This is Abrams Mountain south of Ouray. I waited at this location 2 hours for the first light to hit fresh aspen leaves. I literally had seconds to get this image before the light lit up all of the trees.
I was actually at another location for sunrise but figured if I hurried, I could get to this location when the first light hit trees. This is literally right next to the highway west of Ridgway.
Everyone once in a while, we get a sunrise where it lights up the peaks like they're on fire. This was one of those rare mornings. The dramatic dark clouds added some nice contrast.
The Dallas Divide west of Ridgway is famous for it's fall colors. There can literally be hundreds of photographers lined up at sunrise in the fall. In the spring though, I had the place entirely to myself every single day of the 5 or 6 trips I made up there.
Mount Sneffels is definitely the most famous peak in the San Juan Mountains. On this particular evening, I had nice clouds mixing in with the blue sky and fresh aspen leaves.
Here's another one of Mount Sneffels. It's fairly unusual to get the fresh green aspen leaves and peak lupine at the same time.
This is a shot that you probably won't ever see from anyone else. I had special permission to go on this private property to get this image. A minute after I took this shot, a large black bear wandered through the very left side of this scene. He didn't cooperate and come down into the field for me.
I found this location while looking for something totally different. I've been told these are young flowering aspen trees. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
We spent a day over by Silverjack Reservoir checking out the fresh aspen leaves. Unfortunately it was Memorial Day weekend and after a few short hours, we decided to come home due to the hoards of irresponsible tourists driving in the meadows, tearing down the roads at crazy speeds, and just disrespecting the enjoyment of others.
Once in a while I get lucky - EXTREMELY LUCKY! We had a clearing rainstorm just before sunset. A friend and I were at the opposite end of this valley and raced to this location when we saw the storm starting to clear out. We were incredibly fortunate to get a few images before it dissipated.
It took me 3 nights in a row going to this same location to get this image with the clearing storm at sunset and the peak lupine.
This image was taken as the very last light was hitting Mount Sneffels and also giving us some nice pink clouds.
This particular meadow was made famous by the John Wayne movie True Grit. This is chimney peak at sunset on Owl Creek Pass.
I liked how the yellow flowers were mixing in with the peak lupine for this image. The pink sky at sunrise was an added bonus.
This is one of my favorite images so far this year. It's definitely one of my best lupine shots. To get the peak lupine, flaming pink clouds, and peaks lit up at the same time like they're on fire is extremely rare.
Taken the same morning as the previous image. I had to run to this location to get it in time before the light on the peaks and clouds lost it's color.
Another incredibly lucky shot. I was at this location for almost an hour hoping the elk would walk into the lupine field. I was able to capture several different images but this is my favorite.
And finally, back to the Mount Sneffels reflection with great light on the peak at sunset. Thanks for viewing and feel free to leave a comment!
A couple of years ago a small group of nature photographers who've noticed the same thing decide to take action. We decided to do what we can as stewards to help protect our fragile environment. We came up with 7 principles for nature photographers which anyone can follow. We're hoping this starts a world-wide cultural movement in the nature photography world.
Without going into great detail here, I'll simply share the following link for you to browse our website to learn more about our movement. We would love to have you join our movement and spread the word. Feel free to share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and your personal website.
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Bear Rocks Preserve in West Virginia. The wind NEVER stopped which made it quite challenging to capture this image.
Elakala Falls in Blackwater Falls State Park - West Virginia. I had to be patient with this image as the lighting was constantly changing with the moving clouds.
Grist Mill - Babcock State Park - West Virginia. Ever since I saw an image of this mill over 20 years ago I had it on my bucket list of places to shoot. I finally had the opportunity this past year and hit the one day the colors were peak and the water was flowing.
Capitol Reef National Park - Utah. Talk about luck to have some cooperative horses in just the right position at sunset!
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument - Dance Hall Rock - Utah. This past year I tried my hand at some night photography. I placed my gas lantern behind the small knoll in the foreground so it wouldn't be in the shot but still would light up Dance Hall Rock. This feature is about 70-80 feet tall.
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument - Horizon Arch - Utah. This is another location I've been wanting to shoot for quite some time. It was pure luck that I got this shot as I arrived literally 2 minutes before the light on the rocks was gone. We almost had to spend an unplanned night in the desert since we didn't set waypoints on our GPS going in.
White Aspens - Utah. My wife found this image in a remote area of Utah. There were some black rocks behind the aspens which really made them stand out.
Zion National Park - Left Fork North Creek - Utah. I've done the hike to the Subway numerous times over the past 28 years and have never shot this particular crack in the ground with the water flowing through it. No, I did not place those leaves there. This is how we found them when we arrived.
