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Back from Glacier National Park

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Glacier National Park
Wild Goose Island, Glacier National Park. Sony A7rIII 24-70mm 2.8 f11 .03″ ISO100

Just returned from another epic trip in Glacier National Park! We had a great workshop with a fantastic group of travelers. I think someone had the good sunrise mojo because we had wonderful clouds and amazing color every single morning of the trip. Two of these we had no wind which allowed for some perfect landscapes. It’s not everyday we have these conditions come together, but when they do it’s magical! 

We had great wildlife viewing as well and saw around 7 or 8 grizzlies and a black bear with cubs, along with the usually Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats, and some smaller critters. A wonderful trip and sorry to have to go. This workshop also marks my one year anniversary shooting Sony and I’ve been nothing but impressed with how this system is performing, still absolutely no regrets on making the switch last year from Canon. 

I’m really looking forward to getting back up to the park and will be conducting my fall workshop in late September. Here are a few shots from last week.

Mount Wilbur, Glacier N.P. Sony a9 100-400mm f5.6 1/60 ISO800

Horses Montana
Many Glacier, Glacier N.P. Sony a7rIII 16-35mm f11 1/1000 ISO3200

Mountain Montana
Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier N.P. Sony a7rIII 12-24mm f16. 1.6″ ISO100

Back from Glacier National Park

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Glacier National Park Workshop
Two Medicine Lake. Sony a7RIII 16-35mm 2.8GM, f16 2″ ISO200

I’ve just returned from my summer workshop in Glacier National Park and thought I’d share a few images from the trip. First I must say that one of the reasons I love teaching workshops is meeting all of you fabulous photographers out there and like minded wanderers! We had such a great group on this trip and thanks again to everyone for making it such a blast! We really lucked out on this trip with weather and had pretty decent temps with a couple really nice sunrises, not to mention some fantastic wildlife encounters. We had Moose, Mountain Goats, Bighorn Sheep and plenty of Black Bears wandering the east side of the park this year.  And the wildflower blooms were just plain ridiculous. 

I also really enjoyed getting to test out my new Sony gear on this trip and I must say, I’m extremely impressed. As some of you may know, I left Canon last year and I have been experimenting with different mirrorless systems. Well I must say I think I’ve found a winner! Sony’s files, camera technology including autofocus and overall performance are simply incredible and seem to fit me very well with my shooting style.Their lenses are also superb and very much in-line build quality-wise with Nikon and Canon, but optics are slightly above, which is saying something. 

I look forward to posting some equipment reviews here shortly. In the meantime, I’ll be busy in front of the computer editing away:)

Montana Moose
Cow moose. Sony a9 100-400mm 4.5-5.6GM 1.4Xtc, f8 1/2500 ISO1600

Glacier Mountains
Wild Goose Island. Sony a7RIII 24-70mm 2.8GM, f11 1″ ISO100

Glacier National Park Wildflowers
Many Glacier Wildflowers. Sony a7rIII 16-35mm 2.8GM, f16 1/250 ISO1600

Glacier Horses
Glacier Horses. Sony a7RIII 16-35mm 2.8GM, f11 1/800 ISO3200

Glacier Mountain Goat
Mountain Goat. Sony a9 100-400mm 4.5-5.6GM 1.4Xtc, f8 1/1000 ISO1600

Avalanche Gorge
Avalanche Creek. Sony a7RIII 24-70mm 2.8GM, f11 3.2″ ISO100

Glacier Sunrise
Swiftcurrent Lake Sunrise. Sony a7RIII 12-24mm f4, f16 2″ ISO100

Swiftcurrent Falls Glacier
Swiftcurrent Falls. Sony a7RIII 16-35mm 2.8GM, f16 1/4 ISO64

Fall Workshops

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Now that fall is on its way out and things in the photo world are giving me a slight break, I thought I would share a few images from our fall workshops this year. 

September and October had me up in Glacier National Park, Seeley Swan Valley and my own backyard of the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana chasing fall colors and leading workshops. In mid September the smoke finally cleared from the fires that we were having out west and ushered in snow for the mountains and gorgeous colors throughout Montana. 

Enjoy!

