Landscape photographer Peyton Hale grew up in a small community in the mountains of western North Carolina where he spent as much time as possible outdoors. "This led me to earn dual undergraduate degrees in Zoology and in Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences from North Carolina State University in 2006. During my undergraduate days, I picked up a camera while doing field research and began to teach myself photography. At first I spent much of my time shooting macro and some wildlife images, but I have found the greatest pleasure in shooting landscapes. Since then, I've longed for the chance to visit the American West.
"I have a long list of must-visit spots, but Death Valley National Park has always been a high priority for me. With my background in natural sciences, I've been very intrigued by the unique geological phenomena that occur there, from the salt formations at Badwater to the creation of sand dunes in the park.
"This past March was my first opportunity to fly out and explore this vast national park located in California and Nevada, but I only had five days to cover the major points within its 3.3 million acres. When my group of friends and I arrived we found ourselves in the midst of a late winter heat wave, with daytime temperatures creeping into the low 90’s. In addition to the unusually warm temperatures, other changes were occurring in the area. Badwater Basin was totally devoid of water, which only days before still held remnant pools. This forced us to come up with some new plans for our itinerary.
“Whenever we scouted across the Badwater Basin, we were left scratching our heads trying to figure out exactly what to do. We’d hoped for some remnant water to be able to catch reflecting images of dramatic clouds or the snow capped Telescope Peak, but that was all gone. Nowhere across the expanse we walked did we find the beginnings of salt polygons starting to take shape and elevate from the ground. Fortunately one of my friends had really done his homework and found another potential access site along the salt basin to the north that also develops polygons and tends to be less crowded than the main location.
"With a little bit of luck we stumbled across some good looking formations that had few signs of human impact and were well removed from heavy tourist traffic. This photo was taken in the late afternoon as a heavy volume of clouds began to roll in over the Panamint Range, creating some nice contrast in the skies above. I used my Singh Ray 4x6 2-stop hard-step Graduated ND filter to control the highlights in the sky while I exposed for the foreground. This was taken at 19mm with my Canon 5D Mark II at an aperture of f/16 to achieve the proper depth of field throughout the image. At the time I really hadn’t shot many images that I had pre-visualized for black and white printing, and this image was actually pulled out of my digital archives months after the trip. It was one of those images I noticed only after not looking through the galleries for a few months. Once I finished tweaking it through Photoshop CS4 and the Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in, I was stoked with the moody feeling the final product evoked.
“After spending just over a day in the Furnace Creek area, we packed up our campsite and headed northwest to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes where the image at the top of this story was captured. After setting up camp in Stovepipe Wells we set out in the early evening to scout out the area and try to get a feel for the orientation of the light and the dunes. We were searching for a perspective other than what has been routinely captured from this area. We came across mud flats at the base of the larger dunes, broken into large, beautiful shapes and the cracks made strong leading lines. The next afternoon, we set up at the base of two dunes to get out of the direct sun and began waiting for the thick bank of clouds to the east to break up and catch the light from the sun setting behind us. Our waiting soon paid off as the clouds we were planning to shoot broke up and caught a glazing of post-sunset color -- just enough to add some pop. I used my Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer to warm up the sand and my 3-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter to suppress the sky enough to prevent any loss of detail or blown-out highlights while exposing 'to the right' to retain full detail in the cracked mud.
"The icing on the cake for me was making the long ride out to the infamous Racetrack Playa near the end of our trip. This unique area is one of those bizarre natural phenomena that really sparked my interest in understanding the processes behind the rock movements (besides aliens, Boba Fett, or the chupacabra) and the conditions needed to make it all happen.
"After the long 27-mile drive down the rudimentary dirt road we arrived at the campsite below the playa, shocked to find it heavily occupied by a large-scale camping setup from a local community college. Luckily for us their fieldtrip’s interest lay well beyond the playa and we had the area almost completely to ourselves before sunset. We took some time to check out multiple rocks to find the proper subject as some of the playa was damaged from foot traffic (while the playa was still wet) and I even found a rock that had been defaced by the signature of a tourist.
"After covering the southern third of the playa for around an hour we were able to find a select number of rocks with the proper orientation and a solid composition. The dramatic light began to unfold from the south with intense colors developing quickly. I sorted through my 2- and 3-stop ND Grads before settling on hand holding my 4x6 3-stop hard-step to subdue the intense colors of the sky and a part of the mountains while bringing out shadow details of the playa and in particular the rock that was my main focal point. Just as quickly as the bold colors unfolded before us, the exquisite display began to dull in intensity and fizzle out.
