Upper Mammoth Hot Springs Cascades
This image was taken from an observation point just below that of my previous post. I liked the contrast of the orange-brown deposits against the white alkaline deposits. The puffiness of the clouds balanced that of the deposits.
Next post, a view from below …
Upper Mammoth Hot Springs
Mist steamed from the hot spring water even though the ambient temperature was around 90 degrees, The water flowed over a series of small cascades over the edges of the basin down to the valley below. The cascades stood out from the mountains across the valley.
I converted this image to black and white to emphasize the water and the edge of the bluff. It represents the feeling that I had when gazing over the edge.
Mammoth Hot Springs – Upper Basin
Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs area is also an area of unbelievable stark beauty. How can life exist in such a harsh environment of boiling hot mineral springs. I wonder how long these trees made it.
The day was hot around 90 degrees, we were tired and on our way back to photograph wildlife. We only took a few moments to walk around and take a couple of shots. My creativity was at a low level, so I feel that I missed some wonderful opportunities to explore. Well, next time …
Grand Prismatic Spring – Mist
Hot water from the Prismatic Spring shelf flowed into a “holding” pond before it entered the stream below. Hot water entering a cooler pool of water generated a steady mist. When I took this image, I was thinking black and white to express the eerie feeling of the mist.
Grand Prismatic Spring Pastel
Mist periodically gently flowed across the springs. The bight sun shining through left a warm feeling of pastels. This time patience paid off as I waited for the mist to clear then re-enter.
Grand Prismatic Springs
Slow flowing water from the springs also left small rivulets. These colorful ones were a sharp contrast to the grey mineral flats in my prior post.
Grand Prismatic Spring -Mineral Flats
As the hot mineral water flows out of the spring, it creates a series of mineral flats. This perspective was a flat grey. I decided to convert it to black and white, add contrast, and apply a slight gradient across the image..
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park
A boardwalk runs along the edge of the spring. The reflection of people walking along the walk caught my eye when the mist periodically lifted. I did not have the foresight to be patient and take an image with a light mist to create the mystic feeling I felt. Lesson learned; Be ready to capture a “feeling” and not just a “picture”.
Onomea Falls Water Color
I recently visited the Hawaiian Botanical Gardens, near Hilo, Hawaii. My mission was to photograph creatively. I did not focus on the overall beauty of the environment around me. My focus was on separate scenes, small vignettes, and macro detail while using creative photographic techniques.
For this image, I took multiple exposures covering the range from the bright water and sky to the dark shadows. When I brought them together into an HDR, all the tonalities were captured. However, I lost the feeling of the dense tropical rainforest setting. So I decided to play a little with Topaz’s new ‘Studio” software. I used the watercolor effect to create this image.
I haven’t given up on the natural presentation of this image yet. It will require a lot of luminance masking with layers to get the natural image that I saw in my mind. I will do this at a future time when I am in a very patient mood.
Water, Rocks, and Moss
The textures and shapes of this little stream against moss-covered rocks caught my eye. I blurred the flow of the water to capture the soft feeling of this little stream. Color was not important, in fact, it detracted from the feeling I had. Converting to black and white made the image for me.