Photography Blog: Great Day!
“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll
Great Day!
Last week I talked a bit about how I like to pick an area and a date and go shooting regardless of weather etc. Well, the day after I posted that blog I headed south to Portage Valley. It was a very cold morning, around five degrees, and I was slightly hesitant to spend the day in it but I knew I should keep my own advice and “go no matter what!”. Besides, I was eager to get out and shoot after many long days at my desk. So off I went!
Because we don’t have many hours of daylight in the winter I didn’t have to head out until 8:30 am or so! My plan was to see if I could catch some good dawn colors in the sky along Turnagain Arm on the way down, get to Portage Valley at sunrise and see what looked good, make my way to Portage Lake and shoot people skating around icebergs on the frozen lake, and then try and catch some colors in the sky again on the way back. I’ve also been wanting to capture some details of the many ice walls along the Seward Highway.
So much for what I wanted! As it turned out, there was no color in the sky on the way down and Portage Lake wasn’t frozen over yet so there were no ice skaters! But, with persistence, my bravery (Ha) in facing the cold wilds of Alaska eventually paid off. I ended up with some nice images of Portage Creek, some late breaking rays of sunshine on the Chugach Mountains, some nice color in the sky at dusk, and some great images of the ice walls!
I’m very glad I didn’t succumb to the desire to sit in a coffee shop and read, or turn around when the morning sky proved to be dull and lifeless. Alaska proved to me again that it’s always worth getting out. You never know when she’ll offer up that sweet light and you can’t capture it unless you’re out there.
Photographing Alaska: "Winter Stock"
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Image #2
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Image #7
Image #8
“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll
Winter Stock
I thought I’d go over some images I’ve taken on recent stock shooting explorations. I want to talk about various techniques and processes just to get you thinking about ways to see while you’re out shooting.
I try to plan my photography trips in advance so I know what I’m looking for. I have an extensive list of subjects I WANT to shoot but I also check the paper every week for coming outdoor events. If something looks exciting to me I’ll go shoot it. At other times, I’ll just plan on an area I want to explore, pick a date and go. I’ve learned that, even if the weather looks bad, the skies are dull and grey, and all I want to do is go sit in a coffee shop and read, I go anyway. Especially here, you never know when the sun will poke through and bless you with some incredible light. Many of my favorite images have been taken in less than ideal situations.
This first image, #1, was taken at the Campbell Creek tract owned by the BLM. They hold a sled dog race during their annual “Winter Trail Days” celebration. I wanted to get images of the dogs and musher’s without any onlookers in the background so I hiked beside the trail until my background was clear.
The two keys to this photo were pre-focusing and a fast shutter speed. Typically for action shots I use my cameras auto servo mode to track my subject but in this case I wasn’t able to see the dogs until they were almost upon me so I composed the shot I wanted and pre-focused on the spot where I wanted to “stop” the action. Remember to take your lens off of auto-focus! Too many times I’ve started shooting only to discover my lens auto-focus was still on and I missed the shot. I also had my camera set so I could shoot at four frames per second.
Image #2 is an example of the auto focus servo tracking in use. There was a flock of mallard ducks congregated at the edge of some open water on frozen Westchester Lagoon in downtown Anchorage. I took a lot of images of the mass of huddled fowl but wanted to get some action. Every now and then a duck would take off and head towards another group not far away. I put my camera on servo mode and continuous shooting and made sure I had a fast shutter speed (at ISO 100 and F4 I was able to shoot at 1/1250 of a second!). I also selected an auto-focus point in my viewfinder that placed the focusing point in the lower right third of the viewfinder to make for more interesting placement of the subject.
The keys to image #3 are composition and selective focus. By using a wide aperture (F4) I was able to isolate this hen surrounded by drakes. She remains in focus while the ducks in front , and behind , are out of focus. It is clear what the subject of the photo is. Having her placed in the lower right third of the image adds to the images impact.
Image #4 is almost “just another moose shot” but it is more interesting due to the angle of view. By being down low and shooting through the hoarfrost covered grasses, the image has more of a feel of “being there”.
For image #5 it was really critical to pay attention to my exposure. The sun was so bright and the white snow was so dominant that I knew my cameras meter would try and render the white as grey. To counter this I set my camera to open up (+) one and a half stops of exposure. I also knew that with such a bright background the trees would be rendered in silhouette. Composing so that the fox tracks led diagonally out of the frame into the horizon, to me, adds a sense of mystery and wistfulness. What’s the story of this lone traveler?
The main ingredient for image #6 was patience. Warm clothing and a tripod helped as well but this simple image took a while to capture. I was out exploring on a very cold morning, it was about five degrees, and I came across this white pine tree with these fascinating hoarfrost crystals built up on it’s needles. I really wanted this photo so I set up my tripod and a macro lens and composed the shot. I tilted my tripod head until I had a diagonal composition. A straight vertical or horizontal would have been too static.
The problem was the slight breeze that seemed to come through every time I pressed my cable release! So I had to stand still in the freezing cold for about twenty minutes waiting for several opportunities to try and capture this scene. I very quickly rewarded myself with some hot coffee from my thermos!
Don’t tell anyone about image #7, but to get this I shot through my windshield as I was driving down the Seward Highway. I saw the drifts of snow blowing over the road and knew this would be a quintessential image of winter travel in Alaska. Again, I pre-focused because my auto-focus would not know where to stop while the car was moving forward and I added the additional one and a half stops to my exposure to compensate for the white scene. Once again I placed the focal point of the image, where the lines converge on the oncoming car, in the upper right third of the image to make it more dynamic.
