Photographic Exposure Basics

Early in my photographic education the late, great Galen Rowell was my inspiration and this is a quote from Galen: "I almost never set out to photograph a landscape, nor do I think of my camera as a means of recording a mountain or an animal unless I absolutely need a 'record shot'. My first thought is always of light". In the mid 80s he published a photography book called "Mountain Light that is still selling well today, every nature phtographer ought to read it. .................................. rest of article

Photographic composition example rule of thirds

Photographic Composition

"To take photographs means to recognize — simultaneously and within a fraction of a second — both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis." – Henri Cartier-Bresson.

One of the things that differentiate a great photograph from an ordinary one is composition. You don't take a great photograph you make it. Composition is how objects or subjects are placed in the shot. Good pictures result from careful attention the basic elements of composition, there are always two people in every photograph: the photographer and the viewer. Even in front of the awesome beauty of the Greater Yellowstone Landscape one must compose carefully. The sheer ease today with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster even in places of stunning beauty. Point and shoot equals apathy, a recipe for mediocrity. Landscape photography is a tool to express our positive assessment of the world so we want to do it well. Wildlife photography is hunting and our goal is to produce trophies. ............................rest of article

Photography ~ The Nature Of Light

"Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light" - Vernon Trent

Most photographers create random acts of beauty; enlightened nature photographers deliver consistent encapsulations of light and time. Galen Rowell once said: "The landscape is like being there with a powerful personality and I'm searching for just the right angles to make that portrait come across as meaningfully as possible." Galen did so because of his mastery of light..........................rest of article

Inclement Weather Photography

Have you ever planned a photography trip then looked at the weather then canceled the trip? Well none of us enjoy shooting in foul weather, but you may want to reconsider.............................I don't know how many times I have hit my front door at four AM to find miserable slush or pounding rain on my front step and had the overwhelming urge to go back to bed, but over the years I have found that some of my best photos were born in inclement weather situations. I have made a vow to myself to never go back to bed despite the overwhelming urge........................rest of article

When shooting for HDR (high dynamic range) you shoot multiple exposures and combine them with photo processing software.

Unhappy with HDR? Try this ~

I have very little success achieving what I want to do with HDR (high dynamic range imaging). HDR promises to deliver tonal detail throughout the dynamic range and a fine promise that is. My goal with HDR is to produce high dynamic range photos that are photo realistic, but I rarely achieve that goal. Granted I am discouraged enough that I don't invest the time to master the HDR process and to short of time to peruse it as I should...........................I have turned to an alternative that others may find useful. Having bracketed and shot a series of photos with the goal of HDR processing I have the information I need to make a photo realistic photo the hard way – in layers......................................rest of article

Crop-Factor Myth – misconstrued misnomers and disseminated confusion.

Are we confused yet? Many of us with a foundation from the photography of yesterday seeking an understanding of a new paradigm of digital photography have been unintentionally misled. With the switch from film to the original camera sensors we had to get a new understanding of our equipment both new and old. The first digital camera sensors as well as most sensors today recorded an image on a smaller recording surface than the 35mm film image of yesterday. Our images shot with wide-angle lenses of our film days no longer appeared to be wide-angle images. Our telephoto lens images appear to have more magnification. Yes, this was disconcerting so we attempted to understand. Well meaning camera techno geeks explained in terms intended to simplify concepts but only confused. To make matters worse, in the quest to explain, misleading explanations have misinformed those who have never put a film camera to their eye so incorrect construal of Crop-Factor conception is universal as old hands shared bogus information to those who had never known film.

