#7 of my 10 for 2010

April 10, 2011

Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Sunrise
April 2, 2010
Tidal Basin, Washington D.C.

Number 7 of my 10 for 2010 is quite fitting considering I just missed the 99th anniversary of the receipt of the Cherry Blossom trees from Japan. I must say, if there was no other reason for one to move to DC (of which there are many) the Cherry Blossoms and the Festival would be reason enough for me! I love the Cherry Blossom Festival, I made it to at least a part of the festival for 3 of the four years from 2006 to 2010. However, 2010 was by far the best if for no other reason the peak blossoms were declared to occur from the day we arrived through the following two days. I admit, it was a sight to behold.

As you can see in part above, the tidal basin was ablaze with these white and pink ‘clouds’ of blossoms. I awoke early every morning we were there and every morning was magical. I loved being there and have already planned my trip back for 2012, which will mark the 100th anniversary since the first gift of Cherry Blossom trees from Japan.

Another reason this particular trip in 2010 was special is I had received my newest piece of photo gear just days before we left. In fact, I only had one evening of real photographing with the T2i I had just purchased before I headed to DC for the cherry blossoms. So, not only did I have beautiful blossoms, but I was constantly shooting with two cameras, my old XTi and the newly purchased T2i. I knew the XTi and wanted to be sure I had high quality images, however, that said I absolutely love the T2i and am thrilled I had it for the blossoms pictures. The menus system is different from the XTi and I may not have understood everything the T2i could do (I had read the manual on the drive up to DC) but even with my lack of direct knowledge of the camera, it took spectacular images.

Two other images I really enjoyed from that trip join in as honorable mentions for this #7 of my very late 10 for 2010.

Honorable Mention # 1 – Sunset over the Tidal Basin

Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Sunset
April 1, 2010
Tidal Basin, Washington D.C.

Honorable Mention # 2 – Branch of Cherry Blossoms with Jefferson

Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Branch with Jefferson
April 1, 2010
Tidal Basin, Washington D.C.

While I didn’t make it for the 2011 Cherry Blossom Festival, (I looked at some last minute options to try and fly in but they were all well above $800 so I decided to wait until 2012) some images I have found and appreciate from 2011 can be seen at the following:

2011 Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias

#6 of my 10 for 2010

February 18, 2011

Sand Dollar in Waves
April 19, 2010
Charleston, South Carolina.

Image number 6 takes us from the top of the Rocky Mountains in number 5 to the beaches of South Carolina and the treasures that wash up in the night. I personally grew up in the mountains and so a trip to the beach has always been a treat. During the spring of 2010, we were able to visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina (twice) and travel to Charleston South Carolina for a third trip to the beach. The beach is a wonderful place for a photographer, especially when that photographer likes to explore and search for shells. Early morning gives you the best chances for finding shells but also provides you great photography opportunities. The difficulty arises however, in trying to pack around photography equipment which you want to keep dry and away from sand and water, while also having a place to store any treasures the ocean provides. For me the answer to this has been an old hiking backpack. The backpack is large enough to fit my entire camera bag in the main compartment while allowing me to store ocean treasures in the side pockets. My wife observed I appear to be a beach bum carrying all my possessions in my backpack as I returned from my morning adventures.

The Outer Banks, during our early season April trip, provided the best shell finding I’ve ever had. Likely I haven’t been to the right beaches nor have I been to enough beaches to have a stellar collection of shells, however, I was very impressed with the size of the shells I was able to find in the morning. They made great photo objects.

We followed up our first trip to the Outer Banks with a trip to Charleston South Carolina, which was wonderful for oh so many reasons. Oh which, one great reason was one of those I couldn’t have planned it any better tender mercies.(See last paragraph for explanation). A good friend of ours went with us and as we were nearing our hotel a plane flew overhead at a very low altitude. We were curious, and then thrilled when the attendant checking us in explained the Blue Angels were performing over the harbor that weekend! The weekend which I was very excited about before, suddenly became stellar! In fact, I was so excited I made my wife, daughter and friend watch the show twice.

Honorable Mention
Blue Angels in Flying Formation Over Charleston Harbor
April 21, 2010
Wild Dunes Resort Beach, Charleston, South Carolina.

