Fuji X-T1, XF 10-24mm @ 22mm, f/18, 1/160 sec, ISO 400
During my walk in Longwood’s Meadow, I saw this single tree with the path curving around it. The leading line and isolated tree caught my eye. The wide angle helped place the tree in perspective with the expansive meadow. Again, my thoughts for the day were to work on wide angle perspectives and just enjoy the day.
Fuji X-T1, XF 10-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/150 sec, ISO 200
It has been several months since I have posted an image. My focus has been in other directions other than photography. Yesterday I woke up to a beautiful early autumn day. I just felt like getting outside and “practicing” with my camera. Since getting my Fuji, I have not taken the time to explore its capabilities. Yesterday was a fresh start. I traveled to Longwood Gardens to explore the revitalized Meadow Area. Because of its expanse, I decided to practice using only my wide angle lens. It was a “get out and explore day” as opposed to focusing on getting that great image.
During my visit, I ran across this guy who had a demo version of Canon’s new EOS 7D MarkII. We started talking and I recognized him as George Lepp. He is doing a workshop at Longwood on Saturday and Sunday. It was a pleasure spending a few moments with him.
Canon 7D, EF-S10-22mm @ 10mm, f/22, 1/10 sec, ISO 200
Some time when it is cold and dreary, I enjoy looking back through my past images to a more enjoyable time. We had some wonderful early summer weather on our whale-watching trip last summer. This image was taken on the SE end of San Juan Island in Puget Sound. How we miss the beautiful Northwest!
Canon 7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS @ 78mm, f/16, 1/25 sec, ISO 400
Looking back at images from last summer, I recall taking this photo with a thought of peacefulness. We were on San Juan Island near the Limekiln Lighthouse waiting for Orca’s to come by. While waiting, I looked up at the hillside above me and saw this scraggly pine and white daisies. It was quiet and peaceful. All I wanted to do was sit and enjoy the moment.
In processing this image, I added a little contrast and graduated fog to enhance the peaceful feeling I had. It was a beautiful day and moment.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS @ 200mm, f/16, 1.3 sec, ISO 200
I worked with B&W to try to depict what I saw and was feeling in the pre-dawn light on the beach. I attempted to bring out the subtle shapes in the sand and the ripples in the retracting tide.
Canon 7D, EF-S10-22 @ 10mm, f/22, 1/10 sec, ISO 200
In the depth of winter, my mind wanders to warmer times. Last summer we joined a couple of friends on San Juan Island in Puget Sound to photograph Orca’s. One morning we woke early to catch a sunrise. The sunrise on the horizon was not very interesting. But looking behind me, I saw the gorgeous warm sunlight on the western shore of the point where were standing. Lesson learned from John Barclay, “When photographing a sunset or sunrise, make sure to look behind you!”
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70 f/2.8L @ 68mm, f/8.0,1/400 sec, ISO 400
Well, we tried for a White Christmas. The 60-70 degree temperatures we’ve had during the last several days melted all the snow. The temperatures are dropping again and we will have a clear and brisk Christmas Day. No snow, but is still should be a beautiful day. We are thankful for each and every day. Each one is beautiful in its own way.
Have a very Merry Christmas!!!!!
Trees and woodland areas always capture my interest. The horizontal fallen trees in the foreground and the vertical living trees in the background caught my eye. When was re-looking at this image taken 11 months ago, the same lines caught my eye. However, the color tonality was very subdued and boring. I felt in a “painterly” mood, so Topaz Simplify came to the rescue. I used Topaz to give it that “artistic” look as well as bring out a little color and enhance the edges of the trees and leaves.
Here is the straight out of the camera image. Today I prefer the “painterly” view.
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 with 1.4X extender @ 110mm, f/11, 1/60 sec, ISO 200
On one of our workshop “sleep-in days”, a few of us went out to capture the early morning sunrise at Mesquite Dunes with Chuck Kimmerle. Chuck got us set up to catch the first light then took off on his own to explore. You can see Chuck in the upper left of this image.
When working with the “Pros”, I like to just watch and see what catches their eye as they explore an area. So I took this opportunity to follow Chuck’s foot steps across the sand and see where he stopped and milled around or set up his tripod. It was a good learning experience. At some of his stops, I saw nothing that caught my eye. At other stops, I looked around and saw a WOW image that I would have easily overlooked. Also, I stopped at many places where he did not stop to capture what I thought was a great image. It was a great learning exercise and a lot of fun too!
This is one of my few photos where I captured an overall image of the surrounding area. For most of my images, I tried to capture the details of the light and shadows as they passed over the dunes. To do this I added a 1.4X extender to my 70-200mm lens and used my Canon 7D cropped sensor camera. Because we were in a harsh environment in the sand, I did not dare change lenses. Next time I will make the hike with a normal lens to capture the overall beauty of the dunes against the purple mountains.