Rick Budde      
 
     
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Best Photos of 2013
Posted: December 31
 
These photos represent my choice of the best photos I have taken this year.
 

 
 
St. Louis Zoo
Posted: November 29
 
The weather was nice today so I decided to visit the St. Louis Zoo. I shot photos inside the Primate House as well as the outdoor exhibits.
 

 
 
Augusta Missouri
Posted: November 07
 
I decided to visit Augusta, Missouri today. It is located in St. Charles County just west of the Missouri River. It was a very nice day and I got a few good shots of the town and the Augusta Winery.
 

 
 
Forest Park
Posted: November 03
 
Today I visited Forest Park to try to get some Fall Color shots.
 

 
 
Revised Landscape Book
Posted: September 14
 
I have revised my Landscapes book by adding a number of photos that I took this past summer.
 

 
 
My Candid Photography
Posted: September 06
 
I am often told that my candid photos of people are my strongest suit. I feel this way as well. Thus I thought that I would discuss some points that I think help me achieve good results when photographing people in a candid setting.
 

 
 
St. Joseph Missouri
Posted: September 03
 
On my drive out to and back from Driggs each summer I had only stopped in St. Joseph, Missouri to get gas and/or eat a meal. This time I decided to head west to the waterfront area hoping I might discover some nice photo ops.

The riverfront definitely did not offer any great photo ops but we ran into a section of town called "Museum Hill". It offered up some beautiful old homes.
 
About St. Joseph Missouri

 
 
Snowy Range
Posted: September 03
 
On the back to St. Louis from Driggs, we stopped by the Snowy Range just west of Laramie, Wyoming. Bill & Jane Heaston had done that on their way back to Little Rock and urged me to do that as well. Since Bill had flown out to Driggs and rode back with me, we decided to visit the Snowy Range. 
 

 
 
Anatomy of a Shoot
Posted: August 30
 
As a follow-up to the shoot below, I visited this location again on 27 August 2013. I have included a link which shows the sequence of photos I took that morning. This should provide some feel for the changing weather conditions that morning.
 

 
 
Old Patriarch Tree
Posted: August 29
 
For a number of years, I have been looking for the so-called Old Patriarch tree. I had first seen it pictured in a book on photography locations in Grand Teton National Park. I had looked for it a number of times but could not locate it although I knew roughly where it was located.
 

 
 
Yellowstone National Park
Posted: August 23
 
I don't normally visit Yellowstone National Park all that often. With a lighter than normal visitor schedule this summer I decided to take a two day trip to Yellowstone. My main objective was to visit the northern and eastern portions of the park. My prime destination was the Lamar Valley. 
 

 
 
Bluegrass Festival
Posted: August 13
 
This past weekend was the 26th Annual Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival. 

Some of the notable performers were:

Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush and Donna & the Buffalo
 

 
 
My Candid Photography Tips
Posted: August 06
 
I am often told that my candid photos of people are my strongest suit. I feel this way as well. Thus I thought that I would discuss some points that I think help me achieve good results when photographing people in a candid setting. 
 

 
 
Raptors on the Ranch
Posted: August 03
 
This was the second annual version of this event. I was once again asked by my good friend Emily Nichols to come take photos. She used the photos I took last year in their promotional and communications literature.
 

 
 
Music on Main
Posted: August 01
 
Music on Main was good tonight. The lady pictured above is my friend Jessica Collins.

The band that performed was Ray Wiley Hubbard.
 

 
 
A Pretty Young Lady
Posted: July 31
 
I have been taking this young ladies photos for the last three years. She has the MOSTspectacular eyes. 
 

 
 
Music on Main
Posted: July 25
 
I attended Music on Main tonight. Above is Ashley (far left) and her friends.

The band that performed was Monophonics.
 

 
 
Targhee Fest
Posted: July 21
 
Targhee Fest is always a lot of fun. It also features a "target rich" environment for my candid photos of people. Above are my friends Jessica and Megan.

Some of the notable performers were:

Bruce Hornsby, Los Lobos, JJ Grey, Sarah Jaroz, Anders Osborne, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, Allen Toussaint and Alejandro Escaveda.
 

