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

A Review of Some Lowe Pro Camera Packs

Good camera packs are some of the most important pieces of gear for an outdoor photographer. Most pro landscape photographers become experts on the various camera packs available since we constantly have to deal with the challenges of backcountry camera transport in the wilderness & weather, carry on luggage restrictions on airplanes, and the need to store lots of pricey lenses and cameras safely. Lowe Pro recently sent me some of their packs to evaluate so I thought I would share my impressions of these three products with my blog readers. All these Lowe packs come with an all weather cover to protect from rain and snow.

LowePro makes what I consider to be the ideal rolling camera pack with their ProRunner x450 AW. What is great about this pack is that it has very heavy duty wheels that allow you to roll the pack through airports, and it also has a very sturdy and comfortable backpack harness that allow you to wear it as a backpack when you are on location in rough terrain. It is a good size for transporting my Hasselblad H4D medium format camera and a selection of lenses. The backpack harness tucks away nicely behind a panel, making this case very stealthy. I like that is does not scream "I have lots of expensive equipment in here". I refuse to check my Hasselblad camera bodies or lenses in checked luggage for obvious reasons, so I always need to have my act together with the carry on baggage requirements for the airlines. With this rolling pack I can also carry another smaller backpack with me as a smaller carry on and I have all the valuable stuff with me in the overhead bin when I fly. In tiny airplanes I find that the smaller backpack can go in the overhead bin and the rolling pack will fit under the seat - this avoids having to leave the rolling pack on those carts where people leave their larger carry ons on smaller planes. LowePro does not skimp with the included accessories - this pack comes with a very nice padded laptop case that will fit a 15" laptop. There is also a nice extra front zippered compartment with lots of organizational pockets.

 Every photographer also needs what I call the "mother ship" case  where you can store all the lenses and other odds & ends photography requires in an organized way. Lowe Pro makes what has to be the ultimate mother ship with their Magnum 650 shoulder case. This bag is huge - you can even fit a laptop in here. It also includes an extra padded laptop case and a very nice CF card holder case. The top opening makes everything readily accessible. There are also numerous organizational pockets. I use the Magnum case to hold everything that is not in my camera backpack, so I can add and subtract from my pack whatever a specific shoot requires.

The other case I use a lot is a fanny pack design to hold my panasonic GH2 and all its lenses. I usually put this on when I take my dog for her morning walk so I have a great lightweight camera system with me. The LowePro Inverse 200 seems to be the perfect size for holding the GH2 and 2 lenses. It also has 2 waterbottle holders on the sides and convenient cf card pockets  in the top lid. The extra zippered pouch in the front holds odds & ends. What I like best about this is you can really snug it tight with the compression straps so it will not bounce around. This is a very well thought out and functional pack for active photographers.

The Changing Range of Light Receives Indie Publishing Award

I am pleased to announce that The Changing Range of Light, portraits of the Sierra Nevada, has received an Eric Hoffer Excellence in Independent Publishing Award in the Art Book Category.

The Eric Hoffer Award Mission Statement

The Hoffer Award was founded at the start of the 21st century (with permission from the Eric Hoffer Estate) to honor freethinking writers and independent books of exceptional merit.  The “Hoffer” honored prose is largely unpublished and the books are chiefly from small, academic, and micro presses, including self-published offerings. Throughout the centuries, writers such as Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Wolfe have taken the path of self-publishing rather than have their ideas forced into a corporate or sociopolitical mold. The books and prose of the Hoffer Award are nominated by the people and judged by independent panels. Winners of the “Hoffer” are given prizes, honors, and worldwide media exposure, as well as being covered in the US Review of Books and published in the annual anthology, Best New Writing. The Hoffer Award will continue to be a platform for and the champion of the independent voice.