Dean Sauskojus Photo Blog

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