Mar 3, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR, AF-S 50mm f1.4G, AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Nature, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon D200, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000, Rock Formations
Rock Formations | a 7 Image Story A simple concept, a simple word like “rocks” easily grows into complex shapes and colors for images. We flat land photogs travel far and wide to capture the essence of rock formations. The seven presented here come from my western travels where the rock formations get a bit more interesting than rocks on the flat plains of the Midwest. This post contains images from Yellowstone, the Badlands, Hyalite Canyon, and a Montana ranch.
Located on the Mammoth Hot Springs upper terraces, Orange Mound Spring is cooler than most springs in Yellowstone, which allow the orange-tinted cyanobacteria to live on the travertine, the rock it’s made of. The spring is very old with a very slow water flow rate. The water flows from several vents on its top and side. The flow starts and stops quite often. Some days it does not flow at all.
A Yellowstone road, carved out of the rocky cliff, provides a smooth contrast between nature and humanity.
Spring in Badlands NP feels like another planet for a Midwesterner. Between the mid May and mid June the normally brown and tan landscape of the Badlands turns green and the wild flowers bloom. My favorite time for Badlands Spring remains the 2nd week of June. Also, it’s a great time see wildlife babies. The Badlands’ rock formations are distinguished by their vibrant red, tan, and white stripes. Each stripe represents a different layer of sediment brought there by rivers and seas, millions of years ago. Over time, the mud and grit hardened into layered sedimentary rock. After sedimentary rock formed, the White, Bad, and Cheyenne rivers carved the flat floodplain resulting in sloping hills, jagged cliff faces, and precarious spires.
The Ranch is a 5,900 acre ranch converted into a residential ranch community. Located in the Horseshoe Hills of southern Montana, it has stunning views and ranch style living. A short walk up to Castle Rock always yields a few good images. Hyalite Canyon lies a few miles south of Bozeman Montana. Frozen Palisade Falls in the winter is a sight to behold. Reaching the falls from the parking lot is a short, rather easy, but slippery hike in winter. Getting to the parking lot may be much harder. Hyalite Canyon road gets impassable with heavy snow in the winter months.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Rock Formations.
Click any image below for a slide show!
Oct 26, 2018 | 7 Image Story Posts, Daily Image 2018, Montana, Nikon P7000, Panoramas, The Ranch
Panoramas | Gallatin River Ranch The Gallatin River Ranch is a 5,900 acre ranch converted into a residential ranch community. Located in the Horseshoe Hills of southern Montana, it has stunning views and ranch style living. Again, this image was stitched from several images captured in landscape mode, then cropped to smooth the edges. For the whole story with all images, see Panoramas | a 7 Image Story.
Oct 21, 2018 | 7 Image Stories, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, Badlands, Grand Tetons, Illinois, IMHO, Michigan, Montana, Nikon D200, Nikon D300, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000, Panoramas, The Ranch
Panoramas | a 7 Image Story A great pano provides real context to the story; particularly if the story is about landscape. These images were all stitched, but many newer cameras provide the capability to capture a pano in the camera. Sure there are some limitations. Still, they can make some nice images. By capturing vertical images and stitching them together, a larger pano can be produced. For the purest, panos can be challenging. Most of my panos were cropped after stitching to smooth the edges.
Each image will be posted individually this week under category Panoramas.
Click any image below for a slide show!
Apr 4, 2018 | 7 Image Story Posts, Daily Image 2018, Nikon P7000, Spring Walkabout, Sunset, Walkabout
Spring Walkabout | No Leaves Sunset Spring sunsets capture imagination occasionally. Even when a nice evening walkabout fail to produce images of critters, a nice sunset image saves the day. To see the entire story with all seven images, go to Spring Walkabout | a 7 Image Story.
Apr 1, 2018 | 7 Image Stories, Action, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, AF-S TC 2.0 E III Tele-converter, Nature, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D200, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000, Spring Walkabout, Walkabout
Spring Walkabout | a 7 Image Story Hey, it’s spring. After a long winter, spring walkabouts bring a fresh perspective. Color slowly begins to reemerge. Sure, rain and snow showers make for muddier boots. Does April snow bring May flowers? Enough with the snow, already! Time for some warm weather, green grass, and nice calm lakes.
More critters begin to appear. The leaves have not come on the trees yet. It’s possible to find larger birds like hawks and owls on the tree branches. After missing its prey, the Barred Owl perched in a tree along the walkabout trail. It really blends into its surroundings. Without bins, finding a Barred Owl in a forest is nearly impossible; even with bins, it’s difficult.
Each spring, a flock of American Pelicans spends a couple of weeks on a slough along my walkabout path on their way up north. Spring is clearly here when they arrive. They are great fun and such clowns to watch.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Spring Walkabout.
Click any image below for a slide show!
Mar 29, 2018 | 7 Image Story Posts, Black & White, Daily Image 2018, Michigan, Nikon P7000, Snow B&W
Snow B&W | Fire & Ice On a cold winter night, this trusty fire plug stands ready for duty. To see the entire story with all seven images, go to Snow B&W | a 7 Image Story.
Mar 25, 2018 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom, 7 Image Stories, AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR, AF-S 50mm f1.4G, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, Nature, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D200, Nikon D300, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000, Snow B&W
Snow B&W | a 7 Image Story Black & white images seem to go together with snow, quite often. As winter gives way to spring, it’s time to reflect one last time on winter snow. My black & white images tend to highlight contrasts. Snow provides contrast by its very nature. Whether it’s a winding stream, mountains, or a fence post, snow provides contrast for most shapes against it. And, no matter where you live in the USA, snow is not too far away in the winter. Sometimes, B&W images bring out the true nature of a place. For instance, dawn at Oxbow Bend, the most photographed landscape in the country. is always an emotional experience.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Snow B&W.
Click any image below for a slide show!
Dec 18, 2017 | Daily Image 2017, Michigan, Nikon P7000
Snow Please Snow A nice snow storm this week would be really nice; just a few inches to cover the ground, the trees, and, of course, a few hydrants.
