Prairie Sunset

It was a very difficult condition for this nature photographer with the temperature in the high 90’s and the humidity almost going off the chart. But here I was in Southwestern Minnesota photographing some prairie landscapes. Even though heat and humidity can be hard on the old body, these types of atmospheric conditions can make for some magnificent landscapes. Moisture in the air allows for some fantastic sunrises and sunsets. Of course it is great if the wind will co-operate and I was very fortunate because the wind was very manageable for prairie landscapes. Although I grew up in NW Montana with the majestic Rocky Mountains , for the last 15 years or so prairies have intrigued me. So I always spend a few days every year not only photographing the prairie landscape but also the flora and fauna in prairie habitat.

This “Prairie Sunset” image was taken on my last evening as I was in Blue Mound State Park which is right in the heart of prairie country. During my last couple of hours photographing I was busy doing many different compositions of the prairie landscape and as I looked over my shoulder to check on the setting sun, I immediately noticed the formation of the clouds and how the sun was putting some edge lighting on the clouds. I put on my 28-70mm lens and immediately recognized that this was not the image I wanted to take. So I put on my 70-200mm lens and was still not satisfied.  Neither lens was capturing what I was envisioning. So I attached my 1.7X tele-convertor and as I looked through the view finder I knew this was the image I wanted.

Many photographers feel that a landscape image needs to be taken with a wide angle type of lens. But in certain situations why not try one of your longer telephotos; this will compress the image to enhance a particular feature of the landscape. Many of my landscapes are taken with either my 12-24mm or 28-70mm Nikon lenses but occasionally I sometimes see a component in that landscape that I want to emphasize (it may be a rock, tree or in this case the beautiful clouds and colorful sun) so my 70-200mm lens will then become my landscape lens.

Good Shooting

Camera: Nikon D200

Lens: Nikon 70-200mm w/1.7X

Gitzo 1548CF tripod w/RRS ball head

ISO: 100

Aperture: F-11

Shutter: 1/8 second

Exposure: Manual

EV: 0

2 stop GND filter

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