The Way We See It

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Simple Images - Simple Themes

If you are Looking at me Here, Check Out how Great I Look on the new Blog

The Way We See It has Moved! You can find our musings about wildlife, travel and the environment at our SquareSpace Blog at: http://btleventhal.com/bruceleventhal/
Our gallery of images and upcoming events and workshops are also now on SquareSpace... check it all out at: http://btleventhal.com

Sunday, October 6, 2013

In Search of Simplicity

Leaf and Rock - Interstate State Park, WI
Canon 1D mark iii + Canon 100mm f2.8 USM Macro

It’s a funny thing how a style or pattern seems to creep into the subconscious of our art. I’m not certain if these things happen because of life’s circumstances, or in spite of world around us. Regardless of the cause, it appears that my photographs now seem to emphasize the simple over the complex.

To read the rest of the blog post, check out the blog at our new SquareSpace site at: Simplicity

See our new gallery at: btleventhal.com

Saturday, September 28, 2013

September 22, 2013

Autumnal Grasses - Tamarack Nature Center, White Bear Lake
Canon 1D Mark III + Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro

Saturday September 22^nd was the autumnal equinox. The week preceding this first day of fall was unlike the pre-autumnal weeks to which I’ve grown accustom. Minnesota is known for its temperate weather where summer transitions to winter, and fall is a wish that rarely comes true. Bracing for the worst, this harvest season seems to be more summer than winter. Warm winds and dry air continue to bathe the parched landscape, and fall is hiding somewhere in the shadows. I don’t object to this extension of summer, but I can’t help wonder if our departure from the norm is a harbinger of the future.

To read more and see more images please visit our NEW SquareSpace gallery at http://btleventhal.com and blog at http://btleventhal.com/bruceleventhal/.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Color of Costa Rica

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguss swainsonii) - Hacienda Baru, Costa Rica
Canon 5D Mark III + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x Converter

The Way We See It is on the move!
We have constructed a new gallery / website and blog where we will continue to discuss photography, travel, ecology, evolution and life in Minnesota. Please continue to follow us and our adventures at: http://btleventhal.com

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Box of Chocolates...

High key Lake Superior Sunrise - Kitchi Gammi Park, Duluth
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 17-40 f4.0L w/ a Tiffen Variable ND Filter

You never know what you’re going to get.

Sunday had the potential of being an epic day. Wolf pups were frequenting a hamlet near the North Shore, and I was in need of an adventure. After a bit of arm twisting and plan-shifting, I convinced my good friend Brian to join me on one final summer shoot. Having spent two weeks together photographing Costa Rica in July, and countless days in the field throughout the years, I knew that this wild idea had traction.

We left our respective homes at 3:30 a.m. and coordinated a rendezvous near the northbound freeway. Bleary-eyed and unrested, we were in a race against dawn. First stop,... Lake Superior.

Nearly three hours after consolidating the gear in one vehicle, the sun began its daily ascent. Masked by the big lake’s atmospherics, we knew that there was little time to find the optimal vista. As we sped through Duluth, we hit the Superior Scenic Highway and pulled off the road at Kitchi Gammi Park. The sun was now our enemy as it made its way through a shallow bank of clouds. I overestimated the cloud cover and knew that we now had less than twenty minutes of good light.

Water and Rocks - Kitchi Gammi Park, Duluth
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 17-40 f4.0L w/ a Tiffen Variable ND Filter

Brian and I scrambled across the rocky surface to find “the spot” where we could each craft “the shot.” As if hiking along a forked trail, he banked south and I ran north. The light was less than magic, but the surf was rough and splashed aggressively at my feet. The wet rocks caught my eye as the sun broke through a thin layer of clouds. This was far from ideal, but I was not going to let bad light damper my excitement. Rather than seek some perfect exposure, I chose to shoot both high-key (overexposed) and low-key (underexposed) images. Here, the mood was more important than the subject. Being there and experiencing life trumped my trivial desire to achieve perfection

Low key Lake Superior Sunrise - Kitchi Gammi Park, Duluth
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 17-40 f4.0L w/ a Tiffen Variable ND Filter

We never saw the wolves that day, nor made the great American landscape, but we didn’t let sleep interfere with the opportunity to seek out an adventure. This Great Lake is like a box of chocolates, sometimes you get the rich nougat and sometimes you get the mystery cream center than nobody likes.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Summer 2013 : Live Your Passion

Suburban Coyote (Canis latrans) - White Bear Lake, MN
Canon 50D + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x converter

It’s the annual end of summer post. For years I have blogged my ode to summer as a lament to the loss of freedom and a return to a year of work. At times I’ve eluded to a fabled purgatory or indentured servitude, but each of these references were always intended to be tongue in cheek.

The Singer (Melospiza melody) - Chippewa Preserve
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

I am a conservation photographer and artist, but this is only one of my two passions. My work, “the job,” is to teach. Teaching biology and exploring the working of life’s biodiversity is my other passion. I’ve been playing the role of a teacher since 1992, and am now a seasoned actor. Once a young buck among a sea of future retirees, I am now the old guy. Yet, with 22 years in the bank, I’m not one of those wannabe’s looking to leave the profession.

Northern Saw-whet Ow (Aegolius acadicus) - North Central WI
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

The onset of the school year is as exciting and tense as capturing an ephemeral moment with my camera at the break of dawn. I feel the same pressure and fear of failure during my first week back to work as I do when photographing a fleeting moment. This fear is tempered by the sense of potential that also floods my thoughts. Much like photography, teaching excites me. The unknown product of my efforts and desire to improve what I do each day is a redundancy in these two passions of mine.

