Best of 2009 - Fury as the Sun Sets

There are times where you seek out an image (pre-visualization) and then there are times where the image seeks you. During my trip this past year to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, I was very interested in the night glow sessions.

The night glow is where the balloons fire their engines, not to take off (they all are tethered), to the light up the balloon and hence, make them glow. When you have several hundred balloons doing this all at the same time, it is a stunning scene.

Upon wondering around the balloon grounds, I was looking for interesting shots of balloon crews getting ready for the evening glow. This may have included filling the balloon with air, firing of the engine, etc. Unfortunately, my search seemed to be in vain as I kept getting distracted by an amazing sunset to west of the balloon grounds.

It was at this point that I decided to try to combine the fire from the balloons with the glow of the setting sun. This attempt was to show the harmony between the natural and man made sources of light. With the sun set acting to backlight the balloons and the people I decided to try out some different ideas. The image you see before you was the first of these test shots.

‘Fury as the Sun Sets’ is a prime example of a shot I was not seeking out, but one that found me. Sometimes you need to step back from the pre-visualized image and look around. You never know what you will capture when you do!

This image is available for purchase here.

Best of 2009 - Reflection of a Moose

When you travel to a National Park, you tend to make a list of the things you want to do/see while you are there. For me, my list was of nature and wildlife subjects I wanted to not only see, but also photograph. When I was in Grand Teton National Park, one of the animals I wanted to photograph was a moose.

I had scouted locations, talked with other photographers and guides but I had not seen a moose in a setting that I could photograph the animal.
That was, until the last day I was in the park. On the way back to the hotel, my wife, Erin, spotted a moose in a marshland, all by himself. We stopped, grabbed the camera gear, and went to set up.

Approaching wildlife, even in a National Park, is always interesting. You never know exactly how the animal will react to your presence. In this particular case, the moose didn’t seem to care.

What a perfect scene, here is this lone male moose, in a marshland with water that was still enough to get a stunning reflection. The irony was that this is the same location (not 30 feet away) where we saw the Grey Owl featured in the image, Gaze in the Rain. Moreover, the nearest city to this part of the park is called (I kid you not) Moose, Wyoming.

The combination of the water dripping out of the animal’s mouth, the facial expression, the ripples in the water, and the reflection all presented elements which I wanted to capture. In addition, the light was good too.
I continued to take photos of the moose until I ran out of space on my memory cards. As soon as we departed, so did the moose. He ran across the street and was off into the woods.

‘Reflections of a Moose’ is the result.

This image is available for purchase. 

Best of 2009 - Gaze in the Rain

Owls are amazing creatures. If you watch them closely, it is amazing how complex, and yet, graceful they can be.

This shot is from a trip to Grand Teton National Park in June of this year. Unfortunately, the trip was marred by a ton of rain every day. This presented a bit of an issue for someone who was looking to do a lot of nature and wildlife photography.

Despite the rain, my wife Erin and I came across this owl sitting out in the rain and decided to stop. The rain gear was applied to the camera gear and out we went.

What amazed me was this owl was as interested in me, and the other photographers who were there, as we were of the owl. The curiosity of both species was equal.

Although a bit damp, the yellow in the birds eyes and nose off set against the grey of the feathers presented a shot I had to get. If you look closely in the right hand side of the image, you can even see several raindrops falling.

Rain or shine, there is always something interesting happening at a National Park. You just have to look for it (and be sure you have rain gear).

This image is available for purchase here.

Best of 2009 - A Time Machine, A Magic Wand

As this year comes to a close, I thought I would offer up five of my best shots from 2009. Each day will feature an image from this past year that I think was one of my best. In addition, I will give a back story for each photo.

“A Time Machine, A Magic Wand...” is the first in my Best Of 2009 series. On a lovely summer evening in May, I ventured downtown for my own personal photo-walk. The lights of the historic Larimer Square have always interested me. This particular night, I decided to try to capture some of what I always found interesting.

To get this particular shot, I stood on top of a bench with my camera mounted on a tripod, which was fully extended and the legs were in the gutter of the historic street. I drew the interest (and mild mockery) of some local bouncers outside of a near by club as well. All part of a day’s (or in this case, night’s) work.

My goal was to capture the essence of this historic landmark as well as the bustle of the city. To do this, I used a thirty second exposure to capture both the lights which make Larimer what it is, but also the lights of the passing cars.

When looking at this shot in the digital darkroom, I decided that the essence of the night would be further typified if the image was presented in black and white. The image you see above is the final product.

When all is said and done, I hope I provided a unique perspective of an iconic part of Denver.

This image is available for purchase here.

Merry Christmas To All....

A Wall Of Many Colors

Whoville For the Holidays

Take These Chances

Defiance of Gravity

Who Signs The Brightest?

Speed Demon's Humor

The Look Of Majesty

Winter's Discontent

The Strut

Snow Falling on Pine

2010 Calendar Now Available on Amazon

Today marks a special day for me and my 2010 Calendar. As some of you know, I use the self-publishing site Lulu to create my calendars. I was informed last week that Lulu had selected my2010 Calendar to be included in their listing on Amazon.com.

If you are looking for a really special and unique gift, please allow me to humbly suggest my 2010 calendar.

Please be aware that since Lulu is a print on demand service, there is a larger lead time for orders. In plain English, you will need to allow extra time for your order to arrive. This translates into earlier deadlines for your gifts to arrive by Christmas.

Special thanks to Lulu for their help and support with this.

View my Calendar on Amazon now!

Cozy Slumber

Gaze From The Log

Perspective of Light

Outdoor Photo Gear Posts Canon 5D Mark II Story

The kind folks over at Outdoor Photo Gear (@OPGear on Twitter) have posted an entry on their blog announcing me as the winner of th Canon 5D Mark II sweepstakes, which they sponsored.

I was randomly selected out of thousands of people who Entered the 5D Mark II sweepstakes by PhotoFocus.com founder Scott Bourne (@ScottBourne on Twitter). If you want, take a look at their nice write up.

If you are looking for items, which are unique to outdoor photography, I cannot recommend Outdoor Photo Gear enough!

I will be in Rocky Mountain National Park this coming weekend doing a sunrise shoot and a bunch of my warm weather gear came from Outdoor Photo Gear (even before I was announced as the Canon 5D Mark II winner).

A special thanks to Scott Bourne and PhotoFocus.com along with Chris Klapheke, and all of the folks at Outdoor Photo Gear.

Whoville For the Holidays

Intrigue Of Youth

My Story Begins...

The Sights These Eyes Have Seen...

If You Listen Carefully...