Color Color Everywhere!
The brilliant white of the church steeple towering over the roof tops of historic Portsmouth, NH.
The vibrant greens and golds of the salt marsh grasses as the sun burns off the early morning mist.
The fiery colors of a day at the drag races.
The vivid purple of a wild orchid.
I could go on and on…
Out To Pasture
Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Tamron 17-50 f2.8
Settings: iso 400, 19mm @ f9
This is a 3 shot HDR. The original RAW files having been first imported into Lightroom 3, were then processed in Nik HDR Efex Pro.
I’d like to take this time to thank all of my readers who took advantage of my status as an affiliate for Nik Software. As most of you know, as of April 2nd I will no longer be able to offer a 15% savings on Nik products with the code: JSINON
I appreciate all of your support, and if you are hesitating on buying what I still consider the best image enhancing plugins on the market, now is the time to do it. After tomorrow at midnight the affiliate links on my blog, and in my posts about the great new low price of these plugins, as well as the code JSINON will no longer work to bring you the additional savings. While they should still bring you to the Nik site, you will have to pay the full $149 U.S. price.
PLEASE NOTE! As of midnight April 1st, the code JSINON and any affiliate links WILL NOT allow you to save an additional 15%. Any links within posts will now bring you to the Nik Collection site. Thank You.
As Told By A Couple Of Beaver.
I just wanted to write this short update to the post from two days ago. I have been informed by the powers that be that as of April 2nd I’ll be losing my standing as an affiliate for the Nik Collection by Google will be terminated. While you will still be able to purchase this great software at an incredible new low price, I will no longer be able to offer you the 15% additional savings. I’m not sure exactly when on the 2nd my status is to be terminated, so if you were planning to make a purchase using either my affiliate LINK, or by entering the code: JSINON during checkout, I suggest you do it by midnight on Monday the 1st.
I felt it very important to share this change to my affiliate status and urge you to make your purchase before the discount code and link are no longer functional. Not because I will earn a few more dollars in commissions, which I thank each and every one of you who’ve made a purchase for, but because I would feel terrible if someone attempted to use either the discount code or affiliate link after April 2nd assuming they were to receive the additional 15% savings.
I still firmly believe the Nik Collection by Google, as it is now known, is the best suite of image enhancement plugins on the market, regardless of my affiliate status. Even without the savings I think you’ll feel it is one of the best $149 you’ve spent on your photography. I still feel this way and I paid the old $299 price!
Most of you know I’m a huge fan of the Nik Creative Plugins. In fact, I can’t remember the last image that wasn’t processed in one way or another with at least one of them. Whether it’s DFine 2 for outstanding noise reduction, one of Color Efex Pro 4′s many creative filters, or the unbelievable pinpoint control in Viveza 2, when I want to get the most out of my images I turn to one of the Nik Creative Plugins.
Many of you may have also heard that Nik Software is now part of Google, and like me wondered what changes were going to take place as the result of this merger. Well I can tell you you’re going to love what they’ve done. They’ve done something unheard of, improved all the plugins and lowered the price! The plugins I’ve raved about at $299.00 (U.S.) is now just $149.00 (U.S.). For the complete collection! Not only that, they’ve made it even easier to install with a single uploader that installs all 6 plugins, where before you had to install each individually.
Oh, there’s more you say? Of course there is. You can save an additional 15% by clicking this LINK, and entering the code: JSINON during checkout.
At Nik it really is about “Photography First.”
“Really, you’re an auto mechanic?”
For some strange reason the thought that I fix cars for a living takes people by surprise. The idea that an image they profess to love was created by someone who gets grease under his fingernails seems completely foreign to them. As if creating art and having one of the bluest of blue-collar jobs is somehow mutually exclusive.
I don’t get it. Is there some “standard” career path that artistic people are supposed to follow that I’m unaware of?
While a few people upon seeing my photographs have expressed surprise that my “real” job in not that of a professional photographer, (I can’t thank you enough for that one Cindy!) Most know that is just a dream for the time being, and that I do “something else” to pay the bills. So when clients or buyers find out what that “something else” is, a look of total bewilderment comes across their face. I can almost see their brain working as the try to reconcile the art before them and their image of a dirty, greasy, auto mechanic.
I’m not complaining nor am I even the slightest bit offended by their surprise, I just don’t understand it. Maybe if more of my photographs looked like the one below, would they be less surprised?
Maybe I’m not alone in this, what is your “real” job? And are people surprised that someone in your field can create something beautiful, whether it’s photography, painting, or some other art form? Id love to hear your experiences.
Or, if you’re one of those that are surprised at the images I make coming from a “grease monkey,” Why Does That Surprise You?