This image was taken on the first morning in the park from the wildly popular Zabriskie Point between civil twilight and sunrise. I used my 70-200mm lens with the LB Warming Polarizer to isolate this portion of the eroded hillside and warm up the scene. My focus was drawn to the primary ridge that creates a central winding line through the image, guiding the eye through the hillside.
"This trip to Death Valley was incredibly significant for me. I was able to capture some of the best images within my landscape portfolio, and it pushed me to work harder both to capture the initial image and to develop my post processing ability. Since then, I’ve been interacting in more photography education, and the use of Singh Ray filters is something I always promote to those working in landscape photography. Regardless of where I go, how light I have to pack, my set of 2-stop, 3-stop, and the 3-stop reverse ND Grads will be right there alongside my LB Warming Polarizer. I find that these filters have been some of the most important tools in my arsenal when working with shifting light and allow me to get as much of the essential imaging as possible worked out right in the camera."
Peyton will be returning for a 9 day tour of Death Valley and the Alabama Hills in February. He is also planning future workshops in the western US and in the Appalachian Mountains. You can find Peyton actively participating in the Google+ community, and learn more about his projects on his website.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
When Peyton Hale got his chance to go west, he headed straight for the unique geology of Death Valley
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Adam Barker's choice of his Best Images of 2011 tells the story of a highly successful and versatile year
From his base in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, Adam Barker enjoyed a wide world of spectacular photographic challenges. We can see it in this group of images that Adam sends us as his Best of 2011, which he calls "a spectacular year on all accounts. Foot upon foot of powder skied, fish from Wyoming to the Bahamas hooked, festivals in the far corners of the earth, ancient pathways crossed -- they all contributed to what could perhaps be one of my most productive years behind the lens. Cliche as it may be, I can’t help but look back and share some of my favorite images from the past year. It's also a good time to applaud the performance of my Singh-Ray filters in every kind of light, every step of the way."
1. Jesse Hall takes a moment to ponder human flight, as he stands inside the hot air balloon from which he’ll subsequently launch himself into gravity’s liberating grasp. Park City, UT. No filtration.
10. Skier Drew Stoecklein can, in fact turn right. At just the right time. In just the right place. Alta Backcountry, UT. LB Warming Polarizer
11. Angler Geoff Mueller and Oliver White tense up as they ply the waters off Abaco Island for huge permit. LB Warming Polarizer
We're sure 2012 will be another great year for Adam. You can keep up with his adventures by visiting his blog or Facebook page for regular updates and tutorials, or follow him on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news. You may also want to check out Adam's instructional DVD, Completing your Outdoor Photography with Landscape Filters, also available on his website.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thierry Hennet documents the colorful salt formations of Danakil Depression in Ethiopia's Rift Valley
Swiss biologist and nature photographer Thierry Hennet picked a very special place to visit in Africa recently. "The Danakil depression in North East Ethiopia is much like California's Death Valley, just deadlier. Both places are shaped by the earth's tectonic plates drifting apart. They feature salt flats and sand dunes, their lowest points are below sea level and they are extremely hot. Because of the torrid temperatures, Danakil is best visited in winter when heat seldom exceeds the 40°C (100°F) mark. Like Death Valley, the Danakil depression hosts impressive scenes that make it a favorite destination for photographers.
"Whereas Death Valley has no permanent residents, Danakil is the home of the Afar people, who live by rudimentary herding and by trading salt cut into rectangular slabs from the salt flats by Lake Assale. The salt then travels into the Ethiopian highlands by an almost continuous procession of camel caravans. The photo above captures the choreography of this salt trading industry as precisely orchestrated beginning with the arrival of the camel caravans to the small village of Ahmedela every evening.
"At dawn, the caravans leave Ahmedala and proceed to the salt flats. The view of the endless lines of camels on the salt flats is truly mesmerizing. In this image, my 3-stop soft-step ND Grad helped darken the sky while maintaining a bright line just over the horizon, thereby providing a strong contrast with the dark silhouettes of the caravan. I kept changing between my soft-step and hard-step Graduated ND filters while on the salt flats. With the rising sun low on the horizon, these amazing filters enabled me to achieve a wide range of effects.
