Top Ten Photos 2011

Continuing with an annual tradition, I am pleased to present my top ten photos for 2011. Seasons Greetings to you and yours! If any readers have compiled a similar list, please include a link to your photos in the comments section. Thanks for stopping by, and best for 2012!

Honorable Mention: Winter's Warmth
A sunburst captured among aspen trees in fresh snow. Dixie National Forest, UT.


10. Proxy Falls Magic
Water cascades through the forest and foliage of Proxy Falls in the Cascades range of Oregon. Proxy Falls, Oregon.


9. Reflections
An abstract view of the sandstone edges and lines accentuated by reflected light in a remote slot canyon of the Arizona desert. Arizona Desert.


8. Misty Mountain Morning
The glowing mist in the predawn hour over the distant Cascade range in Oregon.


7. Meltdown
A cave carved through a small glacier deep in Oregon's Three Sisters Wilderness.


6. Aspen Abstract
Slight intentional camera motion during the exposure creates an abstract image of a forest of aspen trees in several feet of fresh snow.


5. As Seen From Above
The glowing mist in the predawn hour over the distant Cascade range in Oregon.


4. Enchanted Meadows
A mountain stream runs amidst wildflowers during a fiery display at sunrise in Oregon's Mt. jefferson Wilderness.


3. Blue Sky at Night
The milky way frames a mountain peak on a remote moraine filled with melting glacier and icebergs in the Thee Sisters Wilderness.


2. An Autumn Morning
Autumn foliage revealed through the morning mist in the Smoky Mountains. Tennessee.


1. Pillars of Light
A dazzling display of reflected light on sandstone pillars in this remote slot canyon of the Arizona desert.

Announcement!

As the year nears end, it's time for two bits of news... First, my 2012 calendars are ready to ship! This year three calendars are offered at $29 each plus $5.95 shipping and handling. Spiral bound and 8.5" x 11" folded, they make great gifts! The featured calendar, Journeys, showcases several new photos from this year.

Back by popular demand, New Orleans, The Crescent City also contains many new photos from the Big Easy.

Finally, Jacksonville, 2012 contains many local favorites from around Northeast Florida.

Click here to view the 2012 calendar collection. Please allow two weeks for processing.

Second, it's time for the annual holiday sale! Use coupon code HOLIDAY2012 for a 25% discount on all prints.

An Autumn Morning, Smoky Mountains, TN.

Thanks for your continued support, and Happy Holidays!

Misty Mountain Morning

I spent two days at Crater Lake earlier this month as my first visit there. Crater Lake is an awe-inspiring site, and seeing it first hand makes me realize how all the photographs I've seen from there really do not convey its grand scale. Needless to say, I was hoping for some good light, as I had just one morning to photograph Crater Lake at sunrise. About an hour before sunrise I took a short hike from the road to the rim of the lake and set up in a spot that had a good overall view of the lake and Wizard Island. It wasn't looking good from the start, not a cloud to be found anywhere. But I still kept my hopes up. You may be asking yourself, "what does Crater Lake have to do with the title and photo of this blog post?" Well, when the sun began to rise, it became increasing obvious that I was not going to capture a quality image that morning. But turning around towards the west, there was a beautiful mist blanketing the mountains in the distance. So I abandoned my plan, got out my long lens and shot several exposures of this scene with the predawn light glowing pink in the sky. I've heard other photographers time and time again talk about not having tunnel vision for a particular shot when you are out there, because an even better shot may be right behind you. So is the case here.

Wine Country

My wife and I spent a few days last week in wine country, visiting Napa and Sonoma Valley for 5 days. It was a non-photographic trip, mainly a quick getaway to escape the Florida heat, enjoy some good food and wine. The weather, although very nice, was not conducive to a lot of photography anyway; I didn't bring much equipment and didn't do any research ahead of time. Every morning was completely overcast and foggy, until the late morning when the cloud cover gave way to very harsh sunlight. There were no epic sunrises or sunsets. After a couple of days I did notice that for a few moments during the transition from clouds to sun there was some really nice diffuse light, usually around 9:30 in the morning. Seizing this brief opportunity, when I noticed the clouds starting to lift, I quickly found a composition and set up (for a couple of these I had to set up my tripod on the roof of the rental car to get a higher perspective --- a sight, I'm sure, for the passers-by). These images were captured with my 5DII, 24-70 lens with my SinghRay circular warming polarizer. The lighting circumstances really made the greens pop, and the vineyards gave some nice lines to the hills in the distance.


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Aspen Abstracts

Just a couple hours away from the hot and barren Arizona desert, at 9800 foot elevation, Boulder Mountain, UT (Dixie National Forest) is laden with fresh snow and aspens. I spent some time photographing both traditional shots and abstracts. Abstract photos like these work well with subjects like trees, high grasses, and snow. The trick is to use just enough blur to create the abstract, but not so much that the subject is not easily discernible. For these images I used my 70-200mm lens at the lowest ISO (50), handheld, and experimented with shutter speeds between 0.3 and 1 second. The snow was very bright, so I adjusted the aperture all the way down to f/32 and used a solid ND filter to reduce the light on the sensor. As is the beauty of digital, I fired off several hundred shots in succession, varying the settings and compositions slightly. I moved the camera up and down every so slightly during the exposure, and every shot was unique! These are my two favorites. When you are looking to create something a little bit different, this is a great technique to try.

