We had an amazing sunrise on the last morning. Leaving the hotel at 3:45AM, we drove to Steptoe Butte and waited for the light, while bundling up in layers to ward off the chilly wind. When the sunlight finally hit all those distant hills, it did not disappoint.
This area is tailor made for using long lenses. Although we often think of wide angle lenses as being the most suitable for shooting landscapes, telephoto lenses give you strong compression effects, and this works great when shooting across wide expanses of similar terrain such as this.
Zooming in way in lets you create tight images that focus on strong, dynamic elements of light, shadow, pattern and repetition. They also create interesting interplay between colors.
As you can see in the photo above, the fields aren’t quite fully green yet, but the compression effects across the horizontal areas along the ridges and the tops of the hills accentuates the green. This saturates those colors even more and helps create an even stronger contrast between the greens and the browns.
My camera gear choice for this scene was my X-T2 and the Fujifilm XF100-400 f/4.5-5.6 OIS WR lens. The 100-400 is an incredibly sharp long telephoto that lets you zoom very far in and isolate distant subject matter, and it has incredible image stabilization.
I started with a tripod here, but since the morning light was coming up so quickly, and since there was just so much amazing subject matter to shoot, I soon took if off and shot handheld. Combined with the high resolution of the X-T2’s 24MP X-Trans sensor, the 100-400 always gives me impressively sharp photos, even when handheld at surprisingly low shutter speeds.
I’ll confidently hand-hold it down to 1/60 second, even at 400mm, and with no wind and an extra steady hand, I can even go town to 1/30 and below with sharp results.
I encourage you to try shooting landscapes with long lenses, and if you’re a Fuji shooter, definitely check out the XF100-400 lens. Fujifilm has a rebate on this lens right now; if you buy the 100-400, you can get either the 1.4X or 2X Teleconverter for free. That’s an instant $450 savings.
Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography BlogPosted on by Dan
I’m in The Palouse this week, helping out… crashing one of the Fuji X workshops led by Jack Graham and Bill Fortney. If you’re unfamiliar with The Palouse (don’t feel bad, I’d never heard of this region until recently), it’s a large agricultural area in eastern Washington mostly comprised of canola, wheat and legume farms.
It’s probably one of the most recognizable areas on the entire planet, because that’s where the iconic Windows desktop picture was shot.
Filled with gentle rolling fields of brilliant green that stretch for endless miles, as well as a multitude of red barns, old GMC trucks and other vintage things covered with peeling paint and rust, this area is a photographer’s paradise.
From grand, vast scenics shot across miles of open land to close up details, The Palouse has enough subject matter to keep you busy for days, weeks, years.
Since I came all the way down to speak at Glazers Photofest this weekend, I figured I’d extend my trip and join Jack and Bill at the workshop. Both fellow X-Photographers, I taught with Jack and Bill at the recent Fujifim X-Photographers Summit in The Great Smoky Mountains, and I’ll be teaching with them as well for the September Fujifilm Summit, which will take place in Oregon.
It’s always a blast to see those guys, and it’s been fun to meet some other photographers and see a few old friends as well. I always enjoy sharing my knowledge about photography and helping people get the most from their cameras.
I hope to see some of you this weekend, if you come to the Glazers event, be sure and say hi! I’m giving my talks both days, and when I’m not speaking, I’ll be hanging out at the Fujifilm booth.
Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography BlogPosted on by Dan
I’ve long been fascinated with the concepts of how our evolution as human beings plays a part in our artistic tendencies and creative habits.
Throughout the span of human history, we humans have expressed ourselves with artistic representations and depictions of our lives and our world, and a significant element of our creative endeavors is geared around the use of color.
As with many of the behaviors and tendencies we exhibit our lives, our use of color is closely tied to both our biological evolution and our cultural history, which reflects thousands of years of evolution.
Consequently, our brains grew much more powerful to the point where 30% of the of neurons in our cerebral cortex are devoted to visual processing, and 80% of all visual processing done in our brains is devoted to color recognition.
