Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Storm Light over the North Rim – Grand Canyon National Park, Az.

Arizona, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Photography, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, sunrise No Responses »

May 132012

Storm Light over the North Rim • Grand Canyon National Park, Az.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am still embroiled in the day to day activities of my daughters last few weeks in high school. Time is really rolling now and the days are seemingly compressed with so much to do. To get away I returned to some recent files from a winter trip to the Grand Canyon. Time here does not roll at a frenetic pace. Or so I thought. I have long thought the canyon was the “energy” center of the earth. I feel so much power here and I tend to slow my movements and thoughts. I have never tired of the far-ranging views or the labyrinthine forms of the inner canyon. It has always been this way for me.

On this trip I was treated to several days of incredible light and atmospheric conditions. Storm clouds rolled over the canyon dropping snow on the North Rim. From the South Rim it was like watching a movie where natural forces collided. The relative stability of the buttes and rock formations seemed under assault as wind driven clouds dropped tendrils into the canyon, bent on covering the world with a foggy mist. Even the sun joined the fight seeking to break the hold of the clouds. So even here in a place of timeless evolution the pace can seem to quicken. My heart raced as I alternately watched the drama and composed the images in my camera. After hundreds of shots I just went on a sensory overload.

When I look at this image today I can still feel the natural power of that day. Standing alone on a finger of rock I was embraced by the changing opera of nature. Life goes on and we simply have to let it play out. These are hard words that I find difficult to live by right now. My child is growing up and I can no more hold on to her as to try and keep the winds at bay. Hard as it is to except, life goes on. It has always been this way.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Walk in Peace

Bob

Clearing Storm on the North Rim-No. 2 • Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Photography, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Moab Masters, National Parks, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, sunrise No Responses »

Feb 092012

Clearing Storm on the North Rim-No. 2

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today is just a quick post as I am in packing mode to head back to the Grand Canyon to finish the trip I started a few weeks ago. As most of you know I was laid to waste by pneumonia while out at the canyon and had to return home early. Though the doctors have said I could see residual effects for awhile I am nonetheless on the mend and ready to get back out. I have promised everyone (fingers crossed ) that I will take it easy. But the plate is full and includes a bit of work for the park as well as several shooting side trips with Tony Kuyper and hopefully, after three attempts, a trip into Canyon X with Charlie Moore.

The image today was shot as I left the canyon a few weeks ago to head home from my shortened trip. It snowed 8″ the night before coating the North and South Rims is a blanket of white powder. Though cold and not feeling well I was still determined to get off a few shots. I don’t want to get to metaphysical here but somehow I think the canyon knew of my situation and gave me a beautiful gift of low lying clouds hanging just below the rim. I have not seen the canyon in this way before and consider this a special treat. In this shot, taken just after sunrise, you can see the clouds wrapping around Buddha Temple (left), Manu Temple (small, in the center), and Orza Butte (just to the right of Manu).

Thanks for stopping by today. I will be back in a few weeks and hope to share more images from the canyon and surrounding area.

Bob

Dawn Sky – West Virginia Farmland, Shepherdstown, WV

Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Robert H Clark Photography, Shepherdstown, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunrise, West Virginia, Wide Angle Photography 2 Responses »

Nov 082011

Dawn Sky No. 1 and West Virginia Farmland. Shot near Shepherdstown, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Over the last few weeks we have had some incredible “cloud events” here in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. I am fortunate to have a beautiful drive to my office. It winds through rural land plowed and planted with corn, winter wheat, soybeans, and other crops. On many mornings a misty fog settles into the low spots obscuring the landscape like a veil. From the high points in the road I can see the mountains of Loudoun Heights, and farther still, the water gap at Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah and Potomac join together.

On these crisp, fall mornings, the air is razor clear. The cool mornings coupled with the fog bring a hard rime that coats the land with a white ice. Everything seems crisp and clean; sharp with the expectations of a new day. With my morning coffee I breath in the day, gazing upward to see what treasures the sky holds. Most days are clear with maybe a passing wisp of cirrus clouds. Nothing spectacular really. Just another beautiful day in the panhandle. On this day if was different. Off to the east the first rays from the sun were just peeking over the horizon. The clouds hung low moving slowly on high winds. I just thought it was going to be special. On these days I always have the camera pack ready; batteries charged, cards loaded, camera settings dialed in. And don’t forget the tripod. I hit the road to my favorite cornfield. I arrived as the eastern light came alive. The clouds were slung low along the horizon, rising upwards, soft like flowing silk on the wind. The light hit bringing color and form to the sky. Everywhere I looked the clouds expanded over me like a shifting aurora of pulsing mist.

