Immature Blad Eagle on a fabricated perch on the refuge

Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II lens
ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/800 sec, 420mm (with 1.4x II teleconverter)

For parts two and three of my series on Oregon, I will highlight my time in Klamath Falls, Oregon and what I learned about making pictures of eagles in the wild. To prepare for the trip and the task, I spent a fair amount of time researching wildlife photography on the Internet and practiced shooting moving subjects at a local high school basketball game. I can’t tell you how valuable the time at the ballgame was in achieving satisfactory results on my trip. Using that experience, I ended up capturing a very nice eagle in flight, which I will share in my next post.

A map of where we were chasing eagles

Lesson #1: Look for the best light

What? Looking for eagles was not the first and most important thing to do? Well yes…it was..but making nice photographs for me has everything to do with having good light. Sure, you can capture eagles in any light for documentation and research purposes, but a shot will always be made better in good light. For example, look at the shot just below. It was the first eagle shot of the day. We immediately noticed two problems with our approach. First, there was a car ahead of us that kept pushing the eagle to the next perch down the way. As you can see, this made the distances too far for the focal length of our lenses. I will cover that in lesson #2.

The other problem was the orientation of the sun to the subject. The sun was mostly behind him. You can tell by looking at the shadows on the perch. Since eagles seem to sit with their backs to the sun, all we were going to get from our first approach were darkened silhouettes. What did we do? Well, we turned the car around and drove around the lake and came in from the other side. It allowed us to get much closer and provided much better light to illuminate the bird. As evidence, the shot at the top of the post is what we ended up with. You can see from the shadows that the sun was now behind me, which put our eagle in full and beautiful sunlight. Much better!

An eagle too far and in not so good light

Lesson #2: You lens will probably never be long enough

Although I deem my results acceptable, I wanted a longer lens almost the whole time I was in Klamath Falls. That said, the lens I took with me is very nice. It is the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II. The optical quality if this lens is unrivaled in the professional Canon EF lineup and it performs exceptionally well when paired with Canon’s 1.4x III teleconverter. Since I was shooting with a full-frame Canon 5D Mark II, the lens with the teleconverter gave me 420mm of reach. That may sound like a lot until you try making pictures of birds high on a perch or a tree. Restless birds no less. The closer you get, the more likely they will fly farther away. Bummer!

As you can see from the photograph at the top, when the conditions were right the results are amazing. Even with the teleconverter, the Canon 300m f/2.8 is an incredible piece of glass. Literally no chromatic aberration and incredible resolving power. I bought the 300mm primarily for photographing larger wildlife like elk, lions and giraffes. In fact, my primary purpose for owning it is to take it to Africa next year. For that use, I think it will be perfect. For birding, however, the rule of thumb is to buy the highest quality and longest lens you can afford. I am not sure if and when I will go longer. My penchant for the best gear available will set me back five figures for a longer lens. I am not sure I am willing to make that commitment right now. In the mean time, I will use and love the 300mm for its intended purposes.

I overcame the focal length deficiency with patience. We parked the car and then very slowly moved toward the bird in stages…taking pictures as we went. Some birds were more temperamental than others. We just had to proceed with caution and hope for the closest shot possible.

Snow-capped volacnic peak from the Klamath Falls Wildlife Refuge

Lesson #3: Keep an eye on your lens and exposure settings

When first starting out in photography, I can’t tell you how many times I shot pictures at the wrong settings. I remember once shooting a bunch of landscapes in broad daylight at an ISO of 1600. They were the settings from the night before while shooting a concert! For that reason, I have made it a ritual to check all settings before embarking on a new outing. Here are a few things to consider when setting your camera up for photographing eagles:

• Are your lens buttons in the right places? - Super telephoto and zoom lenses have buttons that enable faster focusing at various distances. The Canon 300mm f/2.8 has three lens focus ranges. If you are shooting subjects in the distance, make sure the 6m to infinity setting is enabled. It will allow for the lens to focus faster, which will come in very handy if the bird launches and you want to catch him in flight! Also make sure image stabilization is enabled if you have it. The Canon 300mm f/2.8 II has four stops of stabilization. That allows for much clearer handheld images at longer focal lengths. This feature is worth paying for and proved to be invaluable on this trip.

