Daniel Teetor / Digital Outdoors - Photography

Malibu Open 2

2008-07-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

Emma Sheers rounding a buoy at the Malibu Open on Day 1 of women's slalom.

Nice morning light at shortly after 7:00 AM.

Malibu Open

2008-07-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is from Friday, day 1 of the Malibu Open on Pontiac Lake. Thomas Degasperi, Malibu Team skier, crossing the wake.

I was chest deep in the water for many of the women's and men's runs on Friday. The water-level shot is pretty cool but even small waves make it difficult to hold the camera steady.

Barge close-up

2008-07-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

I got in close to this barge that was crossing Lake Saint Clair, Michigan. The barge is about as large as a freighter so it pushes a lot of water and makes quite a bow wave.

Lake Freighter

2008-07-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

This was taken yesterday morning on Lake St. Clair, Michigan. The freighter Robert S. Pierson was downbound from the St. Clair River approaching the Lake St. Clair light. The city of Detroit is beyond the light but is not visible.

The breeze was light and variable with clear air. It is difficult to take photos from a small boat in choppy water so this was perfect. I was hoping for some upbound ship traffic heading into the low, morning sun but but no luck.

Malibu Open

2008-07-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Watch for images from the Malibu Open pro waterski tournament and the Quake on the Lake hydroplane races. Events taking place July 18-20. I'll start posting photos from these events next week.

Whitetail deer - 5

2008-07-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

This image was shot in deeply shaded woods but the deer stands out against all the greenery. A tiny ray of morning sun shines on her face to highlight it.

Whitetail deer - 4

2008-06-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

Here is another example of a whitetail deer standing in a rare spot of sunshine in the deeply shaded woods. It's as though he knows I can't get a good portrait of him otherwise.

The antlers are in velvet and still growing. They will be very large by fall.

Whitetail deer - 3

2008-06-24T11:16:00.001-07:00

This whitetail buck was bedded in a protective tangle of trees and limbs. He probably thought he was hidden enough that I wouldn't see him but I sensed that if I moved any closer he would bolt. I took a couple photos and moved on without disturbing him further.

Whitetail deer - 2

2008-06-20T08:36:00.001-07:00

This buck spotted me as I was stalking through the woods. His antlers are in velvet and still growing. The woods were mostly in deep shade because of the thick, high canopy but he stepped into a sunbeam that really highlighted his antlers and ears.

Whitetail deer

2008-06-13T05:40:00.000-07:00

This doe spotted me on the other side of a large tree that had blown down. I took the first image quickly with the lens zoomed to 400mm and got a nice shot. The deer didn't run immediately so I had time to look at the overall scene and notice the natural framing of the tree trunks and assorted branches. I then zoomed back out to about 260mm and got the second shot.

Prairie Dog Hunt -2

2008-06-11T10:55:00.001-07:00

Another image from the prairie dog hunt. This young shooter has just fired his rifle and the ejected cartridge case is visible in mid-air behind him.

The targets can be several hundred yards out so the rifle is steadied on the bench and sandbags.

Prairie Dog Hunt -1

2008-06-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

This is from a recent prairie dog hunt that I photographed. One spotter looking for targets and a shooter with rifle at the bench, also looking for targets. The Wyoming prairie is the setting with visible prairie dog mounds.

This hunt was enjoyable for the hunters but also a service for the local ranchers who hope to control the rodent population.

Senior Prom 2

2008-06-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here is another pose of the senior prom couple in their formal attire. We placed them at one end of a wooden footbridge with the sun at their backs. No squinting this way and we used fill flash to lighten the shadow area.

The railings of the bridge draw the viewer's eye toward the couple. We also shot one in the vertical orientation and that also looked very nice.

Senior Prom

2008-05-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Senior prom season. We took many shots yesterday during a pre-prom photo session. Large groups of kids were posing as parents snapped off the photos. I was able to isolate this couple after the group shots were completed.

