New Images from Arches and Canyonlands with Nikon D800 E

Utah is one of my favorite places to photograph. The landscape seems so primordial and mysterious to me. I had the good fortune to be able to photograph Arches and Canyonlands National Park with the new 36 mp Nikon D800E. I chose the E version of this new camera because it produces a higher resolution image than the version with the extra filter (the D800). I am amazed by the dynamic range of this camera. I was able to pull out incredible detail in the shadows and highlights of images. This was especially important with the full moon images since the moon is so bright - I was able to bracket shots and had enough detail in the bright moon with the underexposures to bring back all the details in the moon craters. Since this camera is more difficult to stop down to f22 for depth of field, I took multiple exposures of images and different focus points so I would be able to stack them in Helicon Focus to create images with better depth of field. Medium Format cameras such as the Hasselblad can tolerate stopping down to f22 for depth of field, but the smaller sensors on these Nikon cameras produce distortion when they are stopped down more than f11 or so. This distortion degrades print quality. I love the Nikon 14-24 mm zoom and took my shot of Spring Sunrise, Arches with that lens and combined images in Helicon Focus. The other images were taken either with the 24-70mm zoom or the 70-200 zoom.

I am having difficulty getting the blogger software to properly display my images, so I am including a link to the new releases section of my website where the images are located (they are the first seven images):
http://www.elizabethcarmel.com/New-Release-Prints-from-Elizabeth-Carmel-s/84.htm

New Images from the Yucatan

We recently did a trip to the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico for spring break. Since this was mostly an R&R trip I did not do a lot of photography, however I had my new Nikon D800 with me so I got a few new shots that I was pleased with.  Nikon's newest 36 megapixel DSLR provides amazing resolution for large prints, and also has all the great features Nikon is known for such as the ability to shoot at high iso and the huge selection of really wide angle lenses all the way to extreme telephoto. One of our favorite locations to explore were the many cenotes and caves around the area. Plenty of opportunities for photography and I will be sure to return in the future to do more "underground" photography in the caves.  I also did some underwater photography with my Panasonic GH2 in its housing, which is the system I shot the sea turtle with. Hope you enjoy some of these new images!

Subterranean Garden, Yucatan

Bajo Tierra

Study in Pink

Tortuga Marina

Unique Winter Landscapes in the Sierra

We have had precious little snow in the Sierra this winter. While this is a big bummer for skiing and photographs of snowy landscapes; the unusual weather conditions do allow for some different winter landscapes than I normally shoot this time of the year. Many of the creeks in the area are frozen, which creates opportunities for some photographs using ice as part of the composition. Martis Valley is full of wonderful brown and red toned vegetation which contrasts nicely with the ice in the Martis Creek. Even though we have no snow it is still  worth getting out and enjoying the unique scenery of the frozen high Sierra region - no skis required! I hear Tioga Pass is even open. 

Approaching Winter, Martis Valley

Interview on Nik Radio

Here is a link to an interview I recently did about my photography on Nik Radio:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nik-radio/id365360524

New Autumn Images from West Virginia

West Virginia is a wonderful state for autumn photography. I was there a few weeks ago and enjoyed some colors at peak in many parts of the state. I started at Babcock State Park where the often photographed grist mill is ( remember it's not a cliche until you have the shot..). There was also a very colorful small lake at Babcock that had great color and reflections, so many of my keeper shots were from that area. West Virginia is a wonderful state to drive through in October. I only spent a few days there so I plan to go back again. I find that the eastern states have better red and orange colored foliage, which can be elusive in California where I live. These images are now on my website and are available as fine art prints. I will be featuring a few large prints of my favorites in our Truckee Gallery. Be sure to follow me on twitter and Facebook since those venues are updated more frequently than my blog, which usually only gets updated when I am introducing a new image series. Hope you enjoy these new images:

Autumn Splendor

American Autumn

Autumn Hues

Autumn Kaleidoscope I

Autumn Kaleidoscope II

Autumn Kaleidoscope III

Autumn Kaleidoscope V

Autumn Kaleidoscope IV

Forest Collage

Nature's Symphony

Scarlet Autumn

New Print Releases from Hawaii

I returned this week from a wonderful 10 days on the big island of Hawaii. We had great weather and good diving / snorkeling conditions. This was my first visit to the southernmost island - my main goal was to try out my underwater camera system while scuba diving and also to get some volcano shots. Since the there were no surface lava flows I focussed on getting shots of the lava glow at the Kilauea Caldera - fortunately the night I was photographing there was a full moon and some clouds that reflected the glow from the lava cauldron - it was an amazing sight to witness but challenging to photograph. I did a 16 second exposure for this scene at f 4.5  with the Hasselblad H4D. I was able to pull enough detail out of the file to get the shot even though it was underexposed. This was my favorite shot of the trip. 

Pele's Cauldron

My underwater housing for the Panasonic GH2 worked perfectly (see my previous post on underwater photography). I realized I really needed some underwater strobes to properly illuminate the beautiful corals and fish - since I relied on natural light my files have a blue cast that is difficult to remove even with the raw files. I was able to swim with this sea turtle for a while and get some shots and video. I will post video of this graceful creature (the sea turtle, not me) soon.

Kona Sea Turtle

Taken along the Kona Coast where there are beautiful corals

Any trip to the islands requires the Sunrise / Sunset and Palm Tree shots, so here are my contributions.

Big Island Sunrise

Taken at Kapoho tidepools area at low tide

Big Island Sunset

Taken along the Kohala coast

Gold Coast, Hawaii

Taken along the Kohala Coast

After visiting Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii Island I think the most dramatic landscapes are definitely on Kauai, however all the Hawaiian Islands have so much to photograph and experience - they are truly paradise. More of my Hawaii Photographs from previous trips are in my Hawaii Portfolio.

New Lake Tahoe Print Releases & Workshop Update

I had a wonderful 4 days of photography last week with my Lake Tahoe workshop group. We had a fabulous group of 10 people - 8 women and 2 men (usually the ratio is reversed in most workshops!). Jerry Dodrill joined us as a co-instructor. Jerry is a talented instructor, an inspired photographer, and an all round magnanimous person who freely shared his photo locations. The time around the summer solstice is hard work for landscape photography, since the magic hour arrives very early and very late. We were all a little sleep deprived by the end of the workshop. Here are some of my favorite shots from the past week which I have added to my website / portfolio. All of the images can be seen in my new releases portfolio. 

Wild Bonsai at Sunrise

aka "Jerry's Tree" since he shared the location with us

Summer Bloom, Lake Tahoe

This shot was taken with a 1 minute exposure and a split neutral density filter after the sun set (civil twilight) - the Lake turns very blue at twilight in this lagoon - I had to desaturate the lake since it looked so surreal in the raw capture file. 

Lake of the Sky

Morning Blessing, Emerald Bay

A wonderful morning of unexpected clouds at Emerald Bay - I removed the contrails which appeared right as the sky was illuminating. 

Sunglow, Eagle Falls

This time of the year the sun rises right behind that tree. The water in Eagle Falls was the highest in years.

Emerald Sunrise

The blues of twilight are amazing