Angela Classen - Natural Images Photography

New Blog Address

2009-07-08T08:22:00.002-05:00

Please visit my new blog at: http://angelaclassen.wordpress.com/

After doing some research, I decided Wordpress offered more options that better suited my needs so I'm now set up over there. All my information and posts were easily transferred over to my new site.

Coming Soon! Kansas Photo Book

2009-06-30T08:57:00.004-05:00

I'm very excited to announce the upcoming publication of my first photography book entitled "Kansas! Its Hidden Gems." The book will be approximately 30 pages in length, with dimensions of 7" X 7" and will have a hardcover with dust jacket. It features beautiful full-color photos of both well-known and not so well-known scenic locations in Kansas. Tentative publication date is July 30.

Please contact me directly for pricing and other questions at niphotobyangela@aol.com.

Rocky Mountain School of Photography Weekend - March 7 & 8

2009-03-08T19:48:00.003-05:00

The Rocky Mountain School of Photography held a photography weekend event in Overland Park, Kansas this weekend. I was lucky enough to register before it sold out. There were approximately 200 in attendance. The instructors for the weekend were Tim Cooper, Tony Rizzuto and Doug Johnson. Three different sessions ran concurrently so choosing which one to attend was a bit difficult at times because virtually all the classes sounded interesting. Fortunately, for several of the Photoshop classes I didn't attend, they have web notes available that I can save and hopefully get a good overview of the concepts discussed.

I attended Understanding Exposure: Using the Zone System for Color (Doug); Macro Photography (Tim); Low Light and Night Photography (Doug); Processing Your Images: Fine Tuning with Layers and Masks (Tim); and Sunrises, Sunsets and Flowing Water (Tim).

I found the zone system and layers/masks programs to be the most beneficial. The zone system for color is based on the same system Ansel Adams used for black & white. I found it interesting that the human eye can see 15 stops of lights and tones, but digital cameras are capable of capturing only 4. Four!! No wonder the images we take look so different to us from what we remember when finally viewed on the computer. The camera is only capable of capturing a small amount of the light and detail the human eye normally sees. He also discussed the different types of metering and which ones are most effective to achieve the results you want. It was a very interesting presentation and I hope to begin using the system soon as I believe it will help my image quality. Fortunately, I took a lot of notes and they gave us a chart with the zone system that I'll laminate and put in my camera bag.

The Photoshop session today was awesome. He showed how to do localized adjustments with layers and masks. Seeing how it was done in person really made it click for me. He also explained in depth the different selection tools and which one is best to use for certain images, which was very helpful. I've had some trouble figuring out how those tools really worked and now I feel I have a better understanding. I hope to start playing with some of my images in CS4 and applying some of these tricks soon.

RMSP does not conduct a weekend workshop in the same city two years in a row, but they said since this one sold out, they might consider holding another one next year somewhere in the same region. Since I'm on their mailing list, I'll be watching for any information and if it's close enough, I'll go again. The information was great and the instructors were very patient answering questions. They gave out some door prizes such as $50 B&H gift cards (I would have LOVED to win one of those!), a camera bag, Canon fanny packs, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't win anything. But it was a fun, educational weekend and I'm very glad I went. I can't wait to start applying some of the things I learned!

For more information about RMSP workshops and courses, visit their web site at: Rocky Mountain School of Photography.

On Location: The Flint Hills - Our NPN Adventure! - February 21, 2009

2009-03-02T20:24:00.011-06:00

Wayne Rhodus, moderator of Central States Nature Photographers (regional chapter of Nature Photographers Network), organized a day-long shooting trip into my favorite area - the Flint Hills. We met south of Manhattan at oh dark thirty and WOW! was it a cold one! A cold front had moved through the night before and the wind was howling about 30 mph with temps in the upper teens, making for brutal wind chills. Members braving the chill were Wayne Rhodus, Scott Bean, Dena Sanders, Merle Cook, Ken Bachman, Rob Graham, Jim Walker and Jim Taylor.

Our trek started on Deep Creek Road and on to Old K-18 Road. We saw lots of beautiful auburn colored, grass covered hills. And LOTS of dust!

Then we headed to Pillsbury Crossing southeast of Manhattan. It had been years since I had been here and didn't remember how beautiful the spot is. I will definitely be coming back here! The water falling over the rocky ledge creates some very picturesque possibilities.

After Pillsbury, we headed back toward Alma, drove a portion of the Skyline-Mill Creek scenic byway and hit Highway 177 headed south to Cottonwood Falls. An added bonus happened when we saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree at Council Grove Lake. We ate lunch at Emma Chase's Cafe in downtown Cottonwood Falls and visited and got to know each other a little better.

When our bellies were full and our hands thawed out, we took off for the falls at Chase Co. Fishing Lake just west of town. This is another place I had never visited. A series of small waterfalls cascade the outlet flow down the hillside, creating some wonderful spots for photos. Due to our recent dry conditions, the water was not flowing very fast on this day. Am I coming back here when the water is flowing better? You betcha!!!

My last stop of the day was the Clements Stone Arch Bridge, west on Highway 50. It was completed in 1886 and is a beautiful structure, worthy of preservation. They sure don't make bridges like this anymore!

By this time, my energy level had drained to nothing (thanks to battling a cold) so I called it a day. Several members headed back to previously scouted locations in the Flint Hills to catch sunset shots, but it didn't look like the Cloud Gods provided anything fun in the skies.

The entire day was a great adventure and a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to our next NPN adventure (hopefully it will be a little bit warmer)!

Garden Show Photo Contest - and the Winner is?

2009-03-02T19:57:00.004-06:00

Me!!

I'm happy to announce I won two 2nd place ribbons at the garden show photo contest held last month! I won 2nd place honors for the Kansas wildflowers and summer blooms categories. The winning images are here:

Over the past five years that I've been participating in the contest, I've received the following ribbons at this contest:

2004 - 1st place - Kansas wildflowers
Honorable Mention - summer blooms

2005- Honorable Mention - Kansas wildflowers

2006 - Honorable Mention - Landscapes with horticultural emphasis

2007 - 2nd place - summer blooms
3rd place - spring blooms

2008 - 1st place - plants & animals
Honorable mention - The Rose
Honorable Mention - Kansas wildflowers

On Location: MacLennan Park, Topeka, Kansas - January 17, 2009

2009-01-18T20:36:00.005-06:00

After waiting for 19 days with no precip, we finally got another dusting (1") of snow on the 16th! Because the temperatures overnight didn't stay that cold and were predicted to rise into the lower 40's the next day, I knew I had to work fast before the snow melted and the trails turned to a total mud pit, so went back out to MacLennan Park at sunrise on the 17th. I finally got to play a little with my new Canon 10-22 mm lens. At 10 mm there is some distortion, but sometimes that's a good thing. It lends an interesting effect to tall trees.

Last weekend, I started my lens testing procedure and finished all test shots for the 10-22. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to review all the images but after looking at a few, it was no surprise that the sharpest apertures were in the mid-range and not at the largest or smallest settings.

With this shot, for example, I wanted to capture the starburst so used the smallest aperture at 10mm (F22). When comparing this shot with another shot at F14, it was very evident the sharpness of the lens fell way off. I hope to finish my lens testing the next few weeks and be able to label my lenses with which apertures are the sharpest. I also purchased a hyperfocal chart and hope to use this to improve the sharpness of my images. Through trial and error, I've been using different sharpening techniques for images I post to the web. So far, the technique that Marc Adamus (member of Nature Photographers Network) uses seems to work fairly well. I'll keep working on it! Since I'm a self-taught photographer, I'm used to the trial and error method of learning. There are certainly a lot of resources at my disposal, and membership in NPN has been one of the best things I've done to improve my photography skills. NPN has many talented folks who never seem to mind sharing their opinions and techniques. Just viewing the images of these talented photographers has made me look at my own work much more critically and see flaws that I wouldn't have noticed a couple of years ago, and makes me want to improve my techniques.

This scene is found on the Blue Trail. The stream was totally frozen, creating a great photo opportunity with a nice bend in the stream, the warm sunlight on the right, and the small falls frozen in time. As I was shooting, I noticed the sun coming up and creating a nice starburst. I got off about 4 shots before it moved behind more trees and the starburst was gone. I showed my husband this photo and he knew right where it was at and said "Yeah, I remember it. I had a bad bike wreck there!" Guess he and I will have different feelings about this location ;-)

After getting the big scene, I got some more intimate shots of the falls with my 70-300 lens. I've never been a big fan of winter, but now that I've been out a few times with my camera, I'm starting to develop a different attitude. The snow makes everything look fresh, pure and beautiful. The air is clean and crisp. There is a peacefulness and serenity not present during other seasons. I really enjoyed my 4 mile hike, and I'm hoping for yet more snow SOON! MacLennan Park certainly has some beautiful places to explore.

Let It Snow - PLEASE!!!

2009-01-07T21:07:00.002-06:00

After my last outing at MacLennan Park, I've been anxiously awaiting another snowfall. And waiting...and waiting...and waiting. The weather forecast has been a total broken record - seasonal temperatures, partly to mostly sunny, and NO precip! Finally today the forecast calls for a chance of flurries by Monday or Tuesday next week, but it doesn't sound very promising. I'd really like some beautiful snow (preferably on a weekend) so I can fully test out my new Canon 10-22 mm wide angle lens. Sadly, it hasn't been out of the box much since it arrived.

This weekend I plan to haul all my lenses out and test them for sharpness. I found an article on Nature Photographers Network which explains how to go through this process to determine which apertures for each specific lens yield the sharpest images. Because sharpness in my images is something I feel I really need to improve, I think going through this somewhat lengthy process will be worth it. Guess since I probably won't be able to find anything to shoot this weekend, I may as well make good use of my down time.

