Full Moon over Las Vegas

Making the Poster

Back in the glory days of Las Vegas before it became the world's entertainment capitol for all age groups to experience Monte Carlo, New York and Paris by just walking across the street, the famous Strip was laid out with an incredible view from an area by Russell and Industrial Roads.  Driving along this route one night, I saw the most beautiful full moon rising above the casinos in the east.  The moon as is often the case in the Desert Southwest seemed to be artificial, appearing bigger than life.  I made a promise to myself that I was going to photograph this scene in the near future. 

On a calm, clear night in July 1995, I managed to catch the full moon rising just as I had seen it on that special night.  The "Full Moon over Las Vegas" became one of my most popular photographs and I was approached by The Insider Viewpoint of Las Vegas to reproduce it into a poster.  As a result, five thousand 15"x26” posters were printed to represent this historical landmark view of the Las Vegas Strip.  

Through popular demand, the Full Moon over Las Vegas Poster was printed for a second run and is now available for the first time on my website. For information to order the Full Moon over Las Vegas Poster, please follow the link:

Full Moon Over Las Vegas, Nevada

With my Nikon and tripod, my goal is to recreate the scene as it appears in nature, to preserve in a photographic image the awesome, yet simplistic beauty of the scene that waits around a bend or over a hill. Sometimes it's a colorful landscape, and many times I'm allowed in the presence of the numerous creatures that adapt to life in the wild. 

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Composition and Technique in the Photograph

Getting it Right

I saw a post on Facebook from an aspiring photographer that went something like this:  "I don't need to get it right with the camera, I'd rather spend time in Photoshop".   At the same time, I am reminded of a quote from professional photographer Andrew S. Gibson, "A good photo is comprised of one-third the composition, one-third the lighting and one-third the technical ability of the photographer."   I do agree with Gibson, and I had rather spend time in getting the photo, which I find both relaxing and exhilarating than sitting at the computer working out the tedious details.  

Please don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the post-processing and love to play with my images in Photoshop or Lightroom.  However, when I was learning the basics of photography, it was demanded that you get it right before the shutter was pressed.  Furthermore, in the darkroom days before the enlightened digital era there was only so much that could be done with a negative compared to today's Photoshop.

Going back to the comment on not getting it right, I am reminded of several occasions where I was trying to get a particular photograph and had only that one chance to get the scene as it appeared in nature.

"The Challenge" has become one of my best selling photographs.  I was tracking the sorrel stallion with my manual focus Nikon 500mm 4.0 lens as he was walking away after drinking from a pond.  Suddenly the black stallion came out from the bushes, they reared up and it was over so fast that I hardly had time to focus.  Since I wanted to have the natural terrain as sharp as possible in the photo, I pre-selected an aperture of f/8, which also gave me a faster shutter speed to catch the action.   

 

The waterfall at Lost Creek Canyon only flows during times of adequate rainfall or snowmelt.  One January, a winter storm brought heavy snow to Red Rock Canyon.  Over night, the storm passed through and I was heading out early the next morning for photos.  I saw the waterfall flowing from a distance and knew that I had to get these rare photos.  After reaching the pool at the base of the waterfall, I selected my widest lens--a Nikon 24mm 2.8, and dropped my tripod all the way down in the water, as low as it would go.  I chose an aperture of f/22 to slow the water, and then bracketed the exposure.   My goal was to keep the detail in the features of the canyon without burning out the highlights on the top portion.  No sooner than I had gotten off several exposures, the canyon began to fill with other people crowding in to enjoy the scenery. 

"Summer Storm" has become another of my most popular images.  Back in my film days, I had been waiting to catch lightning striking over the Spring Mountains near Las Vegas, Nevada.  Early one evening, I watched the clouds build and began to notice streaks of lightning.   After driving into the desert over a dirt road to get closer to the action, I used my Nikon 80-200mm 2.8 lens to focus on the area where the lightning was really striking.  With camera secured to tripod, I held the shutter open with a cable release for two minute intervals at f/ 5.6.  I was allowed four exposures before the wind and rain forced me to pack up and leave.

On June 5, 2012, Venus made a historical transit across our Sun.  This was one event that I really wanted to photograph, so I did my research on solar photography and hoped for a clear day with no cloud cover.  To photograph the sun, I made a lightproof box with a Baader solar filter and attached it to my Nikon 500mm lens with a 2X teleconverter.  I selected an aperture of f/4 and bracketed the shutter speed from 1/125 seconds.

Venus just beginning to transit across the sun with faint cloud cover. 

 The sun setting over the Wassuk Mountains with Venus slowly making its transit.

I guess it’s an ego thing because I love being out getting the photos, but I also love the thrill of seeing the scene as it appeared in nature load in on my computer monitor.   If I choose to alter the photo, I can always go back to my original which was shot as close to natural as possible.

For more on Venus Transit:

http://bonnierannald.blogspot.com/2012/06/transit-of-venus-from-walker-lake.html

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Alpenglow

The Hills are Aglow 

Living in an area surrounded by mountains, I love watching them turn a glowing reddish orange when the sun is just below the horizon.

 Artist Palette, Death Valley, California at sunset.

This effect called Alpenglow from German origin, Alpenglühen, which is an optical phenomenon occurring at pre-dawn or post-sunset.

 Alpenglow at sunrise, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

When the sun's rays are at a low angle, the faster blue wave lengths are absorbed and only the longer, slow moving red can penetrate through the atmosphere.  A horizontal red glowing band appears on the taller objects in the horizon across from the sun.

Sunset over the Gillis, Walker Lake, Nevada.

Sunrise, Reno, Nevada

 Alpenglow at sunrise over the Wassuk, Walker Lake, Nevada.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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