Alaskan range and spruce trees
There is one thing about photography that I can count on, always an abundance of things to do and play with. If I am in a slow time for actually being in the field, I certainly have plenty of images and tools to play with on my Mac. Ideas on the back burner that need to be brought to the front.
I have been wanting to explore some warm tone black and white processing on some of my Alaska work. These images were a set where I was so absorbed by the beauty of fall color in Alaska, I processed most of them in color. After all, color was a dominant trait that made the scene so special.
I already know in my head that absence of color allows you to explore other details of an image, textures, more subtle shadows and form. Sounds like it is straight out of a textbook. But it is hard to make that connection in your heart until you can actually visualize it. Get down in the mud and sling it around. With color hitting you in the face like a bat, it is sometimes hard to consider anything else.
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Textured hillside
There is one thing that kills an afternoon for me (in a good way?), and that is poking around for new music. My music tastes tend to be fairly diverse, which is probably reflected equally in my preferences for nature subjects. One of the things I tend to do is to go to the record labels of some artists I like, and poke around with who else they have signed. I have noticed that some of the indie record labels tend to have groups of artists that tend to appeal to me, even if they are from completely different genres of music.
So this afternoon I listened to a free preview of Peter Gabriel’s new album, and also ended up buying a new artist, The Imagined Village, from his RealWorldRecords label. Probably anyone that likes Peter Gabriel’s blending of world music into his work will end up liking some of the artists his label promotes. (more…)
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Fall Aspens in Denali
It is somewhat ironic that I am writing this post as a following to my last one that reviewed a Photoshop plugin, but I think there are some important points to be made . It seems every year we have new terms to add to the modern photography dictionary. It seems every year there is a new software upgrade or new tools available that want to convince us that our photography will be so much better for it. New printers, new pixels, new lenses, etc, etc. The newest widget isn’t new to photography doing digital. Film fads, newer, mo’ betta lenses, tripods, papers, etc., have been evolving for a long, long time.
With digital however, tools evolve much more rapidly, and certainly the internet contributes to the communication. I am just as guilty as the next person to be sucked into some of it, or at the very least, want to try it for myself. Photographers, after all, tend to love gear and we all want the best image quality we can obtain. (more…)
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Mt. McKinley
Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature’s sources never fail. – John Muir, Our National Parks, 1901
I read this quote from Muir recently and was thinking about the cleansing one gets from fresh air, wilderness, and simply being in nature. Then I thought, what if the quote were reversed? From nature’s perspective, the energy and cleansing would not be in enjoying the company of human beings, but probably to be rid of us all together. As I stare at this image of Mt. McKinley, so majestic and grand, I feel quite insignificant. This mountain doesn’t need me, or does any place like it – from the forests to the streams to the ocean. They don’t need my appreciation of their beauty or for anyone to photograph them. Such trivial things only become important in trying to protect what we do not want to destroy.
Even if we were to obliterate ourselves, and wreak havoc on our environment, I have a feeling this mountain would still be there.
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Mount Denali
With only 2.5 days around Denali, I suppose I had to be prepared for never actually seeing the highest point in North America. Cloud cover, rain and fog were all my enemies of getting a peek. This is one morning from within Denali National Park, with a clear view and some nice morning light shining on Mount McKinley (Denali). Talk about luck.
This photograph is not a blend of exposures, nor was I able to use a graduated neutral density filter on my 200-400 zoom lens. I used the graduated density tool in Lightroom 2 to address the brightness of the sky and to bring out detail in the mountain. I then used another at the bottom to balance the exposure of the foreground with the back. Just another set of tools to rely upon in realizing possibilities. The image was finally brought into Photoshop for slight adjustments with luminosity masks.
As I learned a bit more about this mountain, I read that a record setting windchill of -118.1 deg F was recorded by an automated weather station located around 19,000 feet. This was only with a “gentle breeze” of 18.4 mph. Temperatures can plummet below -95 deg F according to the park service literature. Storm gusts of 150 mph. Hmmm – need a few more layers to brave that one.
Denali is also featured in this past week’s excellent series on PBS by filmmaker Ken Burns : The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Some of you have mentioned watching it in previous comments. They now have video clips online which provide a better look at the history of this majestic feature of North America, the surrounding National Park, and its wildlife. The entire series is very well done, and an excellent education about our park system.
Adolph Murie and the Story of Wolves in the Parks
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