The array of buttons to consider on the Canon 300mm f/2.8 II (Source: Canon Manual)

•  What ISO setting are you going to use? – In broad daylight, it was pretty easy to use an ISO of 100 and get the shutter speed and aperture settings I wanted. An ISO setting of 100 will give the cleanest image from a noise perspective, especially when you have a clear blue sky as a background. If skies had been overcast, I may have picked an ISO of 400 or higher to make sure the shutter speed stayed high enough to not only capture perched birds but also birds in flight.

Immature bald eagle getting ready to launch

• What about shutter speed and aperture? – As a general rule, your shutter speed should be at least equal to your focal length to minimize unwanted camera shakes. This means that if you use a 300mm telephoto lens the shutter speed should be at least 1/320th of a second. Of course, lens- or camera-based image stabilization gives you leeway here but it is always a good idea to your shutter speed in mind when trying to reduce camera shake. The shot above was at 1/1000th of a second. This was plenty considering I also had image stabilization going for me as well. As far as aperture is concerned, make sure you pick an aperture setting that keeps the subject in focus while allowing the background to blur if that is the look you are going for. Keep in mind that longer focal lengths further reduce the field that will be in sharp focus. Settings of f/5.0 and f/7.1 seemed to work well for me. To be sure, I always preview my shots on the camera’s LCD at maximum magnification to make sure what I am shooting is in sharp focus. I always focused on the eagle’s eye. The eye is where most people look first and will make the greatest initial impression. Much like photographing humans!

A convenient perch for a Bald Eagle

Lesson #4: Have fun and take in the moment

As soon as I knew I had a few winners under my belt, I reminded myself to stop obsessing about the quality of my pictures and just enjoy the moment. Chasing eagles is not something I do everyday. I love the image above of a lone eagle perched atop a lone dormant tree. The serenity and solitude of that moment is something I will remember for a long time. This picture will remid me of it. Taking and committing to memory the beauty of the surrounding landscape and incredible wildlife amplifies the meaning of my photos when I bring them home. It allows me to transport myself back to the time and place they were taken and relive the moment all over again. What’s better that that?

The wetlands of the Klamath Falls Wildlife Refuge

My next post will feature a Bald Eagle in flight and nesting eagle in a natural setting. I am quite happy with them and I hope you will return for the next leg of this adventure!

Take care,
Lee

My friend Eric boarding the turboprop to Klamath Falls, Oregon

This post is part one of a multi-part series on my most recent trip to Oregon.
Trust me, a few eagle pictures are coming soon!

When I think about it, I have mostly been a fair weather photographer. Honestly, who doesn’t want to make pictures in the south of France in September? There is, however, something appealing about venturing out when most of the population is snuggled up to their fireplaces in the comfort of their homes. A few years’ back I can’t say that I would have sought out a photography trip in the middle of January. Until now. For me, winter photography holds the promise of unique photo opportunities in uncrowded places.

Since eagles do things on their own schedule, we had to plan a trip that would maximize our opportunity to see them. I have not engaged in a lot of wildlife photography but I have a friend that really enjoys it. Recently, he mentioned that he wanted to fly up to Oregon to make pictures of Bald Eagles at the Klamath Falls Wildlife Refuge. Not having been to Oregon before, I piped up and said let’s go! It seemed like a prime opportunity to see an unfamiliar part of the country and to try something new while doing something I love. Taking in the splendor of nature while capturing beauty through the iris of my camera’s lens. The final itinerary we settled on called for two days in Klamath Falls at the refuge, and three days making our way back to Portland by car along the Oregon coast with a stop at the base of Mount Hood for good measure.

Having not packed for cold weather photography before, I had to break my fair weather routine. My goal was to travel as light as possible while carrying enough equipment to make the pictures I wanted. The photo below shows everything I took for the five-day trip. This included all my camera gear, a tripod and monopod, plus all my clothes and necessities. All of this went on the plane as my two allowed carry on items.

Photo gear and necessities for five-day Oregon trip

To carry my camera gear, I decided on the F-Stop Tilopa Back Country backpack (shown above right). It is a pretty amazing bag that can be adapted to a variety of carrying needs. What’s nifty is that you can buy what F-Stop calls ICUs, or Internal Camera Units. They have different sizes to accommodate the needs of different adventures. The ICUs, which are available in small to monster sizes, hold your camera gear nice and secure and slide conveniently into the backpack for easy access while in the field. You just pick the size of ICU you need for gear and the balance of the storage in the bag can be used for other things. Brilliant!

