All images and material © 2016 by Mike Clasen Photography • All Rights Reserved • Use By Permission Only
This image was captured in November of 2015 during a winter snowstorm that was building up throughout the Sierra Nevada and surrounding areas. I photographed for an hour or so within 30 miles of this area in the ancient Lake Lahontan basin, in relatively flat and softly diffused light conditions, no sun whatsoever. Right before sunset, the storm cleared up quite a bit, and a window opened up for about ten minutes, casting the last rays of sun upon the entire span of the partially tufa encrusted Mountains. Shortly after taking this picture, the snow moved in again, I photographed a little while longer, but figured I better get while the getting’s good, it did not take long for the snow to create whiteout conditions with low visibility. It was not so much fun driving back home with headlights creating a “snow warp” effect. I passed several wrecks and overturned cars on I80 heading back to Reno. I made it home safely, with some good memories of this short afternoon venture. This is a single exposure, exposed for the highlights. During post, I created two smart object layers from CRAW, dropping the exposure 1 stop on one of the smart object layers, then exposure blended the two layers, and further processed the image using luminosity masks via the TK Panel, to build up depth and dimension. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com
Captured early February 2016 on the North Fork of the Yuba River in the Sierra Nevada. Connie and I took a drive over Donner Pass, then headed towards Sierra Ville and up to the North Fork. For this particular capture, I had my tripod propped in the water a couple feet above the surface, and had my feet balanced on exposed rocks, probably not the smartest thing when spring runoff is at its full potential which it wasn’t, also this area was on an inside bend of the river. When the Yuba is out of control, it’s a done deal if you get caught in it, unless you are fast thinking and a skilled swimmer. The Yuba River is one of the most beautiful river systems in the Sierra Nevada. This is a single exposure. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY http://www.mikeclasenphotography.com
Captured February 2015, while a full moon was rising behind light cloud cover. I painted the collapsed tufa mound with direct side light during capture, to create depth, shadow, and separation in the foreground. This was one of those shots where I was walking back to the car to take off, and got to the car, turned around and saw some potential so I went and shot this area with some different light painting scenarios. This is a single long exposure… © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com