The corn, freshly cut, stood at attention; the long, even rows of cut stalks marching into the horizon. Overhead the clouds continued to morph into continuously changing organic shapes. It was like an unseen artist created pastel paintings and hung them in the sky. I barely changed camera positions opting instead to simply rotate the camera or switch from horizontal to vertical orientations as I composed on the fly. On this day it was all about the sky. I kept the fields low in the composition to expand the idea of the sky and how it dwarfs the landscape. The show proceeded from Act to Act with a final bow as dawn color faded bringing the high contrast light of the new day.

Dawn Sky No. 2 and West Virginia Farmland near Shepherdstown, WV.

Technical Information: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. Dawn Sky No. 1 was shot in one exposure at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. I used a Singh-Ray, 3-stop, hard edge split neutral density filter to balance out the exposure. Dawn Sky No. 2 was shot in three exposures and blended in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Cloud Reflections – Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Oregon, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunrise No Responses »

Sep 042011

Cloud Reflections, Crater Lake National Park. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/30th of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. After a long stint in the field I am finally back at home saddled with the joyful task of sorting through quite a few images. Many of the images I took on this trip will require some time consuming post-processing as I shot a lot of bracketed exposures for Helicon Focus and Photomatix. I will get to these as soon as time allows. In the meantime please enjoy a new black and white image from Crater Lake National Park.

This shot was made early in the morning from the south rim side of lake and is looking across Wizard Island towards Llao Peak. When I arrived a little before 6:00am the lake was calm and a near perfect mirror for reflections. I fooled around for about 20 minutes trying to decide where to make the shot and by the time I had set up the had wind picked up on the lake surface. Intermittent gusts though only disturbed portions of the lake leaving some areas completely calm. I was immediately irritated with myself for taking too long and losing the opportunity to fill the lake with cloud reflections. But as I watched the lake surface change I found this turn of events far more interesting and liked the muted nature of the cloud reflections in the lake. Often the wind levels on the lake leave the surface featureless which makes composition difficult since you have to balance the thin line of the crater rim and the mass of the lake. On this day I could use the crater rim as a distinctive line that separated the cloud patterns between earth and water. Additionally the patterns in the lake became my foreground elements.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Sony a900 and a 20 mm lens. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/30th of a second. The white balance was set to 5500K. I used two Singh-Ray Split Neutral Density Filters: A 3-Stop Soft edge for the top, above the rim to cover the sky, and a 2-Stop Soft Edge, below the rim to cover the water. The RAW file was processed in Lightroom and the final file was finished in Photoshop.

There are more things to come including images from the Oregon Coast and the California Redwoods. So stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

South Rim Sunset – Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset 2 Responses »

Jun 282011

South Rim Sunset, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D3x and 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 8 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well I am on the road again for the next week and a half. I might get in a little shooting but this is strictly a father daughter affair as we are heading to south Georgia for a pole vault camp session with Kay’s coach. It is way down below Macon. Way down in the deep south, below the gnat line, where it will be hot and muggy. So I will be out of pocket, so to speak, for a little while.

While I am out of town I will leave you with a another image from my recent Grand Canyon trip. This shot is looking west along a succession of ridge lines on the South Rim. Cloud cover extended over much of the canyon this day and I was not sure anything would happen. In fact, this was the same front that caused me to cancel my Canyon X trip in Page. Somewhat defeated by this turn of events I drove back to the canyon only to find the same dull, gray cloud cover. But though Mother Nature can “take away” an opportunity, she can also provide. On this day Canyon X was not to be. But the gift of a glorious sunset lifted my spirits. This was shot from a remote overlook point that I had scouted several days before. Reaching the spot requires a bit of a climb but the views east and west are amazing. For most of the late afternoon the sun was veiled by the clouds and a fairly stiff wind blew along the ridge line. Higher up the wind was pushing the clouds apart and a hole opened up along the horizon. The clear horizon allowed the light to come through and provided a beautiful show.