Zion National Park - Utah. I took this image about 45 minutes before sunrise. Most photographers go here at sunrise but the pre-dawn glow is simply amazing. If you look closely, you can still see some stars.
Zion National Park - Utah. This is the same shot only taken at sunrise the same morning. Not sure which one I like better.
American Basin - Colorado. This is probably the best year I've seen at American Basin. The columbine were also profuse.
Chimney Peak and Courthouse Mountain - Colorado. After 3 days of winter storms, I could see the clouds starting to break up from our house. I ran down to this location and was simply in awe of the scene happening in front of me. It was one of those incredibly rare sunsets where everything comes together.
Aspens - Colorado. The aspen trees in spring can be almost as beautiful as in the fall in my opinion.
Governor Basin - Colorado. I've been going to this location for over 25 years but never seemed to have time to go for sunrise. Now that we live here, it takes a very short time from our house to get here with the dirtbike. I went here 3 mornings in a row to get this image.
Molas Pass area - Colorado. This is another image that I was able to capture by living here. I could see the clouds to the west clearing so I knew it would be a high probability of a good sunset. It didn't disappoint.
Mount Sneffels - Colorado. I actually took this image from our front deck one morning this past spring.
Old pickup and fall colors - Colorado. I've probably walked right by this old pickup over a dozen times going to another location. This past year it caught my attention with all the color around it.
Curved aspen trees - Colorado. This particular location is quickly becoming "discovered" by the throngs of photographers that come to this area. Hopefully it stays pristine and doesn't get trampled.
San Juan Mountains - Colorado. Once in a while the clouds cooperate and move just where you want them.
Mt. Sneffels and San Juan Mountains - Colorado. This is a relatively unknown pond on private property. We had a dusting of snow the night before and a perfect reflection which made everything come together.
Stony Pass - Colorado. This was by far the best year I've seen at Stony Pass in all my years of going there.
Sydney Basin - Colorado. This took me a couple of mornings to get this image. This is another location where the dirtbike makes it SO much easier and quicker to get to.
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Since the image is printed to the edge of the card and there's no printing on the image, these would be great for framing and displaying.
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I took all test images within several minutes of each other. On the Nikon, I used the Nikon 14-24mm lens set at 24mm, f-11, with a 2 stop graduated ND filter for the sky. On the Leaf, I used the Mamiya 35mm lens, f-11, with a 2 stop graduated ND filter for the sky. These focal lengths are virtually identical given the format size difference of the sensors. I also used mirror lock-up before every shot to reduce vibration. So, as you can see, we are going to be looking at basically an apples to apples comparison of sensor resolution and shadow detail.
Please note that this is not a scientific test in any way, shape, or form. It's simply me testing my two cameras against each other.
Here are the full view images from each camera. First, the full image from the Nikon D800E:
And here is the full image from the Leaf Aptus 75:
As you can see, the Nikon has an overall "warmer" tone to it. Now lets get into the details. I'll let you make your own conclusions from the following portions blown up to "actual pixels" in photoshop and placed side by side for comparison. Just an FYI, both cameras shoot at 240dpi native resolution (RAW). There were absolutely no adjustments made to any of the images other than converting to jpg for the internet.
Conclusion: In my opinion, the Leaf Aptus still holds a VERY slight edge over the Nikon D800E when it comes to resolution and shadow detail. BUT, when you factor in the enormous price difference between the two setups, the Nikon is by far the clear winner given the fact that the resolution and shadow detail differences are so extremely minor. Anyone in the market for a Leaf Aptus 75 digital back with a Mamiya AFDII body and lenses?????
]]>Some improvements you'll see are:
1. MUCH larger photos - Depending on your screen size, they will be displayed at the maximum size possible. For best results, view them on a 24" or larger screen. You'll see a huge difference. They will also resize for any mobile device.
2. Online purchasing - after many years of folks asking for this option, and after many years of looking for the perfect software at a reasonable price, I feel I've found the perfect fit with www.zenfolio.com. Trust me, I've looked at most of the software out there as well as companies that specialize in building photography websites. For the price, I can't recommend anything better than zenfolio. If you decide to use them for your own site in the future, use coupon code 67F-8H6-4AS for a 10% discount on your purchase.
3. Captions on the photos - you'll notice that some of the photos have captions under them. As time allows, I hope to eventually add captions to every photo on the site.
4. New images - in addition to the images previously displayed on the website, you'll find some new ones throughout the galleries that have never been shown before.
Some things you'll eventually see in the future will be a "clearance" button where I'll offer certain pieces at greatly reduced prices, videos of portions of certain photo adventures, photo tours (this may be a while), and possibly novelty items for sale such as greeting cards.
Feel free to leave me comments about the new site. I'm always looking for feedback and recommendations. Thanks for stopping in!
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