Author Archive
I took this shot before sunrise at Graveyard Flats – Banff National Park in Alberta Canada. The mist was hanging over the mountain in the distance, and I loved the stark beauty of the scene. It was still pretty dark, so this shot required a long shutter speed… ten seconds at f 7.1. Processing was easy – just a matter of getting the white balance right.
I took this shot of Skógafoss with a 70-200mm lens, a circular polarizer, and a neutral density filter. I needed a longish shutter speed to blue the surface of the water in bright conditions, so that the rainbow would stand out against a smooth background. The neutral density filter helped with that – and the polarizer allowed me to increase the shutter speed even more, while also helping to bring out the brilliant colors in the rainbow. With both filters, I could reduce the shutter speed to .6 seconds at f/11. Just enough to smooth the water to my liking.
This was such a beautiful location – but the climb was steep. After my little run-in with the icebergs the day before, I couldn’t climb the hill… so I stayed behind. At first I planned to just sit back and enjoy the beautiful sunshine while I waited, but the more I looked at the falls, the more I wanted to shoot it. The view from below wasn’t very exciting… I wanted something a little different. And this is the result. This was the best weather of the entire trip, too. Warm and sunny! Such pleasure after yesterdays difficulties!
Abstracts may lack a clear point of interest. They are often about form, color, or mood. When you shoot abstracts, think about what you want to convey with your image. Here are a few examples to get you thinking.
This shot is titled Distortions. This image uses reflections to showcase patterns and color in sandstone formations in the Coyote Buttes region of Arizona. Jay placed his camera very close to the surface of the water and zoomed in. The goal was to fill the frame with pattern and color.
Here’s a shot called “Broken Heart.” Varina chose a recognizable shape as a point of interest and filled the frame with the patterns in cracked mud. Notice that the heart shape is the only closed shape in the photograph. This helps to define it as the point of interest.
Sometimes a recognizable locations or object can be imbued with an abstract feel with the help of in-camera techniques, special filters or lenses, or processing. Jay took this shot of Old Faithful with a Lens Baby. The result is dreamy and blurred.
This shot from the Hot Rain Forest in Olympic National Park is an example of a creative in-camera technique. Varina took a shot through a rain-spattered window in order to capture this surreal impressionistic image.
A high shutter speed can freeze motion and allow us to see something that might be invisible to us otherwise. Jay took this shot of an exploding mud bubble in Yellowstone National Park. A 1/2500 second shutter speed shows off the incredible patterns that appear as the bubble bursts.
Capturing abstracts might mean you have to think outside the box. Next time you are out shooting, get creative. Try some of these simple techniques to build an unexpected photograph!
To learn more about how to capture creative images and brilliant colors check our the ebooks below:
The day before a workshop in Glacier National Park, Jay and I took a short hike out near Logan Pass. It’s an incredibly beautiful place… and at that time of year, the meadows were in full bloom. Trickling streams, waterfalls, and mountain peaks all around you. Breathtaking.
While we were there, a couple of mountain goats were snacking in the fields. We took lots of photos, but this one really had me laughing, so I thought I’d share it with all of you. What do you think it going through his mind right now? Make me laugh! 
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you have a great weekend!
Here’s a shot from Death Valley National Park. I love shooting by moonlight! The soft glow is incredible – and when you are in a place like this, it’s so hard to pack up and go home! Why not stay just a little bit longer and capture the moonlight on the sand? This is a composite shot. I took one shot for the foreground and sky, and a second shot – slightly zoomed in – to capture the moon with the proper exposure. I combined the two images in Photoshop to produce an image that looked as much like the reality of the scene as I remember it as possible.
Here’s a shot from Nine Mile Pond in the Everglades. It’s a beautiful place to watch the sunrise – but on this morning, I wasn’t getting any good photos. Although the sunrise was pretty, it wasn’t very photogenic – and the water was a bit choppy. A couple of test shots failed to get me excited.
I wanted to transform the scene. So I pulled out my neutral density filter. The idea was to block some of the light coming into the lens with a grey filter – that would mean I could use a much longer shutter speed. The effect was exactly what I wanted. A 25-second shutter speed (f/8) blurred out the waves, giving the water a smooth, calm surface. The slowly moving clouds blurred just a bit – which left the sky looking dreamy. Most importantly, the reflected light on the water scattered with each wave, producing an opalescent glow.
