As the sun sets on an old year, lets remember the best of sunsets — Here’s a brand new release from this Fall in Yosemite National Park. What color that night and a great reminder that there’s another sunrise just around the corner. The last vestages of light were there and gone, but the next morning dawned bright and colorful once again. This was one one of the best skies I’ve seen all year, these stunning bands of color adding magical to a beautiful place.
Here’s to 2014 everyone — Gav
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
58 inch Master Original on Metal – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
50 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 25 (contact the gallery)
36 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 100 (contact the gallery)
I’m excited to finally announce this new release and it has quite a story behind it.
It was the first time we hiked the Subway, a rather legendary, if hard-to-reach spot in Zion NP. Nathan and I started that morning with packs full of gear, three cameras (including our cinema rig) first aid, water purifier and flashlights. It’s around 9 miles round trip and the first three-quarters of a mile takes you down the side of a cliff into the valley.
Now when they say this is a strenuous hike, that is the rating of the terrain. The distance is not considered in that classification. There were no groomed National Park trails or picnic tables. Most the time you were finding a route around (and over) boulders and across creeks. It was a long hike with all the gear and between that and the stops we made to film for PHOTOGRAPHICS, we did not reach this grand destination until about 4PM.
I knew we would be walking back in the dark, but it also put us in this carved channel of rock when the light was at it’s most glorious. The other hikers were headed back and we were utterly alone as the creek moved across the slippery rock and the leaves fell down from the cliffs above. I did not make many exposures. I just took a breath of awe and took my time considering the shape, line and color and how to best to do it justice. In fact, Nathan was filming the making of this image and and I hope to include it in the new PHOTOGRAPHICS series.
The result is just what I wanted. This place is truly incredible and well worth the effort. We made it back mostly in the dark and while we had lights, it was a challenge. I never thought I would be so happy to find that final trail that lead up the side of the cliff. We were in fact so late, that the park ranger was waiting for us when we reached the top wondering if something had gone wrong. But we got the image and much more.
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition mounted prints above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
60 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
50 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 50 (contact the gallery)
40 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 100 (contact the gallery)
This was a great free camping area right here and we stopped for the night just before sunset, hopped in the car and went out filming for our new PHOTOGRAPHICS film and looking for landscapes. I had not done enough pre-scouting and did not find anything. After sunset I did further scouting for morning and found this little spot tucked down a steep trail.
Nathan and I both walked in early the next morning after a cool fall night and a bit of sleep The light cam over the trees and gave us a beautiful illumination of the Fall color before quickly becoming too harsh. But that’s the things about stunning light. You just need to be there at the right time.
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
55 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
44 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 50 (contact the gallery)
36 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 100 (contact the gallery)
I processed with a quick application of the Super Simple preset from Power Workflow (https://seimeffects.com/pw). The finishing was mostly tonal in nature using careful burns and dodges like what talk about in the EXposed Workshop (https://seimeffects.com/exposed).
Controlling the values to keep the brilliant color of the trees at around Zone 7+ and the shadows in the 2-r range helped bring out the depth and line.
The skit while not filled with clouds as we often look for is smooth and brilliant, resonating the feel of a a crisp fall morning. I composed so that not too much sky showed however to prevent the space from becoming a distcation.
We are on the road for a month of Fall color. Not as long as the great 3 month winter tour, but no less epic for that. This time it’s yours truly Gavin Seim, my wife Sondra, our 3 kids, my brother and co-producer Nathan and his wife Allie. Yea, that means two cars and a lot of gas to pay for. So this trip has to be really good.
We’re filming the new PHOTOGRAPHICS Miniseries, making new pictorials and Super Camping around the west. (FYI you can check out our camping resource guide here). We’ve got 4×5 film, a cinema camera and the open road. We’ll bring you the play by play right here. You can also check out our travel map. Bring it on! Gav
Day 17-25 – Epic Hiking, Climbing Rock, and Death Camp
We’ve been on the move. Some very nice days in Utah. We were up as high as Ten Thousand feet near Cedar Breaks and down to Zion and one of the most amazing campsites ever. I finally got an image that did our secret view justice. Stay tuned for that. Nathan and I even hiked the Subway. 8 miles of grueling labor but the stunning scenery was more than an ample reward. The goods and footage are coming soon from that effort.
Nest we headed down through Vegas. We stayed most of the next day, but we didn’t touch the slots. We ran errands and did some rock climbing with a guy we met while looking around REI. It was really cool and we geared up a bit so we can climb on our own.
Next up was Death Valley. We camped on the ruins of an old trailer park on some BLM land just outside the park. Since it was so close we affectionately called it death camp. Desolation abounds, but so do interesting things. We spent a couple days there and now we’re moving on to Yosemite as we come into the final week on the road. Photographics is coming out beautifully and I have a selection of grand images that will make this trip well worth the effort.
