Kit Frost

2012-01-30T11:27:00.000-08:00

Took a drive up past Silverton yesterday afternoon. We had some high cirrus clouds forming so I thought I might get a chance to photograph the alpen glow on the Grenadier range. No luck. But I did hang out a bit in Cunningham Gulch and made this short video of the quiet creek.

http://vimeo.com/35898651

2012-01-27T10:19:00.001-08:00

Durango Arts Center, opening today, online exhibition.

My photographs will be featured on the DAC online exhibition page for the next 60 days.

Click here to view the online exhibition
and then click View with PicLens (for full screen view)

KIT FROST: LOCAL COLOR

2012-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

Another sweet morning in Durango. Here's a series of photos taken in the Animas Valley. On the commute to work. And yes, I got to work...late.

It's really hard with a digital camera to point directly at the sun. "Blooming" occurs; creating a vertical white stripe in the image. I "chased the light" to put the sun behind the morning fog.

He's checking me out to be sure the herd is safe.

Herd of wild elk in the Animas Valley

The elk were waiting for the last one to cross the highway safely.

2012-01-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

Click on the above to see our current schedule of Digital Photography Workshops.
Private lessons can be scheduled at any time.

2012-01-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hoping the next snowstorm drops in over the weekend. I would love snow on Friday night through Saturday midday, blue sky on Sunday. How's that for setting myself up for a weekend of photography. I love to photograph mountains and trees with a fresh coating of snow, before our gorgeous blue skies set it and melt the snow from the trees!

I refer to this site monitored by the Colorado Dept. of Transportation to inform me about road conditions. And, of course, NOAA for local and Silverton weather reports.

2012-01-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a beautiful clearing winter storm in Durango today. I enjoyed taking photos since 5am so some of them are dark and mysterious with the city lights creating red clouds and red snow. After the sun began to rise I worked on some timed sequences, up to 100 photos taken 8 seconds apart. Video is available here.

Snow in the forecast for Yosemite

2012-01-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

http://friscophoto.wordpress.com/

I'm planning a trip to Yosemite in the Spring, Waterfalls. So glad to see the weather is predicting up to a foot of snow out there.

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 37.81°N and Longitude 119.52°W (Elev. 7849 ft)

Lightroom in a Day, lessons

2012-01-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful workshop today, in my studio in Durango. Lightroom skills in one day. A group of students brought their laptops and they learned Lightroom: start to finish, upload, creating and understanding the Lightroom Catalog, organize, rating, selecting your "picks", output to email, facebook, shutterfly, etc.

Think about the Adobe Lightroom® Catalog and the metaphor of a Library card catalog or a site like Amazon. Think of your files as the associated warehouses located all over the world (or all over your studio or desk) Think of your external drives, CDs, DVDs, C Drive, pictures folder, Macintosh HD, as the warehouses storing your images until you tell Lightroom you need them. The metadata is the information that travels with your images, you learn the f-stop and shutter speed, white balance (as shot), the date and time, the lens and camera you used.

Lightroom stores previews when you import images to your Catalog, Lightroom is not storing the actual photos, they reside in folders in your warehouses.

More to follow.

Yosemite Wildflower video

2012-01-20T11:24:00.001-08:00

Today I'm learning more about tundra wildflowers, Yosemite National park and video filming. I love how the filmmaker is using a rail to move his cameras slowly across the landscape.

Sky Pilot?

2012-01-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

Sunset from the Smiley Building, taken with my iPad camera.

Interval Timing Video

2012-01-19T14:27:00.001-08:00

Many of our Digital SLR cameras are capable of producing a series of exposures according to a timed sequence we set up in the menu. Called an intervalometer, the Nikon D300 and Nikon D5100 both come with an onboard interval shooting menu selection. The video below is created from a series of these images. The post-production, timing, added music and text was done in iMovie. Output to vimeo.

Capitol Reef National Park from Kit Frost on Vimeo.

What I learned:
Set up the photograph for a single image first, get the exposure the way you love it.
Make sure that your subject holds interest.
If you would not shoot it as a still image, then don't shoot it as a sequence.
Spend some time editing and selecting the best images from the sequences. Refine those images.

2011-12-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

We went snowshoeing up at Molas Pass yesterday, awesome, beautiful, Colorado blue sky day. Here's a video to prove it.

2011-11-30T14:11:00.001-08:00

Purchase a Gift Certificate, give the gift of Creativity. Purchase your gift certificate for any amount. Apply towards the purchase of a Chase the Light Workshop, classes, Kit Frost photo, canvas print. Much more. Gift Certificates available for $25. $50, $75. any amount.

