Archive for the ‘cold’ Tag
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“Relaxing Monkeys” – Jigokudani Park, Japan – Jollice Tan – Featured Photographer
I have seen monkeys all over the world, but I have never seen them in the snow. I must say that these Japanese macaques (Macacafuscata) have found a little slice of monkey heaven in a park who’s name translates to Hell’s Valley. This looks like a great place for a snowball fight. Jollie not only takes wonderful photographs, but she writes beautifully and travels often. Please keep up with her work in the following blogs.
https://lifetoreset.wordpress.com/
https://sofarreaching.wordpress.com/
Take it over Jollice:
I went for a weekend break to the beautiful town of Yamanouchi, Nagano, Japan for some winter wonderland experience and to see the famous snow monkeys of Jigokudani Park.
A bit embarrassing to admit but I have bad experience with monkeys, particularly those naughty ones of Ulawatu Park in Bali. So I was thinking that maybe these snow monkeys will be as naughty as those in Bali too, but to my surprise, they are so used to visitors that they developed these “ignore and don’t care” attitude.
Look at the photo and it says one thing – Bored and Cold. They are so cute and the snow covered land just makes one perfect shot.
Camera Used: Olympus PEn E-PL2 Micro-four thirds series.
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“Late Afternoon on the Moorland” – Peak District, United Kingdom – Les Wilcockson – Featured Photographer
Moorlands have always seemed like a mysterious place to me. Maybe it is from reading too much English literature in high school and college. A common theme seems to be spirits and marauders frequent them when the sun goes down. If you are willing to brave the elements and underworld you can head out around Derbyshire with Les and capture some fantastic scenery shots and, who knows, maybe a floating orb or ghostly apparition. To see more of the haunting beauty of England and beyond please check out Les’s website www.photographyandlight.com or follow his WordPress bog at http://leswilcockson.wordpress.com
Here is Les:
The Peak District, UK, has a wonderful horseshoe edge of Gritstone that includes a superb stretch around Derbyshire known as Curbar Edge. This photograph was taken early evening on a very cold January day this year on Curbar Edge looking out towards Frogatt Edge. In the very far distance Winn Hill can be seen on the left.
Alongside my commercial work I also run photography training courses and on this day we had called at this location with the intention of capturing the setting winter sun. I’m fortunate to live within a short distance of this location and although I’d been here on numerous other occasions, on this particular day the light was wonderful.
Although I consider myself mainly a black and white photographer, on this occasion I decided to experiment with HDR and color. Using a very solid tripod I shot five images of differing exposures which I then imported into Aperture 3 and from there I processed them using Photomatix HDR software.
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“Frozen Capital” – Vilnius, Lithuania – Laimonas Ciunys – Featured Photographer
Yup! It is as cold as it looks. I am curious to know how many people are reading this post and are thinking that this looks like a typical winter’s day. Here in Southern California we are pretty wimpy when it comes to weather. I don’t really care for anything under 60 degrees Fahrenheit and my brother Tom in coastal Carolina complains about anything under 50 degrees. What is your threshold? In the meantime read the “chilling” story below and then be sure to check out the rest of Laimonas’s beautiful portfolio at http://www.laimonofoto.lt .
Here is Laimonas:
This was a very cold winter morning in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. I went to work and I saw a beautiful vapor over river. I always have my camera with me and I decided to take few shots, but very quickly, because it was very cold -25°C (-13 F) ! So I did a few quick shots and ran back to my warm car. When I published this photo to Internet I was pleasantly surprised about great the success!