For my trip, I used the large ICU (shown loaded below), which still left a bit of room in my pack for the other short-hike items that I needed. Within the large ICU, I was able to fit the following items:

• Canon 5Dmark II
• Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II Super Telephoto Lens
• Canon 24-105mm Zoom Lens
• Canon 17-40mm Wide Angle Zoom Lens
• Canon 1.4x III Teleconverter
• Two Batteries and Charger
• Three 16GB Compact Flash Cards
• Really Right Stuff Pano Elements Panning Base and Nodal Slide
• Three Singh Ray 77mm Filters
• Three Singh Ray Neutral Density Grad Filters plus the Filter Holder
• Canon Remote Release
• USB Camera Connection Cable

20.5 lbs. of gear in a large F-Stop Gear Internal Camera Unit (ICU)

Fully loaded, the large ICU with this gear weighed in at 20.5 pounds. Pretty awesome, huh? The dilemma was, however, with $13,000 worth of gear in my ICU, I could not risk having to gate-check the large Tilopa backpack loaded with camera gear and send it down into the cargo hold of the turboprop. To avoid this on the trip out to Klamath Falls, I decided to put the gear-loaded large ICU in the sturdy carry on canvas bag shown above along with my MacBook Air laptop. My Tilopa backpack was then loaded with my trip clothes and necessities as well as my tripod and monopod. This way, I could keep the expensive and fragile camera gear with me on the plane even if I needed to gate-check the backpack.

Once I got to Klamath Falls, I simply transferred my clothes to my canvas bag and slid the ICU back into into the Tilopa backpack. Now I was all ready to go hiking and picture making!

Next up will be a post on my experiences at the wildlife refuge and a few photo of the eagles that I was able to make. Stick around, I think you will like them!

Lee

Last light at the Great Sand Dunes National Park

Please click here to see the full size panorama

Sometimes you need to bring home a panorama to fully express what you saw in life. Today’s photo is one of those occasions. A vast expanse of pristine valley gives rise to towering 13,000 plus foot peaks while unbefitting sand dunes lay bathed in the day’s last light.

It is hard to imagine anything more perfect. After meandering the pathways of Alamosa’s National Wildlife Refuge, my son and I returned to the Great Sand Dunes just in time to capture the long shadows and vibrant colors that the sun graciously provides in the last few moments of daylight.

We stood there in complete silence as as the sun set, patiently waiting for the day’s best light. It was so quiet, we could have heard a pin drop. Then it happened. The valley floor came alive with color as the falling sun articulated the the peaks and valleys of the dunes and the majestic landscape of the Sangre de Cristo Mountians.

Standing in the presence of such beauty with my son at my side reminded my of how blessed I am. I am very lucky that my son and I share similar interests. He has the same passion for life as I do and we often talk about how hard it is to fit it all in. For this reason, it is good to get away from our daily routines from time to time and pursue what we truly love. On occasion, it is exhilarating to live in the moment and free ourselves of the average day’s unrelenting distractions.

Pano detail of Mt. Herard

This panorama, taken with  my Canon 5D Mark II and a 100mm prime lens, was stitched from six six portrait-oriented images using Photoshop’s Photomerge feature. The camera settings were ISO100, f/8.0 at 1/50th of a second. To minimize alignment issues and ensure the images were captured perfectly level, I used a panning base and nodal slide from Really Right Stuff (shown below). The panning base, which mounts to my tripod’s ball head, allows for easy leveling and silky smooth panning of the camera.

The Really Right Stuff panning base and nodal slide (Photo source: Really Right Stuff)

The nodal slide (long bar on the panning base) allows me to easily mount the camera in either landscape or portrait orientation and slide the camera back so that the optical center of the lens is positioned directly over the axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is therefore at the midpoint of the panning clamp, which is mounted on the center of the tripod’s ball head. See the photo from Really Right Stuff below.

Really Right Stuff Pano Elements Package (Photo source: Really Right Stuff)

Why all the fuss? Well, the setup allows for easy leveling and also eliminates image parallax by positioning the optical center of the lens over the point of rotation. In a nutshell, image parallax occurs when near and far objects don’t align in overlapping images. Although it is not as big an issue with distant landscapes like today’s image, if you happen to have prominent subject matter in the foreground of your panorama, it’s essential to eliminate image parallax to make sure everything aligns properly during the stitch operation. If you would like to know more about parallax, just jump on over to the explanation on the Really Right Stuff site here.

