New Release! Tranquil Tides - Big Sur, California

This image has been waiting to be released for quite a while. I found this vantage point almost a year ago now returned about five times waiting for the light to be just right. I exposed this image late last summer as a rare summer storm was about to hit the cliffs of Big Sur. As the storm moved in, about fifteen minutes after the sun had set, the clouds erupted in a bizarre purple hue unlike I had ever seen in this particular location. I only had time to expose one sheet of film for  a 2 minute exposure before the light had changed and the color was gone. On the way home that evening, lightning was hitting the sides of the cliffs. Coming from Kansas, close encounters with lightning doesn't seem to be that big of a deal, but in Big Sur...or really anywhere in California, that's some big news. Talk about a crazy night!

I also had help on this particular evening. Thanks, Charlie. 

This was also the first 8x10 image I have had professionally drum scanned on an Aztek drum scanner. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is essentially the highest quality digitally converted image you can get. To give you an idea of just how detailed this photograph is, below is a 100% crop of this image.

Yes, that's a house, and yes, we are all quite envious of this individual's back yard. But the point is, this is a single exposed image and I can almost bet none of you can find where this house is in the full sized image. With that being said, this image can be printed with incredible detail and clarity up to 48x60". Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Because this was my first drum scan, I thought I'd go ahead and get it printed and framed as well, so a couple of months ago, I received the first edition, framed by my friend David at Saw and Mitre.

Here is the first edition. It's printed 24x30" on photographic paper and finished off with a beautiful walnut frame. When this image is hung, it really brings a sense of peace to the room. If you'd like this exact image (#1/90) framed as shown above, click the button below to add it to your cart!

If you'd like to purchase this image in a different size, follow the button below.

Happy Birthday, Kansas!

Growing up in Kansas, I have always felt that there's no better place in the world to watch the sunset. Nearly everywhere you may find yourself in the state, you are likely to have unobstructed views of the entire horizon. Flatter than a pancake, right?

Kansas has always treated me well and continues to do so all the way out in this big state of California. If you were following my work a couple of years ago, you may remember that the Kansas Alumni Magazine did a short story on my work. I was currently an engineering major at KU and my love of photography resonated with them. After I graduated in 2014, I kept in touch with the magazine regarding the progress of my career. When Chris Lazzarino heard of my new book, Kansas: Birth of a Vision, he decided to pitch another story to his colleagues regarding this book. 

Well, if you're a recent KU graduate or are a member of the KU Alumni Association, be sure to snag your most recent copy this week and take a look for a familiar face! The story very much captures the process of my workflow and offers a little insight on the creation of some of my images. It's incredibly well written, and sheds a little insight on just how nuts I am about creating these images I share with you all. 

If you don't happen to subscribe to the magazine and still want to read the story, follow the link below! Thanks to everyone involved at the KU Alumni Magazine for making this a reality, and thanks to you all for being just as proud of Kansas as I am. 

Kansas Alumni Magazine Article: At First Light

And just so you know, preorders are flooding in for my new book. If you haven't done so already, head on over a order yourself a copy now!

Kansas: Birth of a Vision

Well this is the "big" announcement you've been waiting the past few days for - I'm releasing my first book! 

About a year ago, I moved away from Kansas and now live on the central coast of California. I was born and raised in Kansas and its the place where I began my journey as a photographer. From the farmlands and prairies of the west to the rolling Flint Hills in the east, Kansas is where I learned to see. 

Most view Kansas as a "flyover state" or scoff at the fact that I called this place my photographic home. When meeting people and introducing myself as a landscape photographer from Kansas, their typical response was, "Wow! You must travel a lot." While I do travel quite a bit, even living in the state of California, their response was mildly insulting. Growing up, there was never a moment where I believed Kansas to be ugly and it was disappointing to me that even some of the residents of Kansas did not appreciate the beauty of the state. Until you've stood beneath a storm more powerful than you can fathom, or witness a sky light up like they do in the Great Plains, you have no justification what natural beauty is.

Leaving Kansas has been bitter sweet. It's a place I truly love to photograph, but given the opportunity to live and work in such a place as California is an opportunity I couldn't pass up this early in my career in nature photography. Galleries have began to approach me, I've gained more collectors in 2015 than ever before, and people are beginning to recognize me as a credible artist. This wouldn't have been possible, had I not loved the beauty of Kansas. 

There is much more to photography than a beautiful image. When you all see my work I've created along the pacific, I hope you can hear the seagulls - smell the ocean air. If you ever been here, you'll know what I mean. But if you've ever been to Kansas, standing in the middle of a wide open grassland and watching the sun rise is unbelievable - that's where my drive as an artist is driven from. Emotion. 

This book is for my home and the people who live there and appreciate where they live. It's for those who have believed in me and what I was doing and have supported me from the moment I picked up a camera and began this journey. It is a 70 page book that combines a collection of 33 of my favorite photographs I created in Kansas with a brief introduction of the motivation behind this project.  

I hope that if you're reading this, you can understand the love I have of this place and can join me as I share what I've created while living there. If you'd like to purchase the book, you can follow the link below. I am accepting preorders as of today and intend on shipping out the first copies the first week of March. 

Thank you again for all of your support throughout the years and I hope you continue to follow along with me as I take this next step in my journey.

$500 Giveaway!

Over the next couple of months, I'm going to be choosing a lucky newsletter subscriber to have a chance to win $500 off a Limited Edition photograph of their choice. 

