Portal

Portal - 5D2, 70-200 II @ 120mm, f/14, ISO 100

Its been a very busy last couple of weeks and so I haven't had a chance to even look at any images to post.  On Saturday, I got a break, not only time off from all the regular stuff but a day trip to the coast and so took the opportunity to make some images at Pfeiffer Beach.  Now its back to the slog, so I probably won't get a chance to post any images for a while.

Over the Ngorongoro Crater

Over the Ngorongoro Crater - 5D2, 24 f/1.4 II, f/3.5, 1/2500s, ISO 200

If you do a safari in Tanzania that includes the Serengeti, chances are that for one leg you'll end up in a flight over the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.  The flight is relatively quick, about an hour long and its incredible to see the variety in the landscape below.  In this image, the Ngorongoro Crater is visible in the distance with farmland in front. 

Chicken Dance

Chicken Dance - 1D4, 500 f/4 IS, f/4, 1/800s, ISO 400

I know its cheesy but c'mon, this Pelican totally looks like he's doing the chicken dance :)

Gnarled

Gnarled - M9, 28 Elmarit, ~f/5.6, 1/1500s, ISO 160

Gnarled branches lit up by the mid day sun make for an interesting study in lines and shape.  I made this image in the late morning at Patriarch Grove this past summer.  The final mile on the road to the grove was closed due to a large snow drift requiring a hike.  It was my first time at this location and I was mainly interested in scouting locations for a later shoot.  Though I typically don't make images with the harsh mid day sun, in this case the isolation of this tree and its gnarled limbs were too tempting to pass up.

Mount Woodring under Cloud and Mist

Mount Woodring under Cloud and Mist - 5D2, 70-200 @ 145mm, f/4.5, ISO 100

A much more popular subject to photograph from this spot at Oxbow Bend in the Grand Tetons is Mount Moran.  However on this morning clouds engulfed Moran and so I had to make do with what I had and that was the peak of Mount Woodring visible just over the many layers of cloud and mist coming up from the Snake River.

Lightroom 4 Public Beta

California Coastal Sunset - M9, 28 Elmarit, ~f/8, 1/60s, ISO 160

Adobe Lightroom 4 Public Beta is now available.  There are a bunch of new features and I won't go over them here, but instead direct you to some other folks who have put together tutorials and other information (some of these may not be live for a while):

http://thelightroomlab.com/2012/01/introducing-adobe-photoshop-lightroom-version-4-beta/
http://www.lightroomqueen.com/2012/01/09/whats-new-in-lightroom-4-0-beta
http://holycrop.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/holy-crop-lightroom-4first-public-beta-peek/
http://fleetingglimpseimages.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-lightroom-4-public-beta-top-ten-features/

The feature that I think will have the most impact across all types of photographers are the reworked tonal controls part of "Process Version 2012".  It took some getting used to, I had to change the way I worked with my images but the end result is a level of tonal control that I can't get in Lightroom 3.

In Lightroom 3 I would set the white point with 'exposure', the black point with 'blacks' and the tonal distribution between your white and black points with 'brightness'.  I usually ignore 'fill light' and 'recovery' as I find 'recovery' reduced highlight contrast and I didn't like the global nature of 'fill light'.

In Lightroom 4, I instead use 'exposure' to get the bulk of my midtones where I want them.  Then use 'shadows' and 'blacks' to both control shadow contrast and to push the shadow tones around and use 'whites' and 'highlights' to do the same with the highlight tones.  Since these new parameters can go negative and positive, I find it easy to get my tones where I want them and maintain shadow and highlight contrast.

The other cool thing about the way these parameters work in Lightroom 4 is that they are based on the tonal distribution of the image you are working on.  In Lightroom 3, it was possible in scenes with extremely low contrast to push the blacks slider all the way to the right and still not have enough contrast.  This shouldn't be as much of a problem in Lightroom 4.  These same smarts are also carried to the 'clarity' control.

The best part about all of this is that the 'shadows' and 'highlights' adjustments can now be done locally.  This is really powerful because it means that I can lift the shadow tones in a part of the image or pull back the highlights locally.  For an image like the one above, it takes only seconds to get all my tones where I want them without going into Photoshop.

Oh yea, and the last nifty thing about the tonal controls is that highlight recovery has been reworked so that you don't get those hue shifts that you do in previous versions.

There's a lot of neat stuff to explore in Lightroom 4, so definitely check it out.

EDIT:  I forgot to mention this originally, don't change all your existing images to Process Version 2012.  They will look very different and you'll have to process them again.  In fact, since this is a beta, you shouldn't use it with your production catalog either.

Silent Hunter

Silent Hunter - 1D4, 70-200 II + 1.4x TC, 280mm, f/4.5, 1/50s, ISO 400

Though I wish the background were a bit cleaner, I still like the way this image of a gator in the Everglades came out.

Galapagos Sea Lions

Galapagos Sea Lion - 1Ds3, 24-105 @ 32mm, f/8, 1/100s, ISO 200

The Galapagos Sea Lion is a fairly common sight on the Galapagos Archipelago. Their inquisitive nature makes them great photographic subjects, though in this case these two guys are just laying around, not doing much.

Galapagos Sea Lion - 1Ds3, 24-105 @ 99mm, f/8, 1/80s, ISO 200

Halfdome Among Granite and Trees

Halfdome Among Granite and Trees - M9, 50 Summilux, ~f/9.5, 1/350s, ISO 160

On my drive through Yosemite in mid afternoon on my way to Bishop this summer, I spotted a scene which I liked despite the harsh light.  It was Halfdome tucked away with trees below and fluffy clouds above.  Though I made a mental note to return here to photograph this scene in better light, I couldn't resist the temptation to make just one image and try to compensate for the harsh light later.

Lilac Breasted Roller

Lilac Breasted Roller - 1Ds3, 500, f/10, 1/640s, ISO 400

I just realized that I haven't posted a single bird image from Tanzania so far.  I guess avians just weren't my subject of interest, but I did manage to make a few images.  The Lilac Breasted Roller is a bird you will definitely see if you go on safari in the area.