Super Bloom

Carrizo Plain National Monument

 

Images: Canon 5D Mk IV, EF 70-200 f4 L IS, EF 24-70 f2.8 L II

Mother nature puts on a show at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Central California. I have never seen this kind of display of flowers in all my years of photography and seeking out this kind of spectacle. Lots of rain last year germinated a lot of seeds and sunshine at the right time made them explode. Entire hillsides completely covered in flowers.  

Bureau of Land Management 

Ross

Images In Light

High Key Landscape, Mono Lake

Its not often I come across a landscape scene that works as a high key shot, this one seemed to fit the bill for me. Mono lake Tufa, shortly after sunrise.

 5D Mk IV, EF 24-70 f/2.8 L II, Lee Big stopper 10 stop ND filter,
 f/16, 50mm, 1.6 sec, ISO 100, +2 EV.


 5D Mk IV, EF 16-35 f/4 L IS, Lee Little stopper 6 stop ND filter,
 f/11, 16mm, 10 sec, ISO 100.

Same location, that evening

Part of the fun of being a photographer is experimenting and enjoying my time on locations like this.

We had a great three day shoot in the Eastern Sierra and I have a lot of images to go through. Hope to post some more soon.

Ross 

Images In Light

When the clouds don't cooperate at Martins Beach

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 L IS, f/11 16mm and 35mm, 79 sec single exposure

I went to shoot the forbidden beach just south of Half Moon Bay for the first time and the clouds did not cooperate with me. So faced with a very boring beach shot with the Hay Stack, I thought I would try playing with zoom in a single exposure. I framed the shot at 35mm and let my camera expose for 40 sec and then zoomed all the way out to 16mm quickly to avoid shake and zoom trails and let it expose for another 39 sec, the result is the above image.

Martins Beach is in the mist of a land controversy, the land owner is denying people beach access and there is an ongoing dispute with San Mateo county, is it legal to visit this beach? the answer is currently yes, however I think this will be mired in legal BS for a while.

In the mean time I intend on returning here until I capture the image I'm interested in getting.

Ross

Images In Light

Bobcat

Nikon D810, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, f/3.2, 200mm, 1/500 sec

Wild cats are very elusive and shy, perhaps that's why I love to capture them more than any other type of wildlife. I saw this Bobcat twice on a hike this last weekend, the first time I was not prepared with a long enough lens, so on the way back through this area I had my AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, mounted on the D810 and came through as quiet as possible. I saw him on the trail in front of me, so I snuck up on him as stealthily as I could. With about 20 yards between us I caught a few images before he darted around the corner. When I made it to the corner it was obvious he had left the trail, so I froze. I knew he would be in the grass or trees watching me and as I scanned the area around me, sure enough, there he was watching me from behind some rocks about 10 yards away, I was able to get a few shots off before he ran into the grass and disapeared.

Margay in Costa Rica
Cheetah in Tanzania

A great hike!

Nikon D810, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, f/3.2, 200mm, 1/250 sec

Canon 5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f/4 L IS, f/13, 18mm, 1/80 sec

A great hike!

Ross

Images In Light

Intimate Yosemite

Image: Image: D800E, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II 
f/8, 200mm, 1/500 sec, iso 100, hand held. 

Image: Image: D800E, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

f/5, 200mm, 1/20 sec, iso 100.

More from Big Sur

 

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 IS L, f/16, 1/60 sec, ISO 100, hand held on fence post.

 

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 IS L, f/13, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, hand held on fence post.

Big Sur is sure turning in to one of my favorite places to shoot, nudge nudge, know what I mean?

A place that holds its rightful location at the top of peoples list's to shoot, I have been fortunate recently to spend some time in this area, witnessing scenes like this one unfold as I drive along the coast highway. Truly a beautiful place, sometimes magical and mystical, but always very photogenic.

 5D Mk III, EF 70-200 f4 IS L

More soon from the Big Sur coast....

Ross

Images in Light

Incidental Black and White

The Bay Bridge: 5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8 II L

Larger Image

Its not always easy to see in black and white, I use my iPhone 6 sometimes for visualizing what a scene may look like in black and white, when I set it to B and W it is a very useful tool for that.

The City by the Bay image above was a super high contrast scene that had little color other than the very bright sun, it made an ideal setting for black and white photography. My initial thought was to wait for sunset and shoot a low light scene, but this light presented itself to me, so I walked down the bank until the bridge blocked the sun and revealed the the beams that where initially hidden by the veiling glare of the bright sun.

Metering in live view helped to reduce the contrast so I could reveal detail in the bridge and still have the light beams highlighted on the city.

Another image I didn't originally see in B and W. I like both
the color and the B and W versions.

