The landscape perspectives that you get when photographing from the air are unlike anything you can achieve from the ground. If you have an interest in learning how to photograph from the air, join me in Iceland for a workshop featuring helicopter photography in the Highlands of Iceland.
Interior Highlands of Iceland
This September, I will be in Greenland leading a workshop for Muenchworkshops. Man-oh-man, am I looking forward to getting back into the Artic. This time, my co-lead will be none other than Andy Williams.
I've been in Kenya for some 8 days and today is the first day with solid internet so I will start posting some of what I have up to.
Other than some aerial work at Lentorre Lodge, I've been working on a special project involving only IR and medium format cameras. The subject, elephants of course. Special thanks to the Kenya Wildlife Service for their continuing support and to Eric of Elephant Gardens. Without these professionals, I could not accomplish photos like the one below. A higher resolution image can be seen on my BLOG.
Camera: Nikon Z7 with IR sensor conversion @ 720 nanometers.
#kenya #safari #photosafari #elephants #wildography_and_safaris #NikonPhotography #infared #infraredphotography #OurPlanetChallenge #amboselinationalpark #africansafari #naturephotography #natgeoyourshot #natgeotravel
With Kenya now open for tourists and only a few visitors in the parks, I decided to brave the current conditions and head to Africa on a solo trip. Normally I’m leading photography workshops in Africa so it’s rare for me to work alone and I must tell you I, consider this is a real treat. This trip I’ve been invited to experience Lantorre Lodge located near Lake Magadi. I will be using Lantorre as my base of operations to conduct aerial photography over Lake Magadi and near Lake Natron along the Tanzanian border.
With very few visitors and special photography permits in-hand, I’m excited to have special access to the landscapes and wildlife. The recent births of elephant twins (two groups) will make the visit to Amboseli even more special. Once again, I’m looking forward to working with the Kenya Wildlife Service and my personal guide, Eric of Elephant Gardens.
The bad news is the massive restrictions on carry-on luggage via Turkish Airlines. Along they claim is it one of their COVID-19 measures however, I simply don’t get it. With a strict limit of 4kg in the cabin and a size slightly larger than a small 15in computer bag for your single personal carry-on, I had to check my camera gear for the first in many years. OUCH.
I booked this flight only days after Kenya opened to US travelers (less those from California, Texas and Florida), and before Europe airports had granted permission to transit. This lead to a convoluted routing via Turkey and onward to Kenya to avoid connecting in the EU. Now several airports are open in the EU for transit. Oh well, you can’t win them all.
I’ll keep you posted as I travel along. For now, I hope you enjoy one of my friends stopping by for a close hello
Tulips fields over Holland, complete with water cannon.
Camera: Hasselblad H6DC100 with 35-90mm
Platform: Eurocopter EC130, doors off.
#tulips #hasselblad #aerialphotography ##abovetheearth #helicopterphotography #aeriallandscapes #fromtheair #landscapephotography #yourshot #natgeoyourshot
In the air over the tulip fields in Holland.
Camera: Hasselblad H6D100C, HCD35-90mm
Platform Eurocopter EC130, doors off
#hasselblad #aerialphotography #landscapefromtheair #holland #tulips #tulipfields #fromtheair #aeriallandscapes
I’m going to use today as a kickoff for a series of aerial photographs. During the rest of May and June, I will be showing some of my aerial work. Over the next month, we will travel the skies together as I showcase aerial images from New Zealand, Botswana, Washington State, Greenland, Iceland, Holland, and Argentina, to name just a few.
In this upcoming collection, I used fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, and drones to capture the unique point of view afforded by photographing from the sky.
Camera: Hasselblad H6D100C, HCD 30-90mm
Platform: Eurocopter EC130, doors off.
#sky #aerial #aerialphotography #holland #tulips #hasselblad
Photographing Children is usually a great deal of fun, but not without hard work. These two brothers of the Suri Tribe in the Omo Valley were beyond adorable. These two tolerated me asking them to hold their position while I took a moment to share instructions with my clients.
One big sidelight (5 foot Octa) off to the side at a 45 degree angle. Profoto B10Puls was the light source.
The Dassanech Tribe is one of the tribes located in the most southern area of Ethiopia’s’ Omo Valley. Unlike the tribes further north, who have the benefit of a lush environment, the Dassanech eek out a meager existence in a semi-arid desert environment. Cattle are critical to the members of the tribe. They provide meat, milk, leather, and are a component for their houses. Additionally, they play an important role in the status of a tribal member and provide bride-wealth that allows a man to marry.
The image of the warrior was taken underneath a small stand of trees so I could control the ambient light. I used a black backdrop with a Profoto B10Plus with 5-foot Octa with diffuser. The diagram below shows the setup. The objective was to create a powerful image that used chiseled light as well taking advantage of the light wrap of the Octa. To achieve this, I positioned the Octa at an off-set angle getting only the very edge of light (see the red dotted line) from the Octa on the side of the warrior while allowing the rest of the light to wrap around his face and body. This allowed me to capture his stare without his dark skin blending into the black back-drop. The light on his right side (camera left) was create with a 4-foot silver reflector.
Here is what the set-up looked like in the field.
These are certainly unprecedented times in the history of our nation and the world. When the world throws an insurmountable mountain in front of you, one of two choices become very clear, assuming you can’t go around it. You can lay down and simply give up or grab the rope and pull yourself up. Don’t forget to help others along the way.
This was a fun self-portrait, (something I rarely do), taken in one of the ice caves in Iceland. I found a path that I could quickly get to and start pulling myself up the rope. I pre-focused using a point on the rope with an estimate of where I would be when I pulled myself up the slope. Did a quick composition, kicked in the timer delay, hit the shutter and off I went. After falling face first on my first try and totally exhausted, I decided to give it one more try. Enjoy
Hasselblad H6D100C, 24mm, ISO 64, 1/8 sec @ f/11
