30 Seconds

Image: 5D Mk II, 24-70 f2.8 L, 48mm at f11, 30 sec, Singh-Ray Variable ND filter.

Smoothing the water was the intent with the long exposure, depending on the effect you want, 1 to 30 second's can give you a wide range of results depending on the waves and the light, adding a stationary object like these poles give some interest to what was an un-eventful sunset

Ross

Images In Light

Eclipse 12/10/11

6:45 am, 5D Mk II, 300mm at f2.8 for 1 sec at ISO 3200

6:45 am, 5D Mk II, 300 mm at f3.2 for 1.6 sec at ISO 3200

This mornings eclipse of the moon, earth shadow at about 2/3 from my front porch, lucky me : )

Yes its Red, this color is normal for moon eclipses "The Blood Red Moon", only got off a few shots before the clouds obscured my view.

Ross

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Cold

Image: 5D2, 70-200 f4 IS L, f10 at 1/125 sec

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A Recent hike up to Lake Twenty Two after fresh snow, not only was it good for the soul but good for some new material, here the outlet stream pooled against some snow covered rocks.

Slight adjustment to the cooler side of White balance in Lightroom 3 was enough to give this image a cooler feel than the original that was shot in automatic white balance.

Ross

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Goats

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, f5.6 at 1/80 sec.
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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, f4 at 1/125 sec.
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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 200mm, f4 at 1/250 sec.
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Goats: something very majestic about Mt Goats, they are so nimble for such stout creatures, what they can do on a rock wall defies logic.

I've been wanting to shoot Mountain Goats for a long time and a trail at Logan Pass in Glacier NP Montana provided me a great opportunity. They pretty much will pose for the camera, knowing you'll get out of the way if you happen to be standing in the next spot they want to browse on.

Shooting them in the shade of the overhanging cliffs was a bonus as their white coats don't get blown out by the sun, these guys had already molted away their beards, which was disappointing, but gives me reason to seek them out again.

Ross

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Rain

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 70mm at f11
National Elk refuge, Jacskon Hole, Wy.

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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 200mm at f11
Jackson Hole, Wy.

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Rain, hard to capture a good image on those rainy days when your surrounded by hills and mountains, but its as good a time as any to get the camera out and capture a different type of image. The only thing here is exposing on the clouds and bringing the foreground up in post if need be. Lightroom does such a good job though, these just needed a bit of Luminance adjusting in the yellow and orange.

Ross

Images In Light

Last of the Fall color

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Fall color is fading fast in the Cascades, these shots where taken just out side Plain, Wa. near Lk Wenatchee.

Ross

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Three Days in The Tetons

Cathedral Group, 2 shot panorama.

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300 f2.8 IS L, EF 1.4x, f11, 1/320 sec.

Image: 5D MkII, 300 f2.8 IS L, iso 400, f3.2, 1/200 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300 f2.8 IS L, EF 1.4x, f11, 1/100 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 70mm, f16, 1/2 sec.
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Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 II L, 16mm, f11, 1/160sec.
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What to do with three days in the Tetons ? hmmmm, so much to see and do, not really enough time for back country hikes, but there are so many places to shoot and a lot are right off the road.

Places like Snake river overlook, Oxbow Bend, Schwabackers Landing, Mormon Row, the list goes on, one place I love to shoot is Cathedral group with a 300mm lens, this an impressive set of peaks, including Teewinot, Grand Teton and Mt Owen, viewed from the north.

The Barns of course at Mormon Row or the classic Ansel Adams shot from Snake river overlook, not enough sunrises on this trip, so I'll be going back, maybe a winter shoot next time.

Best time to go, Fall, followed by spring, then winter and finally summer, well maybe winter will move up on the list : ) that's the only time I've not been there.

Not far from the Tetons is the Wind River Range, another impressive Rocky mountain range, the Cirque of Towers at Wind River is high on my list of future treks.

Wyoming has some of the most beautiful scenery in the Rockies and wildlife abounds like few other places.

