Take A Virtual Break To Patagonia

 

It's the weekend so it is time for another virtual trip. This time let's go to Patagonia. I was fortunate to have traveled there last December before the Covid-19 pandemic began circulating around the world. It is an incredible place with huge craggy mountains, thousands of wild guanacos (a relative of the llama), and almost constant high winds. The winds can make photographing challenging at times. Heck, at times it even made standing up challenging! But it is all part of the entire biome that one must embrace when traveling to some of the southernmost parts of the world.

December in the southern hemisphere is summertime, so the grass was green and flowers were blooming. And the guanacos were having babies. On our first day there we saw a few guanacos and got so excited that we were asking our guide to stop at almost every sighting. He kept telling us that we would see so many that eventually it would not be a big deal, but we did not believe him. And of course the wildlife photographers philosophy is to never pass up an opportunity. 

But sure enough, after a couple of days we became much more selective when asking for stops to photograph guanacos. This one's too small, that one's fur is not as nice, too many trees in the background, or not enough trees in the background. It got to be a running joke. 

And almost everywhere we went we had an opportunity to photograph the looming peaks that are the signature skyline of Patagonia.

TECH SPECS  1/1000 sec at f/8, ISO 400. Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS II lens set at 105mm on Canon 5D Mark III body. Handheld.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."  -- Oliver Wendell Holmes 

In The Pink

 

Hard to believe that Labor Day weekend is just a couple of weeks away. In spite of this bizarre and surreal year, the time seems to be flying by. So since we are approaching the end of summer, I thought a flower would be a good subject for today. Even though this azalea is a spring bloom, flowers are a timeless subject throughout the year. And for many of us, just looking at flowers has an uplifting effect. 

This basic, garden variety azalea had beautiful color, but the main bloom got lost amid all the other nearby blooms of the same color. So I used the Gradient Filter tool in Lightroom to lighten all the surrounding flowers, helping the central flower to stand out.

I chose to place the main flower in the center of the frame, but cropped the image to put it slightly below the middle. That added a small amount of visual interest while still providing a very balanced, mostly symmetrical feel. 

Even the simplest subjects can be helped with a bit of a boost in Lightroom.

TECH SPECS

1/1250 sec. at f/3.5, ISO 200. Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS macro lens on Canon 7D Mark II body. Handheld. 

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."  -- Buddha 

Bathing Beauty

 

I want to take you on another virtual trip, this time to Alaska. This beautiful Harbour Seal was basking in the soft sunlight along a fjord tucked away just off the Inside Passage. We were on a spectacular week-long photo trip on a private chartered yacht when we spotted each other. 

The seal was utterly unafraid, never moved, and gave us a careful once-over. The beautiful glacial green water and the warm rocks were the perfect counterpoints to this bathing beauty. 

Once we can safely travel again, I look forward to many more trips to Alaska, which is one of my favorite places. 

TECH SPECS

1/1250 sec. at f/8, ISO 800. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens with Canon 1.4x III for a focal length of 560mm on Canon 7D Mark II body. Handheld. 

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Life is just as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures."  --The Dalai Lama

Incredible Iceland

 

Lately my thoughts have turned toward Iceland, one of my favorite places. The scenery, the wonderful people, and the incredible variety of waterfalls, volcanoes, and glaciers provide an ever-changing palette of options. 

While traveling there will not happen in the near future because of the pandemic, I wanted to share this image to give you a brief visual trip away from home! It is the famous Kirkjufell, the most photographed mountain in Iceland. Its volcanic cone shape and the triple waterfall in the foreground combine to make this a thrilling scene. 

I chose to convert this image to Black and White in order to showcase the beautiful shapes and to enhance the contrast between the white waterfalls and the deep black volcanic rock. It adds drama and punch to this image. 

I had seen many shots of this location before actually being there, and I was surprised at how small the waterfalls actually are. They look much larger in photos. 

There are always a lot of tourists in the area, and I confess to having removed some people and cars from this shot. Having done that, I cannot enter this image in a nature competition. But for personal use, I much prefer to see just the natural scene rather than portraying it as a tourist destination. 

TECH SPECS:

1/2 sec. at F/22, ISO 100. Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens set to 17mm on Canon 7D Mark II body. Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead. 

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To see in color is a delight for the eye, but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul."  -- Andri Cauldwell

Tree Geometry

Experimenting with creative options can be fun and freeing. This image was done in one exposure in camera. It is quick, easy, and lots of fun. 

The main technique is a slow shutter speed plus moving the camera during exposure. When you do this sort of experimenting, you never know what you will end up with. It helps to do a lot of exposures and hope for the best. You can do these sorts of images from a moving car, or walking around outdoors. 

You just have to be willing to try a variety of exposures and camera movements. And always handhold your camera and leave the tripod in the car. You also have to be willing to accept a lot of loser images. But if you take enough images, you will most likely end up with a few that you like. 

TECH SPECS

1/5 sec. at f/16, ISO 100. Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS II lens set at 105mm on Canon 7D Mark II body. Handheld. 

TODAT'S QUOTE: "All life its an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."  --Ralph Waldo Emerson