Upcoming Workshops - Vermillion Cliffs and Southern Utah

We are very pleased to invite you to join us on for a workshops of Southern Utah and the Vermilion Cliffs region of Northern Arizona - November 5 -7, 2010! We will take just ten students out on this trip, so space is limited! If you are interested in joining us, you can find more details or register here:

http://www.regonline.com/southern_utah

Past students will receive a substantial discount - so if you've joined us for a workshop, photo tour, seminar, or webinar in the past, shoot us an email. We'll give you the student discount code to enter during registration.
We've been to this region many times, and it's one of our favorite places to photograph. So, we're excited to share it with some of you!

Q and A - Finding the Balance - Part 1

Jay and I have six kids between us. Four are mine, and two are his. They range in age from 6 - 13. We are always busy - homework, school programs, soccer games, cross country meets, martial arts classes, gymnastics practice, swim team, and all the other things that are part of having kids. It's great fun - but it's also hard to find time for the things WE love to do.

Lots of you have kids, too - and one of the questions we hear a lot is this:

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"How do you balance family and a photographic career?"

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Well, it's not easy. We work a lot in the evenings and on weekends - and we try hard to make sure that the kids have our attention when they need it most. That means that family time is usually more important than getting those photos from our latest trip processed.

Fitting travel into a busy schedule takes creativity and lots of advance planning. We travel about once a month (if possible), and in most cases, our children stay at home with a trusted adult. Most of our trips last for just a few days - we generally travel over a long weekend - so we try hard to put ourselves in the best possible location at the right time. Research and flexibility are essential.

...continued on Q and A - Finding the Balance - Part 2...

Glacier National Park

We've been traveling all day - up at 4:30 am, out the door by 5... then from Cleveland to Minneapolis to Spokane. We picked up the rental car and then left Washington, drove through Northern Idaho, and into Montana. We're staying in Whitefish tonight, and headed for Glacier National Park tomorrow morning. We'll spend the day backpacking, and then we'll pitch out tents for the night.
It's a special occasion - my son, Nick's, 13-year trip. He turned 13 last week, and we've been planning his trip for the past year or so. Montana was his destination of choice - Glacier National Park is stunningly beautiful, so we think he chose the perfect spot.All three of these shots are from a previous trip to Glacier... we haven't had a chance to shoot yet. But Nick is ready with his Canon Rebel XS and tripod. He's got shutter speed and aperture figured out, and is reading his histogram like a pro. So, we're looking forward to seeing his finished images.

Hyperfocal distance

Here's another early morning shot from Graveyard flats in Banff. I used a GND filter to reduce the overall dynamic range, and a circular polarizer filter to cut through the light bouncing off the surface of the water and allow you to see the beautiful stones at the bottom of the pond clearly. The sun had climbed high enough in the sky to require a shorter shutter speed here (0.5 seconds at f/16) - but the surface of the pond was absolutely still, so a longer shutter speed was unnecessary.

The question then, is this... why I am using f/16? Why not shoot at f/8 or f/11, since I know that's where my lens works best? The reason I chose f/16 is because that gives me a hyperfocal distance of about 0.5 m with my focal length at 12mm ... so objects just .25 m away will be in sharp focus!

At f/8 - that near focus point will be about half a meter away... not close enough to get those rocks in the foreground sharp. I have my tripod low to the ground, here... just about .25 m from the closest rocks. I could have gotten even closer with f/22 - but I want my aperture as close to f/11 as possible, since that's where I get my cleanest shot.

All right - no more technical stuff. Sorry about that. ;)

I took several shots that morning, and I'm not sure which one I like best. I've processed four and deleted the rest - and I'll add them all to a new Canada gallery once I've finished the rest from the trip. I'm having such a great time working through these photos!

Green and Blue - Banff

Since I've had very little time for processing, I have chosen to process a few quick and easy shots. This first shot is just a simple dandelion seed head. Jay pointed this one out near Bow Lake. I shot with my 180mm macro. Notice I'm shooting in the shade - soft, even lighting works well for this subject. You can see the detail in the seeds, but the contrast isn't too extreme... which means the flower keeps its delicate softness.

This is Herbert Lake. We'd been shooting elsewhere, but high winds forced us away. I took only a few shots under this sky - and I threw all but this one away. Wide angle lens, f/11, and a long shutter speed (3.2 sec). A simple composition, a bit of texture in the clouds, and a bit of drama just for the fun of it.

This is an early morning shot from a pond near Graveyard Flats. We'd had a rough night - nearby campers partied late into the night, and loud thunderstorms kept us awake after that. The moodiness of the heavy morning fog had me smiling, though. :) This was an incredibly easy shot to process... no broad range of light to deal with, very low contrast overall, and it wanted to go blue... so I let it have its way.

What do you think?

