As a result of all that travel and shooting, I have been able to post over 150 photos in the New Images section on my website. That would include the image above of sunrise through fog with boats at Newport Harbor, Oregon. Here I used my Pentax 645D with a three-stop soft-step Graduated ND filter over the sky. I like the softness and moodiness of the image. I have also posted another 130 images that have been ‘reprocessed.’ These are …
Showing how the right timing, tools and technique can capture the image perfectly
At its very root, photography is a beautifully simple way for us to share our unique vision with the world. It’s an extension of our eyes and creative minds. Yet sometimes we lose sight of all this amidst the incessant buzz of tech talk, one-upsmanship and armchair quarterbacking. Let us never forget that photography is a creative process that can and should open people’s eyes to new locations, new cultures, new experiences, and new ways of seeing this exciting world …
To improve his digital landscapes, all this student needed was a Next Level workshop and two Singh-Ray Filters
Next Level Workshop instructors Darrell Moll and Rod Brown freely admit that landscape photography is a nice escape from the business of running their regular studios. “If the truth be known,” says Darrell, “we would prefer to do nothing else but take pictures of the great American landscape and share our images and knowledge with others, but that may still be a few years down the road.” “There is no place I’d rather be in mid-April than in the Smoky …
It was not a very lucky day for Susan and Neil Silverman to visit the Racetrack in Death Valley
Co-Authored by: Neil Silverman For anyone visiting Death Valley National Park, one of the intriguing attractions is the Racetrack Playa. This is an area in an ancient dry-lake bed where mysteriously moving rocks make tracks in the mud surface of the lakebed. Endless studies have been made, attempting to determine what force is actually moving the rocks. Getting out to the Racetrack is no easy matter — as in 27 miles of tough ‘washboard’ driving on primitive dirt road. We …
Taking Singh-Ray filters along on a crazy road trip
Although most of my stock shooting trips are planned well in advance, this time I discovered that I had an unexpected open week on my schedule that would begin in less than 36 hours. Just enough time to plan my journey. Joined by my friend and fellow photographer, C.W. McGowen, we set out to capture various coastal and inland locations spanning a wide area of Northern California and Oregon. These were locations that were on my ‘bucket list,’ and weather …
An unexpected chance to visit Hawaii proves to be a lifetime experience
The wonderful thing about life is that we never know! We create this crazy illusion that we control our lives, yet when I think about it, I realize how little is planned and how much is serendipity. In my quest to see and photograph in all the National Parks, I find myself still twenty-one parks short. Out of the fifty-eight locations that carry the N.P. designation, I’ve now visited thirty-seven. The Hawaiian Islands is about the last place I expected …
Following up a ten-day visit through Scotland with an adventurous trip to Ireland
After a couple of days in Dublin we rented a car and drove to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Our plan was to head straight to the scenic northern coast of the island and then swing back through the Republic of Ireland following its western edge as we made our way back to Dublin and our plane back to the States. In the early afternoon we arrived in the beautiful little town of Ballycastle which was …
Leading two workshops to Utah for a great adventure in fall colors and amazing scenery
Each of the workshops, lasted five days with a two-day private excursion with two friends tagged onto the end. Needless to say, it was a long steady pace with very little sleep. I left California on October 25 with my co-instructor Scott Schilling. We took an early morning flight from San Jose, California to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then drove another 8 hours to Moab, Utah — which would be home base for my Arches/Canyonlands Workshop. I like to time …
Coming back to Vari-ND when wanting to try doing something different
I began reflecting on the images I’ve created this past year, and I have made an interesting observation. There was one filter that was pivotal in the creation of some of my favourite images — images that I would have really struggled to create any other way. And that was my Singh-Ray Vari-ND. Some of the techniques I’ve been able to use with this filter have been rather interesting — and I like to share them with other photographers whenever …
Finding the Singh-Ray Filters even more useful
One reason I’ve survived for over 35 years in the competitive world of freelance photography is my ability to read the writing on the wall. It’s just an awareness to cues about impending change that are given by the marketplace, cues that many will ignore. For example, I used to do a lot of photography for corporate annual reports. Before the internet, a publicly-owned company presented its face to the investing community with a glossy annual magazine-like publication that stated …
