Montana Photo

Augusta Rodeo. © Jason Savage

If you haven’t been to a Montana Rodeo, I don’t think there could be one that’s more down-home than the American Legion Rodeo held in Augusta Montana. This is one wild Rodeo, and from what I’ve been told, it’s actually calmed down a bit from what it used to be. Driving down main street is tricky, especially navigating your way through enthusiastic folks drinking,eating and having way too good a time.

Steer Roping. © Jason Savage

I was  doing some photography this weekend up on the Rocky Mountain Front and decided to head over to Augusta to photograph some of the Rodeo. Having been my first time there I was amazed at how packed Augusta was. Normally this small Montana town is pretty laid back and quiet along main street, but during the Rodeo it’s quite a different story. Lets just say that the folks that show up for this Rodeo, expect to have some serious Montana fun.

If you are interested in hitting some of Montana’s Rodeos this summer, check out Travel Montana’s schedule to see what’s coming up.

Barrel Racing. © Jason Savage

Young Cowboy.© Jason Savage

Seeley Lake.© Jason Savage

Just got back from a quick trip up to the Seeley Lake area and it’s looking awesome up there. Of course I did a little paddling while I was up there and explored around Seeley Lake and the Clearwater River area. Tons of wildlife out and of course I left my long lens at home. I should know by now that I should just expect to see killer wildlife shots if I continue doing that.

However I was paddling, so decided to pack light. Still it was great to be out for some R&R this weekend.

Morrell Falls.© Jason Savage

Also took a beautiful hike over to Morrell Falls and man is there a ton of water coming down right now. Also was devoured by some seriously mean mosquitos as well. They were out in full force up there this weekend and just brutal.

Beargrass. © Jason Savage

Beargrass is also out in force. Looking just magical and I think it’s going to be a banner year in the area.

That’s all for now. Will have some more stuff coming next weekend.

Cataract Falls.© Jason Savage

Was out this last weekend conducting a photography workshop up on the Rocky Mountain Front. Summer is definitely here and the scenery up there is awesome. Arrow-Leaved Balsamroots are out in full force and the landscape is plenty green. The creeks are running good but not too high and both the waterfalls we made it to, Cataract Falls and Double Falls were looking good.

Rocky Mountain Front.© Jason Savage

During our workshop we were discussing how this paticular area of Montana sees little in the way of visitation compared to other parts of the state such as the National Parks and other popular destinations, yet it contains some of the richest wildlife and landscape around.

If you haven’t been up and around the Rocky Mountain Front, it’s definitely worth putting on your list for upcoming places to see.

Ford Creek Impressions. © Jason Savage

Joe Forrester. © Jason Savage

This morning I had the opportunity to meet up with paddler Joe Forrester who has begun one serious trip. He started his journey on June 2nd at the headwaters of the Missouri river and plans to paddle it’s entire length to the Mississippi, and from there continue down to the Gulf of Mexico. When he is finished he will have logged almost 4,000  miles.

Joe’s intent for this trip is to raise money to help fight Parkinson’s and by attempting this incredible journey, hopes to bring more awareness to this unfortunate disease. Joe’s Grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2005.

From his trip, he hopes to raise $20,000 that will be donated to the National Parkinson Foundation. If you’re interested in learning more about Joe and his Journey or making a donation, please check out his website at www.paddlingforparkinsons.com.

Joe Forrester.© Jason Savage

On his site he has a map with current GPS locations, so you can follow Joe along the journey.

In addition to meeting Joe this morning, fellow Montana Paddler Norm Miller was along to help Joe with his portage. Norm is a great guy who has also done some serious paddling. In 2004 he paddled the Missouri river upstream from St. Louis, Missouri continuing on to the Pacific Ocean. He said it took him over six months to complete the trip.

It was great to be able to hear both Joe’s and Norm’s experience with Paddling the Missouri, as it’s one truly magnificent river. Best of Luck to you Joe!

History Fair. © Jason Savage

Downtown Helena was buzzing this weekend with it’s first annual History Fair which featured historic re-enactments,period actors and live demonstrations from Dutch Oven Cooking to Native American Drummers.

Coincidentally this year’s festival happened to fall on the same day as the Historic Helena Photography Workshop I was teaching, so we decided to include it in our schedule. Not a bad time, and I suspect it was a hit as downtown was packed.

Here’s a few pics from the workshop.

History Fair.©Jason Savage

St. Helena Cathedral.© Jason Savage

St. Helena Cathedral. © Jason Savage

Montana Capitol. © Jason Savage

Multnomah Falls. © Jason Savage

I know this is a Montana Photography blog-but hey, sometimes everyone needs a change of scenery. I was out photographing the Columbia River Gorge last week and just got back from the road. I really hope to make Oregon & Washington a regular pilgrimage every Spring. Just for the fact that while Spring is rockin’ away over there, Montana is still a few weeks behind.

Oregon Rainforest.© Jason Savage

The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular place to photograph, especially if you like to photograph waterfalls and lush green rainforest. Being so close to Montana it’s really a nice few day getaway and an easy drive.

After spending a little time there last week I headed up to Washington State to catch the tale end of the Tulip Festival. It had pretty much ended, but there were still a couple farms hosting some tulip fields. Quite spectacular & great photo-ops.

Skagit Valley Tulips. © Jason Savage

So if your looking for an April vacation not far from Montana, both these locations are great spots to photograph.

