Killer light conditions

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120, f4

It wasn't as cold as it looks like in this photo from October 20, 2011. It was the day when we went over the mountain ridge to the north side of the Great Smoky Mountains. The first snow of the season had painted the trees white in the upper range of the mountains. It was a wonderful mix between fall colors and the white of the snow covered trees. Fast moving clouds made for real killer light conditions and constantly changing scenery. This photo was made at Newfound Gap at the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. More to come...

What's new in the backyard?

Don't worry, I still have plenty to post about our journey through the Great Smoky Mountains. Today I just want to show a few images made after our return from vacation here around the house. Any time during the last couple weeks when I saw a promising light situation develop, I grabbed my camera and run out of the house in order to work with that light.

You never know what comes out of it. Sometimes the light is gone within  the blink of an eye but other times you may get rewarded. Most leaves are on the ground now but we had some nice light that really let the colors shine.

 

All the birds that migrate south for the winter are gone. Those that stay here during the cold season come to the feeders now more frequently. Many come with their offspring, like the Downy Woodpeckers, that had at least three or four young ones this year. They are a great subject to practice long lens shooting technique.

 

Cooper, our little terrier, enjoyed sitting in a sunny spot among all the leaves from the maples and oaks. It was the light of the setting sun that made me press the shutter release button.

Nature clicks #61 - Focus tests with elk

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Another place in the Great Smoky Mountains where elks are often present is the vicinity of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on the south side of the mountains. It is a wide open space in the valley and a herd of elks can be seen there quite often. Despite a dark overcast and the low light in the late afternoon most pictures of this grazing elk turned out with a decent sharpness. One of the best experiences with the new Nikon D300s is the way its focus works. It is much better than it was with my beloved D200.  This elk bull was really close and I didn't have to use the full 500mm focus length of the SIGMA 50-500. The elk didn't move too fast and this gave me a great opportunity to play and check out the focus system.

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Another reason that sharpness turned out better than in similar situations before might be the fact that I'm using a taller tripod now. The Calumet 8156, a 4-section carbon fiber tripod, allows me to stand upright between its legs while shooting. I feel much more relaxed and the upright position while shooting makes it easier to apply correct long lens shooting technique.

Beside enjoying the close presence of this majestic elk I also got a kick out of the excitement from other visitors that had their first elk encounter in life. I believe it is important that many people, especially young folks, experience wildlife encounters. This will ensure that more people become aware what we loose if we don't protect the habitat of these animals and also understand that economical things cannot play the only role in our lives.

Nature clicks #60 - Best sound in nature

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4-6.3 APO DG

The next opportunity for more wildlife photography came during a trip to Cataloochee on the east side of the Smokies. In 2001 the National Park Service began to reintroduce elks in the National Park. One of the places were they can be viewed is Cataloochee Valley. Most of the elks wear radio collars around their neck and have ear tags. This makes a lot of sense for the biologists who control the reintroduction program but not every photographer may like it. It didn't bother me a bit.

The rut was already slowing down but we still could hear some male elks bugling. For me there is no better sound in nature than this! This twelve-pointer was chasing the ladies in his harem and made clear to the competition who owns the place.

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500, f/4-6.3 APO DG

I could have shot most of the pictures with ISO 200 but I really wanted to test how the D300s performs with higher ISO settings. I used mostly ISO 560 or 800, something that never turned out well with my old D200. Yes, noise is there but it is still manageable. However, noise reduction takes out detail and I know that I will stay away from the higher ISO settings as much as possible.

Nature clicks #59 - First wildlife shot with the D300s

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120, f/4

One question I was hoping to get answered during our time in the Great Smoky Mountains was, how would the new Nikon D300s perform for wildlife photography?

The first animal I had the pleasure to put my lens on was a five foot long Black Snake laying across the trail. I was on my way back from a tiresome hike and to be honest, I didn't really put too much effort in this shot. Now, three weeks later, seeing this picture on my screen it bothers me that I didn't try to get a shot with the snakes tongue out of its mouth. I guess my mind was already back in the campsite!