Canon EOS 5 Mark II settings were:
Shutter speed – 1/400 sec
F-stop – 8
ISO 100
Focal Length – 140 mm
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“Spirit Bear” – Coastal British Columbia, Canada – Iain Williams – Featured Photographer
I remember the first time I ever saw a photo of this beautiful bear was in National Geographic magazine several years ago. This photograph would have blended in well with the article. I can’t help but think of this spirit bear as being a wise old elder at the sacred fishing grounds. Iain does an amazing job of not only capturing the bear’s expression, but the fish as well. Please read the story and then visit Ian’s just as spectacular blog and website!
www.AnaspidesPhotography-Blog.com
www.AnaspidesPhotography.net
Here is Iain:
The Kermode Bear (Ursus americanus kermodei) is a sub species of the American Black Bear. It lives deep within the temperate rainforest in British Columbia, Canada and is often referred to as the Spirit Bear. The creamy-white coloring of the bear’s coat is not caused by albinism, but a recessive allele. It’s estimated that there are between 400-1000 individuals in the wild, the bear owing its survival to the indigenous people who featured the bear’s ghost-like appearance in their mythology and never hunted the bear or mentioned its existent to early fur trappers.
The photograph was taken along a creek line which is assessable only by live aboard boat and hiking. I timed my visit with the salmon spawning season as the bears come out of the rainforest to fish for salmon as the fish make their way upstream to spawn. It was raining heavily on the day I took this photograph and keeping the camera equipment dry was difficult. I placed myself at the forest edge adjacent to the junction of two streams and waited until the bears made their way downstream to fish. I used a sturdy tripod, Canon 500/f4.5 lens and a Canon EOS 1D MKIII camera. The available light was minimal due to overcast skies and rain necessitating an ISO of 400 at 1/250th at f4.5.
Interestingly, bears with white coats have a greater chance of catching fish than black bears. This is because the fish finds it difficult to see the bear’s white coloring.
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“The Polar Express” – Aizu, Japan – Hideyuki Katagiri – Featured Photographer
This has got to be one of the most spectacular winter photos I have ever seen. Is that train bound for the North Pole? I knew Japan was beautiful, but my mind would have a hard time dreaming up a more beautiful winter wonderland. So please, take another sip of hot coco, warm up by the fire, and enjoy Hideyuki’s amazing photo. Once you have soaked it all in please visit his site at http://500px.com/hideyuki-5.
Take it away Hideyuki:
This photo was taken two years ago. This is the first bridge over the Tadami River in Mishima, Fukushima, Japan and famous for the Japanese railroad. By the way, Fukushima divides into three areas – Aizu, Hama dori, and Naka dori. Here in the Aizu area the nature is very special. In winter, Aizu receives the heaviest snowfall in almost all of Japan. This photo was taken in February during an extremely heavy snow season. I shoved away snow and climbed to the top of this large mountain. On the top, I was impressed by the perfect snow world! I waited until the train passed and took this with my Canon 5D and 24-70mm lens.
I photographed all four seasons of Aizu for a few years. I will hold a photo exhibition on 24th-30th,May,2012 in HCL photo gallery Shinjuku-Gyoen.. Please come here if you can!
YOROSIKU ONEGAISIMASU!
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Birthday Present
Great Gray Owl – Dunrobin, Ontario, Canada – Jim Cumming – Featured Photographer
Today is our grandmother’s 81st birthday and she loves owls of all kinds. So we thought today would be appropriate to feature Jim Cumming. Jim is passionate about photographing wildlife in and around Ontario and it shows. He has several great owl photographs and he truly is the deer whisperer. Please check out his portfolios http://www.redbubble.com/people/darby8 and http://500px.com/JimCumming/photos after you read about his wonderful owl in flight photo.
Take it away Jim:
I had heard there was a Great Gray Owl located in Dunrobin, Ontario, Canada and not far from my home in Kanata, Ontario so I ventured out one weekend morning to hopefully find and photograph it. Driving down a country road I noticed a handful of photographers in an open field so I stopped to inquire what was going on, upon meeting and greeting this group I was informed that they were baiting (releasing mice for owls to catch) this owl and was asked if I had any problems with that, I didn’t but then again I had no idea what they were talking about since I had never heard of this practice before. Within a few minutes I witnessed something I’ve never seen before in my life, a huge owl flying right towards me, so with camera in hand I took some shots I will never forget as long as I live.
