One of the best places to take in the view of downtown San Francisco is Twin Peaks. Situated in the heart of San Francisco on a great day (like this one) you can see clear across the bay. I consider myself lucky as I live rather close to this great look out spot, but I don’t enjoy the view as often as I should. On the day I shot this time-lapse I opted to spend my lunch break here. It was time very well spent even if a little windy.
One last thing if you’re in San Francisco this weekend its Fleet Week and that means the Blue Angels will be flying over head. Be sure to check out my article 10 Essential Tips To Get Great Blue Angels Photos if you’re planning to photograph them this weekend..
Clouds billowing over downtown San Francisco, California
Sunset at Horsetail Fall in the early part of the year is an amazing moment to witness. The seasonal waterfall on the shoulder of El Capitan is positioned perfectly to reflect the last rays of sun in its mist, providing an intense gold and even reddish hue likened to a firefall. I’ve sped up the playback in the following video, taken earlier this month, to highlight the movement of the water, mist and clouds as they form against the 3,000 foot face of El Capitan. Enjoy.
Sunset light illuminating Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park. This video was taken March 11, 2011.
If you’re in the mood for a laugh then I highly recommend watching this comedic over-dub to some great BBC wildlife footage. It’s short, funny and I dare you to watch it just once.
I’ve been watching this video as of late to lift my spirits, for reasons I’ll explain in another post.
I was recently interviewed by Marc Silber on the topic of Landscape & Nature photography for his online video series Advancing Your Photography! Marc has talked with some truly amazing photographers who I greatly respect and I was humbled to be asked to take part in his great video series. The video is only 9 minutes long and full of tips. I hope you find it informative and entertaining. If you enjoy it be sure to let Marc know by commenting on his blog to encourage him to invite other great nature, landscape and travel photographers.
Earlier this week I was forwarded a link to a blog post highlighting “X number of most breathtaking landscape photos” and every single image seemed to be post-processed in an over powering manner. The question arose in my mind, “Is digital post-production killing photography?” I then dissected the question I posed to myself… What assumptions was I making about nature and landscape photography? What sense of “normal” was I comparing these images to? What roll does digital post-processing play versus traditional film post-processing?
My initial thought to myself was a gut reaction to my personal dislike for the creative choices made in many of the images contained in the post I was pointed to. I’m all for individual interpretation in nature and landscape photography, after all it is the individual interpretation we bring to the scene that differentiates our creative vision from others. I then remembered many comments I’ve seen by commenters on this blog and other forums reflecting the common myth that our cameras some how capture a pure version of a nature or landscape subject. Most commonly Ansel Adams is invoked as the paragon of nature and landscape purism in such debates. I’ve always found this amusing knowing Ansel in his own right so heavily manipulated his images in the dark room. Yet somehow this is unknown or memory of this information has been lost by many photographers. Since his passing, the work of Ansel Adams has been placed on a very high pedestal.
Then yesterday I stumbled across a BBC program from 1983 titled “Master Photographers” on YouTube and there is a great 4 part interview with Ansel Adams where he so eloquently and clearly states how important pre-visualization and “intentional manipulation” is to his work. Pay special attention to Part II of this series containing the following quotes:
At 50 sec:
“None of my images are realistic in terms of values… it’s intentional manipulation”
At 4 min:
“The negative is the composer’s score, all the information is there. The print is the performance, so you interpret the score at various aesthetic emotional levels, but never far enough away dividing the original concept.”
Regarding the digital revolution that he recognized as being on the horizon…
At 7 min:
“The thing that excites me is that in not too many years we’re going to have a entirely new medium of expression with the electronic image. I’ve seen what can happen to a print reproduced by the laser scanner and how that is enhanced and that is just the beginning. … and I know the potential is there and I know its going to be wonderful. Well in that sense the negatives for these photographs as an example will take the place of a fresh kabal they are….personal or some early composer will then be reinterpreted through a fresh medium and I think that is marvelous.”
I highly recommend watching all (4) four videos and keep the knowledge shared in your back pocket as you think about your own photography. Part II of these videos is pure gold and is worthy of listening to often.
On my recent trip to New Mexico I went out of my way in the hope I could photograph the Egg Factory in the Bisti Badlands under some dramatic lighting conditions. Unfortunately for me the weather forecast changed quickly on my drive from “20% chance of rain” to 100% chance of extreme wind gusts up to 50 mph. This experience was a great reminder that Mother Nature seldom works on your schedule.
Unfortunately for me I started my hike with my 70-200mm lens on my camera body versus the 24mm tilt-shift I had as my spare in my camera bag. I realized this half way out on my hike. Given the wind conditions there was no chance I was going to swap lenses in the field. Given the conditions and my available lens option I opted to scout the area and make the most of my time in the raging wind tempest that was. I tried my hand at a few photos, but I ultimately think I got better photos from my iPhone. I’ll post those in the near future.
I should note this was the windiest conditions I’ve ever hiked in. If I had my mouth open just slightly I had wind blowing out my nose. A super odd sensation when you’re trying to breath air in as you’re breathing heavy from a fast paced hike.
Here’s a great video with some classic famous quotes relating to art. You might just get a laugh out of it and if you’re lucky find inspiration. Enjoy and if you have any favorite quotes that aren’t in the video be sure to share in the comments section of this post.
This weekend I watched an incredibly inspiring photography documentary titled Manufactured Landscapes (photos taken during the making of his photo book Manufactured Landscapes). Manufactured Landscapes is a 2006 documentary on the work of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky who photographs landscapes created from civilizations waste, large and small. I’ve seen the photographic work of Edward Burtynsky in the past at some local galleries and was impressed, but seeing this film where he discusses his inspiration, challenges and epiphanies was awe-inspiring.
If you’re a photographer who appreciates either fine art and/or art that raises awareness to environmental challenges you’ll find this documentary fascinating. I was particularly impressed with the vision, dedication and ability to create visually engaging photographs from subjects most would turn a blind eye to. Definitely a must see photo documentary if you’re a landscape and nature photographer.
Jim Goldstein’s Tips on Landscape & Nature Photography
