对不起，此内容只适用于English。

Filed under the categories: Montana, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

Less than a week until the big PhotoWalk!

Coming up this Sunday is the PhotoWalk here in Austin! It’s a family-friendly event, so feel free to bring your kids and this sort of thing. We’re just walking together in one big group through the streets of Austin, having a good old time.

See Event Details on Plancast here. It’s totally free, and you don’t need a SXSW badge to attend. I’m looking forward to it!

EG Conference – About a Month Away

So, today’s photo is Jack Horner, the famous paleontologist (dinosaur-guy). He’s also speaking at the EG Conference in Monterey with me. The tickets are a little pricey (about $4,000 per person), and I think there are some remaining on the conference website.

Daily Photo – Jack Horner De-choppering

This is another picture from that mysterious ranch in Montana that I hint at from time to time. The only way to get there is a 3 to 4 hour horse ride or to take a private helicopter over the Rockies… it descends into a secret green valley… something right out of Galt’s Gulch.

Every few days, new guests arrive and depart. And, on this day, the chopper brought in the great Jack Horner. He’s one of those guys that’s awesome and doesn’t even try to be. He just is. Later that night, he gave a talk in front of everyone about some of his new discoveries in the world of dinosaurs. It turns out that Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same dinosaur! Cool. He had shown me research a year earlier at his underground (literally) lab in Montana that rests underneath the dinosaur museum. He had huge computer screens showing the bone histology, and how it changes as the dinosaurs age. Very interesting stuff.

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3S, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

新的電腦包包！

This is one of my favorite Christmas presents!  For the full scoop, see my Mark Nason Bags review here on the site…  My wife got this for me here on Zappos.com — it’s kind of expensive, but you can check out the pros and cons for yourself on the review page.

這是我最喜歡的聖誕禮物之一！如果你想仔細了解一下，可以看看我寫的Mark Nason包包的站內簡評……我妻子在 Zappos.com 上給我買的這個包——說實話有點貴，不過你也可以點review page進去看看喜歡和不喜歡這個包包的人的理由都是什麼。

發幾張包包的照片，我在簡評裡應該也PO了六七張包包的圖片。

每日快照：農場上空的直升機

當直升機放下另外一組遊客，正在起飛的時候，我飛奔進田野拍攝了這張照片。光線和角度都非常完美，出於好奇，我就想試試看能不能抓拍到直升機螺旋槳靜止的樣子。我還真做到了！算是一個很成功的實驗……畢竟我做的實驗太多都失敗了……不過這個還是很成功的。

還有就是，很明顯啦，這是一個RAW處理出來的HDR照片。

Filed under the categories: Montana, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

Filed under the categories: Montana, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3S, Wyoming, Yellowstone

对不起，此内容只适用于English。

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3S, Wyoming, Yellowstone

对不起，此内容只适用于English。

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3S, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

Taking photos of Rainbows

I’ve taken a few of these in my life… mostly out of luck! But, I wondered about your experiences with rainbows. Do you get many photos? What is your favorite lens to use to capture the whole thing? In the one below, I used a Nikon 14-24 on a full frame body (the D3X).

Daily Photo – The Rainbow After the Storm

In the afternoons in Montana, sometimes a summer storm would come rolling through the Rockies. I think everyone loves a good storm, mostly because it changes the mood. An unexpected mood change always adds a bit of spice to the day, don’t you think? And, since these afternoon storms come and go, the sun comes back out again, giving us the opportunity for rainbow shots.

All that’s missing from this one is a unicorn. This is one reason I am excited about genetic engineering. I think that some odd-ball researcher is going to make a real unicorn one day… and everyone (well, MOST everyone) will love it. Hey future-unicorn-genetic-engineer, please contact me after you successfully bring one of these to term so I can take the first photo. That would be very cool.

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3X, Travel, Yellowstone

Tripod as an Easel

I recently swtiched to some Really Right Stuff tripod legs. They are awesome! I have them linked up on the HDR Camera Equipment page.

So, there are plusses and minuses to carrying around a tripod. Here is a “plus” that not many people think about.

Whenever you are carrying around the tripod, it takes a bit of effort and forethought to set up a shot. You need to positing it in a special place, at a certain height, and at a particular angle. I compare it to Renoir or Monet taking their time to set up their easel and canvas in the perfect spot. It makes a big difference if you walk 10 steps closer to the target area or 10 steps further from the target area. There is an extra consideration photographers have to use because of the lens that is on board, but it’s still a similar process. So, as much as I lament the extra hassle of a tripod, I do like that it requires me to go through a thoughtful process of setting up the shot.

