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Yakima River Canyon

2012-02-10T18:00:00.001-08:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 L IS, 1/250 sec at f8

Winter Photography

2012-01-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 L IS, f7.1 at 1/125 sec.

Just because its winter doesn't mean photography has to stop, interesting landscapes can be found with incoming weather systems or mountain twilight.

The above shots of a snow storm in Tumwater canyon where shot at -1.5 ev and processed in LR, lowering the white balance just a tad to get the overall blueish cold feel that I wanted to convey the winter feel a little better.

I wanted the trees in a sharp silhouette with the clouds and sun exposed for detail, the snow is visible falling through out the image.

Ross

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Fuji X10

2012-01-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

Image: Fuji X10, 10mm, iso 100 at f 3.2, 1/400 sec. jpg out of camera.

The Fuji X10 digital zoom is quite a nice little camera, the image quality I've been seeing out if it is very impressive, the only downfall is a bit of quirkiness in the menu system, the jpg's out of camera are a delight and the iso capabilities are very good for a compact camera, though not quite as small as I would like, it will fit in a coat pocket.

The f 2-2.8, 28-112mm (4 x) lens is nice and will produce shallow depth of field and nice bokeh, unlike most small sensor cameras.

I would recommend this camera to people looking for higher IQ in a small camera as long as your ok with its size, the larger size means its slower to pull out and your less likely to bring it along.

I think Fuji is on to something with their new line of X cameras, including the X100 and X-Pro 1, I believe they will be pushing the quality bar up for other manufacturers.

The mega pixel war looks to be over and maybe now we will see a quality war ! wouldn't that be nice.

X10 review
X100 Review
X-Pro 1 Preview

Ross

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30 Seconds

2011-12-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 24-70 f2.8 L, 48mm at f11, 30 sec, Singh-Ray Variable ND filter.

Smoothing the water was the intent with the long exposure, depending on the effect you want, 1 to 30 second's can give you a wide range of results depending on the waves and the light, adding a stationary object like these poles give some interest to what was an un-eventful sunset

Ross

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Eclipse 12/10/11

2011-12-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

6:45 am, 5D Mk II, 300mm at f2.8 for 1 sec at ISO 3200

6:45 am, 5D Mk II, 300 mm at f3.2 for 1.6 sec at ISO 3200

This mornings eclipse of the moon, earth shadow at about 2/3 from my front porch, lucky me : )

Yes its Red, this color is normal for moon eclipses "The Blood Red Moon", only got off a few shots before the clouds obscured my view.

Ross

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Cold

2011-11-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

Image: 5D2, 70-200 f4 IS L, f10 at 1/125 sec

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A Recent hike up to Lake Twenty Two after fresh snow, not only was it good for the soul but good for some new material, here the outlet stream pooled against some snow covered rocks.

Slight adjustment to the cooler side of White balance in Lightroom 3 was enough to give this image a cooler feel than the original that was shot in automatic white balance.

Ross

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Goats

2011-11-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, f5.6 at 1/80 sec.
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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, f4 at 1/125 sec.
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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 200mm, f4 at 1/250 sec.
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Goats: something very majestic about Mt Goats, they are so nimble for such stout creatures, what they can do on a rock wall defies logic.

I've been wanting to shoot Mountain Goats for a long time and a trail at Logan Pass in Glacier NP Montana provided me a great opportunity. They pretty much will pose for the camera, knowing you'll get out of the way if you happen to be standing in the next spot they want to browse on.

Shooting them in the shade of the overhanging cliffs was a bonus as their white coats don't get blown out by the sun, these guys had already molted away their beards, which was disappointing, but gives me reason to seek them out again.

Ross

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Rain

2011-10-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 70mm at f11
National Elk refuge, Jacskon Hole, Wy.

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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 200mm at f11
Jackson Hole, Wy.

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Rain, hard to capture a good image on those rainy days when your surrounded by hills and mountains, but its as good a time as any to get the camera out and capture a different type of image. The only thing here is exposing on the clouds and bringing the foreground up in post if need be. Lightroom does such a good job though, these just needed a bit of Luminance adjusting in the yellow and orange.

Ross

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Last of the Fall color

2011-10-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

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	Click image to view larger Fall color is fading fast in the Cascades, these shots where taken just out side Plain, Wa. near Lk Wenatchee. Ross Images In Light

Three Days in The Tetons

2011-10-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Cathedral Group, 2 shot panorama.

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300 f2.8 IS L, EF 1.4x, f11, 1/320 sec.

