Toadstool Park, March 17, 2007

 

Fallen spire at Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Caricature hoodoo at Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Train rolling past Sugarloaf Butte and Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Streambed at Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Ridges at Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Outcroppings at Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Fallen Spire at Toadstool Park, March 17, 2007

Fallen spire at Toadstool Geologic Park, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

In 2005 I photographed this same spire while it was standing. Erosive forces, and hopefully not pranksters, toppled this formation that happened to look like a fertility symbol. I keep returning to photograph this and see how the remains continue to erode.

Ice on Briggs Pond, March 4, 2007

 

Cattails at Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Sapling at Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Fence at Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Fence closeup at Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Ice on Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Grass and ice at Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Leaf closeup at Briggs Pond in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Birds in the Snow, February 24, 2007

Birds gather around a snow-covered bath near Ponca, Nebraska, February 2007. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This is all about the gesture of the birds. A slow enough shutter speed to slightly blur their movement, but not lose their shapes. I like the downward angle of the top bird as it chases the next, and the static form of the bird on the ground to anchor the composition. I go back and forth on the long piece of grass between the two at the top. I really should remove it and see if it makes the arrangement stronger, but I like it as is all the same. After some quick editing, I have some good results.

 With all of the grass removed, the composition is even more stark than it was originally.

Here I've removed part of the grass that was between the two birds. I like the punctuation these strands provide, though the completely clean version is compelling as well. At the moment, my preference is for this last version.

Infrared morning light, October 1, 2006

Infrared morning light on the trees in the Nebraska National Forest, October 1, 2006. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

In early 2006, I tried my hand at infrared photography. The Nikon D70 is notable for not only being Nikon's first affordable digital SLR, but for having a weak hot mirror filter. Not as weak as the D2H, but weak enough to allow 10-second exposures through a Wratten 87C in decent sunlight. This scene at the Chadron Reservoir shows a pond-side tree lit by the early morning sun. In September 2006, the fall colors were out in force, so naturally I played with black and white photography. (I think I have some color photos from this trip too. I'm not a savage.) I like the fainter form of the tree in the left-hand background, plus the contrasting lines of the foreground trunk and branches against the glowing leaves.

Fall Colors in Chadron, Nebraska, September 30, 2006

Leaves, Chadron, Nebraska, September 2006. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

In late September, 2006, the fall colors around Chadron were plentiful. I was drawn to these red leaves while hiking in one of the city parks with a friend. This is a pretty straightforward composition, letting the subject stay centered. There are some counterbalancing elements, both in the curves of the leaves, and the out of focus diagonal branches behind. Add the yellow-green background contrasting the intense red foreground and you've got some visual interest to keep your eyes entertained. The more I look at it, the more I want to do some retouching trickery and remove the thin, out of focus leaf at the bottom center.

Red Hoodoos at Toadstool Park, September 4, 2006

Sandstone formations at Toadstool Geological Park, lit by a red-gelled flash, September 2006. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I admire the work of Larrie Thomson, a night photographer who does colored light photos of structures in ghost towns. This night at Toadstool Park was a good opportunity to fire through some colored gels and see what I could get. You end up shooting several to make sure the exposure works; it won’t do to blow out the red channel here. I like the negative space the appears around the spires, and the motion-blurred stars within that space. The texture that appears within the spires is fun to explore.