Fine Art Gallery - "Thunderstorm moves out"

 

I had to make this image in black and white because that's what I really saw when I framed the scene in the viewfinder a few days ago. I love the absence of colors in a photo like this. I think it is a lot more dramatic and tells the story of the moving out thunderstorm a little better. The white on the weathered boards of the old barns doesn't overpower the clouds and the eye will always end up in the back.

One question I debated with myself for a while. Would it help this image to remove the power lines on the left hand side or not? I finally decided to keep them because they do not really cut across, they kind of lead into the picture. I don't like power lines and especially here in rural Iowa it is sometimes difficult to find a spot that isn't "polluted" by their presence. I may change my mind about this. I will make a print and look at it for a while... ;-)

Winter in Eastern Iowa at its best

 

As we drove out of this valley this evening, not far from home, I had to stop and make the click. I knew the final image would have something to do with lines and shadows in the landscape, and would hopefully tell the story about how a wonderful winter day in Eastern Iowa comes to an end.

Playing with water

 

We had a good amount of much needed rain this weekend. I used the time for several photography related projects (see my post from yesterday) and finally thought it is a good time to post some "water pictures" from our recent trip to the Rocky Mountains.

The first shot was taken above the Copeland Falls in the Southeast corner of the National Park. I made quite a few clicks, knowing that each picture would look differently by using a variety of different exposures from 1/20 to 1 second . The creek was in the shade of trees and the absence of bold colors made me process the image in B&W. It was the pattern, created by air bubbles in the flowing water and revealed by the long exposure, that I was after and 0.7s at f/16 created a desirable result for me. As always, NIK Silver Efex Pro2 is my software of choice for processing a B&W image.

The second image was taken after a hike higher up to Ouzel Falls. Despite a heavy overcast and even some rain sprinkles some light was left and revealed the colors of the surrounding rocks. I liked this one better than a B&W version I made and I want to share with you.

I wish all of you a great week.

Cloud chaser

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

We had a gray day for the most part today. It was until late afternoon when finally the clouds broke apart and the sun came out. Time for me to go cloud chasing. The wind was blowing and as a result the clouds moved fast and the light changed constantly. Eastern Iowa is not Yellowstone and finding a great vista can be quite a challenge. I believe it is important to pay more attention to the details in the landscape here to make it work.

It was the hint of light that hit the trees in the foreground for a moment that made me stop the car, get out, and compose the image. As much as I like shooting landscape from a tripod, in situations like today it just slows you down and you may never get the shot you see developing in front of you. Of course, the colors were not bad either today but this is the kind of image I wanted to make.

Way I like to head

Below Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains

As the mild winter progresses I'm still in process to reorganize and clean my photo archive. I know that I will not have much time for this job when the birds start to migrate south again and I want to be out shooting every possible minute. The best part of this task is to look at some photos from a distance in time and to make choices about publishing.

This one is not really that old yet, it is from last year's trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. We just returned from Clingmans Dome, the highest summit in the Smokies, back to the parking lot when this cloud caught my attention. Why did I choose this one? It is the direction I try to head with my landscape photography. It is not about black and white, it is about story telling drama in the sky. This photo can be repeated over and over again with a boring blue sky and will always look the same. Most postcards are this way. It is unique with this particular cloud, and this is what makes the difference, at least for me.

Clouds made the difference

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

As you can see, we still don't have any real winter weather with snow here in Iowa this year and the colors in the landscape are not  really exciting. At least the clouds that were moving in last Monday created an interesting looking sky and this is reason enough for me to frame a landscape photo. I really took time to think about this image when I composed it in my viewfinder and I knew I would go for black & white in post processing.

New layout, more space for images

Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains,   Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120 / f4

It was overdue. It always bugged me that the size of my pictures in this blog was so small. Sure, 620 pixel at the long side is big enough to see what the image is about, but I know my blog is the #1 showcase for my photography and I like to push the compromise between file size and display quality towards the latter.

Another reason I expand the space here is that I like to streamline my workflow. The blog is not the only place where I publish my images. I have my galleries hosted at the Pbase website and I also show some of my pictures at the German Fotocommunity. At all these websites I use about 950-1000 pixel length for my photos. The idea is to use 900px for all three from now on. This still leaves me the chance to add a white border around an image without exceeding a length of 1000 pixel. Because of the black background in the German Fotocommunity I like to add a white border and they will automatically downsize your image if it goes beyond the 1000px limit. The automatic downsize goes along with a big loss in quality and I don't want that happen.

Finally I added a share-button for any of the social networks out there or for sharing by email, just in case you may like something you find on this blog ;-) To make a long story short, I hope you will enjoy the new format here, despite the fact that it may take a few seconds more to load the website. Thank you for stopping  by!

Different approaches

Mingus Mill, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina

One of the best things of digital photography is the fact that it gives you the chance to approach a subject differently from an artistic point within an extreme short period of time. Both images of Mingus Mill in the Great Smoky Mountains are from the same RAW file. The first one doesn't hide the fact that it was taken these days and it epitomizes the old mill as an historical building, worth to preserve, and worthwhile to visit, especially during the colorful fall.

Both images: Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120, f4

The second one emphasizes the structure and want make you believe it was created only a few years after the old mill was built (Okay, forget my watermark in the lower right corner… ;-) ).

In most instances I know already when I press the shutter release button how I want the picture be seen. Nevertheless, sometimes it turns out totally different while I work with an image in post processing. In this matter I knew the colors of the leaves would give a nice contrast to the building but I also saw the potential of the structure for a good B&W image (even if I used a sepia tint here). For me, there is not really a better or worse. It is just a matter of mood and my opinion about which one I prefer may change every minute. Do you like any of them? If so, which one do you like more and why? I like to hear from you! :-)

Approach with dramatic light

My flight from Houston, TX to Chicago, IL today was not very exciting until we approached the O'Hare airport. I had the new Nikon D300s with me and worked my way through the manual in order to learn more about some of the features that I hadn't really used yet. The sky was bald blue and boring during the whole flight and except for some test shots over the wing of the airplane I didn't make any interesting clicks. When we reached Chicago I saw huge clouds moving in from the west. It looked like we would fly over a mountain ridge. As always, the window was not clean and it wasn't easy to find a shooting angle without reflections from the dirt on the glass.

We couldn't approach the airport directly and had to fly a few circles over Lake Michigan. Clouds were everywhere and the views were very dramatic. This is my favorite shot, with the sunlight reflecting on the wing and the little sun spot on the water of the lake. During touchdown on the runway it was heavily snowing. It seems winter has finally arrived in the Midwest...

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Nikon D200, Nikkor 24-120 mm f/4G ED VR

It looks like I take leave from wildlife photography. Not really. My eyes and ears are always open for any critter that crosses my way. But there is not so much going on in August and I like to try other things as well.

This door of an older house in Dubuque caught my attention today. I don't know how old it is, but its rotten charm pleased my eye. I grew up in Bautzen, an over 1000 years old city in the Southeast of Germany. It is known for its old buildings, towers, and churches. Some are way over 500 years old. Looking at old structures, living in them, and living around them was nothing unusual for us. Modern life and preservation seemed always be compatible. After living in Eastern Iowa for almost seven years now I think I appreciate these old things on a totally new level because they are not abundant here. This old door said something about craftsmanship and I think it was worth the click.