Fine Art - David Mathre Photography

Monday (06-October-2008) — California

Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Eighth Annual Nikonian Photography Adventure Trip. Day 2: Bodie State Historic Park.

On day 2, our van visited Bodie State Historical Park. Bodie is one of the best preserved old mining ghost towns in California. It is kept in a state of static decay, and is a favorite place for photographers (and has been the location for filming several movies). There were lots, and lots of photographers in addition to our Nikonian group. Prior to visiting Bodie State Park, we were told not to show Nikonian labels and make sure that we leave well before sunset because of problems between one of the State Park Rangers and the group in the Nikonian van the previous day .

Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.

Sunday (05-October-2008) — California

Gone to See America October 2008 Road Trip. Eighth Annual Nikonian Photography Adventure Trip. Day 1: Yosemite National Park.

Sunset Panorama of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. There were many photographers (in addition to the Nikonian group) lined up at the Tunnel View parking lot to photograph sunset. Many left thinking nothing was going to happen, then all of a sudden sunlight came in from the west under the clouds to light up both sides of the valley with this incredible orange color. I think that the mist down in the valley is smoke from campers cooking dinner.

Sunset Panorama of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. Composite of 3 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 800, f/16, 1/25 sec) (David J Mathre)

Wednesday (09-April-2008) — Arizona

Gone to See America 2008. Page Arizona Photography Workshop with Winston Hall. Day 2: Upper Antelope Canyon.

On the second day of the Page Arizona Workshop with Winston Hall we started with a session in Upper Antelope Canyon. The upper and lower portions of Antelope Canyon are narrow slot canyons on the Navajo reservation near Page Arizona. The Upper canyon is all at ground level and thus easier to enter and exit without needing to climb ladders. The downside for photographers is that more people tour the Upper Canyon. We had a great guide that metered the passage of other tourist giving us time to compose and execute our images. The canyons are favorites for photographers because of the constantly changing light and textures. The canyons can be a challenge to photograph because of the wide range of light levels well beyond the capabilities of digital camera sensors. The light was a bit flatter in the Upper Canyon vs. the Lower Canyon yesterday. As such, I didn’t need to use HDR when processing the images.

Antelope Canyon Tours Passenger Truck. Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 18 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Antelope Canyon Tours Passenger Truck. Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 18 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon Entrance, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 22 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon Entrance, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 22 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Tumble Weed at the Upper Antelope Canyon Entrance, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 27 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Tumble Weed at the Upper Antelope Canyon Entrance, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 27 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Tumble Weed at the Upper Antelope Canyon Entrance, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 18 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Tumble Weed at the Upper Antelope Canyon Entrance, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 18 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 0.4 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 0.4 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 22 mm, f/16, 1.3 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 22 mm, f/16, 1.3 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 3 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 3 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 6 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 6 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 10 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 10 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Falling Sand. Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 20 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Falling Sand. Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 20 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 0.5 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 0.5 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 8 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 8 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 15 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 15 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 15 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 15 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 13 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 13 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 8 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 8 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 30 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. (David J Mathre) — Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 30 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.

Thursday (22-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 5: Volcano National Park.

Early Thanksgiving morning we went to see the sun rise over the Kilauea volcano crater. There was no activity in the caldera, but the black and orange clouds looked like lava. While returning to the lodge we noticed a Nene. A Hawaiian goose. It looks a lot like Canada geese, but it does not migrate. The Nene almost went extinct, and are now protected. You can see the tags on its legs. Before lunch we spent more time on composition. I worked on the clump of ferns. I then worked on some macro images of a stone with green Peridot Crystals (Pele’s Tears). That afternoon we were treated to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as well as local specialties.

Wednesday (21-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 4: Kona and Volcano National Park.

I woke up early, and walked to the harbor where I saw a group rowing a Hawaiian outrigger canoe with a cruise ship in the background. I liked the juxtaposition of historical and modern. We then checked out of the hotel and traveled to Volcano National Park. After checking into the lodge, we went for a photo-walk down a tropical rain forest trail. The lessons here included using a flash, how to manually focus a macro lens, how to adjust the focus for camera viewfinder, and always thinking about the composition.

Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe and Cruise Liner Early Morning on Kona Bay. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm f/4 lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)