Panning zone (shown in landscape orientation)

Oh, while shooting the panorama, I just make a mental note of where the center focus point is relative to the landscape in the viewfinder…take the picture…and then pan the left of my next frame to that point. This gives me a 50% overlap for the successive images for flawless stitching in Photoshop. The figure directly above shows the panning zone as if looking through the viewfinder in landscape orientation. I usually shoot panoramas in tall portrait orientation to maximize the pixel height of the image. Just look for that center reference and pan accordingly in either orientation.

To give you an idea of the actual resolution of this image, right-click the image below and open in a new, full resolution window. The final pano shown at the top of this post is a crop of the original set of shots that I captured. All totaled, the full resolution original panorama is just over 200,000,000 pixels!

Full resolution panorama section

Induro CM-34 Monopod with Really Right Stuff MH-01 Monopod Head

This post covers how well the Really Right Stuff MH-01 monopod head mounts to an induro CM-34 carbon fiber monopod. Sure, I could have  purchased the Really Right Stuff monopod for infallible design, quality and compatibility but I have heard good things about induro and decided to give one a try. At about $150, the induro CM-34 is a fair bit less expensive than the $330 Really Right Stuff MC-34 monopod. Although Really Right Stuff is my go to place for camera support, I wanted to keep an open mind to other brands and document my experience here on ADayNotWasted.com.

About the induro CM-34

Induro carbon 8X CM-Series monopods offer ultra-light support in tight spaces or for stability and mobility. I will be in a small photo blind at the Klamath Falls Wildlife refuge next week making pictures of eagles and I have decided that this monopod and head will be my primary support. As shown above, I am taking my Canon 5D Mark II mounted to my 300mm f/2.8 Canon lens, which has a combined weight of about 10 pounds.

The induro CM-Series monopods are made with magnesium alloy components and 8X layer Carbon Fiber tubing, which induro claims is 60% stronger overall than conventional carbon fiber tubing. As a result, CM-series monopods have up to twice the load capacity of earlier models. My CM-34 also came with a belt mount monopod holster. I feel quite confident putting several thousand dollars of camera gear on this monopod considering its build quality and stability under a significant load. The MH-01 head and the CM-34 weigh a very light 2.03 pounds. If you would like to see the CM-34 in more detail, hop on over to induro for close ups of the leg locks and other features.

Great fitment between the induro CM-34 and Really Right Stuff MH-01

As shown above, the Really Right Stuff MH-01 monopod head mounts quite nicely to the induro CM-34. This makes me happy. I did not want a setup that did not look like it belonged together. The CM-34 has an included 1/4- and 3/8-inch head mounting screw for the monopod head of your choice. The Really Right Stuff MH-01 required the 3/8 inch side of the mounting screw. Once test fitted to the CM-34, I used Loctite Blue to secure the head mounting screw to both the monopod and the head. The last thing I wanted was my heavy camera setup coming loose and spinning wildly in the field. For added security, the CM-34 has a set screw on the underside of the head mounting plate that can be tightened with an included allen wrench to lock the monopod head in place.

The Really Right Stuff MH-01 monopod head

Above is a closeup of the Really Right Stuff MH-01 monopod head. As with everything I have purchased from Really Right Stuff, the product is beautifully designed and functions flawlessly. Why did I not try an induro head on the CM-34? I have determined that mounting plate sizes vary ever so slightly by manufacturer. By sticking with Really Right Stuff quick release and camera plates, I do not have to worry about making minor adjustments in the field. Plus, I liked the design of this head and prefer it to the ball style head that induro sells.

Overall I am very pleased with the quality of the induro CM-34 and am very pleased that the MH-01 mounts perfectly on it. I am looking forward to using this setup on the field next week and report back on the performance to this setup when I return.

Thanks as always for visiting ADNW,

Lee

PS: I received no compensation or free products in connection with this post.

New York's Chrysler Building on a misty January night

OK, I will admit that this is not as romantic as it sounds. Plus, Donna may not like the idea considering she was not with me on this trip. My schedule was very busy during my trip to New York this week but I did find a couple of late night opportunities to walk the streets and make a few photographs.

