Photographing landscapes on alien planets won't happen in my lifetime so I'll continue seeking such places on this lovely planet of ours.

Mono Lake can always be relied upon to satisfy that desire.

During this winter sunset, I couldn't feel my fingers while handling the camera so I fumbled like a sausage fingered gormclops.

In spite of a few technical mistakes, I managed to pull it all together and produce this.

I had to focus stack as I was about twelve inches from the closest tufa pillar and these structures were actually quite tiny at three feet in height.

With this shot in the bag, we began the ten-minute walk back to the car thinking the light was done. I made the tragic mistake of turning around to look.

Sure enough, the light kicked off and the clouds changed shape into something glorious.

There was no chance of making it back to the pillars in time.

It just goes to show that even with years of experience, we all make silly mistakes, over and over again.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. This is a re-edit. I decided the first edit was ridiculously saturated so I simply had to revisit and do a more sensible job. Hope you like it.

Tags:   mono lake california sierra nevada lee vining sunset fototripper gavin hardcastle

© All Rights Reserved

I was committed to a sunset shot a twenty-minute drive away from this location when I was struck by a desperate need to evacuate my bowels.

Worse still was the fact that I was a one-hour hike away from my vehicle and the nearest toilet was a 10-minute drive to the airport from my car.

If you're not familiar with the Faroe Islands, I can tell you that there are no trees or bushes to crouch behind and there were zero toilets available on the trail.

My options were to attempt an agonizing one-hour hike back to the grossly overpriced rental car or simply bespatter my pantaloons and accept the indignity of a long hike with besmirched breeches.

I chose the agonizingly painful option.

I confess I almost lost control several times as tears rolled down my cheeks and sweat covered my forehead in a war of wills with my own body.

I can't imagine what the passing hikers thought of this lone photographer, moaning and muttering to himself while shuffling along the trail with the smallest steps possible.

I am glad to report that I won the battle. But it was very close.

After an exquisite visit to the airport facilities, I decided to head to this very famous waterfall in the hopes of witnessing a lovely sunset.

Within 15 minutes of my arrival at Múlafossur, the sky lit up and continued to perform pyrotechnics for at least an hour, almost up until midnight.

I don't mind those days of extreme highs and lows when it ends on such a high.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   Múlafossur waterfall vagar faroe islands sunset fototripper coastal seascape dramatic

© All Rights Reserved

Having photographed Mono Lake countless times, I headed there with the F4 crew in January to see if I could find a new way of photographing the spectacular tufa mounds.

While Nick, Adam and Thomas were busy working the beach with wide angle lenses, I opted for a different approach.

I felt that our landscape photography courses needed some diversity in the type of images we created so I decided to walk away from my subject.

After a short but steep hike in the fresh snow, I finally found the perfect viewpoint to survey those glorious sculptures as the morning light set them aglow.

Using a 100-400mm lens I had just enough reach to frame up this composition.

I had to use a ten-stop neutral density filter to force a long exposure of thirty seconds. This made the surface of the water smoother and less detailed which simplifies the composition and paints the scene with a relaxing mood.

As the sun rose over the horizon, the coyotes began their dawn chorus to usher in the new day and I breathed a very contented sigh.

Watch detailed videos showing exactly how I shot and processed this image by downloading the F4 ROAD TRIP over at f4roadtrip.com

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   mono lake snow winter cold sunrise morning california f4roadtrip gavin hardcastle long exposure

© All Rights Reserved

One of my favourite shoots of all time was the day F4 visited Cape Disappointment during a king tide storm.

The waves were gigantic and when the sun opened up for a brief visit, they really came to life.

As busy as it was, it reminded me of a New Year's Day fireworks display that I'd once witnessed in Australia. Cries of ''Ooohh'' and ''Aaaaah''could be heard pretty much constantly.

I may have even indulged in a few very un-English ''whooops'' myself.

With this shot I'd found my rhythm. After about two hours of shooting waves, I'd become quite good at predicting the behemoths.

I saw this titan rolling in and tracked it with my 100-400mm telephoto lens using auto-focus.

With my camera set to shoot high speed continuous burst, I was able to capture that moment of ultimate grandeur just as the wave reached it's peak before collapsing.

It was one of those mornings when you know you've witnessed something special.

I count myself very lucky to have seen this and even luckier to have documented such an adventure.

-----------------------------------------

Watch this shoot and the entire 10 episodes of fun and education that IS the F4 ROAD TRIP.

www.f4roadtrip.com

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   cape disappointment storm waves birds danger action drama power f4 road trip Fototripper gavin hardcastle

© All Rights Reserved

Watch the video where I show you how I created this image youtu.be/-Mb7qleaxhQ

----------------------------------------------------------------

I often talk about the importance of trying harder and not settling for the easy compositions.

This image is an example of how that extra bit of effort can pay off.

After about an hour of delightful composition hunting I finally committed to getting my feet wet. These mountain streams are so cold that it's wiser to step into the white stuff only towards the end of your visit when you're fairly certain of where the best shots live.

With such a wide scene, I simply couldn't fit all of this into my frame. I had to mentally visualize the end result of a stitched panorama and shoot enough frames to accurately portray what I was able to see with the naked eye.

Shooting a close panorama with a wide angle lens doesn't always work out but I think it turned out great.

I wanted to create an image that gave the viewer the experience of being there. So if you go and put your feel in a very cold bath you'll practically be able to hear that tumbling creek.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   roots waterfall karst creek vancouver island moss decar trees spring

© All Rights Reserved