Visit our new Blog!!!
Hey folks,
We have a new Blog home at http://www.josephrossbach.com/category/blog/. Make sure to bookmark the new page and to sign up to follow the blog!
A new home for Joseph Rossbach Photography & Blog
Hello everyone and happy New Year! We have moved this blog over to a new home at the redesigned website. Please be sure to subscribe to the new RSS feed and join our mailing list. Here is a link to the new site – http://www.josephrossbach.com/ , and here is a link to the new blog – http://www.josephrossbach.com/category/blog/.
2012 Photography Workshop & Photo Tour Schedule is now live!
We are pleased to announce our 2012 Workshop and Photo Tour schedule is now live. We have added a few new venues for 2012 including Epic Iceland and West Virginia Spring in addition to some all time favorites like Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Zion National Park and West Virginia Fall Color. To view our full instructional Photo Tour listings, please click here. In addition to our location Photo Tours, we are also are pleases to offer one day and weekend workshop in the Mid Atlantic including Great Falls National Park, Chincoteague Island and Ricketts Glen Waterfalls. Click here to view the current schedule. We will be adding new location and dates to the weekend workshops in the next week or two, so look for that announcement to come. As always, thanks for your continued support of my business and work!!
Bigtooth Maple, Zion Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah. From this falls Zion National Park Photo Tour.
Cottonwood Row, Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah
I spent the other day hiking the famous Narrows of the Virgin River in Zion National Park. This hike is my all time favorite in the park for several reasons.First and foremost, I love to work water and there is no better place in the park that provides incredible water juxtaposed with the shear vertical walls of the canyon. The second reason is the hike is just a great adventure and tons of fun wading up river and watching the light in the canyon change throughout the day. This image was recorded abut a half a mile from the entrance into the narrows. This section of river is amazing in the late morning when the canyon wall out of frame is brightly lit and bouncing warm glowing light into the walls illuminating the Cottonwoods. I choose an angle that allowed me to frame a large section of the canyon wall against the rush of rapids streaming into the lower frame of the composition. The clear blue sky above is reflected in the water adding a great depth of color to the image.
Cottonwood Row, Zion National Park
Tech details: Nikon D700, 16-35mm, Singh Ray LB Polarizer, Gitzo Tripod, Arca Swiss Ball Head, 1/3 of a second @ F14, ISO 200
Go Ahead and Kiss my Crack, The Subway, Zion National Park, Utah
I know its an iconic location, but its my take on it, so go ahead an kiss my Crack. I shot this just the other day at the Subway in the back country of Zion National Park. The color, water levels and light were just perfect. Ended up starting the hike at first light and getting back after sunset. It was an incredibly exhausting day, but absolutely worth every ounce of effort.
Off to Zion!
I am spending the day packing and preparing for my trip to Zion National Park. I leave tomorrow very early in the morning and should be in Springdale in the early afternoon. I am looking forward to this trip very much! I have a few days before my official workshop starts on the 6th and will be hiking the Narrows, the Subway, Echo Canyon and exploring Kolob Terrace in advance of the workshop. Close friend and fellow shooter, Alex Mody, will be assisting me once again. It looks like our timing is perfect for great color, cold temps and some interesting weather moving through the area throughout the course of my 10 days. Stay tuned for recent work right here on the blog, and also over at my Facebook Fan Page.
Cottonwood Bend, Virgin River Narrows, Zion NP
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween everyone. I give you an image of the haunted woods of Maryland. I wandered alone, cold and scared one Hallows Eve dodging flesh eating zombies, the Blair Witch and my son dressed up like Wolverine. I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween, and gets a lot of great candy, or at least steals it from your children, nephews or just the kids next door!
Haunted Woods
Autumn Frost on the Forest Floor
I took the opportunity this morning, after a day and night of rain, sleet and freezing temps, to explore a local park near my home in search of macro images and reflections. Patuxent Ponds Park sits on the banks of the Patuxent River. A small park with two small ponds and surrounding wetlands and swamps. The perfect location for intimate forest scenes. The first shot is a group of fallen leaves covered in frost. The early morning sunlight was glimmering through the forest illuminating the scene in a beautiful mixed light. I used a small reflector to help bounce some more light into the image and waved a diffuser back and forth blocking direct light over the 8 second exposure pushing the light into and out of the scene during the exposure further enhancing the mix light.
