El Capitan in Winter, Yosemite National Park

Reflecting on 2011

2011 was an interesting year for me which saw a lot of growth for me as a photographer as well for my photography business. I saw some breathtaking light at Lake Tahoe, got lost in the slot canyons in Utah, witnessed Fall foliage erupting in Zion, and saw a thousand other beautiful sights. I found some new places to shoot and got to know my old favorites, like Yosemite, better and better. I had some fantastic art shows and some downright shitty ones. I was fortunate to have four major publications, all of them thanks to Popular Photography magazine. Jim Patterson and I taught sold-out workshop after sold-out workshop and had a fantastic first year with our company, Sea to Summit Workshops, and we’re stoked to continue to expand this year (be on the lookout for Yosemite and Eastern Sierras ‘shops). And of course, I met a lot of wonderful photogs and got to be even better friends with the ones I already knew.
Thanks to all my friends and contacts out there who shot with me, went traveling, offered a kind word or critique, some advice or tips, and all the other amazing support you guys gave me in 2011. It was a great year, and here’s to an even better 2012!

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Tech notes on this photo
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Nikon D7000
Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 12mm
ISO100
f/9 – Sharpest spot on my lens, still adequate for full DOF with my crop sensor
1/15 sec.
Lee soft 3-stop GND filter
Shot in Monochrome mode

Post-Processing
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In Raw Converter (Nikon Capture NX2)
– Processed single raw file once
– Many local brightness/contrast adjustments to maximize global and local contrast while keeping the brights and shadows in check

In Photoshop:
– Selective sharpening of some of the most prominent textures
– Soft Light Burn / Dodge layer through a combination of luminosity masks to touch up some minor brightness issues

All the best!

~Josh