Canon 7D MkII, EF 100-400L @ 105mm, f/11, 1/400 sec, ISO 400
Looking out my office window, this is what I see. The wood flume brings our irrigation water down from the upper Naches River. The flume is around 100 years old and adds charm to our countryside. Next year they plan to replace it with a pipeline because of the high maintenance. It breaks my heart to see our history dismantled for progress.
During the next year, I will explore the flume’s path along our neighboring hill side.
Canon 7D MkII, EF 100-400mm L@ 100mm, f/11, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400
This is my first blog entry since the end of 2015. Since then I have moved from Bucks County, Pennsylvania (between Philly and NY City) to rural Central Washington. It is good to be back home in the country side where I grew up. Life is simpler here.
Residential growth has expanded in the rural areas. The area where I live was an orchard belonging to one of my school mates family. I remember exploring the area when I was a kid. There is a lot of rural charm in the area including this tree located on a nearby side hill. There are still a lot of undeveloped areas to explore. My challenge will be to get out several times a week, walk the area and find new adventures.
Fonthill Yellow Room Christmas Tree Impressionistic Detail
This image is an impressionistic perspective of yesterday’s post of the Yellow Room Christmas tree detail. I used Topaz Impressionism plug in to achieve the look.
This posting ends my series on the Fonthill Castle Christmas Decoration Exhibit. I hope you have enjoyed the series. I have enjoyed sharing it.
This probably be my last major project at Fonthill. I will be moving back to the Washington State next Spring. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences at Fonthill starting with a workshop led by my good friend John Barclay. I want to also thank Ed Reidell and the staff at Fonthill for the opportunities to help out. It was truly my pleasure. I enjoyed every moment of it.
Tomorrow starts a New Year. Every day is a gift to be enjoyed to the fullest.
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – Yellow Room
I saved one of my favorites for last. I title this tree “The Happy Tree” It is decorated with baubles that would make any child happy and wanting to grab. After all, we are kids at heart. See all the details below:
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – Central Hall
This is a close up of the Christmas Tree decorating Fonthill’s Central Hall. My photo of the full tree was out of focus. I blew that one, oh well ….
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – Map Room
Books and reading areas are everywhere at Fonthill. The Map Room is a small alcove extending from a walkway between the Study and the West Room. Byers Choice Carolers are on the bureau on the far side of the room. The Dickens’ era figures compliment the decor of the Castle. Mercer and Dickens were acquaintances. See below.
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – West Room
Some rooms didn’t have room for big trees. They still had their share of Christmas spirit. Note the dull monocular tapestry. At one time this decorated the concrete walls in bright color. After around 100 years, the colors have faded. I have seen some earlier photos of these tapestries. They were beautiful. Let your imagination wander.
To complement the tapestry, Mercer installed a series of tiles depicting Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers on the fireplace. See below, and notice the tapestry again.
West Room Fireplace with Dickins’ Pickwick Papers Tiles.
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – East Room
The East Room has a little alcove that was made just for a Christmas tree. Perfect fit.
This is a single exposure with natural lighting. I highlighted the tree and the ceiling tiles using a simple recipe of Color Efex Pro’s tonal contrast, highlight detail, and pro contrast presets. The highlights were painted in leaving the background a “softer” contrast (thus popping out the sharper contrast highlights).
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – Columbus Room
Photographing the Fonthill Christmas Decoration Exhibit was very special to me this year. Due to multiple reasons, I did not put up a tree this year (first time ever). I substituted enjoying my usual tree with the beautiful exhibit at Fonthill. I spent 6-7 hours exploring the Castle with my camera. It was a very, very special day for me.
The Columbus Room is the most tile-decorated room in the Castle. Christmas decorations are done in a similar fashion. This tree was my favorite as I explored through the rooms. Below is a close up of some of the details:
And a couple more decorations around the room:
Fonthill Castle Christmas Decorations – Dormer
This image is from the Fonthill Dormer. The Dormer was Henry Mercer’s first bedroom at Fonthill. The Study was in an adjoining adjacent room. In his later years, Mercer moved to the darker Terrace Room to avoid the bright light of the Dormer.
This image is a single exposure. Exposure was balanced using NIK’s Viveza plug in. The corners were darkened using Color Efex Pro.