Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2013 i Outdoor Photographer

Photographer: James Kay Location: Bridger Wilderness Area, Wind River Mountains, Wyoming Equipment: Pentax 67, Pentax 45mm lens, Gitzo tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, Lee graduated neutral-density filter, Fujichrome Velvia Situation: While the Teton Range grabs most of the attention in northwestern Wyoming, the Wind River Range is second to none. James Kay describes scouting the scene for this image: “I captured this image early one morning near our camp along the shores of Upper Green River Lake as a flotilla of altocumulus clouds filled the sky above Squaretop Mountain. Our goal that day was to rise early, paddle our kayaks to the head of the lake and then climb this 11,695-foot plug of granite, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to delay our departure when I saw those clouds beginning…

FAST LENS Add to your lens lineup with the Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG HSM. This model is the first to debut from the lens manufacturer’s new Global Vision concept, which stresses quality in design, manufacturing and inspection. The lenses fall into one of three groups—Contemporary, Art or Sports. Every lens is MTF-tested using Sigma’s new A1 system based on the high-resolution Merrill Generation Foveon sensor. The 35mm features one FLD and four SLD glass elements to control lateral and axial chromatic aberrations, as well as a Hyper Sonic Motor to assure accurate, quick and quiet autofocusing. The lens can focus down to 11.8 inches for a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:5.2. Estimated Street Price: $899. Contact: Sigma, (800) 896-6858, www.sigmaphoto.com, www.sigma-global.com. STITCHING PLATE MultiStitch delivers precise digital stitching for shooters…

Location Churchill, Manitoba, is known as the polar bear capital of the world. It’s also famous as a beluga whale-watching hot spot. During the winter months, you even have a great chance at experiencing the Northern Lights as Churchill is situated beneath the Auroral Oval, a ring around each geomagnetic pole where auroras are likely to occur. Churchill is located at the opening of the Churchill River as it forms an estuary with the Hudson Bay on the Atlantic. Even though there’s a small population of around 800 people, most hotels and lodges are booked in advance by tour companies, so book early if you’re making your own arrangements. Since there are no actual roads to Churchill, there are only two primary modes of transportation: air and rail. The city…

Menacing gray clouds filled the sky when I arrived before dawn on the crest of Black Face in the San Juan Mountains near Telluride, Colorado. I had wagered a good night’s sleep on this sunrise, but my decision to get up at 2 a.m. and hike two and a half hours in the dark looked like a gamble I had lost. Minutes later, however, the clouds to the east began to tear apart, revealing ragged holes rim-lit with golden light from the rising sun. The scene was spectacular, but with both backlit clouds and deeply shadowed, forested valleys in the frame, the contrast was high. What exposure strategy should I use? There was no time for painstaking calculations. Rather than spot-metering frantically, I resorted to the “Universal Exposure Strategy.” To…

When photographing in an active storm, always check local area forecasts. Make sure you have basic emergency items in your vehicle such as flares, a cell phone, a tool kit, a shovel, a short board to use under tires that get stuck in mud or snow, water, a first-aid kit, warm clothing, food and a portable radio, in case your car radio doesn’t work. If you hike into a remote area during storm weather, take warm gloves, a waterproof, insulated coat and hat, waterproof boots, water and energy bars, and consider adding a personal locator beacon. Tell someone where you’ll be and the dates of your hike and that you’ll contact them upon your return. You may be driving icy or rain-soaked roads, so make sure your tires are up…

Traveling to the Galápagos requires some extra planning. In order to be versatile and ready for any situation, I typically leave my long fixed telephoto lenses home, preferring the versatility of a 70-300mm telephoto zoom. You may laugh, but wearing knee pads will encourage you to work the angles, getting low when necessary. • Two camera bodies, with extra batteries and memory cards • Wide-angle zooms (16-35mm ƒ/2.8, 24-105mm ƒ/4) • Long telephoto zoom (70-300mm ƒ/4-5.6) • Macro (100mm ƒ/2.8) • Lightweight tripod and monopod • Knee pads for getting low • Rain hood for cameras and lenses • Camera backpack with raincover • Compact digital body with underwater housing • Laptop computer with card reader and cables • Two 1 TB external hard drives…

