Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Yosemite

Half Dome Reflection – Yosemite National Park

California, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Moab Paper, National Parks, Nikon D300, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Reflections, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Twilight Photography, Water, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park 4 Responses »

Jun 212011

Half Dome Reflection, Yosemite National Park, California. Shot with a Nikon D300 and a Nikon 28-70mm lens at 28mm. Image exposed at ISO 200 at f16 for 1 second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am back from my latest shooting trip at the Grand Canyon with quite a few files to go through. The shooting conditions were a mixed bag and somewhat difficult due to high winds blowing through a good portion of Arizona. In addition clouds from a front moving across Utah dropped into the upper part of Arizona and forced cancellation of my trip into Canyon X. This was an unfortunate event that will require another trip out to Page in the future. I did manage a few shots which I am happy with and will post these in the near future.

While out I did sell two new prints and I am featuring one of those images in today’s post. Due to some substantial rains and winter run-off, Yosemite Valley was filled with impromptu, temporary ponds of water. These ponds were ideal for capturing sunset reflections of many of Yosemite’s iconic features. Cloud cover stretching over the valley lifted at sunset and the golden light illuminated the face of Half Dome and created a beautiful reflection in the pond. Lightning from a storm earlier in the day struck North Dome and started a small fire which you can see in the shot in the upper right. The smoke from the fire blended in with the clouds as they moved over the valley.

I used two Singh-Ray Split Neutral Density filters on this shot. The first was a 2-stop, soft edge for the sky so I could get a little more exposure time for the bank of trees; and the second was a 1-stop soft edge inserted upside down and slightly angled to hold back the reflection in the water.

I am preparing the final print this week and will send it overseas to Ireland. The image will be printed on MOAB Entrada Bright 190 on an Epson 4900 printer.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

My Encounter with Ansel Adams

Adobe Lightroom, Ansel Adams, California, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Sony α900, sunset, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park 2 Responses »

Feb 202011

Ansel Adams, February 20, 1902-April 22, 1984

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today is Ansel Adam’s birthday. Happy birthday Ansel. There are so many photographers who have had the great fortune to have studied or worked with Ansel during his career. Sadly I am not one of those lucky ones. But I did have an incredible encounter with Ansel and it remains today in my thoughts. When I was in graduate school for architecture I took a design studio in the fall of 1983 where we were to design a house, in an urban setting, for an artist. All of my classmates chose famous painters or sculptors. I chose Ansel. After all I loved photography-and his photography in particular.

I stewed around for a week trying to decide what Ansel might want in a house and what about his work could influence the design of a house. That was the difficult part. Several years earlier I had visited Yosemite and spent time in the Ansel Adams Gallery. So I decided to call them thinking they might be able to help. They were most kind but did not have any ideas. They thought I might be better if I spoke with his personal assistant. So they gave me the number and I made the call. His assistant answered (to this day I cannot remember her name), and I gave her the whole story. She said ” I have no idea what Ansel might want in a house. I think maybe you should talk to him”. I went silent. She called out for Ansel. And the master picked up the phone and said hello. I introduced myself, stammered a bit, but managed to tell him about my project. “So tell me about this house” he said. I said it was a project to design a house in an urban, city setting, and it must reflect the artists personality. He said “well, I would never build a house in the city”. “Oh”, I said, somewhat defeated. But he picked up on this and immediately said “but if I did here is what I would like to see”.

Ansel spent over thirty minutes with me on the phone that day. It was the greatest of treats. His kind, and generous spirit, and willingness to talk with a young student architect has remained with me to this day. Not long ago I tried to find, without success, the drawings from that project. I managed to inject some natural elements into the design including a walkway that passed through large focal plane walls and granite boulders. I sent some of the sketches to Ansel after the class was over. Not long after I received a small package with a print. It was Moonrise over Tanaya Lake. The print hangs today in my office and is a constant reminder of a wonderful photographer and a special man.

The image below was taken near Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. I sat through a storm as it passed over the high country. As it cleared a small bit of sunlight illuminated a cloud passing next to Half Dome. It was fleeting and gone within a minute or so. The color and texture on Half Dome was amazing. A beautiful evening in a special park. Thank you Ansel for all the inspiration you have given to me and countless others who continue to enjoy your work today. Happy birthday Ansel.

Half Dome Twilight, Yosemite National Park. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 70-300mm lens at 135mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/15th of a second.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Half Dome Light and Yosemite High Country – Revisiting the Black and White Process

Black and White, California, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Photography Technique, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, Sony α900, sunset, Yosemite, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Jan 082011

Image 1: Half Dome Light and Yosemite High Country, Yosemite National Park. Final image after reprocessing to add contrast and punch.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today I am going to revisit the black and white version of Half Dome Light and the Yosemite High Country. Before I get into this I would like to thank all of you who visited the blog and commented and voted on your preference for color versus black and white. I started this blog ostensibly to get some visibility to my website and make connections to other photographers and folks who love landscape photography. To that end, a year down the road, more people are visiting my website and I have made some great connections. But something more powerful is happening. Recently I have been getting more critical commentary and dialogue about my photos as well as discussions on techniques and places to visit. A sense of community is beginning to develop which transcends everything that I thought would happen. When you put your work out in the public forum you open a door that invites the viewer into your world. It can be scary. The ”what if”s begin to surface. What if someone does not like my work? What if I receive negative comments? What if I am wrong about a technique? What if, what if, what if. We should not buy into this fear based position. Though I have been shooting for almost 35 years I think of myself as both a teacher and a student. It seems every day I learn something new. As a student I find the “what if’s” powerful and exciting. What if’s are teaching moments that help you along the journey of photography.

