Fiddle Creek Falls

I just returned from two weeks in California. Part of that time was spent camping at one of my favorite places on earth with some long time friends. I can't tell you how many wonderful times I've spent rinsing off under these refreshing falls after a long day of activities on the larger Yuba River near by. For over twenty years family and friends have met here. Though some are no longer with us, I always find their spirit here.
   I took this on my last morning of the trip before the sunlight filled the scene and added too much contrast to make a nice image.

South Fork, Yuba River

 I had some work in San Francisco last week so I extended my trip a few days and spent some time in Grass valley, CA. I used to live there and it is still one of my favorite places to spend time. My favorite feature of the area is the Yuba river. There are three forks and hundreds of amazing locations for photography.
 Ed Rotberg and Kial James and I hooked up one morning to hike around and take some photos. I had bought the Canon 7D a month before and still hadn't used it. I wanted to use it for the first time making some images that were meaningful to me. When I bought it I was in the middle of a lot of corporate work, which I appreciate, but it wasn't the type of work that excites me. Well I finally got my opportunity!
 This is the first image taken with the new camera, literally image #0001. I shot it in color and then made a black and white version. I then layered the two together in Photoshop CS5,with the BW image on top. I created a layer mask and brushed in some of the color layer beneath. I liked all three versions a lot- color, BW, and a combination of both- but this version strikes me the most. Not a bad trial run! BTW this blows up amazingly well. I haven't given the 7D a full blown test yet but so far it's lovely! What's better than hiking in a place you love with good friends and taking some nice photos? Not a whole lot...

2010 Costa Rica Safari- Day 1

PURA VIDA! VILLA BLANCA & The SAN RAMON CLOUD FOREST.


 I just returned from leading my third photo safari in Costa Rica for Journeys International. I feel so lucky to be able to "work" in such an amazing place. Costa Rica is a photographer's paradise no matter what type of subjects you prefer. Each visit is different from the last. This year we had a little more rain than usual but still had a great time. Even though I get to revisit some areas there is always something new to observe. The light, an animal I've never seen, an interesting character, the rain. And always the people, "Ticos",  are friendly and generous with their knowledge and time. Oh and don't forget the great food and....COFFEE! Even though it's very warm and sometimes very humid, the coffee still always sounds good. The one souvenir I bring back for myself is a bag of the locally grown export.

 This year the group- Terry, Carolyn, John, Marie, and Chalsa, spent time in three different locations, the San Ramon Cloud Forest, the very active Arenal Volcano , and the rainforest of Tortuguaro on the Caribbean Coast. I then spent three days on my own in the very wild southwest region at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge.
 The added bonus for me is meeting the wonderful people that make up our group. Terry and Carolyn are friends from an Alaska trip several years ago and I was so grateful to be able to spend time with them again. Not only are they terrific people but they're talented photographers in their own right.
 I'll share photos for the next several days in sequence of our trip. I'll also post photos taken by the group as soon as I've collected them all!
 Enjoy!

Turnagain Arm and the end of winter, I hope!

  I was driving along Turnagain Arm last week on my way to Girdwood. I LOVE this 45 minute drive and will find any excuse to do it. ( "I could sure use a cup of coffee- Hey! I hear Girdwood has coffee! Let's go!) Accent Alaska, my stock agency, is located there so instead of taking 15 minutes and dropping a disc in the mail I drive it down! Of course I always bring my camera.
  It was a grey, windy day, with not much exciting going on as far as light but I was attracted to the textures in the mud. I actually passed this spot up but then decided I needed to see if I could get something there. To get down to the mud I had to cross the Seward Highway, go down a small hill, cross the railroad tracks, and scramble over some boulders. That was no big deal. The wind was. Not only was it much stronger down here by the water, it was much colder. I, being such a smart and experienced Alaskan photographer, failed to put on the coat and light gloves I had sitting next to me in the car. Eventually it was very uncomfortable holding the frozen camera body in my bare hands so I'd take a few images, warm up my hands, take some more until I couldn't take it!
  Because it was so windy I took a lot of images of each composition to make sure I ended up with a sharp one. I'm glad I did because I really ended up with several blurred photos even with settings of 1/125 sec. at F13 and ISO 400.
  I love the texture of the mud. It was a no-brainer to convert the muted hues in this scene to black and white.
  The stacks of lumber, dropped of by the railroad for future repair work to the tracks, added an interesting contrast to the more natural elements and I couldn't help but experiment with them.
  As you can see there is no snow on the ground and it is rapidly melting off of the mountains. Summer is on the way!

Welcome!

        

Welcome!

  This is the first posting of a new blog for Wayde Carroll Photography. I look forward to sharing my images, techniques, thoughts, and inspirations here. Any comments, critiques, questions, or wise cracks are welcome!

 I'm a photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska and I do a wide variety of work to keep paying the bills! From one posting to the next you may find photos from an exotic location or you may find a pair of bare feet photographed for a local hospital brochure. I'll try and limit the foot postings, promise!

  I want to extend a special welcome and thank you to the people who followed me on my Chatalaska blog for so long. I was sad to see it shut down but feel I can share a wider range of topics here.

 This first image of the Chugach Mountains was taken just down the street from my home. I was locking up the house before hitting the sack and looked out the window to find this amazing orange glow filling the sky! I quickly grabbed my Canon 5D and a 24-70mm lens, made sure there was a card and a battery in the camera (I have actually driven out to a spot in the past to catch some amazing light only to discover my battery was still at home charging, just in case, you know, I might need to leave at a moments notice...), and ran down the street to a local park with a nice clearing.

 I was in aperture priority at  F6.3 and had a shutter speed of 1/125 at ISO 400. Because the lens was zoomed out to 24mm I wasn't too worried about depth of field and the 1/125th shutter speed allowed me to hand hold the camera and not worry about a tripod. I knew the color wouldn't last long and after shooting about 15 images the sun was gone and the clouds were grey/ blue. Made it!

 I would have liked a bit more of the mountain range in the image but I was eliminating some distracting homes that were directly in front of me. Not bad for a mere ten minutes work!