seanbagshaw

I'm sure everyone in the NW is getting burned out on the depressing

weather. I have never experienced such a cold, wet, gray spring as far

as I can remember. The flowers in southern Oregon are almost a month

behind but as they begin to appear some are showing to be a bumper

crop. Such is the case with the lupine in the Shasta Valley. Last week

I managed one clear morning (too clear, but not complaining) that

wasn't also windy. There's nothing quite like back lit lupine in my

estimation. As the sun was rising I shot a bunch of similar

compositions, but I think this is turning out to be my favorite so

far. This is a blend of four different exposure values for dynamic

range and two focal points for dof. I really like achieving infinite

depth of field in close foreground images like this.

Canon 5DII, 16-35mm f/2.8 L, polarizer, four exposures 1/4 to 1/15

second @ f/16, ISO 200, two focal points near 22mm

I had an amazing trip to Owyhee Canyon country with David Cobb last

week. So much more exploring to do in this area. This image was taken

from the canyon rim at sunset during what will forever be known as the

Tick Apocalypse. We pulled off over 100 ticks between us. David didn't

sleep all that night because his skin was crawling. I hope that story

doesn't dampen your enjoyment of the photo, though.

Cholla cactus illuminated by a spectacular desert sunrise in Joshua

Tree National Park. Cholla cactus do amazing things when the light

hits them, so much so that I came back to the Joshua Tree Cactus

Garden three sunrises in a row. But they are also a risky subject.

Also called the jumping cactus, the slightest touch allows them to

hook into you with such tenacity it seems like they must have jumped

on you. I got one stuck in my leg and found you can't pull them out

with your hands. Seasoned Desert Rat, Larry Carpenter, came to the

rescue with a comb which he slotted behind the spiny ball and pried it

out of my flesh.

Anyway, this sunrise was one of those special outdoor experiences that

makes all your nerve endings buzz. I'm grateful to have had the chance

to experience it and record it.

Joshua Trees And The Galaxy: Super Larry J Carpenter and I were up at

4:30 AM in Joshua Tree NP and decided to see if we could get some good

night images. The Milky Way star field was just mind bending above the

desert skyline. The ability to use very high ISO settings on current

digital SLRs make this kind of image possible. You need a dark night

and clear atmosphere. Camera settings are usually 30 sec @ f/2.8, ISO

1600 or 15 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 3200. Very subtle light painting was used

to bring out some detail in the J trees.

This amazing location required a predawn cross country hike through

grizzly country up on Logan Pass in Glacier National Park. It was well

worth the effort. Streams cascading off all sides of a bowl shaped

valley converge at this narrow slot in the rocks. During the summer

melt off water flows in from all sides creating four of five separate

falls, but in the fall just the two main falls remain.

Two stop manual blend. Canon 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, 3 stop GND

filter, circular polarizer, 3.2 sec @ f/10 (sky), 15 sec @ f/10 (fore

ground), ISO 100

A friend and I decided to do some exploring around the Hart Mountain

Wildlife Refuge last weekend. Located in southeastern Oregon this is

true high desert terrain. We enjoyed dramatic light and cold

temperatures as unstable weather passed through. This small stream

flows out of a hot spring pool. The powerful storm lighting on the

snow was the thing that inspired me to get out the camera however.

Canon 5D MK II, 24-105mm F/4 IS lens, polarizer, 1/160 second at f/16,

ISO 125, handheld.

Sunrise on a mountain meadow and Mt. McLoughlin on a frigid winter

morning, Oregon Cascade Range.

I had an amazing week in the North Cascades with fellow Photo Cascadia

members David Cobb and Chip Phillips. The sunrise on our first morning

at Cascade Pass was spectacular. Chip went out with his camera at 4 AM

and was able to make it all the way up to the Sahalie Arm from the

Pelton camp by sunrise. Go to Chip's photostream to see his image.

David was next off at about 5:40 AM and made it up to the pass. I was

last out and had to scramble to find a composition below the pass

before the sky show was over.

Autumn maple leaves highlight the banks of Starvation Creek in the

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.

