Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

Scale and perspective are fascinating components of photography. They can be used to create optical illusions, disorient a photographer through abstraction and create visual impact.  Are the flowers in the following photo the size of a coffee cup or of a thimble?

In this instance the clusters of flowers are smaller than a thimble.  These alpine flowers photographed high atop a mountain near Two Medicine, Glacier National Park caught my eye not just because of their beauty, but because of their ability to wow viewers with their scale.

An ant feeds on an alpine flower's nectar - Glacier National Park, Montana

The web is unkind to photos such as this. To truly appreciate the components of this scene you have to see it at full resolution. Since a 3744 px X 5616 px image is not blog friendly I’ve cropped the image down to highlight what caught my eye… an ant feeding on nectar and likely pollinating these plants (see below). The ant can be found in the clusters of flowers on the bottom right of the original photo if you look close enough.

While this may not be a photographic masterpiece it does document nature in action and reflects the pleasure I get out of exploring with my camera. I’ve always been fascinated by plants and animals that have adapted to extreme conditions. Alpine plants, being dwarfs, are short and thus close to the ground, have short growing seasons, and endure extreme weather. To witness the interrelationship between insect and plant in such an environment was a real treat. Something you’d likely never think to look for on a hike in Montana. Bears, mountain goats and other animals would be a more typical subject, but for me discovering this scene was one of the highlights of my day.

An ant feeds on an alpine flower's nectar - Glacier National Park, Montana

Technorati Tags: nature, photography, stock photo, alpine, flower, Montana, Glacier National Park, macro

With an eye towards big landscapes its easy to become focused to the point of having tunnel vision when trekking around. These days with every step I take I’m often taking note of what’s beneath me as much as what is in front of me. In some instances this is to make sure I’m not at risk of being bit or stung by animals or insects, but its also to look for photo subjects that I might otherwise quickly walk past or worse crush.

Case in point are these dew covered Harebell flowers. Kneeling down to get what later turned out to be a mediocre landscape photo of the Grand Tetons at sunrise I noticed these beautiful flowers. I made sure to set my knee down off to the side of them knowing I’d come back to photograph them before the morning light became too harsh. While I came away from this particular morning hike with several photos I liked this is among my favorite.

Dew Covered Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) Flowers

Technorati Tags: photography, macro, fine art, stock, photo, Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia, flower

It’s interesting how different niches of photography require different levels of patience. I suppose all forms of photography require the same degree of patience… the perceived difference in patience is likely a result of photographers being in synch creatively with one subject versus another. Some subjects click with photographers while others do not. It’s a fascinating phenomenon if you stop to think about it. I’ve always enjoyed jumping into a niche of photography and relearning… its a bit of a vacation if you will from the status quo. On that note I wanted to share a macro photo from last year that was a bit of a creative vacation if you will.

Hibiscus Macro - Maui, Hawaii

Technorati Tags: macro, photography, stock photo, fine art, hibiscus, flower, Maui, Hawaii

Macro photography is often associated with beautiful flower photos, but during a past trip to Yosemite National Park I decided to use my macro lens to document the impact of a controlled fire that was set on the valley floor. Rather than take a standard wide view of a fire scared landscape I decided to use a macro lens to capture a more intimate landscape of shape and texture. The jigsaw puzzle like bark of the Ponderosa Pine has always fascinated me and taking a closer look before and after made for an interesting subject.

Ponderosa Pine Tree Bark Detail, Yosemite National Park

The bark of the Ponderosa Pine from afar looks as though its covered in large scales, but as you get closer the large scales actually reveal their true structure. Layers upon layers of puzzle like pieces create the thick protective layer and structure to the trunk of the tree.

Burnt Bark of a Ponderosa Pine Tree, Yosemite National Park

Taking a closer look at the burnt bark of trees in the vicinity, loose layers of bark are gone leaving only a tightly packed layers of bark. The puzzle like pieces of the bark retain their loose shape, but glisten like shiny charcoal.

I’d venture to say that most people wouldn’t think of burnt bark as having any quality of beauty, but as a macro subject I thought it did. Granted I much prefer seeing a forest in a lush state rather than burnt, identifying burnt bark as a photographic subject is a lesson in itself.

When photographing nature subjects, or any other really, its important to check preconceived notions of beauty at the door. Observing the world as though you’ve never seen it before has a lot of merit. Mind you I will admit it bugs my wife when we go on walks… I’m always observing and pointing out minutia of the environment that most normal people would never have taken a second look at.

A while back Chase Jarvis posed the question, “When was the last time you shot something for the first time?” and I’d counter, “When is the last time you photographed something as though it were your first time?” Getting into the mode of rediscovery has proven to be as invaluable to me as immersing myself into a new environment to photograph. Try it. It might just light a creative fire for you.

Technorati Tags: Photography, Macro, Fire, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park

One thing over the years that I’ve learned is to never keep your eyes too far off into the distance when trying to get your next photo. While photographing seascapes in Monterey, California I was rock hopping and paused to see what exactly I was hopping over. I was pleasantly surprised to see sea anemones in a rather small tidal pool. With a nice overcast sky I took the opportunity to switch out my wide angle lens for my macro lens and photograph them. Fortunately for me they were very cooperative subjects unlike the sneaky surf that caught me in a later photo (more on that later).

Sea Anemones & Pebbles

For the techies who read every word of my posts I should add this is one of the first macro photos taken with my Canon 1Ds Mark III. The detail in the full size version of this photo is mind blowing. If curious I can post a 1:1 crop later to give an example of the detail captured.

Update: See below for the 1:1 crop of the image above. The detail captured from the 21MP sensor in the 1Ds Mark III never ceases to amaze me. The native image resolution is 5632 x 3750 pixels. Enjoy and do take advantage of clicking on the image to enlarge it.

Click to enlarge

Technorati Tags: anemones, tidal pool, pebbles, photo, photography, stock, California, coast

Early morning light breaking through the trees revealed this beautiful sight while traveling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Arctic Lupine (Lupinus Arcticus) wasn’t the most common flower seen during my travels but there was a beautiful spread of these flowers in a small meadow shaded by a stand of Balsam Poplar trees.

Arctic Lupine (Lupinus Arcticus)

Technorati Tags: Arctic Refuge, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska, Arctic Lupine, Lupinus Arcticus, macro, photography, photo, stock