There is a place I go to photograph off a non-descript pullout on Highway 14. It’s found along the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, it’s easy to get to, and I keep returning for the view. Mt Hood stands over the town of Hood River, Oregon and windsurfers and kite boarders ride the winds to skip across the summer swells of the Columbia River. Osprey, bald eagles, and vultures fly overhead and an occasional wild turkey gobbles from the nearby woods. It sounds idyllic, but it’s not. Cars speed by to someplace unknown, semi-trucks roar through with a blast of wind at their backs, and litter is scattered about the land. I come here to watch fireworks in July and I arrive for the view, but mostly I keep returning to photograph.
I love the view from here looking west down the Columbia River Gorge. I usually frame my image of the scene with 20% land and 80% sky, capturing the receding buttresses of the Gorge dwarfed by the skies above. In this transition zone from wet to dry, the heavens paint a different canvas each and every day—and so I return. Some days I arrive for sunrise, sometimes sunset, and other times to catch the drama of spring showers and rainbows, but everyday it’s about the view that is forever changing.
Do you have a place you keep returning to? Let me know in your reply.
One of the West’s great photographic treats is visiting the Klamath Basin on the Oregon and California border during the fall or spring bird migration. I’m not a birder, but the site of so much wildlife surrounded by a beautiful stark landscape always makes me excited to take photographs. My recent spring trip with Sean Bagshaw was brief, but the birds were ample, the light fantastic, and we were able to break in his new camper on its maiden voyage.
Sean Bagshaw at an information booth.
I’ve photographed here during the fall and spring migrations, and I find the success rate as a photographer better in the spring than the fall due to fall hunting. When the hunters are out the birds are more wary and skittish, and who can blame them? I also find the water reflections more abundant and interesting during the spring migration, which helps with landscape photo opportunities. Fall light offers nice rust tones in the trees and fields for colorful background, but I still prefer photographing here during spring.
During my fall visit a few years ago, I paid for a permit to the wildlife refuge which allowed me to reserve time in different photo blinds. There is a raptor blind, a cramped songbird blind, a water fowl blind, and a wading-bird blind. Some are better at sunset or sunrise, and some are better in spring than fall, so choose your blind accordingly. (For example, the wading-bird blind is better in the spring, since the area can dry out by fall and then wading birds are elsewhere.) If you schedule a blind for the morning expect to be there before sunrise to escape the watchful eyes of your subjects. You may also apply for an afternoon session, but there are limits on how long you can stay in any one blind.
Prairie Falcon
For this spring season visit, Sean and I drove the back roads of the refuge looking for flocks. We traded information with other photographers and locals, and then relocated as necessary to find the next flock. Usually a drive along Stateline Road is a good starting strategy. Local etiquette asks that you keep your distance from the birds, so bring a lens with enough power that you’re not chasing the birds away. And remember to be respectful of the other people who are there to observe.
Flock of Snow Geese
Snow Geese Reflection
During sunset we found some ponds which offered opportunity for reflected light, and for morning we chose to photograph a flooded field with Mount Shasta standing sentinel in the distance. At the southern end of Tule Lake, you’ll find Captain Jack’s Stronghold where the Modocs defended themselves for a year against soldiers and settlers until surrendering in 1873.
Mount Shasta stands sentinel over the Klamath Basin.
Sunset over the Klamath Basin
I haven’t been here for the winter raptor photo opportunities, but I’ve heard it’s a regular smorgasbord of birds. If you’re interested in photographing raptors feasting on waterfowl, the best time to arrive is February. The “Winter Wings” festival is usually held mid-February, so around this time you’ll be there near peak.
If you’re planning a trip here, there are neighboring camping opportunities and the nearby town of Klamath Falls, Oregon offers ample lodging. Also note that many of the parking areas require permits, which can be picked up from most of the surrounding markets.
The last week of January, I stepped out to photograph the first wildflowers to rise up on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. After so many gray days, the splash of color lifted my mood.
Color was the first thing that attracted my eye in photography. When I walked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in the 90s, my eyes and my trusty point-and-shoot seemed to be attracted to nothing but color. I guess that’s what started me with garden and flower photography in the first place.
