Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: tim wolcott on February 05, 2014, 10:58:54 am
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For years I have traveled to Utah. And of course as always doing my research to what Ansel had taken and seen just about everything taken of the areas in Utah and other locals. So how should someone approach a national Icon that has been seen by tens of millions of people over the years and is one of the most photographed places on earth. First I had been there in the 80's with my 4x5. Then I have taken many up there who also wanted to shoot it. But since I make my money and living selling my photos selling fine art at galleries. How do you make a statement. How do you shoot something amazing when its amazing and just sits there, staring at you, taunting you basically teasing you. Then recently I remember Ansel saying something he had said to me in 1983. Let the sky IN. So I did!
I waited till the sky was amazing. But best of all it was damn right cold, did I say cold yes very cold and no one was willing to be up there on that ridiculously cold day. But the clouds that day were amazing and beautiful. So I took the hike like I have many other times before and behold. To be there alone may never happen again in a iconic place again. But perseverance pays off.
P.S. Everyone you meet, every image you SEE will change your life in some small way. Timothy Wolcott
First family in Photography, Celebrating 175 years.
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Nice shot. Very dramatic. How did you shoot and process it?
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Ignore the local wildlife photo-bombing the icon and notice the shadow completing the arch.
An overly familiar subject may present a less familiar face if shot in less photogenic light, midday in November:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1594818/pix/Utah2013/Utah2013-11-4.jpg)
I've Anselled it a bit below; mind you, he didn't have iPhones lying around in his images, tho I'm sure he would have embraced them as tools:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1594818/pix/Utah2013/untitled-1.jpg)
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I processed it with capture one and shot it with the IQ180. But it was so windy up there that I was getting a little afraid of that steep cliff you have to walk on since it was pushing me around. Its the windiest I have ever seen there. not sure if I would do it again. But then again I always say that after the danger is over. It always seems that if its going to be a great shot, I really don't look to much at what the risk is too much. Have a great day. Tim
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I like it a lot. The curved lines in the foreground, the arch, and the dramatic sky, all elements work together to create a very interesting image.
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A fine shot, Tim. And yes, the sky really makes it.
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Excellent sky, unusual take, well worth the hike.
For me, the bottom distracts, and I might crop this square.
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excellent image with a wonderful sky
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The clouds turn the iconic arc into a piece of pop-art. ;)
I like it !
Cheers
~Chris
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Have you tried cropping off the bottom one-quarter? And, with all due respect, you might try lightening up on the contrast and other adjustments that make it so "dramatic" (AKA fake). Maybe you sell a lot of photos like this, and if so, more power to you. But, Arches never, ever, looked like this.
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looks perfect to me as is. been to Delicate many times, seen many pictures of it and this one stands out near the top!!
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You did it!
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Sorry Peter with all due respect. Since when is Black and white reality. So really aka fake. you need to get a grip. I suppose you would tell Ansel Adams and Brett Weston that theirs is fake. No I didn't crop it yet and by the way I do make my living selling a lot of photographs. I'm sure Ansel would say you took it as far as you needed too.
Do I like Ansel's overly Black big skies no not really but thats not my style. But on this image it WORKS!
This is hard place to create something amazing.
Others Thanks for the compliments. Tim
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Here is one from the Famous Tunnel View. I did post this image before but seems I should post it here.
I met Ansel when I was seventeen and learned some good advice. Later did many exhibits with his work and other masters who unfortunately is not here anymore.
I chose not to have all that sky Ansel used. I didn't care for the angle Ansel chose which is really above the trees. I love the Angles where I look thru the trees to give depth and scale.
Shooting images that the Masters shot before is always a issue. Gallery owners will say it looks like, so I try to shoot them differently and try to make it better than what they shot. I waited for a storm that rained then snowed 4 feet just after that. So the snow stuck to the trees. Tim
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Here is one from the Famous Tunnel View.
Extraordinary, both of them. AA would be proud.
SO glad you waited through adversity to capture Delicate Arch with that superb sky. Your pain is our gain.
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Sorry Peter with all due respect. Since when is Black and white reality. So really aka fake. you need to get a grip. I suppose you would tell Ansel Adams and Brett Weston that theirs is fake. No I didn't crop it yet and by the way I do make my living selling a lot of photographs. I'm sure Ansel would say you took it as far as you needed too.
Do I like Ansel's overly Black big skies no not really but thats not my style. But on this image it WORKS!
If it works for you, that's all that counts - but you did ask for OPINIONS and not COMPLEMENTS. I will say that if this is the sort of results you want, it is very skillfully done.
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I don't really remember asking for opinions. Simply trying to raise the bar a little. Trying to make a difference in the photographic world. Some of my friends say why bother. But I keep saying its our obligation to assist. There's very little people on this or any site that have the background in photography or what I have invented that has changed photography nor the family lineage.