"On the salt extraction sites the caravans meet the local workers, the salt breakers called 'Focolo' and the salt cutters, the 'Hadalimera,' who prepare square salt plates of exactly 7 kg (15.4 pounds). These men deserve great respect as they work using rudimentary tools under the burning sun and without eye protection against the blinding light. After loading their camels with salt plates, the caravan leaders head back to the highlands to deliver their precious load.
"After this day of photography, I was quite impressed by how well the Singh-Ray Graduated ND filters helped retain the vivid colors throughout my images, as clearly seen by the radiant sunburst. However, at this point of the journey I had not yet discovered a very different application for my 3-stop hard-step ND Grad during my visit to the next landmark of Danakil.
"The drift of the tectonic plates have turned the Danakil depression into one of the most active volcanic areas on earth. The local volcano Erta Ale even features one of the few worldwide active lava lakes in its crater. The view of this lava lake at night is absolutely breathtaking, but the extreme lighting conditions make it quite a challenge to properly expose. To capture both the incandescent lava in the foreground and the night sky, I rotated my 3-stop hard-step ND Grad by 180-degrees -- upside down -- to reduce the light intensity of the lava lake as shown on the image above. The 30-second exposure at f5.6 provided a way to highlight both the incandescent walls of the crater and the burning smoke against the dark blue sky. Unfortunately, the overhanging and unstable rim of the crater made any effort to capture of the whole lava lake risky. I certainly did not want to repeat Gollum’s fall.
"Whereas Erta Ale offers an exclusive spectacle, there's another volcano in Danakil that shines with a unique natural phenomenon. The volcano Dallol is located close to the border with Eritrea, meaning that the area is only accessible under military escort. To make Dallol even more intimidating, the site was awarded the world record of the highest average annual temperature by reaching 34°C (94°F). In spite of all this apparent hostility, the unearthly view of Dallol made my visit so exciting I immediately forgot the extreme heat and the reigning strong smell of sulfur gases. The surreal colors and the fantastic shapes found in the crater of Dallol gave the impression I was on another planet. The hot springs constantly transport minerals and salt to the surface, yielding saturated yellow and orange structures surrounding green ponds of sulfuric acid.
"To emphasize the saturated colors and to minimize the light reflection on the acid pools, I used the Singh-Ray LB Neutral Polarizer throughout my stay on Dallol. The following image shows how the Polarizer revealed the sulfur veins in the acid pools, thus giving an almost organic impression to the scene. The image was taken with a 16-35mm ZA zoom lens set to its 16mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 at f/8.
"The next image was taken at Dallol using the same LB Neutral Polarizer again to underline the color saturation and the gradation of green tones found in the acid pools. This image was taken at noon under bright sunlight. The Polarizer managed to reduce the glare and reflections of the bright sunlight while maintaining the sharpness of all the details.
"Based on current predictions, the Danakil depression will be flooded by the Red Sea in a few millions years. This is definitively a good reason to pay a visit to Ethiopia before these unique landmarks become the floor of a new sea. If you do make the trip, remember to take your Singh-Ray filters!"
You can see more remarkable images from Thierry's Ethopia adventure here, along with many more images from his other travels. You can also keep up with him via his website.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Matthew Eisman got to experience Iceland as a volunteer for its Environment Agency
"For this venture, I challenged myself to compose all of my images in-camera with one exposure and minimal post-processing. My f-stop Tilopa BC backpack contained my Nikon D700 camera, Nikkor lenses and a set of Singh-Ray Filters. My filter kit included Singh-Ray’s LB Warming Polarizer, Gold-N-Blue, Vari-ND, plus three types of P-size ND filters: the 3-stop Solid ND filter, the 3-stop soft-step and hard-step ND Grad filters and the 3-stop Reverse ND Grad.
"The waterfall images above were made in the vast Þórsmörk area in the Stakkholtsgjá canyon. Þórsmörk is only accessible by specially equipped all-terrain vehicles and the region is very popular among hikers. Mountains, glaciers and fast-moving waters encircle it in all directions. Singh-Ray’s Gold-N-Blue brought this waterfall to life. The only difference between the two exposures was a slight turn of the Gold-N-Blue Polarizer, and I was able to produce two vastly different, but equally dramatic results.
"These next three images were made at the famous Jökulsárlón iceberg lagoon in the southeast near Skaftafell National Park. Jökulsárlón is an abstract photographer’s dreamscape. No two frames are ever the same. It’s one of the most rewarding and challenging locations that I’ve ever photographed. I spent one week near the lagoon waiting for the ideal shooting conditions. My first three days were washed out by rain, but weather finally cleared on the fourth evening and I made this image.