 

Montana Photography Workshop
Swiftcurrent Lake. Canon 5DMKIV 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f11 1/500 ISO1600

Glacier National Park
North Fork. Canon 5DMKIV 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f11 1/20 ISO100

Montana Fall Photography
Bitterroot Valley. Canon 5DMKIV 16-35mm f4L IS f16 1/6 ISO100

Montana Fall Photography Workshop
Kootenai Creek. Canon 5D MKIV 16-35mm f4L IS f16 1.5″ ISO100

Fall colors photo workshop
Daly Mansion. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f16 0.5″ ISO100

Washington’s 2017 Palouse Workshop

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Palouse Barn
First light, Palouse. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II F8 1/10 ISO400

Finally getting caught up on some editing here and thought I would share a few images from our Palouse Workshop this spring. We had a fantastic trip in eastern Washington’s amazing landscape and old Americana towns. Despite a couple days of rain we managed to work some great scenes and explore some new locations this year. 

Whenever inclement weather rolls in, it’s easy to get discouraged, especially when you have your sights set on certain scenes and images you’ve envisioned. I’ve learned a while back that great images can be made in any conditions and instead of fighting the weather, use it to your advantage. Making lemonade out of lemons. Adversity in nature photography or any photography for that matter is a great teacher and forces you to really reach in and dig deeper for your inner creativity. It also is a great way in training the eye to work for compositions and studying elements. 

On this trip we had a couple days where we shifted gears from big landscapes to things that would work in our couple days of rain. Classic cars, fading paint, abstracts, old Americana. Focusing more of our attention on one of the Palouse’s endearing qualities, it’s history. After a day or two of wandering some of the small towns, I was really impressed with what our group came away with. Especially seeing everyone’s unique perspectives. 

Despite the initial rain, the Palouse did not disappoint as usual. For our night at Palouse Falls, the skies began to clear, giving us an epic sunset, intense colors, and great atmosphere that night. We came away with some of the best shots I’ve seen there. In the morning we were treated to the classic Palouse shots from Steptoe Butte and had some brilliant light turning the hills into a pastel painting. 

All in all our trip to the Palouse had some great variety, which is why I love shooting here. Barns, classic Americana, and stunning hills reminisant of Tuscany can keep landscape photographers busy to no end, especially if you visit from season to season. As the crops are harvested the landscape is ever changing making it a different scene year after year. 

Thanks to all my travelers this year for making this trip so much fun! I didn’t want to leave:)

Texaco Station
Old Texaco Station. Canon 5DMK4 100-40mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f11 1/15 ISO100

Palouse Sign
Coca Cola. Canon 5Dsr 24-105mm f4L IS II f11 1/4 ISO100

Palouse Old Chevy
Old Chevy. Canon 5Ds4r 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/500 ISO800

Palouse Canola
Photographer in Canola Field. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f5.6 1/750 ISO1600

Palouse Horse
Horse and Barn. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/500 ISO1600

Sunset Palouse Falls
Palouse Falls. Canon 5DMK4 11-24mm f4L f16 0.7 ISO100

Palouse Steptoe Butte
Steptoe Butte. Canon 5DMK4 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/90 ISO800

 

 

 

Glacier National Park Workshop 2016

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Wild Goose Island
Wild Goose Island at sunrise. Canon 5Dsr, 24-70mm 2.8L II. f11 1/6 ISO100

We had a fantastic trip in Montana this summer on the 2016 Glacier National Park Workshop. Weather was perfect, wildlife was abundant, and we had way too much fun out there chasing the light in one of my favorite National Parks.

This year conditions were looking good. The remnants of the last year’s fire around St. Mary Lake were evident, but did not affect some of the classic shots, specifically Wild Goose Island. However it was interesting to hike through the recent burn and see the vegetation beginning to grow and also the different bird specifies that were visible and taking advantage of the the new resources available after the fire.

Glacier National Park
Remnants of Reynolds Creek Fire. Canon 5Dsr, 24-70mm 2.8L II. f11 1/30 ISO800

Last year the Reynolds Creek Fire blew up the day we were about to start our workshop on the east side. The fire forced us to evacuate and move our group to the west side for the rest of the workshop. The uncertainty of the fire left a lot of people wondering how much would be left intact around Wild Goose Island and the Going to the Sun Road. In all the fire burned around 4,800 acres.

Fortunately this year there were no fires to contend with and the park was back to normal on the east side. Matter of fact Glacier was to see record visitation this year and as of this writing over 2.3 million people have visited the iconic park, breaking last year’s record of 2.2 million and we’re still not finished yet. That’s a heck of a lot of people considering the park’s season generally runs from June-Oct. It’s also a recent challenge that a lot of National Parks are having to deal with at the moment. Now that more people are discovering our last best places, parks are having to figure out how to continue to protect and manage our delicate lands.

Glacier is certainly a special place for both landscape and wildlife photographers and offers an amazing diversity in climate, landscape, and wildlife found no where else in the lower 48. I look forward to being back soon and visiting one of my favorite places to explore!