Fall Photography in Grand Teton National Park

October 1st, at dark-thirty shortly before the first hint of dawn, with a crisp nip of fall in the air, I usually find myself at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park with my ten new best friends. At the Oxbow at this early hour, we are hoping for the first hint of light to reveal an expanse of cirrus clouds above Mt. Moran to stop the warm rays of morning light from spilling over the edge of the world to an un-captureable point beyond the Grand Tetons. Oh, the Oxbow is still a stunning spot, even devoid of clouds, as the first rays of dawn sneak over the eastern horizon, a rose colored blanket of light hovers over the mountains as it shares its wealth of alpenglow with the peaks below, but none the less, we photogaphers are all hoping for natures reflector and diffuser to magnify the magnificence....................rest of story

Mad Dash For Yellowstone • By Daryl L. Hunter
Santa Clause was good to me this year, and a Canon 400mm 5/6L telephoto lens dropped down the chimney and this little boy couldn’t wait to put that hunk of glass to work. I had a long weekend for the New Year’s holiday, and the kids were out of school so a trip to Yellowstone was nearly possible if Murphy’s Law didn’t rear his ugly head.......................................Winter in Yellowstone is truly a wonderful thing to experience. Its deep snows, bitter cold, abundant wildlife and stark beauty can imprint memories that can last a lifetime, and I have been anxious to share it with my boys. Access to Yellowstone in winter has become problematic since it has become illegal to take a private snowmobile into Yellowstone. So instead of accessing Yellowstone from the south entrance, outside Jackson Hole close to my home, the trip mandated a mad dash for north Yellowstone’s winter road, an eight-hour drive away. I had a hunch that this might be a good time for serendipity to dish me up some wolves for my photo portfolio. --------------------------------------> More

The Search For Serrendipity • By Daryl L. Hunter
Luck favors the prepared mind, as does serendipity. Webster's definition-Serendipity - an apparent aptitude for making fortunate discoveries accidentally. Audacious, is the photographer who chooses to make his living stalking serendipity from one location to another then back again hoping to capture light as it has never been captured before or tougher yet as they may have captured it in the past. But that is what we do, and that is what we live for.

Armed with our acquired knowledge of the magic hour, cloud diffused lighting, outdoorsmenship, storm lighting, instinct for peak action, wildlife behavior, camera mechanics, changes in seasons, composition, astronomy, etc., we set out to bring the natural world to armchair adventures, outdoor enthusiasts, publishers, and advertisers, and to do so we have to rely on serendipity. Accomplished photographers are serendipiters, a serendipiters are those with an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident--------------------------> More

Living A Richer Life Without Any Money • by Daryl L. Hunter
Since purchasing my first camera, I have been living a visual feast that has cost me a real estate career in a lucrative Southern California market. My scenery seemed to always be just over the next hill somewhere, cityscapes just were not my kind of inspiration, and I soon tired of local beach sunsets.

So it wasn't long before I was traveling farther a field, weekend trips to Big Sur, Lake Arrowhead, Yosemite, and yes, a three-day driving marathon to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. I decided that my weekends just were not long enough. I would just have to take more time off work, and then I could make it to Tahoe, the costal redwoods, and the Oregon coast.

All that driving wore out my car; it must be time to move to a prettier place-----------------> More

Yellowstone In Winter • Yellowstone National Park is one of the world’s most popular natural areas. Every year, millions of visitors from around the globe flock to the park to view its scenic grandeur and abundant wildlife. And every summer, the park’s hotels, trails, campgrounds, and roads get clogged with gawking tourists. For the serious nature photographer, it is often difficult to get even a little elbowroom, let alone to find a spot to set up one’s tripod.--------------------------------------> more

A stellar day of photography

The spring of 2010 brought a nice surprise to Yellowstone National Park, A grizzly sow with four new cubs put on quite a show in Yellowstone's northwest corner. The sow was dubbed Quadra Mom and I needed some photos of this extraordinary grizzly bear family................. I heard about the whereabouts of four grizzly cubs, and I certainly wanted too photograph them but I had just taken my winter tires off during a overoptimistic bout of spring fever. I awoke late at 3 am, a peak out the door revealed a miserable stormy, sleety, snowy and my bed started calling out to me to return. I fought the urge though as I had long ago discovered my best days of shooting where during days of physical misery because miserable weather often makes steller photogrpahs. I set off anyway an hour late for a good arrival time in Yellowstone but Yellowstone in spring is full of wonderful surprises...........................rest of story

The Hole Picture • Stock photos of the Yellowstone region, sports, landscape and wildlife