With all the recent weather insanity, I’ve had the opportunity to go out and attempt capturing some lightning. These past two storms in particular had high amounts of cloud to ground strikes as well as in cloud strikes. With my tripod, cable release, and camera I’ve managed to capture a few that are worth looking at. By no means are they great, but it’s a start. I look forward to the rest of the stormy season and hope to capture some more.
Prosper, Tx.
Prosper, Tx.
Just going through some photos earlier from my past years in Alaska. I’ve been playing around with split toning lately and really like the look of it. For those of you that aren’t in the know, split toning is simply applying one color to your photographs highlights and another color to the shadows. This can easily be done by using the hue/saturation adjustments in Photoshop and then using blend modes to tweak the overall look. By no means am I a pro at this. I’ve only begun to explore the split toning world and am loving it so far. I can only continue to experiment and learn to hopefully come out with a great image on the other end. Here are some shots from Unalakleet, Alaska…
On the latter end of my family vacation this past weekend I decided to have a little fun with some portraits. What’s a family vacation without screwing around and making some goofy faces? It simply had to be done. There was a challenge however – I only had one flash and my shoot-through umbrella. I waited for the sun to get low for some dramatic lighting and tinkered with positioning my light source until I found the sweet spot. While portraits have never been “my thing”, I have started the learning process and am really getting into it.
Presenting the three stooges – together we’re likely the goofiest, strangest brothers you’ve ever come across…
Single Flash Portraits
There are obvious faults in these photos and they are far from excellent portraits, but I’m pretty pleased with what I got while only having one flash. I flat out just wanted to have a good time and experiment with lighting. It’s amazing how much you can learn by simply playing around. DUH!
Things I’ll consider for next time:
- Make sure to position my subjects to where objects (in this case the roof) do not ruin the background
- Find a way to light the underside of the chin and neck either by adding a second light (fill) or by using a reflector
- If a third light is available, use to highlight the hair or accent the background (if needed)
More equipment here would have been great, but it was awesome managing one light source to produce some interesting images. Next time, I’ll include the exact same details – hopefully with a few more toys in the mix.
I’ve got an opportunity in November that not many on this planet get to take advantage of. In 8 months I will be traveling to the Seychelles — a group of atolls and islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. This place is perhaps the most epic, remote saltwater fishery in the world. At 27 years old, I honestly didn’t expect to make it to the Seychelles before 30. I’m very fortunate that my employer, Tailwaters Fly Fishing allows for me to travel to such destinations to photograph these adventures.
Photo: David Leake
For this trip I am expected to do exactly what I did in Los Roques last March — document the trip with my camera. Yes, it was tough watching everyone catch fish, but my love for photography helps me cope with that. While I anticipate visiting the Seychelles more than once, I want to do everything in my power to prepare for this trip, making sure I come home with a job well done. I only have a week to tell a great story, so properly preparing will make this trip much less stressful and ultimately most successful. Over the next 8 months I will write a series of posts covering the following topics:
- Choosing equipment
- How I will use my equipment
- DSLR Video
- Packing for the long trip
- Putting together a shot list
- Creating a video timeline
- Visualizing the shoot
If any of you feel like you have something that might be worth contributing on the topics above, feel free to email me. A guest post is always welcome here.
Stay tuned for posts to come!
Last nights wall of severe thunderstorms definitely screwed up my fly fishing plans – I had a backup however. With rain, comes waterfalls, and there were plenty to explore and photograph. My family and I hiked up into the Lost Valley State Park just up the road from Ponca, Arkansas. The trees are just starting to bud with leaves and the dogwoods are in full bloom. It couldn’t be any more beautiful. Here are some of my favorite shots from today and there will be more to come tomorrow.
Small waterfall at Lost Valley State Park
Another waterfall at Lost Valley State Park
Last week I finally made it out to a place I should have visited years ago. About 3 hours East of Dallas is an incredibly wild and beautiful place known as Caddo Lake. This lake happens to be the only natural lake in the state of Texas – when you’re there, you can notice the difference when compared to any other lake in the state. The lake is known for it’s abundance of giant cypress trees shooting out from the water. Needless to say, this place is a photographers playground.
I went out to Caddo to get some shots for a donation I am making to the Nature Conservancy — an incredible organization devoted to the health of our planet. I was blown away at the beauty of this lake. For such a short drive away from Dallas, I felt as if I were days and days into the remote wilderness. Other than the birds, the only thing to take photos of is CYPRESS TREES – they are everywhere. Whether you’re in the area or not, this place is worth seeing. Check it out!