 
 
70th Birthday Party
Posted: July 18
 
I don't normally make a big deal about birthdays (especially my own) but I decided to celebrate this decade change. I made reservations at The South Fork Lodge for a dinner. 
 

 
 
Music on Main
Posted: July 11
 
This was the second Music on Main of the summer. The weather was a bit moist at times and on the cool side.

The band that performed was White Water Ramble.
 

 
 
Fourth o f July Parade
Posted: July 04
 
I usually try to make it over to Jackson for the annual Fourth of July Parade. Lots of interesting photo opportunities present themselves.
 

 
 
Gray's Lake Wildlife Preserve
Posted: June 30
 
Grays Lake is a wildlife area in Idaho that is south of my place in Driggs. I have been meaning to go there for a number of years and finally made it today. 
 

 
 
Fireworks at Huntsman Springs
Posted: June 29
 
Yeah. I know it isn't The Fourth yet. The Huntsman Springs folks who put on our fireworks here in Teton Valley insist that it happen the weekend before the Fourth. 
 

 
 
Grand Teton National Park
Posted: July 02
 
I went to Grand Teton National Park today with my friend Thomas. Since last summer, Thomas and I have being trying to work out a time to go take photos. 
 

 
 
Music on Main
Posted: June 27
 
Made my usual journey down to Victor for Thursday night's Music on Main. Here is a photo of yours truly with my good friend Julie Reggio. 

The band that performed was Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers.
 

 
 
Photo Walk
Posted: June 22
 
The Teton Regional Land Trust sponsored a "photo walk" at their most recent property, a four hundred acre parcel of land along the Teton River. It was being headed by Loren Woods, a Jackson photographer, whom, I had met via email over this past winter.
 

 
 
Raptor Fest
Posted: June 16
 
This was my third year to attend Raptor Fest at the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, WY. Horned owl pictured above. 
 

 
 
Grand Teton National Park
Posted: June 16
 
I would like to have had a few more clouds to add interest to these photos but you takes what you gets!  
 

 
 
Micro Positioning Plate
Posted: May 31
 
Continuing to do my part to keep Manfrotto in business, I purchased the 454 Sliding Micro-Positioning Plate at Schiller's Camera today.
 

 
 
 
Topaz Clarity - initial testing 
Posted: May 28 
 
I have done some "Before and After" tests with the new Clarity software and thought I would share my initial impressions by way of some examples from some of my recent shoots. For the following photos, I applied presets and did not go into the sliders and masking features of the program 
 

 
 
 
Topaz Clarity 
Posted: May 26 
 
Topaz Labs just released a new product called "Clarity". It is basically the Lightroom Clarity slider on steroids. 
 

 
 
 
Soulard Market 
Posted: May 18 
 
I decided to visit to the Soulard Market today for my photography outing. 
 

 
 
 
Shaw Nature Reserve 
Posted: May 12 
 
I made a visit to Shaw Nature Reserve today. It is a nice "park" and offers some nice photo opportunities. 
 

 
 
 
St. Louis Zoo 
Posted: April 30 
 
Decided to spend some time taking photos at the St. Louis Zoo today. 
 

 
 
 
Forest Park 
Posted: April 28 
 
Made an early spring visit to Forest Park today. 
 

 
 
 
Lightroom / Photoshop Comparison 
Posted: April 26 
 
Often times on the various forums I follow, a question will be asked about the need for both Lightroom and Photoshop (or Elements). This fellow does a nice job of providing an answer. He is only listed as "Mark K W" or I would more fully credit him here. 
 