This was a delicate shot to balance. I needed to have enough exposure to bring out the trees and Kaibab stone along the ridge but at the same time balance the sky so the two parts remained in visual harmony. At this time of the day if the land had appeared too bright in relation to the sky the overall effect would have appeared unnatural. To help with the balance I used a Singh-Ray, 4-stop, hard edge, split neutral density filter to hold back the sky during the exposure. I watched the histogram and tried to get as much of it to the right as I could, without too much highlight clipping. Though a little clipped in the upper highlights, it was easy to recover in Lightroom during RAW processing.

Though the day started with disappointment it sure ended with a fireworks. I was able to capture several other images from this evening shoot and I will post those as soon as I can get them processed.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Sunrise on the Dunes – White Sands National Monument

Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, Sony α900, sunrise, White Sands National Monument 4 Responses »

Nov 062010

Sunrise on the Dunes, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well I am finally back from a long 30 days in the field that saw me photographing at White Sands, Big Bend, and on the North Shore of Oahu. I have so many images to go through that I suspect it may take me a while to process my selects. To get the ball rolling today’s post is from my second morning shoot at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. Quite honestly I found White Sands mystical. The white, gypsum based sand dunes seem to roll on forever towards the San Andreas Mountains. I had scouted this location the night before and given the right set of clouds I thought the composition might produce a good image. I marked the location in my GPS as I would have to hike in nearly a mile in the dark to be ready for the sunrise.

The next morning I awoke to a thick band of clouds rolling over the dunes. The horizon line was clear and I thought all the elements might just come together. I reached this spot right a the beginning of nautical twilight which gave me plenty of time to pre-compose several options. About 30 minutes before sunrise a thick blanket of clouds sat over the dunes and I began to wonder if the shot would happen. But they were moving fast, driven by upper level winds, and began to break up. This image was shot about 10 minutes before sunrise. This time in civil twilight is one of my favorites. The lights are beginning to come on and the sky is reflecting blue light down on to the dunes. It is a special time to be alone in a place like this. The black void of night slowly gives way to the light. Details like wind rippled sand, once hidden, are revealed. Cold becomes warm. A new day begins.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Tidal Pool – Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park

Hawaii, Heliopan Filters, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lava, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Pacific Ocean, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, sunset No Responses »

Sep 102010

Tidal Pool, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image shot at ISO 100 at f13 for 2 seconds.

Hi everyone. Welcome to today’s post. I have been away for a few weeks on several assignments and have quite few images to go through. This post is an image shot along the Kona Coast at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park on the big island of Hawaii. Kaloko is the site of a Hawaiian settlement before the arrival of European explorers. It includes coastal areas, three large fish ponds, a house site, and other archeological remnants. The site sits in the shadow of Mauna Loa, a dormant volcano. Along the coastline fingers of ancient volcanic flow extend into the ocean. I had the opportunity to photograph the sunset within the park and spent some time exploring the tidal pools that are tucked into recesses within the lava. This pool contained several beautiful coral formations.

Hawaiian cultural is full on many myths and many gods. I told an Hawaiian friend of mine about spending time at Kaloko. He asked me if the ocean spoke to me. I related to him that as I was shooting the tide began to come in and would send foamy fingers of water up to my feet and tripod legs. It would flow in and just touch my feet, fill small holes in the lava, and then recede. My friend said the ocean was checking me out-just seeing who was walking upon the lava. I allowed myself to imagine what life must have been like on this site. Hawaiian culture has a strong connection to the ocean. For a brief moment in time I tapped into that power and just listened quietly to the oceans song. The water roared in with a thunderous voice which dissipated into hundreds of soft melodic voices as the waves lapped through the volcanic fissures. As night fell I was absorbed into blackness, unable to see the lava field static at my feet. But the ocean continued to sing. For hours afterward I could hear the ocean in my head and feel the vibrations. My friend said the ocean had indeed spoken to me. And he said it was a good thing.

