You get what you need

July 25th, 2014

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You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

– The Rolling Stones

This refrain from one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs was running through my head as I collapsed the tripod and headed back to the car. I had driven the Brush Creek road near Crested Butte, CO, many times over the past several weeks. The road wound through some ranch land and there were horses grazing in the pastures. Each time I drove past this vista, I wished for some horses to photograph with the mountain as a background. Alas, it did not seem that my wish would be granted. The horses were always in different pastures or in the wrong part of this pasture.

Then, one morning, there was a horse that had nicely placed himself in front of the mountain — amid wildflowers, even. I hopped out of the car and took several photographs. I didn’t get my wish for multiple horses, but I did get what I needed.

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Broad-tailed Hummingbird

July 18th, 2014

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I heard him before I saw him — that metallic trill that announces the arrival of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird. I had left the camera in the car and we were just walking along the upper branch of the Brush Creek road near Crested Butte, CO, checking out the possibilities for wildflower photography.

I tuned-in to the sound and soon found him repeatedly climbing high into the sky and then diving toward the ground in the distinctive Broad-tailed courtship display. I knew he must have a perch nearby where he rested between flights to feed, court, or defend his territory from other hummingbirds. After I located his perch, I went back to the car, got the camera and tripod, and set up nearby.

Each time he flew, I moved the tripod a bit closer to his perch. When he returned, I remained as motionless as possible and snapped off a few photos. Eventually, I got as close as I felt I could without altering his behavior. I took several more images before discretely leaving. This was my favorite of those images.

Nikon D7100 (in cropped mode), Nikon 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6G lens (800 mm full-frame equivalent)

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Rules

July 11th, 2014

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“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.”

– Dalai Lama XIV

Rules can be useful. For example, the “Rule of Thirds” helps us create more dynamic images by placing the subject at the intersection of lines that divide the frame into thirds. Some rules, like the “Rule of Thirds” have come down to us as wisdom from generations of photographers. Others, embody lessons learned ourselves. Regardless of the source, it’s important to know and understand the rules we are explicitly and implicitly working under so that we can break them when necessary to achieve or even expand our vision.

This image is about breaking rules – two of my own rules. The first is “Don’t photograph flowers in full sunlight.” The second is “Always use a tripod for macro photography.” Both of these “rules” have served me well in the past, but not that day.

As I was walking back to the car after trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to photograph wild blue flax, I saw this backlit flax blossom against a background in shadow. I was immediately captivated. The blossom was in full sunlight, but the light was being filtered through the blossom and the background was the perfect foil.

I had the tripod in my hand, but didn’t use it. Setting up the tripod would have broken the spell. I was in the moment and it wasn’t a tripod moment. Instead, I used my 200 mm macro lens hand-held. The result speaks for itself.

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