“The Desert is calling, and I must go” John Muir didn’t say, but I will.
The desert isn’t as easily loved as other landscapes, like the mountains in Muir’s famous quote. Its beauty is often more subtle, rewarding only those who are willing to slow down and fully immerse themselves in it.
To those who have learned to love desert, who have smelled the creosote or sage brush after a fresh rain, who have admired the way an ecosystem often inhospitable to humans is still thriving with life perfectly adapted to it, who have appreciated the often strange and surreal geological features that call the desert home, who have an inclination to solitude and open spaces, the appeal of the desert is undeniable.
Read MoreWhat do pigs, children, and nature photographers have in common?
We like playing in mud! (Note I didn't say if I was a pig or a photographer, it really depends on my appetite...).
In the United States, dry lake beds can be found in every desert region, though the Great Basin in particular is full of them. Death Valley National Park specifically has many, from the Racetrack Playa, the Panamint Playa, and some areas around the Eureka Dunes and Saline Valley. My favorite playa, due to its size and the ability to camp directly on it, is the Alvord Playa in southeast Oregon.
Read MoreSarah and I just returned from a four week desert trip in our Airstream that included a stop in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California in late January and early Februrary.
Anza-Borrego occupies the western part of the Sonoran Desert called the Colorado Desert (I know, it’s confusing). Some of the classic Sonoran flora are here, including ocotillos, chollas (of many types), and the sublimely scented creosote.
Read MoreI will start out this post with an important note. This is not a rant due to sour grapes or feeling left out of the clique of popular kids. When I was posting regularly on 500px, my images often made it to the front page and even filled the top slot on the site on a few occasions. I am also not intending to criticize or offend any individual photographers who are active on 500px but am instead commenting on the negative culture that the site promotes and feeds. I am somewhat hesitant to post something filled with a lot of negativity but decided to go ahead since I think a dialogue on this topic is important.
Landscape photographers have been engaging in a lot of dialogue about the 500px photo-sharing site lately and for good reason (many of the discussions have been on private Facebook pages about individual photographers and photographs, but here is a link to a recent post on the topic and one from Ron from a few years ago). 500px is having a strong influence on the landscape photography community and in the views of some, including me, this is not a positive development. I am weighing in and discussing some of the arguments that others have made on this topic because I find 500px's influence to be damaging to the direction of landscape photography overall and harmful for individual photographers who feel the strong pull to conform because of the site’s dominance. And even though I use 500px as the example, the points also serve to illustrate much larger trends in photography overall.
As a fellow photographer reminded me in an email dialogue on this topic, the 500px culture isn’t going to change. So why bother even talking about this? Because photography and the sharing of photography should be a positive, constructive, and enriching experience. I have heard from enough new photographers to know that the culture of the 500px website can be highly demoralizing and a single website should not have the power to stop budding photographers before they even get started or discourage talented photographers who cannot get traction on the site.
Read MoreI enjoy reading photography blogs and related publications, with many serving as excellent sources of inspiration and thought-provoking ideas that I use to help shape and inform my own work. The following six articles have stood out over the last few weeks in their discussion of important topics for landscape photographers. One thread that weaves many of these selections together is the question of motivation and what drives a photographer in their work, business practices, and public persona - something I have been trying to figure out for myself recently. I encourage you to take some time to explore the ideas discussed below.
Read MoreI really enjoy looking through the retrospective collections that photographers share each year. I always find it interesting to see where people have traveled, how a photographer interprets the places they visit, how a person’s work has evolved, and what images rise to the top of individual lists. Although I have been inconsistent with participating in this activity in the past and am a little late this time around, I feel like I have a bit more to share this year than in previous years, as I can look at my collection of photos and at least say I like them instead of seeing nothing more than flaws and imperfections as in previous years.
I am finally starting to feel more comfortable in my skin as a photographer and am happier with the overall direction of my work. While I think that most of my best images are still sitting on my hard drives ready to become something once I feel motivated or make the time, this group of photos makes me happier than similar groups in years’ past – not completely happy, but at least somewhat satisfied.
Read MoreThis is my third year in a row doing one of these "best of year" posts (see also: 2012 and 2013).
