art, landscape, nature, photography, random thought, travel, wildlife, writing

pictures

Well, after 3 weeks and 4300 miles, I’m finally back home.

It was an epic road trip and I am so pleased with the work I had the chance to produce in 5 National Parks!

The first of which being, of course, Rocky Mountain National Park.

I spent 9 days exploring and photographing this phenomenally beautiful place. Most noted subjects of this park are the fast flowing creeks, abundant wildlife, and majestic peaks.

It was certainly a challenging experience; waking up before the sun to shoot all morning, hiking 10+ miles during the middle of the day (with 30 lbs of gear) to scout locations, and then shooting until after dark, going to bed and doing it all over again. Needless to say, I wasn’t getting a ton of sleep, and I lost a few pounds of excess belly :)

It was a ton of hard work, but it’s the kind of labor that I really live to do.

So, here are a handful of my favorite images from the first leg of my three week trip!

In the next week or two, I will post more images, videos, time-lapses, and as promised, equipment reviews…

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, technical or aesthetic, leave comments/ feedback, but most of all, I hope you enjoy the beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park!

All images are available for commercial and editorial licensing through Tandem Stills + Motion. Prints of select images will be available soon!

all images and content © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2013

advanced, city, composition, landscape, photography

aerials + lifestyle

I always love it when commercial real estate clients call.

And since the 80’s, Dallas has been a huge commercial real estate hub, so thankfully, there’s a lot of business.

Architecture and urban landscape are a very natural transition for me from traditional landscapes and nature photography.

Plainly speaking, architecture is man-made landscape, often mimicking the shapes and movements of nature.

Photographically, it’s just as exciting and challenging when done well.

To add to the challenge, often times I’m asked to shoot little vignettes of the surrounding attractions; active lifestyles, restaurants/ bars, nightlife, etc.

These are generally very well rounded assignments. And I absolutely love the technical and creative challenges of shooting different subjects and styles.

all images and content © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2013

art, equipment review, landscape, nature, photography, random thought, travel, wildlife, writing

rocky mountain high | road-trip 2013

I have never been to Rock Mountain National Park. Yeah… seriously.

With all of the locations I drive to regularly in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, for some reason, I have never been.

It’s especially odd, now that I think of it, because of how (relatively) close and how stunningly beautiful I hear it is.

So, I’ve been planning to spend a week there at the end of June.

I will piggyback off a job I have in Telluride over the fourth, and a stock assignment in Big Bend National Park.

Adding in a few extra stops like Canyon de Chelley in Arizona, this thing has really turned into quite the road-trip…

To top it all off, Canon is sending me a few lenses to evaluate, which I will review here on the blog… check back to see me put some exciting lenses to the test!

I am really looking forward to spending some quality time in phenomenally beautiful Rocky Mountain NP with Canon’s long awaited 500mm f/4L II and 24mm f/1.4L II.

The closest I’ve been to RMNP was a backpacking trip a few friends and I took in 2008 to Indian Peaks Wilderness.

IPW is within Arapahoe National Forest and borders the southern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.

I’ve been to a lot of beautiful places, but Indian Peaks Wilderness was certainly one of the most stunning.

And then of course… like an old friend waiting for a long overdue visit… Big Bend. Except for 2012, I have been at least once every year for the last 10+ years.

It’s a magical place. With a character and an energy like no other place I’ve been, it has the ability to soothe ones soul. It’s a perfect mixture of southwest desert and rugged mountains.

Along with the lenses, I will be testing out some new filters, new techniques, and I hope it will be a rejuvenating experience. And I want to share it with all of you…

So please, feel free to ask questions, give tips, make comments, and check back over the next several weeks for updates. I will be sharing some of the secrets and tricks of the trade!

Cheers!

— andrew

all images and content © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2013

advanced, art, beginner, city, equipment review, film, film making, intermediate, landscape, photography, travel, workshop

canon 17-40 f/4L // review

Okay, so I’m going to embark on a journey through territory that is quite new to this blog… reviewing gear.

I’ve been asked by a few folks to give my thoughts on new and old equipment I’m currently working with, so what better opportunity than the recent purchase of a new lens?