Colorful billboard in New York's Times Square

I really had just one goal for this trip with my photography. Take nighttime photos without a tripod. That’s it. What was my plan of attack for getting sharp handheld photographs? Well, take two of my fastest prime lenses and shoot at a high ISO setting. To be honest, It is easier than you might think.

Most of the photos you see here were shot at an ISO setting of 1250. For those not familiar with ISO, it is a common setting on digital cameras that sets the light sensitivity of the camera sensor. The higher the ISO setting, the higher the light sensitivity. Higher light sensitivity allows a photographer to use a higher shutter speed or smaller aperture opening to make a picture. Unfortunately high ISO comes with a compromise in the way of increased noise in the photograph. For handheld night photography, the trick is to pick a high enough ISO (but not too high) that allows you to use a fast enough shutter speed to overcome blur from camera shake.

Really? Having fun on a Thursday night in new York?

For instance, the shot below of our beautiful model drinking a Diet Pepsi was shot at ISO 1250, f/3.2 at 1/250th of a second. I was using the Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens on my Canon 50D DSLR for this photo. The lens has no image stabilization so I really needed to keep the shutter speed relatively high to keep everything nice and sharp. Keep in mind that I don’t just rely on the camera to do the work. I help out by carefully composing the shot, taking a breath, and releasing the shutter as gently and smoothly as possible.

A gorgeous Pepsi ad I could not resist

I could have opened up the lens even further to the maximum of f/1.4 and cranked up the shutter speed. The problem with that strategy is that I would loose depth of field and the poster would have drifted out of focus in the foreground and background. The reality is that 1/250 is plenty fast enough and f/3.2 kept the entire photo in acceptably sharp focus.

An ominous-looking W-Hotel in Times Square

Now, about setting your exposure. With shots like these, I like to shoot in full manual mode with the camera. The light is so dynamic in this type of shooting environment that the camera cannot automatically meter the scene with absolute predictability. Shooting in manual is not that hard. First I set my ISO to 1250. That sets the first leg of the exposure stool. Next, I set the second leg with a fast enough shutter speed to prevent camera shake. Then, I experimented with my aperture setting to get the exposure I wanted. I checked my histogram after each shot to make sure I was not over or under exposing too much. The fact is, you may blow out highlights in some part of your photograph. That’s OK as long as you like what you are getting. I am usually more worried about under exposing because once a pixel goes black, I will probably not get the detail back.

As you can see in the shot of the W-Hotel above, even though the light of the sign blew out, there is still detail to be seen in the lowest and darkest part of the hotel. We expect lights to be bright so it was better to over expose that area of the photo, which enabled the shadow detail to be preserved. After you shoot, take the time to preview the image on the camera’s LCD at high magnification to make sure you are getting what you want in focus!

I meant for this to be out of focus. Pretty cool, huh?

For the shot directly above, I was not interested in detail. I wanted make an abstract image made up of the lights in Times Square. To do this, I used my 100mm f/2.8 canon prime lens with my aperture to f/4.0. F/4.0 gave me two benefits in the photograph. It allowed for a higher shutter speed to keep the car lights from streaking and it allowed for beautiful bokeh to occur. Bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. With my settings locked down, I merely auto focused on something close to me and recomposed a shot in the distance before pressing the shutter button. Since I focused close, all of the lights in the distance were rendered as the lovely multi-colored circles you see in the photo. Bokeh on some lenses looks better than others depending on the number of blades the lens aperture contains. Less blades means the circles start to look like polygons. Not a bad thing, just different and a matter of personal taste.

Clock in New York's Roosevelt Hotel

The goal of this post is to motivate you to get to know your camera and how it performs under different shooting conditions. Take some time to experiment and understand how different settings affect your outcome. Once you have a solid command of the camera, you will be more free to create the images you visualize!

Who needs coffee in Times Square?

Photo courtesy of John Dunne Photography - County Wicklow, Ireland. Please Click to visit John's site

Well here we are. Another year and another year of travel! In typical fashion, I thought I would provide a quick preview of my upcoming trips. Have I mentioned before that I love having something on the calendar to look forward to?

My big trip this year with Donna will be to Ireland for two weeks. By the way, if you have any suggestions for us, please comment below – we would love to hear about your experiences! We are booked to go at the end of August, flying in and out of Dublin. Already booked you say? You bet. I like to book as early as possible to take advantage of cheap frequent flyer tickets!