Ephemeral Autumn Forest Floor
Elegant Elakala Falls, Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia
If you want to create an image like this you have to be willing to get wet and put your gear at risk. If you’re not putting your gear at risk of being destroyed, then you’re not going to be able to capture an angle such as this. Just purchase some equipment insurance and dive in. The light on this afternoon was exquisite! It was a clear day and the rocks were wet after raining all morning.
The extreme angle of view being this close to those foreground cascades and the extreme tonal values from bright water to dark rocks in shadow presented a few technical challenges. First and foremost, I wanted a long exposure to render the water as silky and soft. This was achieved by dialing in a 5 second exposure at F22 which also was the perfect setting for near to far sharpness with the camera literally only 2 feet from the foreground falls. With an exposure time of 5 seconds the water was perfectly exposed, but the shadow detail along the sides of the frame and on the rocks was about 1.5 stops too dark. To overcome this, I shot a second image at 13 seconds rendering just the perfect amount of detail in the rocks. The two images were later hand blended in Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Elegant Elakala
Fiery Maple, Canaan Valley State Park, West Virginia
This image i by far my favorite from my recent trip to photograph the fall colors in West Virginia. It was shot on the very first morning of my photo workshop that took place from October 7 -10th. I awakened early that morning at 4:30am plagued by bad dreams that I can’t seem to recall. Probably went something like the light being atrocious for the next several days topped off by leaf ripping winds and zombie flesh eating clients. I joke of course, or do I? Whatever it was, it certainly was no evil premonition of the days to come. I had an amazing group of photographers, all very nice, talented and enthusiastic. And it certainly was not a negative omen of the conditions of light and foliage to come over the workshop.
Rolling out of bed after what seemed an eternity of laying in restless dreams, I made an emergency batch of strong coffee. Boiling the water on the front porch of the hotel room and then adding it to my french press loaded with some serious strong coffee bought at Hypnocoffee in Davis the day before. As I sipped the black caffeinated concoction on the porch of the lodge, I took in the starlight and low hanging fog creeping across Canaan Valley eerily illuminated by the waxing moon light coming down like a search light from a UFO. At this point I knew that this morning was going to be a good morning indeed. Low hanging fog and clear skies is a perfect recipe for dramatic atmospherics. Mix in a little fall color and a stately old maple and you’ve got a recipe for success that Rachel Ray herself couldn’t whip up in 30 minutes or less.
Fiery Maple, Canaan Valley State Park, West Virginia
After many cups of hypnotic coffee, I met the group in front of the lodge at 6am. We briefly discussed the logistics of the morning and then saddled up and where on our way over to Canaan Valley State Park. Eying the conditions of the fog as I drove I noticed it getting stronger as we approached the park. This particular meadow is a favorite of mine. I like the old growth maples surrounded by wild untamed meadow grass. As the sun rose, we watched it first paint the fog in tones of purple and pink. Before long the sun was over the crest of the Allegheny front and splashing the meadow and fog in warm early morning light. The sweet light! I choose this composition because of three reasons. First and foremost, the fog. As it danced across the meadow it lifted up into the trees presenting itself in a most elegant manner against the bulk of the stately old maple. Second, I was drawn to the repetition of the number three, the maple and the two conifer trees to it’s left. And finally the third reason for the image, the light. It was warm and sculpting, giving character to the shape and texture of the fog, forest and meadow. I used my 70-200mm to isolate the maple against the background forest. The fog helped soften the scene allowing only the most important detail and color to come through in the image. A single exposure was all that was necessary to capture the full tonal range and color. It was optimized in Adobe Camera Raw, and final touches to tone, color and saturation were applied in Adobe CS5. I added an Orton layer at 25% opacity to give the image a soft glow that I felt suited and enhanced the mysterious natural setting and light that morning.
After the leaves have fallen
Autumn is fleeting. It seems just as soon as the forest is transformed from the dull greens of late summer into the fiery tapestry of fall color the leaves so quickly drop. I think autumn’s brevity is cause to celebrate. When something so beautiful passes so quickly it gives us little time to take it for granted! Instead I bask in the short lived beauty of autumn each day, taking in the sights, the sounds and feeling the cold hand of winter slowly grasping our colorful little world before ripping off the leaves and leaving a wake of grey in her path.
