Steve Z Adventure Photography » Travel Photography, Boulder Colorado Sports & Randomness

Crocodile De La Manglar

stevez — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:10:04 +0000

There is a place on Playa La Ropa where a natural river meets the sea. They have the area fenced off, so that the crocs have to stay in the river, and cannot exit to the ocean. There is a restaurant right along the river, where there is no fence. It’s a strange feeling to be eating your meal, and then having a croc looking at you 10 feet away.

The Aspen verses The Pine

stevez — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:53:00 +0000

I love aspen groves. We have a lot of pine forests in the Front Range, and they just aren’t as pretty. If an aspen tree and a pine tree got in a fight, the pine tree would probably win. Aspen trees are lovers, not fighters. In a Miss Perennial Woody Plant competition, the aspen would take the flowers for sure. In this meadow up in Lost Antler Ranch in Estes Park, the aspens and the pines are living in harmony as far as I can tell.

Skull

stevez — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:51:36 +0000

I found this skeleton hanging on the fence at Lost Antler Ranch. I’m not sure what animal it is . . . I’m guessing that it’s an elk?

The Sunsets Are Pretty Good Too

stevez — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:48:04 +0000

Sunset over the lake at Lost Antler Ranch.

Meniskus at the Boulder Draft House

stevez — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:37:03 +0000

Last Friday my favorite band Meniskus rocked out a free show at the Boulder Draft House. For more images from the night check out the Facebook Gallery.

Boulder Red Rocks Trail

stevez — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:02:04 +0000

Right at the edge of town, Boulder has it’s own mini Red Rocks. A short hike from Settler’s Park, the Red Rocks Trail is a short hike around this rock outcropping that juts up skyward.

Aerial Shot of the Flatirons

stevez — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:35:23 +0000

Here is one last shot from my plane ride above Boulder. It’s a simple shot of the Flatirons, but hey, everyone loves the Flatirons. Plus you can see the University of Colorado Boulder campus with all of the red roof buildings.

I got a new lens today

stevez — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:25:56 +0000

As anyone who knows me knows, I really like the tilt shift. The limitless versatility allowed by changing the angle of the focal plane keeps the latent scientist in me entertained for hours. I’ve been using the 45mm version since way back in my Canon days of last year. When I switched to Nikon, I purchased the superior Nikon 45mm PC-E lens. The Nikon version allows for the added feature of being a 1:2 macro lens, which comes in handy for the ring shots and close up shots of eyeballs. The 45 is a standard lens, which means it can be used for landscapes and portraits, it’s right in the middle of the focal range. But it still is a little bit wide angle for a close up portrait, and sometimes I like my ring shots a little tighter, so I’ve been thinking about the 85mm version. But, at $1600, the new PC-E version is quite expensive. Well, I found a used older version of the lens, the 85mm PC on the DWF classifieds. The major difference is that the camera body can’t control the aperture, you have to adjust it manually. But, I figured I’d give the lens a try, and if I really use it a lot I might pony up the cash for the new version someday. Optically, I think they are mostly the same, minus some new lens coatings.

Well the lens came today, and I’m pretty excited about a new lens that I’ve never owned before. I took a couple sample shots here in the office, to compare the 85 to the 45. The differences probably aren’t huge to the untrained eye, but to me they are pretty significant! To me it’s easy to see how the 45 still has a wide angle effect to it, as seen in this first shot of the loose change on the window sill. In the 45 shot, it looks like the dime and the nickel are at different angles, while they appear more parallel in the 2nd shot. Interestingly, the lens causes the camera to perceive that the coins are at different angles, as you can see that the amount of reflected light off the silver coins is much different in the 45mm image than the 85mm image. Also notice how I shot the stacks of coins at an angle, but aligned the focal plane along the tops of the coins, leaving the change below blurred out. This is what I jokingly call using the tilt shift “The Right Way”, when you are intentionally aligning things with the focal plane. Both of these lenses are excellently sharp, even hand held wide open at f/2.8.

left- 45mm .:. right- 85mm

Secondly I took a couple silly pictures of Richie in the foyer. Once again, the 45 has more of a wide angle to it. In this particular composition, I like the 45mm better. But I’m pretty sure that if I was doing a close in headshot, that I’d like the more flattering flatness of the 85mm. In both these shots I’m using the lens ” The Wrong Way”, where I use the angled focal plane to blur out everything but the eyes.

left- 45mm .:. right- 85mm

Now I acknowledge wasn’t a particularly scientific “test” by any means. I didn’t even do a very good job of keeping the subjects face at the same angle so that you can compare the shots. This was just an excuse to play with my new toy and to make funny faces for the blog!

