Dean Sauskojus Photo Blog

I don’t know if winter and paradise should be mentioned in the same sentence. Here they can’t be separated because Emigrant Peak is in Paradise Valley. I still think you can find incredible beauty in winter, and sometimes in the coldest temperatures. This shot was taken in near zero temperatures and 50mph winds. Did I hike to this location like I suggested in my last post. Heck no! Are you crazy?  I simply opened my truck door, using it as a wind break, set up my tripod and took the shot. So sometimes you can get nice shots right from the road by just opening up your door.

Technical Info:  Canon 30d, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 50mm 1.8 EF lens, ISO 100, f/11@1/13 sec.

Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

You can just about find this subject anywhere. I set out to find a nice grouping of Cattails and then added  something different. The snow complemented the nice yellow stocks coming straight out of the ice. A cold shot indeed but the nice warm color of the stocks helped out. These Cattails were found right close to my backyard. You don’t have to travel a lot of miles to find a nice subject so why not stay close to home.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 17-40mm L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

A couple of summers ago I made a camping trip into Yellowstone with the family. I brought my camera along just in case I found something interesting. On the way home I noticed an old truck out in a field beside the highway. We stopped to check it out. The old truck had some great character to it. The winds were howling, so I thought why not use that to my advantage. Try something different. I decided to use a slow shutter speed to blur the grass around the truck. I was pretty happy with the way it came out. The moral of the story is: Never be afraid to try something new. If you don’t, you’ll never know what could have been.

Technical Info:  Canon 30d, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 17-40mm L lens

Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

Paradise Valley was truly paradise last Sunday evening. The sky looked pretty good as the sun descended below the horizon. But it took awhile longer for it warm up to crimson red. The moon was just icing on the cake and something I did not expect to photograph. Most of the time it was hidden behind a shroud of clouds. Here it has a halo from a soft transparent cloud moving in front of it. I didn’t have time to look for a better foreground and the land here is posted, which I wanted to respect. This is another situation where you just want to wait and see what happens. I’m glad I did.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 17-40mm L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

I didn’t get out this weekend but I processed some older files just recently. This is a photo of Baring Creek in Glacier National Park. The creeks and lakes in Glacier are full of these colorful rocks. When wet they even become more colorful. I took this image with a 4×5 view camera which produces a transparency four inches by five inches. View cameras require you to use very small apertures to get every thing in focus from front to back. Using f32, I exposed the film for four seconds. This slow of a shutter turns the water into that smooth milky look. Some people like the look, some don’t. Here I didn’t have a choice, plus the fact that this is a dark place. I could have used a faster film but then that defeats the goal of using a large format camera, because you want very good detail. Faster films produce more grain, less detail. The web doesn’t do this image justice. When you put this image on a light box you can see all the glorious detail.

Wista 4×5 DX2, 135mm Nikkor Lens, Fuji 50 Velvia 4×5 film, Bogen 3021 Tripod

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

I’m getting to where I don’t like cold weather. I grew up in Montana on a sheep farm and I’m still not used to it. I’ll put up with it for a good picture to a certain point. When you go out in fourteen degree weather like I did tonight, make sure you have a good pair of gloves. Definitely not the kind I have with no fingertips. Whose great idea was that? Also get some pipe insulation or cloth tape to put around those metal tripod legs. My battery was fine, but it’s a good idea to have a spare.  By the time I was ready to leave, frost was building up on all my equipment. Make sure you don’t blow on your equipment making matters worse. Winter is here and I’m not ready for it, but if you can put up with a little discomfort you can come up with some great images.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 17-40mm L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

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Usually I don’t go out in the national forest to take pictures during hunting season, but I wanted to get a nice shot of Sphinx Mountain covered with snow. With the red and orange monolithic surface I knew snow would make a nice contrast in color. I wasn’t wearing orange and several hunters were scoping out this area when I took this image. I’m sure they were wondering what I was doing.  I didn’t see any elk and didn’t hear any gunshots so all went well for me at least.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Handheld, Canon 70-200mm F4 IS L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

Once again my hunch didn’t work out. The light looked great last night especially over the Tobacco Root Mountain Range.  The sun was right at the horizon and its beautiful orange-red rays were shooting to the ground spanning for miles. Me? I was set up in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I didn’t  give up that easily. After the sun had set for twenty minutes there was a little bit of a glow in the sky on the horizon opposite this view of the barn. The full moon was also lighting up parts of the sky.  Since I was in the area and had photographed this barn before, why not put my camera to the test and shoot this almost in the dark?  With just a little bit of light left in the sky and bounce light from the clouds I set my camera for 800 ASA and a 30 second exposure and shot a couple of frames.  I try to push the envelope when it comes to my photography.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In this case I think it worked.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 70-200mm F4 IS L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

Since Halloween is coming up I wanted to post an image that goes along with the season. The bacterial mat in this photo reminded me of the color of pumpkins, and the color of foliage this time of the year. The fog and the blackened tree add mystery and a bit of creepiness, if you use your imagination. From a distance those look like bones buried in the dirt! What happened to that dead tree? Is there something lingering in the woods back there? Even in landscape photography the best images out there are images that can tell a story and prick your curiosity.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 17-40mm L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus

I spent this past weekend in a pile of rocks. Very interesting rocks. No, I didn’t get hit in the head with one. I was  attracted to the colors! Those that had broken off from the wall were a blue-gray color. The ones remaining in columns on the wall were a nice warm yellow-orange. There is something I just love about these colors in an image.

Technical Info: Canon 5D Mark2, Bogen 3021 Tripod, Canon 17-40mm L lens

All Images Copyright © 2009 Dean Sauskojus