So when I look for photographic possibilities, I tend to look for color and how those colors on the opposite ends of the color wheelattract each other. Whether it is a field of flowers or a sandstone arch against a blue Utah sky – I look for opposite colors to attract. Claude Monet said “Color owes its brightness to force of contrast rather than to its inherent qualities … primary colors look brightest when they are brought into contrast with their complementaries.” Look at a Monet painting and you’ll notice the cool tones in shadow next to the complementary warm ones in light. At Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France he intentionally had plants in the complementary scheme planted next to each other. It’s a good trick to use in photography as well. In this image of the Palouse at harvest time, I used a Singh-ray Gold-Blue filter to accentuate the colors and help those opposites attract.
When photographing flowers, it’s easy to find their opposite color on the color wheel. The two examples below feature poppies next to bachelor buttons, and a red poppy surrounded by green grass. The opposites help make each other pop.
The image below may be two boats, but what I was really thinking about was color. This was true as well with the grand landscape of Waimea Canyon on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The canyon image was less about the landscape to me and more about the interplay of those tropical greens and rich reds of the volcanic soil.
Sometimes the color just isn’t there in my images, so I paint it in later with Photoshop. The image below of Wahclella Falls in the Columbia River Gorge had some nice fall color, but it needed a little more. By going to my blue channel, I added more blue to the image and then hit: Edit>Fill>Black to bring the image back to its original form. With my brush tool, I then painted blue back into the basalt cliffs at about 6%. This subtle touch of blue gave the illusion of adding more pop to my yellows. Again, opposites attract.
Color is what brought me into photography, and it’s color that keeps me interested. By paying attention to what colors surround you and how that can be used to your advantage, you’ll become a better photographer.
I often browse the internet for inspiration and I’m moved by those who dare to do something different, dare to fail, and dare to have an original thought. I may not participate in their style of photography, but I appreciate it and it gets me thinking, “what if…”
Recently I became aware or four photographers who inspire me in different ways. The first is Gregg Kerber’stake on focus blur and photographing fireworks. By slowly sharpening his lens focus over a period of 2-5 seconds, Gregg is able to capture some astonishing images that look more like giant flowers in the sky than fireworks. These are truly inspiring and worth a try during my next fireworks photo shoot.
Then there’s Chris Friel, who I first noticed on Flickr. He decided to return to his painting days and incorporate a painterly style into his multiple-exposure photography. The finished affects are creative and stunning, and change a simple landscape image into abstract art. I admire the ability to experiment with new digital technology, and this sort of creativity opens up so many possibilities and hours of enjoyment with a camera.
Catherine Nelson comes from the world of painting and film. She’s worked creatively on some major motion pictures, but her photography is intricate and innovative as she blends together many images to create worlds of her own. The blending and painting are seamless in these small worlds of Eden, and the eye wanders about the landscape noticing the life and detail within. Her nature photography is expressed through these small globes of diversity.
For those of you who complain about too much Photoshop, take a look at Jessica Eaton’s work. She still uses film and does not use Photoshop, but her work with in-camera multiple exposure and darkroom techniques attest to what can and has been created without the digital darkroom. For her patterns of color and form one doesn’t need digital technology to be artistic, it only helps simplify and expand the process. The mind still holds the key to creativity, where there are simply no limits.
These are four photographers who have inspired lately, and their techniques will somehow influence mine in a small way. Their brilliant work has stirred my soul, moved me to photograph, encouraged me to experiment, and motivated me to create. And isn’t that what art is all about?
It’s that time again in the Pacific Northwest when I’m on the search for fall aspen. The season usually runs from mid-September to late October, depending on the elevation and whether the aspen stand is in the eastern or western sections of the Pacific Northwest. Even though I seem to photograph aspen every year, I never tire of the challenge–and challenging it is. What follows are a few ways I’ve found to improve your chances of taking an aspen image you’ll like.
First, USE A POLARIZER! This not only cuts down on the leaf reflection, but also adds to the pop and warmth of the leaves. When shooting fall aspen, also pay attention to your histogram’s red channel, because your RGB average may indeed seem inside the histogram but that doesn’t mean you’re losing information on the red channel and detail on your leaves.
You’ll need to find an interesting stand when photographing aspen, because color alone doesn’t cut it. Look for interesting trunks and avoid deadfall. Ask yourself if the trunks have an interesting form? Are there corridors within the forest that will lead the eye into the scene? Another way to add interest to an aspen scene is to photograph the smaller trees among the larger. This adds color and interest to the lower sections of the stand, and breaks up the monotony.