Ross

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Fall is here

Image: Mt Shuksan, 5D Mk II, 300 f2.8 IS L, f11, 1/500 sec.
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The Saddle above Bagley lake Basin

Fall is upon us, although the color is a little delayed this year due to weather. I decided to go looking for Black bear on the Chain Lakes loop trail at Mt Shukson, so I decided to bring along my 300mm brick, which is a lot of weight to carry for a short hike, but if I wanted a bear shot I needed a minimum of 300mm, so I loaded up and headed for the pass above Bagley lakes. At 90 oz. this lens doesn't go in my pack very often, but this is the time of year to see bear.

This is a beautiful hike, bear or no and in this case, no was the operative word, but the views of Mt Shuksan and Kulshan (Baker) more than made up for packing that big piece of glass up the side of a mountain.

The second and third shots above are crops of the first and you can view them at 1600 pixels on the long end by clicking on them, I did this so you can get an idea of the resolution this lens has. It is an incredibly sharp lens from f 2.8 to f 16, definitely the best lens I have ever shot with, the detail in the glaciers is incredible when viewed full size , it makes it very easy to crop images from 21mp to say 12mp and still be able to print large images, great for wildlife photography.

The 2nd to last image shows the fall color starting to come in at the higher elevations and the last image a snapshot of my position with my s-95. With a dusting of fresh snow on Shuksan it wont be long until the lower elevations in the Bagley lake Basin start seeing the blueberries turn to crimson and red and orange and.............

Time to dust off the snow shoes.

Ross

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Wildlife Photography

Jasper NP, Red Fox: 300mm at f2.8, 1/250 sec, ISO 100.
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Jasper NP, Big Horn herd, isolated young: 300mm at f2.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO 100.
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Glacier NP, Ground Squirrel: 300mm at f3.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100.
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MT Rainier NP, Red Fox: 300mm at f2.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO 100
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Yellowstone NP, Raven: 300mm at f4, ISO 100.
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Wildlife photography for me has always been secondary to my landscape work, but I have now come to embrace it, mostly due to the experience I have gained over the course of, well, many years. Showing my age a little : )

The main thing I have learned, is to shoot as wide open as you can, why ? several reasons; Shooting at a wide aperture allows you to shoot at faster shutter speeds and lower ISO's, wild animals are often seen at dusk or dawn and with lower light, ISO values start to rise, in order to maintain a fast enough shutter speed you may need to shoot at ISO 800 to get to 1/250 of a sec.
at f2.8.

See this ISO 3200 image or this ISO 1600 image and here at ISO 100.

Whether or not its low light or the animal on the move, a wide aperture will help with the shutter speed or low ISO.

The main reason though is subject isolation, a wide aperture like f3.5 (just short of wide) on a 300mm f2.8 lens is great for blurring the background and some times the fore ground, which makes the subject stand out , if you look closely at the first fox, I had to pick him out amongst the grass and clover and to make him stand out, I needed the foreground and background out of focus. Another benefit on long primes, your lens is at its sharpest in the wider range of apertures.

Where to focus ? always on the eye, very important to have at least one eye in focus.

Also great for portrait photography.

To sum it up, you should end up with sharp, low ISO images, with good subject isolation when shooting at or near wide open.

Aperture diagram courtesy of Wiki

Ross

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FHC B-25 J

Image: B-25 J, 5D Mk II, 70-200 F4 IS L, 200 mm f10 at 1/250 sec

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FHC's B-25 J Mitchell, recognized as one of the most accurately restored WWII bombers in existence, what a beautiful aircraft.

Paul Allens group FHC has done a fine job of restoring this old airplane to flying condition. She flew at FHC's weekly fly day along side the HFF's B-25 D "Grumpy"

Ross

Images In Light

Spring in September

Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 II L, 29mm at f16, 1/50 sec, no filter's.

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Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 II L, 16mm at 1/25 sec, no filter's.

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Spring in September ? at Mt Rainier, yes. Extremely unusual weather this year in the Pacific NW left snow in the high country a lot later than normal, this pushed the bloom out almost two months, normally we would see flowers like this in late July.

Last year I was shooting fall color at Mt Rainier on October 12th, this year spring flowers on September 10th.

Regardless, it makes for a great time to be at the Mountain, bring bug spray, suntan lotion and keep an eye out for bears in the Bench lake area, the blue berries are ripe and the bears love them.