Shooting for the sake of shooting creates Mediocrity. Mediocrity is not a standard.
With all of this great equipment and softwares to take control of every facet of what and how to capture and image, the bar should be raising, but its not, people are settling. It still takes the same kind of skill set needed to execute a great images and then turn it into an exhibition image just like it did in the old days when we did it by hand and with lots of experimentation.
I have had this talk with Canon, Nikon, Hassy and also Phase in my gallery. Photography really has not changed since my family invented the first camera. Its still about getting it right the first time with the composition, vision, focus, lens and lighting. Then you have the fun of printing it.
By the way this is not meant towards anyone. Tim
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So here's an image I shot of course in Monument Valley. I scouted this place when I was teaching the Phase One workshop. I scouted the location several days before. When the workshop was over we drove thru a good storm when dropping off the students at the airport. I got my car and ran quickly back up to Monument valley, the storm produced amazing clouds. On the way down we saw rainbows and wild looking formations in the sky.
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This fits in here:
https://plus.google.com/+JoshHaftel/posts/7zjd38dBBwz
Mike.
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So here's an image I shot of course in Monument Valley. I scouted this place when I was teaching the Phase One workshop. I scouted the location several days before. When the workshop was over we drove thru a good storm when dropping off the students at the airport. I got my car and ran quickly back up to Monument valley, the storm produced amazing clouds. On the way down we saw rainbows and wild looking formations in the sky.
Plus moon !
Great shot !
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So here's an image I shot of course in Monument Valley. I scouted this place when I was teaching the Phase One workshop. I scouted the location several days before. When the workshop was over we drove thru a good storm when dropping off the students at the airport. I got my car and ran quickly back up to Monument valley, the storm produced amazing clouds. On the way down we saw rainbows and wild looking formations in the sky.
I am in awe!!!
Tim, please do continue to post and teach. I for one truly appreciate it
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Thanks Roy. I did want to add but my computer was dying last night that yes the moon was planned for that early afternoon. When the workshop was going on two of the participants had some very apps and were able to predict within 1/2 degree of where it was coming up. Now I'm very very technical but not when it comes to gadgets. I thank them for the exact positioning. My technical stays in photography, I have spent my entire life really in photography. It was Ansel or Brett who said your only as good as your last image. I had a similar saying when I was a professional athlete and doing my photography your only as good as your last game or race. AS the great coach Wooden once said "Failure to prepare is preparing to fail!"
He was so right. My old professor said see the image on the wall, when you envisioning it or creating it. I guess its like a puzzle (when creating and image) find the composition first, then figure out what depth of field and focus you want then pick the right focal length to give it the most dimension then what kind of lighting is going to make come alive and enhance the elements. Last is there any special effects needed for it to go over the top. (like fog, shading from clouds, rain, snow).
Here is when when I was actually teaching the workshop. I do shoot al of these usually in color also. But thought it would be nice to BW since we all saw them by the old masters this way. Tim Wolcott
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Tim: I like the low view from the tunnel. It gives a different perspective you don't really see. Did you have to climb down from the parking lot or has the trees grown taller since I was there a while back?
The monmument valley is nice too. Interesting objects, tones and composition. I actual like these two better the the original you posted but they're all good.
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Yes I did had to climb down to shoot that image. I did so many times to pack the snow down thru the 4 ft snow storm. Since I had been to Yosemite so many times over the years. I drove up before the big storm hit and scouted the locations I wanted to shoot and ranked them in order of importance. Since snow melts very fast when the sunshine comes out. You have to wait for exactly what you want to capture. I didn't want to shoot what Ansel shot I wanted to create something which I think is a better location.
That image was shot as a triple stitch and I scouted the location found exactly what I wanted and then when it snowed I packed and shoveled the snow up to get the right height and a hard surface to put my gear and tripod down on. When I go out I have 2 tripods one 12 footed and a 7 ft. Usually a ladder, 13 lenses 2 bodies, Phase one IQ280.
Things haven't changed much from when we carried out 4x5 and 8x10 cameras. I was hoping things would've gotten lighter. The cameras are lighter but no we have more lenses and they are heavier but I like what we are shooting with today better. Far more flexibility and creative control over the days of the film days. Tim
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This was an image when we had free time at the Phase One workshop. My group asked me what we should be shooting. So I said lets chase the clouds. This is the famous Mittens you always see in the John Wayne films.
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The images are stunning, but the takeaway for me from this topic is your thought process. Very informative and inspiring.
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The images are stunning, but the takeaway for me from this topic is your thought process. Very informative and inspiring.