Canon’s flagship EOS-1D X and Nikon’s flagship D4 full-frame DSLRs certainly can do a great job with landscapes, but they were designed with action in mind. At 18.1 and 16.2 megapixels, respectively, they hit that sweet spot of having enough pixels to deliver high image quality, yet not so many that speed is compromised. The EOS-1D X can shoot full-resolution images at up to 14 fps (12 fps with continuous AF), the D4 at up to 11 fps (10 fps with continuous AF). This, combined with their excellent AF systems, makes them today’s hot sports-action and photojournalism cameras.…

As your primary “viewfinder,” a rugged and dependable vehicle is number one on the list. Adams knew the value of cargo space, and while you may not be spending weeks at a time on the road, having the space to carry your camera gear, camping equipment and the myriad other necessities that a modern landscape photographer requires is just as important today. You won’t have to worry about having the space for spare axles, which should free up the space to carry a bigger tripod for some unique perspectives. The Subaru Outback we’re showing here is a popular choice for the modern photographer. It’s reliable, and has all-wheel drive and ample space for your stuff.…

Basically, the mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras offer DSLR image quality in a much smaller package. The bodies are about the size of all-in-one compact digital cameras, but they deliver DSLR image quality because, with a few exceptions, they have DSLR-sized image sensors. Canon, Samsung and Sony mirrorless models, plus the Pentax K-01, use APS-C sensors; Olympus and Panasonic use Four Thirds sensors (17.3x13.0mm). The Nikon 1 mirrorless models use a smaller 13.2x8.8mm sensor, and the extremely compact Pentax Q and Q10 use a smaller 6.2x4.6mm sensor. Mirrorless lens options are a key consideration for landscape shooters. There are fewer lenses available for these cameras and, of course, larger lenses reduce the compactness of the cameras, but the systems—body, lenses and accessories—are still more compact than even DSLR systems, and so easier…

I was just looking at a study conducted a few years ago, which showed that nature photography was growing by leaps and bounds. I was unsurprised. This is a golden age for nature photography. We have more tools that are capable of producing top-tier work than ever before, and these tools are accessible to everyone. For a long time people maintained that digital imagery was both inferior to film and more expensive. That’s not remotely the case today. When Ansel Adams was traversing Yosemite Valley, the large-format view camera he used and his sheets of film were the sorts of tools that were available to a select few. George Eastman and Kodak certainly brought photography to the masses, but that was largely through the Brownie camera and smaller roll film.…

Advice To The PhotoLorn Q My husband and I once enjoyed our photo outings, but he has recently become very involved in our camera club competition and now sees me as a photographic rival rather than a pal. As a professional, the competition you face must be much more intense. How do you and your wife Kathryn operate as a team when you work together on photo expeditions? Name Withheld For Obvious Reasons Via email A When we’re on assignment, it’s about getting the job done. Each of us has different work to do with different cameras, we’re gathering background for the written story, we know what the objective is, and we support each other as much as possible. We have limited time to complete the work, sometimes in a…

Landscape photographer QT Luong has done something not even Ansel Adams accomplished. He has photographed all 58 of America’s national parks. More importantly, though, Luong has spent time in them, explored them, really gotten to know each of the parks. And he did it all simply because it offered the best way to experience the wide variety of natural landscapes available in the United States. “The diversity of the natural world,” Luong says, “and its potential to draw parallels and contrasts has always inspired me. I thrive looking for new experiences.” Luong came to photography after a career as a research scientist working on artificial vision, a subfield of artificial intelligence. He taught computers how to see. “The kind of mathematics I was working with,” he explains, “had to do…

The view out my window was pretty lousy! Sunrise looked to be dull and dark with thick clouds obscuring the sun. But, if you don’t try, you’ll never get the image, so I loaded up my gear and trekked to a location in the Alabama Hills, where interesting foreground rock formations provided leading lines to the majestic, but very dark, snow-covered Sierras. I set up my camera and waited. Magically, the clouds opened slightly to the east and the Sierras lit up with a beautiful magenta alpenglow. I captured the image and made it back to the car before my face and fingers froze. Winter landscapes incorporate ominous skies, fantastic storm clouds, dramatic light, God rays, eerie mist, fog and snowstorms. These severe weather elements provide great opportunities for spectacular…

