Category Archives: Landscape Photography

More From Longwood Gardens

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141228_White Decorations Longwood by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-55mm, @ 55mm, f/8, 1/55 sec, ISO 400

There is always something around every corner or sometimes right in front of you at the Longwood Gardens Conservatory.  This decoration was right in front in the East Conservatory as I walked in.  It caught my eye as soon as I glanced around the room.

I pulled out the details of the twigs and the feathers with a “recipe” that I have made in NIK Color Efex Pro.  The recipe is a combination of Tonal Contrast, Detail Enhancement, and Pro Contrast.  I then applied Darken/Lighten Center to provide additional focus on the white decorations. The total processing time was less that 2 minutes.

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Still in the Christmas Spirit

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141227_Red Poinsettia by . Fuji X-T1, EF18-55mm @ 55mm, f/11, 1/10 second, ISO 400

I am still in the Christmas mood.  This image is just an effort to work with composition.  The subject is the center stamens and pistils of the poinsettia flower.  The plant leaves framed the subject while the background ornaments added interest without distracting from the stamens and pistils.  I cropped the leaves to eliminated any distracting edges.  Using the “mirror lock-up” function might have improved the sharpness of the subject.  Always learning …

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Longwood Christmas #2

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141222_Longwood Main Consrevatory by . Longwood Gardens Conservatory

Fuji XT-1, XF18-55mm @ 34mm, f/22, 1/3 sec, ISO 400

The bright light from the ceiling skylight made capturing this photo taken with a small aperture possible.  People were everywhere.  Patience paid off again while I waited for the scene to clear.  I waited over 10 minutes to catch this break.  If I would have had a long exposure there would have been people entering the scene.  Lessons learned:  do not photograph Longwood on a Friday.

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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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141222_Longwood Center Consrevatory by © 2014 Karl Graf. Longwood Gardens Conservatory

Fuji XT-1, XF18-55mm @ 26.5mm, f/11, 1/10 sec, ISO 400

Now that I have finished the Fonthill Tile Tour, I can finally start to get into the Christmas blogging spirit.  All the outgoing presents are wrapped and sent out.  Some of my Christmas cards are out, others are still in process.  I will be very late this year.

A week ago I was able to get out to Longwood Gardens with a good friend for a little Christmas photography excursion.  It was a great day, but my creative juices weren’t really flowing.  However, I was able to just step back and enjoy.  This image took me forever to capture.  People were walking in front of the far end of the water fountain.  I waited, waited and waited.  It seemed like forever, but I finally got a very short window of just a few seconds to snap this image.  It was worth the wait.

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Happy Thanksgiving

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141127_Maple Leaves and Background Dew by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-55mm @ 55mm, f/8.0, 1/250 sec, ISO 400

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  We have so very much to be thankful for including this beautiful fall day a couple of weeks ago.  Each day is a gift to be lived and enjoyed to its fullest.

This was taken in our back yard in the early morning as the sun was breaking the horizon and shining on a little fresh frost on the ground.  I liked how the sparkle from the sunlit frost made small globes of light.  I then walked around to get something interesting to put in front.  This backlit maple was just what I was looking for.  It was a moment to be thankful for.

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Fall at Fonthill 2

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141031_Fonthill Castle by Karl Graf. 141031_Fonthill Castle by Karl Graf. 141031_Fonthill Castle by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MkIII, EF24-70 2.8L @ 27mm, f/10, ISO 200 – 3 image HDR

Yesterday was another beautiful fall day in Bucks County, PA.  Late in the afternoon I saw some white billowy clouds coming across the sky.  I rushed over to Fonthill Castle and caught about 15 minutes of late afternoon warm sunlight.  What attracted me the most on this image were the long shadows casting themselves on the lawn and the castle walls.  It was worth the jaunt for the 15 minutes of nice sunlight.

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Enjoying the Fall Colors

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141029_Window & Leaves by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-55mm @ 55mm, f/20, 0.8 sec, ISO 400

Walking outside this time of year in Bucks County, Southeast Pennsylvania is always a real treat.  The combination of old structures, interesting landscapes and fall color are abundant and are just waiting to be captured.  Each day changes.  Colors come and go, always changing.  Something new is always just around the corner, or just standing in front of me.  Such walks always help me balance the daily challenges and beauty life brings.  Time to get out for another walk!

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Sheard’s Mill Covered Bridge

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141018_Sheard's Mill Covered Bridge by . Fuji X-T1, FX18-55 @ 55mm, f/20, 3.7 sec, ISO 200

This was one of the last shots of the day.  Sometimes they are some of the best, at least for me.  The hay rake provided a strong near field compositional element.  Most images of this bridge are taken from directly on or perpendicular to the bridge.  I wanted to get something a little different and catch some of the fall color.

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Knechts Covered Bridge

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Knechts Covered Bridge by . Fuji X-T1, FX18-55 @ 20mm. f/22, 1/10 sec, ISO 400

Knechts Covered Bridge is one of my favorites.  It is somewhat hidden off the meandering country roads on what seems to be a single lane remote road.  The simplicity of the structure is marred with bright caution and height limit signs.  I took the liberty of removing them from the image with Photoshop.  If you look close you can see the remnants on the left stone abutment and below the bridge name placard.

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