It brings up a couple of thoughts...first is how lucky we all are that we have these magnificent places to spend time, photograph and just commune with nature. National Parks, State Parks, wildlife refuges and the like are a true treasure of the American landscape and experience and if you haven't visited one lately....get out there! Some of them, like the ones we just visited get relatively low visitation compared to many of the parks and still have many, many places ready to explore and photograph where few if any serious photographs have been taken.
Second thought is how weather affects our photography. Over the past two weeks we have had some of the most amazing and beautiful blue bird weather but it makes for some rather lackluster photography. Warm weather and blue skies make for great vacations but are a nature photographer's worst nightmare. I tell people that my best photo vacation is likely their worst nightmare! :-) Drama in the light is what we all look for and to find that drama we often need to photograph the edges. The edge of day, edge of the storm, waiting for that fraction of a moment when the light becomes truly magnificent. Rain, snow, clouds, cold weather, storm clouds and quirky weather all help to create drama. Some days that drama repeats itself over and over and others (like the last two weeks) that drama is only represented quickly and for a short period of time...if at all.
And actually this brings up a third thought which is...what a magnificent time we live in to be a photographic artist. With the development of digital photography and many of the tools that came with it like HDR, ability to shoot beautiful photos at high ISOs and the like give us the opportunity to make killer images in less than dramatic lighting conditions. Makes you kind of wonder what is coming next! The photo below is such a one. The contrast range between the dark canyon and the sunlit peak is WAY to great for the sensor to record detail (believe it or not, most of the foreground was in heavy shade!) but by HDRing the scene I was able to capture more of the grandeur and feeling of what I saw and felt standing there. Cheers all!