The final Honorable Mention image for post number 6 as well as the primary image atop this post, came from my early morning exploits on the beaches of Wild Dunes Resort, just north of Charleston. The morning images were wonderful. The shell hunting was unbelievable, again, it may have been our being early in the season, but my first morning I came home with 6 whelk shells, the second morning I found 13 more. Our friend found a large number himself. After awhile, we were simply giving them away. The honorable mention image #2 for this 10 for 2010 is one of these whelk shells. The primary image of #6 of my 10 for 2010, was the first sand dollar I found. I was fully unaware to expect sand dollars, but was taking my time walking along the beach, just within the water, after the sunrise photography was over. I looked down and there it was in the shallow water. I was so excited I took my camera out of the bag and began to take images. I love how the waves were rippling to the sides of the sand dollar, the light which hadn’t fully washed out giving a golden glow and the sand dollar itself providing a spectacular focal point with the waves providing aesthetic accents. Maybe what’s more to like for me personally, is that the sand dollar was in its place naturally, no moving, manipulating or placing by me. I like my whelk shell images, but I placed the shell, I composed the shot. The sand dollar however, was simply there and all I had to do was take out the camera and take pictures.

I may have moved back to the mountains, but I’m already plotting my return to the beaches.

Honorable Mention #2
Whelk Shell on Beach with Waves in Background
April 21, 2010
Wild Dunes Resort Beach, Charleston, South Carolina.

#5 of my 10 for 2010

Bull Elk at Dusk
August 24, 2010
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Honorable Mention – Bull Elk Amongst Vegetation
August 24, 2010
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

The fifth of my 10 for 2010 (and honorable mention) comes from the same August trip through Colorado and South Dakota as #2 and #3. My first stop of that memorable August trip (3 National Parks, 2 National Monuments, and other attractions) was Rocky Mountain National Park. I spent my time in Rocky Mountain National Park camping in the Aspenglen camping ground. After arriving and setting up my tent I started into the park, taking the Old Fall River Road. The fall was beautiful, as was the opportunity to look down the valley. However, the highlight of the drive was something I could not have planned. As I’ve written before, timing is often key and while planning may improve timing, sometimes tender mercies are the right ticket. As I was driving along a part of the road running parallel to a wildlife path, two bull elks emerged. I quickly traded out my lens, placing my 50mm f/1.8 for a fast shutter speed in the waning evening light. The trail was so close the 50mm range was more than enough (as can be seen in the honorable mention image above). I followed the pair for a period and watched in awe as they slowly made their way through the thick brush. That same thick vegetation made photography difficult as most shots were obscured by the underbrush, but the above honorable mention image came together just right.

I was in position watching the first elk through the opening of the underbrush. While I got some images, the surrounding brush obscured either the face or the antlers. The first elk moved on and I waited as the second elk made his way to the same spot. I waited for a short period as the elk moved his head about. Suddenly his head broke into the opening just perfectly for the image above. The window through the brush was tight, but this image was able to catch the head and antlers without obstruction from the under brush. For me it was amazing to be so near large and majestic animals and taking images with a 50mm lens. Even with that focal length, the animals filled the frame and were it not for my car door between me and the elk, I would never have been so close. Admittedly, composition could use some improvement, however, given the opportunity to be so close to those animals, get an unobstructed image with so much underbrush and all without hours of waiting and tracking, I greatly enjoy the image.

While this first encounter with bull elk was the highlight of the drive. As I neared the summit and the Alpine Visitor Center I encountered another large bull elk and a heram of females. The bull elk kept calling out, with a reply coming from somewhere else among the mountain peaks. I took some images with my 120-400mm Sigma super telephoto (sample image here) and started on my way again. Just a few hundred yards and a bend of the road away I saw another group of elk. I stepped out and waited as I noticed the elk heading to the ridge. I was hopeful I would be able to get an image of an elk cresting the ridge. Unfortunately the waning light was making it difficult to photograph as contrast was decreasing and shutter speeds were slowing. I was forced to increase the ISO of my camera to speed up my super telephoto lens, but the top image of this post was the result of a little patience, the ability to increase ISO without too much noise and the reach of a 400mm lens and those attributes make #5 of my 10 for 2010. It was very close to what I was hoping for, just would have been nice to have more light to increase the colors and contrast of the image all around. Then again, I have no complaints.

