The annual Landscape Special issue of Outdoor Photographer is out, with a featured shot of the Mesquite Dunes of Death Valley by yours truly.
Outdoor Photographer’s annual landscape special has just come out, with a cover shot front and center by yours truly. It was great to see my shot featured on the cover of this premier national photography magazine, on what is traditionally their best selling issue of the year. To have my photo appear along side those from masters such as Frans Lanting and James Kay is an honor.
The Mesquite Dunes stretch across the valley just north of Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park
I took this shot of the Mesquite Dunes just before sunset in the spring of 2012. I was drawn to this composition by the intensity of the sand patterns. Since they were the real story in this shot, I emphasized the foreground to allow the pattern to take up about 5/6 of the frame. However, I wanted to give it some context, so instead of creating a sand wave abstract, I included the horizon line with the dunes and mountains beyond.
A western brush rabbit crouches in the long grass, trying to stay hidden
May all of you have a wonderful Easter with your loved ones. Thank you for following me on my exploration of some of the wonderful gifts we have in our lives.
Years ago, I wrote about how long lenses give the photographer the ability to completely change the background of the image they’re working on while still behind the camera. With a slight move left, right, up or down, you can change the angle of your shot, and sometimes change the background elements that appear behind your subject. Because long lenses help blur the background into solid colors, this can change the look and mood of your photo without changing the main subject.
I’m always looking for these opportunities while photographing wildlife. Photo editors constantly seek variety, so when I’m on a bird, I try to get as many poses, expressions, and backgrounds as possible. I think of it like an outdoor “studio” session, giving me the ability to come up with scene changes for my subject. (I still haven’t figured out how to do wardrobe changes, but that is a topic for another post!)
In the photos below, I first photographed the greater yellowlegs with the shoreline of a lake as the background. The background blurred to a nice tan-brown. I then changed my angle by swinging around to the left, and now the lake was behind the bird, coloring the background in a blue wash.
A greater yellowlegs stands on the railing of a dock. The background color comes from a distant shoreline behind the dock.
You can achieve similar color changes using reflection (and patience) as well. In the photos below, I didn’t change my position, but just waited for the bird to move instead. When I first photographed this pied-billed grebe, it was fishing and diving close to shore. The colors of the shoreline were reflected in the surface of the water, contributing dominant oranges to the photograph. I knew that this bird was likely to move away from the shore eventually, so I sat a waiting, hoping to capture that color variety. I didn’t have to wait long before this happened, with an added bonus of the grebe moving closer to me, filling my frame. The blue sky reflected off the water, giving the photo an entirely different look.
A pied-billed grebe is reflected in the still water near the shore of a lake. The color reflected in the water comes from the nearby shore.
The next time you’re out photographing with a longer lens (depending on your subject, anything over 100mm can work well), think about trying different backgrounds with your subject. This works great on people pictures as well!
After almost 15 fruitless attempts, I have finally photographed a local American Bittern that has been causing me grief. Time after time, I have gone to “the spot” without a trace of this bird, and time after time countless birders have reported seeing it, sometimes only an hour before or after my attempt. But I am happy to say that this ghost bird does indeed exist!
While not a rare species by any means, the bittern tends to be a secretive bird, often staying hidden within tall grasses and reeds. A few months ago, local birders began reporting seeing a bittern at Shoreline park in Mountain View, CA. I was excited about this opportunity, as I had never seen a bittern before and this location is relatively close to home. I soon found myself obsessed with finding this bird, half convinced that it would watch me approach in then dive into the bushes just to spite me.
Finally, yesterday, I succeeded in finding it after all those tries. I’m sure it felt more satisfying due to the difficulty – if I had found it the first time, I probably wouldn’t have been nearly as excited!
