pentax 645
Its been a while since my last post but there really hasn't been very many things to photograph in Montana. The Forrest Fire Smoke sat over us in the Bitterroot for 2 weeks or so. Like a thick dense fog you could barely see 1/2 a mile a times and 1 hour of air exposure was considered Extremely hazardous. So here are some pictures before the Forrest Fire's started in August!
Images are shot on:Pentax 645z, 35mm f3.5 and Nikon D800, 17-35mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8
Moab is truly an incredible place. Last week I headed out to the small city to photograph on the Jeff Clow Photo Tour (AKA: Dirt Cheap Photo Tour). Shooting in such a beautiful place was the easy part. The Physical and Environmental elements are what challenged me on this trip. The High Winds, elevation and a small bout of food posining threatened my participation in the tour, but in the end I was able to photograph some amazing landscapes in all sorts of light and weather. The Landscape in Moab is unlike any other place I have travelled too. I shot well over 300GB worth of images in the 4 day tour. The Pentax 645z was my main camera along with a Nikon D4s and Nikon D800. It was hard to change lenses out in the field due to high winds and pelting red sand and rocks, so I tried to just shoot with what was on my cameras and use my feet as my zoom.
Moab is a selection of reds, blues, yellows, green's and every other colour you can imagine. You can photograph in all different forms of light, clouds, times of day and you will always come up with a different image.
Here is a small selection of images. I will be editing more in the coming week or so.
"Wisdom Tree" This moment was one of the most peaceful photographic experiences I have ever had. The lighting was unreal!!! Nikon D800 24-70mm 2.8
Flying into Moab in the 310
Wing tips over Arches National Park
Coming in on Final at Canyonlands Airport, Moab.
Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park. Pentax 645z 35mm 3.5 Lens
Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park. Nikon D4s 14-24mm 2.8 Lens
Professor Valley, Nikon D800
Arches National Park, Pentax 645z 35mm 2.8 Manual focused.
Nikon D800, 70-200mm
Nikon D4s South Windows looking at the Turret Arch.
Nikon D4s
12 Image Pentax 645z Panorama. Shot with the 35mm 3.5 lens and laced together with Auto Pan. The original file size is MASSIVE!!!
Nikon D800 24-70mm 2.8, Jag!!!
13 Stacked images to create the star trails.
JAG...Painting with light night photography. Nikon D4s 14-24mm
Canyonlands National Park
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5 Canyonlands National Park.
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5.
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5 Arches National Park.
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5 Arches National Park.
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5 Arches National Park.
Pentax 645z, 35mm 3.5 Professor Valley.
Today we set out in an A-Star, during the early morning light to try to capture some of the amazing Bitterroot Mountain Ranges. These images where shot with a Penatx 645z with a 45mm 2.8 lens. I also had my Nikon D800 and D4s with me to capture some super wide and telephoto shots. Those to come later!
Here are some of the amazing mountain ranges that split Montana and Idaho's boarders!
The last warm fall days are slowly drifting by here in Montana. Before I head back to cooler, soggy/rainy/wet Vancouver weather, I am going to try to snap as many pictures of the incredible colors that you will find in the Bitterroot Valley at this time of the year. The tree's leafs are slowly turning into an array of Red/ yellow and orange. The Pentax 645Z is really built for these kinds of conditions and I can't wait to get some more lenses for the camera to try to capture different angles and different perspectives.
Thus far, most of the images on the Pentax are shot with a 645 AF 45mm 2.8 lens and a 645 A 75mm 2.8 lens. You can really see the focal length compression that Medium format will give you and the bokeh is actually quiet impressive.
Here are some more shots from the past week!
Well....this camera is nothing short of amazing! The clarity absolutely blows my mind and the sharpness, file size and colour is pretty spectacular. It can actually shoot and render pretty quick for a Medium Format and is truly a Joy to shoot. I played around with the camera today and shoot with the older Pentax FA 45mm 2.8 lens and the Manual Pentax 75mm 2.8 lens.
The camera is comfortable in the hands and works basically like my DSLR's thus the learning curve is pretty minimal. I can't wait to get some sun here in the Bitterroot Valley so I can really test out what this camera can do!
A bit to much purple in the leaves...I noticed that the DNG are not as punchy as my Nikon NEF's, but post can bring back your colours if needed.
My Niece and Nephew are having some Fall fun!
Ending off on this little GEM!