01 November 2009

Expanding horizons: the discipline of portraiture


Tim Sybert: Axis Labs Natural Colorado Open 2009
Copyright 2009 schnitzerPHOTO

Referred to in the previous post, we had the honor of doing some photography for Kelly's brother-in-law, Tim. An amateur bodybuilder, he participated in his first competition, the Axis Labs Natural Colorado Open, held in Denver. Not only was it a great chance to provide Tim with some images to document his successes (3rd, 4th and 5th place trophies), but it was yet another opportunity for me to push my photography to new horizons, and continue to develop my interpretation and execution of people portraiture as a discipline.

Fundamentally, portraits are, like most photographs, derived from light, shadow and composition. The biggest difference lies in the concentrated emphasis on those fundamentals. An indoor bodybuilding competition presents a challenging combination of those image-making factors. Stage lighting, difficult angles, and the subject being the human physique add up to demand every iota of the photographer's attention for every single shot. Gratefully, the elements remain somewhat static. With an adequate (meaning fast) lens, good high ISO performance, and a steady hand, the right balance of aperture, shutter speed and film speed connected with good angles to produce the shots. As I've learned over the past few years, finding comfort with the given elements keeps me focused and open, allowing the image to "show itself" to me, rather than trying to force a preconceived idea out of a messy web of external factors.

As a fun component to the weekend's photography, we found a very narrow window of opportunity in the schedule and in the weather to do some shots of Tim and wife Jamie - also Kelly's sister - as a couple. For this, we headed to Red Rocks Amphitheater, a popular venue for concertgoers, and a staple destination for Colorado's Front Range portrait photographers. There we found conditions to which I'm most accustomed: rapidly-changing light, challenging natural backdrops, lots of weekend tourists and not a lot of time. Though we didn't have a chance to scout, we were able to get a few good locations. Using creative lighting, landscape-style composition and a trusty prime lens (and, of course, some trial-and-error), I hope Tim and Jamie are pleased with the results. I think you'll agree with me and the camera: they certainly are a photogenic pair.

Red Rocks: Tim & Jamie
Copyright 2009 schnitzerPHOTO

I'm grateful to Tim and Jamie for giving me a chance to create these image sets for them. I hope to do more at Tim's next competition, to push the evolution of my portrait discipline, and thus the images, further yet.


31 October 2009

Time Warp

It's been a long week. Last weekend's trip to Denver included both a photo shoot for Kelly's brother-in-law, Tim, an amateur bodybuilder, before heading to Boulder on Monday for foot surgery number two for Kel. In the days since, it has been grinding through the slowest part of her recovery. A powerful winter storm hit at midweek, prohibiting any travel and allowing me to work from home - and take care of Kelly - for at least one more day. Last night, we had some good company join us for dinner, an opportunity to enjoy our first elk burgers of the season. Today, I've converted the kitchen in to a tomato processing facility, trying to get through another fifty pounds of ripe heirlooms. There may yet be light at the end of that tunnel. There had better be, or else we'll be forced to compost whatever remains.

During such a week, it is easy for me to lose touch with much of what is going on in the world. Not that I need to stay intimately informed, but I generally prefer to remain current. This is particularly true with respect to photography, and photographic gear. However, a friend recently shared with me a photographic product announcement that was and still is simply jaw-dropping. As I've stated before, I'm a Nikon shooter. I'm generally happy with what I'm able to do with my Nikon gear, which could contribute to a rather myopic perspective on technological developments outside the Nikon universe. That said, I still pay heed when a new Leica camera is announced. I pay attention to the hands-on reviews of new Hasselblad digital bodies, even though their $20,000 price tag is well beyond current reach. The point is, I understand the technology and the trends in product development. I thought it did, that is, until RED unleashed the specs for their new EPIC-X still-frame body.

My head is still spinning, not only due to the $28,000 price point. Did I slip in to some kind of dark corner of the space-time continuum between Tuesday and Thursday of this week? What kind of wrinkle in time has made such a massive technological leap possible?

I'm just baffled at the incorporation of RED's radical product developments, at any price. Unlike the rest of the professional DSLR world, RED has produced a still-frame body that would seem to be, well, revolutionary. Sure, there is some response here to simple marketing, but labeling your sensor "Mysterium-X" is pretty bold. For lack of better explanation, and without more detailed information from RED themselves, I am assuming that this imagemaking technology is derived from beyond this world.

RED, please allow me to test one. Pretty please.

Bottom line: There is a new "high end" of high end DSLRs. Aliens may very well have a lot to do with it. I can't wait to see the crazy things creative (and incredibly well-heeled) photographers will produce with what promises to be a remarkable new tool.


The new RED EPIC-X. Ridiculous.