Zion's Autumn Majesty, Photo workshop

2011-11-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

October 27-31, 2012
Zion Autumn Majesty

Fly to Las Vegas or join us in the road trip from Durango to Zion National Park. At Zion National Park our classroom and accommodations are at the Zion Lodge.

To stay informed, email kit@kitfrost.com

Please NOTE THE DATE CHANGE

Contact Kit Frost for a pdf copy of the itinerary.

Clearing morning fog

2011-11-25T15:02:00.001-08:00

Animas Valley was awesome this morning. I enjoyed photographing reflections in one of the ponds at Dalton Ranch Golf club. The sun had just broken through the clouds. A slight underexposure of the scene was just enough to hold a little detail of the sun in the pond. I'm a bit cautious of using Graduated ND filters facing directly into the sun. Too much glass to deal with.

2011-11-18T13:08:00.001-08:00

I'm getting seduced to apply for the Artist in Residence programs in our National Parks, top o my list: Yellowstone, Olympic National Park, Grand Canyon, Zion.

Zion Majesty

2011-11-18T12:56:00.001-08:00

I'm still on fire from my recent trip to Zion National Park. Here's a selection of my favorites so far. I've spent quite a bit of time making edits, selecting some images for printing and painting too. And I'm working on the itinerary for a Chase the Light Adventure to Zion next fall, October 28-November 2nd, 2012

2011-11-18T12:54:00.001-08:00

All images ©Kit Frost

Here's a few more sites where I'm showing my photos.

Please visit the site and vote and/or comment if you'd like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitfrost/

http://500px.com/KitFrost

http://kitfrost.photoshelter.com purchase prints and gift certificates.

2011-11-17T21:15:00.001-08:00

2012 Zion National Park Photo Workshop. Save the dates and register soon.

Fall Splendor in the Park, October 28-November 2nd, 2012

2011-10-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Carol Lewin's fabulous aspen photos from our Chase the Light Fall Aspen Adventure,

held every year in late September and October

Carol Lewin, Lime Creek Road

Carol Lewin, Along 550 North

Carol Lewin, Grizzly Peak from Cascade

Carol Lewin, Aspens and Fir

Carol Lewin, Four Firs and Fall color

2011-10-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

2011-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Reflection, sunset on Purgatory pond. Durango Mountain Resort ©Kit Frost

2011-10-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

©Nancy Wracher photo
Buffalo and God's Rays, The Grand Tetons

2011-10-05T11:20:00.001-07:00

Can you tell I live near Engineer Mountain?
All images ©KitFrost

2011-10-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

I love the quiet light in the fall, minimal color, aspen trunks, with leaves on the ground

2011-10-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

A selection of my 2011 Fall Photos. It's been an awesome season. I've been blessed with living at Cascade Village with my "finger on the pulse" of the fall color changes this year. Engineer is framed in my windows!

Student photos from our Fall Chase the Light Photography Adventure

2011-10-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Charlie Appleton - Lime Creek Road

Charlie Appleton - Engineer Peak and Orange Aspens

Charlie Appleton - Coyote in the grass, Lime Creek

Creating a video with a sequence of photos in Photoshop CS

2011-09-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Cascade Creek Backpacking and Photography

2011-09-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend, 2011. I would not have guessed that there would be stunning wildflowers along the creek. Enjoyed three days of photography, relaxation, and exploring the basin. I bought and used a new lightweight carbon fiber tripod (Manfrotto/Bogen) and even though it's not as tall as my serious carbon fiber tripod, at half the weight, I made it work. I also carried my ipad2 and loved the GPS tracking, the upload of new images using the camera connector, and the evening star show identification app.

I used a graduated ND filter to hold detail in the top right.

Graduated Neutral Density filter, plus underexposure -.07

Underexposed by 1.0 to hold upper detail as well as lower shadow.

I don't care for the vignette caused by the wide angle lens plus the Cokin P Holder.
Lightroom has a ND "brush" but it helps to do so in the camera.
I'm going to hold the .06 ND filter in my hand and NOT use the Cokin.

I love those nice, slow, shutter speeds in quiet light.

