Colorado Bound!

Joe and I are heading out to Colorado for 2 weeks of shooting the summer bloom.  We’ll post some pics when we get back.  See you soon!

- Ian

Mirror on the Atlantic

Mirror on the Atlantic, originally uploaded by Joseph Rossbach(www.josephrossbach.com).

Sunset along the Atlantic Ocean, Cape May, New Jersey.

After the storms rolled through, I was rewarded with an amazing display of light along the beach just north of Cape May. I used a 3 stop graduated (hard) ND filter to hold back the exposure in the sky. I waited until after a wave came up and washed back which created a mirror reflection in the wet sand. Nature simply is amazing!

Lake Superior by Kayak (by Ian Plant)

Hi all, I’ve  just returned from several days of kayaking Lake Superior’s wild coast at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I’ve launched a new feature on my website called Photo Journal, which is where I will post descriptions of some of my more interesting photo expeditions. Check it out to read about and see images from my latest trip!  

New Work from Shenandoah National Park (Joseph Rossbach)

I am just getting around to finishing up the processing on my top select keepers from this past weekends Shenandoah National Park Workshop. The weather and light were simply amazing with periods of heavy rain, fog, clouds, clearing storms and golden light. We spent 3 days exploring Big Meadows in search of new born fawns, hiking some of my favorite summits for sunrise and sunset light, working waterfalls and cascades when it was raining and overcast and experimenting with alternative techniques such as multiple exposure panning, long exposures at mid day and others. Here are my keepers so far from the trip. Enjoy!

Layers and Light 

This is the very first image I made on Friday morning before the workshop started. I arrived on Skyline Drive just in time that morning to get to one of my favorite overlooks to record this view of layers of light and fog in the Piedmont below. 300mm f2.8 with 1.4 teleconvertor.

Fawn at Watering Hole 

I found this fawn in Big Meadows at a popular watering hole. it showed up with two females and played and drank in the area for over 20 minutes which allowed me ample time to find the best angle and record a ton of great images.

The Embrace 

Two siblings join together for a tender moment. I made this image in the Big Meadows campground. As I was setting up my tent, I noticed a family walking the woods behind the campground. I tracked them for over an hour shooting many, many images. This was my favorite.

Got Milk 

Another tender moment between a new born fawn and her mother. Captured in Big Meadows under soft overcast light.

Dark Hollow Falls 

Heavy rains this spring and early summer allowed us to shoot some nice waterfall images at Dark Hollow Falls and cascades along Hog Camp Branch.

The Chase 

A young male buck hurries to keep up with the pack in Big Meadows. This image was made in warm late afternoon light. I stopped down to f22 and panned the camera in motion with the buck to create this image.

Blue Dusk 

A two minute exposure about 20 minutes after sunset from Skyline drive looking west towards Shenandoah Valley and Massanutten Mountain.

War of the Worlds 

Sunrise from the talus slope of Blackrock Summit at the southern end of the park. I got low and wide to emphasize the rocks against an amazing sky.

Look at that Sky Flying By 

This image was made at mid-day in Big Meadows. I used the Singh Ray Vari-ND Duo to drag out a 45 second exposure which blurred anything moving in the image.

Whitetail Fawn in Big Meadows 

Need I say anymore. Uber cute.

O.K., That’s it for now. I should finishing the images by tomorrow and will hopefully have a few more to share later this week.

Don’t forget, We still have 2 spots available for our Rocky Mountain Photo Workshop. If you are interested in shooting alpine reelections, 14,000 foot peaks, waterfalls and western wildlife, you should consider joining us. Did I mention the cost is only $725.00. here are the details and registration info: http://www.mountaintrailphoto.com/workshops_24.htm

New Websites Launched!

Hi all, just a quick announcement: I’m finally phasing out “I Pee Photography” (my current website www.ipphotography.com) and replacing it with the new and (hopefully) improved Ian Plant Nature Photography. Please visit my new site and update your bookmarks! The new site is flash based, so it is a bit more dymanic and (once again, hopefully) more fun to look at. I’ll be adding new images and galleries in the coming months, so check back often!

Also, Joe Rossbach just updated his site, same address as before but with a new look. You may notice a passing similarity between our two new sites. Yep, we used the same web hosting service!

-Ian Plant

New Images and Guest Portfolio on Mountain Trail Photo!

Some new images from the Team are up in the Recent Work gallery on the Mountain Trail Photo site. Also, we have included a Guest Portfolio for photographer Jim Kirby, who recently did a book with us through Mountain Trail Press, called “Harpers Ferry: A Crossroads in Time.” The book takes a look at the history of Harpers Ferry through contemporary photographs. It’s a real beauty, check it out!

 

North Woods Adventure (by Ian Plant)

Okay, I know what you are thinking: what happened to the last installment of the Horseshoe Crab Chronicles? I had intended to shoot the crabs one last time this year, during the full moon cycle of June 7. I was going to go up Friday the 5th, but heavy rain moved into the mid-Atlantic. The next day, it was completely sunny out — no clouds, no pictures is my motto. I could have gone up on Sunday, but I have been itching for some time to head up to Maine for some shooting. So I decided, screw the crabs, I’m heading north! I was planning on being there for two weeks, but unfortunately had to cut my trip short and come home to deal with an emergency of sorts (nothing catastrophic, but it did require my immediate attention). 

