Whoa, it seems like yesterday that I wished a Happy New Year… wait. It was yesterday. Ugh, never mind. So many things happened in 2010, the year flew by like monarch butterflies over the state of California and I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent in the field, photographing in the jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring locations in the western US, namely Yosemite National Park, Arches and Canyonlands NP in Utah, the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and a few lesser known places on the way, but see for yourself.

Without further blah blah, here are my favorite 5 images of the last year.

1. “Granite Reflections” – Yosemite National Park, California

Cathedral Peak majestically towers over Upper Cathedral Lake high in the Sierra and a lesser visited area in the Yosemite National Park, California. Read the story behind the ascent here or by clicking the image above.

2. “Defiance Falls” – Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

The official name of this little known jewel in the Columbia River Gorge is Lancaster Falls, named after Samuel C. Lancaster, an engineer responsible for the construction of much of the original Columbia River Gorge Highway. (Which is an awesome drive by the way!)

3. “Captain’s Point” – Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

A beautiful soft and warm evening light kisses the sandstone formations of Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast near Pacific City while the raging surf shapes the ever-changing cliffs.

4. “Rising Dawn” – Convict Lake, California

Stormy rain clouds are pushing over the ridge of Mt. Laurel at Convict Lake, California; lit by the rising sun over the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

5. “Firestorm” – Natural Bridges State Park, California

A rare colorful sunset during the late summer season in California. Usually the beaches in Northern California are covered in a thick marine layer which blankets the coast like an impenetrable coat, suffocating all chances of possible color. With a little luck and a lot of patience, the spectacular sunset eventually happened, accompanied by lit up rain showers.


Last but not least, I want to thank you all for the support throughout the year. I resolve to post more in 2011, spend even more time in the field, explore new places, offer a better experience when browsing and shopping for images on my website (reads: a major upgrade is in the works) and buy more of the Cialis and Rolex watches I am offered every day. Thanks Spammers. I love you too.

That said, enjoy “Laced in Frost”. My last image of the past year taken on December 30th; complete with hoarfrost covered branches, steam rising from the river and a little pink magic; brings 2010 to a worthy end. Here’s to a great Twenty-Eleven y’all!

David

Me and my promises… Sorry it has taken me so long again to update the blog. On the only two day break between the exams, I’ll escape the homogeneity of controlling, financial analysis and marketing to add some new images on here.

Since I was bitten by the photography bug, I’ve been attracted to wildflower images. Living in the mountains, one would think there are plenty of them to find. Well, between the fireweed which basically grows everywhere and sparse buttercups there aren’t many and I’ve always been drawn to images of the Rowena Crest near Portland, Oregon, where every spring fields of balsamroots and lupines burst into bloom.

“Glowing Lupines”

So it was about time to find me some lupines. My own batch of glorious, flowering lupines.

Being tied up with mostly university related work, finding the right moment with all elements cooperating wasn’t easy but after missing out on some great sunsets earlier in the week which I admired from the safety of my desk, I was ready to fight endless hordes of mosquitoes and other biting critters which were all over me like nazguls over the fellowship of the ring.

Despite the ongoing battle I was able to pull off a few frames which I really liked. Fortunately, the lupines were at their peak of blooming before being squashed by heavy rains and hail later in the week. To put the shooting over the top, the sky cooperated also and provided a stunning warm atmosphere.

“Meadow of Dreams”

For print and licensing requests, please contact me through my website form.
Thanks and catch y’all on the flip side.

David

Just wanted to wish all readers, followers, friends and family a Happy Easter weekend. May it be nothing short of quality time, sunshine, flowers and one or the other successful find.

Speaking of a successful easter egg hunt, here’s my free egg for you. Download the wallpaper below by clicking on it and saving it to your hard drive. To use the image as a wallpaper, just right-click it after it loaded, select “make desktop background” (or something like that) from the drop down menu and you’re good to go.

“Pastel Beauties”

Happy Easter!

Sincerely,
Bunny

Welcome to my world. Dark, muddy and bland.

This is what the spring here in the mountains looks like these days. I am not a whiner but it is quite depressing to see great spring photography from other parts of the world and you are only surrounded by uniform brown tone. Very soon I hope the spring flowers will pop here too and bring the color back to our daily lives.

Spring is also the time when the ferns are at their best. So every minute I have to spare I will be on the hunt of flowers and ferns at streams with good flow and maybe one or the other waterfall. To stay in the loop, you should follow me on twitter where all updates and photos are announced first.

“Sensual Curves”

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 188mm, 1/160s, f/16, iso 400

But what’s with the title and all the jabber about spring? Alright, to stay mostly on topic, here are some pictures I wanted to share with you. Since the weather in my part of the world was not quite as spectacular awesome nice okay-ish for great photography, I opted for some more complex and abstract compositions of well known subjects; to show them in a new and somewhat unique perspective.

