The Battle Between Light and Darkness by RyanBuchanan

This evening in Hawaii, after walking forever along the shore, I came across some interesting rocks with some brightly colored lichen growing on it. I decided to make my stand here, and glad I did. The tide was just right to get some nice movement in the water as it surged up to my little rock perch. The sky exploded with the most beautiful sunset. I took a few shots to capture various water movements and blended that foreground shot in with my sky exposure taken a few seconds later. Thanks for looking and appreciate the feedback.

Follow me:
Website: ExposureScape.com
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Instagram: @exposurescape

via 500px http://ift.tt/1YvZOJz

Break of Dawn by RyanBuchanan

An early morning 60 second exposure just before sunrise at Wai’anapanapa State Park on Maui’s eastern shore. Incredible lava rock formations dive right into the ocean. The long exposure allowed the water to be less busy while also getting some nice movement in the clouds. I decided to go black and white with this one because I was able to make this into a more high-constrasted scene, making the rocks pop against the water. Also, the color image was pretty flat color-wise to begin with. Website: Exposurescape.com Instagram: @exposurescape

via 500px http://ift.tt/1XB6INd

Hanalei by RyanBuchanan

Hanalei Bay—one of our favorite places to stay in northern Kauai, Hawaii. Such a peaceful place with some jaw-dropping landscapes. This was one of the evenings we watched the sunset from the popular pier and caught some nice light and clouds. Even a couple enjoying the moment on the pier.

via 500px http://ift.tt/1lIGBTm

Born Again by RyanBuchanan

Without any new images to work on I had to dive back into the Iceland stockpile again and have some fun with a shot I took back in June 2014. This was taken in the small town of Vik. Shot this on a cloudy day. This image is a composite—the way I envisioned it prior to that evening. Just having a little fun and needed to brush up. Thanks for looking.

Check out my drone video from Iceland here:
http://ift.tt/1rCMv9e

Website: ExposureScape.com
Follow Me:
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto

via 500px http://ift.tt/1KaEax1

Cloaked by RyanBuchanan

When we arrived at this popular location, all the signs pointed to an unbelievable sunrise…until that time came and went. Once again, the smokey haze choked out almost all of the direct light. However, after waiting a long while longer, the valley started to slightly light up with a golden diffused glow. Made for an interesting mood I guess.

Follow me:
Website: ExposureScape.com
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto

via 500px http://ift.tt/1V8wlUu

Fire Watch by RyanBuchanan

+View on black+ Walking back from Hidden Lake in the dark, we were greeted with a huge full moon rising from behind the mountains. To the naked eye, you could see the faint smoke plume over St. Mary’s from the forest fires we had been dealing with all week. After setting up a couple quick test shots, I realized that a full 30-second exposure revealed this incredible red glow from fires illuminating the smoke.

Not exactly an ideal composition, but also not your everyday kind of scene, so I set up to where I could use the nice moonlight reflections that accentuated the flowing stream as my foreground. The smokey haze created a warmer moonlight than usual. This is one, 30-second exposure that I was able to pull a ton of detail out of the darkness and another exposure for the moon detail.

This was a fitting conclusion to our fire-filled week and left me with a unique memory of our adventures here.

Follow me:
Website: ExposureScape.com
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto

via 500px http://ift.tt/1IX4CK0

Battle Born by RyanBuchanan

+better view on black+ Logan Pass has always been a battleground. Over thousands of years, glaciers have carved out some of the most magnificent mountain peaks in North America. With relentless winters that allow for only a small window for life, survival here is tough. And this year even more so—drought conditions, forest fires, a nearly non-existent water flow, even the flowers were, for the most part, long gone all due to the lack of snowfall this past winter. Even in such harsh conditions, it’s amazing how life still perseveres.

This evening, on our second trip up to Logan Pass, we were rewarded with interesting cloud cover mixed with a smokey haze from the fires—resulting in some interesting light. I’ve always wanted to capture Clements Mountain with it’s unique, castle-like appearance and this was my chance! My daunting search to find a foreground began… I finally came across this lonely patch of flowers that was somehow still in full bloom.