I drove all day Sunday to make it to Acadia National Park in time to shoot sunset. I met fellow shooter Alex Mody at the Schoodic Peninsula tract of the Park, but sunset was a bust. Heavy cloud cover had moved into the area, and there was no color but grey in the sky. No good for color photography . . . so I started thinking in terms of black & white. A few dramatic clouds in the sky caught my attention, so I headed down to the shore to make the following image (converted to black & white in Adobe Raw Converter):

Not a bad start to the trip! The next morning, we had partly cloudy skies, so we went to Otter Cliffs to photograph sunrise from the cobble beach. The light was good, but in my opinion the clouds didn’t quite support the composition. Overall it is not a bad shot, but the magic I am always looking for just didn’t happen:

After sunrise, we traveled north to Cutler, where we would depart by boat (operated by Bold Coast Charter Company) the following morning to photograph the puffin colony on Machias Seal Island. Along the way, I saw some bunchberry in full bloom. We stopped to shoot (of course). I am always looking for interesting shapes in my compositions, and a pleasing relationship between elements of a scene. Instead of opting for a more traditional, straight down view of the bunchberry, I took out my 24mm tilt-shift lens and got low in an effort to use wide-angle perspective to create a unique composition. The tilt feature of the lens helped keep everything in focus, even though I was within inches of the nearest flowers:

 

We spent the evening exploring the Bold Coast area just north of Cutler. It is a very rugged and beautiful area, with 200 foot cliffs rising above the sea. I haven’t processed any images yet from that hike, largely because the light was not terribly interesting, but something good might come out of it. I had intended to go back and shoot the area this weekend . . . oh well, I will get back up there again, soon I hope!

The next morning we set off by boat to Machias Seal Island, a small island about ten miles off the coast of Maine. The island, which is claimed by both the United States and Canada, is home to a summer nesting colony of puffins and razorbills. We were only allowed to photograph from a small blind on the island for a little over an hour. What a fun shoot! The puffins come right up to the blind, even crawl around on top of it. Here’s a few images that I have processed so far:

That evening, clouds and rain moved into the area for an extended period, so the next morning Alex and I drove three hours to Gulf Hagas Preserve, a scenic gorge in the Maine north woods. Although the mosquitoes were horrible, we nonetheless had a great time, hiking eight miles in the rain and photographing waterfalls. While making an image of Screw Auger Falls, I accidentally dropped my polarizer filter and filter holder in the water. It was immediately washed away by the rushing stream, and sent tumbling over a thirty foot waterfall into a deep and inaccessible gorge below. Nothing like watching $400 float away! I’m just glad I made the following image before I dropped the filter; a polarizer is essential when shooting waterfalls to remove the glare on wet rocks and foliage.

I was planning on heading back to the coast the next morning, but an urgent call from my wife sent me back home instead. So instead of shooting today, I am bloggin! Oh well, shit happens. Hopefully I can resolve matters here soon and head back up for some more North Woods Adventure!

P.S. I am now on Twitter. Yes, I know — totally lame. But I am making an effort to embrace new and emerging communications technology in an effort to better promote my photography. So if you are tweeting (or not), feel free to Follow Me on Twitter!

Ian Plant Photography

Late Spring in the Smokies (Short trip report by Richard Bernabe)

I’ve just returned from a week of photography in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Although the Park in early June lacks the brilliant wildflower displays of April and the magnificent autumn colors of October, any time of year is a treat to spend in the most popular national park in the country. Because of the recent heavy rains the region had been receiving, the streams were gushing with wild mountain water and the landscape was verdant and lush.

Sunrise from the Chimney Tops

At the very beginning of the week, I made the 1800-foot vertical hike to the summit of the Chimney Tops for a sunset photo opportunity. Shortly after climbing the remaining 30 feet of near-vertical rock to the top (the trail was completely washed out and the area closed), a monstrous thunderstorm hit and I was trapped high on the exposed capstone alone, with quarter-sized hail and numerous lightning strikes that were within a few hundred feet. For several minutes, the hair on my head and arms was standing on end. It was one of the most dangerous outdoor experiences I have ever had. Forty-five minutes later, the storm cleared and the sun dried out my skin and clothes. The sunset was worth the all the trouble (well, almost) and I scrambled down the treacherous trail in the dark, making in back to my car by 11 p.m.

Fiery Mountain Ridges

Speaking of thunderstorms, there was one occuring almost every evening, providing some dramatic light and colors during both sunrise and sunset.

A Misty Cades Cove Morning

During every visit to Cades Cove and on most of the hikes throughout the week, I encountered my favorite residents of the Park – black bears. I photographed this young black bear chewing on greens in a Cades Cove meadow as I was on my way to the Abrams Creek trailhead.

