The Moment Before the Click | Gallatin River Montana

Jul 27, 2020 | AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, Daily Image 2020, Gallatin River Ranch, Montana, Nikon D200, The Moment Before the Click

The Moment Before the Click | Gallatin River Montana

The Moment Before the Click | Gallatin River Montana   While crossing the small bridge into the Gallatin River Ranch, it’s not uncommon to see someone fly fishing.  In fact, the Gallatin River is a top fly fishing destination for Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout and an occasional Cutthroat Trout.  With the setting sun behind me, this scene began to unfold.  At first, it seemed like the fisherman might be the subject, but as the light changed, it revealed nice landscape image.  So, I decided to make it a landscape with a human included.  After walking up and down the bridge a bit to get the composition with beautiful late afternoon light, this scene came into focus.  The scene is  classic Montana with Gallatin fishing.  The only sound breaking the calm came from water ripples in the river.  A nice way to end the day!  Click!   For the whole story with all images, see The Moment Before the Click | a 7 Image Story.

The Sunday Drive | a 7 Image Story

Mar 22, 2020 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6, 7 Image Stories, AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Arizona, Illinois, Montana, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D200, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000, Places, The Sunday Drive, Wind Cave, Yellowstone

The Sunday Drive | Thru the WoodsThe Sunday Drive | a 7 Image Story   When I was a young boy growing up on a Midwest farm, my parents often took a Sunday drive.  It became a bit of a tradition.  Now, we did not go every Sunday, but fairly often.  Sometimes, the purpose was to “look at the crops.”  Sometimes, it was to “just to get off the farm.”  Sometimes, it was a short ride; sometimes a long ride.  Occasionally, the Sunday drive took us all the way to Chicago’s Midway Airport to watch the planes land and take-off.  Apparently, my parents were not the only ones to partake in this “tradition.”  The Sunday drive was a relatively inexpensive way to showdown, spend family time, and enjoy the world around us.

Why remember those Sunday Drives now?   With the world in crisis mode over the corona virus, states and even countries are issuing stay at home orders.  It’s forcing us to slowdown a bit and value the simpler things in life.  More people seem to be going for walks.  Although the stay at home orders generally discourage travel by car except for the essentials, the slowdown somehow reminded me of those Sunday Drives.  As some of the restrictions are raised, maybe the Sunday drive will make a resurgence.  Or, perhaps a Sunday walk or bike ride will take its place.

Thru the Woods  Spring is technically here.  A nice spring snow shower made beautiful surroundings on my way to the grocery store this morning.  The stay at home order does not say you must take the shortest route to the store.  This route may be less traveled, but its beauty improved my mood for the day.   On Gravel Roads  The countryside in Montana contains numerous gravel roads running along old fence lines.   Unless you live in a large city, back country, gravel roads aren’t all that far away for a lazy Sunday drive.   In the Hills Arizona can get pretty hot in the summer.  A nice Sunday drive into the mountains can show you breathtaking beauty as well as much cooler air.  And in the winter months, snow and ski runs might great you at the end of the road.  Over the Snow   Most of us don’t live close enough to Yellowstone NP to go for a Sunday drive.  Still, many of us live near hills and mountains.  When covered with snow, they make a nice scenic day drive.

Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category The Sunday Drive.

Click any image below for a slide show.

Fine Art | a 7 Image Story

Nov 17, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Black & White, Fine Art, Fine Art, Grand Tetons, Gray Wolf, Hyalite Canyon, Montana, Nature, Nikon D3x, Places, Wind Cave, Yellowstone

Fine Art | Yellowstone First SnowFine Art | a 7 Image Story   My idea of fine art images consists mostly of black & white compositions with definite contrasts and contours.  These images were converted to black & white from color since it makes better B&W images than shooting directly in B&W.  Interestingly, when capturing each of these images, I captured them with the idea that they would end up being B&W.  Since they were captured in raw format, each image required some post processing.  These images mostly come from my travels through national parks in the American West.  See more fine art in my Fine Art Portfolio.

Yellowstone  There’s nothing like Yellowstone in the winter.  Yellowstone always provides perspective and introspection.  The experience changes on every new trip to Yellowstone with new vistas, wildlife, challenges, and accomplishments.  My visit, when this First Snow mountain image was captured, was indeed very short; only one day.  The park was officially closed except for the north entrance and the road to Cooke City through Lamar Valley.  The mountain image comes from a place close to the north entrance.  A snowstorm had fallen the night before, covering everything in sparkling fresh snow. The Yellowstone River, flowing north out of the park, was not frozen due to the thermal features of the park.

The Yellowstone Tree image came from a another trip in the fall.  Ground water and steam runoff from Yellowstone’s thermal features periodically floods the area around these lodgepole pine trees; killing them.  Several geysers can be seen steaming in the background.  Then silica precipitates upon the dead tree trunks creating the white “bobby sock” trees.  This silica slowly impregnates the wood and over time, could eventually petrify the wood.  These striking trees stand tall against mostly clear skies.

The Hyalite Canyon stream winds down the mountain.  As it gets wider and narrower, the flow gets slower or faster. Slow the shutter speed and time smooths the water’s rough edges.  The mountain stream image was captured between wet snow showers.  Slow down the exposure for the stream to blur and you get a simple, long click.  After experimenting with a variable ND filter to get a good shutter speed, it occurred to me to make it a black & white image.  The light coming off the blurred water will make good contrast.

Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Fine Art.

Click any image below for a slide show.