As I’m catching up on some much overdue editing here, I thought I would share a few images from this year’s Rocky Mountain Front Photography Workshop in Montana. We timed it just right this year with spectacular wildflowers and perfect weather. Spring in Montana is pretty hard to beat, especially in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Front, enjoy!
Montana Harvest
It’s certainly harvest time here in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. I was just wrapping up for the day when I came across this great harvest scene with the sun setting behind the Bitterroots and some fantastic Montana sky.
Canon 5D markIII 16-35mm f4L IS f16 1/250 ISO1600
Montana Wildfires
Lupine and sunset just outside of Glacier National Park. Back in 2006 the Red Eagle Fire burned over 30,000 acres in Glacier and on Blackfeet Tribal Land drastically altering the landscape on the east side of the park.
Canon 1DX 16-35mm f4L IS (handheld) f16 1/20 ISO 400 -1, Singh Ray 3 stop Grad Filter
RMF Photo Workshop
Finished our first night on my workshop with a killer sunset over the northfork of Willow Creek along the Rocky Mountain Front near Choteau, Montana. We had to patiently wait for this one, but were rewarded with a few moments of really beautiful light across the foothills and some dramatic sky.
I was very excited to finally have an excuse to break out my fisheye lens which I haven’t used in way too long. Sometimes a certain scene just calls for it. Looking forward to another great day on the Front.
Helena, Montana
At home busy editing this week and thought I would share this one from the archives. I took this just behind our house in our hometown of Helena on a perfect Montana summer night. The St. Helena Cathedral and Sleeping Giant Mountain are two of Helena’s popular landmarks.
Canon 5d markIII 70-200 2.8L IS II f11 1/5 ISO100
Landscapes & using Live View
I was snowshoeing in the mountains not far from home yesterday out in probably one of the most beautiful days in recent memory. It was cold, fresh powder, and lots of sun. Toward evening I was messing around with the different shapes in the tree trunks and trying to include the last light of the setting sun on the horizon.
I’m finding that I use the live view function on my Canon cameras more and more these days to get those hard to compose shots. For this one, shooting eye level, I couldn’t see the sun in the shot. So by bumping up my ISO to make sure I had a fast enough shutter speed for a sharp shot, I held the camera above me at arms length watching my live view to compose the image. I was finally able to get it high enough to include the setting sun and add an extra little element to this image.
Canon 5D markIII 16-35mm 2.8L mkII f16 1/250 ISO1600 +1
MacDonald Pass
Olympic National Park
Hurricane Ridge. Canon 5dmkII, 16-35mm 2.8L II. ISO 100 f16 1/4
Out on the coast this week in Olympic National Park. These are a couple shots from yesterday along Hurricane Ridge and down lower in the Elwha Valley. Not a bad time of year to be out here with warm weather and lot’s of sunshine, not to mention the as always stellar rainforest!
Madison Falls. Canon 5dmkII, 16-35mm 2.8LII. ISO200 f11 3″
Helena Sunset
Helena Sunset. © Jason Savage
Here’s a pic taken near sundown yesterday just outside of Helena. With our new addition in our family, my schedule seems to be a bit wacky lately and I’m finding myself sneaking in my photos where I can get them. I seem to be becoming more of a nocturnal photographer this last week or two, which goes nicely with not sleeping:) I have also discovered my long neglected friend caffeine again and hopefully I’ll be able to trudge my way through some more blog postings.
Seriously though, life is good, spring is here, and I’m excited to see what this summer has in store for Montana. Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying our 70+ weather and getting some good pics!