The rivers, streams and waterfalls were in perfect condition for photography. In a few short weeks, however, the water levels will be much lower as summer weather patterns begin to dominate.

Laurel Falls

Elakala Swirls (Joseph Rossbach)

Elekala Swirls

Click the above image to preview larger.

I made this image of Elekala Falls this past weekend in Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia. I got in close to these foaming bubbles and low with an ultra wide angle lens. I was able to get 15 seconds at f16 with my circular polarizer which removed all the glare from the surface of the wet rocks. What I like best about this particular image is how the bubbles in the immediate foreground are sharp and the bubbles in the middle ground of the composition are swirling. I shot a second image at +1.5 to bring out shadow detail in the darker rock surface to the right and left of the waterfall and manually blended the 2 images together in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Don’t forget to check out our website for a full list of workshops and photo classes for 2009! www.josephrossbach.com

Upcoming featured workshops: Shenandoah Fawns and Vistas. Click here for more details and registration information.

Rocky Mountain National Park Summer Wildflowers and Reflections. Click here for more information and registration details.

Notes from the Field (Joseph Rossbach)

Island in the Sky

I would like to share this first image from my trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park with friend and fellow team member Ian Plant. On a very wet and rainy day me and Ian where working waterfalls along Roaring Fork River when we ran into a park employee bringing a trail of lamas down from Mount LeConte (the second highest peak in the park). Jokingly I said to him “socked in fog up there eh”. To our surprise, he informed us that it was in fact quite clear on the summit. We immediately packed up and rushed to Clingmans Dome (the highest point in the park)  in time to shoot sunset from the summit. During the course of this 30 second exposure, the clouds quickly moved across the mountains only allowing the very tips to poke through. Being right on the edge of light, the sky was radiating in a warm yellow glow on the horizon and the deep blue sky above reflected in the clouds.

Prong of Light

For this shot of the Middle Prong of the Little River, I waded out across the river to a large rock where I could set up my tripod for the shot. Looking down the stream and into the setting sun, I waited until the last glow of light illuminated the trees providing a warm explosion of color. I used the small rock in the foreground to anchor the image and the lines of water wrapping a C curve around it to move the viewer through the image. I cropped this shot to 4×5 ratio to remove the unwanted clutter on the far banks of the river.

Long View on Blackrock

Taken on the second morning of my Shenandoah Spring Workshop, I lead the group up to the talus slope of Blackrock Summit in hopes of good light. We were not disappointed. Blackrock summit is one of the premier rocky summits in Shenandoah National Park. The talus slope is littered with boulders and rocks, some the size of small cars! For this image I got in very close to the triangular rock with an ultra wide angle lens. The wide angle lens made the rock look much larger in the photo than it does in real life and its power shape really moves the viewers eye deep into the composition.

Falling Waters in White Oak Canyon

I must have went up White Oak Canyon on at least five separate occasions this May looking for new images. In years past, I only really focused my attention on the three big waterfalls in the canyon. On these trips I decided to explore new areas which often involved a little bushwhacking, climbing down steep slopes or simply rock hoping up and down the river. For this image, I got in the water about waist deep to get my camera as close to the waterfall as possible (about 2 feet away). The use of a ultra wide angle lens really make the cascade look dramatic and still shows the lush spring foliage in the background.

Fallen Oak Falls

In order to stand out in nature photography you must learn to break the rules. For this shot of a waterfall in lower Whiteoak Canyon, I broke the rule of thirds by placing the fallen log directly in the center of the frame. The strong leading line of the tree really pulls the viewer into the image and the soft overcast light and light rain helped to soften the shadows and increase color saturation.

Sunstar Crabs

I finally got some good images from the annual Horseshoe Crab spawning that takes place each spring on the Delaware Bay. If you have been reading Ian’s recent post then you will already know all about it. This was a tough image to produce. There was an extreme amount of contrast in the scene and the crabs just wouldn’t hold still for very long. I shot a 2 exposure blend very quickly. One shot for the sky and the second for the water and the crabs. The images were then blended manually in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

The Great Congregation

Thousands of crabs as far as the eye can see on Kimball beach, New Jersey. because the beach was roped off for the migration, I had only a limited space to line up a  composition. I got in very close to the crabs with my wide angle lens  as many of them crawled over my feet looking to spawn, a really creepy feeling. A 3 stop graduated ND filter kept the sky in check while exposing for the much darker crabs and water.

Allegheny Sunrise

Often times I will skip the convenience and comfort of staying over in a motel to be in remote locations when the good light is happening. For this image of sunrise over the Allegheny Mountains I camped in the back of my jeep to be able to hike out across Bear Rocks at first light.

Second Falls of Shays Run

The water was running just perfectly this last visit to Blackwater Falls State Park. It was high but not so much that you lose shape of the falls and texture in the water. I got close and went  wide by fording the plunge pool to create this dramatic image of one of West Virginia’s most beautiful waterfalls.

Bear Rocks Dawn

This was the final image I made this spring while on top of Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness,  West Virginia. The wind was howling as the light set the sky on fire. Man I love my job!