Cold Surroundings

Today's black and white image is reminiscent of my older images from when I was in college and shortly after. I used to photograph nature items almost exclusively in black and white. Back then I used a Pentax all manual camera (including focus), first a k-1000, and then later a ZX-M. I would normally use Kodak Tri-X 400 or T-MAX 100 film. After this phase I moved onto carrying two cameras, one with black and white and one with saturated slide film like Fuji Velvia and Provia and for a long time that is what I shot with. In January of 2005 when I bought my first digital SLR camera, the praised Canon 20d, one of the largest selling points was the ability to set a Black and White mode on the camera. I would often go out and shoot both and see how they would turn out. The Canon 20d even had the ability to simulate yellow, red, or orange filters which I used to carry everywhere. It was like 2 cameras in one! Since then I have tempered my use of the function since Photoshop has excellent conversion utilities for black and white. I still shoot images I plan to convert later and this is one such example.

This particular photograph was taken on an overcast day at the OPPD arboretum in Omaha, Nebraska. I wanted to focus on the contrast between the trunks and the snow so when I converted this image I wanted to make sure the snow was as white as possible without blowing out the highlights. Additionally, I processed this so that the tree trunks maintained their darker density.

Technical Details:

Canon 20d, 50 CM lens, f/18, 1/250 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Orange and Blue

Tonight's image of a sunset over DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge was taken the same evening as "Petals in the Snow". As I get my prints ready for my upcoming exhibits at the refuge I came across this one and processed it. This one will not be in the exhibit as I already have several other wintery type frozen lake photographs and I am trying to avoid too many of the same type of image.

Anyway, I have a story related to this image. That evening, as I was composing this photograph I saw what I thought was a dust spot in the view finder. I looked at my filters, looked at the view finder itself and tried to figure out what it was. Finally I just looked up to see if it could be something on the lake. Lo and behold it was a deer standing in the middle of the frozen lake looking at me, still as can be! It was too far away to really be made out with a wide-angle lens which made it look like a spot, but it was definitely a surprise - for both of us.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 28mm, 1/4 sec., f/22, Singh-Ray 2-stop Hard ND grad, Singh-Ray 3-stop ND Filter, 2 exposures combined in Photoshop CS3
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Winter Contrasts

In the last couple of weeks the snow and ice has been slowly melting in Omaha. Most of what was left was in the shaded areas or where it would melt and refreeze. Last week during one of my trips to the arboretum, I came across this old yellowed pine needle on a sheet of ice where water had obviously melted and refroze. The patterns in the ice were interesting, but when juxtaposed with the yellowed pine needle created an even more interest contrast.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM + Extension Tube, f/9, 1/60 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Petals in the Snow

On Sunday, I went to DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge with the intent of photographing the sunset on the ice. It has been a little warmer so alot of the snow has melted off the lake. While wondering around the lake, I found this opened seed pod in the snow. At first it looked like little petals hence the title. I used my extension tube to get in closer for this composition.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM + Extension Tube, f/13, 1/125th sec.
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Coming Together

Continuing with my work from the local arboretum, I went on Friday with the intention of using just my macro lens with an extension tube. The extension tube is a nice addition since it allows a closer look at the world without the loss of any optical quality since there is no glass which also makes it relatively inexpensive and light. Additionally, it works with any lens, so it is very verstile. Today's photograph was an extreme closeup of the end of a branch of a pine tree.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM, Extension Tube, f/5.6, 1/100
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Sunlit Prairie Grass

Since I will be having two photographic art showings at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, I have been going there more frequently to try and get some new shots. In the winter I particularly like the frozen lake since it has some fascinating cracks and reflections that I can include in my composition. Unfortunately, the lake has been covered with snow quite a bit this winter so I've been going to other parts of the refuge and creating images. I decided to capture an expansive prairie type shot. I liked this one since the light was still hitting the grasses and I also went for a sunstar effect here.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/22, 1/30 sec.
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska


To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

2008 Lunar Eclipse

Last night there was a specatcular lunar eclipse that was visible from several continents including North America. Normally, I do not do any astronomy type photography, but the night was clear enough that I decided to give it a go. I don't have very long lenses or a camera-compatible telescope, so I used my 300 f/4,coupled it with my 1.4 tc, and used my Canon 20d. This is a pretty standard setup for me for wildlife and it allowed me to go a little closer to our closest celestial neighbor. This is a pretty liberal crop as well and left me with a little more than a 2 megapixel image from an 8 megapixel sensor. Additionally, I had to bump the ISO level to 1600 which is higher than I usually allow for my photography in order to keep the moon from blurring too much. Remember, the moon and the earth both move and this is evident when the shutter is open any length of time in night photography. Even about a half a second is too long! This photograph was taken right before the moon began to enter totality at 8:58 PM CST.

Technical Details:

Canon 20d, 300f/4l + 1.4 tc, f/5.6, .6 sec.

Near Schramm State Recreation Area, Nebraska

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Quiet Watch

I decided that since I had posted a landscape and an intimate nature scene, that it is only fitting that I post a wildlife photograph. About a month ago I went looking for deer with their winter full winter coats. It has been a particularly cold winter in Nebraska and Iowa this winter so I figured they would be especially wooly. This is a mule deer that hangs out at Lake Manawa State Park near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Feed is put out for the deer and several people drive slowly by to see these friendly critters. This was taken on January 20, 2008.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 300 f/4l + 1.4 tc, f/5.6, 1/200 sec.
Lake Manawa State Park, Iowa

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Nature's Hug

Recently, I've been visiting the local arboretum. I have an exercise where I like to walk around with only one lens and try to see the world through that lens. The lens I choose on February 15th was my 50 mm compact macro lens which allows me to get fairly close in on intimate nature scenes. The weather has been fairly uncooperative with negative temperatures and little snow making for a nice brown frozen muck. So, I've set my sights a little higher and found this single leaf caught in two branches in a tree. The light on the branches was dappled which gave the needles an extra element for the composition.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM lens, f/6.3, 1/100 sec.
OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

First Post

It's February 15th, 2008 and I am creating my blog to showcase my recent photography work. For those of you reading this for the first time, I am a Nebraska-based Photographer specializing mainly in Scenic Landscape, Wildlife, and Nature shots. I enjoy traveling with my family and photographing not only the world, but the area close to my home here in Nebraska. I have been visiting DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge quite a bit recently since I will be having 2 showings of my work at the visitor center. The first is the week of March 10th, the second will be from April 12th-June 7th. Come up and visit!

My first image was taken on February 13th. It was a beautiful sunset that evening with the setting sun lighting up the clouds above the snow-covered DeSoto Lake.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 28mm, 5 sec., 2-stop Singh-Ray Hard Grad
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska Side

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.