never took his eyes off me.

I don’t normally take pictures of geese, but I was inspired when their flight path brought them close to me. Jake’s Wetlands, Minden NV.

This is KC. His mares are known as the Sunshine Band.

One of the Sunshine Band. I like this composition.

Peeking through the trees…

Next to an eagle shot, new foals are great inspiration. This little one is about a week old, but has not been named as the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates are waiting for confirmation of the sex. That’s Mom on the left.

New foal staying close to Mom, Suzie Q!

And Suzie Q making sure I wasn’t too close.

This family portrait shows Shorty, the sire, keeping a close eye on me while the foal nuzzles Mom. This picture has gone viral on Facebook! Thanks everyone!

It’s hard to top the ‘family portrait,’ but I wanted to share this panorama of Jobs Peak (second peak in from right). It’s a little different view of the Sierras.

Right Place! Right Time!! Right Settings!!!

December 31, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Ducks, Eagles, Hawks, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Pine Nut Mountains, Raptors, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography | 6 Comments

I have long recognized that much of my success as a nature photographer is due to being ‘at the right place at the right time,’ better known as luck! In a recent article in Outdoor Photographer magazine, Andy Long tells us that luck “… is when preparedness meets opportunity.”

I have tremendous opportunity, by virtue of where I live. The Carson Valley is teeming with beautiful scenery, a wide variety and abundance of wildlife, and, most importantly, great friends who share their knowledge of photography and where the wildlife are hanging out at any given time. In fact, one of my photo buddies, Jackie Gorton, recently added a third leg to my thoughts on luck – right settings! How wise she is, for one can be at the right place and time but if one misses the correct camera settings, one misses the shot! Of course, this is where the preparedness piece comes into play.

I started this blog to share my photographic journey – learning photography and developing my skill set, experiments in photo processes, successes, failures, and as a showcase for my work. Apparently I’m doing something right, because many of you have shared that my pictures are getting better (thank you for the feedback!). Of course, the more I learn – the more I realize how little I know, so there is lots of room for improvement!

I’m closing out 2015 with a tribute to luck! Please find below a series of pictures that are the result of ‘being in the right place at the right time with the right settings!’

I’m also expanding my outreach! I share my blog on Facebook, and will try to include my friends on LinkedIn. If this reaches you, then I was successful – and Welcome! If you wish to get an email notice when I make a post, then consider following my blog.

I’m not one for new year’s resolutions, so I won’t make one here. I will continue this marvelous journey and share with you, hopefully making better images for your enjoyment.

Enjoy and Happy New Year! PHOTOROGR

Ultimate luck! My lovely bride and I were running errands and saw this Bald Eagle on a utility pole beside the road heading into town. He had just caught a rabbit and was enjoying his meal. In some of my pictures, you can see fur in the air and meat in his mouth.

A little less gruesome shot of our friend.

I saw this Red-Tailed Hawk in a snowy field, but didn’t realize I had interrupted his meal until he took off.

Sometimes I find one Great Horned Owl in this pole barn, but this day I got lucky and found two!

I was at Jake’s Wetlands in Minden looking for the Wood Ducks that some of my very lucky friends had seen there. Of course, the Wood Ducks were hiding from me, but these Mallard Ducks put on a parade in the snow!

Contrary to what you might think, this female Mallard Duck is not conducting an orchestra – she was preparing to dive. This image made a very nice note card!

As stated, no Wood Ducks for me. This Bufflehead posed nicely for me, though.

I was cruising Foothill Road just south of Genoa last week, and this Hawk tried to hide from me.

Yes, it was as cold as he looks. He watched me, but didn’t move away.

This Hawk was just stretching his wings.

I don’t know why, but I really like the shots where the bird is looking straight at me.

I have no idea what these two were up to, but they had a great time for several minutes while I clicked away, safe in my warm truck.

Not a very timely update, but this is Mystery just before Christmas. He was closer to where the Pine Nut bands wander. I haven’t been out to check on him in a while.