Tilt Shift Wildflowers

stevez — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:22:17 +0000

One of the good things about mountain biking alone is that I have plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers! And the wildflowers were out in full force last weekend up in Keystone. I love my Nikon Perspective Control lens because it is also a macro, allowing me to shoot landscapes and closeups, with some unusual compositions.

Product Photography For That Colorado Lifestyle

stevez — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:56:55 +0000

Don’t you think that the Vasque footwear company should feature this shot on the front of their website? I do! What a cool way to drap unique attention to your products! OK, I’m biased because I took the picture, yes, it’s true. But I still think it might be just crazy enough to work!

This shot was taken during Kristi’s Sport the Dress™ portrait session. She really wore the boots on the shoot because, well, it isn’t so easy to get to the places that I made her climb in high heels! Plus she’s just that Colorado kind of girl who is more interested in fun, outdoor lifestyle photos than traditional, urban, glamor pics. Just like Vasque customers . . . see what I’m talkin’ about!

Three Rad Pictures from some obscure trail in Routt National Forest

stevez — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:42:42 +0000

On my final day in Steamboat, I headed southeast out of town past Stagecoach Reservoir to Kristi and Danny’s house. We shot an epic Sport The Dress™ session in the mountains near their home. After the shoot I headed back to Boulder the back way, over Gore Pass. On the way, I was hoping to find a trail suitable for mountain biking, without any real knowledge of the area or a map.

After a while of rallying down the desolate but well graded gravel road in the WRX, I came across a trailhead for an ATV trail. It was well packed down and looked like it would make for a solid mountain bike surface. So I headed up the trail and embarked on a solid 2 hour granny gear climb. It was pretty challenging with muddy areas, stream crossings, and roots, but I was able to ride almost the whole thing.

Once at the top, there was a great view at the top of this erosion slide gully thing. I have no idea what it’s called, but it was really deep! You can see the area where I started, at the far left, behind the pine tree, in the base of the valley. It probably took me only 15 minutes to get down, but it was a ripping descent!

Thunderheads

stevez — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:02:06 +0000

I finally woke up early enough to see the Bolder Boulder

stevez — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:14:22 +0000

.: Nikon D700, Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 @ 200mm, 1/1000, f/3.5, 400 ISO :.

The Bolder Boulder has been a Memorial Day tradition in Boulder for 30 years. This year 50,000 people came to run a 10K race through town. The start is close enough to my house that I can hear the starter from inside, but I’ve never managed to get out of bed in time to see it. It IS held on a holiday after all! Well this year was the first time, and yes, I was paid to be there! I was hired by local marketing company to shoot photos for their client who was a major sponsor of the event. OK, now I have to go take a nap, 6am doesn’t suit me well.

Bunnyhop Me

stevez — Sun, 03 May 2009 08:56:57 +0000

We were eating lunch in between photo sessions down in Denver when I saw some kids riding urban assault bikes in the local shopping center. So I had one of them bunnyhop me for your viewing pleasure.

.: Nikon D700, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 1/2000, f/5.6, 800ISO :.

The Boat Truck

stevez — Sat, 02 May 2009 08:53:32 +0000

My dad used to always complain that my grandparents’ big American cars drove like boats. This gives a new meaning to driving a boat!

Wonky Manhattan

stevez — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:49:31 +0000

Welcome to Part 2 of my tilt shift tour of New York. I arrived in Manhattan’s Penn Station on one of the warmest days so far this year. Outside there was the longest line of police cars that I’ve ever seen. I have no idea what that was all about.

Next I went to Central Park to see if half the city could fit in the park at one time. I think they can!

Well, I’m sure you thought that I’d have more interesting photos of the city than this. I don’t. Hey, you can’t win them all. I did take a lot of pictures of trees though. I know, I know, I go to Manhattan and take pictures of trees. I’m funny that way.

Tilt-Shiftin’ the NJ Transit System

stevez — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:13:01 +0000

On my trip back East, there were two distinct parts. The first was family time in PA. The second half was NJ and NY. My grandmother lives a train ride away from the city, so I stayed there and took a trip to NY. I went to Manhattan for a day. I didn’t want to bring all of my gear, so I decided to pick one lens, and shoot the whole day with only it. That’s a tough decision for a gear head like myself!