21 October 2009

Season of plenty

Tomatoes Preserved
Copyright 2009 schnitzerPHOTO

Following on the heels of the last week's success in the field and the wild game that yielded, some garden produce was still waiting for attention. At home, in cardboard boxes and safe from the snow and frost, bushels of tomatoes had ripened to deep, sweet red. Our garden featured tomatoes significantly - San Marzanos, German Queens, Yellow Pear Cherries, and more, some forty plants in all. They proved to be prolific producers, yet had to be guided carefully through our early frosts and the abrupt end to the growing season.

Our efforts have certainly been rewarded. The image above represents just a portion of the three and a half gallons of tomatoes canned the other night. We have many more yet to finish this week before weekend travels, adding to the already-preserved two gallons in the pantry. It would seem that plenty of opportunities now exist for tomato-based creativity throughout the winter.

Here's one very simple recipe, which employs the bucketfuls of yellow pear cherry tomatoes that always seem to exceed seasonal expectations.
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Line roasting pan with tomatoes
3. Drizzle with olive oil
4. Place on oven's middle rack and roast just until skins begin to brown
5. Crush the roasted tomatoes in a bowl
6. Mix in a fistful of freshly-chopped cilantro, salt to taste

Serve this over hearty grilled fish, such as sockeye salmon or halibut, or grilled pork loin. Or, before adding cilantro, can it for later use.

19 October 2009

Field Notes: 2009 Big Game Season

Hunting Camp 2009
Photo by Kelly Conroy

For reasons not immediately clear to me, hunting season was not also a time for photography. I was wholly focused on the hunting - the strategies, the landscape, etc. - that I could not divert my attention to include much else. Also, I'm not very interested in capturing images of dead animals, let alone sharing them publicly.

It is without such graphic imagery that I report on the wrap-up of this year's big game season, made official at approximately 7:05 AM on Friday, October 16. As I mentioned in a previous post, the season got underway in earnest during the prior weekend, which happened to coincide with very wintery conditions. Just a few days later, I returned to the southern Bighorns to find that almost all of the snow had melted away, and the temperature on the eve of the opening of deer season was near 60F. I arrived that evening with enough daylight remaining to hike out my preferred ridge and scan the likely spots for fresh sign given the dramatic shift in weather. As the light began to dim, and I rounded a far-off point of trees, I spotted a single cow elk in a meadow below. Carefully, I made my way down the slope, easing toward a closer point. There she stood, about 150 yards away, faint in the twilight that had settled over the scene. Though I was well within range, the darkness prevented me from being comfortable with taking the shot. She slowly faded in to the timber; I turned and began the dark two mile hike toward the truck.

The next morning, I was energized to get out and get in to position for first light. As I worked my way out my ridge, I was startled by what sounded like sudden hoofbeats. Just a short time in to the still-dark morning, I had apparently scared off what sounded like a small group of elk. It was much too dark to see anything, though, and I hoped that they perhaps wouldn't go too far down the valley before it became light enough to spot them. When I reached a spot that offered a good vantage of the canyon below, I crouched and waited for the stars to fade in to morning. Before there was even enough light to see clearly, I heard steps in dry grass, and the munching of a ruminant in the junipers below. Shortly, two mule deer stepped out of the trees, ascending to my level toward the top of the ridge. They spread out, and worked their way quickly above me and out of sight before I could see well enough to shoot. I considered my options, but heard another animal still feeding below. I decided to sit tight. Shortly, a third muley worked its way up the slope, paralleling me at about 150 yards. In the moment that I raised my rifle's scope to my eye, there was just then enough light to see the animal. Also, at the same moment, I felt a subtle breath of cool wind on the back of my neck, blowing my scent straight at the deer. With scope trained on the animal's face, it stared straight back at me, it's ears now at attention and body tensed. Faintly seeing that it had antlers, I quickly lowered the crosshairs to the chest, and, just before it sprang away, I pulled the trigger.

Once the deer was packed out, skinned and stored for the evening, I gave myself one more day in hope of an elk. I had resigned myself to having to spend more time later in the season. When Friday morning came, it was all I could do to drag myself out of the sleeping bag, legs and back stiff and sore from hauling a field-dressed mule deer buck over a mile and a half of gently-uphill sagebrush. The air was frosty as I trudged out the ridge, my eyes not fully open and my mind not yet fully awake.

Oddly, an off-rhythm sound began to interrupt my reluctant footsteps. I froze in my tracks, trying to discern the source. It continued - a heavy, panting sound, though quite distant. Accompanying it were the distinct hoofbeats of rapidly-moving elk. Dawn had just begun to creep over the ridge, and I peered through the scope across the canyon. There, roughly 500 yards away, was a group of large bulls, already past me and heading straight away. The leader was a heavy-beamed six-by-six, tongue out and gasping as he led his subordinates to higher ground. I then noticed several more animals following close behind, and then, many more - a herd of elk strung way down the canyon, perhaps 30 animals in all. My mind and heartbeat raced, thinking "How can I get in to position to give myself a chance?"

