Sean Bagshaw Outdoor Exposure Photography

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PhotoPills Camp 2022 – Sold Out

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PhotoPills Camp is on for 2022! Sold Out

For the fourth year, PhotoPillers from around the world are gathering on the beautiful island of Menorca, Spain (May 29 to June 5).

50 PhotoPillers (photography nerds & PhotoPills app nerds), out of the 600,000 spread all over the world, will join the creators of the PhotoPills app, along with Eric Paré, Kim Henry, Rachel Jones Ross, Josh Cripps, Sean Bagshaw, Nick Page, Javier de la Torre, Sean Parker, Jesús M. García, Kah-Wai Lin, Gabriel Biderman, Chris Nicholson, Albert Dros and Francesco Gola.

PhotoPills camp has sold out, but you can learn more and get on the waiting list ON THIS PAGE.

 

SOPA Presentation, May 11

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Puerto Escondido Lighthouse

On Tuesday, May 11 at 7:00 pm I will be giving a slide presentation to the Southern Oregon Photographic Association. In images and words, I will share a retrospective of my year in photography. Since last spring I have had some wonderful adventures with my camera including photographing locations in the Columbia Gorge, the Oregon Cascades, Lassen Volcanic National Park, the Utah desert, the Oregon coast, Mexican mining towns and beaches and many great spots right here in the Rogue Valley. In addition to sharing some of my photographic vision of the natural world, I will also tell some tall travel tales and discuss some of the techniques I use to create my images. Call Terry Tuttle at 541-779-3396 or go to www.sopacameraclub.org for information.

Outdoor Exposure iPhone App

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Outdoor Exposure for iEnvision iPhone app

While a fine art photographic print is still my favorite way to enjoy great photography, technology is rapidly changing the ways it is possible to view, access and share art. The images that move and excite us no longer have to be confined to a wall or the pages of a book. I love to share my photographs and want people to be able to access them in a way that best suits their needs and purpose. A large fine art print will always be available to those who have the resources and space, but size, cost and location are no longer limiting factors to accessing photography and other visual art.

The iPhone is one of the most innovative pieces of technology to recently come on the scene. It can be very valuable as a tool for communication and storing and accessing information, but it also has great potential in entertainment, education and access to media and imagry, includinig art.

iPhone app graphic

I recently partnered with the folks at Open Door Network in creating an iPhone application of my photography. The application is like a collection of slide shows that allow iPhone users to have a portable art gallery of my photographs right in their pockets. Photographs in the Outdoor Exposure for iEnvision app are organized into three collections including Landscape, Nature and Travel. Landscape includes photos of canyons, deserts, forest, lakes, mountains, oceans, streams and waterfalls. Nature displays abstracts, fall color, flowers, trees and winter. Travel takes you to Hawaii, Mexico and Nepal.

iPhone app graphic

In addition to viewing the gallery shows, the images can also be saved for use as iPhone wallpaper and each image links to the Outdoor Exposure Photography website for more information.

iPhone app graphic

Open Door Network’s flagship iEnvision web image browser, as well as their line of Envi iPhone image applications access and organize images from the Web into fun to view and share slide shows for the iPhone. Other iEnvision “Envi” apps include Art, Earth, Space, Mountain and Yosemite.

Presentation: Climbing Denali

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denali
Gripped perpetually by subfreezing temperatures and cloaked by five massive glaciers, the world famous mountain known as Denali (“the Great One”) beckons intrepid mountaineers from around the world. With a summit peak that is 20,320 feet above sea level, Denali (also known as Mount McKinley) is the highest peak in North America. An aspect that is painfully evident to climbers is that the peak rises 18,000 feet from its base (which is 6,000 feet more than Everest rises above its base, the Tibetan Plateau). There is also a higher risk of altitude illness for climbers than its altitude would otherwise suggest, due to its high latitude. It all adds up to a long and merciless climb to reach the summit, where climbers can encounter temperatures as low as -100 degrees below freezing.

