Let the weather dictate what to shoot

 

This post was supposed to be published last night already but another line of thunderstorms rolled over the country and I rather preferred to unplug the computer. We have the typical June weather with intensive periods of sun interrupted by thunderstorms and rain. The best way to deal with it from a photography standpoint is to go for the right subject, clouds when a storm is near or wildlife during overcast and sunny periods.

There are two ways to attract hummingbirds to a yard, you either hang feeders with artificial nectar (sugar dissolved in water will do it) or you plant flowers that the hummingbirds like because of its nectar. We do both. Joan has done a great job of planting a patch with Monarda, better known as Bee Balm. This flower attracts the little birds not just because of its color but it is obviously a good source for the liquid food they need.

Making a sharp image of a hummingbird in flight is kind of a challenge. Their wing beats can go up to 100 beats per second. The key is again using “peak of action”, the short moment when the body is not in motion while they hover and drink out of the flower. I’m using a fill flash for the colors and therefore do not shoot in continuos mode. As always, the eye has to be sharp in wildlife photography. The motion blur of the body and wings tells the story about what kind of dynamic these tiny birds have…

Iowa Landscape: Storm chasing

 

Yesterday was a very muggy day. In the evening some thunderstorms moved though our area. We only got a few brief showers and some thunder was rolling but it was a great chance to chase some clouds and thunderheads.

I gave myself an assignment for this storm chasing trip. First, I wanted to use only one lens, the Carl Zeiss Distagon T*, 35 mm, f/2 ZF. This lens has manual focus only. And second, the main subject had to be a cloud, cloud formation, or thunderhead. Any other element in the picture had to be there only to complement the main subject. Except for some slight straightening of the horizon line in some images no crop has been applied. The goal was to get it right in camera.

I didn’t shoot with a tripod because of time. The clouds moved very fast and the scenery changed constantly. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to find a place to park the car safely, so it was key to be fast in and out in order to make the click.

As always, I made many mistakes and some shots where I thought I had nailed it turned out just to be, hmm, not so good ;-). It is the mistakes that can make us better photographers as long as we try to learn from them. I had great fun on this little storm chasing tour above the Mississippi Valley and down at the river. Can’t wait for another one… :-)

Evening at the big river

 

Joan, Cooper, and I spent some time down at the Mississippi at Mud Lake Park this evening. Some thunderstorm cells and clouds moved out of our area to the east, into Wisconsin and Illinois, and made for some nice subjects to photograph. We heard the calls of the Sandhill Cranes, saw pelicans and eagles, and got finally a great view to the young Great Horned Owl. This time the owlet didn’t retrieve back into the nest and we were able to make some good clicks. Time well spent!

Love them clouds...

 

The avid reader of my blog already knows, if a photo from high in the sky shows up after a quiet week that I was on a business trip with very few opportunities for using the camera. I came back from a conference in Dallas, Texas last night. These two photos were made shortly after take-off in DFW and the shape of the clouds indicate we were flying around some heavy weather. What I didn’t knew at this time was that the weather created many flight delays and cancellations. Needless to say that I, of course, was effected and instead of having a two hour stop I spent ten hours in Chicago O’Hare. At least I got home around midnight, other people were not so lucky…

Shooting through the window of an airplane can be challenging. Little space, reflections, vibrations, or dirt and moisture on the glass are some of the difficulties you may have to deal with. My window was relatively clean and had only minor scratches this time but dealing with the tint of the glass or plastic isn’t my favorite task in the post process. I still kept it simple and just finished the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom, except for the downsizing and export as a jpeg, which I always do in Photoshop by using pre-recorded actions.

I used the Zeiss 35mm f/2 lens, which can only be focussed manually, but even with any of my AF lenses I would revert to manual focus mode for shooting through two layers of tinted glass. I love shooting clouds and making them the subject of my image. It doesn’t always turn out but it is always worth to try, and hey, there is a delete key on the computer… ;-)

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... ;-)

Iowa storm chase

 

We were lucky this evening to get a local thunderstorms that brought some much needed rain. Not much, but better than nothing. When the rain slowed down I drove down to the valley, and up again to the plateau into open area. I didn't have to go very far to see where the dramatic of the light unfolded while the storm moved away.

Both images were made within six minutes from the same location and that's when landscape photography becomes real fun in Iowa.

