Cattail's & A Killer Sunset

While I was on my way to shoot the Reception today at the Mapelton City Center, I missed my turn and drove up another street looking for a place to turn around. Along the way I saw a field of beautiful fresh white powder (+snow mobile tracks, of course!) and some really sweet looking cattails. I had to get out of my truck and photograph them basking in the sun, covered with last nights fresh snow. I live by the hurry up and wait motto, so I had a few minutes to spare.

When I was selecting my settings in the camera, I remembered that a small aperture is best on a sunny day because it makes the sun look like a star instead of a big over exposed blob. I chose to shoot the 24-70mm 2.8L, @ f 13, 1/400, -2/3 compensation, 100 ISO. By shooting at a short focal distance with a fill flash, it helps under expose the background, which is great for a beautiful sunny open sky.

So now you are wondering why the sky isn't blue, but red & black instead?? Well I'm a big fan of infrared film and this is my version of it :D I think it gives it more of an abstract, artistic feel.

Nature photo of the day ^

After I finished shooting the Pre-Reception tonight, I looked outside and saw the killer sunlight that was setting. Of course, I went into holy freak mode and got all excited because I know that I have just a couple of minutes to capture the light. I switched to the 70-200mm 2.8L and zoomed right in on the top of the mountain. It took me 2 shots to get this one. When you shoot a shorter shutter speed than focal length you risk a soft image. So the closer you are to 1/200 the greater the chance you have for a very sharp image. I was zoomed at 200mm, @ 1/100, f 5.0, 200 ISO. I felt like I was pretty close to max for a sharp image, even with my very steady hand.

The first shot was a bit soft, I fired a second image right after that so it was a smoother more steady shutter release. I hate tripods and I love to shoot hand held in low light. It was very sharp and clean when I looked at the pixels at a 100%.

It's funny, when I was looking at the photo that close, I could see every little thing on the mountain and I kept thinking I'd for sure see an animal or a herd of them!