My goal was to create depth in the scene by getting extremely close to the flowers, making them appear as large as possible. I positioned the angle of the camera to where the flowers would lead the eye up through the mid-ground to the mountain. So, with a few passers-by wondering what the hell I was doing with my face and camera buried in this cluster, I took a few series of shots of the foreground at 7 different focal points which I was able to blend in photoshop for sharpness throughout. The light was more intense at this point, allowing me to keep the shutter fast enough to freeze any flower movement. Then I waited a little longer for the right sky light to set in. The clouds made for some great patterns coming out from behind the mountain as the hazy glow intensified. The lens distortion at the top of the frame helped lengthen the mountain and cloud lines.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate your comments.

Follow me:
Website: ExposureScape.com
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto

via 500px http://ift.tt/1Oaouy0

Hidden Lake by RyanBuchanan

It was a long week out in Glacier National Park, dodging fires, escaping the smoke and hunting for clouds—tough even finding flowing water and flowers. With apparently just 15% of snowfall this past winter, drought conditions were in full effect—flowers were long gone for the most part and creek beds were nearly dry. This evening though, we were able to get out from most of the smokey haze and catch some nice, interesting light up at Logan Pass. This is Hidden Lake at the foot of Bearhat Mountain. The search for foreground life led me to this spot where I was able to get a slight sideview angle on the mountain and some greater depth out to the horizon. Blended around 6 shots to get sharpness throughout. With Going to the Sun road closed I was worried we weren’t going to be able to make it up here. Was incredible to finally see it—a photographer’s dream.

But the real treat was finally getting out to shoot with Ryan Dyar and Miles Morgan. We had a blast and it was obviously great to get to know and learn from these two pros. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out Dyar’s instructional processing videos for some expert tips. Good stuff.

Thanks for checking out my work!
Follow me:
Website: ExposureScape.com
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto

via 500px http://ift.tt/1JXYKqM

Synapse by RyanBuchanan

My last day on Maui was spent in Hana and I ventured out for sunrise yet again at Waiʻanapanapa State Park. Was a nice send-off for the second half of our honeymoon. Really enjoyed this spot and these lava rock formations—And they enjoyed ripping half my clothes and damn-near skinning me alive—gotta watch your step.

This 25 second exposure (15mm | f/18 | 100) was taken just as the top of the sun broke over the cloud layer on the horizon and lit up the scene. Because of the amount of texture I saw in the rocks and the patchy clouds, I decided to use my 10-stop filter for a longer exposure to calm the water. Having choppy water with everything else going on could have been too much. I also knew the long exposure would get me some smoother movement in the clouds as well. The sunstar was cleaned up and modified. Spent a long time balancing out the tones in this one—especially the color tones.

Thanks for checking out my work and I appreciate the feedback!

Follow me:
Website: ExposureScape.com
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto

via 500px http://ift.tt/1DK7Wwv

Fishing for a Dream by RyanBuchanan

+best view on black+  North Shore Kauai: Perched on this rock ledge over the ocean was an one of my favorite experiences shooting in Hawaii. It was a show. The waves were crushing the rocks and dousing everything in their path—including me. The water flowing off of the rocks was a long-exposure dream scenario—not to mention the nuclear bomb of a sky. 

Now I know there is a lot going on here—sun-bomb atmosphere, Bali Hai in the distance, crashing waves, warm and cool tones, water movement overload in the rocks and why not a fisherman. Hey, hopefully it keeps the eye involved in the scene. But I think the overall composition does work, although weighted on the left, the wave to the right helps hold it all together.  

In post I carefully blended my sky exposure and focus on the distance with my favorite foreground shot of the rocks and water. This was a 1.3 second exposure at f/14, ISO 100.

Please share this photo and follow me here:
Facebook: http://ift.tt/1aQVWJ2
Twitter: @BuchananPhoto
Website: ExposureScape.com

via 500px http://ift.tt/1J2cuQd