MooseNewsBlog

Jake & I went out to take care of some chores and like always, we had our gear in the truck. With the way the clouds were dancing on the Mtn, we knew there would be something. This is the top of Mammoth Mountain, the mtn our home is on and what you see here is the chair lift at 11,059′.

And just behind Mammoth Mtn are the Minnerets, a set of peaks just to the south of Mt Banner & Ritter. This is a heck of a gorgeous rock that’s in many of my photographs. It’s a good thing it’s right behind our home, I can’t stop staring at them.

And while the color kept getting better and better, the mood of the clouds darker and heavier, there wasn’t a grand vista shot to be had. When if comes to landscapes, many grab a wide lens and go. The problem is, often the “landscape” shot is only a slice of the over all scene before you. This was just such the case were the cool stuff was this piece here, that piece there that needed the compression of the long glass to bring it out. It’s a balancing act of including those elements critical to your visual statement while excluding everything else that just clouds the story (sorry, it’s been such a long time since I’ve included a bad puns, had to do it).

Photos captured by D3, 600VR / 200-400VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

A great question of late from readers has been, “How do you (as in Moose) expose for snow?” Of course living in snow, I have a number of off the cuff answers, but I’ll move past those and get to the heart of the question as I look at it. What color is snow? Unless a Moose or dog has passed by, it’s white, right? I honestly don’t think there are few viewers of your photography who wouldn’t recognize the white stuff on the ground as snow. If that is true, then seeing detail in every crystal of the snow is not mission critical to tell the viewer the white stuff they are looking at is indeed, snow. With that assumption in place, why would one automatically dial in +1 exposure comp just because you’re shooting in snow? That is the common wisdom and common thread in the emails that are coming in. Exposure is YOUR greatest tool to express the feeling, mood and life in your photograph. Just because you see something white, don’t automatically do anything.

We have two photos here, both of snow. The feel of both is totally different. The top photo has a bluish-gray cast, the bottom photo the snow is your basic snow white. The top image makes me feel cold, that’s why I underexposed it in camera and did not remove the color cast in post. The bottom image, I exposed normally (no comp) and did remove the color cast in post. The key to both images is the RANGE of light in the entire scene  and not the fact there is snow in the scene. I exposed for the subject and not the white stuff. Like with most of my photography, I try to keep the light range within 3 stops. When that’s the case, then I just have to click, the D3’s meter will do the rest. When it’s outside that 3-5 stop range, well then you have to resort to something like this to deal with the greater range of light. Look at the light between the photos in that post and this. Can YOU see the difference in the light falling on the scene? It is exacerbated by the snow, but not determined in whole by the presence of snow.

SO how does Moose expose for snow? Just like any other scene, it depends on the subject, the light on the subject, the light on the rest of the stage and then the story I want to tell within the confines of my viewfinder. Exposure is way too powerful a tool to just dial in some value of exposure compensation. The world doesn’t need another technically perfect photograph. The world needs another photograph with passion to move the viewer!

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

Oh, the curiosity for doing what one called “natural” HDR is pretty dang high, lots of emails have come in asking questions on my technique. Like I mentioned before, you want the “recipe” how I do it, you’ll have to venture to Photoshop World. A guy’s got to make a living. The most common question has been how do you know if you want to do a 3, 5 or 7 frame bracket set for your HDR. I hope this helps answer that question.

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Yes, I turned the P6000 vertically, I can’t learn if I don’t try new things. I knew I wanted a vertical image and wanted to see if I could show that with the video. Another work in progress to add to my growing list.

Ever since the first snow, I’ve been working with the extreme light that falls on the snow trying to capture photographically the feeling I get standing there in its presence. I’m not 100% happy with the results but I’m a whole lot closer than a few weeks ago when I started. I gotta be ready for Yellowstone in a couple of weeks, I know exactly where I need to use the technique there from my failures last year.

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

Moose Cam captured by P6000 on Lexar UDMA digital film

We were blessed with a gorgeous Sunday morning so we headed out early to another favorite locale. Jeff wanted to do a water & ice type photo and there is no better place for this than Lee Vining Canyon (4 wheel drive required in winter). After breaking trail through the snow we reached the falls and they were beautiful. On the down side, there was full sun breaking through the canopy here and there. That called for a little extra camera and computer craft. Well, here….

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

Moose Cam captured by P6000 on Lexar UDMA digital film

We left early Saturday morning looking for Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep, new snow and grand views. Had along Jake and good friend Jeff as we headed south. This particular canyon was new to Jeff so we took our own sweet time exploring it. We even got up to the mine where the caretaker provide us with a real cool, 20min history lesson.

