As someone who does a lot of outdoor/landscape photography, great locations are important to me. Being in a photogenic location is a wonderful way to experience the outdoors. However, when you photograph a location can be just as important as where you are. The “when” of photography occurs on multiple scales. Within a day, within a year, and even across years. Consider one of my favorite locations to photograph, the South Dakota Badlands.
If you visit the Badlands like most tourists, you’ll arrive at a nice time during the summer after you’ve had your morning coffee. By this time of day, the sun is nearly overhead, and you’ll get photographs like this one:
Door Trail in the Badlands, as most tourists see it… well after sunrise.
Last light in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Nikon D800e with 70-200mm f/2.8 AFS G VRII Nikkor zoom. 1/8s @f/11, ISO 400 (click to enlarge).
When you shoot landscapes, keep in mind that sometimes the best light happens after the sun has already set. This image was captured about 2 minutes after sunset in Badlands National Park during my photo safari with Deborah Sandidge. High winds made a tripod mandatory, and I used mirror lock-up to prevent softness from mirror-slap. Although the original file wasn’t quite as spectacular, a quick trip to Color Efex Pro 4 brought this image to life.
Due to a late cancellation, I’ve got an opening for my photo safari to South Dakota June 2-6th. I will be joined by Deborah Sandidge as a co-instructor for this immersive landscape photography experience in some pretty amazing environments.
In addition to photographing some amazing locations, we’ll also have classroom time, where Deborah and I will teach you the art of creative post-processing. We’ll cover black and white, HDR, and infrared photography. Speaking of IR photography, we’ll be bringing a few extra IR-converted cameras for you to use on the workshop!