Anxiety over bad positioning and a missed opportunity began to pound in my skull. Just then, the lead bull and the accompanying smaller bulls stopped abruptly, and made a ninety-degree turn in my direction. My heart rate tripled. They proceeded to quickly cross the canyon toward my ridge, angling slightly toward my position as they headed upslope through the timber. Realizing now that they may be well within range when they emerge from the trees, I got down in to a prone shooting position facing that direction. Moments later, the big bull appeared. As he headed for the crest of the ridge, he paused to gather up those followers who were close behind. He stood broadside to me, in a wide opening, and I reveled in the seconds that I had him in my crosshairs. That "trophy" wasn't what I was after, having limited myself to a cow tag to address the simple desire for meat in the freezer. The bulls, which included the monarch, a couple three and four-points, and a few forks and spikes, milled around nervously as the cows and calves began to join them. I steadied myself for a shot. As the herd began to move across the ridge, a large cow stepped in to the opening. My sight was already on her, and the report from my rifle echoed sharply through the morning cold.

The remainder of the day was spent hauling the beautiful elk out to the truck. This required many trips, each way roughly one mile, loaded down with the quarters of a rather large animal. After adding the previous day's mule deer, I wasted little time in packing up the cabin and heading for Lander.

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity, the experience, and to have the freezer full until next season. My legs, back and shoulders ache, and I have yet to stop smiling. Such is my ideal Wyoming autumn.

14 October 2009

News from Nikon

Nikon D3S
Photo courtesy of nikonusa.com

Once again, it is the season for news from Nikon. Throughout this past summer, the blog universe has been full of speculation as to what the next "big" thing would be in Nikon's DSLR line-up, and which pro-level lenses would be unveiled to accompany it or them. Much noise has been made about a possible D700X / D800 - an evolution of my beloved D700 that might feature the D3X 24mp sensor in the D700's smaller body and more attainable price point (as of this writing, the D3X still goes for $8000 on B&H).

However, the current trend is to couple higher-end DSLRs with "cinema-quality" HD video capture. Nikon had already started down this path with the recently-released D300S. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the next new DSLR would be one of their full frame (FX) models with a 24fps HD video engine. Enter the D3S.

See the specs here, the hands-on review here, and pre-order here from Amazon.

Of its many terrific features, note the astounding 102400 ISO.

As for myself, I'm not yet convinced that I need video capture. Yes, there is a rapidly-expanding market for video, and I may yet give it a try. But, for someone that has always conceived of images as still frames, for now I'll stick with the D700 and wait for either its next-of-kin (D700X / D800), or an assignment that will afford me a D3X.

Later next week, I'll talk a bit about some of Nikon's exciting new lens offerings, including the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VRII.

Restless

Tunnel vision may be more like it. The weather is now improving, and was 40F before sunrise this morning. There is a forecast of rain / snow mix for my hunt unit this afternoon, and my brief deer season opens tomorrow. Though I've got plenty of work to do, I'm loading up the truck and once again heading up to Ten Sleep.

The local beta I've received early this morning tells of large numbers of elk ascending from the low-elevation hay meadows up through my area. I'll be happy if I'm able to get even a couple hours of sleep tonight, and I'll probably find myself posted up on that snow-covered ridge ridiculously early in the morning. It's all part of the fun.

Should something exciting develop, I'll update the blog as soon as possible.

13 October 2009

Fall, or winter? Report from the first hunting weekend

Muley
Copyright 2008-2009 schnitzerPHOTO

The weekend's elk hunt proved to be exciting, challenging, very cold and, ultimately, unproductive. Saturday morning saw the temperature dip down to 0F - that's right, ZERO, on October 10. Of course, it was at the time of deepest cold when I saw the first group of elk, and I couldn't begin to get my fingers thawed out for a possible shot. The group was comprised of a 4x4 point bull, a spike bull, three cows and four calves. As they quickly moved down the shoulder of a long ridge, I proceeded to stalk them for the next two hours through knee-deep snow. When finally in position for a possible shot, the only animal that would present itself was the large bull. I hold only a cow/calf tag, of which the stoic bull seemed to be aware. The chess match continued for some time, though the terrain and heavy timber served in favor of the elk.

Though I did see several more elk from great distances, no shots were possible. On Saturday evening, I did watch a very nice mule deer buck grazing in a small meadow. It emerged from the timber just before sunset, and stayed within sight for about half an hour. With deer season opening this Thursday, I may find myself once again at the edge of that meadow.

The second week of October is much too early for such winter weather. Four days of snow and high temperatures in the teens make for exhausting days afield, particularly when without an animal to pack out. This coming weekend is "crunch time." The weather should be better, though there will still be plenty of snow on the ground. I will be anxious for another opportunity at an elk, and, hopefully, a deer as well. Once we have stocked our freezer, we can get back to canning our seemingly-endless tomato harvest (finished another gallon-plus last night). Though the weather hasn't been an ideal backdrop, we are becoming well attuned to the rhythms of autumn.