"These next two images were both made the next night at the iceberg lagoon. My goal was to simulate impressionistic brushstrokes with the ebb and flow of the waves. The Gold-N-Blue Polarizer plus the 3-stop Solid ND Filter was the perfect combination.
"The final image below was made at the majestic Dynjandi waterfall in Iceland’s West Fjords. It’s a great example of an image that would not have been possible without help from my Singh-Ray Filters. Using Singh-Ray’s Vari-ND plus the 3-stop Solid ND Filter, I dialed in a six-second exposure in bright afternoon sunlight!
"I gained a lot of valuable photography experience during my adventures in Iceland. The two most important lessons -- familiarizing myself with using filters and learning to be patient when composing my shots. I’d strongly recommend volunteering if you’d like to spend quality time in some of Iceland’s most beautiful areas and experience it in way that most tourists never will."You can view more of Matthew's photographic work at his website, or check out his music photography website. You'll also find him on Twitter and Facebook.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Wherever Andrew McLachlan and his camera travel in Canada's Ontario Province, he's on the job
When Canadian nature photographer Andrew McLachlan recently published his first e-book, A Photographer’s Guide to the Ontario Landscape, he was quick to point out "the success of many of my images is based on using Singh-Ray filters. As I have traveled extensively throughout the province, I find my thin-mount LB Warming Polarizer to be indispensable. The same can be said for my Graduated and Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filters.
"When I am not on the road photographing, I can usually be found relaxing at our family’s cottage on Horseshoe Lake near the town of Parry Sound. There is no better way to end the day than sitting on the cottage dock, with a cup of tea in one hand, and a Singh-Ray 2-stop, soft-step ND Grad in the other, and that’s exactly how I captured the dramatic sunrise image above that became the cover shot for my ebook.
"I began my career as freelance photographer/writer back in the days of film and my years of traveling throughout Ontario have now resulted in a diverse collection of landscapes, wildlife and agricultural images which have allowed me to service a variety of clients with a large selection of quality images. I've included five more images with this story that are representative of my landscape work -- and my reliance on Singh-Ray Filters -- but visitors to my website can also find many more photos, ranging from macro to telephoto, artistic to abstract, and documentary. 
"I can still recall this visit to my beloved Tiny Marsh Provincial Wildlife Area near the town of Elmvale. I often arrive at Tiny Marsh to shoot sunrise imagery over the wetlands. On one particular morning, many years ago, when I was shooting film, a wonderful cloud formation was hanging above the marsh. I knew as soon as the sun began to illuminate the cloud it was going to be an impressive sunrise. I immediately reached for my Singh-Ray 2-stop, soft-step Graduated ND filter to accurately record this wonderful wetland sunrise.
"On another trip to Ontario’s boreal forest near Englehart, my thin-mount, Warming Polarizer provided the final piece of the puzzle for capturing this vision of Kap-Kig-Iwan, aboriginal for ‘the high falls.' The rocks below the falls at this location are thought to be some of the oldest rocks on Earth. Using the Warming Polarizer created lush greens and warmed the exposed bedrock wonderfully, while cutting down the glare that was present on this overcast day.
"While co-leading a winter workshop in Ontario’s Muskoka region, I discussed how essential Graduated Neutral Density filters are to landscape photography. And since some of the participants did not own such filters, I demonstrated how much they could improve their images by allowing the participant to try them and see for themselves, on their LCD screens, the results of shooting with and without the ND Grads in place. In the accompanying photograph of the Black River in winter, captured during this workshop, the bright, over-cast sky was balanced with a 2-stop, soft-step ND Grad.
"Although I have traveled throughout much of Ontario’s vast and varied terrain, I find Algonquin and Lake Superior Provincial Parks to be my favored locations. The scenery in these parks is some of the best in the province. On one such excursion to Algonquin Provincial Park, I found my thin-mount, LB Warming Polarizer and 2-stop, soft-step ND Grad to be critical in capturing an impressive sunset at Grand Lake. I was using my Nikon 12-24mm lens, and thanks to my thin-mount LB Warming Polarizer, I was able to use these two filters without encountering any vignetting.