Second Falls of Elakala
I often times hear photographers referring to “peak” fall color as if it is the only time to be out in the field and without it there is no chance of creating a “great” image. Well, I disagree. Great images can be made in any season, at any time of the day and under any lighting situation. The trick is to be open minded, and match the light to the subject. In fact, my favorite time to shoot streams is after the peak of color has blushed the tree tops and the leaves are all beginning to fall to the ground carpeting the rocks and creating swirling eddy’s of color in the stream beds. Now that’s the time to be down in the water shooting the falls.
Swirling at Second Falls
These images are from a favorite falls of mine along Shays Run in Blackwater Falls State Park. Just think how boring this shot would be without all of those leaves blanketing the rocks and creating those abstract swirls of color in the water below.
Oregon Brook, Vermont
While in Vermont this past fall I took the opportunity to visit a little known brook in the Northeast Kingdom that I discovered almost 10 years ago. I first photographed this stream when I was still shooting large format film, and I have dreamed of visiting ever since then hoping to get the right water levels mixed with vibrant autumn color. Well I got my wish this year! After leaving my house at 3:30am a few days in advance of my Vermont Autumn Photo Workshop, I made the long haul drive of over 650 miles to the extreme Northeast corner of Vermont just a stones throw from the Canadian border. My first stop was to Lyndonville for a much needed cup of coffee and to meet up with fellow photographers Alex Mody and Chris Kayler. We immediately headed for this location. After turning off onto the dirt road, we parked our cars at the one and only pull out and descended the steep ravine in route to the brook below. The color was blazing along the banks of the brook and a light rain provided the perfect conditions for shooting stream scenics.
After arriving on the edge of the stream, we all set off in our own search of compositions. I settled on this one of many because I was drawn to the current of the cascades in the foreground and the tunnel of color expanding into the distant frame. The stream was in such good condition and the color so phenomenal that we spent the next day shooting along it’s banks once again. When you find an area that is promising it’s best to spend some time working it until you’ve exhausted all of the photographic possibilities!
Oregon Brook Autumn Rush
And from the next morning shoot! And oh what a difference a day makes! Heavy rains and wind overnight knocked many of the leaves from the trees and scattered them all over the rocks around the stream. I took advantage of this added bonus by framing a particularly well carpeted rock just to the left of the main cascades. Using my ultra wide angle Nikon 14-24mm allowed me to incorporate a huge section of the rock and getting in close emphasized the amazing array of colorful leaves in the foreground.
Oregon Brook Autumn
Nichols Ledge Sunset, Vermont: Bring in the Clouds
You always here us nature photographers lamenting over the lack of clouds, or praising their arrival. Well there is good reason for it you see. A sky without clouds often lacks the intensity and drama we are searching out when capturing the “grand landscape” image. Not only do clouds add that extra special touch, but also many times bounce reflected light down into the land making for a much more luminous and colorful image. Here is an illustration of the same scene this fall photographed on two very different evenings. Notice in the clear sky shot, the inclusion of much sky is not nearly as interesting as the image with massive cloud cover over the scene. It is also important to note the lack of light and color on the land in the image from the clear evening. In the shot with much cloud cover a whole bunch of warm light is being bounced of the clouds and painting the landscape below. For this reason alone, it is important to spend as much time in the field as possible and continue to work the same scenes over and over again until you get those special conditions that really make the shot. Would I be happy with the clear sky image? Yeah, I guess so, but not nearly as much as will the second shot, and all of the drama in the sky!
Nichols Ledge Sunset, #1
Nichols Ledge Sunset # 2
Best of West Virginia Autumn 2011
Pendelton Point Sunset
It’s been a week since I returned from the West Virginia Highlands conducting my annual Fall Photo Tour. This year was phenomenal with a great group of shooters, some areas of amazing color and a few sessions of tremendous light. We worked each day starting well before dawn shooting some of the best overlooks and mountain summits to exploring waterfalls and autumn meadows in between sunrise and sunset. These are my favorite images from the trip. We’ll definitely be back again next year adding a few new locations as well! A big thanks to friend Alex Mody who helped assist me on the workshop and did a great job!!
Ledge of Light, Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods
October Woodlands
Neverending Autumn, Blackwater Canyon
Elegant Elakala
Autumn Swirls at Second Falls
Douglas Falls Autumn Flow
Fiery Maple Meadow
Bear Rocks Autumn Vista
Mystery Meadow
Stay tuned to the blog. Over the next week I will be discussing each image, it’s technicals and the creative process behind the making of each one. Also, sign up for 2012′s Autumn Photo Tour here – http://westvirginiafallinstructionalphototour.eventbrite.com/
