My Journey...

These are the ramblings of a passionate photographer just wandering down the path of life. The photos are the real story, the accomplishment, the treasure. You are invited to come along for a spell. Enjoy the company. Enjoy the views!



All images and text on these pages are ©Copyright Douglas E. Wedman. All rights are reserved. Images and text may not be saved or used in any manner without the written consent of the photographer/author.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Wildfire!

Being evacuated from your home is never a good thing. But, in those times, you just have to make the best of it. For me, photography of the very disaster that chased us out was my outlet. Images of the Las Conchas Fire.

2011_06_26_2865

2011_06_26_2887

2011_06_28_2968

2011_06_28_3027

2011_02_29_panorama

2011_07_01_3197

2011_07_03_3394

2011_07_04_3420

2011_07_04_3466

2011_07_04_3480

2011_07_05_3486

2011_07_05_3502

2011_07_06_3631

2011_07_07_3673

2011_07_06_3521

Photographing the Petroglyphs of Northern New Mexico

Photographing petroglyphs can be a horrible challenge. It's too bright, the lighting angle is wrong, the light is too soft or too harsh, etc. Waiting for just the right lighting or trying to modify with filters just never quite does it. Nope, the best results are had using strobes. In this example, three Canon 580exII strobes are used to light the petroglyphs at an angle that makes them stand out, and at the same time reduce the key of the overall photo just a touch.

Without strobes:
2011_08_13_4477
You can play with the brightness and contrast in Photoshop, but you'll never get the petroglyphs to show much better. The glare from the natural sunlight is too much. A polarizer helps, but not really to the extent desired.

Adding two 580EXIIs camera left (handheld) to light the petroglyphs of the large boulder and one 580EXII behind the large boulder to light the large spiral on the rear boulder (strobes triggered by PocketWizards and ratio controlled by AC3 Zone Controller) provides a better result.
EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM at 25mm, Canon 5D Mk II, ISO 100, 1/100th, and f22

With strobes:
2011_08_13_4476

Specifics:

It just goes to show, you can never have too much gear in the field! (But you do need a strong back and legs to get it there!)