Two winters ago I made my first visit to Tuckerman Ravine in hopes of capturing the bowl bathed in the beauty of alpenglow. This was also my first real winter hike, and even though I wasn’t able to capture the alpenglow as well as I had hoped, I still consider the trip a success.
The view that awaited as the sun came up was worth the sleepless night in a nearby hostel, temps in the teens, and the 3 a.m., lung and thigh burning, 2.4 mile(3.9km) hike (and that’s only to the fence shown in the image. The bowl is another .7 miles(1.1km) further). Ever since getting my first taste of “Tucks,” I’ve been dying to go back!
Same Fence, Different Day.
This years pilgrimage turned out better than I had hoped. My friend Tracy and I, after having left my house at 1 a.m., hit the trail at just after 4 a.m. for our long uphill slog. Only a day earlier and it would have been 3 a.m., but Daylight Savings Time kicked in during our drive and miraculously shot us ahead an hour, but trust me, my body still said it was 3 a.m.!
Anyway, as the sun rose behind us I was ready, and conflicted at the same time. The sunrise taking place behind me was going to be gorgeous! So now I had a decision to make, and it was going to be a tough one. Do I photograph the sure thing? I mean as the sun got closer and closer to making its appearance above the horizon, the sky was getting more brilliant, and the colors more spectacular by the second. I could see it unfolding before my eyes. I was witnessing about as close to a sure thing as there is in landscape photography.
Or,
Do I gamble on the alpenglow, that beautiful, elusive pink glow that may or may not materialize? Alpenglow can be fleeting, lasting mere minutes even at the best of times. So do I go with the guaranteed performance taking place behind me, or do I wait for the pink that, if it comes, could be brilliant, brief, or blah?
Pink It Is!
My choice made, I waited. And waited. Was that a hint of pink starting to show on the otherwise blue-ish tint of the pre-dawn mountains? It was! And it was getting brighter! When it reached its peak, the alpengow was beautiful, brilliant, and lasted longer than expected, though still no more than 3-5 minutes. But what a 3-5 minutes it was!
Sometimes it pays to gamble.
Yea, They Ski That Thing!
Tuckerman Ravine is one of the most popular ski destinations in the East. And there aren’t even any chair lifts!
Can you find the skier climbing the wall?
How about now?
Tuck’s has a long a storied history of skiing. And the skiing here is truly for the die-hard, dedicated, and adventurous, as there is no lift service here. It is a 2.4 mile(3.9km) hike carrying pack, skis, and all your other gear on your back, just to the AMC’s Hermit Lake Shelter, and the caretaker’s cabin, together affectionately known as “Ho-Jo’s.” The bowl is another .7 miles(1.1km) still, and you then need to climb about 1,000 ft(305m) to the top from there! Is it steep? With a slope of as much as 55° in places, yes, I’d say it’s steep!
Here’s a video that really shows the popularity of the Ravine. Judging by the crowds, you’d think it was a full lift service ski area.
Safety Matters.
As the title mentions, avoiding avalanches is a top priority when visiting Tuckerman Ravine. The Ravine has claimed many lives over the years, and while not all of them were lost due to avalanches, in the winter the smart hiker/photographer pays attention to the avalanche forecast. The forecast for last Sunday was listed as “Moderate to Low,” however just the day before it was listed as “Considerable.” If you choose to visit, don’t become a statistic, please heed the warnings!
If You’re Ever In The Neighborhood.
Come and join me in the bowl, you won’t regret it!
(Thank you Tracy for pressing the shutter. Cause goodness knows I can’t run that fast!)
My “Neighborhood” is large, very large.
From my front door,
To the lake I live on,
To the seacoast,
To New Hampshire’s White Mountains,
Within an hour or two, in any direction, I can find myself in photographic bliss.
A guy with a camera, or iPhone, could do a lot worse.
Just got even better!
With the release of Nik HDR Efex Pro 2
Nik Software produces some of the finest creative plugins on the market. Almost every one of my images is enhanced using them.
Here is an example of an HDR image created using HDR Efex Pro, I can’t wait to see what they’ve done in 2!
Wide and all-encompassing is not the only way to photograph a scene.
While out photographing, I’m often drawn to what I refer to as intimate portraits within the scene. While the grand scene before me may very well be quite spectacular, the overlooked details often provide the beauty within the beauty.
I do love Tucker Brook Falls.
Both in it’s entirety…
…and up close and personal.
Think Small.
While looking for that grand nature scene, it pays to look a little closer.
And don’t forget to simply look down.
Focusing on the details can often yield spectacular results.
One of my favorite landscape lenses is the Canon EF 70-200 f2.8L. In fact, if I could only own one lens this would be it. For isolating small key features of a landscape, a moderate telephoto lens and the way it has a compressing affect a scene, is often the perfect lens for getting “Lost In The Details.”