Honored and humbled and excited and intimidated…all at the same time!

December 16, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged American Kestrels, Blue Herons, Carson Valley, CV Chamber of Commerce, Eagles, Eagles & Agriculture, Hawks, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Pine Nut Mountains, Raptors, Shooting the West, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography, Winnemucca NV | 4 Comments

A year ago, my good friend and photography mentor, Craig Moore, introduced me to Shooting the West, a photography symposium in Winnemucca, Nevada. I ventured to Winnemucca last March and had a great time, made new friends and improved my photo skills. Any of you who attend events such as this know that the promoters solicit feedback from the attendees. In my evaluation, I noted that the program did not include a nature photographer and I suggested they include nature photography in future programs. One should always be careful for what one wishes because last August I got a call asking if I would be interested in making a presentation on nature photography at the 2016 Shooting the West symposium (honored and humbled). I thought about it for about 3 seconds and quickly assembled a brief outline with a few examples of pictures (excited), and submitted my proposal for a nature photography tour of the Carson Valley. A couple weeks later, I got an email advising that they accepted my proposal and I would be on the program (more excited).

As the initial excitement subsided, reality set in – I would be showing my pictures to a room full of photographers from around the country (intimidated). Thinking back to last year’s program, I realized that, in addition to the amateur and hobby photographers in attendance, there would be people who have been shooting for decades, travel the world and get published in National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, and other international publications, and write books and teach classes about photography and photo editing. Oh my God!!! (More intimidated!!!!!) And I just said yes to showcasing my work on a really big screen for all to see (even more intimidated). I’m not afraid of public speaking – as many of you know all too well – but I’ve only been shooting seriously for a short time. Then I said to myself, “Self – get it together, put your best foot forward, and see what happens.” Finally, the voice of reason (but I’m still intimidated).

Shooting the West XXVIII will be held April 26 – May 1, 2016. Registration opens January 18. For more information, go to shootingthewest.org, call 877-623-3501, or email info@shootingthewest.org. I’m back to being excited, by the way (and still honored and humbled)!

It’s winter – prime raptor season – I’m out almost every day trying to get new and good images for my STW presentation and to market at Eagles and Agriculture (February 18-20, 2016, go to http://www.carsonvalleynv.org/pages/EAGLESAG1/ for information). Don’t worry, I’m not limiting my presentation to raptors only. I hope to include a good representation of game animals, non-raptor birds, and the Valley’s predators – at least the ones of which I have pictures.

Here’s a few images from the last couple weeks. I think you’ll like them.

I was out checking an area for a Golden Eagle aerie, and I found this stud wandering in the Pine Nuts all alone. He let me make lots of images. I’m trying to decide which one to submit to the Pine Nut Wild Horse Association for their 2017 calendar featuring studs.

He and I watched each other closely while I shot. He’s not from the area, that we know of anyway. We’ll see if he makes it all the way down to the other bands. We named him Mystery. Oh yeah, I haven’t found that aerie yet.

I’ve seen lots of Kestrels in the last few weeks. I’m not sure if they are more plentiful, or if I am better at seeing them.

This one looks like he’s giving me ‘the bird’ as he flies away.

My lovely bride commented that I get a lot of ‘butt pictures’ when I’m shooting birds, but I love seeing the frozen motion of their wings and feet as they take flight.

I saw this Blue Heron on a very windy day…must have stopped blowing for a second or two while I made the image.

I found this immature White-crowned Sparrow near the Nevada-California state line. This is my favorite composition for birds – tack sharp with a blurry background…

It was a snowy day outside this pole barn, but this Great Horned Owl didn’t seem to mind.

I saw this Golden Eagle probably 600 feet away.

This was the scene outside the pole barn…this guy was trying hard to stay warm and paid me no attention.

Same bird – different angle and background…maybe next year’s Christmas card???