Image: 5D MkII, 300 f2.8 IS L, iso 400, f3.2, 1/200 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300 f2.8 IS L, EF 1.4x, f11, 1/100 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 70mm, f16, 1/2 sec.
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Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 II L, 16mm, f11, 1/160sec.
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What to do with three days in the Tetons ? hmmmm, so much to see and do, not really enough time for back country hikes, but there are so many places to shoot and a lot are right off the road.

Places like Snake river overlook, Oxbow Bend, Schwabackers Landing, Mormon Row, the list goes on, one place I love to shoot is Cathedral group with a 300mm lens, this an impressive set of peaks, including Teewinot, Grand Teton and Mt Owen, viewed from the north.

The Barns of course at Mormon Row or the classic Ansel Adams shot from Snake river overlook, not enough sunrises on this trip, so I'll be going back, maybe a winter shoot next time.

Best time to go, Fall, followed by spring, then winter and finally summer, well maybe winter will move up on the list : ) that's the only time I've not been there.

Not far from the Tetons is the Wind River Range, another impressive Rocky mountain range, the Cirque of Towers at Wind River is high on my list of future treks.

Wyoming has some of the most beautiful scenery in the Rockies and wildlife abounds like few other places.

Ross

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Fall is here

2011-10-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Image: Mt Shuksan, 5D Mk II, 300 f2.8 IS L, f11, 1/500 sec.
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The Saddle above Bagley lake Basin

Fall is upon us, although the color is a little delayed this year due to weather. I decided to go looking for Black bear on the Chain Lakes loop trail at Mt Shukson, so I decided to bring along my 300mm brick, which is a lot of weight to carry for a short hike, but if I wanted a bear shot I needed a minimum of 300mm, so I loaded up and headed for the pass above Bagley lakes. At 90 oz. this lens doesn't go in my pack very often, but this is the time of year to see bear.

This is a beautiful hike, bear or no and in this case, no was the operative word, but the views of Mt Shuksan and Kulshan (Baker) more than made up for packing that big piece of glass up the side of a mountain.

The second and third shots above are crops of the first and you can view them at 1600 pixels on the long end by clicking on them, I did this so you can get an idea of the resolution this lens has. It is an incredibly sharp lens from f 2.8 to f 16, definitely the best lens I have ever shot with, the detail in the glaciers is incredible when viewed full size , it makes it very easy to crop images from 21mp to say 12mp and still be able to print large images, great for wildlife photography.

The 2nd to last image shows the fall color starting to come in at the higher elevations and the last image a snapshot of my position with my s-95. With a dusting of fresh snow on Shuksan it wont be long until the lower elevations in the Bagley lake Basin start seeing the blueberries turn to crimson and red and orange and.............

Time to dust off the snow shoes.

Ross

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Wildlife Photography

2011-10-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

Jasper NP, Red Fox: 300mm at f2.8, 1/250 sec, ISO 100.
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Jasper NP, Big Horn herd, isolated young: 300mm at f2.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO 100.
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Glacier NP, Ground Squirrel: 300mm at f3.5, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100.
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MT Rainier NP, Red Fox: 300mm at f2.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO 100
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Yellowstone NP, Raven: 300mm at f4, ISO 100.
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Wildlife photography for me has always been secondary to my landscape work, but I have now come to embrace it, mostly due to the experience I have gained over the course of, well, many years. Showing my age a little : )

The main thing I have learned, is to shoot as wide open as you can, why ? several reasons; Shooting at a wide aperture allows you to shoot at faster shutter speeds and lower ISO's, wild animals are often seen at dusk or dawn and with lower light, ISO values start to rise, in order to maintain a fast enough shutter speed you may need to shoot at ISO 800 to get to 1/250 of a sec.
at f2.8.

See this ISO 3200 image or this ISO 1600 image and here at ISO 400.

Whether or not its low light or the animal on the move, a wide aperture will help with the shutter speed or low ISO.

The main reason though is subject isolation, a wide aperture like f3.5 (just short of wide) on a 300mm f2.8 lens is great for blurring the background and some times the fore ground, which makes the subject stand out , if you look closely at the first fox, I had to pick him out amongst the grass and clover and to make him stand out, I needed the foreground and background out of focus. Another benefit on long primes, your lens is at its sharpest in the wider range of apertures.

Where to focus ? always on the eye, very important to have at least one eye in focus.

Also great for portrait photography.

To sum it up, you should end up with sharp, low ISO images, with good subject isolation when shooting at or near wide open.