Black and White images from Ice Lakes Basin

2011-08-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

US Grant Peak, Ice Lakes Basin

Pilot Knob and clearing storm

More Landscape photography

2011-08-19T13:08:00.001-07:00

Headin up to the high country again. Hope to photograph during this weekend's cloudy weather (my favorite). Hope Lake, Highland Mary Lake and Columbine Lakes are my top choices. Photos to follow. I love the changeable weather of clouds and the way they paint shadows across the landscapes. Yumm

Backpacker magazine submission

2011-08-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Clear Lake Wildflowers, 2010

2011-08-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Mixed Rosy and pink paintbrush

Queen's crown along Clear creek

Sulphur and Rosy paintbrush

Join us in 2012 for our annual Clear Lake Wildflower Adventure; always a sure thing. We will drive up to Clear Lake stopping along the way for some awesome Indian paintbrush near Coal Bank pass. Meet at Cascade Village for our trip up to Mineral Creek and the amazing display of wildflowers at Clear Lake and along Clear Creek. email kit@kitfrost.com to reserve your space in this workshop. Plan on staying at Clear Lake until the light fades at sunset.

Ice Lakes photography

2011-08-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Morning view of Fuller and Vermillion peaks

Rolling Mountain, Silverton Rico Trail and Engineer Mtn.

The Buttress below Golden Horn and lingering snow

Fuller Lake from 13,000 foot ridge line. US Grant Peak in the distance

Climber on the ridge line below Fuller Peak

Snow breaking up into creek, Upper basin of Ice Lakes

Queen's crown, Ice Lake basin

Clearing storm, sunrise

Zebra reflection in Alpine tarn

Tall chiming Bells and Ice Creek below outlet

Columbine, Ice Lakes Basin, Pilot knob

Ice Lake outlet fall

Waterfalls flowing from Ice Lake

A window view.

Columbine, lower Ice Lakes Basin

Alpine Avens and creek fall

Rainbow and Bear peak, hiking along Ice Lakes trail

Purple Fringe and Columbine

Can you believe its August 1st and the wilds at altitude are just now coming in to peak? I hiked up to the lower basin at Ice Lakes (after having spent 6 days there last week). The columbine bunches were stunning and the mix of creek falls, waterfalls and wilds is seductive and photographic.

Student Photo from Desert Wildfflower Workshop

2010-05-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Carol Schmudde, one of the workshop participant in our Chase the Light Desert Wildflower workshop submitted this Yucca at Mexican Hat photo.

Nicely done, Carol.

Blue Lake Ranch Iris Photography Workshop

2010-05-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Join us next spring for a very special flower photography workshop at Blue Lake Ranch in Durango. Keep checking here for 2012 workshop schedule - Meet at Kit's Chase the Light Photography studio in the Smiley Building at 3pm. Learn how to photograph Blue Lake's famous Iris Display in full bloom. Learn macro and compositional skills, learn how to use depth of field to isolate and visually honor these gorgeous flowers. email kit@kitfrost.com to register.

Iris, Peonie and Poppie Photography Workshop
Blue Lake Ranch, Durango Colorado
June 2012
1pm till the light fades
$200. tuition per day
Contact kit@kitfrost.com to hold your space
Call Kit at 970-946-9727

Wildflowers, Cumberland Basin

2009-08-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here's an example of a lesson I taught while on our Wildflower Photography workshop in late July. The lesson is to compose wilds in the foreground, middle ground trees and background mountains. Use the proper aperture to control depth of field. Use a graduated neutral density filter to hold detail in the sky. What do you think?

Aspen Photography Workshop, Saturday, September 26, 2009

2009-08-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Click here to see more Aspen photographs

Join us for a day of Aspen Photography lessons in the San Juan Mountains. We explore the west side of the Alpine loop near Dolores and Telluride. Learn how to make beautiful images of Aspens in their full glory. Email kit@kitfrost.com to register. Tuition $250. Expert instruction, field review of your work. Bring your tripod and essential photo gear, film or digital equipment. Lunch, snacks and beverages supplied. Meet us at the Absolute Bakery in Mancos at 8:30am.

Lightroom Library module

2009-07-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Check out this Lightroom lesson on Adobe TV. Matt Kloskowski gives a really good explanation of importing and organizing your images. Pay special attention to the way he keeps his images organized in a single folder and adds metadata while importing, including copyright and location!

Wildflower Photo Workshop, Lin Mattheis photos

2009-07-27T08:38:00.001-07:00

Workshop Photos, Lin Mattheis. La Plata Canyon to Kennebec Pass

Wildflower Photography Workshop, July 23, 2009

2009-07-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

We headed out of Durango at 7am and drove to the Silverton Rico trail, crossed the creek and spent time photographing the amazing display of Tall Chiming Bells, Larkspur, Wild Geraniums and Rosy Paintbrush. The morning lessons included the understanding of control of depth of field and how to use the depth of field preview button. We hit the trail at peak wildflowers today. I was at the same spot 5 days ago and it was not as prolific nor as stunning. The predominant flowers were the tall Larkspur and they rose up into the sky in some of our lessons. At 8:30 when we started photographing along the creek there was still plenty of dew so the flowers and leaves were sparkling.