Image #8 is similar to image #4 in that I’m shooting through foreground objects to give a sense of place to the subject. I think a straight on architectural photo of the church would have been much less interesting. It’s always good to remember you can employ techniques you discover while shooting one type of subject on a completely different subject.
That’s it! I hope some of these experiences are helpful to you.
Photography Blog: "Revisiting"
“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll
Revisiting
I hope that everyone had a very wonderful and warm Christmas and that you’re enjoying a break from the every day working world!
My kids and I had been craving an adventure – and my wife, some quiet time alone at home- so I decided to take my son Jack (8), and daughter Claire (4), down to Seward for a couple of days. There is a Holiday Inn Express that has an indoor, heated, swimming pool that overlooks the harbor and its’ snow covered boats and docks. Combine that with cable tv and stunning views of Resurrection Bay and you’ve got a mini winter paradise just two hours south of Anchorage.
While I truly love spending time with my children, I have to admit that I had ulterior motives of my own. If you drive along the coast just two miles south of downtown Seward you end up at Lowell Point. Though you’re close to town you can walk the shale- laden beach here and feel like you’re worlds away. The unobscured views of Resurrection Bay and the jagged mountains and forest that line its’ shores are breathtaking. I had explored the area several times over the summer but was thinking it would be an exciting place to revisit in the winter.
So, after a full day in the pool, I announced on the second day that we were going to go explore the beach. My daughter cheered, my son groaned (he loved the hotel), and we went.
My instincts didn’t fail me. It turned out to be one of the greatest times ever. Snow covered everything up to the tide line and the temperature was comfortable. Within seconds Jack and Claire were chasing incoming waves, collecting shells, and pointing out the sea lions off shore. If you could overlook the snow gear you’d think you were watching the kids on a beach in Hawaii!
I was free to break out my camera and tripod for an hour or so of guilt free photography!
It took a while to get here but what I wanted to emphasize is that it always pays to revisit favorite places over and over again. Every season, every type of weather, can offer a wide variety of colors, light quality, number of people, etc. And, once you know a place fairly well you know just where to go and you don’t spend as much time trying to find that great spot to photograph from.
All the images here were taken in less than an hour and were very close to one another. One thing I like to do is take in the entire scene, look for wide-angle shots, then tighter mid-range shots and finally close up detail shots. By varying my position and lenses I was able to capture a wide variety of images in a short period of time.
If you have a spot that is exciting to you photographically, keep going back. Odds are your images will keep getting better and better as you learn from previous mistakes.
You might even make it an unforgettable place for others as well. My groaning son who wanted to luxuriate in front of the cartoon network at the hotel- I had to drag him off the beach in the early winter darkness.
Photography Blog:
“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll
It’s All in the Details!
One of the most exciting aspects of photography to me is being able to create art out of my surroundings. With photography I’m not inventing, or recreating, a world like a painter or sculptor, but making one view of reality into something interesting. I love scanning over a scene and pulling out something visually striking weather it be as obvious as a patch on a multi colored hillside, or as minute as the reflection in water droplets on a leaf.
Usually when I go out shooting I am either on assignment trying to capture specific subject matter or trying to build up my stock image files by capturing several preconceived ideas. This is exciting and fulfilling and the opportunities to be creative are endless but I still have a need to feed my souls’ desire to create art for the sake of art. One way I do this is by paying close attention to the details. On their own textures, colors, unique lighting, reflections, and patterns, can be used to create interesting photos.
It isn’t often that I get to just go out to play and experiment with my cameras so I get my art fix wherever I find it. No matter what I’m out for my eye is always searching out that visually exciting detail. One thing I’ve learned is this: Always carry your camera and if you see something that excites you, shoot it! Too many times I said to myself “ I’ll come back and get that when I’m done” only to find that the lighting is no longer interesting or I simply never get back to that spot due to time constraints. Now, I take the photo!
It surprises me and makes me very happy that I can look at an image, say a detail of ice, and no matter how abstract, I know exactly when and where I took that image. The details usually have more of an impact on me than the typical views.
So, even if you have preconceived notions of what you’re going out to shoot, keep an eye open for that interesting detail that will tell a story in itself. I have many favorite images that were taken while I was out shooting something else. If you see something you like, don’t save it for later. You may never see it the same again.
Photography Blog: "Sense of Place"
“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll
Sense of Place
One of the main goals in outdoor photography is to try and relate our experience to our viewer. We want to share with them the intimate details that were so exciting to us at that moment. With various techniques we try to attract the viewer’s eye, lead it into and around our image, and keep it there. If we can accomplish this, then we have created a truly compelling image. We can achieve this through various techniques, and combinations thereof, such as the use of “s” curves, color, patterns, negative space, and unique subject matter.
When photographing outdoors one can choose to focus on details with a long zoom lens or an up close macro lens. Many superb images are created using these lenses but most of us tend to use wide- angle lenses to capture the grandeur of the scene in its entirety. It seems like common sense to try and include as much of the incredible scene before us as we can. Often though, this leads to disappointment when, as we’re editing our photos on the computer at home, we get a diminished sense of the true experience we remember. Because we used such a wide- angle lens, all of the important elements that drew us to a scene now appear small and so much less dramatic.
One of my favorite ways to combat this is to make sure I have an interesting foreground subject that not only highlights some of the character of the area but also serves to lead the viewer into my image. When taking a photo where all of the subject matter off in the distance the image can appear flat and uninteresting. By placing objects in the foreground my photo becomes more dimensional. By having objects that clearly define the foreground, middle ground, and background, I can draw the viewers eye deep in to my image and a real sense of place is obtained.
Next time you’re out shooting keep this in mind and see if it helps you to create images that are more visually striking and give the viewer a better sense of what it was like to be there at that place and time!