Aperture diagram courtesy of Wiki

Ross

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FHC B-25 J

2011-09-25T10:23:00.001-07:00

Image: B-25 J, 5D Mk II, 70-200 F4 IS L, 200 mm f10 at 1/250 sec

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FHC's B-25 J Mitchell, recognized as one of the most accurately restored WWII bombers in existence, what a beautiful aircraft.

Paul Allens group FHC has done a fine job of restoring this old airplane to flying condition. She flew at FHC's weekly fly day along side the HFF's B-25 D "Grumpy"

Ross

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Spring in September

2011-09-11T11:07:00.001-07:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 II L, 29mm at f16, 1/50 sec, no filter's.

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Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 II L, 16mm at 1/25 sec, no filter's.

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Spring in September ? at Mt Rainier, yes. Extremely unusual weather this year in the Pacific NW left snow in the high country a lot later than normal, this pushed the bloom out almost two months, normally we would see flowers like this in late July.

Last year I was shooting fall color at Mt Rainier on October 12th, this year spring flowers on September 10th.

Regardless, it makes for a great time to be at the Mountain, bring bug spray, suntan lotion and keep an eye out for bears in the Bench lake area, the blue berries are ripe and the bears love them.

Ross

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Park Butte

2011-09-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Image: 5D Mk II,16-35 f2.8 L, 23mm at f10, 1/50 sec, hand held 3 stop GND.

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Mt Baker from Park Butte
Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L, 29mm at f16, 1/25 sec, hand held 3 stop GND.

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Definitely one of the most beautiful hikes in the state, Park Butte on the south side of Mt Baker or Kulshan (the Indian name) just a couple hours from the trail head and just 2 1/2 hours north of the Seattle area.

Three trails lead off to different parts of the mountain, photo opportunities abound on these trails, with Kulshan in view most of the time. Get up Railroad Grade to climbers camp and to see a glacier tumble off a cliff or make your way up the Roman Wall to summit the mountain. Great wildlife opportunities all summer and fall color the first week of October.

Black and white conversion done in Lightroom.

Ross

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Spitfires and Some Luck

2011-08-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 8, 1/400 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 7.1, 1/320 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 7.1, 1/320 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 8, 1/400 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f 6.3, 1/640 sec

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Some times just blind, dumb luck helps out. I knew the moon was where it was, I just never thought I'd be able to incorporate it in to a shot. Shooting high speed and panning across the sky with a big lens never bodes well for getting a shot that incorporates the moon, not only did I get it once, but four times, on this shoot. The Flying Heritage Collection, fly day in Mukilteo happens every summer and is put on by Paul Allen's group for about 8 weeks, ending Sept 24th this year with B-25 day. FHC is usually joined by the Historic Flight Foundation, which in this case supplied the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IXe with FHC's: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3 and Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc.

The first image is a crop of the fourth image, with the Mk V Spitfire removed.

Ross

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Barns And Wheat Fields

2011-08-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

Image: Canon S95

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Image: 5D Mk II, 8-15 f 4 L, 15mm at f11 for 1/15 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 24mm at f5 for 30 sec

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Image: 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 27mm at f8 for 30 sec

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This was a fun shoot and one I've been wanting to try, some old barns, abandoned years ago and falling apart, out in the middle of a wheat field. My original thought was to shoot the barns and the wheat fields, but it turned in to a night shoot when not much came out of the evening light. The wide shot was done with Canons new 8-15 f4 L Fish eye lens, (borrowed) a fun lens, but maybe a bit narrow use.

The big dipper shows up in the darker image, view larger to see it. The B and W image was done by highlighting the barn with a flashlight during the exposure (painting with light), both where hard to obtain focus, but the results are quite interesting.

Ross

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The Rocky Mountains

2011-08-07T21:39:00.001-07:00

Image:Red Rock Canyon, 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 70mm at f11, 3 sec

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Image:Moraine Lake, 5D Mk II, 16-35 f 2.8 L, 28mm at f16, 1/20 sec

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Image:Moraine Lake, 5D Mk II, 16-35 f 2.8 L, 29mm at f11, 1/25 sec

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Image:Lake Louise Sunrise, 5D Mk II, 24-70 f 2.8 L, 31mm at f11, 1/2.5 sec

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Image:Endless Ridge, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 200mm at f11, 1/100 sec

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Banff, Jasper, Waterton and Glacier, amongst other National Parks make up the Northern Rocky mountains, or the the southern if you ask people in the Yukon Territories. One of the most beautiful places in North America and a great place to get away and do some unwinding. Me being the photographer that I am, of course couldn't help but get up for a few sunrises. Sunrise appears to be the better time to shoot up there at least for this time of year.

