347 - Steptoe Butte
*Note: This adventure also features an in-field vlog.
What- what- what is up?
Today we hit one of those places I’ve wanted to hit almost since I STARTED adventure photography. Steptoe Butte. It’s a famous hill overlooking endless miles of farmlands. AKA telephoto lens heaven.
Because of this, it’s not necessarily an Instagram spot, but more of a landscape photography location. In order to get the most out of the location, one needs to zoom into to the various hills and barns, which can be fairly difficult if you’re working with a shitty iPhone. Combine this with a solid understanding of dodge/burn in Photoshop, you’re in need of some advanced skills to make the most of this place.
The easy thing about this place is you don’t need a good sky for the shot, because it’s all about the farmland. So you’re not reliant upon the weather- but there’s one thing that can help...
For the past two days, we’ve been basically dying from the smoke we were driving through. West Montana/Idaho is currently blazing away in forest fires, and the area is a smoke bomb. But it finally paid off. We reached the edge of the smoke on the Washington border, but it was still prevalent enough to create that soft, hazy light we all love. I’d much rather shoot a cloudless sunset in haze then a cloudless sunset with clean air.
All of a sudden, we stumbled upon a full fledged lumber operation on the drive in. AKA they were skinning trees alive right in front of our eyes. Haha no, but it made a killer spot for the intro to the vlog. Soft lighting from the haze, water glistening, and a scene you don’t get to see every day.
Alright, now for the real drive in. It was ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. And I mean that in the most capital letter way possible. I was expecting a (very) boring drive, because, you know, farmland.
Except this place is like Kansas on crack. Sure, there’s endless fields. But they’re all upon hills that wave up and down, creating abstract compositions filled with vintage barns. I honestly felt like I could stop anywhere and get a solid photo. But we kept course.
Finally, we arrived at Steptoe, and it was basically a dream come to true- everything I imagined and more. Right off the bat, I snagged an Instagram shot of myself standing in the distance:
![“Staring into the Abyss”[1/400s ~ 46mm ~ f/9 ~ ISO 400]Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4Edited in Lightroom + Photoshop](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5edc5f893b278d5f164fac7d/1627349424134-JIM7NVFHMPANXQ5M4GP4/347-3.jpg)
“Staring into the Abyss”
[1/400s ~ 46mm ~ f/9 ~ ISO 400]
Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
I didn’t even need the sun on the horizon. I snagged that photo 1.5 hours before sunset because the lighting was so soft from smoke.
Jump forward until sunset. I basically just went ham with the camera. Any composition that could be even slightly interesting, I snagged it- wide. I did this because I KNEW that once I got them into Lightroom, I could sort the batch easily and crop HARD. Benefits of shooting with a 42mp camera, baby. Oh, and there’s no need to focus stack.
Here’s my top three shots. I don’t feel like going into composition detail about them, but let’s just say I luminosity masked the fuck out of them in Photoshop to make them pop. The smoke basically just removes contrast from the shot, so I had to do double time on contrast/dodge/burn.
![“Cowabunga”[1/250s ~ 123mm ~ f/9 ~ ISO 400]Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm G Master 2.8Edited in Lightroom + Photoshop](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5edc5f893b278d5f164fac7d/1627349734028-5P4XEQNC3U9Z4HD0BWTU/347-4.jpg)
“Cowabunga”
[1/250s ~ 123mm ~ f/9 ~ ISO 400]
Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm G Master 2.8
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Hazy Glaze”
[1/125s ~ 113mm ~ f/9 ~ ISO 400]
Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm G Master 2.8
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Wind Condition”
[1/125s ~ 113mm ~ f/9 ~ ISO 400]
Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm G Master 2.8
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
After the sun went down, I figured I’d do my thing and get some weird ass shot of the sunset with the radio tower silhouette. Here’s what I came up with. Fucking dank:
“Chained”
[1/800s ~ 70mm ~ f/10 ~ ISO 1000]
Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm G Master 2.8
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Jesus that was a lot of photos for one shoot. Alright. I’m tired of typing. See ya.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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