Working Locally – Underground
Back to one of my favorite topics- the advantages of photographing locally. This morning, after being in Danby for 10 years, I finally got the chance to take some pictures in the local marble quarry. While most people don’t know anything about this quarry, it is a big deal here in town. The quarry produces the purest white marble in the US and Danby marble is part of many important buildings in Washington DC and throughout the world. It is also the source stone for all the gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery. I had been in the quarry several years ago but had not had the opportunity to take any serious photos. Since then I have often thought of the amazing potential images I saw- quarrymen covered in marble dust, a 50′ marble-cutting chainsaw, the enormity of the dimly lit galleries- and have been trying to find a way back inside (it is closed to the public) to take some serious shots. Who knew that all I had to do was replace our kitchen countertop with Danby marble! So this morning, while picking out the exact slabs that will be fashioned into our countertop I took a few shots. These I showed to Mike, the guy in charge, and he was very gracious and generous and said I was welcome to come back and do it right! Yippppeeeee! Here are a couple of shots from inside- all hand held, shot at 6400 ISO- to give you a general sense of what it is like inside Danby Mountain. There are a couple of miles of passages down under the trees and much to photograph. All this goes to show that poking around locally, even poking around underground, can be a very worthwhile endeavor. These pictures are nothing to brag about but the ones I will take when I go back will be and it is only 5 miles from my house! I bet there are even stories to be found there, covered in marble dust, aching to be shared. I’ll keep you posted.
Death Valley
Just got back from a quick trip to Death Valley National Park to try to get some of the shots that I saw during my workshop there in November but because I don’t photograph while teaching I never got. Trips like this for me don’t usually work out- the old saying ‘You can never go back again’- is usually true for me. But this time it did work out and I got just the shots I wanted of the dunes.
Some More Winter
Greetings Everyone! February here in Vermont and it is as wintery as I have ever seen it. Since the middle of December there has been a steady parade of big winter storms and they have all been snow, snow and snow. No January thaw this year and it doesn’t look like the pattern is going to change soon. We couldn’t be happier! Anyone who lives in northern New England over the winter months likes snow and winter and cold. If they didn’t they have moved south long ago. So here are a few of my favorite winter storm pictures. The secret to getting storm photos? Go out in the middle of the storm! Protect your camera when you can but otherwise get it out there and start snapping away. Your camera is as weather tolerant as you are- when you are miserable your camera is too. I do keep a dry towel or two in my camera to wipe off the moisture that accumulates but that is about the only concession I make to the weather. So get in the wind and cold and snow/rain and see what you can get!
Ecuador
I just got back from a short 10 day trip to Ecuador. No, it wasn’t a photography trip, it was a bird watching trip with my brother. Ecuador is part of what is known biologically as the Arc of Hyperdiversity- Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. There are more kinds of life crammed into this area than in any other area in the world. As an example, there are more species of trees in a typical 5 acres of the Ecuadorian Amazon than there are in all of the United States. On a personal level, there 1600 species of birds found in Ecuador, including 132 species of hummingbirds. I have now seen about half of them, an indication of how many hours since 1992 I have devoted to the folly of birding. Ah, but what a folly! Although I did take a few pictures, I didn’t get anything very worthwhile. Why is that, you ask? Well, it is not because there was a lack ofopportunity. Almost all of the Ecuadorian lodges for birdwatchers (there are many) have feeders around that attract all kinds of birds and attract them at very close range. My problem was that I didn’t bring an appropriate lens. I brought my trusty 24-120mm lens because I thought I would wandering the streets of quaint rural highland towns in between birding times. Wrong! I wandered not a street so I was left trying to take wildlife shots with a portrait lens. Why didn’t I bring my 28-300 or even my 70-300? Simple, I’m an idiot. The other picture I am including here is of a bird that was not known until it was discovered in 1997. The Jocotoco Antpitta stands about 10 inches tall and lives in the dense cloud forests of southern Ecuador. There are 15 known pairs in this reserve. It walks around the forest floor picking up invertebrates and being generally a real pain in the neck to see. It is almost impossible to see well. That is except if you go to a certain spot in the cloud forest where at 8 every morning a person from the nearby lodge brings up some cut up worms, dumps them on the ground and starts loudly calling into the forest “Panchita! Panchita!” After a minute or so, out comes Panchita the Antpitta to stand there for all to see and casually eat the worms. This is either amazing or bizarre, or perhaps both. Either way, I got down on the ground, leaned in to about 3 feet away and fired off some pictures. OK, it was bizarre, but it was a pleasure to see the extremely secretive Antpitta (of which there are 20 or so other species in Ecuador) so closely. So there you have it- a video of hummingbirds and a picture of a very rare, recently found bird of the cloud forest. I’ll be back in Vermont this weekend, finally, and back on the farm soon after. I miss the cows! See you then.
More on Winter Wonderland Photography
Since we are on the topic of winter wonderland photography I thought I would add one more twist to the topic. Winter wonderland pictures are especially nice at twilight. Of course, almost anything is especially nice at twilight but with lots of snow on the ground and every where else twilight is a great time to photograph winter scenes. If you can find an old cabin or a lit Christmas tree or both (!) it is great. It is dark enough outside that the lights will be on be there will still be enough light for the details of the landscape to be recognizable. Remember, twilight is 30-40 minutes before sunrise and after sunset. Outside that time period it is too dark outside and the landscape will be just a big black blob.
Capturing a Winter Wonderland
I have been watching the weather a lot lately and have noticed that large parts of the country are snow covered. For motorists this can be a pain in the fender but for photographers it can be a magical time to take pictures. If you are going out in winter to photograph and you want a shot that looks very wintery- what I call a winter wonderland shot- there is an important trick to remember.