"During my recent trip to Lake Superior Provincial Park, I awoke on the first morning to a bitter cold wind and a sky full of rather nasty storm clouds. I was hoping for conditions that were a little more favorable, but I always make a habit of getting up and getting out there regardless of the current weather, especially on windy days when things can change in a hurry. One of my favorite spots in the park is at Old Woman Bay. The sandy beach at this location has many sun-bleached logs strewn about, presumably by extremely rough conditions on the lake during stormy weather, something that Lake Superior is noted for. I found an old tree stump at the water’s edge that I knew would make a nice foreground element, so I sat down on the beach with my 12-24mm lens and framed this scene. Why did I sit down? I wanted a low perspective that would let me keep the tree stump from rising above the horizon line and merge with the sky, Secondly, it was incredibly windy and it is much easier to keep everything steady (camera and tripod) when you assume a lower profile. I used my LB Warming Polarizer to reduce some of the glare from the water and make the clouds a touch more dramatic. I also used my 2-stop soft-step Singh-Ray ND Grad to darken the sky. As I was playing around with various shutter speeds to get the desired amount of blur on the incoming waves, the sun began rising behind me and lit up a section of the clouds adding the final ingredient to this scene."
To learn more about Andrew's new ebook, A Photographer’s Guide to the Ontario Landscape and see more of his images, visit his website, and take a look at his blog.
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Adventure sports photographer Tom Bol's filters have been an essential part of his success
It would be hard to find a photographer with more story-telling enthusiasm than Tom Bol. It shows up in everything he writes, in all his workshop sessions, and -- most importantly -- in every image he produces. It's surprising to learn that Tom has just now published his first book after 25 years of documenting adventures in every part of the world. What did not surprise us is that Tom's book is truly instructional on every page. Adventure Sports Photography; Creating Dramatic Images in Wild Places is basically a storybook that will keep you thinking and planning forward. "Writing the book took over a year, and I had to shoot a number of new images to illustrate techniques in the book. I spent many hours at the computer in the wee hours of the morning writing down my thoughts into cohesive, instructional chapters. These are things I expected to be happening in writing a book.
"But a few other things also happened that I didn’t expect. As I started reviewing 25 years worth of images, my career and even my life became clearer. I thought I knew what made me tick as a photographer, but I had never looked at my entire career at once, only a few years at a time. I mentally relived my introduction to photography and later my deep appreciation of the environment. I reminisced about distant expeditions and old climbing partners. I remembered what it felt like at 23,000 feet in the Himalayas trying to compose a mountaineering shot while gasping for air.
Friday, December 30, 2011
To convey total peace and solitude, Floris van Breugal calms the sea and sky with his Vari-ND
Born and raised in the Bay area of California, award-winning fine art nature photographer Floris van Breugal is now based out of the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington, where he is also a full-time graduate student studying insect flight dynamics. He sends this dramatic reminder that filters work best when we bring them with us.
"Since nature photography is never, ever, predictable, I have learned to never leave home without my Singh-Ray Polarizer and Vari-ND filters. Even in the age of digital blending and fine tuning in post processing, these filters offer something you simply cannot accomplish on the computer. This past weekend, while out backpacking on the rugged coast of Washington's Olympic National Park, I was glad I brought them with me. The sunrise was incredibly beautiful - not that over saturated kind of red and pink, but a perfect mix of color and atmosphere. I couldn't have hoped for better conditions to photograph my new favorite tree, a lonely conifer sitting atop an imposing sea stack.
"After reviewing one of my test images, I realized there was too much commotion in the scene to give the feeling of quiet and peaceful solitude that I wanted to accompany that tree. That's when I reached into my bag and pulled out my Singh-Ray Vari-ND. Now I would be able to smooth out the wave action and cloud movement to achieve the atmosphere I wanted. With a fixed neutral density filter, it's impossible to choose exactly the length of the exposure you want, and invariably you end up with something too long or too short. With the Vari-ND, I was able to dial in just enough density to yield a 20-second exposure, which was long enough to smooth out the cloud and wave movement, but short enough to give some structure in the clouds."
To see more of Floris' nature photography and follow his trails through the Pacific Northwest, you'll want to visit his website and blog, and check out his Flickr galleries, too.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Ernesto Santos offers a few lessons he's learned about using ND Grads to create winners
While working on his expanding catalog of travel and landscape images recently, Texas photographer Ernesto Santos noticed the makings of another fine blog story. "It occurred to me how many of my best efforts (those images that have earned me some income from time to time) would not have been possible without the use of my Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density Filters. Sure, there may be other ways to 'get the shot in the tin,' but as I reflect on the images in this article it becomes clear that even with a lot of work at the computer or the use of technology that frankly was not even around when these images were taken, they still would not have met the high standards I try to maintain.