Montana Waterfalls
Last light at St. Mary Falls. Canon 5Dsr, 16-35mm f4L IS. f16 0.3″ ISO100

Montana Wildlife
Bull Moose at Many Glacier. Canon 7D mkII, 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II. f8 1/250 ISO1600

Glacier National Park Waterfalls
Sunrise at Swiftcurrent Falls. Canon 5Dsr, 11-24mm f4L. f16 1/15 ISO100

Olympic National Park

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Photography Workshop
Photographer at Olympic N.P. Canon 7DmkII 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/1500 ISO1600

Had a phenomenal workshop this year at Olympic National Park! Such a fantastic and great group of travelers and conditions in Olympic’s rainforest were looking better than ever. Our weather cooperated with only one day of serious rain and we managed to get some sunsets on a couple days of our ocean and seascape work down at Ruby and Rialto beaches. One of my favorite things about photographing Olympic is its diversity. We can be in the lush rainforests one minute and move over to the beaches the next. Later in the year the high alpine areas open up and ample images await up on Hurricane Ridge in the park’s northeast corner of the park.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s workshop and will be opening up 2017 to six spots on this workshop.

Here’s a few from this year:

Olympic National Park
Rialto Beach at sunset. Canon 5dsr 24-70mm f2.8 II, f11 1/6 ISO100

Washington Rainforest
Bunchberry and Ferns. Canon 5dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II, f16 1″ ISO400

Olympic National Park
Ruby Beach. Canon 5dsr 24-70 f2.8L II, f11 15″ ISO100

 

Glacier National Park

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Glacier National Park
Swiftcurrent Falls. Canon 1DX 11-24mm f4L. f16 1/10 ISO50

Just finished up a fantastic private workshop in Glacier National Park this last week. It was so refreshing to be back in Glacier this year, one of my absolute favorite locations right here in my backyard in Montana. Had a wonderful few days with my client with an epic fog and light show our first morning and some pretty sweet wildlife encounters during our stay.

Just arrived in Seattle for a trip out to the Peninsula, but will be back to Glacier in a couple weeks for my annual workshop and will have some more images to share soon. As of right now I’m enjoying the cool down of the Pacific Northwest temps compared to the seemingly endless heat wave we’ve had further inland in the west, next stop Olympic National Park!

 

Glacier National Park
Swiftcurrent Lake. Canon 1DX 11-24mm f4L. f16 1/4 ISO100

 

Glacier National Park
Grizzly. Canon 1DX 100-400 f4.5-5.6L IS II. f5.6 1/125 ISO3200

Glacier National Park
Ferns. Canon 1DX 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II. f27 1/4 ISO1600

Columbia River Gorge Workshop

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Columbia River Gorge
Canon 5D mkIII, 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II, f13 1 sec ISO 100

Looking forward to heading down to the Columbia River Gorge next week for my spring workshop as wildflowers are in bloom and water is flowing! Last week I was down on vacation scouting some new locations and found some great new spots and hidden gems I had no idea were there. Once you get off the beaten path, the Gorge reveals some amazing geography and beautiful falls. While I was down there I also had a lot of fun with Canon’s new 11-24mm which has been perfect for waterfalls and landscapes around the Gorge. The extra wide angle of view is still a little challenging to get used to and definitely requires a lot more thought when approaching certain subjects and scenes. But when you get it right, 11mm is pretty spectacular and can make for some pretty in-your-face foregrounds! I look forward to using it more on next week’s workshop. As for now, I’m back in Montana enjoying spring in the Rockies with our days alternating between 70 degrees and snow:) I hope to have some updates from my trips here soon while over in the Pacific Northwest. If you didn’t get a chance to get in on this year’s workshops, all of my 2016 workshops will be up and available later this week.

Columbia River Gorge
Canon 1DX, 11-24mm f4L, f19 .5 sec ISO100

Oregon Wildflowers
Canon 1DX 11-24mm f4L, f16 1/1000 ISO1600

Portland Japanese Garden
Canon 1DX, 11-24mm f4L, f16 1/90 ISO100

Montana Fall Photography Workshop

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Montana Photo Workshops
Swan Mountain Range, Montana

Looking forward to scenes like this coming up on my Seeley-Swan Valley photography workshop in western Montana! During mid October, the larch or “Tamaracks” depending on where you’re from, turn brilliant gold and orange hues illuminating the valley floor and providing awesome backdrops like the one you see here. The valley sits nestled between both the Swan Mountain Range and the Mission Mountains, both equally dramatic and usually snow capped this time of year. If you find yourself in western Montana this October and looking for a little solitude, the Seeley-Swan won’t dissapoint!