Moon over Chadron, December 2, 2017

Moon over Chadron, Nebraska, December 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Whenever I see the full moon, or any moon really, with clouds partially obscuring the face, I get to thinking that I need to get some photos of it. Usually it's when I'm driving and don't have an opportunity to stop, and I probably don't have the long lens with me anyway. This time I set up the gear and went outside to grab a shot of the moon. This is the usual composite that's needed when photographing a bright moon with a dim sky.

Fort Robinson Scenes, October 29, 2017

Trees near the White River Trail in Fort Robinson State Park, October 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Old train tracks near the White River Trail in Fort Robinson State Park, October 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Trees near the White River Trail in Fort Robinson State Park, October 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Out for a photo shoot at Fort Robinson with a friend. I found myself drawn to receding lines, and some more not shown here, such as a bridge on the walking trail that runs back to Crawford. Something about the scenes made me quickly go for a black and white treatment, which feels like a good fit for the graphic shapes. This set is all from the remnants of the train tracks before the asphalt road turns to gravel on the way out to the ponds south of the fort proper.

Lurking Below the Surface, October 13, 2017

A fallen tree lurks below the surface of Cherry Creek Pond in Fort Robinson State Park, October 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I felt like the fall colors of 2017 lasted a good long time. Maybe because I was trying to get out and take more photos than usual. On this particular day, I drove out to Fort Robinson twice, because I felt like there was plenty to see and shoot. With calm water on Cherry Creek Pond, and just the right angle of sun, I found an underwater and surface scene that I really liked. The reflection of the trees on the water adds a middle element to the underwater foreground and upright tree background.

Grabel Pond, Fort Robinson State Park, September 29, 2017

Foliage at Grabel Pond in Fort Robinson State Park, September 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Skeletal fractal foliage on a dreary day. I remember heading out to Fort Robinson for some fresh air, and the flat lighting didn't quite hold the promise of exciting landscape photography. The compensation was a tasty ice cream treat at the shop in Crawford, which can brighten any day. I was drawn to the clean lines of this bush, species unknown to me, whose multi-stemmed ends glittered prettily. This is an example of embracing the chaos, simplifying to some extent with a black and white, high contrast treatment, but otherwise letting the complexity fill the frame. There's plenty of detail to explore in scenes like this.

Mist on Black Elk Peak, September 17, 2017

Fog over the lookout tower on Black Elk Peak, September 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

My second hike up Black Elk Peak since 2004. I missed the mist at the top, but saw a bit of it partway up. There's a fair amount of post-processing to make the tones in this scene work. It starts off fairly low contrast, and there are any number of tonal adjustments possible. This may be a bit overcooked, but I'm going with it for now. I like the veiled appearance of the tower, even with all of this extra contrast.

Looking Down Black Elk Peak, September 17, 2017

View from the lookout tower on Black Elk Peak, September 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

A woman looks over a cliff edge on Black Elk Peak. My first hike to the top was in early 2004, when the mountain was called Harney Peak. I was looking forward to another hike up 13 short years later. At the top, I was naturally drawn to the mountain shapes going into the distance, but there were also interesting sights closer to where I stood.
This is a long-lens version of the useful near-middle-far composition arrangement. The woman provides a human element in the foreground, and a bit of dramatic tension as she leans forward to peer over the edge. The prayer flags in the middle provide a bit of color, and the mountains in the background provide a sense of depth.

Bighorn Mountains in the Mists of the Distance, September 2, 2017

Mountains seen from Hospital Hill in Bighorn National Forest, September 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

There is a scenic pullout at Hospital Hill on the east edge of the Bighorns near Buffalo, Wyoming. From here you can see the wonderful stacked shapes of the mountains in the distance. A fine place to stop before entering the mountains proper, and the views are especially good at sunset. I like the little details of each layer, with the glaciers on the farthest peaks providing punctuation. I used a small aperture to keep the foreground grasses sharp along with the mountains. This allows that foreground element to anchor the scene.

Solar Eclipse Composite, August 21, 2017

Composite astrophotograph showing the sun's corona during a total eclipse in August 2017, with an overlay of the full moon from September 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

The eclipse was worth the planning and waiting in the heat. I hadn’t seen a total solar eclipse before, and the whole experience was fantastic. This is a composite of the August corona and the September full moon. The edges are always tough to deal with in these situations with all the contrast, but I got it close.

Double Eight Ball Rules

Double Eight Ball is a pool variation that I worked on in the spring of 2004.

Two cue balls are used, referred to as W1 and W2 in these rules. Cue balls may be marked according to house rules.

Two eight balls are used, a solid eight and a striped eight. The eight balls may be marked according to house rules.

Break from the kitchen, with W1 and W2 evenly spaced. Break determined by house rules. Breaker can choose which cue ball to hit first.

If break cue ball doesn’t pocket anything, move to next cue ball, and call suit.

If the break cue ball does pocket anything, call suit, and keep hitting until you miss or scratch, then move to next cue ball.

When next cue ball misses or scratches, next player’s turn.

If you pocket wrong suit, go to next cue ball or next player.

If you pocket your ball but still scratch, ball is over; go to next cue ball or player.

After all of your balls are pocketed, go for respective 8 ball.

If W1 causes W2 to scratch, turn is forfeit unless W1 pockets object ball. W1 continues until end, and W2 is skipped.

Scratched cue balls are played from the center of the table or the closest location to the center.

In the event of a double scratch, play W1 from the center, then replace W2 at the center after the first hit on W1.

