Moose News Blog

Was it cold in Yellowstone we’ve been asked? Heck no, a walk in the park. Look at that face mask, it barely has any ice on it!

Here’s another example of fashionable photographer faceware. Note, there are no icicles coming from the nose so it ain’t that cold. Of course, he was standing in the middle of Norris Geyser Basin. The temp rose to -3 when you were out in the middle of it.

No rouge needed here, no Photoshop either. That glow is from a brisk -7 afternoon at Upper Geyser Basin. What this photo doesn’t tell you is that Joe’s lips were stuck like this for the next hour until we went in for lunch.

We have a tradition at DLWS, the group hug. It took on a whole new need in Yellowstone! It’s the warmth from all of the participants that made even the coldest times pass without even a shiver. Many thanks!

I have received LOTS of emails (& print orders, thx) from the images I blogged last week from Yellowstone. It was an incredible experience from the grandeur that is Yellowstone to the great folks who were DLWS. Those folks, you know we had them going at 06:30 and were with them until midnight everyday (there was no time off) and all they did was smile and make some incredible images! One helluva a week!

A common question about the images tends to be “Were the images worked in Photoshop?” Darn good question and the answer for all the landscape photos is, darn tootin! None of the wildlife see Photoshop, but my landscape images sure do. To be specific, they see Capture NX. I find that especially true with the D3, NX does it all for me. Here’s an example.

The top photo is right out of the D3. The biggest problems are two fold. First is the horrible color cast caused by the steam coming from Castle Geyser next door. Second is the lack of light in the pool itself. Now McNally & I thought about throwing an SB-800 into that sucker to light it up for the one shot, but there’s a big sign saying “No Flash Fill Permitted in the Pools” so we went to plan B. Knowing these two facts that I would have a color cast and no light getting down into the pool, I composed accordingly knowing the tools I have back in the computer. After finishing the image (which is totally different from fixing), it looks like this…

See a difference? The finishing took only seconds with NX doing the lion share of removing the color cast and than pulling the color out of the pool. In Photoshop, all I did was to use Tonal Contrast in Nix’s Color Efex 3.0 for the finishing touch. This isn’t some Moose voodoo, all of you can obtain the same results. If you don’t know how, come journey with us on DLWS, we’re more than happy to help you find your vision!

Photo captured by D3, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

That’s right, I’m coming out of safari retirement for this one very special event. Jan 16-21, 2009, we’re taking five wildlife photographers into Yellowstone for one helluva an amazing photographic adventure. We’ll be based out of West Yellowstone and covering all of the park during our safari (except Lamar Valley). We’re going after wolves, bobcats, bison, swans, elks, deer, owls and if we really have to, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful and a couple of geysers thrown in here and there for good measure. We start on Friday night and go all the way through until Wed night. We have our own deluxe snow coach (not a bombadire) getting us to all the magical locales. The price is $3250 and includes instruction, transportation once you arrive in West Yellowstone and lunch. There are three spots available. Call the office 760.924.8632 if you’d like to join us on a grand adventure!

Note: 01.19.08 Safari is full

It might have been -31 degrees at the Canyon of the Yellowstone this AM, but that didn’t stop the DLWS crew from an amazing morning of photography. We still can’t get over the fact that we had three days of gorgeous light in one of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet. This is the canyon side of the Yellowstone as the sun slowly paints down the side.

The “hoodoos” that line the canyon side are just fascinating with no snow, they are just stunning when whipped up in snow. The play of light on this formation kept us quite entertained for a good long time.

These leftover summer grasses have managed to hang on and on this very cold day (it had warmed up to -3 when I took this photo). The hoar frost gathered on their stems and made for a very cool, graphic B&W photo.

But nothing, nothing we witnessed all week compared to our time at Norris Basin! It has always been a favorite of mine but now it’s a passionate love. The steam has frozen over winter onto the trees in the foreground creating an amazing snow sculpture. The play of light in the steam (which is what fills the sky here) as the breeze whips it this way and that filled up cards and cards and cards. The light, oh man, just look at the light! WOW!

Photos captured by D3, 200-400VR / 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film

Note: Just to test the D3, I left it out the entire day, it never say the inside of a camera bag or jacket. It was one cold sucker, so cold I was afraid that the ice formed on my mustache would permanently connect me to the D3. Despite the extreme cold, the D3 performed without a hitch. When it comes to exposure, the D3 nailed it all. I dialed in minus compensation only when I wanted to influence the message of the photo.

You can’t tell from this photograph, but when we left the lodge at 0′dark thirty it was in a driving, cold, nasty snow storm. All the drive out to Old Faithful the snow storm continued. We exited the coaches and it was still snowing. We headed inside for a killer Joe McNally lighting class and when he was all done, well you can see for yourself above. We had another glorious day of light so we spent nearly all of it in the Upper Geyser Basin. Here’s just one of the many geysers and an overview of the upper basin. During our two mile walk, we came across this ole boy.

I was able to use Sharon’s xmas present, a 70-300VR for the first time and man, what a marvelous lens. This old bull is plowing the snow to find grass to munch.

We than headed over to Midway Geyser Basin for a spectacular light display.

I’m not sure who likes us so much to provide unbelievable weather in winter here in Yellowstone, but I sure hope they continue to do so tomorrow.

I invite you to see some other great images from the DLWS staff to be inspired by the beauty found in Yellowstone. Be sure to check out Laurie’s, Kevin’s, Josh’s and Jake’s blogs!

Photos captured by D3, 14-24AFS / 70-300VR on Lexar UDMA digital film