Big Sur landscape photographer, Michael Strickland releases a new large format photograph from his favorite stretch of coastline in California.
Read MoreLinhof Technorama 617 SIII | Kodak Ektar 100
Backpacking in the Desolation Wilderness
In early July, I hiked into the backcountry of the Desolation Wilderness, for my first true experience of California's Sierra Nevada range near Lake Tahoe. Here, I exposed several different scenes on my large format panoramic camera. Read about the stories behind the photos and more.
Read More
The Arca Swiss F-Line Metric 8x10 Camera
I've now had my Arca Swiss F-Line Metric with Micrometric Orbix for a few months now and here are my initial thoughts regarding the camera's performance and functionality, along with the quality of one sheet of 8x10 film.
Read More
Lightning streaks across the Kansas sky at sundown.
Spring Thunderstorms on the Kansas Prairie
Spring is the time in the Kansas prairie where severe thunderstorms roll across the plains. Check out some of Michael's photos of severe thunderstorms on the Kansas plains and hear the stories behind them.
Read MoreThe Sea of Gold - Montana de Oro State Park
Michael Strickland releases his new limited edition photograph entitled "The Sea of Gold." It was taken along the central coast of California on an evening in early April.
Read More
Final Morning in the Flint Hills
The Flint Hills, to me, is home. The prairie is where I found my passion for landscape photography and it's where I fine-tuned my eye. The Flint Hills is a place where I can find peace in the busy world and the sights and sounds I miss daily. It's a different landscape. One in which you have to actively seek beauty -- it doesn't scream at you like so many other places. It has a subtle, whispering beauty that takes a trained eye and a love of the land. People always laughed when I said I was a landscape photographer living in Kansas. Kansas has its own unique identity, which in my opinion is incredibly beautiful.
This was the last image I took in the Flint Hills before moving from Kansas to California so it holds a very special place with me. I miss the wide open spaces and the unique light that Kansas has.
Kansas is still home and always will be, and I'm excited to be back for a few days this coming May.
Montana de Oro State Park - Part 1
After visiting Montana de Oro State Park for the first time this past weekend, I feel so fortunate that it's located right at my back door. Montana de Oro has an incredibly rugged coastline with incredible texture that I can't wait to explore. On Saturday evening, the thick marine layer stumped any chance of golden hour light, so I decided to try to photograph a composition I had found the evening before on black and white film. I very rarely shoot in black and white, mainly because my eye is drawn to color images, but I've been trying to learn to see in monochrome. The cloudy evening fit the mood well as tide was rushing in over the rocks in the foreground. I captured this photograph on Kodak T-Max 100, which has been my favorite black and white film I've tried so far. in order to add more contrast to the scene, I decided to use a Red 23 filter, which also helped me lengthen the exposure to around 12 seconds to ensure the smooth texture of the waves. As soon as I had packed up and finished my exposures for the evening, a large wave crashed against the rock to my immediate right, which would have drenched me along with all of my gear. Coming from Kansas, I've been accustomed to the power of thunderstorms, but the ocean is on another level. Watching the water raise and lower 20-30 feet alongside a sharp rock face with every wave is an unreal experience.
Read More
An Evening at McWay Falls
McWay Falls is located in a pristine cove on California's Big Sur coastline. In fact, it's one of Big Sur's main attractions, where hundreds -- if not thousands, of tourists gather each day to watch the spring-fed falls cascade into the ocean below. Typically, I don't enjoy photographing along a rail, especially among crowds of people, but this was a scene I really wanted to witness and photograph. On this particular evening, the sky was clear with a slight haze in the distance, which ended up working out better than I had thought. I exposed two sheets about 45 minutes before sunset to test the exposure latitude of two types of film, and my second two sheets I exposed as the sun barely started to touch the horizon. My positive film ended up being thrown away, as sometime during the 15 second exposure, the camera must have shaken slightly. This is the negative film, exposed for the shadows with no graduated neutral density filter, which definitely shows how much dynamic range Kodak Ektar can capture
It's definitely a beautiful location, and I hope to return again when the flowers are in bloom and the sky blows up. We can all dream, right?
Technical specs:
- Camera: Ebony 4x5
- Lens: Nikkor 90mm f/4.5
- Exposure: 15 Seconds
- Aperture: f/32
- Film: Kodak Ektar 100
Coming to Peace - New Limited Edition Release
This is my first Limited Edition release of 2015, as I've started my new journey living on the Central Coast of California. Back in January, we took a quick weekend trip out to one of our favorite national parks -- Death Valley. I had never photographed DV on large format and it was only our second visit. We were greeted with an early morning sunrise that was absolutely spectacular, but due to the difficulty of focusing a large format camera in the dark and a lack of a strong composition, I did not expose a sheet of film.
That evening, the skies cleared out to our disappointment, but I went ahead and set up the shot anyways near the Devil's Golf Course, a part of Badwater Basin a bit farther to the north. About 20 minutes after the sun had set, I exposed one sheet of Fuji Velvia 50 for nearly 8 minutes. This long exposure captured the last light of day glowing above the horizon, which cast a beautiful glow across the valley.
I typically don't like to photograph scenes without clouds, but the clear skies allowed the texture and complexity of the foreground to pull the viewer into the calm, peaceful scene.
| Camera: Ebony 4x5 | Exposure: 8m | Lens: Nikkor SW 90mm f/4.5 @ f/32 | Film: Fuji Velvia 50 |
New Website
Thanks for checking out my new website. If you haven't noticed, you can now purchase prints directly from my website without the need to contact me (although you still can if you'd like). I've also began offering open edition photographs with a slightly different twist.
Saw and Mitre is going to be the sole framer for this series of photographs, which has been incredibly exciting for me. The quality and craftsmanship that goes into each one of these frames is amazing and they're built right here in the USA!
Another thing is these prints are all hand printed by me using a cotton rag, archival paper on a professional quality injket printer. This differs from my light exposed Limited Edition photographs.
Check out the open edition photographs here.