14 Feb 10

A Walk In The Park

I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to one of my favorite spots in Colorado, the Great Sand Dunes National Park yesterday.  The plan was to get out to the Star Dune, the highest point of the dune field and shoot sunset and the amazing textures of the sand ripples around the dune.  It’s a pretty long and strenuous hike to get to the Star Dune but I had plenty of time before sunset and nothing better to do than torture myself climbing 700 ft high drifts of sand while getting microdermabrasion on any exposed skin.  The wind was sustained at about 35 mph with some incredible gusts that were almost knocking me over.

Nature's Fury

Notice the blowing sand off the foreground ridge!

There were times when I couldn’t even turn around to face the mountains and set up the camera.  I was able to capture a few shots only because the camera was protecting my face and I could kind of see what was going on in the viewfinder.  I thought I was witnessing a beautiful sunset but I honestly couldn’t see it unless I looked through a viewfinder.  As you can imagine this whole ordeal was very frustrating and I cursed a lot and very loudly at the wind but I wasn’t giving up.  However I didn’t make it all the way to Star Dune.  I didn’t see the point.  I was on the ridge leading up to it, blowing around in the wind and getting sandblasted so I didn’t think the conditions were going to be any more pleasant if I climbed higher.  So I found a decent location for sunset, not based on foreground elements or interesting composition but rather based on how tolerable the blowing sand and wind was.  So therefore I don’t have any “winners” as far as composition goes from this trip but the clouds did turn a magical pink and with some cropping I was able to get a few shots.

Pano

And here is one more I liked from earlier that day taken on my way up the dunes from the south.  I like how the sky had so much definition and drama and I thought the dunes and snow covered peaks created a cool contrast.  And of course a sky like that begs for a black and white conversion so I got to play around with Silver Efex Pro again.

In The Clouds

No matter how many times I go to the Dunes and how much I scream at the wind and the loose sand under my feet, I end up loving the place even more and always come away with some winning images.  The conditions there are so extreme but that’s what makes for interesting photography.  Now I have the sand in my gear and clothes and the discomfort of scratched cornea as an annoying reminder of my adventure but it is always worth it in the end.  Not getting lost on my way out in the dark without a GPS unit is a sweet bonus as well :)

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12 Feb 10

Photography vs. Valentine’s Day

I am in no way a fan of Valentine’s Day, as a matter of fact I am trying to start a tradition of spending some quiet time at the Great Sand Dunes National Park during that weekend every year.  But I know the conflict of love and photography is something a lot of us struggle with so I wanted to share my thoughts on the topic. 

It appears that all of us are in search of the perfect balance between a happy home life and freedom to pursue our passion.  Being a woman I am not sure if I am at an advantage or disadvantage here but that’s the only perspective I have and can only guess how it compares to men.  I don’t even know if being male or female really plays any role in it since one can have a very understanding partner (male or female) or quite the opposite.  Some people might not be fine being left behind while we’re out on a photo shoot every weekend.  It takes a special person to put up with us :)   So if you are a significant other to a photographer this might be some insight that may help you better understand the person you’re with.

From what I have seen so far nature photographers (myself included) are a bit of solitary creatures.  And it has nothing to do with our personalities but more with how we work.  I know a lot of photographers who love to socialize and meet people at gatherings and art shows.  But when it comes to being “out there” capturing the scene, we do best alone.  And that’s where the challenge comes in.  We want to spend time with our loved ones and even invite them on our photo trips.  I actually love it when I can show someone that special moment when the light is perfect, the color is nothing like what they have ever seen before and they instantly understand (I hope) the feeling I get when I am able to witness and capture that moment.  However, how may of us have been on trips where we could spend hours photographing a waterfall but in the back of our head’s there is that thought that others are waiting for you and they are bored, cold, hot, etc.  Even if they are patient and not in any discomfort, that thought in your head can take over and impede the creative process.  You feel rushed and not focusing on producing your best work.  Where as, if I was there alone, I could focus all of my attantion inside that viewfinder where time has no meaning.

So we have to find ways to compromise.  Obviously things are easier if you have found someone who at least shares your love of the outdoors.  This way you can include them in a trip and reserve some alone time for the photo shoots.  And I guess I should consider myself lucky in that respect, having found someone who I can drag around the world on my crazy adventures with a smile on his face.  Or maybe luck has nothing to do with it.  I don’t think I could see a future with someone who was not as passionate about the outdoors as I am. 

And then there are the hours we spend alone in front of a computer or in the dark room processing what we have captured.  Followed by more hours on internet photo forums talking about the images and gear (which we can never have too much of).  Let’s face it, we’re not the easiest people to be with or around.  For the most part we’re driven to the point of obsession to chase the light and capture it and sometimes we forget about the world and people outside of that viewfinder. 

