landscape photography musings

November 26, 2011

Just off the beaten path – Independence Lake

Independence lake sign

Independence Lake

From the Nature Conservancy Website…

On May 11, 2010, The Nature Conservancy announced that Independence Lake, one of the most pristine alpine lakes west of the Rockies, and the majestic wilderness that surrounds it will remain protected from development following the sale of the land to The Nature Conservancy by longtime owner NV Energy.

Read Full article here: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/california/explore/independence-lake-protecting-an-alpine-treasure.xml

Located about 25 miles north of Truckee in the Sierra Mountains of Northern California is where this pristine lake is located. I had read an article in the local paper about the purchase and was anxious to take a few images. The lake is located on a gravel summer season road and is accessible to car travel. Currently the conveniences are limited to picnic tables, porta potties and some boats. I have now made the trip up to the lake three times and have taken many photos in color and black and white. As I have written in previous postings I now take all images in digital color but some are more suited to be finished as black and white. Most of my work is in black and white but some times when seeing images in color I just have to push the button as I can not resist the urge to capture the moment!

If in the area bring your camera and lunch and be prepared for some beautiful mountain views. Be sure to check the website for when the area is open to the public. The road is only open after the snow melts!

gary

August 21, 2011

Viewpoint Photographic Gallery Sacramento

Viewpoint Gallery Sacramento

The Viewpoint Photographic Art Center is one of the oldest photography galleries in Northern California. Having its’ first show in the early nineties, the gallery continues to thrive having monthly shows and workshops on a wide variety of photographic topics. The gallery moved to its latest location in Midtown Sacramento in 2008. The new gallery is in a fantastic location in the center of Sacramento drawing gallery viewers and photographers from all over Northern California. The Gallery is located at 2015 J St. and is open Tuesday – Saturday from 12-5. If you are in the area stop in and see what is showing or visit their website at: http://www.viewpointgallery.org

Last month the gallery had a member show that I was part of. Showing one of my most recent images taken in the Sierra Mountains showing a moving river and a bike trail this image is part of my Cultural Landscape images that can be seen on my web site www.garywagner.com

Viewpoint Gallery Member Show

If you visit the gallery several of my images are available for viewing. My images are located in the photographer drawers located at the front of the gallery. The drawers are identified by name or ask for help.

gary

Still snow in those mountains!

Summer Snow

Winter of 2010 lingers on! The last time we had this much snow in the Sierra was in 1951! It was a long winter and it still lingers on as snow is still on the trails in the Sierra Mountains making it difficult to hike and holding off those spring wildflowers until August this year. The snow was a blessing for the streams and lakes of California filling most to capacity. Many communities in California depend on these lakes for farming and drinking water and after several dry years it was good to see them filled up this year. As for new Sierra images, I did get out and take some water photos at one of my favorite locations. With the streams filled to capacity, it made for exciting image making of fast moving flowing water. To take moving water photos I usually use neutral density filters so that I can use slower shutter speeds and show the movement of the water. The following photo was taken at 1/4 of a second to show some movement. I many times use a combination of neutral density filters and varing F stops to test different looks of moving water. With digital I have the option of viewing and editing in the field or back in my digital darkroom. Life has never been better for photograpers!

Get out today and take some images!

gary

Moving water

April 28, 2011

Photography of the Landscape – Then and Now!

Mark Klett books

So lately I have been reading several books on landscape photography that I have found very interesting. The photographer featured in these books is Mark Klett who has been photographing the American west for the past 30 years. The real attraction of this photographer is that he has been photographing the exact locations that were photographed in the last two centuries by other photographers including Eadweard J. Muybridge, Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Klett traveled throughout the west in search of the locations used by these photographers taking images at the same time of the year and the same time of day and then publishing both photos for comparison viewing. I found this to be an absolutely fascinating project for anyone interested in photography of the landscape and a must read! I purchased all books Used as all are out of print. If interested search on Amazon, Alibris, and Abebooks. All are .coms and reasonably priced. All books contain photos and great writing about how and why we take photos of the landscape “Then and Now”.

Revealing Territory – Photographs of the Southwest by Mark Klett 1992

View Finder – Mark Klett, Photography, and the Reinvention of the Landscape 2001

Yosemite in Time, Ice Ages, Three Clocks, Ghost Rivers 2005

Traces of Eden: Travels in the Desert Southwest 1986

gary

February 1, 2011

Winter River in Black and White

Sierra Winter River

Yes all of the images I now take are in color. This is one of the wonders of digital photography that you take photos in color and then make them into black and white. In the past with film you could also do this but the tones and quality were far from perfect. Now with Photo Shop the process uses all of the best of the color image to make an excellent black and white image. I use Photo Shop CS5 for the conversion but there are several other programs that can also perform the same task. If you have not tried this conversion give it a try it is quick and easy to convert most images. You can also print your own or upload to one of the online printing services to have them print the black and white images for you. I print all of my own images using Epson printers with a variety of Black and White inks but I have had some done online and have received excellent results.

