The Way We See It: 2012

Friday, December 28, 2012

Reflections...

American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) - Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS w/ Canon 1.4x converter

No words... just an metaphor in the form of an image as one year comes to a close and another begins.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Day After

Stacked Rocks - Lake Superior, MN
Canon 5D mark ii + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE

In the words of Edie Brickell “Drop me in the shallow water before I get too deep.” It’s another 5 degree morning, I’m buried knee deep in snow and the Mayan apocalypse was yesterday. Funny... I’m still here. As usual, the collective herd was wrong and I’m left with an empty feeling.

Damn Trail - Redwood National Park
Canon 20D + Canon 15mm Fisheye Lens

I’m not sure what I was expecting. I’m not the apocalyptic type and tend to be a skeptic when it comes to anything fanciful. Yet, I couldn’t help imagine what it might be like if an apocalyptic event selectively eliminated this human virus. Hey, I’m grateful for the life that evolution has managed to send my way, but let’s face it... we are a paradoxical species that is wreaking havoc on the planet. Beings crafted from nature, we are one with the world, but our love affair with the planet’s bounty will likely be the source our demise. We kill just to watch it die, level mountains in search of shiny baubles and interfere with nearly every biogeochemical cycle. We are a wart that keeps getting bigger, and I fear that all that will remain of life’s diversity will be one giant wart!

Well, it’s December 22nd... and “it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”

... I think.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Queen's Land

This Queen's Turf (Panthera leo) - Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Canon 1Dmk II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Stuart Pimm, professor of environmental ecology at Duke University has collected data suggesting that the African savanna is shrinking. Much like the North American prairie, human expansion is to blame. According to Pimm, "Savanna Africa is in deep trouble and it's in worse trouble in fact, than the world's rainforests..."

Guarding (Panthera leo) - Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Canon 1Dmk II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

More about shrinking savannas and near-catastrophic impact on the “king of the jungle” can be found on PRI (Public Radio International).

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Muse - Ardea herodias

Ardea herodias (Great blue heron) - St. Croix River
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Muse; noun... Source of artistic inspiration.

Derived from the nine mythological goddesses who symbolize the arts and sciences.

Here the word muse is used in a way that defies convention. Loosely interpreted, this elegant form is a muse that feeds my compulsion, challenges my vision and animates my craft.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Muse - Lake Superior

Driftwood - Gooseberry Falls State Park, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE Lens

I become increasingly restless as the confines of winter begin to close in. Diminishing daylight and long work days conspire to crush the creative spirit. This is the time that wanderlust fills the void. While holiday joy might inspire happiness for the masses, I can only see darkness. I'm not a family guy. I am a loner who loves the company of a few and seeks serenity when my mind becomes preoccupied with life's minutia. In these dark moments I need a muse, a subject that lacks the static nature of my predicament.

Superior is this muse.The big lake releases a flood of emotion that I constrain each day. Its frigid wind and deep cold forces a cathartic release that inspires. No, it's not my only muse, it's just the one I need to visit each December.

For more from Gooseberry State Park, Check out this link to my "Favorite Places."

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Tip #101: Fog, Smog and Overcast Light

Yellowstone National Park
Canon 5D mark ii + Canon 17-40mm f4L

You’ve traveled halfway around the world, woke up three hours before dawn and fought off cardiac arrest during your 6000 foot assent. What’s more, you broke the bank to take this trip and used all your vacation time just to capture an elusive target. Unfortunately, Murphy waved his ugly hand and the light is crap. Either the sun is too bright or you’re surrounded by a pervasive mist that will not go away.

Lake Agnes - Banff National Park
Canon 5D mark ii + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE

We’ve all been there and it’s these moments that test your patience and reward creativity. I have day job, so when I’m out on a shoot or traveling to photograph an ecosystem, I have to come back with something. It’s a cliche thing to say, but restrictions and limits feed my creative spirit. When faced with less than ideal shooting conditions, I put on my black and white goggles, study the landscape and look to play with tones and angles. During these less than ideal conditions, I work harder to define my story and be sure to pre-think the impact of every technical decision. Selecting the correct aperture, emphasizing shadows that define and choosing the right lens will be the difference between the images you cherish and those you can’t wait to forget.