I just checked and these tickets would have cost us $1384 each, or a whopping $2768 for both of us! Fortunately, I was able to book two tickets for 130,000 United miles and $240 in taxes! I can’t stress enough the value of a miles reward credit card. To Europe alone, I have booked 12 “free” tickets since 2007. I am very disciplined about tracking all credit card charges in Quicken and netting those monthly charges against my checking account. This way, I am always sure that I can pay the card off every month to avoid interest charges. I also use Quicken to set savings goals that allow me to save all year to pay for the trip. That way, when we go, we don’t worry at all about what we are spending on the trip. It is already in the bank!

So, everything we can gets charged to the card. Car insurance, utilities, groceries, fuel, you name it. It all adds up to free trips! I do get the benefit of additional miles for work related travel but the card really helps boost the account for our free tickets to Europe. I posted before that Europe for us tends to run about $3500 per week. I am sure glad I don’t have to pay $3,000 more to get there!

My only motive in providing this level of information is to inspire you to travel. I meet so many people that seem to like the idea of travel but never go! Travel has enriched my life immeasurably. It is a true blessing to be able to experience the different cultures of the world and I find it incredibly inspiring to my creative pursuits.

Oregon's Klamath Falls Wildlife Refuge

Ireland is not the only plan for 2012. On a smaller scale, I am heading to Oregon at the end of January to take pictures of Bald Eagles at the Klamath Falls Wildlife Refuge. I will also make my way up the Oregon coast to scout locations and head over the the Mount Hood area to make mountainous landscape photographs.

Summer in Rocky Mountain National Park. What will it look like this winter?

Next, Donna and I bought each other snow shoes for Christmas. Yep, you guessed it, we are going snow shoeing! Our first snow shoeing trip is planned for a weekend in February in Rocky Mountain National Park. I plan to snow shoe up to one of the many beautiful lakes and make some wintery alpine lakefront photographs.

Icelandic Turf Houses - Source: Wikipedia

I am not sure if time will permit but I would like to try and make it up to Iceland for four days. We now have direct flights on Iceland Air from Denver to Iceland, making it very convenient to get there. I have become enamored with photographs of Iceland lately and would like to see the country first hand.

Well that is it for now. Other trips are also in the works but the details need to be nailed down. Next week I am heading to New York for business and will take the camera in case something catches my fancy. I hope you have a great weekend!

P.S. Please take the time to look at John Dunne’s photographs of Ireland at http://www.johndunnephotography.com/. John is a gifted photographer and his images, in part, inspired me to book my trip to his beautiful country!

View of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

About 200 miles south of my home in Monument are the tallest sand dunes in North America. That’s right, sand dunes in Colorado! Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve lies in Colorado’s San Luis Valley against the rugged and incredibly scenic Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Sangre de Cristo Range is home to 9 of Colorado’s 53 14,000ft peaks. Several of the 14′ers including Blanca Peak, Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are visible from the park . The San Luis Valley and the surrounding mountain ranges are quite beautiful due to the relatively untouched nature of the area. As a landscape photographer, I search out locations where man’s footprint is less noticeable and the San Luis Valley is rich with photography opportunities for that reason.

The photo above shows the dunes at the base of Mount Herard. This mountain does not make the list of Colorado 14′ers but comes close at 13,297 feet. For those interested, the dunes originated as wind and water moved grains of sand made from bits of mountain rock toward the valley floor. In a nutshell, huge quantities of sand are carried downstream by Medano Creek, and then redeposited by southwesterly winds on the eastern edge of the dunefield. All this did not happen overnight. Age estimates range from 12,000 to a million years. Research continues!

(Photo details (above): Three-frame, tripod assisted, panorama with a 100mm prime lens shot at f/7.1 and 1/500th of a second. Stitched with Photomerge in Photoshop.)

195 mile trek to the Great Sand Dunes

The area surrounding the park is abundant with wildlife. As we entered the park we saw the gorgeous buck below and stepped out of the car for a few pictures. He was quite interested in us but did not seem frightened. My guess is that he is used to people in the park bearing harmless cameras.

(Photo details (below): Handheld with a 300mm prime lens shot at f/6.3 and 1/800th of a second)

Wildlife in Great San Dunes National Park

The photo below shows 14′ers Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak. I used a 300mm prime lens on this shot to compress the landscape and pull the mountains toward me. If you try to shoot this with a wide angle DSLR lens or point and shoot camera, the mountains will appear much smaller in the shot! This view was reminiscent of the Alps we saw in Switzerland but they were literally in my back yard! My son, who shares my passion for photography, was with me on this trip and we found ourselves exclaiming over and over again how beautiful the landscape was. Simply breathtaking!

