Another photographer discovers many of his best landscapes are just around the corner

Living just north of Seattle in Anacortes, Washington, Steven Koch is surrounded by mountains, sea and islands. "Living here allows me great opportunities to pursue a wide variety of photographic opportunities," says Steven. "And that's what I do... all different types of photography. The camera I use for landscapes and aerials is a Canon 5D (first generation) with a Canon 16–35mm L series lens. I am an FAA-licensed pilot which enables me to fly to amazing locations and see the world from a bird's eye view. Photography has always been a bit of a challenge for me, but I have found that having the right tools -- including Singh-Ray filters -- and just sticking with the basics enables me to achieve consistent results. As an aspiring landscape photographer, I'm continuously working to find what's right for me and trying to develop my own style.

"The photo above was taken at Washington Park in Anacortes. The park is very easy to get to from my home and on this warm, partly cloudy summer evening there was a older lady standing out on the dock watching the sunset. I was very excited and hurried to set up my tripod for the shot. I used a Singh-Ray 3-stop Reverse ND Grad with a 1/8-second exposure. In instances like this, we have only a few seconds to think before the shot disappears. There was no real pre-visualizing of this photo, it’s a matter of being there at the right time and place. The sunset and the emotion of the person looking out to the sea was promptly captured. There is no way I would have been able to pull this shot off in post production. It’s a single shot, but it clearly reveals why I like using Singh-Ray filters to help me balance the exposure just they way I want it and get the image right in the camera the first time with little or no post production.

As a recently licensed pilot, I will soon have more and more opportunities to photograph other places in the world. This rocky seacoast is located in South Africa only an hour north of Johannesburg. I had been trying for three days to get this shot, getting up each morning an hour before sunrise and then watching the early dawn light quickly brighten into full daylight. The problem I was having was trying to get the South African driver to get me to the location on time. For three days he was late and I arrived just after the five minutes of magic light disappeared. So my client's assistant offered to deliver me to the location on time. On this fourth day, the magic light only lasted long enough to capture this image. This vantage point was chosen to capture the sidelighting on the rocks in the foreground and add depth to the image. I used my Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo along with a Singh-Ray 3-stop Reverse ND Grad and a 3-stop, soft-step ND grad which resulted in a 15-second exposure. This image was originally in color, and even though there are some images I would not dare convert to black and white, this one seemed to look better as a monochrome.

Here's another image captured at Washington Park. As a pilot, I am always watching the weather so I can usually tell when it's going to be good day to shoot at sunset. I prefer shooting sunsets when the sky is partly cloudy because it adds depth to the image. When composing this shot, I wanted the rocks in the foreground to come right up to the camera. I also wanted the moodiness of the sun setting into a very soft sea. I used my LB ColorCombo along with a 3-stop soft-step ND Grad which resulted in a 15-second exposure. Whenever I am photographing a location like this, I try to expose shots from different angles within the same vicinity. I usually place the camera very low and shoot straight on, then again from the left and right sides.

For this image taken at Larrabee State Park in Washington, I used the ColorCombo with a 3-stop Reverse ND Grad, with my camera on a tripod. My camera was facing north and the sun was setting to the west. I wanted side lighting to add to the contrast and to increase the effect of the ColorCombo's built-in polarizer on the blue patch of sky. Unlike other types of photography I do, most of my landscape images are natural looking -- not at all contrived or created in the computer. There is no way I could ever pull these images off without the help of Singh-Ray filters."

Steven's plans for the future include flying to all corners of the world to capture memorable landscape images as well as portraits, commercial work, and more. At the same time, however, he'll also be pursuing the many opportunities right around the corner. To follow his various ventures and projects, you're invited to visit his new website here.