Camera Review: Canon EOS 50D

Visit the Mountain Trail Photo site for Ian Plant’s review of the Canon EOS 50D camera.

Recent Work From Smith Island (by Ian Plant)

Just got back from leading back-to-back workshops on Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Smith Island is severed from the mainland by a six-mile stretch of water, and can only be accessed by boat. Several small communities cling to their traditional way of life, shrinking every year as the waterman trade they rely on slowly decreases. My workshop participants and I had a great time photographing the old crabbing shanties, abundant wildlife, and timeless seascapes of the Chesapeake Bay.

Smith Island is literally running out of time. Even if the local economy could be revived, rising sea levels resulting from global warming will likely inundate the island within the next few decades, a fate that most of the low elevation islands of the Bay will suffer.  In fact, many have already succumbed.   

Visit Ian Plant Photography to see some of the images I took while there.

Creative Landscape Photography Workshop

Creative Landscape Photography
With Michael E. Gordon and Guy Tal

October 10-12 (Columbus Day Weekend)
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

There is perhaps no greater challenge for a photographer than finding their own creative voice and developing a recognizable personal style. This workshop aims to help both experienced and aspiring fine-art photographers develop creative skills and techniques in the field and in the digital studio.

Location:

The workshop will take place in and around Capitol Reef National Park, in Utah. This unique location provides access to an astounding range of photogenic scenery and an endless array of subjects on every scale, from colorful sandstone canyons and riparian desert streams to aspen and conifer forests and high altitude lakes.
We will meet on the evening of Friday, October 9th and adjourn around mid-day Monday, October 12.
Recommendations for hotels and restaurants in the area will be provided.

Topics Covered:

• Understanding composition and visual relationships
• Seeing in color and monochrome
• Applying creative techniques to composition in the field
• Understanding how the camera sees
• Developing a personal approach to subjects
• Effective use of camera, lenses, and other essential gear
• Expressive digital tools and processing theory and techniques

For more information and to reserve your spot, visit
Gordon-Tal Photographic Workshops

DeviantArt Interviews Ian Plant

Ian just got interviewed at deviantArt, check it out here!

Composition Article on NPN (by Ian Plant)

Hi all, I have a new article about landscape photography composition on Nature Photographers Online Magazine, check it out!  http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0809/ip0809-1.html

Llama Light (by Ian Plant)

Ah, llamas. Gentle, shaggy, and comically luxuriant, llamas have many talents. They can guard livestock against coyote and wolves, carry heavy loads over rocky terrain, spit long distances—and they make excellent sweaters.  They are virtually disease free, have three stomachs and eyelashes the envy of Maybelline users worldwide, and can hum better than Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Over the Rainbow.”  Their awkward good looks and piercing stares have even inspired catchy ditties. If not for their lack of opposable thumbs, they might rule the world.  Blessed with so many useful abilities, it would simply seem unfair to us talking monkeys if they had just one more special skill.  

Well, apparently they can also create magical light for nature photographers, using some sort of inborn weather-inducing mojo!  Don’t believe me?  Read on . . .   

A few months ago, Joe Rossbach and I were shooting together in the Great Smoky Mountains, when we encountered a llama train on the trail.  Llamas are used to ferry supplies up and down the steep path which leads to the top of Mount LeConte, which has a rustic hiker lodge on top.  That evening, we had an incredible shoot on top of Clingmans Dome, looking down over fast moving clouds at twilight.  We were astounded by our good fortune, but began to wonder . . . did the llamas have anything to do with the magical light we witnessed that night? Could it be, as unlikely as it seemed, that llamas could somehow create awesome shooting conditions? We had our suspicions, but our sample size was too small to reach any definitive conclusions. Further research was in order!

In order to learn more, Joe and I recently traveled to the llama capital of North America: Colorado. We planned to spend two weeks there, looking for llamas on the trail, and studying the resulting effects on our photography. We planned to conduct a thorough and meticulous scientific study, using all of the most modern statistical techniques and jargon such as standard deviation, lurking variables, chi-square test, regression analysis, mean square weighted deviation, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and so forth.  Time consuming, challenging, and utterly confusing, to be sure, but the only way we could conclusively prove our controversial theory. 

We knew we had come to the right place when, on our second day in the Centennial State, we encountered a llama train on the trail. Out came our slide rulers and pocket calculators, and excitement began to mount as we recorded our first data point.  We joked that we would have great light that evening, hardly believing that our hypothesis could be correct, but giddy nonetheless at the prospect. Little did we know how correct we were!

That night, we had it: llama light, blazing across the sky like a comet on Viagra. A huge, boldly-shaped thunderhead hovered over the crest of the Rocky Mountains, gathering more and more light as the sun dipped below the horizon, until it was a fiery wisp of oranges and reds. The cloud and light lingered for several minutes, until it softly faded into the gathering gloom of night. Although I know it isn’t possible, I could swear that I heard the sound of humming llamas floating on the summer breeze . . .

But the great light didn’t end there. Our research shows that apparently, llamas will sometimes grant multiple days of great light, not just one. In our case, it was TWO WHOLE WEEKS of totally mindblowing Llama Light! We had Llama Light in the Rocky Mountains, Llama Light in the Great Sand Dunes, and even Llama Light in the Bisti Wilderness of New Mexico (where we made a short side-trip), although the llamas’ power was weakened somewhat when we crossed state lines.

 

But more imortant, we had established beyond a shadow of doubt that Llama Light does in fact exist, as shown conclusively by the following equation:

 

Llama Light is a real phenomenon!  Its strength and intensity depend on several variables, including number of llamas sighted, frequency of llama encounter, and amount of llama spittle endured.  But no matter how you slice the data, the conclusion is irrefutable: I’m going to buy me some friggin’ llamas.

To see more Llama Light pictures, visit Ian Plant Photography (check out my ”Recent Work: Southwest” gallery) and Joseph Rossbach Photography (check out his “Portfolios” page).

All hail the Divine Llama!

 

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