We have an iHDR seminar in Ohio this weekend. There are just a few seats left, so if you are interested, don't put off registering any longer.

Back in the States

Sorry folks! I would have loved to update my blog regularly during our stay in Canada, but I had very little access to the internet. And I was having entirely too much fun. This was, without question, one of our best trips ever. The landscapes were gorgeous, the skies were stunning, and the company was great fun. I have hundreds of images to work through, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to processing them. I hope you'll all be patient with me! :)This is a shot of Anemone occidentalis - better known as "Tow-headed Baby" or "Western Anemone" - from Sunshine Meadows in Banff National Park. (Forgive me... I love those fantastic Latin names. I have to admit, though - I look them all up. I don't have a clue what this stuff is called off the top of my head. I guess I just like to pretend I'm smart.) Although the vistas were fantastic, the light was pretty harsh. I found myself noticing small details. The drops of dew on this flower remained only because the flower was in the shade - which meant I had perfect lighting for a macro shot. It takes time to get a shot like this one just right... the flower is blowing in the wind, and focusing for macros can be difficult.

I used my 180mm macro lens to get nice and tight - and made sure the setup was secure on my tripod before worrying about focus. Although standard auto-focus works well enough for wide angle shots, I needed the more precise live-view auto-focus function to make sure focus was spot-on for such a small subject. I had to wait for the wind to die down as well.

I bumped up the ISO to 400 for a faster shutter speed - and managed to get a nice, clean shot at 1/30 sec. I chose f/5.6 to get just enough depth of field... I wanted those droplets nice and sharp, but the background completely blurred.

I'll post lots more from this trip as soon as I can. Hang in there - I'm trying to get caught up! :)

Packing up

We're getting ready to go - our flights leaves early tomorrow morning. We'll be in the Canadian Rockies for the next few days. Can't wait!

Ruby Beach

I'm feeling a bit guilty about neglecting my blog this summer. I'm sorry about that. I try to make sure my priorities are in the right place when my children are home from school... and that means that I'm most likely to be found in the pool or the park during the day. I love having my kids home during the summer, but it means that I have very little time for wilderness photography - or updating my website or blog.

I hope you'll all put up with my absences until the end of August, when the kids are back in school. I'll have quite a lot of catching up to do - but I can't complain. This is what life is all about.

I did manage to process a shot a few weeks ago... this one is from our trip to Washington state. Ruby beach is fantastic - and the light was awfully nice that night. :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer - wherever you are.

Today in Brief

Showers for grownups, breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, pool, showers for kids, dinner, bed. A bit of sunburn despite enormous amounts of sunscreen. Five miles of hiking between parking lots and beaches. Six very happy and very tired children. We're having a fantastic time - but for some reason, I don't feel like I'm on vacation. :)

We did get some fun pictures - which I'll process when we get home.

PhotoBards.com

It was a real pleasure to answer questions for an interview with Michal Vitásek at www.photobards.com the other day. The interview is already online. I'm honored to be included alongside some of the best landscape photographers in the world today. Check out the other interviews, too - I'm sure many of you have seen the work of some of these masters. You can leave a comment if you'd like.

We are heading for Michigan tomorrow, so if I don't have a chance to write again - Happy Independence day to all our American friends this weekend!

Travel Plans...

We have some exciting travel plans this year. We'll be in the Canadian Rockies at the beginning of August. I was born in Canada, and have made small trips into Canada a few times in the last several years... but never to shoot. We're both looking forward to that trip. In September, we'll head out to Montana to visit Glacier National Park again. And we've just booked flights to Hawaii in December. We weren't expecting to make it to Hawaii this year, so we're pleased to have been able to schedule this trip. With any luck, we'll get to stop in to see my Grandmother on Maui for a day or two during our stay.

Of course, in between travel, we'll be teaching another seminar in August and preparing for upcoming webinars. We have a workshop in November, too - in Utah... Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. So if we aren't busy enough with our six kids, we should be able to find plenty to do. ;)

And last but not least - I've updated my website once again. You'll find a new Details gallery... textures, macros, and small details. I've also added images to several other galleries. Check out the Newest Photographs gallery to see all the new photos in one place.

Sunny California

We flew into San Fransisco late last night. This morning, I checked in with the hotel where we'll be teaching our Intelligent HDR seminar and everything is ready to go. The weather is beautiful here - and I'm appreciating it, especially since I know that heavy storms are sweeping through the Cleveland area today. Jay and I spent a few hours working on the plane (before we both fell asleep.) We're working on a new endeavor that we're not quite ready to announce. ;)

We're looking forward to tomorrow's seminar. It will be great to meeting those of you who are attending.

Little Brother

We are just about ready for our June 20-21 iHDR seminar in San Jose next week. We have only a few spots left, so if anyone is still interested in signing up, you'll need to be quick about it. I'm really looking forward to meetings those of you who have signed up to join us!