Give it a try!

Gary

January 22, 2011

New Shoes for Xmas!

New Snow Shoes

So I tried out my new Snow Shoes and they worked Great! The snow was at least 4 feet deep up in the Sierras and when I tried walking on it my legs sunk to my knees. With the snow shoes I went down about 3 inches. Snow shoes on boots, camera around neck, tripod in hand and I was off to take photos of the a high Sierra river in the winter snow. It was about a quarter mile trek to get to a good location. All went well on this first across the snow adventure and the images came out perfect. The only thing I now need is snow shoes for my tripod.

Winter is here. Great images are everywhere.

gary

Winter River

November 20, 2010

Black and White Film – Fall images

BW-Film-CVS-River-Fall-Trees

BW Film Camera Fuji Fall Trees

I have added a few Black and White film fall images. Both images were taken with disposable cameras. The river photo is with a CVS Drugs camera and the Fall Trees is a Fuji camera. Both are shot using color film and converted in PS CS5 to Black and White. The quality of both images is very soft and the mutted. I have purchased some more film and will be taking additional images over the coming week.

gary

November 17, 2010

New fun with an old friend: FILM

Film Cameras

As I posted in my last entry my camera went underwater and I am still waiting for its return from Canon. Just to keep the eyes sharp I decided to have some fun with some of my older cameras and a few new ones. The list is: Nikon F2, Diana 120, focus free 35mm and two new ready loads, one from Fuji and the other from CVS drugs. I was trying to cover the gamut of 35mm images with a range from my best Nikon to off the shelf film and camera combinations. In addition over the years I have used my very old and classic Diana on many occasions when I was looking to break from large format film and just point and shoot and you get what you get!

So I know you are wondering how the images came out and so far I only have one roll processed of the CVS drug camera and they were soft and fuzzy around the edges just as I was hoping they would be. If I had wanted classic f64 images I would have shot sheet film. I will be taking a few of the other rolls to Cost Co today and having some prints and a CD made. Cost Co. does not do 120 so I will have to send those out since no one processes 120 in my area any more.

This color image is one that was made from the CVS Drugs camera. It has a unique look to it that makes it interesting. I will post some additional ones when I get them back from processing.

gary

Fall Trees / CVS Camera

October 17, 2010

Camera takes a swim!

Camera in Motion

Camera Under Water

The morning was going good. I was on the river at dawn taking photos of the fall foliage with some river motion. I had been out a couple of hours and all of a sudden it happened. I was taking a series of three photos using auto bracket and had turned my head for a few seconds to look down stream. The camera was on a tripod and when I turned back toward the camera it was gone! Gone where! Gone into the river! The camera and lens were in about a foot of water completely submerged. I grabbed the tripod and pulled the camera out and stood speechless as nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I looked at the body and lens to see if it had hit a rock on the way down and saw the the front of the lens was damaged on one side also I could see water in the lens and in the screen on the top of the camera. I went back to the car which was parked about 100 yards away and and tried to dry it off. When I took the battery and memory card out water came with it. About the only good thing was that I did not find any water inside the body when I took the lens off. At home I tired to dry the camera with a hair dryer and it is now packed up to ship to Canon in the morning so I will know in a few days how bad this is. As for why the camera landed in the river my only thought is that one of the legs must have been loose and it just fell over. The camera was on flat ground and there was no wind. More to come…

10/31/10 Update – The lens was a complete loss. The camera is being repaired at a large cost but less than buying a new one. It looks like taking your camera for a swim is not a good idea.

gary

August 4, 2010

Moving Water Photo…how slow to go?

BW slow moving water

I was out at sunrise at one of my favorite Sierra rock water locations and the water was moving very fast. My camera was set up on the tripod and favorite images were being created. The question I have been asked many times is what shutter speed to use on moving water and my answer is how do you want the water to look? The choices are tack sharp with water drops in the air stopped in motion, wavy unreal ribbons of smooth white velvet or something in between? In most of my images I usually prefer the long exposure smooth look. To achieve this look the exposures are between 5 seconds and 30 seconds depending on how fast the water is moving. I use one or two three stop neutral density filters to help the camera get to these exposures and sometimes I even add a polarizer to made the exposure even longer. To make your job easier shoot on cloudy days or before the sun rises or sets as the sun on the water makes it very difficult to get to those long exposures in addition can add contrast problems into your images. I have included a few images as examples.

Now go make some images!

Gary