(Photo details (below): Tripod assisted with a 300mm prime lens shot at f/5.0 and 1/2000th of a second)

Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak

We did not plan so well and ended up driving to Alamosa for lunch, which was about a 50-minute drive from the park. We decided to make the most of our side excursion by taking some time to visit the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. Due to the time of day, we did not see much wildlife but we were able to capture a few more stunning vistas and the back lit cattails you see below. I love how the 300mm lens created the beautiful blur in the background. It allows the subject to pop off of the frame and amplifies the sharpness of the photograph.

(Photo details (below): Tripod assisted with a 300mm prime lens shot at f/10 and 1/160th of a second)

Winter Cattails at the Alamosa Wildlife Refuge

Below, with the cattails in the foreground, I took a panorama of Blanca Peak. At 14,351 feet, Blanca is the tallest peak in the Sangre de Cristo Range and is the 4th tallest mountain in Colorado. It is notable for its prominent position at the end of the range and I love how it sits majestically on the valley floor with little evidence of man to be seen.

(Photo details (below): Tripod assisted,  six-frame panorama, shot with a 100mm prime lens shot at f/7.1 and 1/1,000th of a second. Stitched with Photomerge in Photoshop.)

Blanca Peak Panorama from the Alamosa Wildlife Refuge

Who could resist the John Deere below with a stunning backdrop? We couldn’t! My guess is that this equipment is used to maintain the grasses in the refuge. The refuge was established in 1962 for migratory birds and other wildlife. The refuge consists of wet meadows, river oxbows and riparian corridor primarily within the flood plain of the Rio Grande, and dry uplands vegetated with greasewood and saltbush. These areas support songbirds, water birds, raptors, mule deer, beaver and coyotes. In March there is a crane festival at the nearby Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of cranes stop there for fuel as they migrate beginning in February. I think I will make the trip back to see and photograph the spectacle.

(Photo details (below): Hand held with a 100mm prime lens shot at f/5.0 and 1/2,00th of a second.)

John Deere and Blanca Peak

Below is another shot of the cattails. I was taken by the shear quantity of them and how they commanded attention with the sun’s back lighting. I used the silhouette of the trees as a compositional element and to provide a sense of place.

Winter Cattails

By the end of the day, we were getting pretty tired but wanted to take advantage of the lack of light pollution on La Veta pass. With widespread development, it is getting harder to find places where stray lights from neighboring cities don’t pollute the skies with light. Due to the lack of development near the San Luis Valley, it is ideal for astrophotography.

This was really my first foray into night photography. I have much to learn but I thought I would share my first results with you. As with any type of photography, part of the challenge is getting the right mix of settings to achieve a desired results. With a long 25 -second exposure, I was able to turn the dark landscape into an eerie daylight and expose the splendor hidden in the skies. I will continue to try this as I have opportunities, hopefully with better compositional elements in the frame.

(Photo details (below): Tripod assisted with a 24-105mm zoom lens shot at f/4.0 and with a 25-second exposure.)

Night Photography on La Veta Pass

Call me a nut. I like trying to figure everything out. Painting, photography, drawing, traveling, woodworking, and home building. When will it stop? Hopefully not for a long time. Within photography there are many disciplines just like any other art form. I have focused primarily on landscapes for the past several years and I don’t plan to give those up anytime soon. I have, however, become increasingly fascinated with portrait photography. I love the complexity of the task which includes posing, manipulating natural and artificial light, retouching, and effects processing. But more importantly, I like the challenge of storytelling and trying to tap into the heart and soul of a person through a picture. That will take lots of practice, which is where the fun starts.

To get some practice in, I made good on a promise of making pictures of my sister’s kids for Christmas. This post includes a few of my favorites from our outing. It was fun to take the available light and add reflection and artificial light to light the scenes. For the head shot of my lovely niece at the top, I used a combination of the sun and a large white reflector. If I had not used a reflector to the left of her face, the shadows would have rendered too dark. Shadows are nice for describing shapes and forms, but I envisioned a higher key look for the shot and needed the reflector to kick some light into the naturally created shadows.

