2010 | Landscape Photography How To, eBooks, Tips & Tutorials

Featured Download: The Dreaming

By Jay Patel, on December 17th, 2010

I took this shot a few years ago in Bryce Canyon National Park. This is a spectacularly beautiful location at any time of year – but on this day, the fresh snow made Bryce look like a winter wonderland. We arrived while it was still dark, and ours were the only footprints in the newly-fallen snow. Although I wore my warmest clothing, I was shivering with cold – until I pulled out my camera. Suddenly, I forgot about the cold… scenes like this are what nature photographers dream of. Everything came together for me. A beautiful location in perfect conditions. Stunning skies, soft light… and perfect silence.

“May your days be merry and bright!”

Happy Holidays!

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Quick Tips: Tonal Contrast

By Jay, on December 9th, 2010

We often advise our student to look for tonal contrast while capturing photograph. Tonal contrast is one of many tools can be effectively to separate background from figure (Gestalt Principles: Figure vs. Ground Articulation). I took this photograph during our recent workshops in Escalante National Monument as a demonstration how to use light to create tonal contrast. After our morning shoot was concluded, I took this shot of the bush just as the sun has came up over the ridge. Because of the low angle of the sun, the bush was back lit while the background was still in deep shade creating an natural tonal contrast between the subject and background. This tonal contrast helps the bush stand out from its background.

Here is a shot that show what happens if we were to take this photograph before the same came up. I took this shot before the sun came up over the ridge so that both the bush and the background were in deep shade. As you can tell from the image above that we have lot the tonal contrast between our figure and the background. Overall the effectiveness of the photograph is greatly reduced. To learn more about light and composition, check out our ebooks below available for purchase:

Thank You, Cleveland Photographic Society!

By Varina Patel, on December 8th, 2010

Jay and I want to thank all those who came out despite nasty weather to see our presentation last night. We didn’t expect such a large group! We always have a great time speaking at the Cleveland Photographic Society, since we have so many friends there.

So, thanks for having us out!

If you are looking for more information on Composition and Perception, check out our eBooks at www.visualwilderness.com.

Purchase at visualwilderness.com!

Snow Day!

By Varina Patel, on December 6th, 2010

We have alarms set for 5:45 am so that the kids can get ready for school. Today, just moments before the alarms went off, the phone rang – SNOW DAY! I opened the blinds to see blizzard conditions – a good six to eight inches of snow on the driveway, and more falling fast. The kids were asking to go outside by 7:30, so we all went out and shoveled the driveway. (I don’t think that’s quite what they had in mind… but I told them that’s the price you pay for a snow day.) Afterward, they spent the morning playing in the drifts… building snow forts and making angels, throwing snow balls and sledding… and getting cold.

I pulled out my camera. I guess you aren’t surprised.

Nick, Damian, Anna, and Nora preparing NOT to throw snowballs at my camera. Or else.

Anna wearing two hats and a hood. Did I mention it’s cold out there?

Nora being her sweet self…

and Damian, catching snowflakes with his tongue.My fingers were freezing, so I came in and processed my photos while they enjoyed the winter wonderland. It’s still coming down out there. I see that we may get as much as two feet of snow by tomorrow morning. The kids will be happy… and the snow shovels will get a lot of use. Oh boy oh boy. Hot chocolate, anyone?

* LATER *

I wanted to add one more photo, so rather than start another blog post, I’ll just add it here. Like I said – it was a fun morning.

And for those who are interested, I shot these with a 28-70mm lens on my Canon 7D. An aperture of 6.3 and a 1/60-second shutter speed let me capture the kids in sharp focus when they stood still for a portrait – and still get some moving snow. A faster shutter speed would have made the snow seem to freeze in the frame, but I wanted a sense of movement and fun… it’s a bunch of kids in a blizzard, right?

Processing was pretty easy since the sky was (and still is… and will be until about May) pretty heavily overcast. The light is incredibly even – diffused by the heavy clouds, and reflecting off the snow – so I have no glaring highlights or dark shadows to drag me down. The hardest part was keeping the camera dry… which I managed right up until Damian threw a snowball at Nick’s head. It bounced off his head, and hit the camera square in the lens. Oops!

Visual Wilderness Contest: Your Best of 2010

By Jay, on December 5th, 2010

For those who don’t already know, all of us over at Visual Wilderness are hosting another contest. Submit your favorite nature photograph from 2010! The prize is a Vari-N-Trio Filter system from Singh-Ray! We want to thank them for sponsoring the contest, and offering such a great prize!

This is a fantastic filter system…

* Density can be varied from 4 to 8 f-stops just by rotating the indicator from Min to Max
* Polarization is controlled by rotating BOTH rings together, at any density setting
* Color enhancement is always working to subtly intensify the colors in your scene
* Allows you to use longer exposures to blur motion or flowing water, or other long-exposure effects
* Permits use of larger apertures in bright light for more shallow depth-of-field effects
* The built-in polarizer reduces glare from sky, water, wet surfaces, glass, and other reflective surfaces to improve color saturation and contrast
* Can function like an “iris” for digital video cameras to control exposure
* Available in 77mm only (Standard and Thin Ring mounts)

So look through your photos from this year and choose your favorite one! We can’t wait to see some great work from all of you!

So, What’s your Excuse?

By Varina Patel, on November 29th, 2010

Our Thanksgiving holiday means a few days away from our ridiculously busy schedules… but we didn’t get a chance to shoot at all. So, after spending time with family and friends – and in lieu of doing anything related to photography this weekend – we shot a video with our kids.

YOU may not think it’s much – but our children are darn sure they are incredibly funny and talented. And so, without further ado… here it is for your viewing pleasure!

eBook: Exploring Iceland

By Jay, on November 25th, 2010

Price: Free

Format: eBook, PDF format, 22 pages

Size: 17.8MB

Requirement: Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 or greater

Download Now

Good Times in the Southwest!

By Varina Patel, on November 22nd, 2010

Our Southwest Workshop was awesome fun. We had a great group of students… as you can see from the group shots below. Here we all are at the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows – wearing our fantastic cowboy hats – a surprise gift from our good friend (and long-time student) Tex. (We missed you, Tex!)

And here we are in Paria Canyon – this is a great place for a group shot, dontcha think? Here’s Sheetal doing Yoga in one of the beautiful “windows”…And Van doing yoga (unintentionally) while shooting details high on the canyon walls. Poor guy – I made him hold that pose while I set up my camera and took a test shot or two. He was a great sport about it! Do you see the mud on his shoes? It was gooey out there – which made it that much more fun!

And there’s Shawn – knee deep in mud – along with Cristina, Glade, and Radu. (I have a great video of Shawn escaping from the mud – but I’m saving it for later.) I wasn’t kidding when I said it was muddy.This is Aaron, shooting gorgeous light in Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument.

This is Shawn again – with another of his brightly-colored, highly-photogenic outfits…… and here’s Glade shooting from the same location. It’s amazing that two people can shoot from the same spot and come away with completely different images. Wait till you see some of the photos from this trip!And last, but not least – this is our workshop mascot. Now, just in case there is any confusion… that’s not a dog – that’s Wendy. And she travels with Christina and Radu, who bring her along wherever they go.Our next workshop is coming right up. We’ll be in the Everglades in January. We’re looking forward to another fantastic workshop! I hope some of you will join us!