Steve Gandy Photography Blog: mountain

Showing posts with label mountain. Show all posts

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Fire in Colorado - Flagstaff Fire...

in Boulder County, Colorado as seen from our house (about 16 miles from the fire) the day it blew up. Luckily, this fire is contained and was relatively small (300 acres or so). We have friends that were under pre-evacuation notices. The roundish cloud at the top of the smoke plume is a cloud not smoke.


Black and white version. Nik SilverEfex Pro2.


Color version.

Click to enlarge images

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Merry Christmas from Koke'e

As further positive proof that I am way behind on processing my images from our sabbatical to Kaua'i I'm posting this Christmas card. These were all taken at one of the most beautiful places on Kaua'i and the world really. We visited Koke'e State Park and the Na Pali Coast overlooks on Christmas day. If you haven't been there just google "na pali kalalau" and you will find stunning postcard shots of the area. Here's my take from Dec. 25, 2011.

Kalalau Overlook

Looking inland from the park

Mist on the mountain


Sunset at the Kalalau overlook

Click to enlarge images
© Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography

Thursday, October 27, 2011

More Zion Skycapes with Rocks

Sunrise behind the human history museum. Today was a reminder that a rainy morning doesn't preclude a nice time shooting. Click to enlarge the photos.

Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35, 1/30, f/16, 200 ISO, tripod

Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35, 1/180, f/16, 200 ISO, tripod mounted

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sunrise at Capitol Reef


Just got there in time to capture the sun over the Waterpocket fold. 3 images merged via Photoshop HDR

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Just a Colorado Sunset

A sunset from the meadow at Boreas Pass near Breckenridge. What a beautiful night. The view is towards the southwest with Mt. Silverheels highlighted on the right. This was taken September 22, 2011. Note that snow was just beginning to fall at the highest elevations.

Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70, 1/120, f/8, ISO 400, tripod mounted.

Click images to see them larger. © Steve Gandy Photography - SteveGandy.com/photography

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Workshop with John Fielder

Before leaving Colorado, I could not resist the opportunity to sit in a workshop with the premiere Colorado nature photographer John Fielder. Apparently he does a workshop as a donation for the Summit County charity organization, Domus Pacis Family Respite every year. The session was scheduled to be in the fall color season but it was late this year so there was only a bit of color in the aspens. The pano below was taken 9 days later.

While all photo workshops (well most anyway) turn into beginner sessions to some degree, I still found it really interesting and enjoyable to hear John discuss some of his great photography in detail. The workshop was at his house and included a gourmet dinner. John was engaging and an interesting leader. I enjoyed the day. Best quote of the day, "photographers are hunters of the anomaly".

I also really enjoyed the shooting session where we wandered around Fielder's neighborhood...with this view of the Gore Range:

8 Frame merged panorama: Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70, 1/125, f/16, IS0 200, tripod mounted. Merged with Photoshop CS 5.

...and see what caught his eye. It was an interesting way to do the shooting portion but could have been more in-depth. Basically, we wandered down the road, John would shoot something that caught his eye with his pocket cam and everyone would give it a try. There was lots of feedback and it was fun to see "through his eyes". If you have the opportunity to do this with John, I would recommend it. However, I was disappointed that there wasn't more serious shooting. We were encouraged to keep moving before anyone could refine a shot of their own for the most part. Though I did capture a few keepers, see below.

Here are a few shots from that day that interested me...More black and whites than is my usual for nature shoots but I think that was prompted by the flat light and lack of fall color that afternoon.

The group was shooting in this area but I think I was the only one that turned and saw the great reds in the grass behind the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200, 1/60, f/8, IS0 800, handheld.

This shot was probably suggested by John. We spent quite a bit of time on the graphic elements of the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70, 1/100, f/16, IS0 800, handheld. The softness and glow are from the clarity slider in Adobe Camera Raw. Black and white conversion was Nik SilverEfex Pro.

This shot was probably suggested by John. We spent quite a bit of time on the graphic elements of the aspen trunks. Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200, 1/400, f/2.8, IS0 800, handheld. I was working on compressing the grove with the telephoto on this one. Black and white conversion was Nik SilverEfex Pro.

John was suggesting a wider landscape of these trees with the Gore Range in the background here. I didn't like that shot so went vertical and tighter. This black and white conversion of this shot shows how flat light does not always ruin the day. This shot in color is quite dull. Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200, 1/3200, f/2.8, IS0 800, handheld. Black and white conversion was Nik SilverEfex Pro.

Final timely note, Fielder's newest work from Africa is set to debut at his gallery in Denver on Saturday, October 15, 2011. I saw a few proofs and it looks really interesting. The images are all in a panorama format.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

First Snow

I'm attempting to capture the season change in Summit County. This frosting of snow on the peaks above the Breckenridge ski area occurred before even one leaf had gone yellow. I'm unsure if the pano or the original crop satisfies me more.

Nikon D200

Nikon 50mm 1.4

f/3.5, 1/800, ISO 200

Handheld