I was giddy as a schoolgirl when UPS knocked on my door last week. It has been a while since I’ve needed to order a new lens. And I really toiled over this purchse. Nowadays more than ever before, I wanted to make sure I was really getting the most “bang for my buck”. I did my research, and I pulled the trigger. And so the moment of truth; a knock on the door and a shiny new black, white, and red Canon box.

Photo courtesy Canon

The toil I went through was over whether I should purchase the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L (US $1699) or the 17-40mm f/4L (US $839). Both are “L series”, Canon’s best glass, and as a professional I generally don’t buy anything less. As the saying goes, “you’re only as good as the glass you use.”

So I really had a decision to make.

For me, this lens will fill a big gap in my repertoire of focal lengths. And as more and more of my business is landscape/ cityscape/ architecture, I am in desperate need of a quality super-wide zoom.

Now, just by the nature of super-wides (and zooms for that matter), some sharpness is sacrificed on the edges for the sake of versatility. If you need tack-sharp, you need a standard prime. Wide focal lengths will also cause some distortion on the edges… nothing that can’t be easily corrected in post. Already knowing these drawbacks, I began to research.

Aside from the obvious difference in focal length, the 16-35 is a full stop faster. But do I need that full stop? I decided no for the majority of its use. I would primarily use it as a landscape lens… so shooting outdoors, it’s nearly inconceivable I would need (or want) f/2.8. And the second most useful application for me is interior architecture. But again, I typically light the spaces and rarely shoot wider than f/8. Okay, so is there a sharpness difference between the two? Well, without having both lenses in front of me to do my own tests, I had to rely on the careful data of others. I found a fantastic technical analysis of this very comparison on Luminous Landscape.

The information provided by the good people over there really helped me solidify my choice to go with the 17-40. With no major differences in sharpness, the fact that the filter ring is the popular 77mm (and I have three other 77mm L series lenses, so I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t have to buy all new filters for the newer 82mm on the 16-35), and not to mention the fact that the 17 is half the cost of the 16, I felt good about the choice I made.

Now the moment of truth… would I find a new, helpful tool in the 17, or would I be disappointed with its results?

Well, here’s the very first project I shot with it here in Dallas at White Rock Lake. And I was VERY happy with the versatility and clarity from my new Canon 17-40mm…

White Rock Lake Wildflowers, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 1/60 sec. @ f/22, ISO 400, Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter with Cokin Z-Pro filter holder

White Rock Lake Landscape, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 1/400 sec. @ f/10, ISO 400, Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter with Cokin Z-Pro filter holder

White Rock Lake Lone Tree, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 1/640 sec. @ f/10, ISO 400

White Rock Lake, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 1.6 sec. @ f/22, ISO 50, Circular Polarizer with Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 3 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter handheld

White Rock Lake Dusk, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 1.6 sec. @ f/22, ISO 50, Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 & 3 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filters with Cokin Z-Pro filter holder

White Rock Lake Sunset, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 0.3 sec. @ f/22, ISO 50, Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter with Cokin Z-Pro filter holder

White Rock Lake at Dusk, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 3.2 sec. @ f/22, ISO 50, Circular Polarizer with Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter handheld

White Rock Lake Sunset Time Lapse, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 0.3 sec. @ f/22, ISO 50, Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter with Cokin Z-Pro filter holder

White Rock Lake Time Lapse, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 5D MKII, 1/25 sec. @ f/22, ISO 50, Singh-Ray 4×6″ Galen Rowell 2 stop Soft-Step Neutral Density filter with Cokin Z-Pro filter holder

Note: If using the Cokin Z-Pro filter holder, you can expect the edges of the filter to creep into your shot at focal lengths below 20mm. It’s kind of frustrating. But it’s not the lens’s fault…

Overall, the Canon 17-40mm f/4L is fantastic. Like I said, it’s versatile, sharp, fast (enough), light weight, and durable. I can already see it being an incredibly useful lens in my arsenal.

Please stay tuned… I’ll be reviewing more equipment soon! And please feel free to share your comments/ questions below!