Daniel Kezner Photography

It was a beautiful morning walk on the beach.  The tide was out and a group of birds were snacking by the waters edge. Periodically the birds would get spooked and take off in a frenzy, only to land again and continue eating.  I snuck up on them (I think) and waited. When they flew again, my goal was to capture the motion in the wings but keep the birds bodies identifiable.  On this particular lift off, the birds had enough of me and did not return.   They were gone for the day.   It was so bright, I had to really squeeze down the aperture to keep the shutter at 1/40 second. 

2/14/2018 6:49am Nayarit, Mexico

1/40 sec, f/20, ISO 100, 70mm

Franklin Falls is a heavily trafficked (and photographed) location in Washington's Denny Creek Area.  It was a super dark and moody day. I wanted to have an exposure that would allow enough light to illuminate the falls. This photo is a 25 sec exposure. With the amount of mist floating around from the falls, it was very difficult to keep the lens dry for the entire 25 second shot. Some water ended up on the up left and bottom right of the frame.  That misfortune led to this surreal style edit.

5/20/2018 8:38am Franklin Falls, Washington

25.0 sec, f/11, ISO 50, 24mm

This photo was taken at a fourth of July celebration. The goal was to capture the entire show from a “single fuse”/”display in a box” type firework that was meant to be the great finale to an amazing evening of blowing stuff up.  The Box was huge.  In 4th of July terms, it was about the size of three 30 packs of Bud Light.  The display took almost 50 seconds to show its full glory.  Showing this "explosion" in black and white really captures the details that this box produced over time. My favorite part is the inclusion of the onlookers and the car parked precariously close.

7/4/2018 9:22pm Mercer Island, WA

56 Sec, f/14, ISO 200, 24mm

I wanted to create a semi-abstract photo of palm trees blowing in the wind. On this day the warm wind was blowing so hard that any long exposure produced a blur of green that was not identifiable as palm trees.  Trying another direction, I shot this with a shorter exposure and utilized some lens zooming while the shutter was open.

12/30/2019 4:58pm Litibu, Mexico

.4 sec, f/20, ISO 100, 70-80mm

For you photographers out there, you are probably asking what in the word was going through my head when choosing camera settings listed below.  I was doing some ski photography the day before that required the 1/2000 to stop the motion of some fast skiers.  When I got off our first chair on the follow day, I was presented with this view.  Being that it was -10 F, I was a little reluctant to make my group stop to take this photo.  I yanked the camera out of the bag and not wanting to take my gloves off, I took the shot with the camera settings from the day before.  Luckily I had the ISO on Auto and got a good exposure.  I did however get ridiculed for making the group stop. 

3/3/2019 8:42am Big Sky, Montana

1/2000 sec, f/8.0, 42mm

This photo is inspired by the quote "I couldn’t tell where the heaven stopped and the earth began" by Forrest Gump. I wanted to create an image where you couldn't tell where land ends and water begins.  This shot was taken by using a longer exposure time and panning the camera while the shutter was open. 

2/17/2020 9:13am Riviera Maya, Mexico

1/5, f/22, ISO 50, 70mm

This peak is called the Black Tusk and is a prominent landmark when skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb on a sunny day.  I am sure this rocky monolith has been photographed many times.  What drew me in was the swirling clouds and high contrasts of light. 

1/28/2019 12:49pm Whistler, BC

1/500 sec f5.6, ISO 100, 210mm

When I first saw this peak and ridge line I wanted make a high contrast leading line utilizing the very sharp edge between light and dark.  When I looked back at the picture a couple of days later, I realized I had caught a moment in time.  If you look carefully there is a massive avalanche coming off the peak.

3/3/2019 1:53pm - Big Sky, Montana

1/800 sec, f/8, ISO 100 210mm

This particular morning there was so much snow that the chair lifts were not yet spinning due to avalanche control work hirer up the mountain.  It was dumping snow so I needed to do something with myself while waiting to ski this amazing day.  I took some photos in hope that the fog would help create the feel of something dissolving away in the distance….just as my patience was.

February 8, 2020 9:43am  Alpental, Washington

1/125, f/6.3, ISO 125, 158 MM

This is a photo of Cedar Mountain as seen from Lone Peak.  I was struck by the clarity of air and the contrast that was created by the mid-day sun.  I was not able to capture the image I wanted with just one shot.  This shot required some bracketing (taking 3 photos at different exposures) and then merging them together in editing.  This allowed for the bright highlights to be tempered and shadows to be lightened just enough to see the dark details.

3/3/2019 11:12am Big Sky, Montana

1/640, f/9, ISO 100, 70mm

I saw this cabana on a pier perfectly blocking the bright morning sun.  The colors of turquoise and blue water combined with millions of sparkling light reflections was unforgettable.  It was too bright to do a long exposure so I decided to create this image by quickly zooming the lens while the shutter was open. 

 2/17/2020 9:06am Riviera Maya, Mexico

1/5, f/22, ISO 50, 70-24mm. 

Hiking the Headwaters at Big Sky is one of the most thrilling in-bounds skiing in the country.  The ridgeline that one hikes up has very steep ski runs on both sides.  Many of these runs are now classified as Triple Black Diamonds.  We hiked the ridge for about 40 minutes and stopped at one of the chutes pictured on the left of the ridge line.  These were called the A to Z chutes. Dropping into the chute,  we soon realized that we only had about 3 inches of snow separating us from very loose rock.  The moment overwhelmed me and thus I did not think much about my camera settings. 

 2/28/2020  2:14 pm Big Sky, Montana

1/8000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 800, 24 mm

Far after the sun sets the sky and water can take on a perfectly subtle purple hue.  I love this moment.  When I took the image, the light was almost completely gone.   I used an extra-long exposure (Over 4 minutes)  to display this beautiful blend of Orange, Pink, Blue and yes…Purple. 

 4/11/2019  5:30pm Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

262 sec, f/8.0, ISO 400, 33mm

On a snowing walk not too far from this Free Little Art Gallery, I saw some beautiful snow and ice resting on these tiny branches.  I wanted to create a soothing image utilizing this amazing blend of purple, green and gray.  This image is often used as my screen saver. 

 2/4/2009 2:24pm Mercer Island, Washington

1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 100, 210mm

On a sunny day from the top of Alpental you are treated to some incredible views.  I have always been so curious about the peaks we get to see on a regular basis.  It turns out this one is called Chikamin Peak.  The famous Pacific Crest Trail winds just below it.  I love the sideways light casting long shadows on the snow and rock. 

1/12/2029 10:36am, Alpental, Washington

1/1600 sec, f/8, ISO 400, 210mm