The sunlight was very bright and the wooded area created many areas where bright light would fall on one person or parts of a person. I found a relatively shaded area facing away from the sun and without all the other people in the background.

Holiday BBQ

2008-05-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a traditional summer weekend tradition: The outside barbeque. This image shows slabs of ribs being cooked on an outside grill during the Memorial Day holiday.

I wanted to get a close-up shot to eliminate the numerous background distractions. This is not my typical action shot but it does show the "action" of the cook as she tends to the meat.

Off-road Jeep at dusk.

2008-05-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

This image is a combination of two photographs shot at dusk. The goal was to show the effect of the light bar on the Jeep so we wanted the individual lights to show clearly. We took an exposure of f/4.5 at 1/25, ISO 800. This gave good definition to the lights and also kept the sky dark. We then used a shot taken at 1/6, same aperture, to get detail in front of the Jeep and on the driver. The driver was lit separately by a flashlight mounted in an adjacent tree. We combined both images and used some masking to bring out the best parts.

I do not make many images that are set up in advance like this one. We posed the Jeep carefully, set the camera on a tripod and waited until most of the light had faded from the sky. The flashlight on the driver was actually an afterthought while we were waiting. We were fortunate to have a nearby tree that had branches suitable for holding the light with a plastic bag over the front to diffuse the beam.

Landing Mallard

2008-05-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

This drake mallard is about to land on the water. He is backpedaling rapidly so as to slow his airspeed. The wingtips are slightly blurred even with a shutter speed of 1/1000. The tail is fanned out for extra braking and the feet are coming forward.

Ducks-Near Collision

2008-04-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

Three mallards in descending flight. The two drakes are almost colliding with each other as they try to stay with the hen. There is some distance compression with a 400mm lens but the two ducks were still very close to bumping.

It happened quickly. The motor drive was running on slow speed (3.5 fps) as I tracked the ducks yet the images both before and after this one did not show any potential mid-air problem.

Mallard in descending flight-2.

2008-04-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

This drake mallard duck is in the same rapid descent as in the previous post but was shot from a different angle. The wings are deeply cupped and the feet are deployed.

The clear blue sky and the low camera angle allow for a better view than the side angle shot posted yesterday.

Mallard in descending flight.

2008-04-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

This drake mallard is in rapid descent as can be seen by his sharply cupped wings. The feet are deployed as air brakes.

The duck is beginning to slow its airspeed yet it is still so fast that it is hard to track when using a long lens with minimal field of view. A duck passing to the side, like this one, requires swinging the camera rapidly to keep up with the bird as well as trying to keep the focus locked on.

Freestyle skier.

2008-04-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

This photograph was one of the last that I shot of the freestyle skiers and the location was my favorite. I was on the side and slightly up from the bottom. The hill is very steep but not very long so I was almost directly underneath the skiers after they came off the ramp. I was shooting almost straight up so I didn't have any background items in the image (except for the top of the ramp, but this helps orient the viewer perhaps).

Freestyle skiing hill.

2008-04-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

This image shows the top of the freestyle hill where all the action takes place. The lens was at 90mm. For the close-ups the lens was usually zoomed out to 350mm.

I could not get to the left side of the hill. If I got too far to the right the building would be in the background.

More freestyle.

2008-04-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is another freestyle skier that I shot from the bottom of the hill like yesterday's photo, only more to the side. I think the trees help give the viewer perspective on where the skier is in relation to the ground.

The bright colors are a big help on the otherwise gray day.

Freestyle skiers

2008-04-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

We saw some freestyle skiers training at the Olympic Park in Park City. I moved around and tried different spots for getting photographs. This shot was made from the bottom of the hill and in front.

Too bad about the overcast sky but the skiers gave us a great show.

Park City, Utah

2008-04-03T05:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple images from Park City, Utah. They were taken on different days, and I wouldn't have taken the second one except for the presence of the moon. How fortunate to get that opportunity!

Shot from the balcony of the condo overlooking the plaza. No tripod available so I used the railing as a rest.