Daily Photo – The Storm Hitting the Barn

It was about 3 in the afternoon and things were getting over-the-top warm. You know that feeling when the weather gets so uncomfortably warm that you expect something to happen soon? This feeling washed over me about 30 minutes before these violent clouds form to sweep over the Rocky Mountains towards the barn.

The tripod was nearby, so I grabbed it to go outside and set up the easel.

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3X, Travel, Yellowstone

Where are the best places for photography in London?

Update: See the POLL here !

I’m going to start a poll soon, but I wanted to go ahead and get the list together first! I’ll be in London for about a week, and I’m excited to have that big PhotoWalk on Friday, Sep 10th at 6 PM. Exact location to be announced soon! I look forward to meeting photographers from London and going out to have some fun, and get some great shots! As usual, I’ll be talking through my process, answering questions, and all that good stuff.

But, since I will be there a full week, what are some of the best places to go for some awesome photography? You guys and gals already know the kinds of things I like to shoot, so let me have it! I don’t mind going a bit out of the city either. So rattle off your suggestions of cool spots, architecture, places at night, secret places, etc, down in the comments.  Soon, I can put up a poll in coming days to see what gets the most votes!

Daily Photo – The Falls of Yellowstone

This is a very famous waterfall in Yellowstone National Park. I was there smack dab in the middle of the day, which is just about the worst time to take photos. So be it, Jedi.

I got out the old trusty and handy 200-400mm lens to take a shot. It’s not that big. It’ll fit right in your back pocket. (BTW, see my Nikon 200-400 Review for more).

The colors of the freshly spawned earth are beautiful, especially when right up against the beautiful water from the falls. I believe I shot this with the Nikon D3S, and I got a little video while I was at it too. I’m not sure what the heck I’ll do with the video, but I have a few ideas. Mostly bad.

Filed under the categories: Nikon D3S, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

HDR Tutorial now en Español y em Português!

You all know we have a free HDR Tutorial here on the site for English speakers. Well we have a few international friends that have translated it for us into Spanish and Portuguese!

• Tutorial HDR em Português – Esse simples tutorial HDR de 6-passos já ensinou milhares de pessoas ao redor do mundo, então tenho certeza que ele pode ajudar você também. E lembre-se, VOCÊ pode fazer isso!
• HDR Tutorial Español – Este sencillo tutorial HDR de 6-pasos ya enseño a millares de personas alrededor del mundo, entonces tengo seguridad de que puede ayudarlo también. Y recuerde, USTED puede hacer esto!

Many Brazilian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Mexican Bothans died to bring you this information.

Daily Photo – Morning. Coffee. Yellowstone. Fog.

My poor family. I dragged them all out of bed at 5 AM and put them in the car so I could go take this photo. I did load up on plenty of coffee to keep things fresh and warm on this cool morning, but my kids zonked out in the back of the car anyway. Well, if they’re not asleep, they’re whining, “Dad??? You stopping again!” … I rush out the door and trail off, muttering into the wind, “Yes but art must be made, you see…”

This spot is not too far from the entrance to West Yellowstone. The warm water that comes from the earth mixes with the cool morning sky. It creates a surreal layer of fog that simply rests on top of the river. It flows up, around, and through the neighboring trees. It reminds me of the dry ice that comes out of cauldrons on Halloween.

To take this shot, I set up with a tripod and grabbed 7 exposures from +3 to -3. I always anchor at even zero for these “sun shots.” I also set up for matrix metering, since you can’t figure out where in the dynamic range to hang your spot.

Tweet

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3X, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone

A New Mini-Documentary Video

I’m very excited to show you this little interview!

In case you don’t know of the great painter Clyde Aspevig (or you missed that bit in my book where I referenced his paintings), then this is a great chance to do so.  I was lucky enough to spend several days with him again in Montana at a ranch, and I did not waste it.  Many of you know my fascination with the French Impressionists; the idea that I was able to talk to a modern day reincarnation of one was thrilling.

Daily Photo – Clyde Aspevig in the Wild

While I was out there with the D3S (see my Nikon D3S Review) taking video, I also grabbed a number of stills.  While Clyde was in the middle of one of his paintings, I knelt down to grab this one.  I love it… I think he looks like a demigod.

Filed under the categories: Montana, Nikon D3S, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone