Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i Outdoor Photographer

Old Faithful At Dawn By Gale Stoner “This image was shot just after daybreak on a crisp, frosty morning in September. I had planned to venture out early enough to take advantage of the morning golden light and, most importantly, to avoid the typical crowds that gather to watch Old Faithful release her energy. I walked completely around Old Faithful to explore different perspectives, looking for the best combination of background, foreground and light. I settled on this angle to capture the backlighting on the steam and show the contrast between the brilliant-colored grass and the gray, barren ground. Old Faithful is a powerful and very predictable geyser. But on that morning, I found a quiet, peaceful and rather humbling miracle of nature.” See more of Gale Stoner’s photography at…

I switch on my headlamp and enter the dark forest. Our trio walks through the Peruvian Amazon in silence, out of respect for our surroundings and also because it’s not yet 5 o’clock in the morning. By the time we reach the forest’s edge overlooking the Tambopata River, the day has cracked its predawn window. We travel a short distance by boat to reach the Colorado clay lick, a section of eroded riverbank about 100 feet high by 1,600 feet long. We’re not the first to arrive. Several dozen mealy parrots chatter and flutter in a nearby tree as five scarlet macaws fly overhead in perfect formation. A pair of blue-and-yellow macaws glides past, flashing their gold underwings in the first glint of sun. More birds stream in from all…

THE BIG SUR COASTLINE is a magnificent 98-mile stretch of central California land and sea, from Carmel in the north to Cambria at the southern end. A massive mudslide in May 2017 closed parts of the famed Highway 1 route, requiring visitors to journey from either one end or the other, but repairs are expected to be completed by mid-September 2018, fully reconnecting north and south. I prefer to concentrate my photography and workshops on the first 27 miles beginning at the Carmel River. This is by far the most visually appealing stretch and offers an incredible amount of locations, both iconic and hard to find. Big Sur is an amalgamation of the Spanish “El Sur Grande” and its English translation, “Big South.” The name Big Sur refers to the…

Our national parks recorded over 330 million recreational visits in 2017, not quite matching the record-breaking numbers during the park system’s 2016 centennial year but coming very close. These celebrated wild places are a major draw for nature photographers exploring on their own and increasingly for organized photography workshops. When Zion National Park released new rules for commercial use earlier this year that included restrictions on tripods, the photo community was understandably alarmed. While camera and lens image stabilization technology helps reduce the need for tripods in many circumstances, pros and serious photo enthusiasts continue to rely on them, especially for work in low light, with long lenses and for long exposures. What is commercial use, and how exactly do these restrictions actually affect photographers? Justin Black is a professional…

Location Theodore Roosevelt National Park features a unique landscape of channeled cliffs, gullies, hoodoos, caprocks, wind-swept prairie grasses and dome-shaped hills. The sedimentary rocks and clay soils that make up these “badlands” have been eroded over time by wind and water and display colorful bands of blue, black and red stria. The park is situated in west-central North Dakota and is geographically divided into three separate units. The south unit is located along Interstate 94 near Medora. The north unit lies about 80 miles away on Highway 85, 14 miles south of Watford City. The small and remote Elkhorn Ranch is situated between the north and south units, accessible by gravel roads. The three units are linked by the Little Missouri River. Driving between the north and south units is…

AS YOU LEAVE THE BUSTLE OF THE CITY heading west across the Puget Sound waterway winding your way along Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, you enter one of the most fascinating, diverse and amazing landscapes in North America. Encompassing 1,441 square miles, nearly 200 glaciers, 73 miles of rugged remote coastline and temperate rainforests found nowhere else on the northern continent, Olympic National Park’s geographic diversity sets it apart from just about every other national park in the United States. Your first glimpse of what’s to come may appear before you even leave Seattle. Visible on a clear day, the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic mountain range loom in the distance, just over the horizon. The highest peak in the range is Mount Olympus at just under 8,000 feet. The Olympic…

Volunteer Point is home to the largest concentration of king penguins in the Falkland Islands. During Michael Milicia’s January 2016 visit, he was able to book two nights at the warden’s cottage, which offers very limited lodging but is just a short walk from the beach and penguins. “The penguins in the Falklands have no fear of humans, as they’ve never had any ground predators,” he explains. “I walked along with this group of five king penguins on a cloudy afternoon for about 30 minutes as they made their way up the beach. They wandered about but stayed more or less together the entire time. I tried to stay just a little bit ahead of them, and when I saw an interesting arrangement, I’d drop to my knees and photograph…

It was 3 a.m., and I was wide awake. I’d soon be driving up to nearby Yosemite Valley to work with a private student for the day, starting with sunrise. A few days earlier, the valley had closed for the day due to flooding. I knew it would be a day for excellent water photography, and my excitement resulted in me being awake before my alarm went off. Come to think of it, I always wake up early when I know I’ll soon be in Yosemite Valley again. Spring was coming fast, but it was too early for dogwood blooms, so we spent a good deal of our time photographing rapids along the river and in the meadows where ponds full of reflections enticed us. At one point in the…

WHEN SOMEONE TALKS ABOUT JIMMY CHIN hanging around, it’s usually in reference to him on some dizzying cliff, camera in hand. And that’s exactly where the Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based photographer, filmmaker and mountain sports athlete wants to be. At the dawn of the 21st century, his ability to capture extraordinary imagery while climbing and skiing in extremely high-risk environments came to the attention of both magazines and outdoor brands. In 2002, he secured a breakthrough assignment to be the cinematographer for a National Geographic-sponsored trek across Tibet’s Chang Tang Plateau. Four years later, Chin was part of the first American team to ski off the summit of Mt. Everest, as if climbing it wasn’t difficult enough. He continues to document experiences in places most of us fear to tread. Outdoor…

Acadia National Park preserves much of Mount Desert Island as well as some smaller Islands along Maine’s Atlantic coast. Once you arrive in Acadia, you’ll find beautiful woodlands, rocky beaches and glacier-scoured granite peaks like Cadillac Mountain, along with some of the darkest skies Maine has to offer. On a beautiful night in late August, I made my way to Jordan Pond around 11 p.m. and hiked a short distance around the pond to set up facing the two mountains known as “The Bubbles.” With my Nikon D7100 and Tokina 11-16mm lens on my tripod, I set my focus to infinity to make sure the stars would be sharp. I set the shutter speed to 25 seconds, the aperture to ƒ/2.8 to let in as much light as possible, and…