One early morning the year before the pandemic I visited Great Smokey National Park. It’s about an 8-hour drive from my home and I like to explore the Blue Ridge Mountains and surrounding areas. This morning I enter the park way before sunrise stopped at a spot I was familiar with and waited. I knew that every morning around sunrise the horses that have been out in pasture are called back to the barn for breakfast. This particular morning it was foggy with a deep yellow sky as sunrose started. Sure enough, like clockwork, the horses showed up. I took my photos and moved on to the next location. Shot on a Sony a7r iii with a 100-400mm lens.
Month: January 2022
Something Small From Something Big
This is an image at the bottom of one of Iceland’s largest waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss. I have been to this location dozens of times. I have photographed from every angle. Because it is so big as a photographer, I usually try to get the whole waterfall in. I do my blurry time exposures. I get it with morning and sunset light. I go behind the waterfall and get low and sometimes climb the hill to get a high short. But, am I seeing it all.
In the last few years I have been putting on my 100-400mm Sony lens and now looking for the picture in the picture. In this case, there was something beautiful going on, as the waterfall would turn into a mist and gently land on the tricks at the bottom of the fall. There was a whole other landscape taking place here. The delicate moss, the miniature waterfalls flowing through this moss, and amazing detail you could never see unless you looked at it through a long lens.
So, next time you are out, look at the big landscape and then start looking for the smaller landscape inside the shot. Picture in a picture. I have a 24×24 inch print of this hanging in my hallway. It always stops people as they explore all the detail. Print it out.
The Nap
Seems that all animals like to take naps. They might have something going in that department. Who doesn’t like a nap? My cats and dog as nap specialists. Seems that Polar Bears are pretty good at napping, too. This napping Polar Bear was found in Svalbard on one of my many trips there. I was in a zodiac (rubber boat) and was safe. These guys are big though and as always when tracking any kind of wildlife, being quiet is so very important. Shot with a 400mm lens with a Nikon D810. I have a ton of Polar Bear images from numerous trips there. I have a sold out trip in September to do this trip again.