Icefields Parkway
Canon 40D + Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS

Friday, November 30, 2012

Altered Reality

Pink in Black and White - Voyageurs National Park, MN
Canon 5D mark II + Canon 100 f2.8 USM macro

This showy lady's-slipper, Crypripedium reginae, is the Minnesota's state flower. Residents of northland bogs, the bloom is as ephemeral as summer. Soft shades of pink haphazardly caress the pitcher while bright white petals are billboards to potential pollinators. Lost is the color in my monochromatic interpretation, an altered state that I seem to prefer on this raw November evening. Here, the emphasis is on form, tone and shadow rather than the vibrant character the orchid typically exhibits.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Tip #100: Eat that Frog

Poison Dart (Dendrobates auratus) - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 40D + Canon 100 f2.8 Macro USM

It’s your mountain of homework, bills that need to be paid or taxes you’ve neglected to file. Your frog is the ugly task you avoid each day, week, month and year. It is your anchor; a weight that drags you into the abyss. Your frog saps your creativity. It sits on your desk and croaks in your general direction. That frog needs to be eaten!

First Snow - Stillwater, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 40mm f2.8 STM

Based on a book by Brian Tracy and introduced to me via a podcast by Martin Bailey, the analogy really resonated with me. We all need to eat that frog now, because there will be two tomorrow and three the next day. It is important to recognize that we do the things we need to do so that we can do the things we want to do. If you eat that frog today, you’ll have more time for your craft tomorrow.

Before First Snow - William Obrien State Park, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 40mm f2.8 STM

Want to learn more about Brian Tracy’s book? Check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GB5Fh2XM

Cope's Gray Tree Frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) - In the Garden, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 100mm f2.8L IS Macro

Monday, November 19, 2012

Tip #99: Make the Connection

Jasper National Park - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 50mm f1.4

There are fleeting moments where time stops and the essence that is the photographer becomes one with the subject. These are ephemeral experiences, intense bursts of focus that I can only describe as Zen. It might seem a contradiction for this empiricist to describe an experience in nature that is something less than science, yet I find that Zen philosophy can inform my mind without imbuing a religious conviction.

Eddy - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 24mm TSE f3.5L

Slot - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 50mm f1.4

Id, the scientist... “life is a continuum that began with a single cell competing for limited resources, motivated by the programmed need to replicate. Competition inspired organic innovation that led to a branching tree of life that extends into every ecological niche. Selection is the mechanism, and chance events in the environment separate the winners from the losers. The evidence of this rich evolutionary history is written in molecules and preserved in stone.”

Nanny and Kidd (Oreamnos americanus) - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + 1.4x converter

Leading Lines (Oreamnos americanus) - Canada
Canon 40D + Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS

Zen, the artist... “Reality seems sterile and non-emotive. Art is a human pursuit, a mode of self-expression, and Zen helps me to explore my place in nature. I am the ripple in a pond, a wave in the ocean, a drop of rain cycling through the atmosphere; I am one, a part of the continuum.”

Reflecting Jasper - Canada
Canon 5D mkII + Canon 50mm f1.4

We are the Rock (Oreamnos americanus) - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + 1.4x converter

Schizophrenic in the literal sense, photography is a split of the mind; it is art and it is science. White light emanates from solar fusion, reflects off an earthly mass and photons are captured by a Silica wafer. Transformed into a binary code, this is the picture. In contrast, a careful search for leading lines, colored abstractions and tonal gradients shape our art. Lost in the moment, the photographer is one with the place and sees what others will not. Whatever your mind, accept that you are a part of the nature that you seek to capture, and you will make art from the science that is our reality.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

An African Retrospective II

Bull Elephant (Loxodonta africana) - Serengeti, Tanzania
Canon 1Dmk II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

One more look back... and now it's time to move on.

Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) - Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Canon 1Dmk II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Three Warts (Phacochoerus africanus) - Masai Mara, Kenya
Canon 40D + Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS

Sunday, November 11, 2012

An African Retrospective

Bored with the Competition (Giraffa camelopardalis) - Tarangire National Park, Tanzania
Canon 30D + Sigma 120-300 f2.8 HSM

This cold and wet day has me thinking about my own origins and ancestral home. So, while searching for uplifting reminders of the past, I uncovered some long-forgotten treasures from Africa.

Masai Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) - Arusha National Park, Tanzania
Canon 5D + Canon 70-200 f4L

Something about Scale (Giraffa camelopardalis) - Arusha National Park, Tanzania
Canon 5D + Canon 70-200 f4L

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Tip #98: Rule #6

Black Bear and Dandelions - Jasper National Park, Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300 f2.8L IS @ f2.8

Are you a working photographer or a photographer who works? If the title matters, then you really need Rule #6. Regardless of your profession, love of the process and the adventure should be motivation enough. Block the inputs that promote self-doubt or diminish the sense of worth. When you can't embrace what you enjoy, it's time remember Rule #6.

Rule #6
Don't Take Yourself So @#&! Seriously

A Grasshopper's Nightmare - Jasper National Park, Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300 f2.8L IS @ f3.2

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Tip #97: Keep a Level Head

In Flight (Grus canadensis) - Crex Meadows Wildlife Refuge, WI
Canon 7D + Canon 100-400L f4.5-5.6 IS

Bad puns deserve loud groans, but slanting horizons really drive me nuts. When film was king, photographers worked more purposefully because every image had a cost and laziness became lesson in economics. Sloppy technique at a pinnacle moment detracts from an otherwise perfect moment and causes your audience to question the laws of physics. I can't stand seeing birds and boats paddling up some fictitious aquatic hill. The cure for this ailment is a quick fix, and your choices are quite simple.

Use a sturdy tripod, a quality head and a bubble (or in camera) level. Frame your landscape, step back for a moment to clear your preconceived vision, and give the image a second look. Find an anchor on which to level your horizon and only then make the shot.
No time to level in camera, then level it during the post process edit. Every image editor has a leveling tool. While some are quicker than others, there is no excuse to share an image with a blown horizon.

In photography, it is often said, you are judged by weakest image in your folio. Like bad grammar and the tendency to lie, blown horizons may define you to your audience in ways that will be hard to change.

Before Sunrise - St. Croix River, MN
Canon 5D mark II + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Biodiversity

Tropical Deer - Odocoileus virginianus
Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Wanting to break from reality, I'm diving into the archives in search of orphaned work. Trapped between travels and obligations for the "A" job, I need my past to see my future.

Peanut Head - Fulgora laternaria
Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Mantled Howler Monkey - Allouatta palliata
Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Variegated squirrel - Sciurus variegatoides
Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

All images in this post are from Costa Rica. The pictures were shot in 2011 and they represent a fraction of what we saw that year. During the summer of 2013 we travel back for our 8th visit and are looking forward to enjoying the experience with good friends who share our passion for photography, biodiversity and the evolutionary process.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tip #96: Instinct

After the Sun - Crex Meadows Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 40mm f2.8 STM @ f11

Listen to the voices inside and follow your instinct. Be in the present, block the distractions and go where the light takes you. While any photographer can capture the reality in a moment, it takes an artist to convey the manifestation of a vision.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Tip #95: It Might Be Your Only Chance

Steep Climb (Ovis canadensis)
Icefields Parkway - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Is it half empty or half full?

I won’t bore you with this tired cliche, but I do believe that the tension inherent in the question offers a photographer some pause for thought. Photography is fraught with compromise, especially when considering the stark contrasts that life has to offer.

Should I expose for the shadow or for the highlight?
Do I select a slow shutter speed to convey the motion of a moment, or do I shoot it fast to stop the action?
Could a shallow depth of field isolate my subject, or would it be best to capture the infinite space of a landscape.

Salt Lick and Grit (Ovis canadensis)
Icefields Parkway - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

While I might lack a religious conviction, I am a Taoist photographer. I see balance in nature and seek to understand the contrasts inherent in this world. I see the yang at a peak moment, and the yin as the sun begins to set. Taoist accepts the contradiction between light and shadow and sees this as a part of the whole.