I don’t know if there is a happy ending out there for all of us.  The optimist in me believes there is but people change and happy endings are not always in the stars.  For now all I can do is try to step away from the camera from time to time and try to understand that I can’t always have it my way and that sometimes I have to compromise.   And hope that the person I am with can deal with my random solo trips and that those trips and this hobby keep me sane so that when I come home I can be a better, more understanding person.

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3 Feb 10

One More Arch Shot

Here is another view of the Delicate Arch at sunset.  I have a feeling that I will be visiting this place frequently from now on but I doubt I’ll ever get conditions similar to what I witnessed that day.

The One You Missed

The One You Missed

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30 Jan 10

The Dilemma of Photographing Icons

During my planning stages for my first photography trip to Moab I was well aware of the fact that these National Parks (Arches and Canyonlands) as well as Dead Horse Point State Park have been some of the most photographed locations in the Southwest. Nonetheless, I knew that eventually ever photographer has to add these icons to their collection and hope that there is something different about it. So dreadfully I set out to capture what nature gives me but deep inside I was hoping for some unique conditions. And getting unique conditions is sometimes pure luck but a lot depends on observation of natural phenomena and being at the right place at the right time. And this weekend it all came together for me: snow, clouds and location.

Since I didn’t have much of a plan I decided to photograph sunrise at the Dead Horse Point Overlook. It’s a really magnificent spot that offers an amazing vista of the Colorado River as it cuts a winding deep canyon through the Colorado Plateau. Here is a close up shot of an illuminated Mesa as it is reflected in the Colorado River. I did get a few wider shots but this zoomed in version appealed to me a lot more.

Sunrise Over Colorado River

I had some reservation about shooting sunset at the Delicate Arch since it is such a commonly photographed icon. However, I was watching the building clouds to the east and decided it might be worth the shot (pun intended). The hike to the Arch is about 1.5 miles over some slick rock and relatively well maintained trail that is really easy to follow. So I was ready to share the moment with a large number of photographers. To my surprise I was one of four to get there before sunset. And what was even more surprising, two of them decided to head back before the “show” even begun. I wasn’t really upset about it because they weren’t the nicest of people and complained the entire time about the light, me being in their oh soooo extra wide Canon 17mm frame (sarcasm), and the fact that the trail gets scary after dark. One day I might write about how so many people and their lame excuses frustrate me. But on the bright side, the party police departure meant that I was one of only two photographers to capture the magic. And here is what they missed:

Fire On The Mountain

I hope you enjoy my version of the over photographed icons. My goal for this trip was to make this place my own by showing it a little different. I think I was able to convey that by purposely visualizing and composing images for black and white conversions (my previous post) and getting lucky with some incredible light conditions that are pretty rare in the Southwest. Let me know what you think as landscape photography is a never ending learning process and I value your input.

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26 Jan 10

Entrada Formation in Monochrome

This post was born from some discussions I’ve had with another photographer and some of my personal experiences in the past few weeks.

Here is a rhetorical question: do you think that when Dali sat down in front of his canvas he wondered if the masterpiece would look better in crayons?  I’m not even going to dignify it with a pause for your answer…  He was an artist with a vision and knew exactly how he would create his masterpiece.

The same goes (or should go) for photographer.  A photographer should know ahead of time how he/she wants to display the finished image.  It should not matter what others think might look better.  Unless of course they pay you enough to retire for that one print done their way while you hit your head against the wall for selling out.  But otherwise, it’s your artistic vision that dictates how you process, mat and frame your “masterpiece”.  And this is not a decision made during the post processing but from the beginning of the creative process of composing the scene.

My first introduction to photography was done on a 35mm Nikon camera loaded with Kodak B&W Tri-X film that I later got to develop and print in the darkroom.  So I might be a little sentimental and a little bias about B&W images.  But I feel that too many photographers treat it as just another option for an image ( click of a mouse button in photoshop) when it should be it’s own entity.

Now, actually getting to the point of knowing exactly how your finished product should look like from the start might take some time for some.  Sometimes it’s just not as clear cut as we all wish.  But than there are times when a photographer heads out to Arches and Canyonlands Natn’l Parks on a perfectly stormy January weekend.  Those cloudy desert days are not very common so it’s always a treat and I was in photo heaven.  Not only did I have some dramatic clouds during the “golden hour” but the sky was filled with the perfect, wispy clouds that kept me shooting all day.  And each time I stumbles on a composition there was never a question as to it’s future.  The urge to keep the beautiful red of the Entrada Formation against white snow in color was pretty strong but I knew there was only one way to treat it and that was black and white.