For the window shot above, I used available light, which was a combination of shop lights and sun coming in through a large garage door. My primary challenge was to find an angle that would prevent reflections in the window. It was not that hard. I just walked around a bit until the reflections were gone and posed my niece for the shot from there.

I used the same white reflector for the head shot above. I like how the sun on the tree contrasts against her dark hair to draw the eye to her face. Eyes are very important in portraits. I was careful to always focus on her eyes. They are the widow to the soul and it is a good idea to keep them as sharp as possible.

Contrary to what we may believe, the sun is actually a small light source when it comes to photography because it is so far away. Unless it is diffused by clouds to make it bigger, it casts sharp and contrasty shadows. The reflector reduces the small light phenomenon and creates more balanced illumination when needed.

Above is my nephew. His eyes were very sensitive to the sun and I could not keep him from squinting. How can we get to know him with this eyes closed? We can’t. So, the best thing was to pull him into the shade. No more squinting! The problem from a lighting perspective was that, in shadow, he would be too dark compared to the background and there was no light to easily reflect on him. Enter my Canon speedlite flash.

I used the flash to light my nephew and balance him against the bright background. The problem with a speedlite flash is that it is a small light source just like the sun, which usually means harsh and unflattering shadows. To make the shadows softer, I had to make the light source bigger. How did I do that? I used a light modifier called a Gary Fong Lightsphere. A Lightsphere is basically a Tupperware-like thing that attaches to a flash with a snap-in reverse dome on top. Just Google it and you will see what one looks like and find a ton of videos on how to use it. I pointed the reverse dome directly at my nephew and, as you can see, he is nicely lit with no dark and unsightly shadows.

Another key to these photos is using shallow depth of field to blur the background. Blurring the background allows the subject to pop as the center of focus while maintaining visual interest and an sense of place for the scene. The shot of my nephew above was shot at f/7.1 at focal length of 125mm. If I were to increase the f-stop, the background would increasingly come into focus. How much blur is a matter of personal preference. Just play with your f-stop and focal length to get just the right amount!

To wrap up, I have an engagement shoot scheduled soon and I want to be the best I can be for the young couple. I don’t want to just take nice pictures of them. I want to tell their story. To do that, I will need to get to know them better. What do they like doing together? Where did they meet? They are in love, no doubt, and I need to say that with photographs. The prospect of doing this well is a bit scary and exciting at the same time.

When I asked what the bride to be what she would like to say with the pictures she said, “I want people to know we are here in Colorado now and this is where we are starting our lives together.” With that in mind, I am planning to do the shoot on a 500-acre ranch near my home. Perfect!

The photo above is one you may have seen before from other photographers This is how December 23, 2011 started for me and I am glad to share it with you. In the foreground is a portion of the famous Garden of the Gods and in the background is our very own 14,000+ ft. mountain called Pikes Peak. This overlook is about 30 minutes from my home in Monument, Colorado.

I hope your holiday is filled with love, joy and happiness and that it provides a memorable beginning for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

Take care,
Lee

"Venezia I" on 500px.com

I have posted 27 of my photographs to 500px.com and they have slowly been gaining traction. I was going through my photo archive last week looking for a new photo to post when I found one of my favorites from our trip to Venice in 2009. While walking back to our hotel, which was away from the tourist crush on the lagoon, I was captivated by the light coming from around the corner of the canal and snapped this picture. I loved the solitude among the chaos and the old worn beauty of the buildings that Venice so richly provides.

Well anyway, I made a few adjustments, titled the photo “Venezia I,” and posted it to 500px.com. I was surprised the next morning when Venezia was in second position on the 500px.com popular page with over 1,000 views! It never made number one but it did bounce in the top row all day long and ended up with over 3,000 views for the day.

As artists, it is gratifying when others have an emotional response to our work. In a way, I feel like the same sense of moment that stopped me in my tracks was somehow communicated in my work for others to appreciate. I feel it is really the most flattering compliment I can get as an artist. With that in mind, I want to thank everyone again for visiting ADNW. Your participation in my artistic journey has enriched my pursuit and for that I am deeply appreciative.

If you would like to see my portfolio on 500px.com just click this LINK. Take some time to see the work of other photographers on the site. There are many talented artists that post there, which may serve as inspiration for your own work.

LINK to my portfolio on 500px.com

Just shy of top position on 500px.com