So I decided to bring the most difficult lens I have, the 45mm tilt shift (Perspective Control PC-E in Nikon speak). The difficulty provides an interesting challenge that I enjoy a lot! This lens allows you to change the focal plane so that it is not perpendicular to the camera sensor. So what this means is that you can make areas of the photo in focus (or not), that are not necessarily the same distance from you.

This lens is experiencing a fad-like popularity right now. It’s somewhat easy to take a subject, like a person, and blur everything around them. It’s only somewhat easy because you still have to manual focus the lens! But you can get the effect and still be ignorant of how to use the lens to it’s full capability. In this series of images I angled the focal plane to create visual ties between parts of the images. So as you look at the images, pay attention to what parts of the photos are in focus, and what parts are not. Trippy huh? :>)

And if you aren’t interested in the technical mumbo jumbo . . . just enjoy the scenery from the most infamous parts of NJ! Haha!

Four Days of Epic Spring Powder at Vail and Beaver Creek

stevez — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:31:58 +0000

I’m always following the weather during the winter, tracking the big storms that yield glorious dumps of fluffy powder. I wasn’t able to get away too much this year, just too much business stuff combined with a pretty dry winter. Well the storms finally showed up in late March and early April, and I was determined to get my money’s worth out of the pass. So through the glory of Facebook, I found a co-pilot, 2 places to stay near Vail, and we set out for 3 days of bottomless powder hunting.

Things started out normally enough the first day at Vail. Until about 2 hours in the day I randomly shared a chairlift ride with a couple, and the girl had a piece of bridal veil material in her helmet. Turns out they were in town from Houston to get married at the swanky new Arabelle Resort in Lionshead. So we were chatting about weddings, and I mentioned that I have a shoot planned soon where I’m going to do portraits of the bride and groom in the dress and tux on skis. Tricia looks at me and says, “Can we do that on Sunday!?” Fortunately I had my camera gear with me, and I booked the shoot, thereby lengthening my trip another day. Well now I know that I need to get up skiing more often next year! And does this mean that I can write off my pass next year as a business expense?! Look for pics from that shoot soon on The Light Side.

Two runs later I went into the lodge to meet up with Io. She was talking with a man, who had a cute little girl pulling on his leg. Turns out he does energy-body work in Boulder. I asked him if he was interested in trading some family photos for body work . . . Yes! Two shoots hooked up in an hour! The next two days went pretty much as planned. I did a crazy amount of tree skiing. The next shot shows the aspen trees that lead down to the High Noon lift in the far Western back bowls. I’ve never skied them before because the slope is southwest-ish facing and is usually pretty bare. But after feet and feet of snow in two weeks, I was able to hit the chute just to the right of the lift, fresh tracks all the way. Very deep and steeper than it looks!

The second day at Beaver Creek was my best day there ever. We woke up that morning, and it dumped a foot of snow in 6 hours. It snowed crazy hard and I would have taken more pics but I was way too busy shredding. It was snowing too hard anyway. I hit tons of glades: Bachelor Gulch, Coyote Glade, Thresher Glade, Heads Up, 4 Get About It, Corkscrew, Stickline . . . my only regret is not hitting some of the steep upper glades earlier, by the time I got there they were closed. Next time I’ll know where to go first.

My last photo from this set is of a random guy who I shared a lift ride with. His beard was so awesomely coated with icicles that I had to take a portrait. Can you say, face shots?

So, I booked photo shoots, while skiing deep powder. I think it’s apparent that I need to manifest a place to live in Eagle County!

Body Form Photography Workshop – Class 3 – Studio Strobes

stevez — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:53:26 +0000

For the third class of body form photography, we shot with a single strobe with a soft box. We warmed up with some long exposure shots using just the modeling light.

Then on to some strobe shots in the black room.

But then we moved to the white room. I enjoyed this high key setup as a change of pace from the previous shoots.

And to mix things up a little bit I pushed the shadow areas of this last photo to bring in some blacks.

Body Form Photography Workshop – Class 2 – Hot Lights

stevez — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:27:59 +0000

This is the second installment of photos from my nude body study of light and shadows. This week we used 1 or two constant light sources. There were no modifiers used to soften the light, thereby producing very dramatic light and shadows.