Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

Death Valley is full of contradictions. It’s inhospitable, yet welcoming… drab, yet colorful… barren, yet full of life… and I could go on. It’s these contradictions that keeps me coming back to discover new things. Often what beauty Death Valley shares is elusive, but when you witness these transient moments of beauty you truly appreciate how special a place it is. Such a moment was this particular sunrise. Taken just minutes after my Zabriskie Point at Dawn photo the shift in light revealed another facet of this amazing landscape.

Zabriskie Point at Sunrise - Death Valley National Park, California

Technorati Tags: photography, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, national park, landscape, stock photo, stock picture

Paul Rand was an incredible American graphic designer and in this video he shares some of his wisdom that is easily applicable to other art forms including photography. I highly recommend watching this video multiple times as he talks about the confusion created by some teaching efforts versus just creating (10 min), solving complex problems with simplicity, and his view on the merits of interactivity in design .

My favorite quotes:

Don’t try to be original. Just be good.
- Paul Rand

Very fitting to hear this this week as I just conveyed the same sentiment to a friend who is in a rut. My broader recommendation to my friend  throw it all to the wind and take photos you like just to get out and get one’s creative juices flowing. More simply put by Mr. Rand…

If you think it’s good, you feel good
- Paul Rand

Now I need to rewatch this again.

Technorati Tags: art, design, Paul Rand, photography

California is home to some incredible trees including those thought to be the oldest (Bristlecone pines),  tallest (California Redwoods) and massive by volume (Giant Sequoias). Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) can grow to be well over 200 feet tall and have trunks large enough to create a tunnel for a car to drive through. Some of the most impressive specimens in Northern California can be found in Yosemite National Park.

Photographing Sequoias is tricky business as their size is only apparent with an object in frame for scale and fitting an entire 200+ foot tall tree in frame requires a very wide lens. In the photograph below is the Mariposa Grove museum found in the upper Mariposa grove of Yosemite National Park. This cabin is on the registry of  historical places and occupies the location Galen Clark’s original cabin once stood. Galen Clark being the European settler who discovered these amazing trees.  If you haven’t seen these trees in person its well worth the trip and the upper grove hike is a must. The Giant Sequoias are amazingly beautiful and sure to make you unconsciously say “Wow!”

Giant Sequoia Trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) Towering over the Mariposa Grove Museum - Yosemite National Park, California

Technorati Tags: Sequoiadendron giganteum, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite, museum, stock photo, stock picture, Yosemite, National Park

Today Adobe has opened a pop-up store called “Photoshop & You” here in San Francisco near Union Square. The store is open from Saturday, July 23 through Saturday, August 6 and is going to be a hub of some amazing events:
Photoshop & You Schedule of Activities

I was able to check out the “Photoshop & You” store at the VIP opening last night and it’s really cool. See photos below.

The pop-up store is home to some very cool image installations including a large display of Bert Monroy’s “Time Square” famous for being the largest Photoshop file containing 750000 layers! (Pano of it with Robert Scoble saying “Hi”) In addition the store will be a central hub for educational events and social activities. The back room is dedicated to Russell Brown’s Extreme Imaging Lab where there is laser etching, t-shirt screening and large format printing.

You can check out the Photoshop & You pop-up store at…
Location: 550 Sutter Street, San Francisco CA 94102

Extreme Imaging Lab

Technorati Tags: Photoshop, Adobe, activities, San Francisco, California

Nothing says White Sands National Monument in New Mexico like the iconic Soaptree Yucca plants that litter the dunescape.  The photo below was taken just after sunset in the blue hour under a rising full moon. Surprisingly it is quite a challenge to find a nicely isolated Soaptree Yucca plant in the dunes. While searching for the right yucca, in the right orientation and at the right time I discovered many cool features of the desert including amazing dunes, yardangs (eroded dune formations), textures,  more textures, and rediscovered it all again at night and then resumed my search the following day.   Fortunately Yucca plants are but one of numerous subject in White Sands. If you’re interested in exploring White Sands I’ll be returning there in mid-October to make use of the full moon once again in my White Sands Phototour. Personally I can’t wait.

Iconic White Sands National Monument Landscape with Soaptree Yucca plants (Yucca elata)

Technorati Tags: photography, New Mexico, White Sands National Monument, Soaptree Yucca, plant, Yucca elata, stock photo, stock picture, fine art

I had the good fortune of working with nature photography icon William Neill to develop an iPad version of his book William Neill’s Yosemite Volume One. I can tell you it was a real treat being able to work with William as I’ve long been a fan of his photography and writing in Outdoor Photography. Even better was being able to review his work in close detail as I worked on his app and now you can too. Unlike the PDF of his eBook this version allows you to zoom into see his photographs in crystal clear detail.

If you haven’t already be sure to buy a copy of William’s latest released and let him know how you like it.

If you’re curious to hear what others think of his iPad version of his eBook check out the following review:

A Brave New World of eBooks – Guy Tal

Technorati Tags: photography, ipad, app, William Neill, Yosemite

Flooding was so extensive this past June in Yosemite that tons of unique photo opportunities presented themselves. One of my favorites was this view of a flooded meadow near Cathedral Rock.

Cathedral Rock Reflected in a Flooded Meadow - Yosemite National Park

The railing is about 3-4 feet tall to guide visitors to walk around the meadow along Yosemite valley loop road. I can’t say I’ve ever seen the valley so flooded to the point water was coming up the shoulder of the road. Other areas were far from calm with water rushing between trees normally on high ground. I have some video in the wings of this that I’m looking forward to sharing. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: photography, yosemite, national park, flood, Cathedral Rock, nature, stock photo, stock picture

There was so much interest in my previous article How I Evaluate Terms of Service for Social Media Web Sites – Google+ I thought the following helpful sites would address lingering questions I’ve heard and point you to incredible resources to help you make the best decisions possible when signing on to new social media sites or even decisions to stay with existing social media sites

TOSback – the Terms of Service Tracker set up by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
This web site is exceptional in tracking changes to existing web sites and the site I trust most. I’ve yet to see anything specific to Google+ yet, but its only a a matter of time. When they do post something it will be here on the Google TOSback page.

Photo Sharing Sites – Terms of Service Comparison Chart
Compiled by Professor Kathy E. Gill of the University of Washington (@kegill). I think this is a very noble effort and one of the few I’ve found to date to compare multiple sites. Included are Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Lockerz, MobyPictures, Photobucket, Picasa, Posterous, TwitPic, Tumblr, Twitter and yFrog.
Disclaimer: Always read the Terms of Service in its entirety versus relying on snippets.

ASMP Social Media Tutorial (New as of July 19th):
Great timing ASMP 1 day after my original post released their Social Media Tutorial. As a member of ASMP I’ve always found their resources to be of great help. Be sure to read the Legal Considerations and Common Terms of Use sections. I’m looking forward to them expanding these sections to cover more sits.

Technorati Tags: photography, terms of service, tos, social media