Date taken: Feb 21, 2009
Location: Dunrobin, Ontario, Canada
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Canon 70-200 f4 IS
shutter speed: 1/1000
Aperture: f4
ISO: 100
Focal length: 192mm
To read more from Jim here are a couple articles from Canadian Nature Photographer by Jim
http://www.canadiannaturephotographer.com/jimcumming.html
http://www.canadiannaturephotographer.com/jimcumming2.html
“Swirling Tide” – Espasa Beach, Spain – Lujo Semeyes – Featured Photographer
This is one of those “I wish I was there” (IWIWT) photographs. I can feel the cool water and sand between my toes. There is a strong breeze blowing and I put on an extra layer, but dare not miss what promises to be an excellent sunset. After reading Lujo’s account it turns out I am not that far off. Although maybe the water is a bit cooler than I expected. Please visit this and several other “IWIWT” photographs at Lujo’s portfolios 500pix.com/lujo and flickr.com/lujo. Here are a couple of other great links of his in Spanish asemeyando.es and exodos.es
Here is Lujo:
The photograph was taken at the beach Espasa (Asturias) in this medium, just at dusk, on a day of very low tide, leaving bare rocks are usually not visible. I chose this day for the state of the tide, and be having a polar front, which provided a good sky. As an anecdote to relate, on arrival it was snowing, but did not cover the sand.
Picture data are:
Cámara Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Distance focal17 mm
Obturación3.2 speed sec.
f 8
ISO/Pelicula200
high mirror
self-timer with 2 second delay
050 tripod manfroto XPROB
Hoya Polarizer pro at 9
Lee Filter 0.6 GNDS
“No Cell Phone Needed” – Upper Saranac Lake, New York – Mike Pillows – Featured Photographer
I am sure about 49% of our viewers would love to be the guy in this canoe, while the other 51% would like to be Mike behind the lens for this photo. No matter which one you choose I am sure this photo brings a calming effect to your day. Enjoy!
Catch up with Mike at his blog http://mikepillowsphoto.wordpress.com/ and view his fine portfolio at http://mikepillowsphoto.500px.com/#/0 for more amazing photography.
Take it away Mike:
“No Cell Phone Needed” was shot from my canoe on ‘Upper Saranac Lake’ in the Adirondacks of NY state. I had found a photo group doing a workshop on the lakes up there and have never been. Drove up and picked up my boat, paddled onto the lake and then it happened… not the photo pictured but kind of a controlled chaos. I had never shot from a small boat before and just trying to line up a shot became kind of comical. I mainly shoot landscapes with a tripod… boats that move with the slightest breeze, not so much. This shot was caught one very early morning, only squeezed off 2 frames but was ecstatic when it came up on my screen.
Canon 5Dmk2, 24-105IS lens, 1/160th @ f 9.0, ISO 200.
“Horsetail Fire Falls”- Yosemite National Park, CA – Nader Beheshti – Featured Photographer
I have a list in my head of one thousand places and things I would like to photograph and this is in the top five. The “fire falls” is really just the sun shining on Horsetail Falls at the right angle. The phenomenon is so rare it can only be photographed a few days in February at sunset. Nader has photographed it as good as I have ever seen it. After you read how he captured the image (without HDR) then please stop by and enjoy his galleries.
Here is Nader with the story:
I live in Las Vegas, and as such, I am privileged to attend the CES show in January every year. Last year, during my visit to the CES, I saw a large print of this waterfall being displayed in the CANON booth. I was completely mesmerized by it. I asked most of the Canon representatives at the show whether they knew the name or location of this waterfall to no avail. A few weeks passed, and finally, through happen chance; I saw a photo of this waterfall on Google. After a bit more research, I learned the name and location of this beautiful waterfall. I also discovered that the ‘glowing lava’ phenomenon is a rare event that only happens during sunset a few days out of the year in February. The information about the exact time frame in February was a bit fuzzy and I didn’t want to take any chances. So I ended up driving to Yosemite every weekend in February in hopes of the “perfect shot”. At the end, the sun, the earth, the weather, snow and water levels, aligned just right so I could finally obtain this very elusive shot.
