Shaupeneak Ridge, Hudson Valley

This image was made by combining several exposures (5 total) into an HDR image. It was the only way I was able to capture the extreme dynamic range found between the bright sky and relatively dark foreground. I was literally running around this field trying to find an interesting composition before the amazing sky disappeared.

I will be talking more about HDR imaging in an upcoming article, and will be including it in a future workshop covering advanced techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop.

The June 2008 Print of the Month is titled “Lost City Dawn” which I made at the Mohonk Preserve in New York. I visit Mohonk and neighboring Minnewaska State Park quite frequently as it is only 30 minutes from my home and offers some fantastic opportunities for landscape and nature photography. This particular spot is a 30 minute hike from the parking area, and with sunrise approaching 5:30AM, I had an early start that day.

Although I am familiar with this area, I didn’t have a specific composition in mind, and decided to improvise with whatever conditions nature provided to work with. This is sometimes risky during sunrise, since you can find yourself searching for something interesting and not being ready for the best light. This is exactly what happened to me, and I found myself at a loss and thinking I would have to wait for a better day. But I was attracted to this particular tree and small pockets of water that held some nice reflections of the blue sky and clouds overhead. The combination of all of the elements gave me a sense of harmony, a feeling I’ve learned to trust.

The problem now was dymanic range (the range of values between light and dark areas) which by now was too great for my camera. I quickly decided to make several exposures and try and make an HDR version in post-processing. I waited for the sun to barely peak above the clouds on the horizon, and made 5 exposures separated by about 2/3 stops each. This allowed me to capture the darkest parts of the scene as well as the highlights in the sky which would never have been possible with a single exposure.

For those not familiar with HDRI, short for high dynamic range imaging, is is a process whereby multiple images taken at different exposures are combined in software to accurately represent the entire range of highlights and shadows found in a scene. Much of the hdr images being created today have a tendency to look too artificial and surreal to me, and lacking in real expressiveness. I prefer to make images that are more based in reality and use it as a tool to help me in situations where the human eye can see the entire range of a scene but the camera can not. I will be writing more on HDR imaging and the techniques and software that I use.

This image captured what I felt and saw on this rock outcropping that morning, a moment without thoughts, preoccupations, problems, or any of the other baggage we carry around in our heads on a constant basis. Just a moment of being alive with my surroundings.

We’ve had an unusually warm and dry month of April, but the rains finally did arrive, and I was eager to visit my favorite waterfall locations. One of these is Stony Kill Falls in Minnewaska State Park, which actually suffered a 3000 acre wildfire recently due to the warm and dry conditions. The falls and creek were really strong, so much so that I had a difficult time keeping my camera lens dry long enough to compose an image. Good thing I brought the best piece of gear in these conditions - a piece of chamois cloth from my local auto parts dealer which is the most absorbent material I know of and works great on lenses,

My goal was simply to convey the strength of the moving water and its deafening sound as it falls 87 feet and continues along the Stony Kill Creek. Let’s just say I didn’t manage to stay dry for long, but the experience was well worth it.

There is a note-worthy article on the New York Times this morning about Ansel Adams and his gallery at Yosemite National Park. It got me thinking about people’s perceptions about photography and the false belief that an expressive image is “taken” rather than created. It stated how many photographers try and re-create the conditions under which Ansel made so many of his famous images only to find they don’t turn out quite the same. A photographer even worked with an astronomer who had tracked the exact minute the moon would ascend next to Half Dome in the same way it did in front of Adams in 1960 when he photographed his famous “Moonrise and Halfdome”. Similarly, it also notes how many are disappointed when they arrive at Yosemite only to discover it doesn’t look quite the same as in Ansel’s iconic images.

What many seem to forget is that successful landscape photography is about an interpretation, an expression of one’s vision and emotions at the time the shutter is pressed. Ansel was not interested in documenting Yosemite, but rather creating images that expressed his unique vision. People assume that if a photograph is digitally manipulated, or as I prefer “corrected”, it is no longer a valid representation of a landscape. Yet we each have our own way of seeing, and the choices made when photographing, whether time of day, weather conditions, and what we include or remove from a composition all manipulate what is conveyed in an image.

With so many images being created today from all corners of the earth, it is only the strongest and most original interpretations that will stand out from the crowd. And there is plenty of room still left for unique and new ways of seeing. This is what motivates me each time I get up at 4:00 AM to go out for a sunrise shoot. The anticipation of what each day will bring, both in terms of visual beauty and new experiences, should never be taken for granted. As long as I can appreciate each moment for what is is, an original and interpretive image will always be possible if I really open my eyes and mind.

I’ll be the guest speaker at the next DRPP meeting tomorrow night, and the topic will be digital workflow. This is one of the biggest problem areas of digital photography, and one that I am regularly asked about from veteran and beginning photographers alike. Though digital photography has allowed us to shoot images at will without concern for developing and other traditional costs, managing and processing all of these images, particularly when shooting RAW, can become a daunting and seemingly endless task for many, including myself.

Based on my own experiences using Photoshop and more recently Lightroom, I’ll demonstrate how I tackle this problem, and make it a necessary but enjoyable part of digital photography. I’ve tried many different approaches and software titles over the years, including Capture One, iView Media Pro, Aperture, and Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, but now my entire RAW workflow is handled by Lightroom and Photoshop. I spend less time at my computer, and more time on the trails…the way it should be!

Do you use a light meter or the camera’s internal light meter or do you just go with experience?  Do you change the settings for spot metering vs, center weighted vs. color matrix metering?  -Chris Cina, Poughkeepsie, NY

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“Silent Trees” was photographed recently on a local hike in Dennings Point, a peninsula on the Hudson River.

There are many types of landscape photographs, encompassing the wide range of subjects available at any given location. I’m partial to the ”grand vista“ where a wide angle lens allows for great depth and the eye is lead from near to far, traveling over the many details like a symphony building to a grand crescendo. I certainly enjoy them the most, and I think they represent our natural way of seeing the world around us.

However, the ”intimate landscape“ or the extraction of a greater scene is one that I have always found challenging, yet rewarding in many different ways. This image is one that I immediately visualized while finishing a photo shoot that had not been particularly productive. It happened so quickly that had I not been ready, I would have probably missed the warm subdued light that gave the branches their wonderful texture and dimensionality. You never know what you’ll come across if you allow yourself to see - another reason I never put my camera away until I’m back home.