Color recognition played a big part in our big brain evolution, and in fact, it’s one of the most fundamental aspects that separates us from most other mammals.
Where the majority of mammals on the planet can only recognize two of the primary colors in what we know as the visual spectrum, we humans evolved with what’s called Trichromatic Vision. Possessing three types of cone cell receptors in our eyes that are geared towards recognizing the colors red, green and blue.
RGB. Do these letters sound familiar?
The man difference is that evolved with the ability to easily recognize the color red. Given that many of the things in nature that are red are either things we can eat or dangerous things that we tend to avoid, our ability to quickly spot red played a huge role in helping us stay safe and well fed.
Combining Biology with Culture
In addition to our genetic evolution, we humans are also heavily influenced by our rich cultural history that spans thousands of years of civilization. Color has always played a large part in our cultural traditions and moods, and when you combine our biological and societal history, it’s easy to see the important role that color plays in nearly every aspect of outlives.
USING COLOR to EVOKE MOOD
There is multitude of ways we can use color in our photographs to evoke certain moods and visual response from our viewers. Here are a few essential tips to get you started.
Blue
Technically, there is almost nothing in nature that is the color blue. However, due to the ways that we perceive the scattering and diffusion of short blue light wavelengths, we associate blue as being the color of the sky and the ocean. And glaciers.
For this reason, blue is perceived as being a noble, highly dignified color that projects feelings of calm and tranquility.
Green
The predominant color of nature, grass, and vegetation, green evokes a timeless feeling in your images.
If you combine green with blue, you’ll create a serene, subdued image that projects endless tranquility.
Red
Red is the color of blood, the distinctive marking on a black widow spider and things like berries, apples and ripe tomatoes. Red incites energy and an immediate sense of heightened emotion.
As I mentioned above, our ability to see red so clearly marks one of the fundamental characteristics of our advanced human visual systems. Using a small splash of red in your photos will catch the attention of your viewers and draw them right into the image.
For this reason, red is very eye catching in photos. You can’t avoid looking at the red thing, even it’s just a small part of the image. However, due to a specific chemical depletion in our cone cells that occurs when we view large amounts of red for a long period of time, too much red will incite eye fatigue, and create weird optical illusions.
This isn’t to say that you should never make photos with an all red color palette, you just need to do it sparingly and use an effective composition. If it’s done right, it can generate a powerful viewer response.
Note, like red, orange can also be used as an effective spot color.
Yellow
Yellow is the brightest color in the spectrum, and it’s the most stimulating and fatiguing color to look at. Even more so than red.
Things in our world that are yellow are meant to be looked at, like school busses and warning signs. For this reason, you can use yellow as a spot color and visual target to draw your viewer’s eye right into image.
Pink
Lying between hot red and cool violet on the color wheel, pink is perceived as a warm color. You’ll find that you can be very bold with pink. It commands a lot of attention but it doesn’t incite the same level of eye fatigue as red does.
In landscapes, pink is often the color of sunset light and it can add a lot of richness to your photos, even when used in large amounts. I love using pink in my photographs, especially my mountain aerials.
You’ll find that orange behaves much like pink in the sense that you can use it in large amounts without inciting eye fatigue.
COLOR COMBINATIONS
You can combine colors in your image to achieve powerful visual effects. Anytime you use primary or secondary colors together, or if you use complimentary colors together, (opposites on the color wheel), you’ll create please images that retain the viewers attention.
These kinds of colors are highly attractive to us, and so we want to see them. When used correctly, then can command an equal amount of attention, and this creates strong visual relationships that draw our eyes back and forth across the image.
With all of the colors in our world, there is an endless variation to how you can arrange them in your photography. As with any compositional technique, it takes practice to get a feel for what colors work well together and how to position them in your frame for maximum visual impact.
Keep in mind, there are no hard and fast rules here, so feel free to experiment with your use of color and see what works for you in your quest to communicate your creative ideas.
Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography BlogPosted on by Dan
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Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography BlogPosted on by Dan
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Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography BlogPosted on by Dan
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Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography BlogPosted on by Dan
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