Today’s post comes under the heading of “what if”. I process a lot of images and there are instances when I am unsure about the photographs direction. I call this “getting stuck in the curves”. I never really think an image is finished. In fact I revisit them often in an effort to tweak out more detail, better sharpening, better color, etc. But sometimes I just won’t go far enough. When I converted the color version of today’s “revisit image” I stayed with the same curve sets and only applied a PS Black and White Layer. I did a few other minor manipulations but after staring at the image for several hours my eyes became accustomed to the result. When I posted the image I thought it looked pretty good. But as it turns out I did not go as a far as I could.

In a comment about the post, photographer Michael Trupiano, recommended some constructive suggestions on how he thought the image could be better. So here are Michael’s “What if’s”: What if the mid-tone contrast was increased. He thought the image looked a little muddy. What if the sunlight striking Half Dome and the snow on the far peaks was brighter. And what if the sky could pop a little more. Now the main problem here is that what looks good on my monitor may look different on others. I take care to calibrate my monitor and ensure that I am preparing good jpg files for display. Additionally I still believe the print is the final word. If it looks good in print then that is the final word. But still, after thinking about Michael’s comments and looking closely at the file, I think he had some good points. In order to achieve a better result I had to add several new adjustment layers and tweak a few others. So lets take a look again at the original image, (Image 2, below) I posted at: http://roberthclarkphotographyblog.com/2011/01/02/half-dome-light-and-yosemite-high-country-yosemite-national-park/

Image 2: Half Dome Light and Yosemite High Country. Original Black and White Conversion in Photoshop.

Now let’s take a look at the areas that I worked on in the image, (Image 3, below). Area 1: Increase contrast and drama in the sky with two new curve adjustments to increase darkness in the 3/4 tones and punch the 1/4 tones and highlights. Area 2: Darken this area to provide better separation. This was done through a Dodge and Burn Layer. Area 3: This was the real critical zone Michael commented about. This needed a real contrast boast that required a new curve layer to darken the 3/4 tones and lighten the 1/4 tones and highlights. In addition some additional dodging and burning was performed. And finally Area 4: Here just a little dodging and burning to lighten Half Dome. In addition to these adjustmentss a small amount of manipulation to the 3/4 tones on the “Darks” Luminosity Mask helped the contrast in the area below and behind Half Dome.

Image 3: Areas reworked to increase image contrast and punch.

So here is the final image with adjustments, (Image 4, below). I think you will agree that the overall increase in contrast in the mid tones and 3/4 tones and punching the highlights has made a dramatic improvement to the image.

Image 4: Half Dome Light and Yosemite High Country, Yosemite National Park, Final Image.

I want to thank Michael for his insightful critique. I really appreciate him taking time to visit the blog, being part of the community, and providing his comments. The result is truly a better image.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Half Dome Light and Yosemite High Country – Yosemite National Park

Adobe Lightroom, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Photography Technique, Sony α900, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park, Zeiss Lenses 11 Responses »

Jan 022011

Half Dome Light and the Yosemite High Country, Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 50mm. Image exposed at ISO 200 at f14 for 1/4 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Happy New Year to all my friends and thank you for visiting and supporting this site. Today’s image is a view of Half Dome and the Yosemite High Country taken near Glacier Point. In my mind it is arguably one of the most spectacular views in country. It is certainly one of my favorites. I was in the Valley for most of the day and watched as incredible bands of clouds drifted overhead. I though about staying in the valley to shoot sunset but I though with all the clouds the horizon might be blocked and there would be no color. I decided instead to drive up to Glacier Point thinking that the clouds might provide a more fitting backdrop from that vantage point. Well I was treated to an amazing show. Bands of clouds drifted over the high country and the light was amazing. Just before sunset the clouds opened up an sunlight lit up Half Dome and the higher peaks and snow-capped ridges of the high country. The light did not stay for long however. My suspicions about the horizon proved true and once the sun set the light and color were gone.

I processed the RAW image in Adobe Lightroom and prepared two files in Photoshop. The color version above and a black and white versions shown below. I like them both but find myself drawn to the black and white. I think some is this my conditioned response to viewing the Yosemite work of Ansel Adams. The other is that often reducing an image to simpler tones makes it more powerful. For the black and white version I used the Black and White Layer Conversion and adjusted the sliders in the Blue, Red, and Yellow zones. So what is your vote? Color or the black and white. I would love to hear your views.