I chased the storm at a couple more places but the drama diminished quickly. Old farm buildings can make for a nice picture but quite often a uniform blue sky or dull light make it less interesting and I don't even bother taking the camera out. Turning east the tall thunderheads gave this farm the background that I like to see in a photo like this. Will try this one in black & white sometime...

Wishing all of you here in the US a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

A pic and thoughts about Iowa

 

On our way home from Northwest Iowa back to the Mississippi River a big rain and thunderstorm cloud moved eastwards parallel to us. I had an eye on it for more than an hour without getting really excited. I couldn't find a landscape element that would tell a story beyond the existence of the cloud. When the sun reached the edge of the dark cloud and the turbines of a wind park came in sight we pulled off the highway. We searched for a spot that would have a foreground and would allow to stitch it all together, some foreground, the windmills, and the clouds.

Joan giggled after we finally pulled off the road and I realized the corn in front of us was so high (lucky farmers!), that we couldn't see the wind turbines anymore (poor photographer!) ;-) A few hundred yards down the road we found the spot that allowed me to make the image that tells a story about Iowa.

My friends in Germany, or maybe some people from Nevada or Florida, may ask, what the hell is the story? For me the story is that farmers can make a good living here from planting corn and soybeans in probably one of the most fertile lands in the world. The story is also about the downside from a mono culture of planting corn and soybeans. The aspiration for profit leaves very little room for protection of wildlife and natural habitats. At the other hand part of the story is about progressive thinking in Iowa. Yes, corn is still used to produce  fuel (ethanol) but other renewable energies, like wind energy, are not out of the equation. Maybe this picture transmits the message that Iowa is a state that can play a big role in America's future energy policy. At least the photo may tell you that the people here are not just talking about it...

However, maybe you can't see anything of the above that I can see in this image but you definitely can't ignore the great sky. I came to the US in 1996 for the first time and had plenty of opportunities to travel all around the country since. I always thought that the sky here seems twice as big as it appears over in my home country Germany. I know this is an illusion but I haven't found the answer yet why this has never changed for me while framing an image with more than just a blue sky...

Nature clicks #181 - Common Loon

 

I spent the weekend in Northern Wisconsin and worked on a project that I had in mind since a few years already. My plan was to photograph ospreys, also known as "fish hawks", at a location that I had bookmarked during previous visits. The nest can only be reached by boat and I used my kayak to get there. To make a long story short, I saw the ospreys but rain and other circumstances did not allow to claim victory and come home with some good images. With other words, I got skunked! Wildlife photography requires sometimes a lot of patience and so the project remains on the list for another try maybe next year.

It wasn't all bad, I saw Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, and just before I returned to the boat ramp a family of Common Loons came out of the reeds. The male positioned himself between me and the female with her two chicks and he made a hell of a noise. The call of a loon is very loud and impressive. The light situation was everything but good. Behind me were huge thunderstorm clouds moving in and the only chance to make the click was to shoot into the sun. In order to maintain a fast shutter speed I dialed in ISO400 (as you know not my preferred way to photograph wildlife). A fill flash would have been helpful but because I try to take as few items as possible into the kayak, the flash light was, of course, in the car... :-o It was the first time that I had the Common Loon during summer in front of my lens. The only pictures I had so far were made during the winter season in Southern California. Their plumage looks much nicer during the breeding season and just watching them was very exciting. Both images are not cropped and the low perspective and clean background make them good keepers in my books.

I wished I would have had more time with these beautiful birds but the thunder was already rolling and I just wanted to get off the lake. Playing it safe is mandatory and dying for a picture isn't worth it...

Nature clicks #23 - Thunderstorm delight

150 mm, 1/90s, f4, -1EV, ISO 200

I like thunderstorms! I'm aware of their danger but I have to admit that I have been probably a few times way too close to the "wrong place at the wrong time". That was back in the ol' days during mountaineering and trekking tours over in Europe. Oh boy, I guess we all get smarter with age but thunderstorms still fascinate me.

Last Sunday we had one moving in during the hour before sunset. The low sun and the fast moving clouds produced a different image every other second. I can take shots like this from the safe place of our front porch. It is not as spectacular as in the mountains, but I still love it!

Nature clicks #7

When a thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued it might be important to have an eye on the radar screen to see where it moves. My other eye goes to the sky between the tall trees around the house, especially if the storm approaches close to sunset time. It doesn't get much better...