With most forest photography of fir and pine, I often climb a hill and shoot towards the middle section of the forest. Not so with aspen. With aspen I find myself shooting more level or sometimes uphill. I also climb a hill and shoot down, but only if I want to include the color of leaves for a golden background behind nicely formed trunks.
Another tip is to shoot aspen from far above. From here, the color itself can create interesting patterns and become form. Fallen aspen leaves shot with a macro lens can have a similar effect and pattern, especially when dotted with water droplets.
I find a zoom or medium-wide angle lenses works best when photographing aspen. This doesn’t cause too much distortion in the trunks, and easily frames the interest of the shot. I also use these lenses when creating an aspen panorama in order to avoid image distortion while stitching. Of course, image blur may be what you’re after with a forest pan. Aspens are great for that when the light is at higher contrast. I often use this technique with a shutter speed between ¼ and 1 second, and simply pan vertically while shooting. The results are a crapshoot, but you’ll find yourself getting more successes with practice.
The best aspen stands to be found in the Pacific Northwest are scattered about the region, and here are a few of my favorites:
1)The Steens Mountains in eastern Oregon are known for fall aspen, so arrive for some early season practice.
2)The road between East Glacier and Saint Mary, Montana has wonderful craggy aspens, and these often change the third week of September.
3)There are some great stands near Stanley, Idaho, but you’ll need to search them out and recent fires have hurt some areas.
4)Check out Washington’s Columbia River Plateau near Mount Adams for some great fall aspen amongst ranchland.
5)Also the road between Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee in Washington supplies a variety of aspen color including deep red.
6)In southern Oregon near the Klamath Basin, you’ll find a few stately groves which look best in the snow.
There are still a few weeks left to take part in the fall aspen shoot, and hopefully these tips will prove handy.
I’m often in a quandary about how to pack my lens gear when I travel, especially if it’s a backpacking trip. Some people use extra filters for glass protection with a lens cap, while others simply wrap their lenses in jeans. When backpacking, (see “Tips for Backpacking with Camera Gear: ultra-light”) I’ve often used thinkTank photo lens pouchesto hold my lens inside the pack, then I slip the holsters through my butt-pack belt loop for day hikes once I’ve made a base camp. I think I may change that backpacking pack strategy now that DeluxeGear has developed the new Lens Guard. It’s created with neoprene with an outer shell of rubber for premium protection for the lens. My guess is that this protection would withstand my most brutal backpacking trips. The largest lens guard offered only weighs 11.8 ounces (335 grams), so it is fairly light too.
In the video below, an employee for DeluxeGear throws a lens across the room without a crack in the equipment. There may not be a mark on the outside of the lens, but it does beg the question if all that tiny gear inside still works?
Below I show my Canon 400 2.8 lens in its carrying case, and this works for me. However, I have taken this lens on the road packed only in a camera bag (to save weight for small airplane travel) for forays into the Alaskan backcountry a camera bag isn’t the best protection for this expensive lens, especially in a small Cessna plane with other gear packed on top. I have another shot below of the extra protection the Lens Guard offers.
Of course, throwing your lens is an extreme example of how to protect your gear. Most lenses are broken from simple bumps or drops, and I’m sure protection will easily be offered there too. This product is created for all sizes and makes of lens guards for Canon, Nikon, Tamron, Sigma, Zeiss, Pentax, and many more brands. You can find their compatibility sizing chart here: Lens Guard Compatibility Chart . So, if you’re a backpacker, a klutz, or just want to protect those expensive lenses with a little more padding than a lens cap, then Lens Guard might be something you can use.
“A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts.”
-Sivananda
I recently returned from the Black Hills of South Dakota with photographer Christian Heeb, and he kept calling me a detail photographer. One day while observing me with a macro lens he mentioned that, “Here I was in the expanse of the Badlands and I spent my time leaning over a dead frog encased in dry, cracked mud.” I’m a details photographer.
Another day we walked a valley with flowers and rock spires in the Black Hills. Instead of the larger landscape, I chose a bundle of Black-eyed Susans to capture some detail. For me, it’s not all about the wide-angle lens—I often choose the zoom or macro lenses to capture the smaller and more intimate scenes. These lenses are useful in telling a piece of the location’s story.
