Yosemite | Russ Bishop Photography | Nature Photo Blog

April 10, 2023April 10, 2023

Yosemite Moonbows

Yosemite Moonbows. Yosemite National Park is a mecca for adventure and nature photography with its steep granite walls, lush meadows, alpine spires and booming waterfalls. I’ve spent four decades exploring its unique features and it always feels like home whenever I return.

But as with any well-loved location, it’s easy to find yourself in a creative quandary when it comes to seeking out new perspectives. With iconic landmarks around every turn, it’s a challenge to create fresh images that (no matter how beautiful) don’t leave you feeling as if you’ve just seen that same view in a recent car ad or magazine. So what to do?

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, waterfalls are always a rewarding subject as no two shots will ever be the same. The flow of the water is in a constant state of flux and experimenting with shutter speed opens up a whole new world of creative expression. From what Ansel Adams called “straight photography” to ethereal artistic interpretation, the sky really is the limit with this liquid landscape.

Also known as lunar rainbows, moonbows are a unique phenomenon that occurs when the full moon illuminates the spray of a waterfall. The moon needs to be low in the sky (less than 42 degrees) and the night sky must be very dark making Yosemite an ideal location. The best times are typically 2 to 3 hours before sunrise or 2 to 3 hours after sunset when the brightness of the stars compliments the moonlight reflecting off the water.

Framing can be a challenge in such dim light, but once you have a composition set and your eyes have adjusted the fun part begins. Watching the moonbow magically appear and disappear with the ebb and flow of the spray is mesmerizing and makes for an evening of photography you won’t soon forget.

January 18, 2019September 4, 2020

World Photography Organisation | Profile

What goes into making great landscape and nature photography?
Studying the masters is a great foundation, followed by practice and patience. Personal style is something that you develop after years of practice and applying your craft, which ultimately results in a unique creative vision…

The World Photography Organisation recently did a profile piece in which I discuss my creative origins and approach to landscape photography. Click the image below to link to the interview.

Please share and enjoy!

Winter sunset over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, California USA — Winter sunset over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, California

October 1, 2015April 18, 2018

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Fall color along the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California

In landscape photography we often previsualize a scene in our mind’s eye prior to arriving at a location in order to achieve the final image. Then, working backwards with our equipment selection and knowledge of the scene, we assess the conditions and create that vision.

At the center of this process, our brain is constantly switching back and forth between two ways of perceiving and processing the reality around us — one verbal and analytic, the other visual and perceptual. While the left brain is logical, rationally using words to describe concepts and able to manipulate abstract ideas, numbers and the concept of time, the right brain, in contrast, takes on a holistic approach, sensing relationships and patterns, and tends to be intuitive, emotional, and irrational with no sense of time – much like a child.

When we photograph it is our left brain that confirms the proper exposure, balances the histogram, levels the horizon, and insists that the rule of thirds be followed at all times. From a creative standpoint, this is where we want the right brain to take over and make a subjective leap of faith. By recognising how our brain functions, we have the ability to tap into our creative side and develop new ways of seeing.

Betty Edward’s treatise “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” takes a thoughtful look into the fascinating way that our brain works in tandem to balance our creative and cognitive traits. Based on this premise, that the left and right hemispheres of the brain process information in very different ways, she suggests that we can subjectively stimulate our creative responses to the world around us by suppressing the dominant and calculating left side and focusing on the right. Though the book references artists and drawing in particular, it is equally relevant to any of the visual arts.

So the next time you feel the need to expand your visual horizons, resist the temptation to buy another lens or Lightroom filter (as your left brain would likely suggest), and pick up this book instead. The development of your creative perception is an invaluable tool that will serve you well the rest of your life, and the only requirement is time and practice.