It follows that if this is Nicolaus Wegner‘s “Stormscapes 3,” there must have been a “Stormscapes” and a “Stormscapes 2,” which there were. I found this thanks to a Slate article by Phil Plait. He notes that much of it was shot near Limon, Colorado, about 90 miles southeast of where he lives, which by my … Continue reading Because storms are magnificent
This particular image, found on space.com, was captured on Oct. 12, 2015, by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Not quite the same impact as the first Earthrise photo shot by the Apollo 8 crew in December 1968, but technologically superior and brilliant in its own right. Continue reading Earthrise 2015
Who knew there was a Comedy Wildlife Photography competition? Endless opportunities for hilarious photos, yet these were the top three winners. The first one is cute. But comic? I don’t see it. Both Second and Third Place are far funnier, IMHO, although admittedly the judges had a tough job. What’s sad is all those that didn’t/couldn’t … Continue reading Comedy Wildlife photo judges got it wrong
A friend sent me this photo (above) about a week ago and I absolutely loved it. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it’s from a series of photos of wildlife photographers getting checked out by their subjects. (Luckily there was a second photographer on the scene in each case.) I wouldn’t have … Continue reading Wildlife photographers get upstaged
This week Sicily’s Mount Etna erupted for the first time in two years with a dazzling display of volcanic lightning. Forbes magazine explains: The eruption sent lava up to 1 km (0.6 miles) shooting into the sky and an ash plume 3 km (1.9 miles) into the sky. On top of the spectacular display of … Continue reading Neither sci fi nor CGI
Estes Park, Colo., photographer Erik Stensland was certainly in the right place at the right time on October 29, 2015, when the rising sun illuminated the east face of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. He estimated this light lasted about 90 seconds. It reminds me of a brilliant pink gem rising above a … Continue reading A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Great photographs only start with a camera. It takes a professional photographer to finish them and produce the prints you drool over on the screen and lust after in the galleries. In this video, Estes Park, Colo., photographer Erik Stensland shows how he turns RAW (unprocessed) camera data into a finished print. Amateurs or non-photographers may be … Continue reading Great photographs don’t just happen
I thought for sure I’d published this Erik Stensland photograph at some time in the past. It has long been my favorite of his, although I’ve at least a dozen more almost-favorites. But this one is special. It transports me to another place. Not just any quiet, misty forest. I know this place and this … Continue reading My favorite ‘Forest in the Clouds’
Photographer Fabrice Monteiro captures high fashion made of garbage from a huge dump in Senegal. The photograph is one of a series entitled “Prophecy,” a joint project of Monteiro, costume designer jah gal doulsy, and the Ecofund organization. Senegal’s “Green Imam,” Imam Youssoupha Sarr, has declared a jihad against the human pollution that is burying the African … Continue reading Haute couture made of Senegalese garbage
If I had been there with a camera and had captured this shot of sunset over Longs Peak (in Rocky Mountain National Park) last night, I’d have been elated. Stunning shot. However, the professional who shot this, Erik Stensland of Estes Park, Colo., didn’t care for it. He said on his Facebook page that he … Continue reading Professional vs amateur photographer
One square mile of Earth’s surface can look like a lot of different things when viewed from a satellite. These are just two of many images from The Jefferson Grid, an Instagram site that features many such images from Google Earth and the Public Land Survey System. Be sure to check out the other pictures; … Continue reading What’s in a mile?
Back on June 6 in a post titled “Truth in photography” I expressed my disappointment about a photographer staging his photo. As we discussed at the time, staging is a common practice which may or may not be acceptable to a publisher, an audience, or the judges in a contest. This photo was one of many shot … Continue reading The seamy side of photojournalism
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