Here is my day 1 video journal from my spring of 2018 visit to the Colorado Plateau. This is a backpacking trip that I spent many months getting ready for. In this first video, I setup the trip, and share my thoughts on the experience of going on a solo landscape photography adventure. Thank you everyone for watching, sharing, and subscribing. I really appreciate it!
Pixel Peeping a 709 Megapixel Scan
Recently a good friend of mine Michael Strickland purchased a very high resolution drum scanner. I sent him some film to scan, and he did an experiment where he scanned one of my sheets of film at 709.6 megapixels. To do this, he had to scan it in multiple pieces, then assemble it in photoshop. This would be impractical for most situations, but it was a good test of what's possible. First, here is a web sized version of the file.
Taken with an Arca Swiss F Metric 8x10 Camera with a Nikkor 150mm SW lens on Fuji Velvia 50
I recently posted a video where I shared some 100% crops of this image, and talked about the challenges of setting the focus and lens movements for this photo. Since I have an older computer monitor and my screen capture resolution isn't very high, I figured I would post some 100% samples for people to check out. See if you can figure out where these crops were taken from. Please Click on the photos to view them at 100%
Finally, here is the video where I talk about the drum scan, and what I learned from it. If you are interested in having your film drum scanned, please reach out to Michael. He did a great job with my film.
2017 Portfolio Box Set
Now that I have returned from my fall trip to Zion, it's time to start working on my big project for the end of the year: my 2017 Portfolio Box Set. Each box contains all of my portfolio shots from the year, printed on 8x10" German Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta paper with pigment inks. I already have 8 photos included from my winter and spring trips, and more photos will be included from my fall trip. My Zion film is currently at the lab, and will be able to start working my way through that trip in the coming days. I estimate another 3 to 4 photos will be included from that trip for a total of about a dozen prints.
The box sets are had made by yours truly, and all the materials are acid-free. The box can be displayed on a bookshelf, on a coffee table, or you can even frame the individual prints if you wish.
The box set will be an edition of 125, and I have already produced the first 40 (I'm just waiting on the Zion photos). I expect to ship the first batch of 40 preorders by mid December, and the other orders after that will be shipped a bit later.
If you would like to help support me and my work, and get some great prints in the process, this is a great way to do both. I think you'll really love the final result. To get your copy, here's the direct link to where you'll find it. Thanks everyone!
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day Seven
On my final day of my trip, I returned to a few locations I had a feeling would make for good subjects. I photographed a total of 3 subjects. Thanks as always for following my journey, and I look forward to sharing my next trip!
Insurmountable | Ebony RW810 | Fuji 600C Lens | Velvia 50 8x10 | One second @ f/45
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day Six
On the sixth day of my trip, I awoke to cloudy skies. I needed clear skies for reflected light, so I decided to take a tour of the East side of the park. This is an area I didn't get a chance to see last year because all the rain would have made the roads impassible. Thanks as always for following my journey!
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day Five
On the fifth day of my trip to the Colorado Plateau, I set out to photograph a tree I had scouted out the day before. Thanks for watching and sharing!
Sandstone & Juniper | Ebony RW810 | Fujinon 600C Lens | Fuji Velvia 50 | Several seconds @ f/45
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day Four
On the forth day of my spring trip to Southern Utah, I get an early start and grab a camp site in Capitol Reef National Park, track down the dollar bill I hid in the park last year, then set out in search of a subject to point my camera at. Thanks for watching and sharing!
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day Three
It was on Day three of my spring trip that I emerged from my bivy to find a wonderful display of high clouds in the morning. Typically this would be to the delight of most landscape photographers, but my goal for this backpacking trip was to photograph subjects in beautiful reflected light. In order for that to happen, I need to have cloudless skies. The weather forecast showed a good chance of sunny skies in the morning, followed by clouds and a slight chance of rain in the afternoon.
Seeing how the morning conditions looked best for reflected light, I returned to a very cool looking Juniper tree I had scouted the day before. I have a very limited ability to carry film on these backpacking trips, and without knowing which film would be more useful, I brought 4 sheets of Fuji Velvia, and 4 sheets of Kodak Ektar. I exposed half of my Velvia the day before, so I was only left with 2 sheets of Fuji Velvia.
Thanks for watching and sharing!
Life Force: Fuji Velvia 50 8x10 | Fujinon 300c | Ebony RW810 | 3 seconds @ f/45 | No Filters
Of the two sheets of film that I exposed, I was thankful to have wonderful reflected light in the second. When I post my film reveal video at the end of this trip, you will be able to see the two different sheets of film, one with strong reflected light, the other with weak reflected light. The quality of light is so important when it comes to photography, and I am very glad that I made the decision to expose my final sheet of Velvia 50 on this subject.
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day Two
On the second day of my Spring trip to Southern Utah, I wake up at the trailhead, and prepare my backpacking gear for my journey. The weather forecast was a mixed bag, so I had to be prepared for a variety of conditions.
My video kit on the backpacking trip was a Canon G7XII with 2 batteries, and a small Goal Zero solar panel for charging. This worked very well, and I will definitely use this setup on future backpacking trips when it's important to shed weight. The only other change I might do is add a tiny audio recorder and lav mic for better audio at times. That is the real challenge when working with a video camera without a mic input.
Since the water is very silty in these parts and difficult to filter, I decided to try out the Katadyn Micropur tablets. These worked incredibly well. They were fast to use, and didn't give the water a bad taste. I will be using these tables again on future trips because they are very lightweight.
My overall pack weight was just under 60lbs, which isn't bad given that was using my Ebony RW810 instead of the lightweight Ritter 8x10 that was destroyed on my winter trip. Next year when I return to this canyon, I will have an Intrepid 8x10 which should shave another 6lbs off my pack when you also take into consideration the use of a lighter tripod head.
Thanks as always for following along on my Journey!
Unbroken: Fuji Velvia 50 8x10 | Fujinon 600C | Ebony RW810 | 2 seconds @ f/45 | No Filters
This is the photo I shot on day 2 of my spring trip. It was only after naming the photo that I realized a greater significance to the title. I was drawn to this tree because of its imperfect nature, and its will to survive despite the greater half of it being splintered and falling to the ground. I came up with the title "Unbroken" because despite being shattered, the tree was still thriving. The title has a greater meaning in that this was the first photo taken with my "Unbroken" Ebony RW810 camera after a good friend repaired it for me after it had been heavily damaged on my winter trip to Death Valley.
Colorado Plateau 2017: Day One
In late April 2017, I returned to the Colorado Plateau for my annual spring trip. I absolute love exploring southern Utah, and I started this trip with a backpacking trip to a canyon that I had never visited. In the research leading up to this trip, I found very few photos from this canyon so I didn't know what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Here is my first video journal from my Spring trip to the Colorado Plateau. Thank you as always for following along on the journey!
Death Valley 2017: Unfinished Business
As I'm sure some of you are aware, I made a return trip to Death Valley to try and give that trip the proper ending it deserved. This video tells the story of my return trip, and the photos I captured. Make sure you stick around to the end. Thanks for watching and sharing!
Winter 2017 Film Reveal
This is the video where I share all of my film from my winter trip. You see it as I saw it for the first time, and I share some additional stories about the experience of taking these photos.
Winter 2017: Day 8
On my 8th day of my winter trip, I continue scouting for new subjects, and even point my camera at something. Thanks for watching and sharing!
Winter 2017: Day 7
On the 7th day of my winter trip, I decided to change locations and head to the shelter of Zion National Park in search of something to point my backup camera at.
Death Valley 2017: Day 6
This is my video journal from Day 6 of my trip to Death Valley. Thanks for watching and sharing!
Death Valley 2017: Day 5
This is my video journal from Day 5 of my winter trip to Death Valley.
Death Valley 2017: Day 4
Here is my video journal from day four of my winter trip to Death Valley. This was one of those days that I won't forget for a very long time.
Shattered | After my Ebony camera was destroyed on the morning of Day 4, the main canyon was still very windy. I drove to Titus canyon so I could expose some film to help me feel productive. I chose some low hanging fruit -- in this case, a rock wall with some very interesting patterns. I am still learning how to best use the Ritter 8x10 camera, so I needed to find an easy subject. I think the subject and title are very fitting given what happened earlier that morning. ( Fuji Velvia 50 | Ritter 8x10 camera | Fujinon 300C lens | Several second exposure @ f/45 )
Death Valley 2017: Day 3
Here is my video journal from day three of my winter trip to Death Valley.
Last Words | This is the photo I shot on Provia 100 with my 150mm wide angle lens on the evening of Day 3. The title comes from the fact that my camera was destroyed overnight. If a photo is worth a thousand words, these might be the last words spoken by my Ebony RW810. ( Provia 100F | Nikkor 150mm SW | Lee 3 stop hard edge grad filter | Ebony RW810 | 1 second @ f/45)
Death Valley 2017: Day 2
Here is my video journal from Day 2 of my winter 2017 trip to Death Valley National Park. Thanks for watching and sharing!
Death Valley 2017: Day 1
It is that time again! It's time to start sharing my video journals from my winter 2017 trip to Death Valley National Park. This was a very interesting trip, and I hope you enjoy the series. In my day one video, I set up the trip and share some of the back story. Thanks as always for watching and sharing.