I'm also going through some images for possible submission to the photo contest held in conjunction with the Topeka Lawn, Flower & Garden Show in mid-February. Members of the Topeka Camera Club judge the event. Categories usually include spring bloom, summer bloom, plants and animals, the rose, trees, landscapes with horticultural emphasis and (my favorite) Kansas wildflowers. I've raked in a few ribbons at this contest over the years (three last year, including one blue) and hope to take home more this year. I've been most successful in the Kansas wildflower category with one blue and two honorable mentions. Besides the open division photography contest at the Shawnee Co. Fair, this is the only local contest in which I can enter anything, so I always get excited. The photos must be turned in one week prior to the Garden Show; after entering them, I must wait until the doors open at the show to find out if I won anything. Oh, the waiting is the hardest part!!

Let it snow - PLEASE !!

On Location: MacLennan Park, Topeka, Kansas - December 28, 2008

2008-12-30T21:17:00.011-06:00

Good photography requires many things. Having good equipment is one, although one doesn't necessarily have to possess the most expensive equipment to create good photos, but good camera bodies and quality optics do make a difference. Finding interesting subject material that people can connect with is another. Strong compositional skills are yet another. However, one of the most important factors is being in the right place at the right time. Many times, this is pure and simple luck. Other times, however, you can plan it!

MacLennan Park, located directly adjacent to Cedar Crest (the personal residence of the Kansas Governor), is a 244 acre park with miles of hiking and biking trails, several small ponds, hills, woods, open meadows and is home to white tail deer, red fox, various small mammals, and many varieties of birds. It is a favorite place of mine to photograph because of the diversity of things to see and it's close to home. This summer, a new trail (the Red Trail) was opened on the north side of the park. My husband and I hiked it numerous times after it opened, and there were several spots I thought might be really beautiful in the snow. Last weekend we had some wild weather - a record high of 67 the day after Christmas, followed by a rare December tornado watch, followed the next morning by light freezing rain, plummeting temperatures throughout the morning, and snow in the afternoon. I knew if I waited until sunrise the next day, the mud on the trails would be frozen and I could finally get out in the snow.

I bundled up to stave off the cold and headed out. The park was totally deserted when I arrived. The only sound was the occasional flock of geese flying in and out of the nearby Kansas River. The snow muffled a lot of the usual city traffic noise and it was peaceful and quiet in the woods. Several of the spots I had noted before were indeed beautiful with the light dusting of snow. The light coating of ice on the trees also gave me other possibilities. One place I had spotted on my previous trips was where a tiny spring trickled over a rock ledge. The cold overnight temperatures had slowed the water almost to a complete stop, and beautiful icicles had formed on both sides of the ledge. I spent half an hour just at this spot, getting some wider shots with the ice-coated trees in the background and some close-ups of icicles, the trickling water, etc.

Needless to say, I had an awesome time playing in the snow and shooting photos on this morning. Knowing ahead of time the specific spots I wanted to hit certainly made it easier and more efficient to shoot photos, rather than running aimlessly around, hoping to find something before the good light was gone. Preparation definitely paid off and made all the difference in the images I captured.

For more information about MacLennan Park, please visit this web site: http://www.governor.ks.gov/cedarcrest/maclennan_park.html

The trail system is maintained by volunteers through the Kansas Trails Council http://www.kansastrailscouncil.org/index.html

Ice, Ice Baby!

2008-12-17T22:08:00.003-06:00

The weather forecasters say we'll get some ice here overnight. Although I'm not looking forward to sliding into work at my real job downtown, a coating of ice does create some interesting photographic possibilities. It was just a year ago when our area was hit very hard by an ice storm. I was able to get out and take a few shots. This one was taken at Lake Shawnee on the east side of town. Although I don't think the ice storm had anything to do with it, the large tree on the left side of the footbridge died this winter and has been cut down.

We'll see what happens with the weather and if I get a chance to get out...

Welcome to my new blog!

2008-12-16T05:02:00.000-06:00

I'd like to use my new blog to share my passion for photography and nature with others.

Right now I'm playing Christmas elf, getting things ready for the fast-approaching holidays. After the holidays are over, I'll return and start posting some of my favorite locations to shoot in Kansas. I'd also like to dispel some of the myths associated with my state (i.e., that it is flat as a pancake, that tornadoes swirl endlessly all the time, and that it is generally dull, uninteresting and downright boring). I feel Kansas has many beautiful, photo-worthy locations and I'll share those with you in the coming weeks and months.

There's still time to place an order for my 2009 Kansas Courthouses calendar. Visit my web site at www.angelaclassen.com and click on the "Kansas Courthouses 2009 Calendar" gallery to view which courthouses are being used for next year. You can also view my entire courthouse selection in the "Kansas Courthouses" gallery.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll check back after the first of the year. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!