This blog shares my "notes from the field," including photography techniques, hiking tips and lessons learned the hard way ... like the time I fell through the ice in the Merced River, Yosemite National Park. Thank you for visiting our site. Marcus
Grand Canyon, Arizona: Clear Weather and Changing Light
“The glories and the beauties of form, color and sound unite in the Grand Canyon – forms unrivaled even by the mountains, colors that vie with sunsets, and sounds that span the diapason from tempest to tinkling raindrop; from cataract to bubbling fountain.” - John Wesley Powell
Last weekend, we had a memorable visit to the Grand Canyon, South Rim. Initially, I thought about cancelling the trip, given the weather forecast for totally clear, blue skies. Not the best situation for landscape photography, which is richly enhanced with a touch of weather at the Grand Canyon. That said, the Canyon was as grand and inspirational as ever .... as always. The splendor of this national treasure should never be in doubt, I remind myself again and again.
As it turned out, we actually had some clouds in the late afternoons, making for some wonderful photo ops. The first photo shown here was taken at dusk, in the waning light, on our drive back from the Grand View overlook. The second photo was taken in late afternoon light, from the Yavapai view point. What a magnificent area for morning or late afternoon photography.
We were graced with a bit of fleeting evening light in the third image, showing a dramatic geological formation deep in the valley - viewed from the Grand View trail head. This location provided an opportunity to see the Colorado River and to work with a new Nikkor 2x teleconverter, effectively doubling the reach of my Nikkor Z 70-200 f/2.8 telephoto lens. Here, warm light casted a rich golden hue which remains a vivid memory today. If only we could freeze moments like this in nature.
The bottom photo shown here is from our first morning sunrise, viewed from Yavapai Point at the Geological Museum. Not a cloud in the sky on this chilly morning. This was, for sure, my briefest round of photography. That said, we still found the whole experience delightful, spending some time exploring this part of the rim.
Special thanks to my lovely and very patient wife, Anita, for her great company throughout this visit ... including 4 AM wake-up times. Anita is a great trooper and I often find her i-phone pics to be better than those from my heavy, cumbersome Nikon camera gear and tripod!
For trip planning and scenic locations, see Whirlwind Photography Trek and Havasu Falls Photography: The Color Blue.
Northern Arizona Wild Flowers: Flagstaff, Arizona
Thanks to Lexi Klinkenbert and Redfin for publishing this photo in "9 Places to Visit in Flagstaff, AZ That Locals Rave About." This photo brings back fond memories off-road exploration and hiking on a very windy day near Sunset Crater, north of Flagstaff.
For tips on wild flower photography, see Northern Arizona Sunflowers and Monsoon Rains Bring Wild Flowers.
Aspens Aglow in Arizona Mountains: Tilt Shift Lens for Landscape Photography
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."
― Albert Camus
Looking back at these photos, I'm still a bit chilled from the strong autumn winds at San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a clear, crisp day at Snow Bowl, elevation approximately 9,599 feet, with the Aspens aglow in golden leaves. Likewise, the forest floor was a carpet of golden leaves, laced with delicate rust colored ferns.
To "freeze" the leaves in these photos, I ended up shooting at high shutter speeds, like 1/500th of a second and faster. This required me to use high ISO settings, between 750 to 1,200. Back at home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the resulting images
were pretty clean. A bit of digital "noise" in the sky areas was easily reduced in Photoshop.
For the first, second and fifth photos shown here, I used a Nikon 24mm f/3.5D ED PC-E Tilt-Shift Lens for perspective correction.The vertical shift function helps to keep the trees standing upright and in proper 90 degree alignment with the horizon, instead of leaning into the picture frame. The tilt function worked well to maximize the depth of field in the image with the fallen log and the large rock.
I'm still learning how to operate the tilt shift lens efficiently in the field, as there is a bit of a learning curve with the manual focus and the tilt functions. After this last round, I'm committed to some more practice sessions at home - in my backyard - without the wind and other distractions.
The photo presented here, showing the two hillsides, is both instructive and inspirational in many ways. Known as the Hochderffer Hills, these formations and many of the nearby mountains are the remnants of old volcanos. The whole area was ravaged by an intense wildfire several years ago, a fragile situation that threatens the Coconino National Forest and the surrounding areas during hot, dry summer months.
The inspirational part of this scene, for me, is the strong resurgence of the Aspen grove on the hillsides. Here, we're privileged to witness the regenerative capacity of nature on a grand scale in a relatively short time period. Next Fall, this impressive grove of majestic trees will only stand a bit taller and wider, continuing to forge new life in the ashes. It is quite a sight to behold and better yet, to walk into.
Camera Gear: For these photos, I used a Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera, Nikon 24mm f/3.5D ED PC-E Tilt-Shift lens, Nikon 24-70 mm f/4 S lens and Gitzo tripod with Swiss Arca ball-head.
See also, Autumn Aspen Reflections: Northern Arizona Photography.
Bountiful Wild Flowers in Mountains; Southwest Landscape Photography
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." — Albert Einstein
Yesterday, it was so good to be back in nature. We made our way from arid Phoenix to the lush mountains north of Flagstaff, Arizona, for a day of hiking and landscape photography. This time, we lucked out on our timing to find bountiful wild flowers in bloom, highlighting a rich green backdrop of vibrant plants.
In the High Sonoran Desert areas like Phoenix, elevation 1,200 ft, we're graced by wild flowers just a few weeks in the early Spring, say in March to early April if not sooner. Here in the Flagstaff area, elevation 7,200 feet, Summer Monsoon rains usher in dense wildflowers, which peak in August or early September.