Copyright your Photographs

As the first half of 2011 nears end, I went through the process of submitting my photos to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. I do this twice a year... compile the finished versions of my photos of the last 6 months, resize them to 600px JPEG, and submit them as a batch to the Copyright Office. Since beta testing of their online submission process was completed last year, the filing fee has decreased to $35 if you file electronically. In a couple of months, I will receive a certificate in the mail confirming the submission has been processed. Why do this? There are plenty reasons. Here are a few links to give more information on the subject.

Copyrights: Protecting my Photography by Jim Goldstein

The Importance of Copyright Protection

Photos of Trademarked and Copyrighted Works by Dan Heller

Editorial Photographers Copyright Resource Page

Photo Attorney

Library of Congress Electronic Copyright Office (eCO)

Pillars of Light

Page, Arizona, is well known for Antelope Canyon. While the photography in Antelope is popular, I found the crowds there to be almost overwhelming. Save the fact that almost 100 people are taken through each day, and many leave with the exact same compositions. But just outside Page is a huge network of lesser known slot canyons, many of which are near impossible to find without someone who knows the area. I was shown a couple of such canyons in 2010. This particular composition caught my eye when I explored it for the first time, but the azimuth of the sun was in such a position that the reflected light really didn't lend well to a good image. Fortunately, my travels took me back here in early April, and I went straight to this spot. I ended up having a lot less time with the good light than I anticipated, but was able to capture the image I had envisioned. As more people have learned about this spot, I have seen a similar composition from others both before and after me, but nonetheless it is one of my favorite images from my recent southwest travels. To create this photo I used a 70-200mm lens to give some compression to the sandstone pillars. I took 4 shots at slightly different focal points at f/11 and manually blended the focus stack in PS.


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Southwest Deserts and Canyons Part 2

After a long flight to Vegas, the usual adrenaline had kicked in and I was raring to get going. Getting out of Vegas is a headache in and of itself, but I managed to do it within a couple of hours and it was off set up camp for the night at Hobgoblin Valley (aka Little Finland). This area, just an hour or so north of Vegas is a few miles drive off road. It is what I like to refer to as an exceptional area to look at, but quite difficult to photograph. There is a dizzying array of unique formations in the red rock, any of which would make a good photo, but few of which can be isolated and presented as a compelling subject by itself. There are many brilliant photos that have come from this location, but with little time to scout and an uninteresting sky, it was time to set up camp to hit the road early the next morning.

We drove to Kanab, UT, for lunch, the three of us that were traveling together, before it was time to head to White Pocket, an extremely remote location in the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness area of Arizona. Just to get there, you need an off-road vehicle, and not every off-road vehicle would survive the drive off road through dry sand, rocks, and road hazards at every turn. Once we arrived, and White Pocket came into view, the moment was purely magical. A landscape like none other I have ever seen, and few ever will. The trip to get there is so arduous, casual site see-ers usually don't bother. It is truly reminiscent of another planet..."otherworldly" would be an understatement. As one of the photographers I was with who had been there before said,"Welcome to the landscape photographer's paradise. You can walk around blind-folded, drop your camera on the ground anywhere and you will have a great photo." The sandstone patterns were unbelievable to look at, and the photos you see from this area don't convey its grandeur. We scouted the area for a couple of hours before returning to set up camp and an early dinner before heading back out in the late afternoon light. The pre-sunset light really brings this place to live, like most desert landscapes. The low shadows accentuate the lines, and the warm sun causes the colors to glow.


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Any number of already powerful compositions would have exploded with an epic sky, but unfortunately we weren't treated to such. Nonetheless, photographic opportunities still abound, including intimate shots of the lines in the rock...


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And, of course, black and whites...


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And no trip to an area so unique would be complete without a 3am wake up to photograph the milky way just before moonrise to give a totally different perspective, or "extraterrestrial" aura, to here. Credit to Marc for showing me this composition.


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To say it was difficult to continue our trip after such a great opening, would be an understatement. Stay tuned for Part 3.

Southwest Deserts and Canyons

I just returned from a week in the Southwest, spanning Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. I logged over 2000 miles, and more gigabytes of images than I care to count. I'm in the midst of sorting and processing the photos, which I'll post periodically to my blog and will update my New Work gallery as they are finished. These are two contrasting photos, interestingly taken within a couple hour drive of each other. The first is from a remote slot canyon in the Arizona desert. I used a telephoto to capture a segment of sandstone that displayed interesting lines accentuated by reflected light which caused the canyon wall to glow. I shot this at f/13 and blended several files for depth of field. For those interested in shooting sandstone, Tony Kuyper has some of the best images I've seen, as well as several tutorials and photoshop actions for download.


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Just a couple hours away, at 9800 foot elevation, Boulder Mountain, UT (Dixie National Forest) was laden with snow and aspens. After shooting some abstracts, I loaded my UWA lens for this shot of a sunburst through the aspen trees and leading shadows on the snow. It required every bit of 14mm, with my tripod buried in the snow and lens just a few inches from the ground. I used f/22 to create the sunburst, and fortunately the bright snow provided enough fill light on the trees that I was able to capture it with one exposure.


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Survey Results: Memory Card Use

Thank you for the large number of responses to the recent survey on memory card use. Below are the results. As you can see, the results are largely mixed. Some felt as I do: use smaller cards to reduce the risk of losing many shots if the card corrupts; others felt that by using smaller capacity cards they would risk missing shots during card exchanges; and others used a mix of all card types depending on the particular circumstance.

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