Lake Louise is of course a mandatory visit at sunrise and so far of the two I have seen I have not been disappointed. A lot of people don't realize of course that when they see this image, the photographer is standing about 20 yards from a luxury hotel and after the shoot is rewarded with a double tall latte at the Fairmont Hotel.

Ten minuets up the road from Lake Louise is Moraine Lake, my favorite place to shoot in Banff, it easily rivals Lake Louise in Beauty and the color of the water is even more fantastical. Here it is best to shoot later in the morning, due to the way the light hits the lake and the surrounding peaks, even with no clouds great images can be made here.

Again the early riser is rewarded with a double tall latte with in minuets of the shoot at the Moraine Lake lodge.

The Endless Chain Ridge in southern Jasper is a very impressive mountain range, looking north before heading up to the Columbia Ice Field.

More soon..........

Ross

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Mukilteo Light

2011-07-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, f11, 2 sec

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5D Mk II, 24-70 f2.8 L, f11, 1/3 sec

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The moon, sunset and the lighthouse, came together for some interesting images, I was able to get the sunset reflection in the lower windows while the moon was over head and I waited for the light to turn on and took the lower image about one second in to its cycle, so as not to over power the shot with the lighthouses "light"

The upper shot I used a zoom to isolate the light and the moon and processed it in Lightroom for the dark and forboding look.

Ross

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Longer Shutter Speeds

2011-07-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Image: 5D MkII, 24-105 f4 IS L, f11 at 1.6 sec
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Set up on a tripod you can change the mood of water by giving it a slight misty feel or a feeling of motion, the eye doesn't see stop action, unless you blink really fast, so allowing the water to move while shooting gives the image a more realistic feel. Rather than shooting a fast shutter speed, I chose a slower one, in this case 1.6 seconds, I like the mood of images like this.
No filters used, single shot.

Ross
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Mobile Friendly Blog

2011-06-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 300mm at f11, 1/160 sec

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At last, my blog is now mobile friendly, a little different format but looks fairly decent on an iphone.

Ross

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The North Cascades

2011-06-06T20:18:00.001-07:00

Image: Kangaroo Ridge, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 106mm, ISO 100 at f 11, 1/500 sec.
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Image: Liberty Bell, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 200mm, ISO 100 at f 16, 1/15 sec.

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A couple from this past week end from Washington Pass, Hwy 20 opened 2 weeks ago and its one of the most scenic drives in the state, affording views at every corner from Lake Diablo to Winthrop on the far side.

Washington Pass

Washington Pass is the jewel of the drive with Liberty Bell and Kangaroo Ridge, surrounding you at the top.

Ross

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Back yard photography

2011-05-30T20:18:00.001-07:00

Image 5D Mk II, f5.6 at 300mm, ISO 400, 1/160 sec.
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Image 5D Mk II, f5.6 at 300mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec.
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Image 5D Mk II, f5.6 at 300mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec.
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Some times opportunities are right under our nose, or in this case, just a few steps out the back door.

Ross

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Clouds

2011-05-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200f4 IS L, f11 at 1.5 sec

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Clouds are a difficult thing to expose, normally the image includes other objects at the far end of the dynamic range, like a hill, lake or mountain, playing havoc with most cameras exposure systems.

Live view exposure can really help tame the overall range of light to help bring out the details in the cloud, with out over or under exposing other parts of the scene.

This scene played out in just a few seconds as the last light of the day highlighted this low hanging cloud above the sprouting wheat fields of the Palouse.

Ross Images In Light

Eastern Washington

2011-05-01T17:31:00.001-07:00

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From Steptoe Butte

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Eastern Washington wheat field

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The Palouse

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The Eastern side of Washington state is a completely different environment from the West, mostly flat and arid, hot and dry. Where its been irrigated it changes over the course of the summer, from Wheat fields to Turnips, Potatoes and Asparagus, slowly the landscape changes.

The area known as the Palouse in the southeast corner of the state, where Washington meets Oregon and Idaho is widely regarded as a great place for photographers to shoot, not a lot of tourism so your free to pull over anywhere and pull out a tripod and plant it next to a farmers field. Now is a great time to capture the contrasting fields of freshly planted produce and just turned and seeded fields of a different crop.

Also a refreshing change from the rain of Seattle, which has been abnormally bad this year.

Ross

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