Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 62mm, f/11, 1/350 sec, ISO 400
Driving up to Oregon’s Painted Hills, I saw this pastoral scene and stopped to capture the feeling. It was “high noon” and the sun was bright, but I still wanted to give it a try. To recreate the feeling I had, I processed the image in Topaz’s Impression and added a little texture in Photoshop. Who say’s you can’t make good images in bright noon day sun!
Fuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 37mm, f/22, 1/180 sec, ISO 400
I have heard many people comment on the beauty of the Painted Hills of NE Oregon. Being from central Washington, I had never taken the 2-3 hour drive to see them. So on a recent trip to central Oregon, I thought I would go exploring. My purpose was more of a scouting trip than specifically to take images. I was there mid day on a very bright warm summer day. Even in this bright light, the colors of the hills radiated out. I look forward to coming back during the late afternoon sunlight.
Painted Hills is one of the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, located in Wheeler County, Oregon.[1] It totals 3,132 acres (1,267 ha) and is located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Mitchell, Oregon. The Painted Hills are listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon.[2] Painted Hills is named after the colorful layers of its hills corresponding to various geological eras, formed when the area was an ancient river floodplain.
The black soil is lignite that was vegetative matter that grew along the floodplain. The grey coloring is mudstone, siltstone, and shale.[3] The red coloring is laterite soil that formed by floodplain deposits when the area was warm and humid.[
Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 31mm, f/16, 1/180 sec, ISO 800
Looking at Neshaminy Creek as it enters Lake Galena makes me feel cold and realize that winter is really here. I already long for Spring to come. However … I do enjoy walking in the countryside on a bright crisp winter day. Beauty abounds in its own way. I guess winter is not so bad after all.
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.
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.
Fuji X-T1, EF18-55mm @ 18mm, f/22, 0.5 sec, ISO 400
I was not too creative and made several mistakes with this image. So there are several lessons here. First, as I was walking along the rocks, I hit a slippery area and tumbled down on my knees and elbows. I made sure the camera was safe. After the fall, I lost my focus and interest and only took a few images. Lesson 1: if something happens, take the time to regain composure and then start again. I knew that I had an extreme dynamic range between the sky and the shadows on the bridge and ground. I did not take enough exposures to generate a blended image or HDR. Lesson 2: Take my time to capture the image and lighting that I am looking for. I put on a cheap polarizer on my lens. It leaves a little flare from time to time. I had discovered this before and still put the filter on. Lesson 3: Don’t put anything but good filters over good optics. No filter is better than one that even degrades the image a little. Anyway, this post is a good example of what not to do.
Fuji X-T1, FX55-200mm @ 55mm, f/11, 1/9 sec, ISO 1600
Fall days are a wonderful time to drive around rural Bucks County, PA and enjoy the iconic covered bridges. During the last few days, a friend and I spent late afternoons exploring around the area. For this image of the Loux Covered Bridge, I focused on a composition that did not include bright road signs and caught some of the fall color.
Fuji XT-1, XF55-200mm @ 95mm, f/11, 0.6 sec, ISO 500
Gloomy grey days highlight great fall colors. Add a little artistic flair and voila … out comes an impressionistic painting. The colors here in eastern Pennsylvania are rapidly changing. One day makes a big difference. A great college friend and I took the opportunity to get a little damp and explore some of the countryside and covered bridges here in Bucks County. The colors were great, but most important, just being out with a good friend made the day.
Fuji X-T1, XF10-24mm @ 24mm, f/22, 1/35 sec, ISO 200
This image is my first trial using Topaz’s new “Impression” software. I took a nondescript image with a distinct foreground, mid ground, and far field as the base of my experiment. I was pleasantly surprised of the interesting result. Below is the original RAW image.
Fuji X-T1, XF 10-24mm @ 24mm, f/20, 1/110 sec, ISO 400
More wide angle practice. My objective for this image was to capture the details of the near field grass as well as the background of the tree line and farm house. I feel that the image would have been more interesting if I would have taken it from a slightly higher angle so I could have included some of the mid-ground. I knew better!