So, you might ask, “What’s the big attraction?” I’ll be answering that questions and others as I present my multi-media program, “Above The Shadow Lands“ on Wednesday evening, March 4th, at The Stage Door Coffee House in Mt. Shasta. The presentation will focus on the story of my second ascent of the mountain in 2005.

walk-in-the-clouds

In 1998 I climbed Denali as part of a six person team. It was a great adventure, but we had a few difficulties. The size of the group was a challenge and the weather kept us on the mountain for three weeks. In 2005 I went back with my climbing partner, Brock. Better conditions, more experience and an efficient two person team made for smoother ascent. However, I still almost didn’t make it.

Climbing Denali is one of the hardest things I have ever done twice. The route we climbed isn’t particularly technical and I’m not a great climber. However, the mountain is big and cold. Setting the goal and then preparing for and experiencing everything it takes to live, survive and reach the summit in that harsh environment made it an enormously powerful and rewarding experience…both times.

This program is presented by the Mt. Shasta Trail Association. Admission is by donation at the door, and guests are encouraged to have dinner at The Stage Door previous to the program.

Stage Door Coffee House, 414 N. Mt. Shasta Blvd.
Wednesday evening, March 4th, 7pm.
More information: 926-5966

On the Edge at Palouse Falls

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At the beginning of October, David Cobb and I were returning from a productive ten day photo trip in Montana and Idaho. We decided to detour slightly for a final stop at Palouse Falls in eastern Washington. We took a 30 minute stop for lunch in Baker City, Oregon which caused us to miss the sunset at the falls. We arrived at the falls about 30 minutes after sunset thinking that we had missed our window. However, the final glow on the horizon before the scene went totally dark was amazing. The orange post sunset glow in the sky reflected nicely off the cliff walls creating a moody, alien scene.

Palouse Falls drops over 150 feet into the deep and winding Palouse River Canyon in eastern Washington. The landscape in this area, not far from the Snake River Canyon, was carved by the massive Misoula Floods created when an enourmous ice dam broke in Montana at the end of the last ice age. Taking this photo required positioning my tripod legs right on the edge of the 370 foot high canyon rim and fighting back sensations of vertigo while standing on tip toe to see through the viewfinder.

Canon 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens, circular polarizer, 3 stop GND, 30 seconds @ f/13

Blue October Sea

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From a trip to the southern Oregon coast with a group of Ashland photographers a couple of weeks ago. I liked the barnacle patterns on this rock and spent some time working on longer exposures to capture some wave motion for an interesting middle ground. As many of us who like to capture wave motion in our ocean photos well know, it is hard to get in the right position and still stay dry. I ended up stranded on this rock for several wave cycles until the surf went back out enough for me to wade to shore…the surf here wasn’t dangerous, just wet.

On the hike back to the car a woman approached me on the beach and said, “are you Sean Bagshaw?” I immediately wondered what I was in trouble for. It turns out she was with someone in the group. I had wandered off for quite a while and they were ready to go. Since she was walking my way they asked her to have me get a move on. Apparently they had told her I would be easy to spot because I would be carrying a tripod and most likely be wet up to the waist. I hate being so predictable.

Canon 5D, 16-35mm f/2.8 L @ 28mm, 2 sec @ f/18 and ISO 50, 3 stop ND filter for longer exposure time.

Photo Journal: Photographing Double Falls

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This amazing location required a 4:00 AM wake-up and a cross country hike through grizzly country in the dark up on Logan Pass in Glacier National Park. It was well worth the effort. Streams cascading off all sides of a bowl shaped valley converge at this narrow slot in the rocks. During the summer, melt water flows off the canyon walls in several places creating four of five separate falls, but in the fall just the two main falls remain.

I first became aware of this waterfall from Galen Rowell’s classic photograph. A couple of years ago it ran on the cover of Outdoor Photographer Magazine and included the following caption: “Light conditions like this are notoriously difficult to photograph. The contrast between the sky and the shadowed ground is too much for film or an image sensor to handle. At the time Rowell made this image, he used a split neutral-density filter to control the contrast. If he was alive and photographing the same scene today, Rowell would have used a digital camera. He’d have known that he could employ some sophisticated RAW-software techniques to double-process the image file.”