Did you see that? Yeah, but I don’t believe what I saw…

Coming in for a landing…er, going up for a landing…

I drove by this Red-tailed Hawk, and went back for the picture. At first, he tried to sell me a watch…

…and then he took a spin around me…

I think this is my favorite. I was checking a location for Owls and saw this guy. Again – my favorite composition – tack sharp subject with a blurred background.

That’s all for this post. Between the raptors returning to the Valley and the wonderful weather, I’ve had a great couple weeks of shooting. I look forward to more fun, finding that aerie, and a visit from Santa! Have a very Merry Christmas! PHOTOROGR

Order and Chaos!

December 2, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Adobe Bridge, Carson Valley, Deer, Eagles, Hawks, Kestrels, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Pine Nut Mountains, Raptors, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Wildlife photography | Leave a comment

As an old crusty engineer and military officer, I enjoy order in my life. I like having ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’ Those of you who know me well also know that I also have a somewhat chaotic side, and my ‘everything in its place’ side isn’t always dominant. When it comes to certain aspects of photography, I am very ‘orderly.’ For example, I have developed a filing system for my images that works well for me. I have file folders for certain subjects and geographic areas with subfolders for subjects, all arranged by date (year – month – day). I maintain shooting logs that show when and where I’ve been, and sometimes contain notes for future shoots.

My workflow for downloading images to the computer (within the proper subject/geographical area folder and date subfolder) is well established. Recently, I watched a great tutorial about Adobe Bridge, a photo management software linked to Photoshop and Lightroom, and learned how to use Bridge more effectively to download my images and identify those worthy of additional processing. Let’s face it, that little bitty screen on the back of your camera body can only tell you so much (good exposure and maybe if you’re in focus). You have to get the image on the big screen to see if it’s really good. After the tutorial, I made changes to my workflow that I hope will make my filing system better for subsequent retrieval. Time will tell.

Another of my very orderly processes is backing up my images. I used to use a triple redundancy system using the SD card from the camera, the computer’s internal hard drive, and an external hard drive. When I changed my shooting routine to RAW format (see my post ‘All RAW – All the Time’ on June 8, 2015), I began to fill up SD cards like mad, with the resulting problem of devising a means of labeling and storing them. Have you ever tried to put a label on an SD card? They are less than an inch wide, just over an inch long, and usually have a dark label! More importantly, even though they are coming down in price, they are still expensive! I changed my storage system to the computer’s internal hard drive and two separate external hard drives. I still have triple redundancy, and a more effective means of storing my larger images, such as panoramas stitched together from multiple images – they are downright huge! I will admit that eventually the long term storage goes to double redundancy as I haven’t installed additional hard drive capacity on my computer and I’ve almost filled the hard drive with this year’s images. I am removing older images from my computer to conserve space. I back up everything on a monthly basis.

So, we move on to the chaotic side. My computer desk is a mess, with magazines and notes and – well – accumulated crap. I will clean my desk on a cold day this winter – or not! Probably not (ha ha). But there’s also the chaos that results from exploring my creative side. As you’ve seen in previous posts, I’ve been exploring panoramas and monochrome images. I think I’m getting better – the phone calls to my wonderful Photoshop mentors are fewer and I’m not repeating my questions to them as often. I think they’re thankful for that. And I’m becoming more daring in my editing. I try new things more and more frequently, and am becoming more comfortable with the ‘undo’ button when I do something badly or that I don’t like.

Maybe chaos isn’t the right word after all, but to a regimented and very process-oriented engineer type, this new creative side is very chaotic. I just hope the results are worth it! Let’s look at this week’s images.

I have been very lucky to find Kestrels, and the ones I’ve found are very cooperative.

I was in the Pine Nuts looking for the wild horses and caught this little fella’ sitting on this tree. I like it!

I was cruising Foothill Road last week and saw this Kestrel having a bite of lunch.

When he noticed me, he took off to eat in peace somewhere else.

I took this image last January, but used my newly developed Photoshop skills to make this image.

Another from January. Must have been a cold day!