To see the Galápagos is to fall in love at first sight. Playful sea lions, curious crabs, indifferent marine iguanas, dancing blue-footed boobies and lethargic giant tortoises—they all welcome you in their own way. The animals capture your heart by trusting and showing no fear, all a part of the Galápagos experience that you’ll never forget. For the animals, it might as well be the last paradise on earth, since many are truly unique, existing here and nowhere else. But like many wild places in the world, paradise is threatened. As a geologist, I always dreamed of visiting the Galápagos Islands, an archipelago of active volcanoes rising from the Pacific Ocean 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, a living laboratory for science and evolution made famous by Charles Darwin.…

Being able to affect one part of the image compared to another, such as balancing the brightness of a photograph so the scene looks more like the way we saw it rather than being restricted by the artificial limitations of the camera and film, is the major reason why photographers like Ansel Adams and LIFE photographer W. Eugene Smith spent so much time in the darkroom. To do this in Photoshop, you need to use things like selections, feathering, layers, adjustment layers and layer masks. They give you a great deal of control, but they can take a lot of time and effort. Even expert Photoshop users would often avoid doing some of the local adjustments a photograph needed just because of the time and effort involved. With Lightroom, local…

While prices recently have come down (with new models from Nikon and Canon selling for $2,099), full-frame DSLRs are still pretty costly. DSLRs with smaller sensors—APS-C measures around 23.6x15.6mm vs. 36x24mm for full-frame—cost a lot less and can deliver excellent image quality. In DxOMark.com’s sensor ratings for landscape work (dynamic range), the top three cameras are full-frame DSLRs, followed by three APS-C models, then another full-frame, an APS-C, a $40,000 medium-format camera, then seven more APS-C cameras. Granted, there’s more to image quality than just dynamic range (the APS-C models aren’t far behind the fullframes in DxOMark’s color bit-depth ratings, either, lagging noticeably only in high-ISO performance, which isn’t a major factor for most landscape work). Current APS-C DSLRs range from 12 to 24 megapixels. Sigma’s SD1 Merrill features a…

Rocky Mountain High July 21 to 26, 2013 Southwest Colorado is home to some of the most spectacular alpine scenery in the world. It’s a landscape of contradictions—quiet gardens and meadows of delicate petals nestled among soaring rocky peaks. Talus slopes and unforgiving cliffs are bordered by a rainbow of colors as columbines, Indian paintbrush, alpine sunflowers, marsh marigolds, lupines and larkspurs bloom in the most unlikely planters. Bittercress and Parry’s primrose blossoms nod over cascading waters, and snow-dappled ridges are reflected in alpine tarns. Join Cathy and Gordon ILLG for five days of exploration and photography among the fields of flowers at the edge of timberline and on the alpine tundra. They’ve been exploring this world for almost 30 years, and they’re intimately familiar with it. You’ll be staying…

Vibrance is grouped along with Clarity and Saturation in Lightroom. These three controls are among the most useful for enhancing digital images. Like Clarity, pinning down exactly what Vibrance does isn’t well understood by most photographers. It falls somewhere between technology and magic. When it comes to image correction, of course, every photo will be different. Some will require a white balance adjustment, but not always. Other photos may require exposure and contrast adjustments. The mix is always different, and until you sit down to begin evaluating each individual exposure, it’s impossible to know what adjustments you may need to bring out the best in the shoot. But one thing is certain. I will always—and I do mean always—try Clarity and Vibrance on every single photo that I correct. This…

Isla Espíritu Santo Incorporating people in your nature scenes can add an extra element of interest, give a sense of scale and help viewers to connect with the photograph. Kerrick James took this photograph of a couple in a tandem kayak under Venus and the crescent moon off Isla Espíritu Santo, Baja California, Mexico. See more of James’ photography at www.kerrickjames.com. Spider Rock Jim Shoemaker has admired the images of the White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly in Arizona that were made by Timothy O’Sullivan and Ansel Adams, so it was a dream come true when he went there himself. “Not only is the landscape stunning,” he says, “but it’s rich with the long history of the native people who lived there for centuries. Spider Rock, the spire seen…

I began teaching photography 33 years ago. So much has changed since then. Cameras. Software. Digital printing. It’s such an exciting time for photographers, but it can be difficult to keep up with all the rapidly changing technology. After a couple of decades of using film, large-format cameras and darkroom printing, I’ve managed to adapt. I switched to digital printing 20 years ago, and put the use of film behind me in 2005. I have no regrets. Recently, I began teaching private workshops in Yosemite again after a long break. It has been such a pleasure to share my enthusiasm for this great national park with my fellow photographers once again. In the process of teaching these sessions, I realized that although the tools have changed over the years, the…

