Black & White

Alone in the Field

Yesterday I took a 13 mile ride on the mountain bike, and saw this scene... I knew I needed to do something with it. So this morning I dropped off the kiddo at daycare early, and hopped in the trusty Subaru to get out to the field. It was such a neat morning too! There was a great layer of fog all throughout town and the light from the sun had a beautiful orange glow to it.

For the shot I used a specially converted Infra Red Nikon D200. This camera will only shoot in black and white. Infra red is very interesting to me - natural light that is reflected off vegetation tends to be very light, and bright skies tend to become very dark. The reflected light in clouds also becomes somewhat bright. I love this look... it creates drama and interest in images that may otherwise not have much.

Now for the really geeky stuff:
11 images, stitched in PS CC. Black and white balancing in LR CC.
IR Nikon D200
Nikon 18-105mm @38mm for each frame
1/200th
f/13
ISO 200
All hand held.

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Earlier today I posted a pic of this tree in a field which I shot using a specially converted Nikon D200 that only shoots in infra red. This image I used a regular camera body, and then converted the image to black and white in Lightroom CC. The images were shot just 5 minutes apart - but check out the extreme difference in the sky & ground!

Geek Specs:
Nikon D300s
Nikon 70-200mm VRII @92mm
1/500th
ISO 200
f/13
Handheld

PotterCounty050720158876tim walcktim walck photography

I was on my way to a shot that I had pre-visioned when I came across this scene. I loved it and only had time to get out of the car and snap off one frame because the sun was coming up quick. This is that frame and I am glad I stopped.

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From Liwa, UAE

Shades of Oman Dunes

Light is so amazing. I am always intrigued by how light reflects, shapes, and highlights a scene.

Looking from the top of a tall dune, I could see across the sabkha (salt flat), where another tall dune was. I wanted to grab my telephoto to check it out, and when I did I saw the most amazing lines in the dunes that were close to me. So - I went on a hike with this idea in mind of finding dune slopes that intersected closely, whilst placing the dune in the distance into the middle of the frame and intersections. From the start of my thought process I knew I wanted a black and white image to show off the lines and shading in the dunes. The biggest trick was finding a place where the sun was at just the right angle - slightly to the camera's left and nearly backlighting the entire scene.

The best part of this image was the hike to get it. I crawled up 4 dunes scoping out the landscape before I chose this as my favorite scene to shoot.

From UAE Desert

Monster "S" Dune

Looks are deceiving. Do you see the bushes on the dune to the left? The little tiny specs... - They are the size of a full sized SUV. I shot this dune at 200mm, from quite far away. The tell tell sign to me of its massive size is that you can't really make out the ripples from the wind. The entire dune has become somewhat smooth looking in this image because I was so darn far away when I made the capture.

I later climbed this dune - you can flip through the gallery and see some images from its top.

From UAE Desert

Twin Starfish Dunes

This particular set of dunes in Oman is deemed the "Starfish Dunes" because of their irregular and unpredictable shapes. Normal sand dunes in the UAE and Oman area tend to look similar, having peaks and valleys of similar height and angles, but these dunes are different because Jebal Hafeet blocks the wind and causes it to swirl about.

Look closely at this image. I was careful to shoot it because it showcases the wind patterns in this area. Notice that the dunes in the distance are sloped left to right. Now look at the dunes in the foreground and notice how the slope up and down away and towards the camera. Use your imagination and you can picture the wind traveling from the bottom right of the frame up and to the left towards the middle of the image, then curving around to the right in the background to shape the dunes.

I named this "Twin Starfish Dunes" because of the two large dunes in the background that have a similar arch in their crest line - as this is rare to see in this part of the desert.

From UAE Desert

Lone Tree on the Sabkha 2

There was a lone tree out on the sabkha, not far from camp. I knew it would make a nice image early in the morning when the sun is making a nice golden light at a low angle. I enjoyed shooting this tree so much that I went on quite a hike to find as many angles as I could to create variations on the same subject.

From UAE Desert

Oman Dunes

I had a lot of fun making this image. I knew I wanted something to incorporate the depth of the dunes, as well as the Sabkha leading into them. It was a nice cool morning (to start with) and I set out barefoot enjoying the walk through the desert. I wandered for about 45 minutes until I came across a scene that fit what I was searching for. To compose the image I wanted to play with the lines of shadows of the dunes, as well as the depth of the scene. I only took 3 shots of this and I knew I had what I wanted smile emoticon
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From UAE Desert