In-camera Pan Blur of a stand of Lodgepole Pines covered in snow.

Yellowstone Part II

January 23, 2022

After leaving Yellowstone, I haven’t had a lot of time to sort through my images. I had to leave one trip and go straight to another. I’m on the plane writing this blog post while heading home for three days before leaving for my Greece photo tour. I have lots to do, since I, and many of my clients have had flight changes, Covid testing issues, etc.…

While home I’ll see my family, unpack, wash laundry, pack another suitcase, update spreadsheets, get my mail, go to bank, send out bills, and answer emails. AND sleep in my own bed.

I probably won’t have time to sit and look through photos, so I’m doing it now. I picked these images as my second round because they are the ones that mean something to me, and I don’t want them to get forgotten in what I refer to as hard drive heaven.

To create the in-camera pan blur of the stand of Lodgepole Pines shown above I handheld my camera; my shutter speed was 1/6 second and I was shooting in manual mode. I moved my camera at different speeds in an upward movement. Hoping to leave a bit of detail in the background trees. I wish Sony had multiple exposure capabilities so that I could have captured an in- camera multiple exposure but they don’t and so I worked on a pan blur instead. I’m glad I did, I like this one very much. The soft color palette appealed to me too.

This close up shot of a bison was taken at first light was captured while on my belly rolling in the snow to try to get a low angle for this very beautiful bison that stepped away from the herd. I loved seeing all the snow on him and the dark background looked nice.

The walking bison with the blue strip of water at the top of the frame looked incredible with all the caked-on snow. The composition took some getting used to…

This high key tree shot became art once I overexposed the background on purpose and increased the green tones. After all, photography is much more than just trying to get the correct exposure in-camera. This look appeals to me very much.

Our early morning sunrise shot at the thermals was beyond what I could have hoped for as far as color and layers. I decided to capture a vertical to take advantage of the sky, yet keep a tight frame on the thermal area.

My favorite bison was one that was laying in the snow, covered with frost and ice. He looked so cold. My RAW file shows a totally blue scene as this was captured before first light. I tried over and over again to commit to the blue cast but in the end I have chosen to share this scenic view (below) taken a little later that morning instead. I am still working on the blue bison. I left some of the color cast in my scenic shot and loved the way he looked like a small part of a winter scene.

I loved this stand of tree bones that stood at the top of a hill and couldn’t help but think they reminded me of that saying - “the dead of winter.”

All of my Yellowstone images in both of my posts were captured with my Sony A1. I used a variety of Sony lenses: 200-600mm, 70-200mm, 24-105mm and my 16-35mm. I used manual mode for all, evaluative metering, natural light. Almost all were handheld.

I’ll be returning to Yellowstone in 2024. I have a sold-out trip but plan to offer another one. Should Yellowstone in winter be on your bucket list— absolutely! It is an amazing experience and to think it is one of our most treasured National Parks. Yes, a return to Yellowstone… I can hardly wait.

Death Valley Trip Report

January 19, 2022

I left Yellowstone NP and flew straight to Vegas where my friend Michael picked me up and drove me to Death Valley. We arrived a couple of days before my group and scouted some of our favorite spots.

Badwater Basin looked like someone dropped a huge pile of dirt on it and swept it over the beautiful, white, salt hexagons; most of the low crusty edges had been leveled. Most likely a result of precipitation drainage from the bordering peaks. When the basin floods, a portion of the salt is dissolved. It gets redeposited as clean crystals after the water evaporates. I am not sure how long this will take but I hope it isn’t too long.

On our first shoot together, we went to Mesquite Dunes. It was a glorious afternoon, but the sunset was a bust. Still the sand dunes did not disappoint. Our second day started at Zabriski Point, we woke up nice and early and were treated to a front row seat for the morning show. Our afternoon session at Badwater was decent, at the last minute the sky lit up and it looked spectacular!

We had a bit of a no-show with the light for our next early morning sunrise shoot. However, we did enjoy a lovely morning to ourselves away from everyone. Later in the week we did have a beautiful pink sunrise.

Even with all of the weather issues, Death Valley does not disappoint, ever. Whether it is sunny hot, freezing cold, cloudy, or rainy. I am always in awe of its absolute beauty and diversity. Turns out, my group was really nice too and I enjoyed my time with all of them.

Below are a few of my favorites from the trip.

Yellowstone Trip Report

January 13, 2022

I just finished up my first ever “Winter in Yellowstone” tour. It was a joy to see the park covered in snow. The last few times I was in Yellowstone it was either in the fall or in the summer. I also hadn’t been to Yellowstone in many years, so it was great to get back.

One of the main shots that I was after was the bison walking towards me in the snow, fully covered in frost. I know that is a classic shot that has been done to death, but I really, really wanted one of my own. For this trip it was not to be, even though we had a perfect opportunity on our first day…

Overall, we had really bad luck on the snow coach portion of the trip. However, when you set out to photograph wildlife, and you are not baiting your subjects the sightings can be hit or miss. That is part of the thrill of a true wildlife adventure. You just never know what will be around the corner.

