On our last day in White Sands National Monument we decided to try some creative shooting. I waited until the last light of the sun was falling on these grasses to some subtle create tonal contrast.
This photograph is all about timing and composition. You can only take a shot like this late in the evening or early in the morning – when sun is close to the horizon. I composed this shot so that the light was only falling on the grasses. All other areas in the frame were completely in shade.
I took this shot in the Columbia River Gorge – in between bouts of stinging hail and pouring rain.
Are you willing to go out and shoot in wet conditions? We often shoot in the rain – and we’ve been out there in some pretty nasty weather… thunderstorms, hail, sand-storms, windstorms, snowstorms… nasty weather can make shooting difficult. But unless the weather is dangerous, we don’t mind shooting in it. It’s about being prepared.
High winds, rain, and ocean spray made this shot from Iceland particularly difficult to capture.
Please don’t take this as an invitation to go out when the weather is dangerous… lightening can be deadly, and so can serious storms. Please stay in a safe place if there are tornado warnings, hurricane warnings, or other hazardous conditions. We’ve booked it out of locations that we felt could be dangerous more than once – because of the possibility of flash flooding, trees that might come crashing down on us (no kidding… it happens more often than you think!), high waves, and more.
Each wave splashed my lens, and rain made it difficult to stay dry while we were shooting in Glacier National Park… but that alpenglow made it all worthwhile!
But when safety is not a concern, we often shoot in nasty weather. Here are some tips that can make a real difference when you are shooting in difficult weather.
It was REALLY cold out there! But it doesn’t get much prettier than Bryce Canyon after a snow storm!
The photos on this page were all taken in difficult conditions. But because we were prepared, we weren’t uncomfortable. Take care of yourself and your gear, and you’ll be able to shoot even when the weather isn’t cooperating! Have fun – and stay safe!
This one is from our Photo Walk at San Gregorio Beach. It was cold and windy – and the water was chilly, too! Brrr!
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I took this shot during our workshop in Everglades National Park. We had a small group of students who braved the elements and went wandering and shooting in the rain.
On this particular day at Nine Mile Pond, we got some very unique light conditions… there was a rainbow, rain, and a brilliant sunrise all at once. I was not shooting anything in particular, just playing with the lens and wandering between the students helping out when these two blades of grass caught my attention. When I shot the image, I was surprised to see these tiny pulses… traced by the water drops as they bounced off the lake surface.
This is perhaps one of the most unique shots in my portfolio.
I spent the better part of two hours photographing water as it splashed against the rocks at Bean Hollow State Park’s Pebble Beach in California. I noticed that foam was collecting in a pool just beyond the biggest rocks, so I watched for a while until I could begin to predict where the biggest splashes would occur. I also wanted to make sure that I chose the spot with the best light – I wanted soft shadows to show the incredible details. But I also wanted to be sure to avoid blown highlights and deep, black shadows. This spot was just what I wanted.
After I chose my spot, I took several test shots – I wanted nice, sharp details, and a perfect exposure, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about clipping my highlights. A chose to shoot at f/13 and 1/800 at ISO 400. An even faster shutter speed would have been better, but I wasn’t willing to sacrifice too much depth of field with a wider aperture. I didn’t want to add too much noise either, so I didn’t increase my ISO beyond 400.
And then I clicked away happily until I was sure I had what I wanted… deleting far more shots than I kept, since I couldn’t predict what the waves would do as they crashed ashore.
This is my favorite of the collection.
Post-processing was easy – I converted the image to black and white, but gave it a bit of a blue tint. I also brightened up the lower right corner just a bit.
Have you wondered what it’s like for a husband-and-wife landscape photographer team? For us, it’s like being on a date. :) We arrived at this location well before the sun went down, and scouted it out. After joking around with a few stragglers, we soon found ourself alone under these incredible arches. We set up our shots and laid down next to one other on the smooth sandstone as our cameras clicked away automatically nearby. We talked about new photography ideas, discussed exotic locations we hope to visit someday, and counted meteors as they passed overhead. We watched some guy trying to paint with light half a mile away, shared the chocolates we’d brought along, and laughed about our experiences with our kids.
Nothing beats spending time with your best friend in the wilderness!
The light on the arch and hoodoo is natural. We took these photo long after the sun had gone down. The star trails are blended from 85 and 120 individual exposures – each with a 30-second shutter speed. We built Photoshop actions to blend the images quickly and easily using layers, masks, and blending modes. The camera remained in the same place throughout the entire shooting process. Our remote releases allowed us to set up the camera, and then stand back and let it do all the work. The hoodoo in Varina’s shot is lit by moonlight. The arches in Jay’s shot are lit by the very last light of the day, reflected onto the sandstone.
Here’s Varina’s shot from the night before.
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Iceberg Lake is about a 9-mile round-trip, but this is the scene that awaits you! We arrived at the lake in stormy weather. The clouds were moving fast overhead, and the sun peeked through every now and then – shining patches of the light onto the surface of this turquoise lake.
The heavily overcast skies softened the light over the scene, so the image wasn’t too difficult to expose properly. My main concern was capturing detail in the highlight areas. I waited until the lake was partially lit by the sun to bring out the brilliant colors you see in this image.
Here’s a short video for you. This time, we’re on location in Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. We offer some simple tips for photographing waterfalls. Enjoy!
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At an altitude of 12,000 feet at it’s highest elevation, the road that passes through Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the highest in the US. Oxygen levels are low up here, and if you aren’t used to the change, it can be tough even to walk. But the view is incredible, especially after one of the frequent thunderstorms.
My goal was to capture the details in the boulder in the foreground, and to show the beautiful layers in the landscape. I used a soft GND filter to balance the light between the sky and the ground. Even with the help of the filter, the range of light between the sky and the ground was too great for the camera to capture without blown highlights or a loss of detail in the shadows. I used our iHDR manual blending technique to restore the details in the highlights.
I used SmugMugs “Camera Awesome” app to take his shot with my iPhone. :) I love how the bright California Poppies stand out against the background. This was in bright sunlight – with harsh shadows. So I made some shade with my body. That evened out the lighting and let me get the shot I wanted. Not bad for an iPhone, right?
Take a look at this photo of Metlako Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. Besides the vibrant colors, you will notice that every part of the photograph seems to be correctly exposed. A histogram can help us determine whether a photo is properly exposed, and if the photo needs to be bracketed in order to capture the entire dynamic range of the scene. Sometimes, we process a single image multiple times in order to get proper exposure in different parts of the photograph.
Lets take a look at this scene as an example. If you wanted to expose this scene for the highlights, I would look at the bright water in the falls, and adjust the shutter speed and exposure until my histogram showed that I had captured detail in the bright areas of the image. We can do the same during post-processing… as seen in the image below.
In post-processing, I kept an eye on the highlights and histogram. I adjusted the image so that I had the detail and contrast that I wanted in the highlight. Of course, this meant that the rest of the image was drastically underexposed. I can blend the image exposed for the highlights with one exposed for the shadows and mid-tone, and the result will be a natural-looking scene with nice details throughout the image.
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