Tim is a photo mutant - he has it in the genes ... ;)
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So here's an image I shot of course in Monument Valley. I scouted this place when I was teaching the Phase One workshop. I scouted the location several days before. When the workshop was over we drove thru a good storm when dropping off the students at the airport. I got my car and ran quickly back up to Monument valley, the storm produced amazing clouds. On the way down we saw rainbows and wild looking formations in the sky.
Did you need a Indian guide to get to this location? ???
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a fabulous shot
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Yes it is in my genes. I guess 175 years of photography builds up. I had a photo lab in my house since I was 6 years old. But I have to say I met some amazing and great master photographers. But my whole life is photography out side of the time I spent as a professional sprinter. But it helped me carry the gear up the mountains without any trouble.
I've said this before: Every image you see, every piece of art will inspire you to think differently.
Tim
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Nice dramatic shot
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I think Tim has been conducting a master class for all of us in this thread. Deeply appreciated. Especially since I'm headed out there next month.
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Sierra man, yes you need to pay admission but then you need to get a guide if you are going back by the shot where the moon over the Totems was shot but not where the last one was taken.
When I first went here in 1985 to now they have loosened up quite a bit. You can go so many more places. Glad you are getting something out of them.
I highly recommend going there. Yes its been shot a to but I do think there is a lot to learn and create great imagery. I think as long as there are clouds you can make it happen. Tim
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Tim: About the processing. How do you make the skies so dark? When I convert a color digital, and move the blue slider, but I tend to get a lot of noise in the sky. So now I'm trying a BW film 120 film Tmax 100 with a red filter to see if I can do better. What do you think?
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Alan, if you using film, then yes I have used the red filters and even combinations of filters. Just make sure you block every possible amount of light from hitting the filters surface. I created a box I made so they could sit there without ANY possibility of light getting to it even the smallest amount. If you have seen a snoot before it looked like that with the ability to expand and contract due to the lens used.
Digital shooting I use Capture one and the color picker combination that I developed to get exactly the look I want. I have shown it to Capture one my concept and what I have created. Not sure if it will be implemented. Either way it works, its really the same idea but one is digital and solid state.
Here is another one from the same trip. Before I go on a trip I try to see what others have done then imagine what I would like to see. I take out my watercolor drawing book and draw out what I want to see and envision. I believe you envision what you want to create. I'm a really bad drawer, so I have to label everything. What's interesting no matter where I go I seem to find what I draw or a combination of several drawings. Tim
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This image was shot looking into the Escalante area from Dixie Nat'l Forest. I was beta testing the IQ260 when I shot this. It was shot from a 12 foot Gitzo tripod while I was standing on a ladder. It took forever for the clouds to finally move into where I wanted them to sit. I scouted the mountain side many times over the years but usually this was done in the fall. This time it was summer and was nearly 100 degrees. The clouds were so spiritual and enlightening that just had to sit there. When the clouds appeared in the shot I simply waited till the shadowing on the ground covered up the ugliest areas then captured this images. Sure with I could've shot this with fall colored trees, but is never forgiving and is always changing and creating and destroying. Tim
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Tim, Are you not bothered that the sky is lighter,less contrast, on the right side?
The clouds are incredible!
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No not really. Nature does its thing. But there is more moisture on the right side than the left. Not a lot I can do about it because of all the extra moisture. But good of you to observe that closely. You can definitely see it in the color shot and it doesn't seem to be as much as a problem. But the clouds oh yea. Will post more. Tim
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Here is another one I shot while beta testing the new IQ250 back in the summer. This one was also shot from the 12 tripod while standing on a ladder. I finally went out to the the Temple of the Moon because the clouds were coming in. So what a ride the road was really bad getting out there between the rains and the drifted sand over the road. It had been a heavy drought for a long time then heavy rains and water sat on the roads. It was good to finally get the shot I wanted. Utah, what a great place to shoot for Black and White and Color.
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Unlike the other images in this thread, which are mostly gorgeous,
I think this last shot has a problem with the web display size.
I assume the foreground are some sand dunes or very slick rock.
I can't see any structure on it which sort of oddly separates it from the rest of the image.
Probably it works as a large print where you can clearly see the structure,
but on this small size for me it simply falls apart - which again tells me that the print
is the real thing and how limited web display is.
Cheers
~Chris
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Unlike the other images in this thread, which are mostly gorgeous,
I think this last shot has a problem with the web display size.
I assume the foreground are some sand dunes or very slick rock.
I can't see any structure on it which sort of oddly separates it from the rest of the image.
Probably it works as a large print where you can clearly see the structure,
but on this small size for me it simply falls apart - which again tells me that the print
is the real thing and how limited web display is.
Cheers
~Chris
I mostly agree with what Chris said. I do love the detail and sculpting of the rock formations. Great DR. I do wonder your thought process on including the dunes(?) in the foreground. Even if they do have structure, and I'm sure they do, I'm not sure I would have included them.
