Teton Color

We just returned from traveling to Grand Tetons NP and Yellowstone. The Tetons were a first for us, except for a half day visit 30 years ago. Most of the time was spent exploring its back roads but the last evening we watched sunset while waiting for bears to appear. More to follow.

Grand Marais Sunset

 Sometimes you have to chase the clouds and other times they come to you. We were exploring the harbor last week and noticed color shaping up so we found a bench and enjoyed the sunset.

Prairie Sunset Quotation

 One of the joys of donating images is seeing them put to use and learning how someone else has interpreted the image. This image was donated to the MN DNR Scientific and Natural Program for use on its Facebook page.

Grassland Sunset

I'm struggling to get out in the hot, humid prairie as I always do in August. When I do get out it is usually in the evening when the wind has calmed and the light is sweet. The western fires have been great for red sky prairie sunsets.

Technical: HDR processed in Lightroom

The end of the day

I went storm chasing last night with my cell phone radar app hoping to record thunder heads boiling with timelapse. When it became clear that was not to be the case I headed east looking for a rainbow. No luck with that either but it was getting late and the eastern sky had some decent clouds. Suddenly I noticed a planted prairie under the developing clouds. I did 20 minutes of time lapse as the sun was setting and then worked the clouds with HDR settings.  This is not what I had envisioned leaving the house 3 hours earlier.

Orange

Recorded at Crex Meadows where the sky can have incredibly intense color. Depending on the weather it can also be very, very flat. We were driving into Grantsburg at the end of the day and the sky became this phenomenal color, needless to say supper was postponed.

Technical: WB 6k, Saturation +2. The color almost exactly as seen.

Winter on the Prairie

Warm light is expected at a January sunset, a warm breeze is not. A great afternoon was spent exploring Cottonwood Prairie SNA enjoying the fresh air and open space. My eyes need to be stretched to the horizon every now and then.

Winter Blue

It is a joy to see blue sky again! This was shot about half an hour after sunset as the bitter cold was setting in. Daylight WB used with minimal increase in saturation. Foreground lightened with Lightroom shadow slider.

Winter Light

I was back in snow for the first time in several weeks and loved it. After my eyes stopped watering from the wind I settled down to record a few images. The clear sky and afternoon light provided some welcome color to the prairie. This image pushes the boundary of the concept of positive and negative space. I think it works because of the bright area on the left of the image.

Cloud over Lamar River

With the early arrival of winter it's a perfect time to review images from Yellowstone last month. A bright rim of light on the western horizon one evening encouraged us to stay in the valley after sunset. My daughter and I worked the edge of the river as the color was changing. Shadows were brightened in Lightroom.

Uplifting

I like the sweeping diagonal lines of the clouds and the road leading into the horizon. Upward and onward is the message I see in this image.

Fish Lake Sunset

This was shot near the cabin after I raced out for sunset but in trying to find a good foreground missed the hot orange clouds that I originally saw. In rapidly fading light I managed to get a few images using a ND filter.

Color & Lines

As much as I like to avoid the presence of man in my images it is a reality and sometimes inevitable. The distant town also gives a sense of scale to the grandeur of the sky. 

Technical: 3 stop graduated ND filter, WB @7000k

Prairie Sunset

Life was suspended and only light existed while shooting these images, a photographer in heaven. There are not many evenings when it all comes together leaving only the limits of you and your camera to capture what you are seeing. 

Golden Light

Light on the prairie was spectacular last Sunday evening. I pulled out a couple rusty graduated ND filters and put them to use after they had been idle for the last few years. For me the filters are the easiest, most efficient way to deal with HDR situations.  I rediscovered this technique when listening a class by Ian Shive on CreativeLive

Technical: 2 stop hard edge graduated ND filter. WB @ 7000k. Basic adjustments in LR

Prairie Clouds

The last post talked about the feeling of space on the prairie. Prairie clouds can also create mental space and re-energize at the end of the day. Photographing clouds is a great way to spend a summer evening!

Farmland Sunset

I was on the prairie last night doing sunset time-lapse with the DSLR when this scene presented itself with several minutes remaining in the sequence.  The ProCamera app on my iPhone was used to record the scene. this is a very good app for photography which has features to use separate areas for focus and exposure as well as a very good editing program.

What deer?

That's what my wife said when after watching yesterday's time lapse video. Each video is watched a dozen or more times in the editing process so the minute details seem obvious to me by the time the finished product is ready to share. The same can be said when editing and enhancing still shots. We see the flaws others overlook making us at times our own worse critic. In case you missed the deer yesterday here it is in a moderately cropped image.

Sunset is not the end.

Sometimes sunset is the beginning. In this case I used my headlamp to brighten the interior of the cave. Light painting can be garish, and frequently is, but I like a more subtle approach without overpowering the natural light, using it as a fill light. Another example of making choices to reflect what you "see". 

Editor's Choice

I posted the lower image a few days ago and showed the original to my editor who liked the color version. She has the benefit of being objective, not remembering the struggle with numb fingers and crusted snow required to get the shot. I have trusted her judgement for 37 years.