Here's what you need to do to be entered:

1. Sign up for my newsletter by filling out our information in the box below, or by clicking here.

2. Share this link via email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or however else you'd like!

If you want extra entries in the giveaway, you can also increase your chances to win by doing one or all of the following. (The more you do, the more your name gets entered.)

1. Email or share this page with 2 or more people (the more you share, the more chances to win)

2. Follow me on Twitter (@stricklandmr), Facebook (facebook.com/landskyphotography) and share the link above

3. Pick out your favorite photo of mine, and share it on Instagram. Tag me @mstricklandimages and use the hashtag #mstrickland500

Thanks again for all of your support, and good luck!

Fall Color Wrap-Up - The Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountains

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year, especially when it comes to photography. Aside from football starting up, the MLB postseason (go Royals!), and the weather finally cooling off after a brutal 75 degree California Central Coast summer, the aspens begin their annual transition. I chase the color every year, usually in the Colorado Rockies and Arkansas hardwood forests. This year, I had a chance to explore a completely new area - the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.

I took off the weekend before my wedding to have a little bachelor getaway with my good friend Tyler Brigham and my dog, Charlie. We made a loop down past the southern region of the Sierras, through the Mojave and up to Bishop for the first night. The color around Bishop Creek and Aspendell was fantastic, but different compared to what I’ve been used to.

The groves in Colorado are something out of this world. Gigantic and mature, these organisms span entire mountain valleys and up into the alpine region of the Rockies. The groves near Bishop were small, young, and quite patchy. While still beautiful, many of the intimate scenes looking through the trees were snuffed out due to the forests being so thick and the trees being so immature.

The three panoramic photos you see above are all from the Crested Butte area near Kebler Pass. From these three photos, you can really tell the difference between the forests around the Bishop, CA area and the giant forests of Colorado. The spacious, mature trees make for incredibly unique and textural images. 

Charlie had a blast on the trip. He had the chance to approve a couple exposures, meet some tourists, romp around in the wilderness, and even got to drive a little bit - his four favorite activities. The 8x10 got some good use on this past trip, and not including my evening through Yosemite on the way home (post to come later) I ended up shooting 3 sheets of film. Two of these were the aspen scene from above and the the third was from the scene below. 

The aspen scene above, I've entitled "Autumn's Grasp." I spotted the scene earlier in the afternoon on the day we arrived to the area and knew I needed the perfect low contrast light to photograph it. I set up well before sunset and waited for the calm twilight to come. As the sun sank well below the mountains behind me, the warmth of the sky above reflected a gorgeous light onto the grasses and aspens. I have been forcing myself to see more "intimate landscapes." These scenes are quite difficult to compose and photograph, but I find that as an artist, I strive to search for these compositions. They can be incredibly unique and have so much to say if you let yourself into the image. I composed this photograph intentionally symmetrical. I loved how the textures and colors stacked into perfect thirds, the brown grasses, the almost purple brush, and the pine trees, with that pop of fall color directly in the center. Something new from me, that's for sure.

The white granite in the Sierra Nevadas is an absolute dream to photograph. Because of its silvery / white color, the stone reflects nearly every quality of light, especially during the twilight hours. In the photograph below, the calm twilight of sunrise sometimes known as "the blue hour" was reflected by the bright white granite foreground. Typically, I don't photograph many scenes with clear skies. Clouds add texture and interest to usually otherwise dull photograph, but this particular scene worked quite well with clear skies. With the small pops of fall color in the distance, you can almost feel the peaceful, crisp autumn morning when looking at this photograph. 

Because these photographs are so new and need drum scans and go through rigorous dust and spot removal, these are all still in their early stages of proofing for print. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these early proofs, fill out the form below to shoot me an email for a chance to own one of the first prints!

International Photography Award Winner - Sea of Gold

Recently, I received word that one of my new pieces, Sea of Gold, received Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards in the category of Fine Art Landscapes. It was chosen to receive this award from nearly 18,000 entries worldwide. This piece has been close to me this past year, as it was one of the first images I created while living on the California Central Coast on my 4x5 camera. It was created at one of my favorite spots in Montana de Oro State Park along with my wife Jes. A large wave hit the cliff face where we were standing moments before, drenching her, but leaving my camera and me completely dry. She took a beating, but the photograph turned out to be one of my favorites I had ever created and I am beyond thrilled and honored to receive this award.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of this limited edition photograph, you can click the button above. Shoot me an email, or give me a call if you have any questions or if you’d just like to order with me personally.

Thanks to everyone who continues to follow me on this journey and, as always, keep a lookout for new work coming up soon!

Kansas Sunflowers

It's that time of year again where fields of gold come alive across the Kansas prairie. Seeing fields of perfect, golden sunflowers stretch for miles on end is a remarkable experience. Sunflowers are something that have been a part of my life since I was a child. I remember seeing the huge fields riding in the car with my parents on trips to Wichita or working with my mom and thinking how beautiful they were. When I decided to pick up a camera in my late teens, they were one of the first things I began to photograph. 

In honor of "sunflower season" I've decided to put together a little collection of my work with sunflowers in Kansas. 

If you're interested in purchasing any of these photos, check out the ones I have for sale in my Limited Edition Prints and my Open Edition Prints.

Also, check out my new desktop print, which is the photo you see above, entitled "Final Moments." For information regarding this print and presentation, check it out here.

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. 

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.