Articles from April, 2010

Union Bay Slough

Written on April 28, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


I recently sold my Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens and replaced it with its big brother, the 800mm f/5.6L IS.  The 800 is a beautiful piece of glass and is actually lighter than the 600.  The new lens arrived yesterday.  Of course, I was compelled to take her out for a test run.  I drove over to Union Bay Slough, adjacent to UW Husky Stadium.  The light was nice, and I captured a few birdies.  If you haven’t been to Union Bay Slough, I highly recommend it.  You’ll see various species of birds, including the ubiquitous Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ducks, Herons, and Wrens, just to name a few.  Yesterday afternoon, my best images were of a Killdeer and a Sandpiper.  I hope you enjoy the shots.

Killdeer, Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS, Canon 1.4X TC

Sandpiper, Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS, Canon 1.4X TC

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Best of the Palouse Trip

Written on April 11, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


I’m finally back in Seattle.  Joel and I had a wonderful time at The Palouse.  The weather was mostly pleasant, punctuated by occasions of freezing winds.  We spent hours driving the back roads of this beautifully sculpted landscape, looking for dilapidated barns and abandoned farm machinery.  Be sure to have 4 wheel drive, especially for the primitive roads after rainfall.  Steptoe Butte offers a great vantage point for dawn and dusk photography.  I found the best views were possible by driving about 1/2 way up the butte.  At the very top, the breadth of the landscape is stunning, but the hills begin to lose some of their definition, as though one were looking down on them from an airplane.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, the fields are probably 2 weeks from peak spring color.  Schedule willing, I’ll be returning to capture more of that breath-taking beauty.  Below are my favorite images from the trip.  I hope you enjoy ‘em!  If you want to see additional photos and read more about the trip, please see my previous four blogs.

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) f/4.5-5.6

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 600mm f/4L IS

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 7-14mm (14-28mm equivalent) f/4

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 600mm f/4L IS

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) f/4.5-5.6

  • 14 Comments

vivek Manchanda: Flawless !

--> Mahesh: Vivek, thank you very much for the kind words, bud! I'm glad you liked the images. :D

Joel: Great pix. Love the crispness and the sky of Palouse Falls, and the colors and contours of the rolling hills. The red barn adds snap to the picture, and makes it stand out from the other (beautiful) field pix.

--> Mahesh: Joel, thanks bud! We had a great time, didn't we? You and I are gonna have to go back in August again, when the wheat fields are ripe.

Kalpana Kanal: Wow! Fabulous. Where it this place?

Conrad Tan: Duuuuude these are sick! So very very nice Mahesh. I'm diggin the waterfall and the mulicolored fields.

George: Mahesh: Your sense of composition is flawless and puts the rest of us mortals to shame!

--> Mahesh: Kalpana, thanks a bunch! This is Eastern Washington, about 60 miles south of Spokane and a 4 1/2 hr drive from Seattle.

--> Mahesh: George, thanks for your very kind words. It's difficult to take a bad picture in Eastern Washington. :D

--> Mahesh: Conrad, thanks man! I'm glad you saw these. The scenes will be even better when you and Ant come for a visit! :D

norm: You have amazing talent, Mahesh. Seeing your photos is a wonderful way to start the day. thanks for having me on the list!

--> Mahesh: Norm, thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting. It's my pleasure to bring a little joy into your busy day. :D

Ann & Dileep Bhandarkar: Mahesh, you are the best! love your incredible new lens' pics and the Palouse are magical. Your eye sees things the rest of us miss but looking at your work gives us inspiration and teaches us to look more carefully. Thank you for that. hope to see you soon, Ann & Dileep

--> Mahesh: Ann and Dileep, thank you so much both for the comments here and through e-mails. Photography is a strong passion of mine, and it's wonderful to know I have a few fans out there. I hope to see you out in the field again very soon. As requested, I'll add your e-mail to my mailing list.


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Another Morning at Steptoe Butte

Written on April 10, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


Canon 1D Mk IV & Canon 600mm f/4L IS

It was another great morning atop Steptoe Butte.  Unlike yesterday, there was almost no wind to speak of.  It was comfortably cool, rather than miserably cold.  Joel and I took our time, composed our masterpieces, and clicked away.  After about an hour of shooting, we headed back to town.  We ate some breakfast and sat down to process the images from the morning.  After this blog I’m taking a nap.  This seems to be our daily routine now.  I could get used to this!  I’ll write more tonight if I capture anything worth sharing.

