Category: Landscapes

Striking Gold in Yosemite

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Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

My first shot of 2011 was this beautiful Coyote  just a short distance inside the park. Dali (DD), Tj, Alex, and I spent the first week-end in 2011 in Yosemite National Park. We had hoped for some great winter landscapes, and were thrilled when Tj spotted her laying in snow across the road. We pulled over and she came over to the car and acted like she expected us to throw out something for her to eat. She hung around long enough to realize we weren’t going to feed her and other passing cars spooked her so she gave up and went into the forest.

This made my week-end! Isn’t she a beauty!

Nikon D90| Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8@ 155mm| f2.8| 1/125sec| ISO 200| Hand-held

” There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. “~John W. Raper

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Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Today I wanted to try a new technique my friend Geo told me about. It’s called the Orton Effect. Created by Michael Orton in the 1980’s he sandwiched two slides together one in focus, and the other out of focus to create an ethereal painterly quality.
Today we can recreate this effect with a single image in Photoshop. Or do it the original way of taking two photos. One in focus and over exposed 2 stops, and one out of focus and over exposed one stop. Load the photos into Photoshop then do a little blending, and layering et Voila!
Be sure to use a tripod when taking your photos if you plan to use this technique.
It doesn’t work for all types of images, but wooded areas, and winter scenes seem conducive to the technique.
There are a couple of flickr groups devoted to the technique. One is here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/orton/

I thought this photo I took at Sorensen’s Resort back in Oct. would be nice to try the technique out on. I like it!

Sorensn’s Resort established in 1926 is popular stop along the Hope Valley Fall color route located at the junction of Hwy 88 and Hwy 89.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35mm @ 17mm| f3.5| 1/60 secon| ISO 200 | Manual Mode| On a Tripod

A Rainy Day Adventure with friends

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Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac.  All Rights Reserved.

T, DD, A, and myself thought we’d make a run for Bowling Ball Beach a 3+ hour drive during a rare Negative Tide to photograph the boulders and rocky shelf that is exposed during this time. A Negative Tide is a lower than normal low tide.
It rained the whole way up then stopped just as we arrived to the beach. It was quite an adventure getting down here. The trail was muddy, and the end of the trail the cliff fell off so the state built a log and cable ladder that went straight down the cliff face. It wouldn’t have been that bad, but the rain run off was pouring down the mountain side and draining 100ft in front of the bridge and flooded the entire  area which was littered with huge logs the sea tossed up with the tide, kelp, rocks, boulders, and other sea debris.

Because it was flooded at the bottom we climbed down  the ladder halfway then hung onto the muddy wall as best we could and tried not to slide off this muddy boulder that we had to cross. After crossing that boulder we balanced on a log that was floating in the flood waters ,and then we traversed debris and finally made it to the beach. From there we crossed two more rivers of fresh water flowing to the sea. Phew! We were photographing for about 20 minutes when it started to rain again.

Theresa, Dali, and 1/2 brothers we met here. Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac.  All Rights Reserved.

Donning our hats, and cameras in rain gear we photographed the boulders and beach for about an hour.
We wanted to climb out of there before dark, and get out before the tide returned. The climb back up was a lot easier than coming down. We were pretty soaked when we got back to the car.
We headed to Bodega Bay for a hot dinner.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35mm @ 17mm| f11| 1/4sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| On a Tripod| No Filters

Parade of Elephants

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Parade od Elephants, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Returning to my trip to Arches National Park. Here’s a view of the Parade of Elephants.
This is looking north from the Primitive Loop Trail in the Windows Section of Arches National Park.
If you look at the formations on the left you’ll see the shapes of Elephants.
On the right there is an Arch…Not sure what it’s called though.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor17-35mm @ 17mm, f7.1, 1/30sec, ISO 200, Manual Mode, On a Tripod, Singh-Ray LB ColorCombo

At the Portal

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Yesterday 4 friends and I went  to Pfieffer State Beach in Big Sur, California. It’s about 100 miles south of my house. Theresa, Dali, and I went in one car and we met our friends Alex, and Rainey in Carmel. From there we caravaned to Pfieffer State Beach. The goal; A couple of times a year the sun sets behind “The Portal” a huge rock island with an Arch through it which allows a sun beam to come through. It’s been on our “to shoot” list for awhile.

We went early to get the lay of the land, and have lunch. We planned a picnic pot luck. We had sandwich fixin’s, chips, dips, fruit, pasta salad, olives and feta cheese, pickles, and Dali brought cake; Chocolate Mocha Cake. Three layers with a chocolate mousse filling inside.

I had great will power and only had one little piece. It was delicious! I might add that in addition to this Dali also brought along for the drive some Mochi, and other Japanese cookies! I wish I had his metabolism!!!

Nature or a previous rock sitter had decorated our spot,

We had a picnic crasher too,

Dali or Theresa threw it a piece of bread and I missed the focus so he’s not as sharp as I’d like. He was quick! Quicker than me that’s for sure.

He struck a handsome pose hoping for more handouts,

After lunch Dali and I hiked up the mountain to check out the view from the cliffs. The hike up was pretty steep. The terrain was mixed. Sand dunes, loose sandy soil, rocky out crops, and bushy bits. In places the trail was washed out and I went up the wash to meet up with the trail nearly at the top. Dali being braver than I went up the wash the whole way. I think the climb was only 150 ft or so, but steep. Our friend Steven had warned me to be careful going up…if I went up. Thank you Steven!

The view of “The Portal” from the cliff,

Shooting into the sun…challenging to say the least! I used my 2 stop Graduated Neutral Density filter to try to balance the light. It didn’t quite work out. I needed my 3 stop. I thought I had packed it but mistakenly grabbed my Reverse Grad instead so I used a layer mask in Photoshop to lighten “The Portal”.  I like the sunburst and the flare.  After a few more shots up here we hiked down to the beach to pick my spot to shoot the sunset.

The sun began to set and the light changed…this is what we came for!

…and,

A large wave came through the Portal splashing what looks like liquid fire! It was so neat. As the sun was going down more and more

photographers arrived to take photos of this event. I think there were close to 30 of us out there. It was great fun. We all agreed this is a place we’d like to come back to again.

After the sun went down we packed up and went into Carmel for a hot dinner, then we said farewell to Alex, and Rainey, and headed home.

 

 

 

 

Sunset at Turret Arch

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Sunset at Turret Arch, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Turret Arch is in the Windows Section of the Arches National park. It’s about a 126ft ascent with a gentle grade most the way up. There are a couple of spots it’s steep, but not too bad.

I normally don’t like people in my landscapes, but I have to admit I like them in these photos because they give you a sense of just how HUGE these arches are.

Underexposing this frame I was able to bring out the rich colors my eyes were seeing. I recovered the foreground using the Fill Slider in Adobe Camera Raw. I do have a hot spot- or blown out spot here. I am wondering if using my Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter would have helped…
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm @20mm, f11, 0.5second, ISO 200, On a Tripod, triggered with a remote release cable/intervalometer

The South Window

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The North Window, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
This is the beginning of the Primitive Trail Loop. A 1.5 mile loop with views of North and South Windows and Turret Arch.
Theresa and I spent hours here. We hiked the loop, and stayed to for the Golden Hour and Sunset.
This is a popular destination for visitors of the park. While here we met a Photography Club from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a local Photographer out here for a workshop. It’s always fun to meet fellow photographers.

Do you get a sense of how huge these arches are? They’re HUGE!