A few weeks ago, I got my first Bald Eagle of the season. Just yesterday, I got my first Golden Eagle. Actually, I drove by a pair of them sitting on a utility pole, but one flew off as I parked and got out of the car.

Goldens are majestic, too.

This one gave me a couple images and then took off. I’m still working on getting focus on birds in flight.

I was checking out Carson River Road last week, and this doe casually walked by.

Check her belly – still wet from crossing the adjacent river.

This image is not cropped. She was so close I couldn’t make my lens short enough and get more background.

The Hawks are returning to the Carson Valley. I was getting out of the car to shoot a fence with several Hawks in line. As I got ready to shoot, a Hawk flew in and forced the one sitting to take off. I was lucky to get this shot!

What a scene. No fighting over roosting spots kids!

This week, you get several panoramas.

PHOTOROGR - sierra panorama1 - 30 nov 15

The Sierras across the Carson Valley. That’s Jobs Peak on the left and Genoa Peak about a quarter in from the right edge. I shot this in monochrome and then made my adjustments.

The Sierras on a different day. I love the cloud formation in the upper left corner of the image.

The Pine Nut Range. The wild horses roam an area to the left of these mountains. This is part of my monochrome exploration.

The Pine Nuts in color. Yes, it’s hard to live here with all this natural beauty. (I can’t believe I typed that with a straight face!)

Well, that’s all for this post. As always, enjoy! And stay warm!!

PHOTOROGR

Slow November…

November 19, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, CV Chamber of Commerce, Eagles, Gardnerville NV, Hawks, Lightroom, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Raptors, Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunrise, Wildlife photography | 1 Comment

November is slow for the nature and wildlife photographer here in the Carson Valley. The bears are heading for their winter beds. The leaves are gone from the trees. The raptors are slowly returning to the Valley. The wild horses are winning at hide and seek. We’ve had some early snow, which has provided some good photo opportunities, mostly of the mountains. I’ve been working with Photoshop a lot, trying some new editing techniques. I’ve done a couple images in Lightroom, too, but I think I like Photoshop a little better.

Here’s a few images from the last couple weeks.

This Red Tailed Hawk wasn’t mad at me – he was squawking at a crow flying behind me.

Driving on Genoa Lane one day, and this Hawk was doing litter control watch. Not sure I’d throw anything out the window of the car with him around.

…and somebody must have done something, ‘cuz he was off in a shot. A good friend advocates that movement in images should always be left to right. I thought about it here, but left it alone.

I love the Kestrels, but they are difficult to get. This one was shy and refused to turn around for me.

This guy was more cooperative. I asked him to sit on this branch and look left. I love this picture!

I got my first Eagle of the season. Driving up Mottsville Lane last week, and there he was on a utility pole. He sat for a minute or so, and then took off.

I can’t get enough of the Bald Eagles and look forward to the coming Eagle season. I think this is one of our resident birds – it’s a little too early for the transients to arrive.

I love the detail I was able to capture. I’m making big plans for this image.

Last Sunday, Edsel woke me up early to show me the amazing sunrise. I tried to resist and stay in my warm bed, but ultimately got up and made these images.

I made this image just before the sun popped over the horizon.

I turned around to see the Sierras just before sunlight struck.

And here’s a couple more panoramas, just for fun.

I worked this image in Lightroom. I need much more practice in LR.

This is the full width of the Sierras in Douglas County. This concept has potential for the future.

One last shot – I was out on a snowy morning and tried to make an image of the ‘welcome to Gardnerville’ sign in Sunset Park, at the border between Minden and Gardnerville. A 24″ x 36″ print of this picture is on display in the Gardnerville town office. I need to get a nice spring, summer and fall shot so they can display a different picture with each season.

Welcome to Gardnerville!

Until next time – enjoy!! PHOTOROGR

Dunk the Funk!!