Half Dome Light and Yosemite High Country. Black and White Conversion in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

El Capitan – Yosemite National Park

Black and White, California, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Sony α900, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park 2 Responses »

Aug 262010

El Cap and Light, Yosemite National Park. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony 70-300 G lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1 second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am a little behind these days and this will be my last post for the next tens days as I am heading off to Hawaii for work. I know what you are thinking. How nice. Well, yes it is but it is still work and it is a long, long flight. I will be quite busy but will try to get in some personal camera time. In any event today’s post is from the west coast and is a shot of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The shot is from Inspiration Point and was made as an incredible band of storms and clouds rolled over the valley. I watched for a while and began to notice some subtle breaks occur in the clouds. I shifted the camera over and put on my 70-300mm lens and framed El Cap just as a wave of light broke through the clouds and hit the side. Within minutes it was gone and the clouds thickened up. Just a bit of luck.

Thanks for stopping by today. We will see you in a few weeks.

Bob

Yosemite National Park – Olmsted Point Glacial Erratics

Black and White, California, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

May 062010

Glacial Erratics, Olmsted Point. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 35mm. Image exposed at ISo 100 at f14 at 1 second.

Hi everyone. Todays post is from Yosemite National Park. This is a shot taken at Olmsted Point of glacial scaring and erratics deposited by receding glaciers. Olmsted Point is located on the Tioga Road and affords magnificent views west towards the backside of Half Dome and Yosemite Valley. This image was shot in the early afternoon when the light was a little more contrasty. But it is at times like this you can consider coverting the image to a black and white. The contrasty nature of the light affords some nice separations of tones once the image is converted. Use of the sliders in Photoshops Black and White Conversion layer allows you to darken skys and bring out other subtle tones such as reds and yellows to accentuate the texture or color separation.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Olmsted Point No. 2 – Yosemite

Black and White, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park, Zeiss Lenses 2 Responses »

Mar 062010

The view from Olmsted Point looking back towards Yosemite Valley. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/125 of a second.

Today I wanted to give you another perspective from Olmsted Point. This view is from near the top of the point and is looking towards Yosemite Valley. If you look in the middle right of the shot you can just see the back side of Half Dome. This was an incredible day for clouds which rolled over the high country for hours.

One of the great attributes of shooting digital is the ability to shoot pretty much all during the day. This image was shot in the early afternoon when the light was a little harsh. I would not have liked the shot if I had been using film. With digital I can take a shot like this, and in more contrast laden light, then convert to black and white. It works very well here since my subject matter, all the rocks and granite, is basically monochromatic in color. The real color pop was the blue in the sky. But on conversion I can work with the color sliders to darken up the sky and really accentuate the the clouds for that “Ansel Adams” look.

I want to point out a couple of other things I was thinking about with this image. A photograph, in my way of thinking, should always have a door, that is to say a way to get into the shot, and to move beyond the foreground. In this case the door is naturally defined by the two large boulders which provide a way to get to the tree and ultimately beyond to the back of Half Dome. But there are couple of other things going on here as well. And that is the notion of repeating lines. The lines of the mountains are repeated in the lines of the foreground granite. Even the shadow line of the second boulder picks up on this theme. The clouds are also repeating this idea. And notice that parts of the clouds take on the shape of the pine tree. So we have a shot that has multiple layers. The strong, anchor of immovable boulders against the flow of repeating lines against repeating shapes.

So you may ask did I see this when I shot the image. The answer is yes and no. I want to be careful about getting into the mystic here in this discussion. What I saw when I stood here were things that I am always attracted to when I shoot. In this case the convergence of the lines of the mountains with Half Dome, and the clouds. I felt there was something there. This was the starting point for where I began to frame a shot. This part of the point is full of lines cut by the receding glaciers and I wondered about trying to mirror these some way in the shot. The tree was also a consideration but standing alone without anchor points was not working for me. When I moved higher on the point I found what I was seeking. The solid anchor of the boulders, and lead in to the shot, and the repeating lines. I then simply worked the scene until I got the composition. So yes I saw the start of the shot, but not its conclusion until much later. And that becomes the point. Work with the things that inspire you. Then frame those elements and look for themes that will help focus the shot and provide multiple layers of meaning. Work the shot. Don’t settle on the first take. Move around, reframe, re-shoot.

As always I want to thank everybody for joining me on these posts. Get out and shoot.

Bob

Yosemite-Olmsted Point

Black and White, California, Heliopan Filters, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Yosemite, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Mar 032010

Glacial scars at Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 200 at f16 for 1/250 of a second.

This post is an image shot at Olmsted Point in Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Point is located along the Tioga Road and is one of the most inspiring viewpoints in the park. Looking east from this vantage point you can see the back of Half Dome. The view west is towards Tenaya Lake and Mt. Conness. The glacial erratic boulders and deep scars cut in the granite were left by receding glaciers. My first visit to this point was in the early 80′s and I always try to make a stop on my visits to the valley.

On this day the clouds were really rolling across the high country. I used a Heliopan Warming Circular Polarizer to bring out details in the clouds and a Singh-Ray, 3-stop soft, split-neutral density filter to handle the strong contrast in the sky. The RAW file was processed in Adobe Lightroom and the black and white conversion handled in Photoshop with the B+W Adjustment Layer.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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