#4 of my 10 for 2010

February 13, 2011

Yellow Autumn Quaking Aspens
September 25, 2010
Big Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Salt Lake City, Utah.

One of the great joys and benefits of living near, and photographing in, mountains is the ability to photograph amidst a subject that extends the length of autumn colors. In 2009 I traveled to the Smoky Mountains on two weekends in October. What I found was the colors which were ablaze atop the mountains during my first visit, had largely fallen off by my second visit. However, the lower elevations, which had previously been green were, by that time, ablaze with color.

Mountains are wonderful year-round, but particularly in the autumn. The ability to follow the autumn colors down the mountain, and depending on the types and diversity of vegetation, the ability to witness the various species changing color at different intervals creates a plethora of new shooting opportunities every day. While I missed the Smoky Mountains this year, I had the opportunity to watch the quaking aspens of the Wasatch mountains change, from small patches of yellow to a migrating sea of yellow washing over the mountain side.

This image was taken just off the roadway of Big Cottonwood Canyon. The canyon was ablaze with yellow aspens in many areas and this particular area was just off the road. All it took was a short walk down a maintenance road and a few steps into the brush and I was surrounded in a 360 degree sea of yellow. Unfortunately I don’t stitch images together as the view around me was very similar to this image in all directions.

#3 of my 10 for 2010

Deer at Sunrise
August 26, 2010
Custer State Park, South Dakota.

The third of my 10 for 2010 comes from the same August trip through Colorado and South Dakota as #2. My time in the Black Hills area of South Dakota was spent camping in Custer State Park. For those looking for a beautiful and rather central location for visiting the numerous sites around the Black Hills, I highly recommend Custer State Park. The Park itself is beautiful, with numerous opportunities for wildlife, big and small, and scenic sunrises, sunsets and hikes. I would have loved to spend more time in Custer State Park itself, but there was so much to do and my time was short in the Black Hills area.

This picture of the deer came the morning I ventured out to drive to Wind Cave National Park. The drive was through beautiful country, which presented many photograph opportunities, which opportunities were enhanced by the numerous animals visible from the road. This deer was feeding a distance from the road. My Sigma 120-400mm, with its extra reach, made this image possible. The soft morning light breaking through the trees illuminating the deer with wonderful side light caused the tail and face to appear to glow.

What the picture doesn’t show you is the two run ins I had with buffalo previously that same morning. I had awoken early for sunrise images, then took my time through Custer State Park stopping to take image as I went. For one stop I climbed down a ten foot embankment to take images of a stream running by a short cliff and beautiful vegetation. While I was down the embankment I started to hear a sound I did not recognize, at first I though it was a rv or some other manmade sound of people waking up. After a few minutes I started to feel uneasy and so I climbed up the embankment to investigate. No sooner had I reached the level where I could see before a buffalo was coming down a steep embankment not 15 feet from me. The first buffalo was followed by a good herd of 25, at which point I saw what was apparently the alpha male stop and let out a deep throat sound. It was immediately followed by a similar sound from behind me, it was only then that I realized a separate group of buffalo were eating in the picnic area on the other side of the stream and I was i the middle. I hurried to my car and watched as the two groups had an uneasy meeting before the new arrivals moved on down the road.

A few miles later the same stream went under a beautiful stone bridge, again with wonderful vegetation making for a beautiful image. I clearly was no the only one who had seen this image opportunity from the road (there was a beaten path through the tall grass to the stream where most people had chosen to take their picture). I took extra time to look and assure I was not about to be inundated by buffalo before I descended to the stream. Well, I must need new glasses, I made the stream and started taking images, as I was looking around for other compositions, I looked up and a buffalo was on the bridge itself. I scurried down the trail and up the embankment just in time to see another group of buffalo 30 strong go parading by me and my car.

If you like wildlife, have children who like wildlife, a morning drive through Custer State Park is just the activity for you. After the buffalo, I saw a number of deer, prairie dogs, and pronghorned sheep.

#2 of my 10 for 2010

Moonset over Mount Rushmore
August 27, 2010
Mount Rushmore Monument, South Dakota.