You can find out more info at a couple links here:

http://www.crgva.org/

http://www.tulipfestival.org/

Ponytail Falls. © Jason Savage

Now it looks like Spring has finally arrived here in Montana. I know most people are beyond ready, especially with the late season snowstorms we had been having. This weekend looks beautiful with temps making their way into the 80’s by the end of the weekend. Wildflowers should be appearing soon and this weekend should be a great one to be out doing some photography.

Montana State Capitol.© Jason Savage.

Just when we were getting comfortable and enjoying the nice spring weather-what should arrive? More snow! A major storm rolled in a few days ago and just hammered Montana. It snowed for around three days straight leaving well over a foot and half at our home in Helena and much more elsewhere across the state. There were reported six foot snow drifts up near Agusta and St. Mary reported over 60 inches in their backyard.

St. Helena Cathedral.© Jason Savage

I guess we’ll have to wait and see about May-hopefully it will be a little kinder.

Mallards.© Jason Savage.

Well believe it or not Springtime is finally here. Although if you are living east of the Rockies this week, you may have a hard time believing that, as snow flurries have been forecast for most of this next week.

In any case, we had some great weather last week with temps in the 70’s and things really starting to green-up. I was up in the Mission Mountains area near Polson and the National Bison Range last weekend and the landscape is really looking great. The trees are in bloom and it won’t be long before some wildflowers arrive.

Mission Mountains.© Jason Savage.

I was lucky enough to arrive while there was still some snow left on the Missions. This area is great for not only landscape photography, but for wildlife as well. The Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge on the Flathead Indian Reservation has an amazing diversity of birds and waterfowl and just a few miles south is the National Bison Range, which as you can guess has a healthy population of Bison along with some stunning views.

Cow Elk.© Jason Savage.

Now’s the time to get out there and start enjoying our short spring, before we know it we’ll be into summer. Happy Shooting.

Bison.©Jason Savage

Was out testing a lens that Canon had sent me this last weekend to review and I must say I am impressed. I’ve been using Canon equipment since, well, since I have been doing photography and have used a wide range of different lenses over the years.

I went out this last weekend with Canon’s 500mm f/4L lens with full intentions of putting it through it’s paces to see how it would handle some demanding shooting situations.

I had intended to catch the tale end of the snow geese migration at Freezeout Lake, but  that’s a story in itself. Let’s just say it’s better to stay on top of the local bird reports, rather than just having an overly optimistic expectation that “although it’s near the end of the migration in Montana, there still should be adequate numbers to photograph”.

To make a long story short-No Birds. Notta. Every single last one gone.

However I had a very nice drive before Sunrise.

I suppose that’s what I get for not being a little more on top of things.

In any case I drove my *&%$#! off on Saturday and left Freezout lake, heading to Ovando. Given the situation I decided to make what I could of the day.

Canadian Goose.©Jason Savage

I stopped by Brown’s lake to see what was happening. It was still frozen solid and not much happening. Except for a few Canadian Geese hanging out there wasn’t much to photograph. Next it was the National Bison range and this looked much better. The hills were just starting to green up and the Bison looked great. Later in the afternoon it started to pour rain, so I decided to explore around the area. I found a whole group of baby lambs huddled underneath a big tree trying to stay dry from the rain. They didn’t look very excited about their situation.

Lambs.©Jason Savage

Finally toward the end of the day I made it to Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge. Things were definetly more happening and there were a ton more birds then I had seen all day.

In front of my lens as l looked out across the pond I spotted, Osprey,Ring-necked Pheasent, Whitetail Deer, Great Blue Heron, Mallard Ducks, Hooded Mergansers and a few others. This was all within a very small area. Truly a testament to the rich diversity of wildlife that the Refuge holds.

Ring-necked Pheasant.©Jason Savage

So after spending some time really getting to work this lens- all I can say is that it’s in a class of it’s own. Not only are the images unbelievably sharp, but the autofocus is lightning quick and it’s image stabilization works very, very well. Although it’s a large lens, it’s weight is not bad coming in at a little under 9lbs.

Overall, there is not one bad thing I can think to say about this lens other than the price. At $5,800, it’s big hit to the pocketbook, but for the quality and ability to capture hard to reach scenes, I would say if you are a serious bird or wildlife photographer, it’s well worth it.

Great Blue Herons.©Jason Savage

Mallard Landing.©Jason Savage

Well we’re almost there. Rounding that last corner down the homestretch straight out of winter. It’s so close, but yet so far away….

That’s at least how I felt last Sunday as I was getting pounded by a fierce early spring snowstorm. Boy was that cold!

I was heading to Freezeout Lake last Sunday but due to one nasty storm I didn’t quite make it. The roads and visibility were so bad, getting decent shots of snow geese would have been a pointless venture.

So I decided to pack it up and head back to Helena, where I spent most of the day freezing my butt off to get some shots of some Mallard ducks near town.

Mallard Snowstorm.©Jason Savage

With adverse weather conditions, sometimes it’s much easier to spend the day admiring it from behind a window in your warm home, rather than embracing the drudgery. But with all adversity, there always seems to be a silver lining. Weather included.

I find more often than not that the extreme conditions can not only ad a dramatic mood to your image, but it can offer amazing backdrops and certain elements that you normally would never be able to capture in ideal conditions.

Wood Duck Hen.©Jason Savage

With that being said, did I spend all day standing out in a wet heavy snowstorm for some of the aforementioned benefits added to my images. Well, maybe not, but any day out photographing Montana, beats sitting at home watching it out the window.