Chippewa Prairie State Park - Minnesota
Canon 5D Mark iii + Canon 17-40 f4.0L

It’s been a good summer. I’ve photographed the prairies of Minnesota, the deep woods of the Midwest, and the jungles of Costa Rica. I’ve explored the details in bird feathers and frog eyes and climbed mountains to catch the start of a new day. This will be a good year too. I will craft rich lessons that will illuminate young minds, and paint a picture of the life found on this Earth. So rather than author yet one more lament, just this once I’ll let the real truth speak for itself... this educator has a nice life ;-)

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Costa Rica 2013 - Black and White Portraits

Portrait of a Jaguar - Rehab Center, Costa Rica
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Some faces look better in black and white!

Lurking Howler (Alouatta paliatta) - Selva Verde, Costa Rica
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS + Canon 1.4x

Paca (Cuniculus paca) in Rehabilitation Center - Costa Rica
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Sunday, August 25, 2013

What’s in a Blur (In Search of Creativity)

Green violetear hummingbird (Colibri thalassinus) - Savegre, Costa Rica
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8IS L + Canon 2x mark iii

I recently took a look at my neighbor / wedding photographer’s website (see http://brandonwerth.com) and thought to myself... “man that guy is so damn creative!” Being far removed from the portrait/wedding world, this type of photography seems as foreign to me as working with clay.

Flying Monkey (Cebus capucinus) - Hacienda Baru, Costa Rica

Rather than art, I often describe my work as conservation photography or nature photojournalism. While I always strive to produce the best possible images, I know “creative” is not the first word that comes to mind. At times my work is technical, compelling or emotive, but the word creative is reserved for the artists of the world.

Lapa Lapa Lapa (Ara macao) - Rio Quatro, Costa Rica

To break my current photo-funk, I’ve been on the hunt for creative nature photographs. I know it when I see them, and sadly, this is not what I observe in most of my work. While searching for inspiring photographs of nature, I’ve found many self-described creatives and creativity in post-processing, but the real artists in my discipline seem far and few between. The well-known humanitarian and photo-educator David duChemin is at the precipice of creativity with his portraiture and recent works in nature, but the one I find most compelling is Nick Brandt. Call it retro, but Brandt continues to shoot large negative black & white film while the rest of us toil with our pixels and memory cards. The structure of his images are evocative and expressive in a way that few can extract from their nature and wildlife subjects. There is a depth and emptiness to his images, yet each is filled with the essence of its subject. I call this work creative because Brandt manages to combine the key moment with brilliant technical skills that makes for much more than a journalistic representation of time. I can stare at his pictures for hours.

Flying banana (Ramphastos swainsonii) - Hacienda Baru, Costa Rica

So, what’s with all the burry pics in the blog, you ask?

During every prolonged shoot, I will break from my tendency towards technical perfection and try to escape from my self-imposed constraints. While I won’t be so bold to call any of these images creative, I might describe each as a purposeful attempt at making art from a bit of nature.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Costa Rica 2013: My Ficus

The Strangler (Ficus insipida) - Hacienda Baru Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica
Canon 5D mark iii + Canon 17-40L @ 19mm / f16

This giant of the secondary forest began its life after a clearcut, and has meandered its way towards the sky for the past forty years or so. With buttresses that top out at six vertical feet and a girth of five man hugs, the tree shares all the characteristics of a typical mid-successional species. It’s a nutrient hog that is pre-programmed to strangle its elders in an attempt to fulfill a biological destiny. Much like the cottonwoods and tulip trees of North America, strangler figs (Ficus insipida) grow fast and large in a race to the top. Once there, they bask in the light of day and propagate effusively with a productivity that feeds a complex tropical web.

This particular ficus has been a favorite photographic subject. Located along a mangrove trail in the Hacienda Baru Wildlife Refuge, the fig tree is a landmark between the lodge and an egret rookery. I am drawn to the curvaceous buttress, asymmetric branches, and its largess. The challenge of capture is my muse. I dream of perfect light that is so rare below a rainforest canopy and am always forced to yield my preconceptions in search of a compromise between what is offered and what I can take. This tree has been pictured here in the past (see “Road-tripping Through Ecosystems #4“) and I am certain that I will shoot and show it again. Ok... so it’s not really my ficus, but I wish it were.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

5 Simple Things You Can Do to Improve Your Landscape Photographs

St. Croix River Sunrise - Summer 2013, Stillwater MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + 17-40mm L @ 18mm w/ 6-stop Tiffen Variable ND Filter

Call this one a tweener... a little something from home in between our Costa Rica 2013 recap.

Use a tripod to increase stability, slow you down and permit long exposures.
Wake up early, be on site before sunrise and shoot the pre-dawn light.
Use a strong foreground element like a rock, tree or color to add balance to the image.
Use lines to lead your viewer’s eye into the photograph.
Try to expose in a way that stretches your histogram from the brightest whites (at the right) to the darkest blacks (at the left). This offers you the greatest flexibility when post processing. If the exposure range is greater than five stops between the extremes, then shoot multiple images at various exposures. By capturing a bracketed series you can merge the divergent exposures in software like Photoshop, Photomatix, or Nik HDR Effex.

St. Croix River Sunrise (#2) - Summer 2013, Stillwater MN
Canon 5D Mark iii + 17-40mm L @ 18mm w/ 6-stop Tiffen Variable ND Filter

These pictures were taken on August 13, 2013 @ 6:10 a.m. Each was from a single exposure where I worked to maximize the dynamic range prior to and after image capture. The photographs were pre-processed in Aperture 3.4.5 and finished for presentation in Photoshop CS 5.