The cumulus clouds came in and we hiked a short, steep bit of the Silverton Rico trail and practiced the near flower, far mountain arrangements. Students were challenged to pick a perfect bunch of flowers and put them in the foreground while choosing the appropriate aperture to achieve the depth of field they pre-visualized.

We gathered for lunch along the creek where we brought out the Wildflower books (no one book shows all our San Juan Mountains wilds!) and discussed the successes and challenges of the morning. I taught the use of the depth of field preview button to the group. Then we took off for our 2nd location chosen to explore the near/far relationship of depth of field. Some students took the opportunity to make images along the creek and to show the creek falls in their compositions.

Downside: Biting flies, hot and more sunny than cloudy at times. Next time: wear long sleeves and pants!

Tomorrow we continue with the workshop and head up to Kennebec pass!

Feedback from a student: He liked the day off between workshop days to recoup!

Wildflowers: Silverton-Rico Trail

2009-07-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

It looked like a field of wildflowers was cut apart by the trail. I spent the morning doing macro images of wild geraniums and sky pilots. Many, many larkspur and blue bells. A bit windy for photographing the blue bells. I dare you to get deep depth of field on a composition of blue bells! Further up the trail there was a lovely display of bitter cress along a creek crossing; I looked for columbine to fill the foreground. I spied a few parrys primrose along the next creek crossing (crossed on a log) and used fill flash to light up the interior of the primrose.

I forgot my rain gear so when the rain and hail started I headed back down trail. The rain and storm brought amazing color saturation, however, it also brought some damage to the flowers.

All along the road (a bit burly in places) there were wonderful compositions of near far, compression of space, flowers, middle ground, mountains!

We're going out for some more lessons on Thursday, July 23, Join us!

Wildflower Report, July 18

2009-07-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

Allison reports that the hike to Ice Lakes was "full" of wildflowers. She counted 33 varieties of wildflowers and 4-5 different colored paintbrush. Get out and stay out!

West Mancos Road Wildflowers

2009-07-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

I went up to the top of West Mancos Road (FS 561) on the west side of the La Platas yesterday. The cattle has done quite a job eating all the flowers along the road. There are a few, spotty sections of Columbine in the Aspen forests up high, but nothing to write home about. And the mosquitos are horrendous as usual (I wonder why?). I spent some time photographing the beautiful mountain scenes with Hesperus and Centennial so close I could touch them. The bugs were biting though so it wasn't too much fun.

Zazi and I hiked a bit of the Aspen Loop Trail at Windy Gap. We started at about 7pm so the light was wonderful. There were many bunches of blue bells and geraniums as well as a few pink paintbrush, fun to shoot; handheld shallow depth of field.

San Juan Wildflower Report

2009-07-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, Just back from scouting our upcoming Wildflower Photography Workshop. I checked out some of my favorite locations outside of Silverton, Colorado. Nada, nothing, zilch. We're probably 10 days - 2 weeks from prime wildflower photography in the San Juan Mountains. We've rescheduled this summer's workshop for July 25th and 26th. email kit@kitfrost.com to register. There is limited space left in the workshop.

I did see some brook cress along the creeks on the way from Durango to Silverton, at Lime Creek especially. And a friend reported that the lily ponds are blooming at the Spud Lake trailhead. If you've only got this weekend to go out and play then I'd choose the West side of the La Plata Mountains outside of Mancos.

By the way, the waterfalls are flowing beautifully. Check out Mineral and Ice Creeks just off Mineral Creek Road 2 miles north west of Silverton. Walk up creek and explore. Photographing creek falls requires a tripod and in my humble opinion a cloudy moment.

Waterfalls report, May 2009

2009-05-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

The spring runoff in Colorado is beautiful. We scouted the Waterfalls between Durango and Silverton and then northwest to Mineral Creek. All the waterfalls are clear of snow and flowing like crazy. Watch out for using too slow a shutter speed as the result will be "blown out" highlights. Adjust your ISO to get shutter speeds like 1/30 - 1/60 of a second; your water will have texture and movement. I love how the water "sprays" this time of year. Be careful and wear good hiking boots that will grip the slick trails around the falls. I'll be teaching Waterfall photography on June 20th. Join us for the day! Call 970-946-9727 to register, or email kit@kitfrost.com

Wildflower Report, May 2009

2009-05-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

I scouted the west side of the La Platas yesterday. It's early spring with a beautiful display of larkspur and dandelions. The purple and yellow look stunning together. As you go out and explore, put opposite colors in the composition: yellow and purple, blue and orange, red and green. I'm gonna chase some waterfalls this week too. I'll keep you informed. Please let me know when and where you are seeing wildflowers blooming. Our Wildflower Photography workshops begin July 11, 2009. Email kit@kitfrost.com to register.

