Canon 5D MarkIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/11, 1/500 sec, ISO 400
The pods of these spent Tiger Lilies looked like mouths opening up to feed. They look like they are struggling for survival to keep their heads above the snow. They are quite different than their summer budding. The image below was taken from about the same spot last summer.
Canon 5D MkIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 38mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400
We had another snow! The temperatures warmed up a little (high 20’s). With this little incentive, I went exploring in our back yard, walking in snow up to my knees at times. Everything was beautiful with the fresh coat of white. What caught my eye the most were the the little spent seed pods that were sticking above the snow. These were meant for black and white conversion.
I will post a few more gems I found during the next few days.
Canon 7D , EF24-70 f/2.8L @ 59mm, f/8.0, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
Enough is enough! We have had enough snow this season to last for several years. This year is expected to be the third highest snowfall recorded for the Philadelphia area. We are close to 57 inches. Enough is enough!
I caught this image just as the sun broke over the horizon creating long deep shadows in the snow. I worked the contrast to capture the shadows without blowing out the snow highlights. I used NIK Silver Efex Pro to convert to black and white and Color Efex Pro to work the contrasts.
Canon 7D, EF24-70mm f2.8L @ 70mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
Looking back over some photographs taken this past summer on San Juan Island, WA, this image of a lone tree hanging on to a ledge above the water caught my eye. I recall taking this image and trying to get the ripples and the bright reflection of the sun to frame the tree. I spent about one half hour just moving around and trying different exposures and shutter speeds to get what I was looking for. When I reviewed the photographs last summer, I was disappointed with the color image. Today I worked with the subtle shadows and reflections to come up with this B&W version.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
Looking up I saw the white bark of this old Sycamore standing out above the other trees against the bright blue mid-day sky. Great opportunity for a B&W conversion! On this day there was an image waiting at every turn. Next time I will take my telephoto lens to isolate some of the interesting details.
Canon 5d MKIII, EF25-70mm f/2.8L @ 57mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 sec, ISO 800
This was the first image I took on my Peace Valley winter walk. I turned a corner and there it was … a new fence covered with fresh snow. It said, “take me”. So I did. I just like fences and the new snow really dressed this on up.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 68mm, f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO 800
This image is of the abstract path posted yesterday. On its own, the path was an interesting image. The sun broke through a gap in the trees at the visual end of the path creating a tunnel effect. I used NIK Silver Efex Pro to convert to Black and White, I then added Color Efex Pro’s “Darken/Lighten Center” to further accentuate the light coming through the end of the path.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @70mm, f/22, 1/10 sec., ISO 200
Yesterday we had our second snowfall of the year. Today was a bright and crisp winter day. A friend and I went out to Peace Valley Park to take a casual “walk in the woods” with our cameras. There was an image just waiting to be taken from every point we stopped. We didn’t get very far on our walk because of numerous photo stops along the way. It was a beautiful way to spend a morning.
It was a dreamy setting, so I thought I would add to the feeling by creating an abstract of a “Path in the Woods” with a vertical pan. The pan blended the shadows and the highlights of the morning sun along the path creating a bright abstract.
Back at home I worked with the image to create an opposite illusion of a dark gloomy path leading to who knows where.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/8.0, 1/80 sec, ISO 1600
This spent sunflower hung its head over when it couldn’t see the sun. The ice crystals added to the “over the hill” state of the flower. Even under the weight of the snow and ice, the stalk remained strong.
I normally do not use the presets in Silver Efex Pro, but this one (film noir #1) seemed to highlight the image I visualized.
Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f2.8L @ 62mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec. ISO 800
Fall color is gone. We just had our first snow fall, quickly followed by freezing rain. I got up early to capture the moment before it melted. The fresh snow was covered by a thin layer of ice leaving interesting ice encased shapes. To capture the contrast of the dark leaf against the bright snow, I over exposed by +2 stops. Treatment in B&W captured the dreariness of the morning.