Uploads from Rob Macklin, tagged evening

Portrait shoot with Anna

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:31:35 -0700

Ok....so sometimes I take a portrait or two.

...but I'm still a Landscaper.

I'm not a portrait guy.

I take pictures of rocks and dirt n stuff....

I know all you portrait people will want to know all about the technical junk I used to capture this so here goes.... I used my Nikon D800 Landscape camera, a lens with a big ass aperture, and for my lighting I used.....well....the sun. Sorry, that's all I got. Oh...and it helps to have a pretty girl that you basically can't take a bad photo of and a ginormous field of flowers. :)

Anna IS a portrait/wedding photographer. So if you want to see how it's done go check out her photostream and her website. (Anna Perevertaylo) She's one of the BEST!! In all honesty that's why this shot came out nice, cause she coached me on camera angles n junk while I was shooting. I learned a lot. But I still feel more comfortable shooting landscapes.

Enchanted Evening

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:16:58 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

The colors of evening dance across the waves at Rodeo Beach just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I've been busy.

Do you ever feel like you are working hard doing a million things, and yet you just can't seem to get any traction? I've felt that way lately. I got a new car a couple months ago. It's a Honda Fit. I love it. It gets great mileage and it just likes to go and go. I buy cars to drive them. I pretty much run them into the freakin' ground. In just 2 months I've already put over 11,000 miles on the little dude! 5 trips to Tahoe, 3 trips to San Francisco, and one to Santa Cruz, and just a ton of driving around Sacramento. In spite of all this activity I've only managed to add two images to my portfolio :( We're talkin' lots of dry runs with flat boring light. So the other night when I watched the sky light up over Rodeo Beach......it felt REALLY good! I think the Lord pushed those clouds in just for me so that I wouldn't lose my sanity!

Anyway....the sunset was nice and I did my best to capture it. I hope you like it. And I hope you are having more success than I am at being in the right place at the right time :)

Blue Light Special

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:35:50 -0800

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

Ok I know....this is about as standard as it gets when it comes to comps of the Golden one. But as I was driving home from shooting Rodeo Beach it just seemed like the bridge was looking so nice and I couldn't resist. And I kinda like the little spot of blue in the sky. It makes it....special. (get it?) ;)

The Golden Gate is truly like no other. It commands your attention. I wish I could capture it in some way that could actually convey its massive scale! I think this would have to be printed 6 x 10 feet to even start to reproduce the impact this beautiful work of art has on me. With the water below and the sky above I think this is a nice collaboration where man's art and God's art join forces.

And that's just how it should be. =]

River of Reflection

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:28:30 -0800

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

Another shot from my favorite spot on the river. I moved to a slightly different area and was able to get the complete Tower Bridge in the shot this time. This was Tuesday Feb 19th.

I love shooting over water. It's hard for me to go to a location to shoot unless it has some type of water feature. Lakes, rivers, ocean waves, wet sand, waterfalls, ice, snow, mist.....I just love shooting anything with water! I really love it when I can capture a reflection off the surface of the water. I like watching the waves along the beach. I like looking for that glassy smooth wet sand that creates a big mirror for just a few moments while the wave is sliding back into the sea. I love how light reflects off a frozen lake, or how snow capped mountains turn pink in the sunset alpenglow.

Here along the Sacramento River I love how the boats and bridges reflect across the ripply river. Each shot has a slightly different reflection depending on your shutter speed, the speed of the river current, and the amount of wind blowing over the water. So it's fun to experiment.

I think God had a brilliant idea when He created water with the capacity to reflect light. Don't you?

Thanks for stopping bye and thank you for your comments and encouragement. :)

(as always you can click on the image to view large...then click "full screen" for largest view)

White Boats in a Pink Sky, Fisherman's Wharf

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:55:54 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

Digging through the archives again. Found this from last January at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. This was my second attempt at this shot. I had this image of white boats floating in a pink sky. Not sure why. Just seemed like it would be so dreamy and light. I've always been inspired by the method that Ansel Adams used in regard to "seeing" or "visualizing" the shot first in your mind's eye before you go out to make a photograph. On rare occasions when things come together right I've been able to pull it off, but usually the light or weather doesn't cooperate.