Watch for Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)
Icefields Parkway - Canada
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

When you approach a novel subject do shoot as if you’ve reached diminishing returns or do you immerse yourself in the cornucopia of a limited opportunity. I suggest that you shoot as if every encounter might be your last, and you approach your subject from diverse perspectives. By accepting the contrasts inherent in nature, you make the most every every photographic opportunity.

About the Images: The posted photos are of Canadian bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) captured along the Icefields Parkway and Kootenay National Park. We spent several hours with the sheep seeking to capture a diversity of perspectives and behavior.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Piqued by Autumn's Peak

Reflection
Bearhead Lake State Park - MN
Canon 7D + Canon 50mm f1.4

This was our first trip with the pop-up since the blowout, and we really wanted to get back on that "horse" again. Because time management's not my strength, photography has been relegated to brief opportunistic moments. Long days and endless hours devoted to motivating the unmotivated has finally taken its toll. So, with the need to recharge my drained batteries, we pointed the Jeep north a began our search for the ephemeral.

Reflection II
Bearhead Lake State Park - MN
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Reflection III
Bearhead Lake State Park - MN
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Cross Processed
Bearhead Lake State Park - MN
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Tip #94: Don't Trust the LCD

Flight of the Dinosaur (Grus canadensis)
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f4.0
Shot in IS Mode 2 to optimize Sharpness while panning

That TV screen on the back of your camera is a great invention, but never use it to separate the winners from the losers. The details of distant objects will be blurred to nothingness, while subjects shot close will seem to be brilliant. In the end, you’ll be disappointment by your premature winners and surprised by the loser that you nearly trashed. While the LCD is a great tool for assessing composition and reviewing histograms, I suggest you leave your sharpness checks for quiet moments with Lightroom™ or Aperture™ on the “Big Screen.”

Crane Migration (Grus canadensis)
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f4.0
Shot in IS Mode 2 to optimize Sharpness while panning

Shoot the Moon (Grus canadensis)
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f4.0
Shot in IS Mode 2 to optimize Sharpness while panning

I'm not a Pteradactyl (Grus canadensis)
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f4.0
Shot in IS Mode 2 to optimize Sharpness while panning

Landing Gear Down (Grus canadensis)
Canon 7D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS @ f4.0
Shot in IS Mode 2 to optimize Sharpness while panning

About the Images

These are Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) during the Fall migration. Crex Meadows Wildlife Refuge is an ephemeral stop to roost, fuel up on corn and reunite with old friends. The birds arrive as the sun begins to set, and they will roost through the night. At dawn and dusk the refuge echoes with the ruckus of these extant dinosaurs. They arrive at dusk in the thousands and exit the dawn with explosive burst of activity.

Photographically, I am challenged by their flight that begins in the bright sky and terminates in the shadows of marsh. As throngs of birds glide over head, selecting “the one” often seems like an impossibility. They are the bombing raid that I imagine in my minds eye, and I am the gunner shooting for my own survival.

A check of the LCD always ends with disappointment and a feeling of failure. Each year I photograph these birds, believe something is wrong with my gear, and I swear in a way that embarrasses my own ears... and thus, a Photo Tip is born.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Requiem for a Summer

September 22, 2012
Tamarack Nature Center - White Bear Lake, MN
Canon 5D MarkII + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE

As is customary with the onset of Fall, I mourn the summer that was.

September 23, 2012
Manning Trail - MN
Canon 5D MarkII + Canon 40mm f2.8 STM Pancake Lens

A biologist who teaches to inspire and to survive, this man's passion resides out of doors with the harmony in nature. Work is what I do so I can do what I want; gone is the freedom that feeds my creative eye.

September 22, 2012 Number 2
Tamarack Nature Center - White Bear Lake, MN
Canon 5D MarkII + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE

It was a frosty morning with a cool breeze that shakes leaves. The wind blew past much like the time wasted in this summer last.