The Ancient Ones

February 28, 2015 • Nature Photography

ANCIENT PUEBLOAN HAND PRINT

A number of years ago I was in a remote canyon above the Colorado River in Canyonlands NP. I was with two others and one knew of this location and these hand prints. These are somewhat rare although not uncommon and are in other places. But for me it was a one-of-a-kind discovery. These were created by placing the hand against the wall and blowing paint through a straw.

petroglyph hand prints

I do not know what the meaning is nor what actually makes up the ‘paint’ but I read once it was a plant based ‘concoction’. I imagine the straw was a reed from along the river.

For processing it was pretty basic. I wanted the white paint to pop a little more so set a white point using Levels and that brightened the image so I reduced the mid tone slider to darken slightly. That layer added more pop to the image.

I am most interested in the idea of the people who lived along the river and stood right here creating these prints. One of you out there probably knows more than me so please share.

Join my mail list on the right.
Check out my ebook Outdoor Flash Photography
Learn photography with one of my online courses at www.greatphotographycourses.net

A Constant Craving

February 19, 2015 • Nature Photography

At some point a bird walked by and left these imprints on the wet sandy beach. Birds are foragers, always looking for something to eat that will sustain them. I as well am a forager, always searching for something to feed my craving to create. It’s a never ending hunger. Photography sustains me!

ca_beach_prints_b
Captured with a Nikon point and shoot and processed in Photoshop and Topaz Adjust. One of the things I do when I look at something like this is to find angles or rotate the camera to create impact to the lines that are in the scene. The footprints were going in one direction so by positioning the camera to make those footprints come from one corner up to the other, more drama is created in the composition.

Be sure and check out my eBook by clicking the link at the top.

And I have fabulous online courses, as you can see on the right.

Oh, The Sweet Light

February 1, 2015 • Nature Photography

A couple of nights ago I was out filming and photographing in Arizona’s Kofa Mountain area. I was actually filming for a new introduction video I was making for a new place I am going to be teaching and mentoring photographers.

My focus was on the video clips, but when the light became golden right before sunset, I had to stop filming and start photographing and this is the result. There was no adjustment to the raw file as far as color at all. This ‘sweet light’ was all natural. I only added a hint of contrast, like I almost always have to do, and a bit of sharpening. Mostly a straight shot.

az_kofa_nwr_MG_5952

An Historic Post-Processing Look for a Ghost Town Photo

December 3, 2014 • Architecture Photography, Software Techniques, Special Effects, travels

I have thing for photographing through windows of old west ghost towns and taking pictures through the old glass. I get my lens as close as I can to the glass without risking damage, then shade the lens as best I can to remove external reflections , and bracket exposures like crazy.

Here is the barbershop in Randsburg, CA shot a few weeks ago. You can see some of the outside reflections around the left side and that is due to my hands not blocking all the glare. I shot a two image pano: left and right side as vertical images, then let Photoshop stitch them. Next I went into Photomatix and gave it a medium HDR grunge look. Then opened in Topaz B&W Effects and used the filter: Flavescent which added the yellowed newspaper look I wanted. I finished with another layer using the Blueprint effect and set that to 30% opacity to add a dark edginess.

When I like what I created, I abandon it for the next image.

Join my mail list, get my ebook, or see my online photo courses, all here on this page.

My new online course: How to Be a Professional Outdoor & Nature Photographer

November 17, 2014 • Nature Photography, Online Courses

I am so excited! After months and months my new course is ready: How to Be a Professional Outdoor & Nature Photographer.

This course covers what to shoot, where to shoot, how to market, how to organize your business, how to price and negotiate sales of your images, stock photo agents, photography assignments, and much, much more.

Check it our here.

And it is on sale right now at $79, that’s $100 OFF. Use coupon code GO79

HDR and Exposure Blending Glacier National Park

November 16, 2014 • Nature Photography

A month ago on the return trip from Canada’s NW Territories, I was zipping down the east side of Glacier NP in Montana when this event happened. The sun peeked out and I stopped, grabbed the camera and ran up a hill to get above the trees. It’s a hand-held and I started with HDR processing and applied that lightly and then did more exposure blending from the original RAW file.

The goal was to not have a sky that was over saturated and darker than the foreground or it would look unreal. I think I pushed right up to the fence so to speak as this has the look of a graduated ND filter.

See the Photoshop layers below

HDR Coca Cola Sign in Randsburg, CA

November 9, 2014 • Nature Photography, travels

I spent about 2 hours in Randsburg, CA two night ago photographing interesting ghost town type subjects. There is a lot of history here but much is ‘modernized’ since it is more of a living ghost town and unlike Bodie to the north, which is uninhabited for the most part.

This old sign really caught my eye with the warm setting sun light and I shot it with a 70D and 16-35mm lens. There was a long shadow from the left side to the right side, cast on the wall from the chain railing that was there and I retouched that out to make this image all about that cool old sign.

Join my mail list with the sign up form on the right.

My article in Outdoor Photographer Magazine

August 21, 2014 • Flash & Strobe Lighting

I am thrilled to see the September issue of Outdoor Photographer and my article: Lighting Nature which is based on my eBook: OUTDOOR FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY. In May they asked me to write this piece on how to use a flash in nature photography and I was of course, thrilled and honored to contribute to the magazine.

You have to buy the issue to read the article but here is a link to a Photo Tip based on the same article if you want to learn about flash photography outdoors here.

If you want to see my eBook go here.

Canyon Country Alpenglow

August 6, 2014 • Nature Photography

Alpenglow? I have always wondered if alpenglow only happened in the mountains but according to Wikipedia the answer is NO. This was 20 minutes after sunset, the perfect time for alpenglow, and it added a warm ‘purply’ reddish tint to the files which were shot at daylight WB. Processing becomes a challenge in trying to replicate the true color as experienced but then does it matter? Probably more important than processing it perfectly, is avoiding processing it imperfectly where it looks overly processed. Canon 5D, 28-70mm @ 50mm.

Join my mail list! The opt-in box is to the right side bar.

Selective Blending B&W and Color

July 25, 2014 • Image Processing

I was teaching at the Black Hills Photo Shootout a few years ago and had half a day to kill so I went on a marathon shooting visit to Badlands NP. I have been there many times and like many places you visit over the years, returning can be like you have never been there before with fresh eyes and new perspectives.

The light was not that great when I got there but I shot anyway and it was fall, so there was a tiny bit of color. I like the idea of B&W with some color remaining because it really emphasizes the color when you do this and directs the eye where you want it to go.

Here’s the Photoshop screen showing the B&W and a mask to brush back the color area which keeps the bush in its original color. I also added contrast with a Curves adjustment and also used High Pass Filter.