The second of my ten for 2010 is an image that happened thanks to being in the right place at the right time and pushing the shutter. Often times (if not always) landscape photography relies on mother nature doing her part. All the planning in the world can be obscured by rain, clouds or other inclemental weather, unless of course the inclement weather is exactly what you want to photograph (kinda tough to take images of lightning when there is no lightning). Number two of my 10 for 2010 is a result of being up early for the sunrise light at Mount Rushmore and then following a passing suggestion from another early morning photographer, which suggestion and random timing put me in the right place at the right time.

I am told planning your photographs is one way to greatly improve your photography. My experience has been that a little planning, such as scouting a photo location in the middle of the day in preparation for better light, really helps. I admit planning can help a lot, but for me dumb luck or simply wonderful blessings from heaven generally make my best photographs a reality. This image is just such an image. Yes, in theory I could have researched the moon phases, I could have researched the time of the moonset for a given day, I could have researched what time of year the moon’s orbit takes it over the Mount Rushmore monument and when the moon would be full. Instead, I had a month off work and happened to be there during the time of year the moon’s orbit takes it over Mount Rushmore. I happened to listen to the suggestion from a fellow early morning photographer that I should take the time to take the profile pictures and I happened to linger at the monument itself just long enough to drive to the profile pull off just as the moon was setting. And all of this happened to be at a time when the moon was full.

I arrived just in time for the above image actually. As I rounded the bend near the turnoff I could see a large number of cars in the turnout, many more than I expected as the images I had seen before were alright but nothing to rave about. It was then that I looked back and saw the moon. I had just enough time to flip my car around, switch out my lens and get a blast of 15 to 25 pictures before the scene was gone. Couple this image with the image of the mountain goat I got earlier in the day(image here) and (explained here) and before 10:00 a.m. it was: Tender Mercy (Luck) 2, Planning 0. Then again, you know what they say, better to be lucky than good.

My Very Late 10 for 2010

2010 was a great year as far as me and photography go. From the Outerbanks to Yellowstone, from the depths of Mammoth Cave to the heights of the Smoky Mountains I was able to see and do a lot, and take a lot of pictures.

Sometimes, at least for me, the story behind the image is better than the image itself. With these 10 for 2010 I will take the time to explain the story behind the image and why it made my list for the year. So, without further delay (and in no particular order) the first of my 10 for 2010 comes from one of my favorite national parks.

Laurel Falls of the Smoky Mountains
March 11, 2010
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

My introduction to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park came during a cross country roadtrip from Utah to North Carolina in August of 2009. With the help of my father I was taking the three day drive back to school. At my father’s recommendation we detoured off I-40 to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As we drove the Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) I fell in love with the scenery and rolling nature of the mountains. I decided then I would return, and return I did. Consecutive weekends in October 2009 and then again in March 2010. In the two fall trips I had focused my photography efforts on the foliage that was abundant and beautiful and on sunrises and sunsets. During October the Newfound Gap Road was always crowded as I descended from the peaks after an early sunrise shoot. In March, the leaves were nonexistent so I turned my efforts to waterfalls, rivers and other features of the park.

The Laurel falls image included in the 10 for 2010 comes from an early morning where low cloud cover was clearly going to keep me from a sunrise opportunity. I changed plans and hiked into Laurel Falls and the falls did not disappoint. The Canon 10-22mm lens once again proved to be worth its weight in gold as the relatively tight area from which I could take pictures required an ultra wide angle lens to include the tree growing out of the rocks next to the falls. Without the wide 10mm of the 10-22mm this image would not have been possible without merging multiple images. The cloud cover that obscured the sunrise acted as a wonderful diffuser on the largest ‘flash’ one can use for an image, the sun. The diffuse light helped tone down the light spectrum thereby allowing a single long exposure image to capture the flowing water and surrounding foliage without blowing out the falls. While the natural diffusion provided by the clouds helped with the contrast of the white falls to the green foliage, the scene was still too bright to effectively capture a rolling water through a long shutter relief. Which is where my ND4 filter came in handy. The two stops of light provided by my neutral density filter allowed me to slow the shutter speed and get the blurred water look as opposed to the frozen in time water of a quick shutter speed. A gentle breeze did cause me trouble with trying to time the image so to minimize tree movement, but at the end of the day I was pleased with what the end result was.

While I may have grown up at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City, the Smoky Mountains have a special place in my heart (as they do for so many) and so it is no surprise that we already have our return trip for October of 2011 planned.