November 4, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Bears, Carson Valley, Moon pictures, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunrise, Wildlife photography | 2 Comments

In my last post, I described a condition I called ‘PHOTOFUNK.’ I just couldn’t make myself get out there and take pictures. Well – I got over it. A couple days after I made my post, the most beautiful almost full moon popped up on the eastern horizon. I was motivated and excited. I got the camera and tripod and ventured into the yard to get some images. For the first time, I got good moon images. I DUNKED the FUNK!

What do you think?

I was able to make moon shots two nights in a row. I tried different editing techniques to see how to bring out the best detail.

I was up early one morning and found a gorgeous sunrise. I put on some clothes and grabbed the camera. This image is from a neighbor’s driveway.

I usually associate color like this with sunset.

And then there was the day I got an email about a bear release. The sow had been hit by a vehicle on the freeway a couple days before, but was fine ( a little road rash but she was moving pretty well). We were in the trees, lots of direct light mixed with shadows. I was challenged by the light but I think I did okay.

The sow on the run. Moving quickly and easily.

After everyone got out of the trailer and the cubs came down from a tree, they all just sauntered up the hill.

This week’s panorama is a doozy – lots of great clouds!

That’s Jobs Peak ‘peeking’ through the clouds on the left. A pretty view!

We got some snow this week – YAY!! I hope to have some great snow shots in my next post! Until then – ENJOY!!

PHOTOROGR

PHOTOFUNK…

October 24, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Lake Tahoe, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Pine Nut Mountains, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Wildlife photography | 2 Comments

Joan Didion, an American author best known for her novels and literary journalism, once described a ‘bankrupt morning’ as “…where you wake up, devoid of inspiration, for your creative projects.” She also said, “Nothing is critic-proof.”

I saw her description of a bankrupt morning several months ago, wrote it down, and placed it in a prominent place on my computer desk. I look at it every time I sit down to work on pictures, and I think about it every time I pick up a camera. When I started this journey, there was so much to learn and I was so excited and I didn’t have a problem motivating myself to get out, find subjects, and take pictures. Every now and then, I’d take a break and step away from my cameras for a day or two. I’d do something else or go visit my photo mentors, and motivation would return. This week was different.

In the early part of the week, I felt good. One morning, I saw the clouds over the Sierras so I drove to my favorite pano spot and made this panorama.

As a self-challenge, I’m going to make a pano from this spot at least once a week for the coming year. I hope that Mother Nature cooperates and gives me variety in the scene.

I headed for Taylor Creek to see if the Kokanee were running and attracting the bears. I found that the Forest Service closed a major portion of Taylor Creek to protect the animals from the stupid people who don’t know how to behave. I wasn’t in the mood to walk the trails by the Visitor’s Center, so I went to the Big Meadow trail head and hiked up the hill. I found a little wildlife and tried some panos with trees in the foreground.

In addition to working on my shooting technique, I am experimenting with different ratios. This one is 5:1. I wasn’t sure how much the trees would impact the view. I think it’s a good balance, but wish there was more fall color.

This is a 3:1 ratio, and I was a little higher, so the trees are not as dominant in the scene. I like it, too.

These guys don’t sit still often, unless they think you don’t see them and they can stay hidden.

I tracked this little fella’ for a couple minutes, and he held still long enough for this image.

And this small Chipmunk scurried a bit, and then stopped in this spot – the worst light in the world (bright background and sunny spot on the rock, with him in full shadow). But I got him anyway.

But then, things changed. I would wake up motivated, but easily talked myself out of going out. I sat at the computer and started to play with some older images – ones I hadn’t made time to edit, but ran out of emotional energy after a short time. I was in a PHOTOFUNK! I stepped away from photography, but found I wasn’t motivated elsewhere, either. I turned to the books. Trying to find a little motivation, I opened those expensive ‘how to take this or that picture’ and ‘learn your camera’ books. I found a new tool in Camera Raw, and tried it out. I’d been wrestling with an image I made a few weeks ago – great sky or great foreground, but not both at the same time. This new tool allowed me to get both. What do you think?

I was in the Pine Nut Mountains, looking northwest. This is a pano made from 10 images, and I shot it for the sky, but I wanted a nice foreground, too. No, I’m never satisfied. But I’m happy I found the tool that allowed me to get the sky and the foreground.

And I got a call from a customer who had ordered some large prints. He was back from hunting and we arranged for delivery – he loved the prints.

In spite of these successes, I still have a little bit of PHOTOFUNK left. I’ll get over it, I know. I have a show in a couple weeks, and need to get some printing done. The creative juices will flow – I know it. And there are those horses and raptors waiting to have a picture taken.

Thanks for listening and ENJOY! PHOTOROGR

Panos and Monos and a Whole Lotta’ Fun!!!

September 30, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Dangberg Home Ranch, Nevada Gunfighters, night photography, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunsets | 1 Comment

In my last post (only 11 days ago for those of you who are counting), I introduced my exploration into panoramic images. To me, a panorama (or pano) is an image that is much wider than it is longer. Panos show the world in a little different way. They can be made from any image – it’s just a matter of cropping to create the pano. I prefer to make a number of overlapping images, and then use the magic of Photoshop to merge them together to create a pano. A quick note on panos – they are best suited to stationary subjects! I don’t think I can make a pano of a band of wild horses walking to the water tanks. With that said, let’s see some new panos!

This pano was made by combining 8 images together. The subject is a stretch of U.S. Highway 50 from Echo Summit (on the left) to Meyers CA (to the right), and was shot from a turnout on CA Highway 89. I love driving this piece of road towards Meyers because the view of Lake Tahoe is superb. My lovely bride, however, doesn’t like this road because of the dropoff. The text was an experiment, as my photo challenge last week was text overlay. After making the pano, I tried a new editing workflow to make the colors ‘pop’ more. I like the new workflow, and am adjusting it to my processing.

This is the same stretch of highway, but I used 10 images to create this one. This pano has more content on the left side, and is the image I submitted for my challenge. I used the word ‘Journey’ in this image. Remember that I am on a ‘Journey in Creative Photography.’ It seemed appropriate.

This view of Jobs Peak (on the left) and the Sierra Nevada Mountains was made from 10 images, and was shot from the Dangberg Home Ranch. The clouds and the sky cooperated – I can hardly wait for snow on the mountains!

Our sunsets have been amazing this past week, so I got out the tripod and camera to see what I could do. I like the results! All the sunsets were made from my backyard, but I may have to see what other views of the mountains and sunsets I can find!

Makes you want to live here – or at least come to visit!

I made this pano to see how it would look in black and white (or monochrome – mono), but I kept it in color.

And so, we come to the ‘mono’ portion of the post. After reading several articles on black and white images in one of the photo magazines recently, I thought I’d give it a try.

This is a composite made from 6 images. I was going to make a pano, but I would have lost too much texture from the clouds. It was early for the sunset (the sunsets above were shot a few minutes later) and not much color, but I like the texture of the clouds. A little desaturation and other tweaking, and voila!

Painted Hills, Central Oregon, last July.

Same image in black and white. I need to work on my technique, but there’s definitely potential.

Same location, different view.

And still a fun technique. Of course, the colors in the Painted Hills just can’t be improved upon.

And if you think trying new shooting and editing techniques isn’t enough fun, you missed a great show at the Dangberg Home Ranch (www.dangberghomeranch.org) last Saturday. The Nevada Gunfighters put on a great show. Here’s a couple images – please go to my Nevada Gunfighters page for more pictures.

As I recall, Miss Emma – she runs an escort service, of sorts…

Miss Strawberry Tart. Former School Teacher and now escort, of sorts…

There you have it! Panos and monos and a whole lotta’ fun! The raptors are slowly coming back to the Carson Valley, and it’s just about bear time at Taylor Creek. I won’t forget to visit the wild horses, too – I promise! I hope you had as much fun looking at my pictures as I did making them. Until next time – Enjoy! PHOTOROGR

The PHOTOROGR Project

A Journey in Creative Photography!

Tag Archives: Sierra Nevada Mountains