Simple, in-camera techniques like this one can turn an ordinary scene into something just beyond the usual. Have you used a neutral density filter for a similar effect?
What is the most important element in your photograph? Can you identify it, or is your eye pulled from one element to another? The next time you go out to shoot, take a moment to consider the scene carefully. 
Choose a single interesting element… a leaf, a water droplet, a rock, a tree… and see if you can find a way to make that element stand out in your photograph. There are so many ways to build an image around a single point of interest.
There may be many elements in the scene that interest you. Why not make several images – each showcasing one interesting object – rather than trying to include them all in a single frame?
To learn more about composition and color check out our eBooks below:
This is a shot from Death Valley National Park in California. The salt flats are huge – 40 miles long and 5 miles wide – but it’s the tiniest details that grabbed my attention. The largest of these crystals is just three or four millimeters wide.
I was waiting for sunset near Badwater, but the clouds were gone, and there wasn’t much change of getting a gorgeous sunset. So, instead of searching for appealing foreground objects, I pulled out my macro lens and started looking for details. It didn’t take long for me to notice that in some places, the salt crystals were more spread out, so that I could see each one individually. I loved the graduated sizes spread out across the sand.
I set up my tripod nice and low to the ground, and then adjusted my lens so that the glass was parallel to the ground. When you are working with a macro lens – and when you get in this close – your depth of field is incredibly narrow. I wanted to get everything in focus, so I spent extra time making sure I had my camera set up just right.
I also needed to make sure to provide a clear point of interest for my viewer. When you are working with hundreds of similar objects, that can be pretty difficult! I chose my composition carefully so that a single larger crystal dominates – and smaller crystals fill the frame. Notice that the largest crystal is off center – and the others seem to get gradually smaller as you move through the image from the bottom left to the upper right. The placement of the crystals is random – but the composition is anything but. Despite the randomness of the natural objects, there is a clear, diagonal structure to this image. That was important to me, since a diagonal comp is usually more dynamic and interesting than a horizontal or vertical one.
Post-production was pretty easy. I wanted to make sure the patterns in the salt stood out, but it was equally important to make sure I didn’t lose any detail in the brightest white areas. A little bit of contrast and a careful white balance adjustment did the trick. I brightened the largest crystal just slightly to make sure it grabbed your attention. I also removed two small corners of crystals that punched their way into the image at the bottom. They were distracting, and I didn’t mind seeing them go.
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Jökulsárlón was, without question, my favorite of the places we visited on our first trip to Iceland. I wanted an incredible simple composition for this image – so I chose a single iceberg as my point of interest, and used a long shutter speed to blur the waves. The clean shades of blue simplified the image even further. A short time later, I was reminded of the awesome (and dangerous) power of nature – but for the moment, I tried to capture the incredible peace and tranquility of this beautiful scene. I hope you enjoy it!
As always, these images are provided for personal use as computer wallpaper or backgrounds ONLY. Copyright belongs to the photographer, and photographs cannot be used, redistributed, or recreated in print or on the web or on any other medium without written permission from the photographer.
I have always loved snow drops because they bloom sometime in February – when there is still snow on the ground. For me, they are the very first sign of Spring – and when I see them, I feel lighter somehow. It’s such a relief to see these delicate beauties appear after months of shoveling snow in freezing weather, and searching for sun under heavily overcast skies.
It’s easy to capture an image like this… even without fancy equipment.
I brought a single flower into the house and used a clothespin to hold it upright on a small stool. I placed a sheet of white paper behind it, making sure that the sunlight from a nearby window illuminated the paper. I used a small reflector (a sheet of shiny poster board would do… or even a piece of glossy photo paper) to reflect light from the window back onto my pretty subject.
I used a tripod to hold my camera steady, and I took several shots from different angles… making sure that my background was far enough away from my flower that the soft textures were completely blurred out. I chose an aperture of f8 in order to make sure I had enough depth of field to get the whole flower in focus.
Processing was very easy. I selected Photoshop’s default “daylight” white balance, and then brightened up the image just slightly to keep those whites as bright as possible – without blowing the highlights. I also removed a few tiny specks of dirt with the clone tool.
Flower portraits can be a lot of fun – especially when you are shooting the very first flowers of Spring!
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