I took that advice and photographed the classic scene in two separate exposures, one for the sky and one for the dark foreground and then manually blended the two images in Photoshop to allow the entire range of light that I experienced to all be contained within a single image.

The magazine caption also noted the irony that in a location famous for being on the continental divide, a place where water usually flows in opposite directions, toward the east or the west, would also be a place where so many streams flow together.

Two exposure manual blend. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, 3 stop Sing-Ray split neutral density filter, circular polarizer, 3.2 sec @ f/10 (sky), 15 sec @ f/10 (fore ground), ISO 100

Sean Bagshaw Greeting Cards

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Greeting Cards
Greeting Cards

For the last couple of years I have been selling greeting cards that feature my photos through the Ashland Artisan Gallery. I’m now happy to announce that my greeting cards can also be ordered in sets of six through my website. Six different cards are currently available including favorite images such as Red Willow Sea and Crimson Gorge. The greeting cards are printed on heavy, glossy card stock, measure 5×7 inches, come with envelopes and are blank inside for your personal message. They also fit standard 5×7 frames, so after they have been used as a card they can also be displayed as wall art.

Each set of six cards is priced at $25 with free shipping and are perfect for holidays and other special occasions. You can view the card choices and order from my website HERE.

Southern Oregon Photographers Mount Fine Art Exhibit

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The Southern Oregon Photographers Forum, a group that I am a member of, announces its first annual group photography show. Extending from November 7 though December 1, at Studio 5, 258 A Street across from Ace Hardware in Ashland’s Railroad District. The show features the works of 17 local photographers including myself and the renowned David Lorenz Winston. A First Friday reception will be held from 5:00-8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 7.
Works in the show include digital and film photography in a variety of genres. 33 photographs will be exhibited. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the exhibiting photographers and talk with them about their works. In addition, a slide show presentation will feature photographic works by members of SOPF. Refreshments will be served.

SOPF was formed in January 2007 by eight photographers and has grown to a membership of 21. An organization of fine art photographers, SOPF was established to encourage and support individuals in achieving their photographic goals and to promote an appreciation of photography in our community. Members share a love for the medium of photography & the power images have to evoke strong emotional responses.

Fall Photography Workshop in Ashland

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Through Ashland Artisan Gallery and Art Center I am offering an outdoor fall photography workshop on Saturday, October 25 2008 from 9-12 AM. I will meet participants at Ashland Artisan Gallery before we depart on a walking photography tour of the fall scenery in downtown Ashland and Lithia Park with the goal of photographing fall colors and themes, landscapes and abstracts. I will offer my personal experience and knowledge on lighting, composition, texture color, technical settings and artistic vision. It should be a fun and casual morning of photography in a beautiful setting to learn and improve.

The workshop is open to all photography enthusiasts with basic photography knowledge, a camera and a tripod. The Art Center is able to make this workshop available for only $30. The workshop has space for 10 participants, so call or stop by the gallery early to reserve your spot. You can call Ashland Artisan Gallery at 488-5698 or come by at 163 East Main Street across from the Varsity Theater in Ashland. For more information please contact me at sean@outdoorexposurephoto.com or 840-9237.

Lunar Eclipse Photo On Exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

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I am very excited to announce that my photo titled Lunar Eclipse Over Mt. Shasta has been selected as the category winner in the Creative Digital Category in the 2008 Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards which is an international competition sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography Magazine. The 2008 contest received over 20,000 entries.

The award-winning photographs will be published in the 2008 Fall Awards Special Collector’s Edition of Nature’s Best Magazine, due out mid-November. In addition, my photograph will be featured in the annual exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, one of the most prestigious and highly-visited museums in the world, running from mid-November through April 2009.