Sample Game

1. Choose cue ball to break with
2. If pocket,
1. Call suit
2. If pocket, continue
3. If miss/scratch, 4d
3. If miss/scratch, 4a
4. Move to second cue ball
1. Call suit
2. 2b
3. If miss/scratch, 5
4. Try next shot, with second cue ball
5. If pocket, continue
6. If miss/scratch, 5
5. Move to Player 2
1. Move to first cue ball (second cue ball from 4)
2. 2b
3. 2c
6. When all of a suit are pocketed,
1. Go for 8 ball of that suit
2. If pocket, win
3. If miss, move to second cue ball
4. If miss, go to next player
5. If scratch, lose
6. If neither cue ball or 8 ball hits rail, move to second cue ball
7. If same as 6f for second cue ball, lose

Sunset at Walgren Lake, June 23, 2017

Sunset at Walgren Lake, June 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

My instinct with shots like this is to try and keep more of the scene in focus. Likely as not I didn’t have a tripod, so my choices were to use a large aperture or a grainy high sensitivity. I’m glad I went with a large aperture. The sharp grass draws the eye to the middle of the frame to explore those shapes. That’s also where the color sits, further keeping the eye centered. But after that, you might find yourself looking around the rest of the frame, exploring the unfocused shapes of the surrounding trees and far shore. I don’t quite like the balance of the far shore cutting through the middle of the grass. Need some lights or something back there. That would be interesting to see!

Tree Leaf Lines, June 17, 2017

Scanograph of an aged leaf, June 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

A scanograph is an image made with a scanner. It’s similar to a direct exposure in the old darkroom days, when you put objects on the paper and recorded their silhouettes—it’s particularly interesting with semi-solid objects, like water with motion. This leaf is recorded with the overhead lamp in the scanner that’s used for negatives, so the light source that travels with the scanning element isn’t used. The two light sources have different characters and one may look better than the other. I end up with a lovely silhouette of the old leaf and the fibers that trail from the stem. It is framed thusly because these are the dimensions of the scan area when using the overhead lamp. Works for me.

Flower Closeup, Nebraska National Forest, May 14, 2017

Flowers in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

A straightforward flower photo with the classic 105mm f/4 Micro-Nikkor from the early ’70s. The sun was low enough to give the details some shadowy distinction. There is an important balance between contrasty light that is too harsh versus diffused light that is too flat. Each subject will demand its own kind of light. I shot this wide open, so the focus quickly goes pleasantly soft from the sharp foreground details.

Wildflowers in the Nebraska National Forest, May 14, 2017

 Apologies to the floral experts if I have misidentified any of these…

False dandelion in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Western wallflower in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Narrowleaf beardtongue in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Narrowleaf beardtongue in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Death camass in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Foliage Closeup in Chadron, Nebraska, April 1, 2017

Foliage closeup in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

When it comes to playing with blurred backgrounds, foliage can drive you crazy. How much of that weed is parallel to the sensor plane? When will the wind die down? Is anything truly in focus? But this backlighting was too fun to pass up, and I even got something halfway interesting. Often when I'm working with closeups, I want to get closer, and closer, and then crop in. But that's not always the best way to go. How can you arrange your out-of-focus elements in the background to support the in-focus foreground? This isn't quite there, but it's an idea.

Evening Scenes in the Chadron Hills, April 1, 2017

 

Yucca and fence in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Tumbleweed on a fence in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Moon and tree in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Foliage closeup in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Foliage closeup in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Evening yucca in Chadron, Nebraska, April 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Hiking the Black Hills Overlook Trail, March 18, 2017

 

Tree and butte double exposure on the Black Hills Overlook Trail, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Crow Butte viewed from the Black Hills Overlook Trail, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Trees and ridges on the Black Hills Overlook Trail, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Trees and buttes on the Black Hills Overlook Trail, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Tree and butte on the Black Hills Overlook Trail, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Multi-Exposure Photography Presentation at Chadron State College

This Graves Lecture Series presentation covered multi-exposure photography and how it is used to create high-dynamic range photos, stitched panoramas, and focus-stacks. The presentation included a longer term show of work created with these techniques. I was also interviewed for the Graves Lecture Series to talk about my work and influences.

Closeup of a muskrat skull, January 2015. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Double exposure, foliage at Ponderosa State Wildlife Area, October 2014. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Stereographic panorama of the lighthouse at Cape Disappointment State Park, July 2013. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Double exposure of fishermen at Point Brown, Ocean Shores, Washington, May 2015. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

View over the ocean from Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint, May 2016. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Evening at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, July 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Sunset over Toadstool Geologic Park, July 2015. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Cave tunnel looking out from the bowl at Devils Punch Bowl State Natural Area, May 2016. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frosty Day in the Black Hills, March 10, 2017

 

Bridge detail over the Cheyenne River in Fall River County, South Dakota, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Mist drifts off the waterfall at Hot Springs, South Dakota, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Frost on the landscape in Wind Cave National Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Old Bridge in Fall River County, March 10, 2017

Bridge detail over the Cheyenne River in Fall River County, South Dakota, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This bridge has been closed to traffic for a number of years, but it's still (presumably) safe to walk across so you can admire the aging trusses and spider webs. This scene shows the modern four-lane bridge to the east, but the centerpiece is the rusting, twisted collection of metal that forms part of the bridge's structure. The diagonal forms have taken on an organic shape, mirroring the turns of the Cheyenne River below, and providing a counterpoint to the other geometric forms in the photo. The guardrail is reforming itself to a new curve as well.

Trees at the Black Hills Overlook, March 9, 2017

Trees along the Steamboat Loop Trail in Chadron State Park, March 2017. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

You can see just a hint of a natural arch in the top center of the frame. This is a fun hike, and most likely windy up top any day of the year. I like the arrangement of trees across the foreground, while the grassy hills in light and shadow lead to the rocky top, and the clouds provide soft textures to contrast with the sharper edges in the rest of the scene.