Although we've been busy preparing for the seminar, I did take a few minutes to process this shot from Ruby Beach in Washington. I loved the moody feel to the image - and although I considered converting it to black and white, I felt that the subtle blue color worked best. The pretty rock in the foreground had been washed onto the shore behind me, but I moved it into the waves to I could capture the effect of the smooth water washing it's surface. The waves were strong enough to push it out of the way, so I had to take several shots before I got the one I wanted.

Although I love the dramatic lighting that we are always looking for on our photographic trips, sometimes these more subtle photos really make me smile. :)

And then there's the title for this one. I know it's a bit odd... but it's what keeps coming back to my mind when I look at this shot. That little stone may be the smaller of the two brothers... but its smooth surface and small size suggest that it has been around for a very long time. Humans grow up as they grow older, but stones grow smaller over time.

-Varina

Thank you - whoever you are...

I once left my expensive, Gitzo tripod and Acratech ball head near a pretty little lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. 30 minutes later, I realized my mistake, ran down the mountain as fast as I could... and found my tripod right where I'd left it. Fifty people must have seen it there during that time, but nobody took it. I was incredibly relieved to find it there. :)

Today, we left behind a wide-angle lens in a case. Just left it on the side of a trail. Dumb thing to do. We didn't realize our mistake until nearly two hours later... and by then we were miles away. It took us another two hours to get back to the park, and the lens was gone. But - someone had taken it to the visitor center and left it with the rangers. I could kiss that person. :) Thank you - whoever you are. You have reminded me that most people really are honest and kind. I think that's something we tend to forget.

We're heading home tomorrow - it's always hard to leave, but I am looking forward to processing some photos!

Good Morning

We slept in Elma last night, and we're headed for Olympic NP this morning. Heavy cloud cover expected this morning, so we'll head for the Ho Rain Forest. Maybe we'll get some nice mist.

Cleveland --> Pittsburg --> Houston --> Seattle --> and beyond!

And, we're off. We're sitting in the Pittsburg airport waiting for our flight. I love airports with free WiFi. I get so much work done without any distractions. I am definitely ready for a few days in the wilderness. One of the things I love about Olympic is the diversity of the park. Mountains, rainforests, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, flowers, the Pacific Ocean... We're keeping an eye on weather patterns so we'll know where to be when the light is right - and it's rhododendron season... maybe we'll find some blooming. We'll be watching tide chards, cloud cover, and humidity levels on this trip, too. The better to put ourselves in the right place at the right time.

Is anyone else traveling this weekend?

Going Home

We're headed for Olympic National Park next week. The Pacific Northwest feels like home to me - and I look forward to trips like this one more than any others. Don't get me wrong - put me in the wilderness just about anywhere, and I'll be happy... but air that smells like pines makes me feel completely at peace. The Rocky Mountains are where I belong. And we'll go to great lengths to get there this time...

We're driving from Cleveland to Pittsburg... stopping in Houston before flying to Seattle... and then driving to the park. We won't be there long, but we'll make the most of our time. Can't wait!

-Varina

Time for Bed...

We were up at 4:30 this morning, and we did a bit of hiking today - about 6 or 7 miles in all, I think. Nothing too strenuous - but I'm tired. It's nearly 11pm - and we'll be up at 4:15 tomorrow morning to catch the sunrise in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

I'll add more detail another time - tonight, I want to sleep. :)

Snappers, and peepers, and ticks... oh my!

We've had a great time in Kentucky. We spent the morning letting the kids play in the park, then took a cave tour this afternoon after lunch. Afterwards, we spent a long time circling the lake - looking for (and finding) tadpoles (giant ones), frogs, bats, salamanders, and turtles. The kids caught peepers (tiny frogs that make a very BIG noise), and we saw a big snapping turtle in the water.

We were exhausted after a long day with the kids - but the discovery of ticks (thanks, Jenny!) meant everyone had to be pulled out of bed for tick-checks. We removed two from our girls... glad we found them... I hope I haven't missed any! Ah well - it wouldn't be the first time we've run into ticks.

The caves were beautiful, the stars were bright, and the company has been absolutely fantastic! So - ticks or not - we're having a great time!

-Varina

Playground

One of the things I love about the dunes is that they change so completely from one day to the next. They shift in the wind and are made new with every storm. It's a fascinating place - and a hard one to leave. I would love to be back on those dunes right now. :) It's snowing hard here in Northern Ohio... looks like about three inches since this morning. It's beautiful, though!

I spent some time updating my website yesterday. There are a few more images up, now - you can take a look at the Newest Photographs gallery to see my latest work.

Jay and I are working on content for our upcoming seminar in August. We'll get information about it online before long.