Axtell Anceney Road Photo Drive (Southwest Montana)

Faced with a beautiful fall day in Bozeman, I had a decision to make: try to get in one more round of golf, or slip out for some fall photography. Given that I'm still limping around a bit on a bum leg, I decided it might be better to skip walking nine holes and go on a photo drive instead. It doesn't hurt that great photo shooting days have been hard to come by this fall, what with the sub-freezing weather we had in early October. We really didn't have any fall color thanks to the early freeze, but the crisp blue sky on display today was enough to entice me out with my camera.

I decided to drive the Axtell Anceney Road, which connects US 191 (the road to Big Sky) with SR 84 (the road to Norris). This road is impassable when wet, but we haven't had any moisture in the past week so I was good to go.

One of the things I love about Montana is how easy it is to find relative solitude so quickly. After driving Axtell Anceney only 4 miles, I had the road to myself for the next two hours - with the exception of two vehicles, two dirt bikes, and a guy driving a tractor.

I shot only 88 frames today - several bracketed exposures for HDR (which I decided were unnecessary after getting the photos into LightRoom) and several of the same composition using different lenses just to play. Here are my favorite shots from the day.

                     

Click here to download:

Axtell_Anceney_Road-84.zip (11479 KB)

School House Memories - Bannack, Montana

I love shooting in Bannack, one of the best-preserved ghost towns in Montana. This August marked my second visit in as many summers - I hope to get back often.

Here, I let the post-processing run wild: an aged photo treatment and subtle vignette raise echoes of the past that you most certainly feel when visiting this special place. Shot with my 14-45mm lens at 14mm; 1/80 sec. at f3.5.

More Shots from Our Bozeman Photo Walk

Here are several more shots taken last week during a photo walk in downtown Bozeman. I took these shots at the Farmer's Market in Bogert Park and near the Bozeman Public Library and Lindley Park. All shots taken hand-held with my Olympus e500 and 14-45mm lens. Raw files post-processed in LightRoom.

                 

Click here to download:

More_Shots_from_Our_Bozeman_Ph.zip (4379 KB)

It Ain't Called 'Big Sky' for Nuthin'

To create this panoramic, I stitched together seven separate shots taken at the Headwaters State Park in Montana. I sometimes marvel how blessed we are to live in a place like this.

Crane at Dusk - Headwaters State Park, Montana

This evening, my friend Brant Nyberg and I trekked out to the Headwaters State Park near Three Forks, Montana for some golden hour photography. Headwaters State Park marks a special spot in Montana where three rivers - The Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin - join to form the Missouri. We had actually packed up and were driving back to Bozeman when we saw this crane standing in reflective water by the roadside. I nearly racked out my 70-300mm Zuiko lens to capture this image (on a tripod, of course). A great end to an enjoyable evening.

Rent Olympus Zuiko Lenses at LensRental.com

Given the price of Zuiko lenses, it would be great to rent the lenses before making a decision to buy. For instance, I've had my eye on the 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 lens for quite some time. It runs around $700. Now, the reviews on the 11-22mm are stellar, but before I drop 700 smackers it would be nice to play with the lens a bit. If you shoot Olympus DSLR, you've probably already noticed that most camera shops won't touch Olympus with a 10 foot pole. Not sure why that is, but there you go. We Olympus shooters are left to buy online. Most of the big, reputable online photo sites carry Olympus, so this really hasn't been a problem, but rentals have been harder to come by.

Now that's all changed. I just discovered that LensRental.com now carries Olympus Zuiko lenses. The price to lay my hands on the coveted 11-22mm? $43 for seven insured days of shooting. Not bad - although shipping adds another $26. Seven days should be enough time for me to decide whether or not I'm interested in owning the lens.

Olympus shooters are often left playing second (or third, or fourth) fiddle, so I thought I'd write this quick post in the hope that it will help other Olympus fans locate a resource for lens rentals.

Seattle Saturday 2009

We're taking a whirlwind trip to Seattle this weekend for a medical visit. Here are a few pics from the touristy stuff we're doing before our doctor's appointment on Monday.

                       

Click here to download:

Seattle_Saturday_2009.zip (6555 KB)

Ram Tough

My main reason for heading up the South Fork was to get a few shots of the big horn sheep that winter in this area. Forest regs instruct you to stay several hundred feet away from the sheep to avoid stressing them. Fortunately for me, this big ram bedded down right on the dirt road - without exiting my car, I shot this image with my 70-300mm lens at 300mm (1/10 sec. at f5.6). With the 2x crop factor of my Olympus E500 (which gives this lens a 35mm equivalent reach of 600mm) and some aggressive cropping in post-processing, I arrived at this interesting composition. Turned out to be one of my favorite shots of the day.

Golden on the Lookout

On my drive up the South Fork highway, I pulled over at the Forest Service boundary to check out the incredible vista. Before I could even get out of my car, however, I looked over to my right to see this golden eagle perched on the ground not 30 yards away. Knowing he'd bolt if I stepped out of the car, I rolled down my window and snapped this image from the vehicle. Shot with my 70-300mm at 300mm; 1/60 sec. at f5.6.

South Fork Majesty

I can't afford the Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue polarizer, so I decided to push the colors a bit during post-processing in Lightroom. Taken with my 14-45mm at 27mm; 1/100 sec at f4.4.