In the Field

Misty Sunrise in Blackfish Sound. Blackfish Sound (Johnston Strait region), BC, Canada. August 25, 2010.

I don't consider myself to be much of a landscape photographer, but when I'm opportunistically presented with a scene like this I can't help point my camera at it and click away! This image was shot during a tour of exploration of the Johnston Strait region of northern Vancouver Island in the late summer of 2010. We were checking the region out for its suitability as a site for future photo tour featuring aquatic mammals including Killer Whales, Humpbacks, several species of seals, Steller Sea Lions, and more. We found LOTS of cooperative aquatic mammals and the scenery was a VERY pleasant bonus! This image was shot shortly after sunrise and the various layers are islands and distant peaks from the coast range of mountains north of Vancouver, BC (when I shot the image I was looking southeast from the northern tip of Vancouver Island towards the mainland).

Like with all sub-disciplines of nature photography, landscape photography has been dramatically impacted by the digital revolution. While historically I have really enjoyed looking at good landscape shots, I have to admit that a trend to overuse of two digital processing techniques has left me a little turned off by much of "modern" landscape photography. The first of these trends is excessive colour saturation (I'd go so far as to call it "hyper colour-saturation"). Many (most?) landscape shots have colours so saturated that they make those of Velvia film look like black and white. If you question the authenticity of the colours you'll commonly hear something like "Hey, you weren't there - how do you know these colours aren't true?". Sorry, not on this planet!

The other trend is the excessive use of High Dynamic Range (or HDR) processing. Long story short - HDR processing is a means of combining multiple exposures of a scene (each taken at a different exposure value) to extend the total dynamic (or brightness) range of the entire scene. Like with colour saturation, there is inherently NOTHING wrong with this process. After all, modern cameras aren't perfect and there ARE times when we can make up for their deficiencies through using creative processing techniques. My only problem with HDR processing is when it is so over-used that the resulting image covers a brightness range FAR in excess of what the human eye can perceive (so no shadows are so dark that all shadows are lost, no highlights of ANY brightness are lost).

Combine these two trends and what do you get? Landscape images that look like they're part of a video game (or from a comic book). Wonder what I mean? Well, just check out the cover of almost any copy of Outdoor Photographer magazine over the last couple of years and you'll get it!

My response? Here ya go - a black & white landscape shot! If it's possible, I'm probably even LESS knowledgeable about black & white photography than I am about landscape photography. But what I LIKE in a black & white shot (landscape or otherwise) is simple: the scene should contain some pure blacks, some pure whites, and, in most cases, a nice tonal range in-between.

But what do I know - I'm just a dumb wildlife photographer! And one who often shoots his landscape shots using a focal length of 300mm or more! ;-)

I intend to begin offering Instructional Photo Tours to this fantastic region in August of 2011. For more information about the tour, check out the tour called "Orcas, Humpbacks and More: Aquatic Mammals of the Central Pacific Coast" on the Photo Tour page of this website...or you can download THIS BROCHURE (PDF: 916 KB) for more information and details about this amazing photo tour.

Behind the Camera

Misty Sunrise in Blackfish Sound. Blackfish Sound (Johnston Strait region), BC, Canada. August 25, 2010.

Digital Capture; RAW 14-bit format; ISO 200.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VRII. Hand-held (VR on and in normal mode) from deck of sailboat.

1/3200s @ f5; -0.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Misty Sunrise in Blackfish Sound. Blackfish Sound (Johnston Strait region), BC, Canada. August 25, 2010.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening using Phase One's Capture One Pro 6.

Further digital corrections on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS5 and Light Craft's LightZone. Photoshop adjustments included selective exposure and tone curve adjustments (both using luminosity masking techniques), and selective sharpening for web output. B&W conversion in Photoshop CS5. Final tonemapping and contrast/tone tweaking - especially to midtones - performed with LightZone using the tonemapper/re-light tool.

Conservation

Misty Sunrise in Blackfish Sound. Blackfish Sound (Johnston Strait region), BC, Canada. August 25, 2010.

This image was shot in a region world-reknowned for its Killer Whales. Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Pacific Wild*

Species Status in Canada*: Endangered - Northeast Pacific southern resident population; Threatened - Northeast Pacific transient population and the Northeast Pacific northern resident population; Special Concern - Northeast Pacific offshore population.

Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) have an extremely high profile in modern pop culture and have become the "poster child" of a number of conservation groups. In most areas where Killer Whales are found they show a remarkable ability to adapt to a variety of habitats - they are found in all oceans, in water ranging in temperature from below 0 Celsius to almost hot tropical waters, and will occasionally even spend significant amounts of time in brackish water or even rivers.

Because the population sizes of Killer Whales are very low and because they have a very low reproductive rate, they face immediate risk from human-related environmental disturbances, including the immunotoxic effects of toxic chemicals we pour into the oceans and to reduction in prey availability (such as salmon).

This adult male Killer Whales was photographed near the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The Raincoast Conservation Society is fighting to protect the Great Bear Rainforest along the central and northern coast of British Columbia. This unique ecosystem harbours a strong population of many high-profile species such as Brown Bears and Gray wolves, plus many species that serve as prey for the Killer Whale. If you are looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the conservation of the Great Bear Rainforest and all its associated species, Raincoast will provide maximal "bang" for your conservation dollars.

For more information on the status of Killer Whales in Canada, go to: http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca and search under "Killer Whale".

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada