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.
Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 66mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO 1600
Looking down on a brilliant bed of fallen leaves, I noticed this single geranium bloom soaking up the early morning sun rays. It stood out stretching its neck out to show off its last hurrah. The rest of the plant had withered away preparing for the winter ahead. I will have to wait until the end of May to catch its first bloom of the new year.
Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 63mm, f/8.0, 1/400 sec, ISO 1600
The color of fall in Eastern Pennsylvania has all passed. This entry is the start of a series of posts of an early November morning shoot in our back yard capturing the last of the fall color. The early morning sun caught these fallen leaves just right to pop them out from the frosted grass. Simple things tend to catch my eye. I constantly look down as I walk through the landscape.
On this shoot, I was testing out the low noise performance of the 5D. There was a steady breeze which required me to use a fast shutter speed. I also normally use a tripod where ever I go. This day I wanted to be “free” and capture images quickly as I saw them. With a high ISO of 1600, the 5D performed exceptionally well and allowed me to capture the images that I was targeting.
Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 45mm, f/8.0, 0.3 sec, ISO 400
Black and white granite markings laced with thin red lines decorate the narrow canyon walls at the bottom of Titus Canyon. The formations range from random lines, to indian pattern, to letters. Since I am the KGG the III, this pattern caught my eye right away. To bring out the contrast, the rocks were spritzed with water. It was amusing watching our workshop instructors racing back and forth between the students spritzing the walls with water bottles. I forgot which gave out first, the light, the water, or our instructors.
Canon 5D MKIII with EOS 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/22, 1/15 sec., ISO 400
These charcoal kilns seem to be in the middle of nowhere in Wildrose Pass. They were built by Swiss engineers in the the 1870’s to feed the smelters of Modoc Mine about 25 miles away. This was the closest source of wood.
The most difficult part of taking this image was to avoid the row of other photographers trying to take the same image. See below.
Canon 7D, EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS @ 100mm, f/11, 1/90 sec, ISO 200
Throughout Death Valley, there are artifacts of the blurred history of people trying to work the land. This photo was taken at an abandoned copper mine and home site. What is the story behind this site? How hard life must have been? What kind of people lived here in the extreme heat of the summer and the extreme cold in the winter? What did they get from all their toil? What was the event or series of events that triggered them to leave? I am sure the history behind this site is a whole story by itself.
To help the image of a blurred history, I added a vignette blur on the edges.