#TravelTuesday Aspen Colorado

SILVER! That was the dream that brought people to settle in this remote area of Colorado in the late 19th century. This little village was named Aspen in 1880 after the Aspen trees that populate much of the surrounding countryside. During its infancy the town lived and breathed mining. The federal government was buying silver, as much as it could, and as fast as it could, so finding a silver strike was like digging for free money. It was the get rich quick idea of the 1880’s. In 1893 the silver market collapsed and the population drained from Aspen like a downhill skier running from an avalanche. For about fifty years the sleepy town dwindled in population, and upkeep, until the mid 20th century brought recreational skiing into vogue. With the help of people like Walter Paepcke, who founded the Aspen Ski Company, life slowly returned to the quiet hamlet of Aspen. Today, it has become a popular vacation spot for many celebrities and corporate executives. Now Aspen has the most expensive real estate prices in the United States.
Positioned 11 miles west of the Continental Divide and rising above sea level to just shy of 8000 feet, the city of Aspen sits at the base of Aspen Mountain which is nicknamed “Ajax”. We were headed up the ski trails, on our off road jeep tour, when I took this picture of the city snuggled in the outstretched arms of the mountains.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 ISO 100 f/11 1/125 sec (2 image pano)

Philadelphia Union vs. Chivas 7-12-13

Friday night was a new adventure in my photography career. I was assigned the coverage of the Philadelphia Union  vs. Chivas professional soccer match to be played at PPL Park in Chester, PA.  It had been raining all day long and as game time neared the rain intensified.  I haven't shot very much in the rain, but I put my big boy pants on, gritted my teeth, and got down to business.  I usually wear at least two cameras to shoot an event, and this was no exception, except now they were both covered in water repellent gear.  The reason for carrying multiple cameras is to make transitioning between focal points on the field fast. There isn’t time to change lenses during play action.  In the rain, transitioning is fraught with increased delays.  For example, wriggling your hands into and out from the covers, wiping water from the viewfinder, finding the eyepiece because it has been swallowed up by the bag, drying your eye so you can actually see what’s going on, and finally, trying not to let your pruned, water-logged fingers slip off the shutter button and camera grip. It was a challenge, but it was fun!  I covered the match for Independence Sports Magazine, so you can read about the game by clicking on this link:  STORY And you can see all my pictures by clicking on this link: PICTURES

 

Wildlife Photography

Is HARD! Ever since I got a camera I have imagined taking pictures of giraffes or lions in Africa, or polar bears in Alaska, or bull moose in Yellowstone. Imagine my surprise when it took almost two years to capture a great blue heron in a picture I felt was of good quality. I figured practicing on local wildlife was the place to start, and living in Pennsylvania we have plenty of (non lethal) animals to photograph.

After many pictures that were too dark, out of focus, blurry, noisy or just plain missed opportunities, I have come to have great respect for wildlife photographers. Moose Peterson's years of experience were very helpful in my education. I’ve watched hours of training videos and tutorials on technique and advice over the past year. Some photographers are lucky; Moose relies on skill, experience, practice and persistence. So I thought I would learn from one of the best.

The problems are these: 1.) Most animals / birds are quite shy, and flee when people come near, so using a long (telephoto or super telephoto) lens is almost a necessity.
2.) Size of the subject. If you’re photographing a full sized deer, or a moose, that’s one thing. Trying to fill the camera frame with a six inch bird, you need to be really close, or again, have a big, big lens. 3.) Wildlife shows up when it’s convenient for them, often times around dusk when the lighting is less than ideal. 4.) Animals and birds can move fast, and rarely stick around posing for pictures.

All this equates to using a fast camera that can take high quality pictures in low light, with a fast lens that has great magnification, and holding it incredibly still. It’s harder than it sounds, and takes practice. The pictures below were all taken with my Nikon D800 and my Sigma 300mm f/2.8 lens. It’s a heavy package. I used the DX crop mode in the D800 so it’s the same magnification as using a 450mm. Using a shutter speed of only 1/500 of a second was risky, but the light was fading fast. I did my best, and I’ll keep working to improve.

Have a great weekend!

Nikon D800 Sigma 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm (x1.5 DX crop mode) ISO 800 1/500sec

There’s a Spot...

right on interstate 176 headed north toward Reading just after the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange where the land beyond the highway drops away into a valley and you can see for miles. I have often thought about how a sunset would look from there, but was never there at the right time, until this past weekend. A summer thunderstorm had rolled through a few hours before leaving just a crack above the horizon for the Sun to peek through and light the underside of the diminishing weather pattern. It was dumb luck I was passing at the time. The colors were only there for a few minutes, five at the most, and to see it I had to look behind me because I was traveling the opposite direction. I’m glad I was there to catch it.

Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 @ 36mm f/16 ISO 100 .4 sec