Canon 1D Mk IV & Canon 600mm f/4L IS

Panasonic GF-1 & Panasonic 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) f/4.5-5.6

Panasonic GF-1 & Panasonic 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) f/4.5-5.6

  • 4 Comments

Aaron Cowan: Mahesh, Great images from the Palouse! I love the sets with all three blogs. I'm moving up to Moscow ID in August to finish my Masters and I'm looking forward to being a short drive away from this area.

--> Mahesh: Aaron, thanks, bud! I'm almost jealous of your move. I love The Palouse, but I don't think I'd want to live here in the summer. It can get pretty hot. Keep in touch, and good luck with the move.

Ray Still: Mahesh Beautiful takes from the Palouse, looks like it is way ahead from last year at this time, one of my favorite places to shoot Ray Still

--> Mahesh: Ray, thank you kindly for the compliment, my friend! I hope to return soon to capture this landscape covered in Spring greens! :D


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Farm Life at The Palouse

Written on April 9, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


As you can see from the opening image, we were blessed with some great afternoon clouds.  Joel and I drove around more back roads and managed to find some old, photogenic farm equipment and barns.  We took our time meandering along the primitive roads of The Palouse.  In the late afternoon we headed back to Steptoe Butte to shoot the sunset.  The colors tonight weren’t spectacular, but we still had an awesome time just taking in the breath-taking view in front of us.  I even brought out my 600mm Canon and took a few shots, including the one of the mammoth setting sun below.  The weather calls for another sunny day tomorrow.  We’ll head out early again and try to come back with more winners.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!

  • 2 Comments

That girl with the red streaks: Wait. undo. The last photo should be the primary. Print. please.

--> Mahesh: Deb, LOL! Indeed...that girl with the red streaks. I debated about putting the last photo as the primary, but wanted to end the blog with a "bang," so to speak. Glad you liked it...I had a feeling you would.


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Sunrise at Steptoe Butte

Written on April 9, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


Joel and I went out this morning bright and early.  The alarm went off at 5:15 am and by 6 am we were on top of Steptoe Butte, ready for the corpuscular light.  The fields are just beginning to turn green, and you can see a few lush areas in smal clusters.  However, we are probably about 2 weeks or so from the peak of spring colors.  The wind was howling, and we were freezing our you-know-what off!  I had what I thought was a steady tripod, but I could still see tiny movements when composing my shots.  I was forced to shoot between gusts and bump up the ISO to 400.  If you are thinking of doing any kind of sunrise/sunset photography here, bundle up and carry a VERY steady tripod.  I hope you enjoyed the shot above, my best from the morning.  It was taken with the Panasonic GF-1 and 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) lens.  After the low-angled light disappeared, we drove back to town and grabbed some breakfast.  Then we drove to Pullman, WA and returned to Colfax via back roads, looking for interesting barns to revisit during better light.  We didn’t find anything that really grabbed our attention.  We’ll try again this afternoon after a little nap.  Barns or no barns, we’re planning on going back to Steptoe Butte to shoot the sunset.

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Palouse Falls

Written on April 8, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


My buddy, Joel, and I have been looking forward to this little trip to the Palouse forever.  Today we packed up our camera gear and headed out to Eastern Washington, in search of rolling, bucolic hills and a towering waterfall.  We left Seattle in the afternoon and almost got stuck at Snoqualmie Pass, as the snow was beginning to come down heavy.  We made it through without any incident, thank God.  We arrived at Palouse Falls in the late afternoon, just in time to do a little scouting and set up for a sunset shot.  We were very fortunate with the overhead clouds, which turned a beautiful shade of pink just after the sun set below the horizon.  Happy with the first leg of our journey, we packed up and drove out to Colfax, WA.  We got a room at the Best Western at the edge of town, and I’m writing this blog from that very room.  Sunrise is just after 6 AM tomorrow.  We’re planning to get to Steptoe Butte for the early light.  Before heading off to bed, I wanted to share my shot from Palouse Falls.  The images is a blend of 4 bracketed exposures taken with my little Panasonic GF-1 and 7-14mm (14-28mm equivalent) lens.

