Monthly Archives: August 2017

Practice & Experiment

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Second Beach, La Push, WA

I took a special trip to the Washington Coast to experiment and practice long exposure photography. My first day of practice resulted in a disappointing set of images with many, many, pure white and pure black frames.  I am thankful tor digital photography!  I knew the steps I needed to take.  However, my excitement took over and I made multiple mistakes.  Toward the end I started to engrain the process into my sequence of shooting.  The next morning, I slowed down and did much better.  This image is from that morning.  I have a lot more of experimenting and practicing to do.

 

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Smoky Mountains National Park

In the Rainforest

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Hanging Moss – Hoh River Rainforest

It was mid morning on a bright sunny, hot, dry day.  The summer has been one of the driest in history.  It was not a typical rainforest day.  It was still a beautiful exhibition of nature.  I spent a lot of time looking around to find an area that had filtered light without glaring bright spots.  This is one that I found.

I processed the image to try to capture the feeling I had:  filtered rays of sunshine highlighting background trees, interesting moss shapes in the shadows speckled with sunlight, a soft feeling of the soft moss.

I must go back after a good drenching rain.

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Face in the Mud

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Face Abstract – Valley of Fire, Yellowstone National Park

Photography has taught me to keep my eyes open and be ready to see the unusual.  Walking along a path in Yellowstone’s Valley of Fire, I gazed down into a bubbling hot spring and saw this face looking up at me.  I stopped worked the scene and captured an image.  On my computer, I softened the image and added a little impressionistic touch.  Can you see the face?

Photography, vision, and imagination go hand in hand.

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Line Up

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Bygone Days – Grass Valley, Oregon

I was in no hurry the last time I drove back home from Bend, OR.  I pulled off Hwy 97 and drove through the back streets of Grass Valley.  I found a jewel.  Along side one of the streets were a line up of old trucks and a line up of old tractors.  They were perfect for a vintage black and white photo.

I need to make a several day trip just to explore the area. There are so many treasures of a bygone era.   Add to the “Bucket List”!

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Sometimes I Just Need to Play

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Bandon Beach

I just got a new B&W conversion SW plug-in (Macphun Tonality).  I picked out some photos of the beach near Bandon, Oregon to work on.  I played around to explore some of the secondary features.  After converting to B&W I added a “misty/dreamy” look.  I then added a paper texture and a vignette.  Sometimes I just need to play to get my creative juices flowing.

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Oregon Coast Cape Perpetua

“Beartooth”

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Beartooth Peak

The sharp peak is “Beartooth.”  It does look like a sharp tooth. I can imagine the size of the bear that would have this peak as a tooth!

As I observe the wonder of nature that surrounds me, I like to let my imagination run loose. Here, I tried to place myself in the footsteps of our Native Americans and the lore that they created to attempt to explain the life around them.  I could spend hours just sitting, seeing, and letting my mind explore.  When I do so, I tend to drive the people around me a little crazy.  Most of my creative work is done when I am by myself.

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Experimenting with Moods

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Pilot Peak

I am focusing on trying to create various moods with my black and white images.  This image of Pilot Peak was shot in midday light.  I added contrast along with dodging and burning to get this “late evening” mood.

The image below is processed with a B&W conversion with just a little contrast and brightness adjustment.  It captures more of the detail, but lacks feeling (my perspective).

What is your preference?

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Keep Your Eyes Open

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“Observer”

I was at an overlook on the Beartooth Highway engulfed observing a panoramic view of the Absaroka Range.  I had my camera on my tripod set for a panoramic shot sequence.  I happened to look down and saw this little critter looking back at me.  I slowly left my camera, walked back to my car, picked up my “wildlife configured camera” and quickly grabbed a shot of this little guy before he ducked away.

When I am photographing wildlife and landscapes together, I usually carry two cameras configured with different lenses.  Changing lenses in the field takes me too long.  It really payed off this time.

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