Tag Archives: Landscape

Progression

“The Lower 40”
Heatherwood Spring

This is an overview of the landscape changes we are making this spring. At the time I was growing up this area was an orchard It was changed over to a pasture as the Heather Heights area was being developed. The prior property owner landscaped the upper section. A couple of years ago I converted the pasture into a new large lawn. Now we are chewing the lawn up again to plant trees for our mini-arboretum.

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Red & Yellow

Red Maple/Yellow Ginko – Washington Japanese Garden

This is what fall color is all about.  I was able to photograph in the Washington Japanese Garden almost at its prime this fall.  Colors were gorgeous everywhere.  This particular scene caught my eye contrasting the brilliant reds and yellows,

I am taking an on-line course, “The Compelling Frame” by Dave duChemin.  My focus for this excursion was to explore how different types of light created different effects.  Here, the soft mid-morning light set the colors of these trees on fire.  I am always searching and exploring ways to help me progress through my never-ending journey in photography.  I strongly recommend Dave  duChemin’s course.

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Drumheller Channels Overlook

Drumheller Channels Overlook

It is hard to comprehend how enormous the Missoula Ice Age Floods were.  The edge of the bluff in the top left hand corner is approximately 200 feet high.  The water level during the Missoula Floods was about 200 feet above the top of the mesa.  The distance across the Drumheller Channels was 8-11 miles wide.  The water is estimated to have moved through here at 50+ miles/hour.  The landscape left behind is amazing.  My mind wanders about contemplating what it must have been like.

This image was taken at the overlook off the main road running through the reserve.

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Starting Up Again

170302_Central CA CoastFuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 89 mm, f/11, 1/350 sec, ISO 400

It has been several months since I entered my last post.  It is time to get started again.  I was motivated to do so by two photographers I went on a photo shoot with along the Central California Coast.  These two, Karen Hall and Vicki Moro, took me on a quick introductory trip along the California coast line above Morro Bay.  They encouraged me to start sharing my images again.  Thank you Karen and Vicki for a great day and the stimulus!

This image is of the hills above Morro Bay.  What caught my eye was the layers of shadows across the emerald green hills, the water, the distant hills, and the clouds.  The shot was at mid-day, so I combined several images to create a balanced exposure.

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Practice

160725_JapaneseMaple_AntiqueFuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 18mm, f/8.0, 1/550 sec, ISO 800

My photography has not been very creative lately.  When I get this way, I like to walk around and just practice.  I do not have high expectations and just stop to photograph what catches my eye.  I usually do not carry a tripod with me during these practice shoots.  I use them as a scouting inspiration/exploration endeavor to come back and shoot at a better time.  This image was taken in mid-day light at the Washington Arboretum Japanese Garden in Seattle.  I spent 2 to 3 hours just walking around and enjoying the beautiful garden.  I shot for less than an hour.

Once home, I just started playing around with different processing techniques on a few images. Again, more practice.  This was one of the images that caught my eye.  The original image was full of bright yellows, greens, and some oranges.  I almost did not even try black and white processing.  I wasn’t happy with the standard B&W images either, so I decided to experiment (play) some more.  This sepia with a reverse vignette was the result.

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Badlands: Yellow Hills

160619_Badlands Yellow HillsFuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 105mm, f/11, 1/340 sec, ISO 400

Along the northwest section of the park drive, yellow hills and green valleys provided a change in color contrast of the landscape.  This post concludes my quick trip through the badlands.  Some day I hope to go back and explore the area at a more leisurely pace.

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Badlands Sunrise

160614_Badlands SunriseFuji X-T1, XF10-24mm @24mm. f/22. 1/13 sec, ISO 1600

The sky was very dark and covered with clouds. The landscape was very dark and covered with shadows.  Then for a few seconds the sun popped out in a small gap in the clouds.  The landscape opened up its arms for me to enjoy.  The three hour drive starting at 3:00 AM to catch the sunrise was worth it!

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Badlands National Park

160604_Badlands 2Fuji X-T1, EF 18-135mm @ 31mm, f/16, 1/110 sec, ISO 800

I walked down into the basin of the Badlands and looked up to see the towering, eroded hills behind me.  I processed this image to separate the foreground from the background by adding a touch of NIK’s Color EFEX Pro graduated fog to the background.  I should have shot this image at a wider aperture to produce a natural effect.  Lesson Learned:  Take my time, work the image from different settings and exposures to create the effects that bring out specific elements of the subject.

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