More to come about wildlife in the Smokies, so please stay tuned…

Let's talk about workflow

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120, f/4

Probably most people that visit the Great Smoky Mountains drive at least once up to the mountain ridge and walk the last mile to Clingmans Dome (6643 ft / 2025m), the highest point in the National Park. We did too, even if we prefer the quieter places in the mountains. Lots of tourists up there! It is nice to be on the watchtower and have a view in all directions but I found the more interesting views on a little lower elevation along the roadside. Luckily there are many pull-outs along the roads in the Smokies that allow you to park the car and shoot your pictures safely. The clouds moved fast and the sun rays let the leaves glow whenever they touched them. It was just gorgeous.

If you are interested, here is the workflow I used for this image:

I dialed in -1EV exposure compensation to bring the clouds to their full potential and not to have any highlights blown out at the right hand side. I used a graduated filter and the adjustment brush in Lightroom 3.4 to bring back some of the exposure in the foreground. Next I used the tone curve to enhance the overall contrast a little. This is followed by the usual capture sharpening, necessary for any RAW file. No color enhancements for this picture! Next I switched to NIK Color Efex Pro 4 (I have version 3 but just used the free 15-days-trial on the new version) and worked with the tonal contrast filter. As always, my last steps are done in Adobe Photoshop. I have a special downsize algorithm that also serves to sharpen the image for the web. I learned this step from the book "Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera RAW, and Lightroom" by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe. A book that I can highly recommend to anybody who tries to understand image sharpening. Before I save a jpeg for the web I apply my watermark. Most of the steps in Photoshop are done by pre-recorded actions and require only one click to execute them. Done deal!

Diversity

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120, f/4

One of the things that impressed us the most was the immense diversity of trees we found in the Great Smoky Mountains. The question I asked myself was, how could I capture this in one image? Part of the answer came during a steep ascent by car to Cataloochee on the east side of the Smokies. Fast moving clouds in front of the sun with even a few rain sprinkles gave the colors of the leaves a great boost and show so the variety of trees and bushes. What no picture can transmit is the wonderful smell these forests have. Oh, just try to imagine it… I know you can't, it was heavenly… ;-)

Simple click

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120,  f/4

Another picture from the Pisgah National Forest. Looking Glass Rock in the background was framed by the amazing colors of the leaves all around. Fall doesn't get any better than this. It was a simple click.

Slick Rock Falls - two perspectives

Slick Rock Falls, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina

The Appalachians have countless streams, creeks, and waterfalls. Combining the colors of fall with the play of water was one of my photographic goals during our vacation. Not all experiments turned out satisfactory but they were part of the process getting used to the new Nikon D300s and trying to understand light and its impact much better.

Both images of Slick Rock Falls in the Pisgah National Forest were made just minutes from each other but from different angles. First I climbed over the rocks in order to shoot the falls in the shade. Slick Rock Falls was more like a mist but the three seconds exposure made the water visible where it hits the rocks. I like this effect very much. The colorful leaves play their role on the dark wet stones.

Slick Rock Falls, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina

The second image was made from the opposite side and deals with a back-light situation. I tried different exposure times. One tenth of a second gave me the desired effect with the sun rays caught in the mist of the waterfalls and illuminating the leaves on the ground.

I have to admit, both images are not perfectly sharp. Its hard to judge on the small pictures here in the blog but my original files tell the truth. Some vibration on tripod or camera must have had an impact. I guess I have to work on this…

Back from the Great Smoky Mountains

Big Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

I have not been able to keep the promise of blogging during our vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains and other National Forests around them. We tent camped most of the time in the wilderness with no or little access to phone, internet, and electrical power. Thank you to all of you who kept clicking in the blog even during the time without a new post!

We just came back home a few hours ago and had a great time being outdoors for the last eighteen days. Hi to the kids, Anke, Seraphine, and Andre, who spent the first ten days together with us in the woods, and who are now back in Germany. We enjoyed to have you on this trip.

Nice weather for the most part and wonderful fall colors made for good photo opportunities. Lots of pictures have to be sifted and I will hopefully find the time in the next few weeks to share some of the beautiful nature impressions with you. The image above was made near our last campsite from a small wooden bridge over Big Creek in the eastern part of the Smokies, and not far from the border to Tennessee.