Nature Photography Workshops Tours
I was going through my archives tonight and thought I would share an image I took a few years back in western Montana. I love those mornings when you get that perfect combination of fog and early morning light, creating a much more dramatic landscape in an otherwise average scene. A good example of how the power of light and elements can help transform and shape your images.
Canon 5D 70-200mm 2.8L f8 1/400 ISO200
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
Winter is finally here in Montana and I thought I would share some of the last of the fall images I’ve taken this year in western Montana. This image was created in the Seeley-Swan Valley using a wide angle lens and some experimentation in an awesome aspen grove we found on my recent workshop. I love playing with compositions in groves like this, as you can spend all day rearranging the trees in different configurations and including different elements such as the rising sun in this one.
Canon 5D Mark III, 16-35mm 2.8L mkII, f16 1/15 ISo100 +1
Fall colors are going strong in Montana right now. Photographed this aspen stand not too far from home last night just after sunset.
Canon 1DX, 70-200mm 2.8L IS mkII, F11 0.3 sec ISO100
Aspens. © Jason Savage
It’s good to be sitting down at the computer and spending a few moments reflecting on the Fall we’ve been having. The last few months have been a wee bit chaotic with trying to sell our house, being on the road, raising our little ones, and everything else in between. But, I’ve never had it so good, so I suppose I should be grateful and stop my whining!
This Fall has been good, but kind of strange. It’s been in the seventies and eighties for most of September through October, and blue skies most days. It’s definitely not typical and very warm for this time of year. However the colors still look great and they are going strong all over the state. With the warm weather it has made for some challenging photography ,and there have been a couple days I came home empty handed without even taking my camera out of my bag.
When it’s warm, dry, and clear blue skies, the leaves are just dry and crunchy looking and there’s none of that beautiful contrast and saturation we get with a day of moisture. Right now we have a small low pressure system moving through the state and has greatly helped things out.
If you are wanting to go out and photograph some fall colors, this week’s the time to do it, as in the next couple weeks a lot of trees will have dumped their leaves.
I will be traveling up north to Seeley Lake for a Fall Photography Workshop Oct. 22-24 to explore some of the amazing Larch around the Seeley-Swan Valley just as the trees are starting to peak. There is still room left on the workshop if anyone is interested. It runs from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. You can check my site for more info www.jasonsavagephotography.com
Should have some great images to post soon after.
Good luck to all those who venture out in the next couple weeks!
Rainy Lake.© Jason Savage
Just got back from a fall photography workshop I was teaching in Seeley Lake and boy was it a beautiful weekend. The weather was on our side and even gave us some nice bits of light here and there.
No fall colors yet to be found. The record cold temps we had last week have killed off most of the leaves and they’re just a dead brown color. The only trees baring any color were the Tamaracks and we found some nice patches of them in the higher country above Seeley Lake.
Tamaracks.© Jason Savage
The Tamracks or Larch as you may know them, look to be still en-route to their brilliant golden orange, but are a couple weeks behind schedule. Usually this time of year up in the Seeley Lake area, these trees are at their peak and displaying a magnificent scene of fall color. If you’re able to make it up in the next week or two, you should have a really nice show.
I was reminded on the workshop that even without all of the usual fall colors, there is still always something to photograph in Montana. We had some great light, beautiful weather and some fantastic looking Tamaracks. It was a great weekend to be tromping around Seeley Lake.
Aspens.©Jason Savage