My approach to the wildflower photography was mostly one of waiting on the Sun, as broken clouds created dark shadows on parts of the landscape, while other areas remained in bright daylight. The other challenge was the wind, which seems ever present along the mountainside. Windy conditions required me to use high shutter speeds, like 1/500th of second and faster, to "freeze" the flowers and plants in motion. This, in turn, required the use of high ISO levels, 500 to 800 ISO for most of my shots.
All of that said, I've recommitted to visit this wonderful Northern Arizona mountain area more often in the year ahead; be it for wildflowers, autumn colors or a view of snow-capped San Francisco Peaks. This is a very special place, indeed, with such natural splendor in every season.
Camera Gear: Nikon Z7, Nikon 24 - 70 mm f/4.5 and Nikon 12 -24 mm f/2.8, Hoya polarizer filter and Gitzo Tripod.
Nikon Z7 Mirrorless Full-Frame Camera: Autumn Field Test
Amidst the recent flurry of Nikon full-frame mirrorless camera reviews, I am pleased to share my first photos from the Nikon Z7 and some non-technical first impressions. My Z7 arrived last Thursday, on the eve of a quick trip family visit to Southwest Michigan. Thus, I had no time to create custom camera settings, nor did I think to bring a tripod for this family visit. So, the images shown here were shot with the camera hand held in RAW file format, using Nikon camera factory settings (apart from resetting the Color Space to “Adobe RGB”).
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/160 sec; f/8; ISO 1250
Weather conditions during the first three days of the visit prompted a true test of the camera, as it was consistently rainy with dark cloud cover, low contrast lighting and windy as well. Photos of the river and forests were all taken under these low light conditions. The last day of our visit we were graced with broken cloud cover and filtered sunlight, allowing for a bit easier shooting of the pumpkin and flower shots.
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/20 sec, f/7.1; IOS 2000.
The many features and specifications of the Nikon mirrorless full-frame cameras are too numerous to recount here in this posting. That said, my first impressions of the Nikon Z7 for nature and landscape field photography, outfitted with the Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4 kit lens, are as follows:
- Under extremely low lighting conditions, the built in vibration reduction (VR) and useable high ISO levels allowed me to shoot the camera in handheld mode at f/8 to f/11, capturing the river images with a fairly deep depth of field.
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/60 sec; f/8; ISO 1250
The VR utilizes a five axis stabilization system, which is to achieve vibration reduction to a shutter speed up to approximately 5 stops. The ISO range on this camera is 64 – 25,600, expandable to ISO 32 – 102,400.
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/100; f/5.6; ISO 200
- While I was skeptical about using an electronic view finder (EVF) for landscape photography, I quickly made the adjustment to this new shooting mode. The EVF on the Nikon Z7 displays a large (0.8x magnification), high resolution (3.6 million dot) image.
After just a few shots, I found this EVF to be a big help in composing scenic images under the low lighting conditions. In the bright viewfinder, I spotted distracting content “hidden” in the corners of images and I was also quick to recognize images requiring exposure adjustments.
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/160 sec; f/13; ISO 800
- On first glance, the size of the Nikon Z7 was a bit larger than I had anticipated. That said, my impressions changed for the better when I set the Nikon Z7 next to my Nikon D850, which was outfitted with the Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens. As other reviewers have noted, the design and build quality of the Nikon Z7 are truly impressive. The body is remarkably rugged, using a weatherized design seemingly made of the same overall high quality materials deployed in the Nikon 800 series. From my standpoint, with the Z7, Nikon has created a field capable camera with excellent ergonomics, including a deep handgrip and a perfectly sized protruding EVF eyepiece.
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/50 sec; f/7.1; ISO 1250
- The Nikon Z7 body looks and feels like it is built to withstand the hardships of outdoor photo treks under extreme weather conditions, e.g., rain, snow, blowing sand, etc. The scaled down body and lenses should work well with fanny pack type camera bags, which will be ideal for the long day hikes we often undertake for our Southwest landscape photography.
Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4.5, 1/320 sec; f/11; ISO 200
- As expected, the image quality of the Nikon Z7 is superb. It employs the same size 45.7 MP CMOS full-frame sensor as that used in the Nikon D850, but the sensor has 493 phase-detect autofocus points.
The camera is supported by a next generation image processing engine, the Nikon Expeed 6 ISP. Some 90% of the image area is covered with focus points.
- The only downside of the camera which I have noted to date involves the virtual horizon display, which I use regularly to make certain that the camera is level and squarely upright for landscape and architectural photography. This is especially important when setting up a shot with a tilt-shift lens (e.g., Nikkor PC-E 24 mm f/3.5 ED Tilt Shift Lens). The Z7 will display a graphic circle depicting the virtual horizon on demand in the EVF display. However, the non-transparent circle is situated in the center of the viewfinder, where it largely obstructs the center of the image. The display of virtual horizon information on the D850 is far superior, wherein small indicators on the bottom and side of the view finder do not distract from the image. I am wondering if there is possibly another display option for the virtual horizon and/or if the D850 type display format might be offered in a Nikon firmware update for the Z7.
The lens adapter for the Nikon Z7 – The Nikon FTZ Mount Adapter – was backordered at the time of our Michigan trip and just arrived a few days ago. I am anxious to try out my other Nikon F-mount lenses with the Z7.
While this posting is by no means an exhaustive review, my first impressions of the Nikon Z7 are very favorable. The scaled down body size of the Z7 will make it a natural favorite for photography treks involving long hikes, as well as family and travel photography. I’ll have an opportunity to more fully field test the Z7 during upcoming trips to Monument Valley, Arches National Park and Death Valley, and will share these results along the way. MWR