Small Snow Drifts

Tomorrow's forecast: blizzard. This pre-blizzard 'small' snow drift was taken at Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park yesterday. I took some time this past weekend to hike around, take photographs, and most importantly introduce our new puppy, Cider, to Jordan Pond. He officially loves running through the 'small' snow drifts at full speed, it's more like a belly-flop with legs everywhere. After tomorrow's 2 feet of fresh snow and 50 mph wind gusts, this scene will look completely different - ah, the impermanence of nature. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/14, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, 1/25/15, 1:42 PM

 

Small Snow Drifts, Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park, Maine

 

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Demystified Mist

As I was driving down the dirt road in Death Valley National Park, this scene was revealing itself just ahead of me. After a couple of minutes, I finally had the sense to stop and capture some photos. This was not the intended subject, but who could resist light like this? Five minutes later the entire scene was gone.

This image reminds me of a photography quip: "shoot it when you see it". How many times do you see something and say I'm too busy or I'll come back to shoot it? I've said that dozens of times - now I try to shoot it, rather than pass by the scene. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200, 12/12/14, 2:21 PM

Demystified Mist, Death Valley National Park, California

Afternoon Manna

After two hours of hiking around the dunes and over 85 different compositions, this is my favorite image from Ibex Dunes in Death Valley National Park. Here's what amazes me about this photograph, it's the first shot I took of Ibex Dunes. Due to the dunes' remote location, I was fortunate to discover the dunes unmarred by other visitors' footprints. And yes, I visit other national parks during my vacations. There will be more Death Valley posts to come. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park. 

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 420mm (300mm + 1.4 Teleconverter), f/14, 1/160 sec, ISO 200, 12/18/14, 2:27 PM

Ibex Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California

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Gentle Falls

Imagine my surprise when I was greeted by these very gentle falls. After raining for a number of days, I expected dramatic waterfalls. I starting with some wide shots favoring my 16-35mm lens, and then I moved in closer to the falls and honed into this composition. I snapped a few more shots in close to the falls having to clean the lens of stray water droplets in between shots. At this point, I thought I was all set with a composition and exposure until I looked closely at the LCD. I zoomed in at 100% and checked the edges - soft and blurry, I'd reached the limit of this lens. Fortunately, I packed my 24-70mm lens for the trip. Time to swap lenses, recompose, and reshoot the scene (continuing to wipe away water droplets). Did I mention this was late afternoon and the sun was setting causing a change in light conditions? Though I had to shoot it twice, I'm very pleased with the outcome. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

This image was processed in Nik: Silver Efex Pro 2 using the 'Wet Rocks' filter.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 24-70mm @ 28mm, f/10, 3 secs, ISO 100, 12/26/14, 3:41 PM (sunset was 3:58)

 

Gentle Waterfalls, Acadia National Park, Maine

 

Sunset Encore

Very few wait for the 'sunset encore' (admittedly I just made this up ;-). It's the 15 minutes or so after the sun sets and the sky turns fire red. I was at the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia yesterday and just after the sun set 85% of the folks got up and left, just as my shooting went into high gear. I spotted this little puffy cloud against the big luminance clouds. The second shot was just before sunset, offering that soft golden light, as I noticed the rim lighting on these two. I played with desaturation to emphasize the colorful rim light. To learn how to create images like this, consider taking one of my nature photography workshops in Acadia National Park.

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 300mm, f/14, 1/6 sec, ISO 100, 10/25/14, 5:44 PM (12 minutes after sunset)

 

Sunset Encore, Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine

 

EXIF data: Nikon D800, 300mm, f/6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 800, 10/25/14, 5:22 PM (10 minutes before sunset)

Golden Rim Light, Blue Hill Overlook, Acadia National Park, Maine

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