 
 
 
Taking Lightroom for a Spin 
Posted: April 22 
 
I have been playing around with a few of the new features of the Lightroom 5 Beta... revised Spot Removal tool, the new Upright tool and the new Visualize Spots tool 
 

 
 
 
Hyper-Focal Distance 
Posted: April 21 
 
My good friend Mike Margulus & his wife Liz just got back from a trip to Scotland where they worked with a professional photographer one-on-one. One of the topics they covered was the use of hyper focal distance to maximize the depth of field in photos 
 

 
 
 
Missouri Botanical Garden 
Posted: April 21 
 
I visited the Missouri Botanical Gardens this morning. The weather was great and therefore lots of folks were there. It seemed most of them had cameras! 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Lightroom 5 - Public Beta Announced 
Posted: April 15 
 
Adobe’s Lightroom is probably the best software available when it comes to a photographer’s digital darkroom needs. The company has been putting lots of time and effort into building it into something that appeals to both pros and enthusiasts, and now it’s releasing Lightroom 5 beta, representing the fastest turnaround for a major point release in the app’s history. 
 

 
 
 
Blurb Book 
Posted: April 15 
 
Received it in the mail today. Amazing turnaround.

The quality is every bit as good as the "Music in Teton Valley" book I had done last summer.

Two of my friends (Mike Quirk & Bob Scharff) upon viewing the book requested their own personal copy. I processed each copy to Blurb using Lightroom. I had the books delivered directly to them. Again great turnaround and great results.
 
 

 
 
 
L-Bracket 
Posted: April 11 
 
Today I purchased a Manfrotto L-Bracket MS050M4-Q2. I had been contemplating this for awhile. 
 

 
 
 
Landscape Book 
Posted: April 09 
 
I ordered my second photo book from Blurb today. This is a book of my landscape photos in an 11" x 13" format. It should arrive sometime around April 23. 
 

 
 
 
St. Louis Zoo 
Posted: May 04 
 
Above is a photo from that day of a Puma (taken outside through a wire fence). 

I am enjoying taking photos inside this winter in the Primate House. The primates are housed behind glass windows but for the most part the photos come out pretty well.

A few suggestions when shooting through glass:

1. you will have reflections so try to position yourself to minimize their inclusion in your composition.

2. I read an article that suggests using a polarizer to cope with this problem. I have not tried this as yet mainly as that would reduce the light for what already is a fairly low light situation. 
 
 

 
 
 
Panoramas 
Posted: February 26 
 
Read an interesting article about taking panoramas. 
 

 
 
 
Missouri Botanical Garden 
Posted: February 16 
 
Visited the Missouri Botanical Garden this morning to take photos of the blooming Camellia flowers. There were a lot of folks out his morning doing the same thing.  
 

 
 
 
Gimbal Head 
Posted: February 17 
 
I just purchased an Induro GHB2 Gimbal Head and love it! With my Manfrotto Ball Head it was difficult to maneuver my Canon 500 mm lens. 
 

 
 
 
St. Louis Zoo 
Posted: February 12 
 
I decided to make a Zoo outing today since the weather was a bit nicer than it has been for awhile.

My main objective was to try out the video feature of my Canon 1D-x but I also wound up taking some photos as well. I shot just enough video to learn that to get better at it I would have to devote a great deal of time to that task. Not sure I want to devote time to that but it is nice to know that in a pinch I am able to get something.
  
 

 
 
 
River Road - Alton Illinois 
Posted: January 26 
 
I went out today with my friend Brian Luenemann to try to get some eagle shots. I photographed a number of Bald Eagles but even with my 500mm + 1.4x TC on my tripod and heavy cropping, I still did not have a very good yield as they were pretty far away from our shooting location.  

This photo is the best of the bunch.
  
 

 
 
 
Cam Ranger 
Posted: January 06 
 
I ran across an article about an interesting new device that allows you to control your camera and compose your photos using an iPad. It looks to offer some interesting possibilities for those who already own an iPad.  
 

 
 
 
St. Louis Zoo 
Posted: January 03 
 
I went to the Zoo this afternoon after lunch to take some photos.

I was mainly wanting to take a number of photos so that I could test out my new Lightroom Workflow and work out some kinks. I got some decent photos using my Canon 1D-X with the 70-200 mm + 1.4 TC 


 
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  candid's of people

 
Bluegrass Festival

  Music on Main

  Raptor Fest
  
  Special events

  Targhee Fest

 
My Approach to candids


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  Swabacher Landing

  Yellowstone NP


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OTHER


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Hanksville Utah

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