Grand Canyon image used by the North American Nature Photography Association

It was an honor the other day to find out that my photo of Elves Chasm was used by the North American Nature Photography Association for their homepage.  This image was in the top group selected during their national photography contest.

Winter Hot Springs

In my continued effort to efforts to create unique hot springs images for an up coming article I photographed some friends at sunrise this past weekend at one of the many Eastern Sierra hot springs.  Having shot lots of other images for the story, I have been trying to find ways to show a complete story.  Having been at this location at sunrise once before I visioned how different it would feel with with fresh snow and a full moon setting over the Sierra. 

Well best laid plaid plans only go so far.  As the date of the photoshoot neared I could tell we were not going to have fresh snow.  After talking with my friends and finding out that despite no new snow the hot springs still had snow surrounding them, I decided to make the 5hr drive for the shoot.  In the space of one hour we captured several new images including the one that I had visualized the previous spring while sitting in the tub with my wife Jen. 

Unexpected Image

I have been working on shooting several specific images for a book project on the Sierra this past year.  As a result I have been keeping track of the when and where the moon will be over specific peaks in the range.  Having been skunked before at Mt. Whitney, I planned a trip with a photographer friend this past week hoping to capture the moon setting over Whitney.  After spending a cold night sleeping under the stars we headed to our pre-scouted location and finally nailed a book worthy Whitney image.



Knowing the Whitney image was in the bag and with a couple days left we decided to try out some other locations on the East Side that were less of a guarantee.  

I find that I spend far more energy scouting and researching locations than I actually spend shooting, but sometimes you have to be willing to throw out your well laid plans if the conditions call for it. 

In the case of this B&W image we scouted the location before dinner, and I went to bed knowing my shot was a horizontal reflection with trees framing the peaks.  After getting frustrated when my horizontal pre-planned image wasn't working out, I gave up and started exploring the cottonwoods on the other side of the pond.  It wasn't till a cloud blocked the sun on the Sierras that I really started seeing my composition.  I quickly rushed back around the pond and shot three frames while the trees were lit, and the background was shadowed.   

I have several other strong images from the session after the clouds cleared, but I just couldn't get away from the drama of light in this one.  I started working the file in my normal color style, but was left unsatisfied.  It wasn't till I was asked for a possible B&W Sierra cover images by a magazine that I began exploring it as a B&W.  As soon as I converted it to B&W I saw the drama of light that the color image was missing.  So I guess the lesson I will take from this is to look at the world as both color and black and white, and not be so hung up on my "style".