Chip Phillips and I arrived for our recent Photo Cascadia meeting in

Bandon early enough on Friday night to catch the late light on the

beach. The tide was out, the sky was beautiful and the light was just

magical. The small pools on the beach were so reflective that they

gave the impression you were peering into another universe. I call

this one Teardrop Of Sky. It took blending three exposures to contain

the dynamic range in the area of sky around the sun. The light

everywhere else in the scene was gorgeously well balanced in a single

capture thanks to diffusion from the cloud layer.

Rocky cliffs in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. I photographed this location

on three different mornings because the glowing light on the rocks

would only last for a few minutes while the sun was low. It wasn't

until my third attempt that I finally got the composition right and

also recorded the wave action the way I wanted. All feedback welcome.

Virgin River Narrows, Zion

Thanks for looking!

Deep in the Virgin River Narrows in Zion NP I found this lone tree

clinging to life high on the canyon wall. I loved the play of texture,

light and color patterns. Thanks for your comments.

Last summer I heard about this lavender farm in the Shasta Valley but

it had already been harvested. I waited all year for this summer's

bloom so I could go back and take some photographs. This week marked

the height of the bloom. Initially I was disappointed at the lack of

clouds in the sky until I saw how well the color of the twilight

complimented the purple fields. ...Canon 5D MKII, 24-105mm lens,

circular polarizer, 3-stop ND Grad, 30 sec @ f/18, ISO 160.

This image of the Three Sisters and Broken Top Mountains in the

Cascade Range in Oregon was taken from Mt. Bachelor in January 2008.

This was an extremely low snow pack for the time of year and icy

conditions required that I use crampons to reach the location which is

normally a straight forward snow hike. The sunrise light tinged the

icy world a rosy pink and made my climb especially worthwhile. Thanks

for your critiques!!

The east shore of Lake Tahoe is dotted with many cartoonish, round

granite boulders partially submerged in the crystal clear water. At

all times of day they make wonderful subjects for the foreground of

landscape photos. This particular rock with small trees growing out

of it has been dubbed Bonsai Rock by photographers. Finding just the

right composition with good separation between the rocks is a serious

challenge. Before the sun set I found one position with my tripod

perched on top of a boulder that produced this arrangement. After the

sun set the twilight colors were perfectly reflected in the still

water and the strong back light created wonderful graphic silhouettes.

The appearance of the crescent moon to the right of the bonsai trees

completed the scene. I manually blended four exposures in order to

contain the entire dynamic range of light and maintain color in the

water all the way to the front. As always, thanks for your critiques!

Arch Angel Falls is one of the many amazingly photogenic locations in

Zion National Park. It gets photographed a lot for obvious reasons,

but the fact that a 10 mile canyon hike is required to get to it means

that it isn't as photographed as it probably would be. Everything in

the scene comes together in perfect harmony...the layout of the

landscape, the placement of the trees and cascades, the light, colors

and texture of the red rock. Of all the images I took there that day I

felt like this one perhaps has the most balanced and complete

composition. Thanks for your critique!

The blurry tree technique has become fairly common after well known

folks like William Neil and Eddie Soloway popularized it in the past

several years. I like the fairytale effect it gives to forest scenes

that might otherwise not be very interesting. The effect only works

well with trees that have vertical trunks and not many low branches.

Aspen, poplar, ponderosa pine and redwood forests all work well. This

forest is lodge pole pine near Crater Lake National Park. The

technique requires a shutter speed between 1/8 and 1/20 of a second

and a quick, fluid, vertical panning motion with the camera while the

shutter is open. The motion blur filter in Photoshop also comes in

handy to help complete the smooth blur look. Thanks in advance for

the feedback!

Mt. Jefferson and Bays Lake, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon.

Jefferson Park is one of the most amazing alpine landscapes in Oregon.

It can only be accessed by backpacking 6 miles. Composition with the

tree on the left was difficult. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

Shore Acres State Park on the Oregon coast is one of the most unusual

and visually interesting stretches of shoreline on the west coast. I

took this image there last fall. Thanks for any comments you might have.