“Crystals”

Canon Rebel XSi with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/800s, f/5.6, iso 400

The intention was to get in close, to bring out fine detail that often remains undiscovered in the grand landscapes but offers quite some interest. Whether it’s the striking snow drift that only reveals its fine structure under a certain lighting, ice crystals that form on a row of conifers or a strong pine tree that is struggling in a snow storm which brought a deep layer of fine snow.

“Tree of Life”

Canon Rebel XSi with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/8s, f/22, iso 100

I decided to leave these pictures quite large to maximize viewing pleasure. Please allow the site to load completely to really discover the fine detail in these shots. I hope to have the website updated with all new shots over the Easter weekend; as well as fixed a few minor glitches. Thanks for reading and viewing and Happy Easter to you all!

See you around.

David

Where has the time, in particular the January, gone? While I am unsure as to where it went, I feel obliged to let you know what I have been up to lately. As you might have recognized, shooting was not one of the things I have done in abundance but I did have a few fun shoots. Most of the time was spent with planning for the upcoming trip to the US in the summer months and working on presentations and the like for such “lame” things as marketing and market research, finance or business history. Being a full-time student, the time right before the exams is the busiest time of the semester and this is right NOW.

Anyhow, since I mostly wanted to talk about photography, here we go. After a rather brown and gray November and December, which given a normal year, are rather white then brown and muddy, it was the January that finally brought me the snow I was hoping for for quite some time.

But with the approaching snow, the good light faded more and more and instead of watching amazing sunrises and sunsets I’ve been constantly greeted with uniform, dull skies but these did not stop my from trying, to some extent.

The first image I want to share was taken on a hike I took earlier in the year. The fresh snow and below zero temperatures created an interesting backdrop for the single tree standing on the wide open range. The hoarfrost on the twigs resulted in a great contrast to the dark, ominous sky.

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 1/5sec, f/14.

Next in line is a study of the complex birch tree covered in heavy rime ice. A scene that is easily overseen by many but in situations of longer periods of bad light you learn to appreciate details and abstract views.

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/400sec, f/4, ISO400.

I have never been a wildlife photographer but as of late, blame it on the light and Canon for making incredible sharp lenses, I have learned to love avian photography. Photographing birds requires a completely different set of skills than landscape photography. Who would have thunk? I can see though how these two fields of photography complement each other and how learning and experimenting in one field can lead to an improvement in other fields of photography. Both, landscape and avian photography, require patience but then are completely different. When hiking and shooting in the mountains, shooting lakes and the like, it’s all about light, you “simply” have to wait out the bad light and hope the magical two minutes will happen. Shooting birds is different, your mind has to be in a constant hunting mode. Every second the bird can pop out through the branches and be gone a second or two later. There’s no reading books, no walking around, jumping up and down to keep you warm. It’s a tiring battle with critters weighing as much as an USB stick.

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/500sec, f/4, ISO400.

The shot above is of an Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) in a thick forest of pines and easily the most colorful thing I have photographed all winter long. Getting this shot required even more than a little luck and patience. It almost cost me an eye to get close to the bird, crawling through the lower branches of pine trees to catch this beautiful male bird. Pine needles are weapons and should be put under restrictions. All kidding aside, Eurasian Bullfinchs are truly a challenge. They easily rank in the first spot when it comes to shy birds (which I tried to shoot) and are usually gone with the slightest unexpected movement or sound. Or maybe I should get some fancy pine and spruce branches to build my very own camouflage hat?

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/800sec, f/5.6, ISO400.

Another bird image and the last for today features a small younger Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) resting on a twig of a whitethorn bush.

Next challenge: Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) if they will ever come that far south.

Since I promised to include a short trip report from yesterday on my flickr page, please prepare yourself for another episode of: “Photo-G goes Wild. Raw and unfiltered.”

Being greeted with clear blue skies I decided it was finally time for an extended skiing trip through the forests and fields around home. I had planned to go for two hours, shoot along the way and maybe extend it to three hours. What I did not plan happened. I left after a delicious lunch with green Thai curry and to blow it off (pun intended), no, this was not part of the problem. After passing the first mountain ridge and skiing downhill into the forest where I expected to see some wildlife, the blue sky was completely gone and a snow storm started to kick in. Thinking of nothing bad I proceeded through the forest up and down the slopes, finally arriving at the river where I hoped to see, if not photograph, Common Kingfishers and White-throated Dippers which usually are easier to spot now than in the summer due to the few remaining open spots in the river. While I did not see any Kingfishers I was able to spot one Dipper along the way and let me say this, it is truly an amazing animal. Diving into the ice cold water of the fast flowing river in search of little fly larva and other critters. I applaud you White-throated Dipper! If it was me, I’d have backed out. To cut it short, I was caught in a major snowstorm on my way back home, I missed my dear deer Janet and Janice standing only 30 or so feet away due to the high winds that were blowing snow in my face like mad and if that wasn’t enough punishment, I had to find my way home in the pitch-black dark without a headlamp – on skis two inch wide. Fun! I am sure there are more episodes to be shared.

Happy shooting my friends, fellow photographers and nature lovers!

David