Slickrock and Shadow

Lost Lake Dock -- near Whistler, Canada Photography composition is an essential element to any quality photograph.  Even when light may not be "golden", composition can make or break a photo.  Composition is personal.  Two photographers at the same location, photographing the same subject in the same light will come up with different results because their composition choices.   What are the elements of composition?  These things spring to mind for me.  There are others.   1.  Focal length of lens 2.  Distance from subject 3.  Height of camera 4.  Angle of camera (looking up or down towards the subject, or even on the side) 5.  Shutter speed (adding motion blur or smoothing water) 6.  Aperture (for depth of field) 7.  Symmetry or Asymmetry 8.  Lines and curves 9.  Dark and light areas Simply by changing any one of these, the whole photographic expression changes.  An example of  how shutte...

Dead twisted tree at the trailhead for Boulder Mail Trail:  taken at dawn after a stormy night. Dawn after a storm welcomed me to a new adventure.  I was about to hike down the Boulder Mail Trail (BMT) to Death Hollow but this awesome twisted tree and developing sunrise made me stop and enjoy a little pre-adventure beauty.  I set up my tripod several minutes before this shot and took a photo about every 2 or 3 minutes.  The clouds grew more colorful and purple.  Then the light touched the treetops around me and I took this exposure.   This is the apotheosis of a beautiful dawn.  

Candy Rocks of Coyote Buttes South Real yet unbelievable is what I experienced while exploring Coyote Buttes South.  The lines and colors swirl in ways I could never imagine to be natural.  Yet this was truly the handiwork of Mother Nature, that creative maven I've come to admire.  This photo was taken at the same sunrise location as my previous post and this high outlook truly is the place for sunrise  in all this land.  I backed away from these rocks a bit, went with a wide 17mm tilt shift lens and shot several frames.  This lens allows me to stitch the frames together later and create a larger, wider vast landscape.  Just as I was doing this the sky brightened and changed from purple to blue, making this a most-colorful photo.  Enjoy the pastels of this incredible landscape!

Dawn glows from the sky and stone at Coyote Buttes South Sunrise at Coyote Buttes South is a highlight of the year for me.  Pink clouds and no wind made the silence unmistakeable as I stood over a world of swirling sandstone colors.  Coyote Buttes South is remote enough that this overlook has no name.  It should have a name like "inspiration point" or "artist's lookout" but few people make it here to the Cottonwood Teepees.   Coyote Buttes South colors take it up a notch from the North buttes.  Here they are mixed like saltwater taffy and run through rocks, ridges, edges and cliffs.  The colors run through everything!  It's amazing and might be hard to believe until you see it, touch the stone, take a breath and realize that you are not dreaming.   To get here, you've got to get a permit, drive the sandy road and walk about a mile.  The sand makes it slow.  Start before sunrise if you want to see this view because t...

Glencoe, Scotland at dawn My first morning and my first shot in Scotland is posted here.  I woke up early, so early at about 3:30 am so that I could actually see the sun rise at about 4 AM.  June in Scotland's highlands means really long days and short nights.  Catching sunrise feels like severe sleep deprivation here! Driving along the road through Glencoe Valley I searched for a good location.  This massive mountain and its' quaint cottage made me stop and shoot.  I wandered along the stream looking for the right height and location to capture this mountain reflection in the calm stream.  The cottage stands far enough away that it cannot be reflected.   Everything felt cool and quiet.  That's what I think of when I see this photo.