For instance, this beautiful Lakota woman looks fabulous in her red dress, surrounded by the flowering Horse Mint. But look closer. Another part of the story is her fine bead work, her silver ring, her hands—the details. So, I got in closer with a zoom lens to help tell that part of the story.
With landscapes too, I often leave that wide-angle lens behind to pick out scenes of light and form. This helps to get me out of that “wide-angle rut” I so often see in newer landscape photographers. There was an expansive scene to be shot at Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills, but this morning I preferred the one with a zoom to capture the details of light on the cliff-face and rock. This image not only provided more interest and drama to the scene, but the nearby trees also helped give a sense of scale.
With a macro lens, I look for the details in flowers or smaller life along the ground. Often I add a Canon 500D diopter (close-up filter) and extension tubes to get as close as possible. This not only lets me capture the play of light on a small scale, but offers me countless opportunities for composition and detail. I work on these Yellow Salsify seedpods every year, and never tire of it because of the millions of compositions to be created with a shallow depth-of-field.
Capturing the details helps provide another point of view while also improving your photography, by forcing you to think and compose out of your comfort zone. Next time you see that expansive scene, stop and consider what the smaller scenes may bring. Because for me, the details help capture the big picture.
They’re called the Alps of Oregon and lie in the northeast corner of the state, bordered by deep canyons, glacial moraines, and a few scattered picturesque barns. Near the town of Joseph you can photograph the mountains with a red barn in the foreground and maybe a few stray mares or you can use the crescent-shaped Wallowa Lake as a foreground leading into your mountain setting. I prefer to backpack into these mountains for the harder to get to wilderness view.
I’ve entered the 358,461 acre Eagle Cap Wilderness from different starting points and the easiest is just outside of the town of Joseph. I’ve hiked in from the west for a longer approach up the flower-filled broad valleys for a more gradual climb, but my favorite is from the more rugged south, catching a few views of the south’s craggy peaks and the handful of waterfalls that dot the area. After topping a pass or two you descend into the heavily visited lakes basin area for the stunning views of the namesake peak Eagle Cap. Pick one of the lakes for a base camp and photograph the Eagle Cap reflections from different points around the wilderness. Spend a few days at the higher elevation Glacier Lake for high-country views of Glacier Peak and Eagle Cap. An easy climb to the Eagle Cap mountaintop allows a stunning 360 vista of the wilderness and the outlying valleys and canyons.
Eagle Cap and Glacier Peak from Glacier Lake
I’ve brought a whole array of lenses into the Wallowas. I’m always packing my wide and medium-wide angle, but also a macro for flower photography, and I’ve packed my 70-200mm zoom in for more intimate scenes around the lake country. You can read more about backpacking with camera gear in my previous blog “Tips for Backpacking with Camera Gear (ultralight).”
Mirror Lake & Eagle Cap
Late July and early August are my favorite months to photograph here because snow still lingers in the mountains, but September is also nice for the bug-free air. If you decide on the earlier season, bring an ample amount of bug spray for the mosquito hoards. And if you’d rather not carry your gear on your back, stock or llama packing can be rented in the town of Joseph. If you forgot something at home, last-minute supplies can usually be found in Joseph or the larger town of Enterprise a few miles away.
So if you’re looking for a great backcountry experience with fantastic photographic opportunities this summer, the Alps of Oregon is the place to go.
For the average person, the social network Google+ can seem a bit daunting, baffling, and confusing–with some head scratching in-between. The new book by Colby Brown, Google+ for Photographers lays out all the “how-tos” in an easy chapter-by-chapter read. Even though this reads as a hands-on approach to the Google+ network, every chapter offers a new way to market your photography online. For that alone this book is a valuable asset. It takes you through the initial set up of your account, to using the new Google+ app on your smartphone. Colby knows what he’s talking about here, because at last check he had almost a million-and-a-half people following him.
Colby gets you started with a how-to in building your profile page; taking you step-by-step through the process which includes suggestions for setting up your profile and Google+ site. He explains how to create circles (this is the Google+ way of sharing and filtering your interactions with others), and how to manage, organize, and communicate through those circles.