Nature’s Best will be posting the winning images on www.NaturesBestPhotography.com by the end of November.   In addition, the NATURE’S BEST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS will be displayed in galleries on AOL Pixcetera and MSNBC.

This is a very exciting recognition of my photography and I’m honored to be selected along with the other winners. I’ll post more information about the exhibit and magazine as it becomes available.

Longer Exposures For More Saturation and Luminosity

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In situations involving low levels of light it can often be beneficial to obtain a longer exposure to allow the sensor/film more time to absorb color and glow. There can be a lot of color and light bouncing off clouds and hills that our eyes can’t pick up. Cameras are able to “see” into low light scenes by leaving the shutter open and collecting more light. If I really want to pull as much light and color from a scene as possible I’ll often use a neutral density filter (ND) along with my usual filter stack (polarizer and graduated neutral density when needed) and also set the ISO on my camera down to 50 in order to extend what was already going to be a long shutter speed.

A neutral density filter is a neutral gray piece of glass or plastic that is placed in front of the lens. Since it is neutral it doesn’t change the color of the image or do any other special effects. All it does is reduce the amount of light that can pass through the lens to the image sensor or film (kind of like wearing color neutral sunglasses). By reducing the amount of light coming in, the exposure time needs to be longer to get a properly exposed image. One effect of longer exposure times is the blurring of anything moving within the image (water, clouds, wind blown trees, etc.). Another affect is that if there is low level colored light washing over the scene it will saturate in the image over time. I use Singh-Ray neutral density filters because they are some of the most color neutral filters available and give excellent results. I also use Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filters. GND filters are neutral gray at the top and fade to clear near the middle. They are used to hold back the light in one part of an image (like a bright sky) in order to balance the light across the scene.

The two photos above were taken one right after the other, the first at 6 sec @ f/20, ISO 100 with a 3 stop GND for the sky. The second was taken at 30 sec @ f/20, ISO 50 with a 3 stop GND and a 3 stop ND. Quite a difference 24 seconds of shutter time can make.

Photo Tip: The Difference Light Makes

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Photography is all about light. Without it, no photo. However it goes far beyond that. The type, direction, color, amount and quality of light, as well as the photographer’s ability to see and manage the light, are serious contributors to the success of a photo. The ability to see, feel and anticipate light as well as know how the camera will capture light are skills that take a long time to acquire. Some light is right for some scenes but completely wrong for others. The best way to learn what works and what doesn’t is to get out and shoot in all lighting conditions and stick around to shoot the same subject as light is changing, all the while making special note of how the light looks to the eye.

Sometimes it is difficult to know by eye just how much impact the light going to have on a photograph. The best way to realize the impact of light is to compare photos of the same subject matter under different lighting. The following two photographs really illustrate the value of such an exercise. These photos were taken less than two minutes apart, one before the sun rose over the horizon and the second, just after. There are times when the soft glowing light that comes just before sunrise gives perfect even, luminescent lighting to a scene, picking up subtle details and working its way into the deepest shadows. However, in this case, there isn’t enough separation of elements or correctly angled surfaces in the scene. The even lighting causes the tree, rocks and mountains to appear muddy and not well defined and the sky washes out to an unattractive white.

tree 1
tree 2

What a difference a little time makes. In the second image, just a few seconds later, bright, warm, low angle direct sunlight has broken over the horizon, side lighting the scene. It brings out color and adds needed definition and depth to the image, all things the eye looks for. In addition, the direct sunlight coming in at 90 degrees to the camera lens allow for the best polarization effect from a circular polarizer, enhancing the color of the tree and rocks and helping to darken the blue sky.

The composition itself isn’t particularly interesting, but the addition of the right light can make a surprising difference in how appealing it is to the eye. This is a great example of a particular type of light enhancing an image. Unfortunately, it isn’t a perfect formula for success and you shouldn’t try to achieve the same type of lighting for every image you take. In another situation you might find that the pre sunrise light actually creates the most appealing image.

It all comes down to time spent shooting in all lighting conditions, becoming more familiar with what works and increasing your chances of being there when the light is right.