Blog

Jun 01

2020

0

Essays

Dream Lake

Dream Lake

I first visited Rocky Mountain National Park in the winter of 2002-03 when visiting Colorado. I knew remarkably little about the Park then and I believe my first hikes (snowshoes, technically) were in the Cub Lake area and Deer Mountain. Beautiful areas, but not the most iconic spots in the park, either.

I moved to Colorado in January, 2004 and the Park quickly became a  frequent playground. Snowshoeing and later hiking on many days off. Then, as I got introduced to ice climbing, I discovered the world-class climbing that the park contained. Funny how you can walk by cliff faces one day and not think anything of it and the next be able to spot famous climbing routes dotted across them. 

I got to know the Park, from its seasons to specific trails, through day hikes, backpacking, climbing, and later, photography. It was the latter that really drove my familiarity with the Park. Revisiting the same area over and over hoping the light, weather, foliage, and more would all align to create a great photo.

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Mar 30

2020

0

Articles & How-to, Behind the shot

Photographing into the sun? Do this to remove lens flare

Photographing into the sun? Do this to remove lens flare

Including the sun in your photograph can provide a dramatic focal point to draw the viewer’s eye, but capturing and processing a pleasing photo takes more than a simple snapshot.

The photo I’m working with here was captured on a morning outing in which I was hoping for a colorful sunrise on a mountain lake, but the skies were completely clear and there was little color to be had. However, I turned around and had a nice view with the creek draining out of the lake so instead set up and waited for the sun to break the horizon.

There were two key challenges with making this photo while photographing directly towards the sun:

  • Achieving proper exposure (the sun/sky isn’t too bright and the landscape isn’t too dark)
  • Lens flare as a result of a strong light source entering the lens

Here’s how to overcome both of them.

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Mar 15

2020

1

Articles & How-to

My Standard Lightroom Edits

My Standard Lightroom Edits

In my weekly newsletter I often give a brief summary of my processing of the the raw image file. Read the newsletter for any amount of time, though, and you’ll quickly see that my edits are often similar across images. While I limit the amount of detail in the newsletter, I thought I would further explain my most common edits here.

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Jan 19

2020

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Articles & How-to, Events

Upcoming Wildlife Photography Course (DU)

Upcoming Wildlife Photography Course (DU)

Few experiences in the outdoors can top encounters with wildlife. Whether sought-after or unanticipated, it is a special experience to come upon elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, a mountain goat on Mt. Evans, or even a deer at your local park. But have you ever pointed your camera at an animal only to be disappointed by the results? Join me for an upcoming course that I’m teaching through DU’s enrichment program to learn both technical tricks and creative secrets to bring your wildlife photography to … well, LIFE!

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Jan 11

2020

0

40 by 40, Trips

Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments

Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments

A little late in posting this one (okay, very late), but better late than never. Last March we ventured to Bears Ears and its vicinity to camp, hike, and photograph.

We spent one evening in Monument Valley, which was just a short distance from our camping location at Goosenecks State Park. We then spent a couple days around Bears Ears including a night out at Natural Bridges National Monument.

The weather was not very cooperative, between recent snow and more rain during our trip, which prevented us from getting down some roads and on some trails. On the plus side, however, the crowds were nonexistent.

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