Creating a Sun Star in your Photos

2008-10-06T07:42:00.001-07:00

When you're standing in the woods and the sun is low and shining through trees, it's a great opportunity to practice photographing "sun stars". Set your aperture to a small opening, say f22-32 and let the camera meter choose the shutter speed (use Aperture Priority Mode-AV). And, of course, a tripod is essential for composition and to give you shutter speed freedom (SSF)!

Autumn Snowfall in Mountains

2008-10-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

We were treated to an early snowfall in Southern Colorado; right when the aspens are in full bloom. One word of advice, actually two, Neutral Density. Use the ND filter (.6 or .9) to darken the intensity of the sky or snow on the mountains in relation to the aspens and spruce/fir in the foreground and middle ground. Digital cameras do a great job of metering difficult scenes, but you can help maintain detail in the clouds and snow with an ND. Be attentive to the sky even more so if the snow is lit by the sun.

Change your ISO to vary exposure

2008-10-02T09:29:00.001-07:00

In grand landscape we tend to photograph using aperture priority (AV) mode with deep depth of field as our prime consideration. We start with apertures of f32, f29, f25 in the hopes of gaining control of the image sharpness from foreground to background (say, foreground flowers, middle ground and mountains in the background). As long as we use a tripod, the shutter speeds that the camera meter picks will not be a problem, as long as there is no wind, motion, movement in the scene. Often this is not the case. One solution is to sacrifice depth of field, opening up the aperture to f22, 19, 16, 11. The results in the photograph will be that there is less sharpness (depth of area of sharpness) in the background.

Another solution is to adjust the ISO to get more flexibility of choices in aperture. We usually set our ISO for 80-100 in the field for grand landscape, hoping to enlarge the photo to 18x24 or larger. But if wind is an issue, try changing your ISO to 320 or 400. You can choose deep depth of field (f22-32) and get a faster shutter speed than at ISO 80-100. Try an experiment: Photograph a grand landscape, use your tripod, set your ISO to 100, set your mode to AV, choose an aperture that gives deep depth of field (f22,25, 29, 32), check the metadata or jot down the shutter speed the camera chose. Repeat the same framing, use your tripod, set your ISO to 400, set your mode to AV, choose the same aperture, check the metadata or jot down the shutter speed the camera chose. Compare the finished images at 100%.

Fall Photography

2008-10-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our Fall Chase the Light Adventure was last weekend, Sept, 25-27th in Ouray. We drove from my studio in Durango on the Alpine loop from Durango through Silverton, over Red Mountain Pass, and to Ouray.

Our photo locations included Molas Pass, Owl Creek Pass, Dallas Creek, Red Mountain Pass. The fall colors are mixed: Silverton is passing peak colors, Red Mountain (I give it an 11 on a scale of 1-10), Owl Creek Pass, grand views and intimate aspen forest scenes are "hot" (full of texture and golden aspen).

The weather was mixed, sunny, cumulus clouds, allowing us to photograph "cloud shadows" across the land. It rained on Dallas Creek Road, so we spent time learning to use "point and shoot digital cameras". We stayed at the St. Elmo Hotel in Ouray and reviewed photos on student laptops at the Hotel.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that East Dallas Creek and Dallas Divide were just beginning to change color. I suspect that peak fall colors will occur over the next 10 days. More to follow...

What's the name for rain that doesn't hit the ground?

2008-09-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Virga is any form or precipitation that doesn't reach the ground. There could be rain verga or snow virga.

http://weathernotebook.org/transcripts/1998/02/20.html

Cloud shadows

2008-09-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

A cumulus cloud is a type of cloud with noticeable vertical development and clearly defined edges. Often described as "puffy" or "cotton-like" in appearance, cumulus clouds may appear alone, in lines, or in clusters. Cumulus clouds are often precursors of other types of clouds, such as cumulonimbus, when influenced by weather factors such as instability, moisture, and temperature gradient. Cumulonimbus clouds may be associated with phenomena such as landspouts, waterspouts and tornadoes. Cumulus means "heap" or "pile" in Latin.

Cumulus clouds, appearing as small- or medium-sized puffy shapes in the sky, often occur in times of fair weather.[4] However, cumulus clouds can grow into cumulonimbus clouds which may produce heavy rain, lightning, severe and strong winds, hail, and even tornadoes.[5] [6] Cumulus congestus clouds, which appear as relatively thin towers, will often grow into Cumulonimbus storm clouds.