To capture the tidal pool I used a Heliopan Warming Circular Polarizer dialed in to reveal the coral in the water. In addition I used a Singh-Ray 3-stop Soft Split Neutral Density to hold back the sky. RAW processing was done in Lightroom and final work in Photoshop CS4.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Badlands Sunset – Grand Staircase-Escalante

Badlands, Black and White, Desert, Grand Circle, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Hoodoo, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Sony α900, sunset, Utah, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Apr 292010

Badlands Sunset. Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f14 for 3 seconds.

Hi everyone. I am getting ready to depart for a few days to watch my daughter in a big track meet. So I thought I would post an image before head down the road. This shot was taken in the area of the Rimrock Hoodoos in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The site is easily accessible from Highway 89. A short hike brings you to a playground of hoodoos, balanced rocks, and colorful badlands. I spent the better part of an afternoon exploring this area and as I was about to leave late in the evening a wonderful band of wispy clouds moved in. This shot is looking almost due west into the setting sun. I really liked the contrast of the hard barren landscape and the ethereal clouds. I had taken a few shots when the little dark cloud rolled in to the scene. The darker band of foreground rocks leads the eye to the cloud which adds a nice layer of dynamic movement to the shot.

In order to capture this image I used a 4-stop Singh Ray split neutral density filter to compensate for the difference in contrast between the foreground and the sky. The sunlight was somewhat obscured behind the band of clouds on the horizon which helped keep exposure issues to a minimum. The image was processed in Adobe Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

As always thank you for stopping. We will see you again next week.

Bob

Grand Canyon – Sunset over the North Rim

Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Apr 252010

Canyon View Sunset, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Images exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 3 seconds.

Hi everyone. I have been pretty busy this past week and have not been able to get in a new posting. So I am pulling one today from the archives. I was doing some work at the Grand Canyon in the early spring and was on my way back to the hotel in the late evening. There was some pretty heavy cloud cover over the canyon and I thought there was no hope of any shots that evening. However as I was nearing the South Rim Village I noticed that there was a little break in the clouds to the west where there might be a chance the sun would drop in just on the horizon. There is a nice unmarked overlook that I frequent so I pulled over to wait. Glad I did because I was treated to this beautiful light show over the north rim. When I pulled over the inner canyon was dark and flat. But as the sun dropped in just at the horizon the light began to do some amazing things. Subtlety at first, the inner canyon began to glow and then the clouds began to light up. Pastel pinks turned to glowing reds and oranges. It was truly amazing. And there is a lesson here. Nature is unpredictable. The purest form of chaos theory. Just when you think nothing is going to happens, it does. You need to be patient and have some faith. All day I worked under the cover of the clouds thinking that I would be going to an early dinner and then a night of TV in the motel. But nature had another plan for me this evening. She invited me to stop and spend time with her. And I am glad I did.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Acadia National Park – The Tarn at Sunrise

Acadia, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Sony α900, Zeiss Lenses 1 Response »

Mar 162010

The Tarn Sunrise, Acadia National Park. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 8 seconds.

Every now and then you force yourself to get up when you don’t want to. When its really cold outside and sleep seems the better option you think maybe, just maybe it might be a special day. The day I shot this image I just wanted to stay in. It was cold. Numbing. The car would not heat up. But I got going, grabbed coffee at Jordon’s and headed to The Tarn. It is a small pond in Acadia, situated along the highway, and is set between two large dome like massifs. Seemingly forgettable. But it is a special place to shoot. It is full of reeds, water lilly, and other aquatic plants. The colors are amazing and depending on where you set up your camera the open areas of water provide perfect reflections of rocks and sky. This day was special. I arrived in the dark to a thick cloud cover. But there was movement towards sunrise and the early cloud cover broke away from the horizon and the sun painted light across the sky. Light hints of pastel pink soon gave way to intense red and orange. As the sky lit up so did The Tarn. All above beautifully reflected in the water below. Within in the span of 15 minutes it was all over. I was the only one there that morning and I felt as if the show was put on just for me. As I walked back to the car I realized I wasn’t cold anymore.

This is not a composite image. I used a Singh-Ray 4-stop split neutral density filter angled along the mountain to balance the intense light. The single RAW exposure was porcessed in Adobe Lightroom with final finishing in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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