June 2021 Meeting with Matt Payne

We invite all members of the Sierra Club San Diego’s Photo Section to our June 2021 online meeting with landscape photographer, climber and mountaineer Matt Payne from Colorado and his talk “Mountain Photography – Tricks, Tips, and Tribulations”. Please continue reading if you’re interested.

Meeting date and time are at the end of this invitation.

To join the online meeting, you must be a member of the Photo Section. Membership for the entire year of 2021 is only $25 and can be purchased online. The Zoom link to join the meeting will be sent to members a few days ahead of the meeting, via our mailing list.

Mountain Photography – Tricks, Tips, and Tribulations

Mountain photography can be one of the most rewarding ways to engage with nature and to obtain unique and powerful images. In his presentation, Matt Payne showcases some of his work from his journey to climb the highest 100 mountains in Colorado and shares tips and tricks to help you envision how to capture mountains. The presentation includes information relating to more practical aspects of this style of image-making, as well as artistic and aesthetic considerations. We will also allow plenty of time for Q&A.

About Matt

Matt Payne is a landscape photographer living in Durango, Colorado, USA. Much of his photography has focused on his life-long goal to climb the 100 highest mountains in Colorado, which he completed in 2018.

Matt is a co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance and the Natural Landscape Photography Awards and hosts a weekly podcast about Nature and Landscape Photography called “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen.”

Gallery

Here are example photos from the presentation. You can find a lot more on Matt’s own website at https://www.mattpaynephotography.com/

36 hours without sleep. This was my reward – witnessing one of the most magical sunrises ever from the summit of 13,835 ft. Turret Peak – marking the 88th mountain out of Colorado’s highest 100 that I have climbed. The sun rose so brightly behind Jagged Mountain and Rio Grand Pyramid that I thought for sure I had fell asleep and began to dream. Discernable rays of light spread out from behind Jagged and lit the clouds a crimson and purple combination, which I can only describe as scintillating.

I photographed this scene as part of a 30-mile backpacking / mountain climbing adventure here in Southwest Colorado near my home in Durango. My plans got altered by a swift shift in the clouds after being stuck in a thunderstorm all day -the clouds just evaporated and so I had to scramble (literally) to find a new composition. I decided at the last second to ascend half way up West Trinity Peak on loose boulders to get this vantage of Vestal Peak’s Wham Ridge and Arrow Peak at sunset. I think it worked out well to also include the sunstar. I was fortunately also able to safely climb down in the late evening light back to my campsite in the valley below. The Grenadier Mountains of the Weminuche Wilderness Area are so incredible.

On the first day of summer in 2020 I took a backpacking trip with my 12-year-old son deep into the Weminuche Wilderness Area near Durango and Silverton, Colorado. At the top of my list was to try to photograph the Grenadier Range at sunset from a northern vantage point at 13,000 ft. This particular vantage point in the San Juan Mountains yielded some of the best views of the Grenadiers and Needle Mountains I have ever seen. From left to right, you can see Middle Trinity, West Trinity, Windom Peak, Sunlight Peak, Vestal Peak, Eolus Peak, Arrow Peak, Turret Peak, and Electric Peak. Small tarns on the hillside below reflected the colorful sky above. Getting views of Colorado 14ers and 13ers like this is what I live for! Of particular note, at center, the impressive stature of Vestal Peak’s Wham Ridge rises high and continues to blow my mind every time I see it. Even though this image was made on the first day of summer, lots of snow was still present, which I personally love!

When I realized that the Milky Way would line up directly above my two favorite Colorado mountains – Vestal Peak and Arrow Peak – at 2:30 AM, I set my alarm for 1:00 AM at my 12,200 foot campsite to climb to 13,000 feet to witness it. I have a much crazier version of this shot on my website that is a vertirama.

After a 20+ mile backpack into Colorado’s Chicago Basin in the Weminuche Wilderness Area, my climbing partner and I got an early start at 3 AM to ascend North Eolus Peak’s 14,000 ft. summit before sunrise. We were joined by mountain goats on the summit (one is in the photo, but hard to see) and enjoyed one of the most memorable sunrises in my lifetime. Directly east of us below the sun was the formidable 14,000 ft. peaks Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak (which we climbed later that day and the day after). To the right (south) towered Eolus Peak and to the left getting hit by intense light were Turret Peak and Pigeon Peak, two of the more rugged peaks in the area. Also visble in this photograph are my favorite peaks in Colorado – Vestal Peak and Arrow Peak (left of middle, sticking up like a sore thumb), Jagged Mountain, Jupiter Peak, and more. You can even make out Uncompahgre Peak and Wetterhorn Peak on the horizon as well as Rio Grand Pyramid. If you can’t tell, I’m a total Colorado mountain geek.

MemberShare

After the main presentation, we’ll take a short break before we continue with our MemberShare. Here’s a quick reminder of the guidelines and procedure:

Send up to five photos via Dropbox file request.
Please send only JPEG files, sRGB color space
Minimum resolution: 1920 pixels wide or 1080 pixels high (whichever comes first)
Prepare to speak no more than 10-20 seconds on each photo
We’re a photo club – please share only your original photographs with us (no CGI, digital art, etc.)
Deadline for MemberShare submissions: Friday, June 18th, 6pm
Nameplates: feel free to include a portrait format headshot with your photos

To submit your images, simply click this button:

SEND YOUR PHOTOS

If you need help or if there’s anything unclear about this procedure, the Dropbox help article on file requests contains everything you need to know.

NOTE: Your photos are only shown during MemberShare and will be deleted afterwards. We do not keep copies. There is no need to watermark your photos. If you feel that you must add a logo or other overlay, please keep it small and unobtrusive.

Also, please do not wait until the very last minute to submit the photos you want to share. We need time to prepare the image presentation. When the MemberShare is especially popular, we may have to reduce the amount of images from each member. If that happens we will announce it before MemberShare begins, and hope for your understanding.

Meeting Date & Time

Zoom Online Video Meeting (for members only)
More information about our online meetings is here: Online Meetings
If you never used Zoom before, you can download the client software here.
Members will receive a link to join the meeting via email
Date: Saturday, June 19, 2021
1.45 PM opening of meeting (please join early if you never used Zoom before!)
2 PM start of meeting and main presentation

To attend the meeting, you must be a member of the Photo Section. Our memberships run for the duration of the calendar year, so it is still a great time to join us. Membership is only $25 and available online. Take a look at our membership page to learn more.

Join the Photo Section

See you at the meeting!

Mountain Photography – Tricks, Tips, and Tribulations

About Matt

Gallery

MemberShare

Meeting Date & Time

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