The collection is a mishmash hodgepodge of photographs that have nothing in common except that they fall within the arbitrary confines of a calendar developed over 400 years ago. The photographs really don't look all that good as a collection, and I have become less of a fan of these "greatest hits" arrangements and prefer to present photographs that compliment each other or tell some larger collective story.
Read MoreThe quality and characteristics of light are a frequent topic of conversation among landscape photographers -- and for good reason. Light, and how that light affects a subject, is a critical component in creating any photograph. All different kinds of lighting conditions, from subtle and soft to over-the-top dramatic, can lead to compelling and dynamic photographs. We make the case in our e-book, Beyond the Grand Landscape, that clear skies make for a perfect opportunity to photograph smaller scenes but clear skies can also work for grand landscapes. Yet, it seems that almost nothing can get a photographer to pack up his or her gear faster than a clear sky over a grand landscape at sunrise or sunset. But wait! Give clear skies a chance!
Read MoreA few days ago, a photographer on Facebook sadly lamented that they made a trip all the way down to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado only to be sorely disappointed because of the state of the aspen trees. This year was a mixed bag, with some patches changing quite early, some getting blackened by frost, and others slowly fading to a dull green. I would agree with this photographer’s sentiment (and should note that I have sounded a lot like this in the past) – 2014 was not a great year for fall colors in the San Juans if you arrived with specific expectations for hillsides of golden aspens, mountaintops full of fresh snow, and interesting weather for photography. Still, fellow Dreamscaper Ron Coscorrosa and I both came away with quite a few photos we like from the same place at the same time. The difference between us and the photographer I mentioned above? We arrived with few expectations for what we hoped to photograph and instead welcomed the opportunities that came along.
Read MoreOne of the most prevalent pieces of advice offered to landscape photographers is also one of the most limiting: “Shoot during the golden hour.” And, if you observe a mass of photographers at some popular locations, the advice actually seems to be put in practice as “Shoot during the golden fifteen minutes and only if there are colorful clouds filling the sky.” For photographers living by this golden hour mantra, you may be missing a lot of what nature has to offer.
While I thoroughly enjoy photographing grand landscapes under beautiful light, I have come to enjoy photographing small scenes – abstracts, intimate landscapes, and macro photographs – even more. Years ago, one of the main reasons that I took up landscape photography was because it offered one of the only times I could quiet my mind. At the time, I was in graduate school and working a stressful, full-time job. I was almost always working through a long to-do list or thinking about working through a long to-do list. During the brief periods of time I could get out for photography, the act of focusing enough to create a photograph was an escape from that stressful and busy life I had created for myself. Photographing smaller scenes in nature – like finding a beautiful patch of corn lilies or exploring a set of sand dunes to photograph the light and shadows at the end of the day – was so rejuvenating.
Read MoreAs Ron and I started writing our first e-book on photographing Iceland, we decided to include a section on photography etiquette since we had encountered a string of distressing behavior from other photographers during some recent trips. These incidents started becoming so common that Ron gave them the nickname of Crimes Against Photography, some of which are included below. While the vast majority of my experiences with other landscape photographers have been positive, these other less-than-positive incidents have become frequent enough to suggest that the landscape photography community could benefit from practicing some common etiquette principles.
Considering that landscape photographers should be ambassadors for and respectful of the wild and natural places we visit and photograph, it is surprising to find that an important topic like this receives almost no attention from the typical sources of photography information. This also helps explain why the behavior we have observed occurs so frequently. With some landscape photography locations only becoming more crowded and more people taking up this pursuit, this topic is only becoming more important.
Read MoreOver the past few years, I have been working on tweaking my cold weather gear so I could more comfortably photograph during the winter and in cold temperatures. After a trip to a very frigid Yellowstone National Park this winter, I think I have finally found a winning combination. No more ice-cold hands, nearly frozen toes, and general cold-weather misery for me!
With so many options for winter gear, I thought it might be helpful to put all of my lessons learned and advice in one spot to help others who want to photograph in winter but are not sure where to start in terms of choosing gear. In this post, I will share some thoughts on using camera gear in cold weather, choosing the right clothing, and some basic tips on being prepared for wintery conditions.
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