Evening light on the Palisades in Dusy Basin, Kings Canyon National Park, California
Dusy Basin in Kings Canyon National Park includes the largest concentration of 14,000 foot peaks in the Sierra Nevada range, and one of the southernmost glaciers in North America. As a major entry point for the John Muir Trail along the Sierra high route, this popular spot also makes a relatively easy weekend trip from the town of Bishop, passing through the John Muir Wilderness and over Bishop Pass.
Here the warm alpenglow on the The Palisade Group is reflected in one of the many alpine tarns scattered among this beautiful hanging valley. These pristine lakes are fed only by surrounding snow melt, and their glassy waters are the perfect complement for photographing magic hour in what John Muir so eloquently called the Range of Light.
Lower Calf Creek Falls, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Shooting water in all its endless variety is one of the creative pleasures of nature photography. From drops of dew reflecting a crisp autumn morning to the power of cascading falls frozen in time, the camera allows many unique perspectives of our most abundant resource that are seldom seen in a passing glance.
A polarizing filter is a favorite tool for photographing water as it slows exposure and increases contrast, both of which serve to enhance the emotional response to a scene. While some may say this is altering reality, it’s good to remember that art is more about personal expression than documentation.
“Most creative photographs are departures from reality and it seems to take a higher order of craft to make this departure than to simulate reality.” ~Ansel Adams
This image of Calf Creek Falls in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was made on an overcast day with a long exposure of 20 seconds. The cloudy sky diffused the harsh mid-day light and saturated the colors of the moss covered rock, while the slow shutter speed gave the falls a silky look.
Evening light on Watchman Peak above the Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah
Back in the days when I shot film filters were an indispensable part of my technique that enabled me to control the light, balance dynamic range, and give a little extra snap to every image. Well guess what? Fast forward to the digital age and the same still holds true.
It’s easy to get caught in the trap of saying “I’ll just fix it in post”, but the truth is filters are every bit as important in the digital age as they were in the days of film. Photography after all is about shaping and controlling light, and whether your image is preserved in celluloid or pixels there is still no substitute for capturing the best possible image up front.
Two filters that I consider essential are the graduated neutral density (GND) and the polarizer. The GND is available in several densities with both hard and soft transitions allowing you to ideally balance the contrast in the scene. This magical filter works best for landscapes where the foreground is in shadow and the background has direct light. Through the viewfinder washed out clouds suddenly become more defined and foreground subjects emerge from the shadows and retain their natural color. Positioning the filter takes a little practice so that the transition seamlessly blends into the horizon and is not obvious in the final image.
The polarizing filter blocks scattered light rays to remove reflections from water and foliage, and definitely spends more time on the front of my lens than any other. By turning the filter you can control the amount of polarized light reaching the lens, which has the added benefit of saturating colors, darkening skies and increasing overall contrast. In addition, the polarizer works like a neutral density filter to slow exposure times allowing for a silky effect when shooting flowing water.
There are many other excellent filters available, but these two are a great starting point for creating more dynamic images and saving considerable time at the computer.
