Landscape - David Mathre Photography

Four-Years Ago (22-November-2007) — Hawaii

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

Four years ago I attended a photography workshop on the Big Island of Hawaii led by Thom Hogan . We spent Thanksgiving day in and around Volcanoes National Park. Later in the afternoon we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the Volcano House Hotel with other guests at the Lodge and some local residents.

The day started shooting sunrise over the Kilauea crater. In order to record the wide range of light, I took seven images with different exposure times. These were then processed using Photomatix (a HDR program). While traveling to the next photography location, Thom and Tony spotted a Nene (the Hawaiian state bird, also known as the Hawaiian Goose). The Nene is probably distantly related to Canada geese, however the Nene do not migrate. I guess that once they found Hawaii, they decided to stay 🙂 . The Nene almost went extinct and is now protected by the state. It can also be found on some of the other Hawaiian islands. Finally, Thom helped with a composition including a fern.

Sunrise over Kilauea Volcano Crater, Volcanoes National Park Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/5.). HDR composite of 7 images using Photomatix Pro (David J. Mathre)

Nene - Hawaiian Goose, Volcanoes National Park Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/180 sec) (David J. Mathre) — Nene – Hawaiian Goose, Volcanoes National Park Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/180 sec) (David J. Mathre)

Fern Composition, Volcanoes National Park Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/6.3, 1/60 sec) with SB-800 fill flash (David J. Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (21-November-2007) — Hawaii

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

Four years ago I was attending a photography workshop on the Big Island of Hawaii led by Thom Hogan . Before breakfast, I wandered down to the harbor and captured a Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe with a Cruse Ship in the background. We spent a good part of the day driving to Volcanoes National Park. We stayed at the Lodge — Volcano House Hotel within the National Park through Thanksgiving. After getting settled, the group went for a hike down into the rain forest from the lodge where I took these three images. The first is a wild yellow orchid along the trail, the next a purple fungus (?) on the forest floor, and the third a palm frond. All three of the images used my SB-800 flash, where Thom was helping me learn how to best compose and use fill-flash to light up the subject of the image. Although we didn’t experience much rain, a few days after we left the park got 13 and 17 inches of rain and we would have been spending our time taking images of the fireplace (which has been burning continuously since 1877). The Volcano House Hotel is now closed. Unfortunately, the fire went out on 01-January-2010. The hotel is now being renovated, and will not open until sometime in 2012.

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)

Wild Yellow Orchid. Volcano National Park, Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec) using SB-800 flash. (David J. Mathre)

Purple Fungus. Volcano National Park, Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec) using SB-800 flash. (David J. Mathre)

Palm . Volcano National Park, Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec) using SB-800 flash. (David J. Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (20-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 3: Beach at Waipi’o Valley.

Three images taken four years ago while I attended a photography workshop on the Big Island of Hawaii led by Thom Hogan . The first image is two women running to the ocean at the beach at Waipi’o Valley. The second image is of a palm tree overlooking Waipi’o valley, located along the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. The third image is a sunset over the ocean (location unknown).

Running to the Ocean Waipiâ��o Valley Beach. Big Island Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/8, 1/125 sec). (David J. Mathre)

Palm Tree at Waipiâ��o Valley.Trail Overlook. Big Island Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. (David J. Mathre)

Sunset. Big Island Hawaii. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm f/4 lens (ISO 100, 12 mm, f/11, 1/15 sec). (David J. Mathre)

One thing that Thom helped me with during the workshop was how to compose an image with at wide-angle lens. You can see an example at Waipi’o Valley beach with subjects near, mid, and far distance at the following link: 20-November-2007. The other lesson was to include a human subject to give perspective and scale to the overall image. The image at the link above includes Thom as the mid distance subject.

Four-Years Ago (18-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 1: Kailua Kona.

It was just four years ago that I arrived in Hawaii to attend a photography workshop with Thom Hogan. The day before I was in Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in northern Colorado. I had only been shooting with Nikon DSLR cameras for a year at that time. Soon after getting the first DSLR camera — a Nikon D200, I found Thom’s web site which became a very helpful resource. There was much I needed to learn about using a DSLR camera. I purchased Thom’s guides for the D200 (and subsequently the guides for the D2xs, D300, D700, D3, D3x, D3s). These guides are by far the best resource for understanding the capabilities of the Nikon digital cameras. Then one day in October 2007, I saw a note on Thom’s web site that there was a late opening for his Hawaii workshop over Thanksgiving week. I signed up right away since I knew that there was a lot more that I needed to learn to become a better photographer. I was working in Boulder Colorado at that time (which was closer than New Jersey) and a great way to use some of my vacation time.

Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre) — Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan’s 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Four-Years Ago (17-November-2007) — Colorado

Colorado Wildlife — Migrating Tundra Swans and Big Horn Sheep.

I drove to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge near Walden Colorado. It is a long drive, but the pass through Rocky Mountain National Park was still open. I knew it was late in the year and didn’t expect to see many migrating birds, but hoped to see some Pronghorn Elk or Moose. While driving through the refuge on the Auto Tour route, I saw eight large white birds across one of the lakes. I took some images, first with a 80-400 mm VR lens, and then with 200-400 f/4 VR lens. It was rather windy, so used the car to block the wind to minimize motion with the big lenses. Even on a tripod this was hard. It looks like these are Tundra Swans which the bird list for the wildlife refuge list as being rare (once every 2-5 years). I guess I was lucky. I also didn’t see anyone else while visiting the reserve.

Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/8, 1/1600 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)

Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)

Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)

Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens + TCE-II 20 teleconverter (ISO 400, 800 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)

While returning from the reserve I came upon several Big Horn Sheep along Colorado Highway 14.

Big Horn Ram Huddle. Along Colorado 14 near Sheridan in Roosevelt National Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 200-400 mm lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)