  • 4 Comments

Deborah: Beautiful soft sunset. Nice to see a bit of green on the canyon walls, too. Can't wait to see the sunrise!

Martin Sojka: What a beautiful shot, Mahesh. I was considering trip to NW USA this year but opted for Kashmir&Ladakh instead. Maybe next year ;) What kind of blending technique did you use on this photo? I'm personally using ND Grads to balance exposures but as far as I know 7-14 lens doesn't work with them. Have a great sunrise ;)

--> Mahesh: Deborah, thanks a bunch! I've been to this fall several times before, but was never happy with my photographic results. This time it was different. It was a great feeling to be standing at the ledge, looking down at the waterfall and up at the clouds.

--> Mahesh: Martin, thank you very much for the comment and kind words. If you're photographing Kashmir and Ladakh, then I don't feel bad for you! I used a very large soft brush from layer to layer, masking out detail I from one level to reveal detail from another. It took a little while, but I'm happy with the end result. I've stopped using grad ND filters altogether. I'm getting nice results with blending bracketed exposures. In addition, as you mentioned, one can't put filters on the 7-14 anyway.


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San Francisco, Egrets, and Pigeon Point Light

Written on April 4, 2010 Posted in Photography Locations


It’s almost 11 pm, and I’m stuck at the San Francisco airport.  My plane back to Seattle was schedule to leave here at 8:30 pm, but won’t take off now until midnight.  So, I have nothing to do but process images.  The trip was otherwise great!  I had fun shooting with a few friends, even though the weather wasn’t the best.  Here are a few images from the trip.  I hope you enjoy ‘em.  To see EXIF, please click on the images.

  • 12 Comments

Orion: Nice set of images! I think the two lighthouse images and the black and white golden gate bridge are my favorites of the bunch.

Conrad Tan: Hey Mahesh! It was GREAT shooting with ya through all of the bad weather man! I enjoyed all the laughs and hope to do it all again very soon when I come up Seattle to visit ya. Have a safe flight home bro. Take it easy and get some sleep man!

meg parisi: The images of the egret are so crisp that they almost look like a watercolor painting. great shots.

Rachael: I love the bay water and bridge at night. i am so thankful not to have to swim for it from Alcatraz!

--> Mahesh: Orion, thanks for the comment, man! I loved Pigeon Point Light. It is such a beautiful structure. There is even some rust sort of dripping down the sides, which just adds to the overall great "feel" to the place. :D

--> Mahesh: Conrad, thanks bud! I can't tell you how FUN it was to hand out with you and Ant. We'll all have to plan for a Yosemite trip soon. Of course, y'all will be coming up to my neck of the woods for some PNW beauty! :D

--> Mahesh: Meg, thank you for the comment and kind words. You should have seen the egrets in person. They put on a great show. It's breeding season now and the nesting activity is fantastic! :D

--> Mahesh: Rachael, thanks for the comment! I can't decide which icon I love more, the GGB or the Space Needle! :D

Chris Budech: Grew up in East Bay--enjoyed photos--Egrets remind me of Audubon paintings. Thanks, cb

Anthony (A.K.A. Antman): Hey Mahesh!!! It was great having you come down and spend a few days. It was a pleasure to have you here at the Antman Compound LOL Fantastic images. I wonder how that first black and white image would look in color : ) I appreciate you taking the time to show me a few tricks to landscape photography and post processing. Wildlife photography still rules though : ) You've inspired me to start photographing landscapes my friend. I'm not just a wildlife photographer any more!! I look forward to future shoots together!! It can't come soon enough. Glad you got some Egret shots while you were here. You captured some great Egret shots. Brenda says "Hi" and you always have a place to stay in Northern Cali Ant

--> Mahesh: Chris, thanks for your comment! I bet you had a great time spending your childhood in East Bay. I'm very envious! :D

--> Mahesh: Ant, thanks a ton for everything, man! You and Brenda were the best hosts ever! Although the weather wasn't the best, I really enjoyed your company and hospitality. You two are the best! You will always have a place to stay whenever you come to Seattle.


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