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Sorry guys grabbed the wrong jpeg. but I'll show your both. Since this nearly never ever exist and the had lots of wind and no rains the dunes grew faster than than nasty ugly sage. Something I have been waiting for. The idea was to have these two formations to be exploding like a rocket ship from the sand dunes. i'll admit it seems to work better in the color one. I do have another shot just the next sand over with the lines but with limited time need to dig it out.
When I went out to Utah I wanted the tropical little clouds that I saw when I left my home usually they track that sort of direction since the monsoons were in. Tim
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So let me add another one from the Utah area this one also was shot with the Phase One I believe with the IQ250 camera back. This one was shot also with a ladder and a 12 foot gitzo tripod so I could shoot over the ugly brush and sage that would've been in the way. I found this location a year ago and wanted to shoot the fall colors here but it was a terrible fall that year. So I decided it would make a very nice B&W image. So when the clouds came in I waited until they were in the right spot. As you can see the landscape needed a great sky to accent the foreground. All of these images I have shot in both cold and BW. Tim
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Beautiful as usual.
May I tell you what I think the thought process was. So in the color version, the yellow green draws the eye framed nicely by the trees and dramatic sky. Pleasing color palette.
It seems that in the B&W conversion, the desire to draw the eye to the yellow/green area of the landscape was a bit overdone. Maybe it's viewing a jpeg on the screen and not seeing the print. There is a loss in subtle tonal variations that I see,and like, in the color but not in B&W.
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Yes your color was correct and your BW. But the original print looks great and there is lots of detail since its a triple stitch. The point was to lead your eye over the foreground trees and let the yellow area or bright area in BW to keep your eye moving across the landscape going to the left the see the dimensional sky coming at the viewer. By the way should you convert to profile SRGB in the BW also, like you do for color.
Here is one from the White Mountains. When I saw this it was like a hammer hitting me. But premonitions are worth following and this one strong. I believe it led me here to this spot. It was the storm of the century in New Hampshire. But as my old great professor said if rains use the rain.
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Thought I would post another one that I shot on private workshop. I called this Ansel's Inspiration.
I think as we all look at the great master's who came before us we must recognize there work and pay honor. A memory of me sitting, talking to Ansel Adams at the age of 17. I many times reflect back about the inspiration that has shaped me, moved me, I would even say changed my way of thinking and later pushed me into designing a new process that led me into the carbon pigment process. Later even designing the first pigment inkjet photographs that I had to keep secret as we creating the process from my friends and fellow photographers.
When I look back Ansel complaining about the reflections of glass casting over his beautiful image of his "Moonrise Over Hernandez" and how it took the glow of his image away. It has always stuck in my thoughts of getting rid of glass and plexi. It only took 28 years and a large amount of money and lots of trial and errors to make his thought for me to make it come to reality.
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Tim: What process are you referring to?
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Designing the carbon pigment printing process, which was solid state in 1991. Later I took what we had developed from there and morphed it into the first pigment inkjet prints in 1995, with the first papers and now another advancement in 2012 by designing the new papers to accept the new coatings to make the most dynamic prints with the use of no glass or plexi needed. One day hope to sell it, but for now don't have the time. Tim
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Wher can we see info on it? Where can you get photos processed?
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Wher can we see info on it? Where can you get photos processed?
Alan, I think what Tim is saying is that he doesn't have the time to make this a commercial offering, ie selling it.
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Walt you are correct but I'm being asked to set a large lab where I live. We will see soon if that happens. But if you want to see the prints I have a gallery in Big bear Lake. But Calumet is talking to me about touring the new process in celebration of my families 175th anniversary and the new process showing how I followed in my ancestors footsteps as well as being guided and influenced by Ansel. Tim
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Walt you are correct but I'm being asked to set a large lab where I live. We will see soon if that happens. But if you want to see the prints I have a gallery in Big bear Lake. But Calumet is talking to me about touring the new process in celebration of my families 175th anniversary and the new process showing how I followed in my ancestors footsteps as well as being guided and influenced by Ansel. Tim
Tim, that would be great. Both the lab and the tour.
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You can have a tour of the gallery but my lab is strictly confidential right now. Too much intellectual processes going on. But the real deal is in the gallery on the walls. Tim
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Well Tim ... you cackled so much ... seems its becoming time to lay an egg ... ;)
Cheers
~Chris
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Tim, I went to your website but find nothing on a gallery in Big Bear. Is there a link to those images? Definitely interested in your new bw printing process.
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Good one Chris, but this much R&D. You got to be careful. The Gallery is at 40772 Village dr, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
But the process is design for both B&W and color. But the gallery shows you what we are doing. Off to go shooting. Tim