Fleeing the Canadian winter and discover all the warmth Cuba has to offer
We booked a one-week foray to Cuba in search of palm trees, turquoise waters, great music and an endless stream of piña coladas. This was to be a family holiday, and I’m sure I am not the only photographer who has discovered they cannot diligently shoot while on vacation. As a compromise between my own impulses as a photographer and my respect for the notion that this would be a family holiday, I decided to take just one small carry-on …
Relocating my Photo Business to Nevada has Become a Moving Experience
Moving forward always gives a better view to the past. As I get set to move after a decade in one place, all the years of field photography, and especially the resulting images, now come to the forefront with different thoughts and emotions attached. The images that have special merit are the ones that have found their way into my heart and then onto my walls. They have literally stood the test of time, Now, as I move them to …
Highlighting the many creative possibilities of photographing water with filters
One of my very favorite photographic subjects — besides people — is water. We can find so many creative possibilities in water photography because it’s almost always moving, it takes on different colors, reflects light and forms so many different shapes. In water photography, it is so easy to get really unique results. All that’s required is hard work, lots of experience and the right equipment. Most of the time water is involved in something interesting like giving sand, stones, …
Putting the Singh-Ray filters to good use when capturing reflected images
We almost always get our share of great light — most often at the beginning or the end of the day — no matter what time of year or location we’re visiting. But we all realize there will also be those really challenging times when we need to work with the light we’re given. That’s often when we learn the most. The best solution I have found for the lack of ‘good light’ is stronger composition and more creative selection …
How to use long exposures to create mystical black and white images
I have always been intrigued by monoliths, first by the statues on Easter Island, then by the monolith in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and most recently by Stonehenge in England. In each case, seeing these monoliths prompts the question; Who built them and for what purpose? I’ve always loved visiting Bandon Beach in Oregon because of the natural monoliths strewn along the coastline. Randomly placed, it is as though the earth were God’s chessboard and the monoliths the …
Recalling the origins of the Galen Rowell Graduated ND Filters
In those bygone days, BD (Before Digital), one of the biggest frustrations for landscape photographers was the limited latitude of color slide film. A four to five-stop dynamic range was all that our film could handle before the shadows blocked up or the highlights burned out. This presented a real problem especially when we were faced with a beautiful (but dark) foreground and a glorious (but very bright) background sky. At best, we would have to wait for just the …
Two-minute video demonstrates how a Graduated ND Filter balances the light
From his vast outdoor studio not far from Alberta, Canadian photographer and author Darwin Wiggett sends this unedited video showing how easy it is to balance the dynamic range between the sky and the foreground of this outdoor scene simply by using a Singh-Ray 2-stop hard-step Graduated ND Filter. “I shot the video using a Canon Rebel T2i and a Tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens. I shot the scene at 17mm. A Cokin P-Series filter holder was mounted on the lens …
The “motion” in emotional water images created by stretching exposures to the limit
I believe that long exposures and water are a natural match. Portraying water as fluid seems so much more natural to me. My Singh-Ray Vari-ND lets me easily explore exposures of varying durations by simply adjusting the density from about 2 stops up to 8 stops, or anywhere in between. My strong attraction to long exposures came about because of water. I was intrigued by the way moving water looked at different exposures; a 1-second image looked so completely different …
On the narrowest trails in the most faraway corners of the world
Believe me, my filters are important. In particular three kinds of Singh-Ray filters go with me everywhere. There’s a Hi-Lux filter on each of my lenses, and I also carry a 77mm LB Warming Polarizer and a 77mm Vari-ND filter. Each one of these filters is essential and fits neatly in my camera bag that I have to carry around all day. I keep a Hi-Lux UV filter on each lens because I want the best possible glass between my …
It’s easy to photograph the American West without straining your budget or your back
For the many photographers who live out here, it’s just about heaven. If I have any advice for photographers who don’t live out here, it would be to come visit. Just be sure to bring your camera, a good tripod and all your filters. There’s an infinite supply of dramatic beauty, natural geological wonders, and the historical remains of the recent and ancient past to be enjoyed and documented. And the best part is their easy accessibility to all of …