Ross

Images In Light

Park Butte

Image: 5D Mk II,16-35 f2.8 L, 23mm at f10, 1/50 sec, hand held 3 stop GND.

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Mt Baker from Park Butte
Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L, 29mm at f16, 1/25 sec, hand held 3 stop GND.

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Definitely one of the most beautiful hikes in the state, Park Butte on the south side of Mt Baker or Kulshan (the Indian name) just a couple hours from the trail head and just 2 1/2 hours north of the Seattle area.

Three trails lead off to different parts of the mountain, photo opportunities abound on these trails, with Kulshan in view most of the time. Get up Railroad Grade to climbers camp and to see a glacier tumble off a cliff or make your way up the Roman Wall to summit the mountain. Great wildlife opportunities all summer and fall color the first week of October.

Black and white conversion done in Lightroom.

Ross

Images In Light

Spitfires and Some Luck

Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 8, 1/400 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 7.1, 1/320 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 7.1, 1/320 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 8, 1/400 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 6.3, 1/640 sec

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Some times just blind, dumb luck helps out. I knew the moon was where it was, I just never thought I'd be able to incorporate it in to a shot. Shooting high speed and panning across the sky with a big lens never bodes well for getting a shot that incorporates the moon, not only did I get it once, but four times, on this shoot. The Flying Heritage Collection, fly day in Mukilteo happens every summer and is put on by Paul Allen's group for about 8 weeks, ending Sept 24th this year with B-25 day. FHC is usually joined by the Historic Flight Foundation, which in this case supplied the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IXe with FHC's: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3 and Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc.

The first image is a crop of the fourth image, with the Mk V Spitfire removed.

Ross

Images In Light

Barns And Wheat Fields

Image: Canon S95

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Image: 5D Mk II, 8-15 f 4 L, 15mm at f11 for 1/15 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 24mm at f5 for 30 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 27mm at f8 for 30 sec

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This was a fun shoot and one I've been wanting to try, some old barns, abandoned years ago and falling apart, out in the middle of a wheat field. My original thought was to shoot the barns and the wheat fields, but it turned in to a night shoot when not much came out of the evening light. The wide shot was done with Canons new 8-15 f4 L Fish eye lens, (borrowed) a fun lens, but maybe a bit narrow use.

The big dipper shows up in the darker image, view larger to see it. The B and W image was done by highlighting the barn with a flashlight during the exposure (painting with light), both where hard to obtain focus, but the results are quite interesting.

Ross

Images In Light

The Rocky Mountains

Image:Red Rock Canyon, 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 70mm at f11, 3 sec

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Image:Moraine Lake, 5D Mk II, 16-35 f 2.8 L, 28mm at f16, 1/20 sec

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Image:Moraine Lake, 5D Mk II, 16-35 f 2.8 L, 29mm at f11, 1/25 sec

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Image:Lake Louise Sunrise, 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 31mm at f11, 1/2.5 sec

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Image:Endless Ridge, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 200mm at f11, 1/100 sec

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Banff, Jasper, Waterton and Glacier, amongst other National Parks make up the Northern Rocky mountains, or the the southern if you ask people in the Yukon Territories. One of the most beautiful places in North America and a great place to get away and do some unwinding. Me being the photographer that I am, of course couldn't help but get up for a few sunrises. Sunrise appears to be the better time to shoot up there at least for this time of year.

Lake Louise is of course a mandatory visit at sunrise and so far of the two I have seen I have not been disappointed. A lot of people don't realize of course that when they see this image, the photographer is standing about 20 yards from a luxury hotel and after the shoot is rewarded with a double tall latte at the Fairmont Hotel.

Ten minuets up the road from Lake Louise is Moraine Lake, my favorite place to shoot in Banff, it easily rivals Lake Louise in Beauty and the color of the water is even more fantastical. Here it is best to shoot later in the morning, due to the way the light hits the lake and the surrounding peaks, even with no clouds great images can be made here.

Again the early riser is rewarded with a double tall latte with in minuets of the shoot at the Moraine Lake lodge.

The Endless Chain Ridge in southern Jasper is a very impressive mountain range, looking north before heading up to the Columbia Ice Field.

More soon..........

Ross

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