It was great to get out on the water this weekend. The weather was incredible and the bass spawn has officially kicked off. Saturday I visited some private water with Tailwaters’ customer Jonathan Allred. We caught a few bass and some nice crappie. My buddies took me out on Lake Fork yesterday and we sight fished to some really nice bass on or around spawing beds. It was nice breaking out the underwater housing yesterday (I wish the water would have been a tad less murky however). Here is a short photo essay to sum up the weekend…
As a fly shop employee and overall gear geek, I’m often rummaging through product catalogs. I really enjoy it as I’ve got a strong interest in product styling and photography. When I’m looking through any publication, whether it’s a catalog or magazine, I always study the photography — it’s a great way to learn and broaden creativity. As I scan these products, I always find myself wondering one thing, what it would be like if the company went out on a limb, and decided to photograph their products after they had been used and abused. Why not? After all, these products are made for rugged sports. They are made to be put to the ultimate test, so why not show what they can handle from the get go? I don’t know about you, but when I purchase a new shoe, backpack, hat, and in this case my climbing shoes, the first thing I want to do is go out, dirty it up and break the sucker in. Can you picture your favorite companies products showcased in a rugged, “bad ass” kind of way? Check out the two photos below:
Courtesy of fiveten.com
My day old climbing shoes.
As you study the photos above, what is your first impression. Please share in the comments section below. I chose to photograph my day old Five Ten Anasazi VCS, the new ones I pulled from the Five Ten website. After one night of climbing, they already look more comfortable, don’t they?
In the end, I probably will never see a company do this, but I do think it would be cool to see. Just different, that’s all. There are certain products (climbing shoes is one of them) that I can see doing well in a catalog looking beat up and broken in. Maybe I’m crazy, but it’s still fun to talk about. One of these days, I’ll have to put together a catalog of beat up equipment to see how people react.
I once was a naysayer in the world of Twitter. I honestly thought it was pretty dumb. I thought it was a glorified version of a Facebook status. Recently, though, I have given it a second go and I am beginning to see a long future with Twitter. It’s all about using it as a tool.
To start, I could care less what some celebrity is doing, or what some guy thinks about his new car. I have come to use Twitter as a tool for learning and inspiration, and also to network with others. The first step in doing this is choosing who to follow — wisely. I don’t go through lists of people and just click, “follow” a million times, I selectively choose who to follow based on three things (primarily) — what do they tweet, can I learn from them, or will they inspire me.
If the majority of someones tweets are completely meaningless, there’s a good chance I won’t follow them. If the tweets offer valuable information such as tutorials, and gear reviews — FOLLOW! Inspiration is the most important for me. I will often navigate who I follow, pick a favorite, and check to see who they follow. Often times, I will find a smorgasbord of folks that will fit my criteria. Just today, I started following some incredible photographers including Corey Rich, and Tyler Stableford. I look forward to following guys like these as they will always provide some sort of inspiration in the future.
There is a fourth reason I will follow someone and that is to put myself “out there”. I will choose to follow people, companies, ect. if I feel that they could somehow benefit from what I have to say everyday. A potential photo sale, or job for that matter could be “out there”, as long as I provide quality content something great might come from it. The only catch is, they won’t always follow you back.
Ultimately, when I swipe my finger to update all the tweets on my iPhone, I expect to see nothing but super duper, high quality, inspirational content that will benefit me as a Twitter user. What are you doing to create a tool out of Twitter?
If you aren’t following me yet and you like what you see, then follow me already!
It was recently announced that The Palometa Club will give out a grand prize (read below) to the angler that lands the lodge’s 500th permit. For those of you that aren’t aware, the permit is one of the most difficult species to land on the fly. Only open for it’s sixth season, The Palometa Club to date, has racked up an impressive number of 483 permit. It’s even more impressive that they only run a 6 month out of the year operation. Through our (Tailwaters staff) experience, this is THE place to go catch a permit. The difference is in the guides. Dick and Kay Cameron have employed the most knowledgeable guides in Ascension Bay and they want to do nothing but catch permit.
Photo: David Leake
The Prize
For the lucky angler that does land the 500th permit, many prizes will be reigned upon him/her. For starters, a fully paid trip back to the club will be given. Gear comes next — a brand new Sage Xi3, Hatch Reel, Patagonia hip-chest pack, Get Some Tail hat & Buff, and Kaenon sunglasses. The time to jump on this promotion is NOW. At the rate they are catching permit, it’s estimated that they will hit the 500 mark within the next three weeks. I would recommend calling or emailing Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co at (888) 824-5420/david@tailwatersflyfishing.com to book your trip. To keep track of the count, visit the Tailwaters Blog.