"So I thought I would discuss how these four 'veteran' images confirm the importance of getting each shot right in the camera. Even though these photographs were taken some years ago with a Nikon D100 and D200 they still hold up to large scale printing. That's because the image file is of the highest integrity thanks to the Singh-Ray ND Grads, which allowed me to keep the exposure values within the limited dynamic range of these early digital SLRs.
"At the time I captured this image of the majestic Sierra Del Carmen in Mexico as seen from Big Bend National Park, I was racing to the park's Rio Grande Village campgrounds to stake my claim on my favorite campsite. As I approached the north entrance to the park, I knew I would make it to the campgrounds just before dark; and setting up a tent camp in the dark is no fun, my friends. While on the park road I noticed that the sierra over my left shoulder started to light up and within minutes it was ablaze as you see here. I pulled the car over, grabbed my Nikon D100 and tripod and scrambled around trying to find an area of the desert floor with some interesting flora, I knew I only had only a few minutes as I had seen this spectacle before on a prior trip and had missed it then. When I finally set up the camera, I took a test shot and saw that the mountain range was being over-exposed. Because I had metered the camera to lift the shadowy desert foreground out of the quarter tones, the sierra was washing out. I remember how the exposure range of this scene really surprised me back then. I immediately went for my packet of ND Grads and hand held a 3-stop hard-step over the orange band of limestone and granite layers. I only got three shots bracketing my exposures before the show was over.
"One of the problems with the old D100 was that it had a very narrow exposure range. Shadows tended to get noisy when I tried to pull them out in post processing, and I always had to make sure I didn’t blow out the highlights. In this example, I must point out that the Sierra Del Carmen is made of sandwiched layers of dark Cretaceous rock and lighter colored Glen Rose limestone. To get both tones within the dynamic range of the camera in this situation was a challenge. The ND Grad filter was a deciding factor in making this a successful exposure.
"On another trip to Big Bend National Park, I wanted to capture a different perspective of the Santa Elena Canyon, a popular photo attraction in the park. So I moved away from the main overlook where you get the classic head-on shot of the 1,500-foot-high gaping canyon which has been parted by the Rio Grande River. Instead I drove down to a boat slip area used frequently by rafting outfitters. It was still very early in the morning and, while the sun was bathing the canyon walls with warm tones, much of the Rio Grande River was still in deep blue shadow. This posed a problem for me as I was determined to get the wonderful reflection of the canyon walls in the water.
"A test exposure, shown below, shows how the brightness of the canyon walls was just starting to clip (exceed the camera's dynamic range causing lost highlight detail) when I lowered the shutter speed enough to expose for the reflection. My solution was to use my 2-stop hard-step ND Grad placed a little differently than the conventional way. By paying close attention to my test shot results and reviewing the histogram carefully, I determined the correct placement of the filter.
"Here is a good illustration of how you can use ND Grads in different combinations and configurations to great benefit. In this photo of Schwabacher’s Landing in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, I felt it was important to expose the pine trees so that as much of the detail could be recorded as possible. The dilemma I faced was how to do this while keeping the reflections in the beaver pond looking natural, which is always darker than the subject being reflected. The solution I came up with was to place a 3-stop hard-step ND Grad in the usual manner to hold back the sky and snowy peaks and then place an inverted 2-stop hard-step to hold back the reflections in the beaver pond. This allowed me to meter for the pine trees and even bump that up a ½ stop. This combination worked perfectly as you can see in the final image at the top of this story."I hope these illustrations reveal how versatile Singh-Ray ND Grads can be. You don’t always have to use them in the traditional sense, such as to help control a very bright sky. They can also be used to tame brightly lit subjects in the foreground and used in "stacked" combinations to create a balanced and natural looking image. When I pull out my ND Grads, I very often use them in stacked combinations at different angles. They can save the day and give your images the best quality your camera can produce."
Ernesto is currently on his way to the Texas panhandle to photograph the Palo Duro Canyon. As he hit the road the weather forecast included a good dusting of snow. "I think one of the most spectacular scenes you can ever encounter in the American West is when the scrub and desert prairie are sprinkled with snow. It really makes the desert plants and red rock stand out."
