Bosque de Apache - Day 1

Day 1 - We arrived mid afternoon to predicted weather.  After checking in to the hotel we drove out to the refuge to check out the activity.  The skies were overcast and it had been raining, torrential at times but this turned out to be serendipitous.  The sun peaked out for a few and then there was this double rainbow across the horizon.  The lack of detail did not bother one as the contrast was accentuated.I am so glad to be having this workshop a few weeks later than usual this year.  No jostling for space to set up tripods and get a decent spot.  The typical hoards of photographers competing with their workshop leaders to get a good image are all gone.  The ones that are here seem to have respect for each other and maintain photographer's etiquette, so different for years past.  There are a thousands of sandhill cranes and 10's of thousands of Light Geese making it difficult to isolate.Late evening after dinner we photographed the old church in Socorro.

Yosemite & Mono Lake Day 2 & 3

After a leisurely start we headed to the valley to see if there was any water at Bridal Veil falls.  No such luck there was a trickle but even that allowed us to see the magnitude of the height and widths of Bridal Veil as wing sways the falls from side to side.  We drove one way loop photographing the iconic landscapes and finally got to the Merced river bed at Cathedral Beach to photograph El Capitan and its reflections.  The first image is of Don photographing El Capitan while the second is an unobstructed view with the reflection in the river.  The Merced is quit dry at this time and give some new opportunities to capture images from the river bed.A reflection of El Capitan. We did a fe more locations including the views from Swinging Bridge and the river bed below.After lunch at the Mountain Room we went to the Meadows across Sentinel bridge in preparation for a sunset image of Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge. Day 3 - A significant forest fire has been burning near the Cascades.  The fire started as a result of a lightning strike and has been burning since mid June.  The firs two days were not impacted but this morning the smoke was evident as it blew into the valley. The haze created by the smoke makes of difficult photography.

 

After a day photographing from various vistas we headed out to Washburn and Glacier Points.

A 10 image panorama of the view from Washburn Point:

Half Dome at Sunset - Washburn Point

There is beauty in a dead flower

This is a single flower from hydrangea bunch from our backyard.  Last year's bloom that was nice and crisp.  The lines and forms were so inviting.  This was shot indoors with cross-lighting so as to bring out detail and texture.  Conversions to monochrome in NIK Silver Efex Pro.

Noise Reduction - Canon 7D and ISO 3200

Question: "Shiv, do you do much post-processing on images shot at ISO 3200 with your 7D? I have many such photos from our Costa Rica trip and wonder if I can improve some a little by reducing "grain"."Response: When you shoot at ISO 3200 you need to process using Canon's DPP for the initial Noise Reduction before you do any work in Aperture, Lightroom or ACR. Now you can bring the images into Photoshop and use NIK's Define if you have it or use the noise reduction in Adobe Camera Raw for further noise reduction if required - I find Define to be about the best.