Please feel free to visit my Flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nader_b/
and my 500PX site at: www.500px.com/Recluse
Image Parameters:
Location: Horsetail Falls, Yosemite National Park
February 28, 2011
Nikon D700
Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 lens
iso: 200
exp: -1.7
f/5.6
shutter speed: 1/320s
No HDR
“A Photographer’s Gift for his Mom”- Church of the Good Shepard, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand – Bhuminan Piyathasanan – Guest Photographer
I think this could be Snow White’s home or some other fairy tale princess. Everything is a bit too perfect down to the stars aligning right over the roof. No wonder this photograph has gotten so much attention. After being released at 500px.com, this photo was chosen as “Editors Choice!” with almost 20,000 views and more than 1,000 votes in 24 hours. You could visit this wonderful photo at: http://500px.com/photo/4376010, but the story of how and why it was made can only be read below. Enjoy!
Take it away Bhuminan:
In December 2011, one month before my birthday, I had a photography trip with my friends in New Zealand. As a photographer, I want to be here, one of the most beautiful places in the world, in order to take the best photo as I could. Then, I’d like to send this photo to my best, beloved mom. I waited until midnight. It was so cold and windy night that made me chill. Unfortunately, one essential factor was out of my control. It was almost full moon night. However, the show must go on : ) This photo was taken with the natural light with about 30 seconds exposure. I setup the camera (Nikon D700 + Carl Zeiss ZF 35mm) on tripod, then I used Nikon SB-900 speedlight for manually shooting the foreground. Taking Long exposure photo allowed me to walk and fill light with the flash for several times. If my memory served, I set up the flash about 1/16 or 1/32 power then fired 5-6 times from foreground to the church. The favourite shot looked like a scene from childhood fairy tales. And, I hope this will be the greatest gift to my mom.
On my birthday, 16 January 2012, I sent this photo to my mom and wrote this message to her: “Dear Mom, I cannot thank you enough for all your always supporting and believing in me. I would not be the person I am today without your constant patience, guidance and love. Thank Mom!! For giving me birth : ) Love you so much.”
If you are interested to print this beautiful photo, you could visit Atomic Zen’s online gallery in the link below
http://www.redbubble.com/people/atomiczen/works/8438000-a-photographer-s-gift-for-his-mom
You could print the photo in several formats (e.g., greeting card, postcard, canvas, or poster). If you would like to send a birthday greeting card or postcard to your friends, this photo will be very meaningful on that special day : )
Seward Sound Panorama – Seward, Alaska
Seward is a small town of about 3,000 people that still live life fairly slow. You can stop in any bar and chat up a local about its rich Alaskan history. The town is also a great place to stop off and catch a whale watching boat out to the fiords. The Alaskan Sea Life Center is located in the heart of downtown along the water. It is Alaska’s only public aquarium and marine mammal rescue center. This photo is a panorama stitched together from five other images. I like the tranquility of the scene and its muted colors. The soft grasses in the foreground suggest summer has arrived while the harsh snowcapped peaks in the background insist winter is never very far off in Alaska.
That’s A Lot Of Pelicans! – Santa Barbara, CA
After the title I didn’t know what else to say. Here is an attempt. I woke up on a stormy morning at the beach in downtown Santa Barbara, CA. I walked out to the sand and observed thousands of pelicans just hanging out. Maybe they were brought in by the storm, or maybe they just had a killer beach party the night before – it is anyone’s guess! I have seen this several times with shore birds and sea gulls. I am curious to know if anyone else has seen this phenomenon. Sorry the photo is a bit gray, but like I said the weather and light were both pretty bad at the time.
PhotoBotos.com 