Ernesto also recently commented on how his beloved Texas is still suffering through the serious drought. "I recently spent an afternoon at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge which is near my home and I was just devastated by the conditions at the refuge. Many of the ponds and lakes which are critical habitat for the migratory birds of the Central Flyway are dried up and the usually green and lush tropical hardwood forests are gray and devoid of life. And most disheartening, I saw a few old-growth stands, some of which are the last remaining in the Rio Grande Valley, dotted with dead trees that are hundreds of years old and have been around since the Spanish landed on the Gulf coast."
You will want to check out Ernesto's website at esartprints.com where he is now offering professional fine art print services to fellow photographers, the same process he uses on his own fine art prints.
Friday, December 16, 2011
When Adam Barker talks about filters in his workshops, he knows he'll soon hear the word... "FINALLY!"
"Finally!" That's the word outdoor photographer Adam Barker likes to hear when he's conducting his workshops. "I've run out of fingers and toes to count how many times I heard this exclamation at my recent workshop at the Telluride Photo Festival. Those students expressing such joy and satisfaction have 'finally' seen their first successful landscape image -- successful because it looks just the way they saw the scene with their own eyes.
"I have been shooting with Graduated ND filters now for more than ten years, and I can recall the exact moment I realized the great potential of such a useful filter. It hit me like a ton of bricks -- this was the secret weapon I'd been searching for. Raise your hand if you've been intensely frustrated at times, unable to accurately capture that five-star, once in a lifetime landscape image. Raise your hand if you've ever forlornly had to write out the statement 'this doesn’t quite do the place justice' in reference to one of your images from a particularly magical place and moment, and finally, raise your hand if you've just about given up on photographing landscapes because you raised your hand for the above two statements! OK -- put that hand down, and pick up your saving grace -- the Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density filter.
"From my experience, there is no better way to get accurate, bold, vivid and complete images at the time of capture than with a properly used ND Grad filter. What's the secret? It's simply this: even our most modern cameras simply cannot 'see' the same way our eyes see. Our camera's sensor does not record anything close to the full 'dynamic range' of the human eye, meaning it can only capture so much difference between the darkest and brightest parts of an image. This means we must control or moderate the light entering the camera into a more narrow range of tones which the camera will be able to 'see' as it should.
"The colorful view of Dallas Divide, CO we see above was captured with my 3-stop hard step Graduated ND filter and the LB Warming Polarizer -- a combination that I use regularly for landscapes. The Polarizer saturates the color in the sky and the ND Grad balances the high exposure levels of the bright sky in the background with the important -- but less brightly lit -- areas in the foreground.
"This photo of Bavarian Bovines was taken recently near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany using my 3-stop Reverse ND Grad to balance the very bright, dramatic skies. It also helped me balance the image composition as well.
"Every aspiring photographer knows there are 'modern' alternatives to Graduated ND filters like HDR and digital blending, but I’ve had countless students at my workshops remark on how much more natural and representative an image looks when they capture it with the ND Grad filter. To boot, they can now leave each shoot knowing that, with one frame, they nailed it. They're not wondering if multiple frames will align, and when they get home, they will have no creative questions as to how the scene actually appeared at the time of capture.
"Much of my success across numerous genres of photography can be accredited to an understanding of how and when to use these important filters. This farmer's shed in the Bavarian Alps in Germany was captured with a 4-stop Reverse ND Grad and my LB Warming Polarizer. The latter was used to accentuate the colorful sunset clouds and remove sheen from the shed and colorful shingles. The ND Grad allowed me to slightly overexpose the foreground and give some extra pop to the green grass.
"From scenic landscape classics, to 'active lifestyle' keepers, to commercial destination work, I trust these filters to help me capture more natural, complete, and visually satisfying images. This mountain bike sunrise was captured in Deer Valley, Utah using my 4-stop Reverse ND Grad to balance the intense sunlight bursting forth from the horizon. The filtration of the sunlight was absolutely essential to the success and natural look of this image -- not to mention the dramatic backlight in the foreground. Without the ND Grad, this image simply could not have happened, but by using the right filter I was able to add another success to my stock file."
Adam suggests those new to using filters explore the many stories about ND Grads instantly available on this Singh-Ray blog. You may also want to check out Adam's instructional DVD, Completing your Outdoor Photography with Landscape Filters, or visit his blog or Facebook page for regular updates and tutorials, or follow him on Twitter.
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