Being in a snow coach allowed us to see the park in a way that many never do. There were times that we were the only ones around. On one day in particular, the winds were blowing at least 40mph with snow being blown all over the place to create a total white out. That day was special, it started with a lone bison covered in snow, ice, and frost. I took several different shots and changed my position and focal length often. I could have stayed with him for hours except that my fingertips and toes would not have made it. The outside temperature was -16 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of my favorite series of shots and most memorable experiences from the trip was the day we spotted two bull moose in a hoarfrost covered meadow. They were fairly young and did some mock sparring over and over again. We had to trek out in knee deep snow to get within shooting distance; it was like being a kid on a snow day!

During the trip we spent a lot of time in and around Lamar Valley and Gardiner concentrating our efforts on wildlife. However, the snow-covered trees continued to beckon me. On a few of our shoots I spent time framing out frosted tree scapes. Many of the trees in the park are Lodge Pole Pines. They looked like tall, thin Christmas trees that were heavily laced with snow. I decided to create a small series of high-key trees scapes from Yellowstone.

Bighorn sheep were in abundance, and we saw several full-grown males (rams) with 360 horns (horns that have created a full circle) fighting over a small, timid female that looked scared to death. I felt so bad for her. She climbed up next to a rock in hopes that the large males could not get to her. Over and over, they caught and chased her and each other. It was exciting to watch and even more fun to photograph. However, it was cold as heck, but the warm van awaited us with snacks and heat.

Photographing in the snow can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you are not doing it every day. There are other things to consider than just the exposure. Your shutter speed may affect the look of the snow, especially if your shutter speed is slow. I like to vary my shutter speed and experiment with different looks.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in the park and will most likely go again next year if I can find the time. I do wish we had been able to find wolves that we could photograph but at least we saw about twenty altogether.

In this post I have included a few of my favorites (a small portion of my images) from the trip. At the end of the post I put two of my favorite high key trees shots that I worked on. I’m in Death Valley right now checking out conditions for my group that are coming in on the 15th. I hope to share more soon.

Inspired

December 18, 2021

While looking through some of my Japan 2020 files, I came across this simple tree scape. I liked the dramatic feel of the image. The atmospheric look was created by early morning fog on one of the coldest mornings I have ever felt. The fog was enhanced by a nearby onsen. Hoarfrost and shadows helped to create the look as well. The cooler tones were captured in-camera and I decided to leave them as part of the effect, however, the tones were tweaked slightly.

It is a week before Christmas and I will not be posting again until after the New Year. I would like to thank all of you that have supported my work this year. And to those of you that have used my B&H link to make your camera gear purchases, bought an eBook or two, and to those of you that have purchased my prints or attended one of my workshops or Zoom sessions-thank you again for your continued support, it means so much.

Bug hugs, happy holidays!

Denise

Bosque Client's Images

December 15, 2021

From Michele McCormick:

Sandhill Crane

When I first uploaded this image, I thought it was a loser. His feet were cut off! But as I looked at the image more closely, I loved the feathers around his face and realized there was opportunity here with the right crop. I have quite a few nice crane-in-flight images from Bosque, but this tight crop seems to me to do the best job of capturing the Sandhill Crane spirit and character. What started as a loser turned out to be a treat.

From Gayle Dana:

"Magic happens at Bosque del Apache just after the sun drops below the horizon. Soft glowing pink light creates the backdrop for the tall, stately Sandhill Cranes making their presence known with their rattling bugle calls in the nearby ponds and flying in the distance. This photo was made with an Olympus E-M1MarkII camera, and Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm lens at f2.8 pro ISO 1600, 120mm focal length, f/4.0 at 1/400 sec.” Thanks for great workshop. I learned alot and gained inspiration! I also enjoyed Bosque, and the group.

From Debbie Teague:

I love shooting birds at Bosque del Apache. It’s such a special place. I’m always looking for something different to shoot. I was watching the cranes landing and walking through the tall grasses. This was one of my favorite images.

From Susan McClure:

"I had a wonderful time at Bosque Del Apache with Denise Ippolito and her co-leaders Donna and Dave. Everyone was super helpful with ideas on how to correctly expose for the scene and ideas for pan blurs. I found those much harder to do and I know it will take lots of practice. There were so many birds it was hard to isolate one. I photographed this one Sandhill Crane in the beautiful light of the setting sun. The sunsets at Bosque were brilliant. I would recommend this workshop to anyone with a great love of birds. I have always found Denise's creativity so inspiring and I had a goal to at least learn to advance my creativity on the tour. I was not disappointed and came home with some lovely images."

From Donna Speranzini:

At Denise’s 2019 Palouse Workshop when I was complaining about all of the houses in my Steptoe Butte photos a wise participant turned to me and said “Oh Donna, you just have to embrace the houses”. I have carried that with me ever since. When all the sandhill cranes are clustered, overlapped and too far away to isolate any one bird, you capture the amazing light and embrace the randomness and chaos. Sony A7R3 Sony 200-600 @200mm ISO2500 F8 1/650s

From Linda Caden:

Delicate Steps in Bosque

Eary morning light filters through the Phragmite reeds. It silhouettes two Sandhill Cranes, part of a slow procession that morning. How lucky it was to capture them, toes dripping with water drops, slightly separated from the rest. Inspired by Denise. Performance by the cranes.

From Clare Coco:

These majestic snow geese in flight are framed in a silhouette against the backdrop of sunrise’s golden light: a testament to nature’s beauty and a privilege to photograph.

Everyone that attended my recent Bosque workshop was a delight to work with. I look forward to seeing them all again soon. Their images capture the spirit of Bosque and are very inspiring. They make me want to jump on a plane and get back out there .
Denise