Best of all, this is a book about marketing yourself online, and he details the posting process and how to create and share a post that stands out from the crowd. You’ll find information on profiling your image for the web, commenting on posts, and +1ing on other posts. Since Google+ is so photographer-friendly, Colby helps you organize your images in albums via Picasa. Each chapter features an amateur or professional photographer in its “Photographer’s Perspective;” outlining what they appreciate most about the Google+ online photo community and how they interact best with that community.
One of the great features of the Google+ network is the Skype-like “hang-out” which offers the photographer ways to connect with up to 9 other people in a video conference. This allows for business meetings, group chats, classes, or photography reviews with people all over the world. Colby not only covers the possibilities of a hang-out session, but also takes you through an easy step-by-step process. I tried my first hang-out last month and had a great time conferencing with fellow f-Stop-sponsored photographers (including Photo Cascadia member Sean Bagshaw).
Google+ is quickly becoming a major online community of photographers, and reading Colby Brown’s Google+ for Photographers, is a step in the right direction for understanding and interacting with that community. This book weighs-in at 215 pages and retails for $24.99 ($15.50 on Amazon). It is available in paperback and Kindle versions.
So what if it rains? This is the Pacific Northwest after all and rain is part of life here. I guess that’s why I have a plan B and C during my workshops, to take care of such eventualities. Last weekend was “Dave’s Worst-Weather-Ever Workshop” along the northern Oregon and southern Washington coastlines. The rain and wind storms were pretty bad. A lot of people thought the sun came with me for all my workshops, and I was getting pretty cocky after continually seeing the clouds part at the beginning of a session and close up when it ended. In lieu of staying indoors a bit more and concentrating on processing (which we did), here are a few photo tips for when it rains along the Oregon and Washington coastlines. (Canon and Nikon seal their cameras pretty well, other makers seal them tightly to not-so-much, so know how well your camera does before taking it out in the rain.)
1)Carry a good camera bag and rainfly: I have to admit I love the back access on the f-Stop camera bags during a rainstorm. I just set the bag down on the wet sandy beach, rainfly side down, and access all my equipment. When I put the pack back on my back, the muddy side is on the outside and the clean side is against my back. That way my rain jacket keeps me dry a lot longer. A good rainfly for your camera bag can be picked up at any outdoor store.
2)Use a rain cover for your camera: I often opt for the cheap grocery store plastic bag version with a hole cut in it, but there are a whole host of good camera rain covers out there. Simply Google “camera rain cover” and you’ll have a variety to choose from. They vary from the cheap homemade versions like mine to the bomb-proof Think-Tank Hydrophobia.
3)Find a sea cave: Sounds simple doesn’t it? The other day during a rain storm on the Oregon coast, I just wandered into a really cool cave and let my eyes adjust. Watch for the tides, but otherwise you can work for hours coming up with some interesting compositions while staying dry.
4)Bring an umbrella: An obvious point, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t bring an umbrella along while photographing.
5)Stay in your car and photograph abstracts through the soaked windshield: A couple of people did this during the last workshop at a harbor and they got some fantastic results. The last time I used this technique was from a taxi cab in Albania, and I wish I had remembered to do it for the harbor shots this time around.
6)Go to a bunker: There are World War II bunkers all over the coastline, and they really have quite a bit of character with their rusty doors, stark hallways, old ladders, and walls filled with moss and lichen. Best of all, they make a great wind break and are not only bomb-resistant, but rain-resistant too.
7)Point your lens downward: I use my lens hood not only for sun protection, but rain protection. During those dreary winter days, I’m less likely to look for the grand landscape and more likely to look for the small scene. I often start to think and see in black and white too. By keeping my lens pointing down, I keep it free from those pesky rain drops.
8)Go to the forest: The coastal forest is a great place to shoot on a rainy day. The trees block the wind, keep me drier, and the forest light can be amazing or moody.
9)Dry off your gear: I carry a facecloth in my bag and I’m constantly giving my camera a pat down and dry off. I make sure I do this at the end of the shoot when I put my camera away, and I do it again when I go back inside. I also extend my tripod legs when I return inside and give them a wipe-down too.
There you have it. The next time it rains, quit your whining and head for the coast – I’ll be there with a smile on my face and staying dry.