Larger Image

More Black and White images here

Ross 

Images In Light

Working Yosemite

 Falling Fire

5D Mk III, 70-200 f/4 IS L, 6 stop ND filter

Larger Image

El Capitan from Pohono trail

5D Mk III, 70-200 f/4 IS L, 6 stop ND filter
Larger Image


The Merced and Cathedral Rocks

Larger Image 

I have been to Yosemite 4 times over the last year and have not come away with anything I really like, I hate to get skunked on these trips, but I still get to enjoy the hiking and making friends with other outdoor types. I will keep hitting Yosemite until I've cracked it.

 Tunnel View

5D Mk III, 24-70 f/2.8 L II

Larger Image

Some times it takes persistence,  but patience comes in handy too. I'll be back there again next month to try to shoot the Dogwood blooms.

Ross

Images In Light

San Francisco Details

Larger Image

5D MK III, EF 24-70 f2.8L II

Larger Image

5D MK III, EF 24-70 f2.8L II

Ross

Images In Light

Shooting an Icon - Yosemite

Image: El Capitan and the Merced, 5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8, 16mm @ f/16.

Larger Image

Image: The Merced River, 5D Mk III, EF24-70 f/2.8, 16mm @ f/13.

Larger Image

I have always wanted to go back to Yosemite, but I was kind of disappointed on this trip, perhaps I have seen to much of it in pictures ? at any rate the next time I return, it will be to the upper part that is less traveled, Tuolumne Meadows above Yosemite Valley, it has the beauty, less crowds and the wilderness feel that the lower valley lacks, a winter stop in the lower valley might be nice, if there was plenty of snow.

Upper Cathedral lake and the entire upper basin would make for a great trip on the way over to the Eastern Sierra and a trip up in to the Whitney Portal and Convict lake.

Ross

Images In Light

Adjusting White Balance

 Image: 5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8, 44mm at f/9, 30 sec
Global adjustment to 9107K

Larger Image

Original White Balance of 5950K, camera set to auto white balance

Global adjustment to 9107K local adjustment in Lightroom to sky of -28

I'm always pushing the merits of shooting RAW and white balance is a another reason to do so, the temperature of color is basically a layman's description and it can really only be adjusted in RAW. Light varies in temperature from cool to warm , an example would be LED light, compared to tungsten or midday sun to sunset, some times a camera can get fooled and that happens a lot with mixed light, similar to the above images that have the remaining light from the sun and the light from the bulbs on the pier.

A lot of cameras don't do well with indoor lighting and often have to be adjusted for white balance, our homes and offices are a mix of different light types and cameras get fooled more often than not in these situations. Shooting RAW and adjusting in post is the best way to get the right color from your system.

Ross

Images In Light

Lone Pine and The Whitney Portal

5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8L, 65mm f/14 at 1/30th sec, tripod.
Larger Image

5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8L, 70mm f/11 at 1/60th sec, tripod. 
Larger Image

5D Mk III, EF 70-200 f/4L IS, 200mm f/7.1 at 1/500th sec, handheld. 

Larger Image

Far east of La La land on CA 395 is the small town of Lone Pine a gateway to the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range and the tallest peak in the lower 48, 14,505 ft Mt Whitney. The Whitney portal road, which heads west out of town, leads you to the Alabama Hills, a spectacular landscape of boulders and sage brush. Many films have been made here and you have no doubt seen one, you just don't know it. You kind of expect to see Captain Kirk or The Duke around every corner.

Larger Image

Not to be out done by Mt Whitney, 12,949 ft Lone Pine Peak rises prominantly to the south in a spectacular array of peaks and ridges, Mobius Arch a short hike from the end of Movie road makes a nice frame for either Lone Pine or Whitney.

that would be me sitting in Mobius Arch

The interesting thing about this mountain range, is how they thrust straight up out of the desert, shear cliffs rising hundreds of feet out of the Sage brush in front of you. It's reminicent of The Grand Teton and the Canadian Rockies,  Hiking in this area could be a lot of fun and make for some very interesting photography.

more pics here at my Flickr site

Ross

Images In Light

The Redwood Forest

5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8L II, 24mm, f/11 at 1/80 sec, Zeiss circular polarizer.

Larger Image

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f/2.8L II, 32mm, f/16 at 1/13 sec, Zeiss circular polarizer.

Larger Image
 

The Redwood forest of Northern California has been on my radar for quit a while now, just across the Oregon border, its a pretty good drive, fortunately there are plenty of beautiful coastal stops along the way down.

Fog can be a daily occurrence on this part of the coast, but it can add dramatic lighting if you are fortunate to be there when it is being burnt away by the morning sun.

One of the best times to visit is late May when the Rhododendrons are in full bloom and the wild flowers are sprouting all along the coast.

There are endless possibilities  for photographers along this part of the Pacific coastline, including one of my favorites, Bandon Beach, near Coos Bay a few hours north of the Redwoods.

5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8L II, 24mm, f/11 at 2.5 sec, variable neutral Density filter.

Larger Image

Ross

Images In Light