Landscape Portfolio | Badlands on a Clear Day Sometimes, on a clear day, you can see forever through the clear, dry air in the Badlands.
The Back Story This image was captured after a short climb up a trail just off the main road in the Badlands NP.
Details…
| Event | A Day in the Badlands |
| Location | Badlands NP |
| Date/Time | 6/08/2008 1:09 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Partly Cloudy | 63°F | Moderate Winds |
| Method | Simple click |
| Gear | Nikon D200 with 12-24mm zoom lens |
Landscape Portfolio | Yellowstone Beauty This structure resides above Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone NP.
The Back Story Just a simple click during a sightseeing stop in Yellowstone NP on vacation.
Details…
| Event | A Day at Yellowstone |
| Location | Yellowstone NP near Mammoth Hot Springs |
| Date/Time | 11/08/2007 2:54 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Fair | 48°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Simple click |
| Gear | Nikon D200 with 12-24mm zoom lens |
Fine Art Portfolio | Mammoth Hot Springs Rock This rock is actually build up of travertine from a hot spring . At Yellowstone, the rain and melted snow seeps into the earth. The cold water gets warmed by heat from molten magma deep underground. The hot water with dissolved limestone rises up through small fissures. The spring is very old with a very slow water flow rate. The water flows from several vents on its top and side. The flow starts and stops quite often. Some days it does not flow at all. Once the water gets above ground, the dissolved limestone solidifies into a white, chalky mineral called travertine. Travertine forms the terraces at Mammoth Springs as well as other formations like this one, found nearby. Although algae on the Travertine tints it light shades of brown, orange, red, and green, I like it better without color.
The Back Story Capturing this image was supper simple. Just park in the parking lot at the upper terraces and follow the trails. There’s plenty of room to reposition for the best possible composition. Then, this image was a simple click. For more images and information about Yellowstone, see Yellowstone NP Wild | a 7 Image Story.
Details…
| Event | A Day Trip to Yellowstone NP |
| Location | Yellowstone NP on the Mammoth Hot Springs upper terraces |
| Date/Time | 11/08/2007 2:54 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Mostly Cloudy with scatter rain showers | 42°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Follow the road to parking area, wait for rain to stop, make a simple click. |
| Gear | Nikon D200 with 12-24mm lens |
Fine Art Portfolio | Long Exposure Lake A long exposure not only flattens and smooths the water, it also can create interesting shapes. In this case, the trees made nice curved shapes on the water. Long exposures also tends to add calm and tranquility by smoothing the rough edges. This image seems to capture the drama between the smooth lake and rugged sky.
The Back Story What a beautiful end to a nice day on the lake! Just enough light remained to cast shadows on the lake. The air was calm but small waves persisted on the lake. A long exposure would hopefully smooth the water. Long exposures can be really fun to capture. From the dock, I experimented with different 30 sec exposures while waiting for the best shadow. With everything dialed into the camera, the calm wait for the best composition was quite pleasant. As the sun quickly sank late in the day, the strength of the light made very dramatic changes in the reflections off the water. Before I called it a night, I captured several long exposures.
Details…
| Event | A Day on the Lake |
| Location | Lake Cadillac |
| Date/Time | 5/31/2010 8:20 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Partly Cloudy | 65°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Amble out to the dock before sunset, setup tripod, and wait. |
| Gear | Nikon D300 with 12-24mm lens, tripod |
B&W Shapes | Long Exposure A long exposure not only flattens and smooths the water, it also can create interesting shapes. In this case, the trees made nice curved shapes on the water. For the whole story with all images, see B&W Shapes | a 7 Image Story.
B&W Shapes | a 7 Image Story In black and white photographs, shapes and contrasts make all the difference. It’s all about the lines, the curves, and the contours along with how they contrast and/or blend. A strong photograph without color will generally also be strong photograph with color. B&W wildlife images rarely work for me. This bull elk bugling during the rut shows such an iconic elk shape, it needs no color.
Long Exposure A long exposure not only flattens and smooths the water, it also can create interesting shapes. In this case, the trees made nice curved shapes on the water. A Little Ice Pugs love the snow; ice, not so much. It’s slipping and sliding, even on the icy grass, put a new meaning to “do your duty.” Milkweed Sometimes, even weeds with sharp angles and smooth end points look good in black & white. Western Texture The old west had some pretty rough buildings. Still, horses liked this small open barn instead of the snow outside. Icy Leaves Texture, symmetry, and depth of field draw the eye into the image. Early winter must be upon us.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category B&W Shapes.
Click any image below for a slide show.
Labor Day Potpourri | Storm Coming After a nice Labor Day outing on the lake, a storm appears to be coming over the horizon. For the whole story with all images, see Labor Day Potpourri | a 7 Image Story.
Labor Day Potpourri | a 7 Image Story The Labor Day this year saw another unusual holiday. These images were captured just because they happened to be along my travel path during the holidays. My travel paths were again close to home. Social distancing gets much easier when you’re hiking or paddling alone.
Bubble Bee on Thistle Midwest thistles can grow to be very big plants; big weeds to most folks. When the thistles bloom, bees come around to pollinate. This bubble bee was very busy pollinating several blossoms on this six foot high thistle.
Spider Web Early morning dew on a spider web can make for an interesting image. It’s a dumb luck simple click.
Pug Guarding Dock Anybody want to go swimming before it gets too cold? All we need is a life jacket. Pugs aren’t the best swimmers.
Storm Coming After a nice Labor Day outing on the lake, a storm appears to be coming over the horizon.
Great Blue Heron This Great Blue Heron really blends in to the drift wood as it stands along the lake shore.
White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar This caterpillar hung around the picnic table all afternoon. A simple click seemed in order. Hopefully, it’ll turn into a beautiful moth.
Monarch Butterfly Monarch Butterflies are not as plentiful as they once were. They need milkweed plants to complete their life cycle. Unfortunately, the milkweed population has been decreasing for a number of years. Female monarchs only lay eggs on milkweed plants since monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed. The milkweed plant provides both food and shelter for a caterpillar. After emerging, the adult Monarch eats nectar from a variety of flowering plants.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Labor Day Potpourri.
Click any image below for a slide show.