It was an interesting experience. I was sitting on this rock pile tucked down close to the water. It was so quiet and peaceful. Not exactly the typical experience at Fisherman's Wharf. There's so much tourist activity along the Embarcadero, but if you walk out near the boats in the evening you can find these little pockets of quiet that are really surprising. As I sat there a blue heron sailed effortlessly past me and landed silently on top of a wooden post. I slowly just reached up and clicked the shutter. And just like that I had my shot. Then I sat for a while watching the light fade and listening to the sounds. Happy restaurant voices being carried across the silent water.

The mind of a photographer is filled with moments like these. Little things. Details and reflections. Colors and wildlife that go unnoticed by the crowds of people bouncing along on there merry way. I'm 46 years old and sometimes I feel as though I'm just now learning to see. I have this feeling that I've probably missed a lot of good stuff.

The other day I was driving back from Bishop. I came through Tahoe City at around 2:00am on my way to Emerald Bay for the sunrise. The town was emptly. I mean, it was 2:00am after all. I saw some movement on the sidewalk that looked curious. I stopped next to the curb for a closer look. Promptly two little fuzzy bear cubs emerged from the shadows. They were just boppin' down the sidewalk right in the middle of town! They saw me and got scared. They climbed up this tiny little tree and attempted to hide in the flimsy bending branches! It was so funny. I got my flashlight out and watched them for a while. I wanted to take a picture of them, but I felt like mamma bear might come walking down the sidewalk next so I decided to leave them alone. You see lots of strange things when you roam around in the middle of the night.

Hope you all are getting out there and seeing some cool stuff.

Blue Evening, Lake Tahoe

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:23:04 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

I was sitting at the computer today digging through the archives and stumbled across this image. When I saw the snow on the mountains I thought..."Oh man, I can't wait for a fresh winter snowfall in the Sierras." There's something about the crisp winter air that makes me feel awake and alive. Or maybe it's that I drink more coffee when it's cold. It's probably the synergy of both. Yep, I'm ready for winter. Well, actually Fall is sounding pretty nice too.

So I shot this one in April. I've been shooting Bonsai Rock with longer focal lengths lately. I like how the rocks and mountains are pulled in a little tighter and fill up the frame more. The bright sky on this evening brought out some of the cool Tahoe blues in the water. Tahoe is kind of a big (huge) lake and I find it very intimidating to shoot. The clear blue water keeps me coming back for more.

Happy Monday.

Bear Grass Heaven

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:20:39 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

I don't know what the deal is, but I just LOVE bear grass. I think it's because I've never been able to photograph it. I guess it has a very short bloom season. And the stupid sheep and mountain goats in Glacier Park seem to gobble it down pretty fast.

Anyway, this is looking down on Grinnell Lake from above the Grinnell Glacier trail. It was about an hour before sunset when I found this spot. The clouds were looking so amazing that I decided to take a few shots way before sunset. I'm glad I did because all the cool looking clouds floated away by the time the sunset hit. I was sitting there envisioning what the crazy sunset was going to look like. I was sooooo freaking excited!! Then slowly but surely the clouds vanished. Oh well....now I have a good reason to come back and try again. Maybe sunrise next time.

Hiking back down the trail in the dark in bear country was....hmmm...lets just say that you really feel alive. And you really feel happy to finally see your car again in the beam of your headlamp!

Oh...and yes the lake is really that color. It's from the glacier silt/flower stuff. But you already new that right? Of course you did.

Rays of Hope, Lake Tahoe

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:04:02 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

The snow is melting fast around Lake Tahoe as the warm sunshine of spring pours down
through the clouds.

Bonsai rock, Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Nikon D800
Zeiss 50mm 1.4f

Sunset Cliffs

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:15:23 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

The other day my son Tyler and I took a drive down the coast. We saw several nice beaches and it was fun just walking barefoot in the soft sand.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Winter Fresh, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

nobody@flickr.com (Rob Macklin) — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:46:04 -0700

Rob Macklin posted a photo:

Taken from a snowy day last December up at Lake Tahoe. There isn't a lot of color in this one but I liked the details in the snowy forest. I'm thinking of printing this one really big and putting a rustic wood frame around it. How would you frame it? Curious to get your feedback on this image.