Coming back down the mtn, stopped at a favorite place of mine to shoot. The sun was just coming over the ridge when we arrived at the spot. The range of light on the scene was too great for a single click so I used the technique I’ve been working on (and presenting at Photoshop World) adding the new twist of trying to shoot it handheld.

Just so happens I had the Moose Cam going, a little learning to start the week

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

Moose Cam captured by P6000 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Jake, our good friend Jeff Cable & I got out early this morning to check out the snow at the lower altitudes. We had a cold snow over xmas so it dumped snow where snow normally doesn’t make it. We had a great morning, I have a couple of image with Moose Cam to post on Monday. In the meantime, wanted to post this B&W of a favorite road of ours.

It’s a gorgeous place in the summer and fall and today with the snow and clouds, it made for a cool B&W image. The image is a simple run through Silver Efex Pro and then a Contrast Curve, painting in a little contrast in a couple of places in the photo.

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

We woke up this morning to a grogeous, warm sun bouncing light off the new snow. We had a pretty good xmas day storm that left another two feet of snow. With new snow comes new icecycles and my annual quest to make something photographic of them. Jake just happened to have his new 70-300VR from xmas lying around so I grabbed it and hung out the window.

The trick for me is to find the right background. What’s the right background? It’s gotta be dark, have some hint of color that translates through the icecycle and gives a sense of place. So finding a good looking icecycle, the drip and the background are what I stalk out the windows.

Photo captured by D700, 70-300VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

I’m now in Raleigh and as it should be this time of year, I’m sweating out the drive home this weekend from the airport because of a pending snow storm. I just hope it hits, we so need the moisture!

This image is from Yellowstone earlier this year, steam from the vents that has frozen to the nearby trees. This is what I’m hoping to see next week at our home where, we have only dirt in the front yard right now. Hopefully your photographic desires come to your viewfinder this weekend!

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

It was a very good day. Talked to some old friends, got a little writing done,  finished lessons due, learned a new term (lulz) and was honored by being asked to teach the Maine Media Workshops. Our week long class is Landscape Photography - Camera and Computer Craft and runs 25-31 Oct, 2009. It is based at the gorgeous MMW Campus in Rockport, ME and its advanced digital lab. The class is limited to just 15 and we’re told they fill quickly so hope you can join us. We can’t wait!

And the photo here, well, it’s about as far from the Maine coastline or harbor as you can get. I happen to be finishing this Mono Lake photo from last week when the call came in. I thought it was fortuitous so here it is. This is a 7 image composite for all the shadow detail that was finished using Silver Efex Pro.

Photo captured by D3, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film

We rose this morning to one thing we’re always thankful for seeing this time of year, new snow. The skies were blue, the trees white and the scent of turkey, was in the air.

And of course just as if I’d never seen snow before, I’m out with the camera trying to make an image (and I didn’t even slip, an annual ritual with first snow). I had a heck of a time between just not seeing things and the distraction of the boys being home and getting turkeys in the oven. The challenge was to act on the light fast enough when I saw it through the windows. Not that I was very successful, but looking at the images warms up the Peterson household of thoughts of the winter to come.

Oh yeah, I took these photos from the deck of our home, this is the view across the street.

Photos captured by D3, 200VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

There we were on the tranquil Convict Lake photographing the massive granite that makes the Sierra, embraced by the chill of the morning when, ka-splash! A few moments went by and than another, ka-splash. I turned from the photo you see above to see what was disrupting this pristine scene.

What do I see when I turn, the grinning RC. Why’s he grinning, he’s making ripples, at least, that was the excuse. We all know though what happens when you take a little boy to the edge of a lake where there are rocks. Yeap, you gotta throw them in. RC was definitely on to something though, you can check out his images, including the ripple here.

Past experience though told me, well, watch…..

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

Moose Cam captured by P6000 on Lexar UDMA digital film

Well, the guys are gone, the office is quiet again and technically we’ve increased our competition. Our gang were not only really, really nice folks, but pretty darn good photographers too. RC is bouncing off the walls with excitement from the You Can Do It Too week and with ideas to make the next one even better. Either that or he’s on a sugar high from all the desserts he’s consuming.

The image above is a 6 image (2×3) Ultra Wide Pano. I created this on our first morning shoot down at Mono Lake. The Moose Cam was present, so here’s a little more insight into this technique which takes just second to employ to create panos.

Photo captured by D3, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film