Sondra and the kids with me at sunset in Death valley. It’s a desolate place, but there is much beauty here.We went climbing with an off duty Policeman we met at REI. That prompted us to go out and buy some gear of our own. Good times.Nathan rolling some stunning footage during a long hike. What a beautiful area.The shoe tree along US 50 in Utah. Apparently it’s a thing.The great new sign on the tailgate. Just so people know who we are. 😉Camped at 10,500 ft near Cedar Breaks. Neat area, but it was a bit cooler.
Day 8-16 The Wild Wandering Color: It’s been a good week. We’ve moved from Idaho, to Utah, to Nevada and Back to Utah. The color has been soothing to the busy mind and the filming we’ve been able to do in these locations is nothing short of stunning. We’ve pulled hours of footage in some of the most beautiful places on earth.
We’re catching up on email and supplies and then we’ll head into Cedar Breaks for some new views. After that, off to Zion, then down through Vegas to swing up to Death Valley and Yosemite NP. We’re about halfway through and the results are looking good.
Here’s a fun outtake from the filming we were doing up in the hills. Sometimes you can’t help yourself. You can pre-order the film here.The secret is for the parent not to enter a situation whereby the children can see the playground from the car window. Once this happens the parent has few options for escape.Nathan working hard as we film up on the Nebo loop.We found wild Ephedra Viridis which makes a great tea. The kids were having a blast.
A free camp up in Great Basin National park. A little hidden gem in Nevada that’s quite stunning.
Day 6 – 8. Braking Bad: We we made it down into Utah and camped at a favorite spot up by Ogden. You can see it on the maps.
Then we headed down to Salt lake area. Now along the way I realized that something as seriously wrong with the brakes on the camper. It was barely grabbing and that’s not a good feeling on those steep Utah hills. We parked at the Cabelas lot in Lehi and tore into them.
It’s taken us a few days of running for parts, but being in a big city helped. It was shot, drums scoured, magnets worn to wire. We totally replaced the entire brake system on all 4 tires and should be ready to roll in the morning with beautiful grippy brakes.
While in town I picked up some other parts for the Super Camper and ran some errands, including a trip to Picture Line in Salt Lake where I dropped them a copy of the EXposed workshop to consider carrying in the store.
We also just released a brand new image from Idaho. Check it out. Tomorrow we move on and see what the open road brings.
Side 1 torn down. It’s not as hard as it look. Replaced the entire system for about $400. We’re talking backing plates, drums and all.
Day 2-5 – It’s been a great ride already. We covered a good deal of miles and made it into far Idaho (from where I live, that’s SE Idaho). We’ll head down into Utah soon. We have two vehicles in our little caravan and we have been roaming all over. We left the interstate and found some Fall color in the Idaho highlands. We went up to Craters of The Moon monument and the stunning desolation that was there. Gavin even nearly got arrested in an encounter where he filmed a traffic stop and would not back down. It actually got a lot of news coverage. Some agree, some do not. But we can all agree that there’s nothing like a great American road trip.
We have camped out in WalMart lots for the first few nights, but now we’re finding the color. This stunning free camp spot up by Big Wood River in South Idaho gave us some great views and we pulled some neat footage for PHOTOGRAPHICS.
Stunning textural lava flows at Craters of The Moon.We drove up to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It was truly a grand piece of barren desolation. But due to our lovely government shutting down it was closed. We managed to go back down the road and walk in from a pullout. Got some good visuals.
Day 1
Loaded and ready on 10/7/11. We did not hit the road until about 6PM, but we drove none the less, making it to a Walmart parking lot in Pendleton, Oregon the first night. The scenery will get better 😉
The Perfect Sunset, Above Clear lake CA, Winter 2013 by Gavin Seim
There is nothing quite like sunset in the forest above Clear Lake. Here lies small group of towns nestled around the water in the remote hills of California. There is nothing like it. Driving up into rolling high hills to camp, each sunset is a wounder of color and shadow, storybook trees and glowing foliage. Perhaps it’s partly the warn memories of camping here with my family combined with the fresh air and quiet atmosphere. Whatever it is, this place represents as perfect a sunset as I can imagine.
We’ve camped up here a few times and even did some scenes here for our new PHOTOGRAPHICS film. This beautiful view is actually just off the forest read leading up. Each night the sun falls behind the hills that circles the valley and fades into the magenta hues of rolling shadowy hills. I rarely shoot into the sun because it’s rare I find a situation that it really works in. But I timed this image just before sunset to maximize the glowing light and this is was it feels like to stand here and watch the sunset. It will make a beautiful print.
Release details: Prints Available. Order Open Edition originals above.. Master prints and Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
55 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
46 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 50 (contact the gallery)
38 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 75 (contact the gallery)