Here is one that might be my favorite from this weekend.

Ghost Outside The Window

When I saw the incredible texture of the dead log with melting snow around it and the sky full of those clouds I knew exactly what I had to do.

And here is another one of my favorites.

Heavens Through Double Arch

Fortunately, when I was capturing this image I was lucky enough to have a few brief moments of overcast as the sun hid behind one of the clouds.  This made it that much easier to expose the image properly and show the incredible detail of the rock, even at noon :)

Let me know what you think of the images and if you have a strong opinion on B&W versus color images.  I’m always up for a heated discussion and learning a few new things along the way.  And don’t despair, I did take a few sweet sunset shots that I intend to keep in color and show off that fantastic red of the Entrada Formation so stay tuned  :)

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10 Jan 10

Igloo Camping, Lake Haiyaha, Rocky Mountains National Park

This was my second time building an igloo and my third time sleeping in one. But first here is a little background.  When I first moved to CO I did a lot of research on any hike and backpacking trip I could get my hands on.  One of my favorite and most useful sites has become Around Colorado.  The site hasn’t seen much action since 2006 but is still a great resource for trip ideas.  There I found out about igloo camping and Igloo Ed the inventor of the IceBox.

Igloo Ed

I decided this is something I just have to try.  Then one great morning of shooting sunrise at Dream Lake I run into Ed on the trail.  After about a 45 minute chat on the side of the trail we agreed to plan an igloo camping trip together.  I mean who ever gets a private lesson on the equipment from the inventor himself???

Fast forward a few months and few igloo trips later and we’re back to January 2010.  It’s a new year and it’s time to start it off right.  So we head out to build and stay one night in an igloo.

We get to the Bear Lake trail head parking lot before 8 am after getting our back country camping permits at the RMNP entrance station. We meet another person, Rob who will hike in with us and help with the building but will not be staying over night.   We strap on our snowshoes and backpacks and head down the trail towards Dream Lake.  However we are only on the trail for a few hundred yards before we turn off at the big boulder and head down one of Ed’s back country trails.  This is one of my favorite things about hiking with Ed.  There is nobody else out there who knows the park as well as Ed.  OK, maybe I can think of one other person but him and Ed are friends anyway so it doesn’t count ;) .  Even though the forecast for Estes Park called for partly sunny skies, we were surrounded by clouds and it snowed on and off the entire trip.  The trail to our designated igloo location is not very long, just over 2 miles but has a few steep and challenging parts, especially when you consider trekking through a few feet of snow with a heavy pack on.

We reach the frozen Lake Haiyaha around noon.  The lake itself is a really amazing place as the lake is slowly draining water out of it throughout the year making the water level drop in winter months as the thick layer of ice cracks around some of the rocks and boulders that usually hide below the water surface.  We step onto the ice and proceed to cross the lake to get to our igloo site just on the other side that is protected by freshly snowed over pine trees.

View from our igloo site

After a quick snack we begin building our igloo.  Having 4 people working together we get the platform done relatively fast and we start on building the walls of the igloo using Ed’s IceBox tool.  Each block is built by filling a plastic form with snow.  Now this is where most people have trouble and believe only a specific snow will work best.  Ed taught us before how to find the best snow and how to mix it with the heavier stuff to maximize our efforts.  This being our second time building we move a lot faster and have the complete igloo ready in about 7 hours.  I’m not saying it wasn’t an effort, quite the contrary.  It’s still a lot of hard work but once you sit inside with a stove going you get the feeling of amazing accomplishment.  And contrary to general belief, the igloo is a very comfortable and warm shelter.  There is no material flapping loudly in the wind, and the temperature stays a few degrees above freezing.  Therefore you never have to worry about your drinking water freezing.  We were actually able to dry our soaked jackets and boots inside.  My trick was sticking two sets of hand warmers inside my boots overnight.  It’s really the perfect shelter that usually lasts through the season.  I can’t wait to get back to it in a few weeks and really enjoy the area.

Igloo the next morning

Since most of the trip the weather didn’t cooperate I wasn’t able to capture any great landscape images but I did spend some time on the ice having fun with some abstract images of ice.  I could honestly spend all day with this subject.  I guess it’s good then that Matt and Ed dragged me away before I got frostbite or fell through the ice.  We actually heard ice cracking as I was packing away my camera gear.  It put a little fire under my butt and made me get off the ice faster ;) .

Ice abstract

And here is another shot of the ice:

Ice Abstract 2

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