I like to use best-of lists for many things. It makes it easier to make decisions—in this case, where to go—helps me discover things I wouldn’t have thought about otherwise, and at the same time, focus explorations on areas that others have found worthwhile. The national parks represent the list of the greatest natural sights in America as nominated by the Congress. It was also a practical list for me: The goal was attainable—the count is reasonable, the infrastructure excellent—yet the sites were varied enough to encompass something representative of all the nature of America. I also greatly admire the very idea of the national parks, so I wanted to, modestly, help spread the word about them. I liked the fact, if my images hopefully inspired folks to visit themselves,…

Heavy snowstorms in Yellowstone, the Tetons, Bryce, Zion, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite usually occur in January and February. Winter weather creates dramatic images anywhere, but in the desert Southwest, the arid landscape makes a stunning contrast against a snowstorm. Places like the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Zion, Bryce and Arches in Utah are particularly popular photo destinations. Many national and state parks, and national wildlife refuges include weather information on their websites. You also can call the parks and refuges and speak with people there about the conditions. When you narrow down a time window, check forecasting sites like weather.com, NOAA weather and Weather Underground. Try checking three or more sites to get a forecast consensus to improve your chances. Relying on only one site, I made several…

1 Light in the Galápagos can be harsh, so hope for clouds and work early and late in the day. 2 Look for clean backgrounds, use the ocean or get low to include sky. 3 Experiment with wide-angle when the animals are close and curious. 4 Even though the animals are close and approachable, try backing up and zooming in to create a shallow depth of field. 5 Avoid making your Galápagos guides policemen by staying on the trail and respecting the animals. 6 Flash photography of the animals is discouraged in Galápagos National Park.…

One of the many things Ansel Adams was known for was the superb image quality of his prints, which exhibited excellent detail and a magnificent range of tones. Of course, the light, the compositions and the subjects themselves certainly are part of the mix. But Adams’ prints are so technically perfect that viewers appreciate them for that, as well as for the artistic aspects. Adams worked mainly with large-format view and field cameras, in large part because the big (4x5-inch, 8x10-inch and even larger) film sheets, under his guidance, yielded wonderfully detailed, fine-grain prints. Images from smaller-format cameras just didn’t meet his requirements. While small SLRs were lightweight and quick “extensions of the eye as used freely in the hand,” 35mm was known in those days as the “miniature” format.…

In the days when he was trekking throughout the American landscape, Ansel Adams was often traveling on roads that we would barely recognize today. Anyone who has been to one of the popular national parks like Yosemite, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon knows of the smooth multilane blacktop that leads right up to a well-staffed gate and a modern visitor’s center. When Adams was going to these places, he was bouncing along on rutted, hazardous dirt and mud roads that snapped more than one rear axle on his car. Getting in and around Yosemite Valley was an expedition, not a day trip. Were he here today, Adams likely would be venturing into the same sort of wilderness, bypassing the crowds and well-maintained asphalt in favor of fire roads…

One of the more interesting challenges that the digital revolution brought home to nearly every photographer, both amateur and professional alike, is that with digital, you’re now in control of your own image processing. And with power, comes responsibility! Back in the days of film, the only control you had over the look of the finished product (when shooting in color, anyway) was in your choice of film type. Even then, you still had very little control over how contrast in the scene was rendered. Contrast in a color photograph could be modified using lighting (such as adding a fill light), but the actual contrast of the film was all but baked in during processing. Photoshop has had a basic Contrast control from the beginning. But now we have much…

Nature and wildlife photographer Sandy Sisti lives quite close to the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where she anxiously awaits the grand reopening to automobile travel each year. “This photo was taken during opening weekend for the East Entrance in May 2010,” she explains. “When we entered the park that early morning, we immediately saw a few cars pulled over in Hayden Valley and wondered what might have caught everyone’s attention. Once we reached the cars, we found a young grizzly and a coyote facing off with each other. From what we could see, the grizz wanted to play, but the coyote wasn’t interested and it assumed numerous aggressive postures with hackles raised and teeth bared. The coyote even bit the bear a few times, but he…