Every January hundreds of thousands of people flock to Las Vegas in order to gawk at the latest in consumer electronics. Where else in the world can you see flexible 8K TV screens, advanced Google AI tech, and unmanned 6-person drone taxis? At this year’s show (2019) Nikon USA invited me down to speak in their booth at the Nikon School Theater. First I want to give a huge shout out to Nikon USA for the opportunity. I consider it an immense honor to share the stage with many of the world’s most accomplished photographers. Seriously, people like Ami Vitale, James Balog, Joe McNally, and Brian Skerry were speaking. Along with little old me.
Now I love doing these kinds of conference presentations because the goal is to get people inspired and excited about photography. And in my experience the best way to do that is simply talk about what I love to do with a camera. Which is why I decided to speak about chasing bad weather through the mountains.
It’s a common theme in my photography life: find beautiful mountains to hike through and then wait for bad weather to hit. It leads to many uncomfortable moments but it also leads to incredibly opportunities for photography. I don’t want to spill all the beans here, so watch the full presentation below.
Joshua Cripps is a renowned landscape photographer who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking images of our planet’s wild places. His photos have been published by the likes of National Geographic, NASA, CNN, BBC, and Nikon Global.
The Mt. Whitney Gallery was founded in 2023 by Joshua Cripps as a way to share his passion stunning landscapes of the Sierra Nevada and beyond.
Set at the foot of the breathtaking Sierra with a view of the range’s highest peaks, the gallery features large format, museum-caliber fine art prints of Josh’s signature photographs.
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4 Responses
Your work is amazing Joshua. I am deeply fascinated by your photograph. I would also like to tell you that I have also started a nature photography blog, do see it.
Thanks Joshua, great stuff,
Did you get any photos of the rainbows in the mirror lakes?
That golden hour of light is special and as an amateur I’ve learnt not to blink or turn my back on it because it does change so quickly.
BTW do you find you have to do a lot of post processing to bring out the sunset/reds in these photos. I can’t get my photos to reflect the deep saturation and intensities at sunset. Is there a trick to it??
Also you seem to work at high apertures? f9-f16, is this for depth of field or to slow the exposure or ???
I look forward to your next trip
Greg
Cheers, Greg. Unfortunately I didn’t get any shots of the rainbow reflected in those smaller lakes because I hadn’t discovered them yet. All the more reason to go back and spend more time in that amazing basin.
Regarding the post-processing aspect, I would say that if you have a really good sunset it’s not necessary to do a lot of post work. A little contrast and a little saturation and you should be good to go.
The high aperture thing for me is primarily for depth of field. And of course if anything is moving in the scene then I like to take into account shutter speed. If I want a slower shutter for more movement I’ll stop down my aperture or use a filter. If I want a more static scene but need to maintain depth of field then I will increase my ISO. Hope that helps!
Josh
Once again, photographing the back country is the best and is awe inspiring. I am now motivated to plan out this years backpacking trips to the eastern sierras. Unlike you I hike with a group of Scout dads that have taken to a yearly hike in the sierras and while photograph they fish for dinner. The best of world has to offer. Maybe I will see you out there someday.