Category Archives: Infrared

Peaceful Walk Around the Neighborhood

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Neighbor’s Pasture
Heather Heights, Selah, WA

It is nice to live in the country. Our home is right in the middle of an area of small pastures. On the east we have a neighbor’s pasture with cows. On the west, our neighbor has five horses and a small grove of apple trees. Farther north we have a riding stable and pasture with a cherry and apple orchard above. We can walk along the paved roads of the neighborhood and view the valley below as well as catch glimpses of Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. We can stroll through orchards and along irrigation ditches and flumes catching bits of nature. If we get ambitious, we can climb to the top of the ridge above us and get a 360 degree of the countryside around us. And of course, we can stroll in our little garden arboretum.

So, if we ever feel closed in, all we have to do is open the door and take a walk. It’s nice to live in the country!

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A Different View

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“Mary’s Perspective”
Yakima Area Arboretum, Washington

This image is Mary’s view for my previous post. She sees the world through “bright and shiny” lenses, hence the beautiful tones of aqua and yellow. The following is her perspective:

Extraordinary

Sometimes reality just doesn’t do it for me.
I want to see a world as I think it should be
and, maybe, not exactly as it is.

One of my favorite colors is teal or almost any
combination of blue and green.  Those colors conjure
both seawater and plants, some of the real necessities for life.

So why not make the tree leaves teal?
It’s true that they don’t usually come in that exact shade.  
I know that, but just once I want this tree to be how I want it to be.

Thank you for playing around with the color
and making blue/green leaves and warm, yellow light peeking through.
It’s a little thing and maybe a trick, but I think it is beautiful. 

For a few moments, this tree is just a little bit extraordinary. 

Mary Dahlin Graf

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Something a Little Different

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Japanese Garden Entryway Gate
Yakima Area Arboretum, Washington

It was hot (>95F) and it felt good standing in the shade for a moment. Why did I take this image? I was drawn to the line of wisteria and the bright blue sky. It was another good opportunity for infrared photography to pull out the bright wisteria foliage and highlight the brilliant blue sky of a summer day in Eastern Washington.

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Bright and Brilliant

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Japanese Garden
Yakima Area Arboretum, Washington

The midday contrasts of the foliage tend to blend together. Deep shadows and bright sunlit leaves tend to obscure detail. Some say that the light is bad and it is not a good time to photograph. But I am here enjoying what is in front of me. How can I make the best of it? Infrared comes to the rescue!

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Stop While I Have The Chance!

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Old Barn Along Old Valley Highway
Near Buena, Washington

How many times have I driven by this old square barn along the old Yakima Valley Highway? I am afraid to say that it has been way too many. This day, like many before, I said to myself that I would stop on my way back. But this time I drove about 100 yards and turned around.

There are too many old buildings that are either falling down on their own or being taken down for alternative uses of the land in the Yakima Valley. I am committed to stop when I see something rather than say, “next time.” Who knows if there will be a next time.

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Looking Into the Future

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“Cherry Grove”
Yakima Arboretum, Washington

Cherry trees in July look like they are in full April bloom when they are photographed in infrared. As I looked through the allee my mind imagined what our recently planted allee will look like in the future. This was a good insight with the old trees on the left and the relatively young trees on the right.

Our Heatherwood allee is quite different. It is planted on a hillside looking down to our lawn below. The center of the allee is planted with colorful perennials. Mary calls it her “bright and shiny spot.” On the top we have placed a couple “sitting” rocks to enjoy the view and the colorful flowers below.

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Getting Out!

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Japanese Garden
Yakima Area Arboretum, Washington

I just couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to get out to a safe place and do a little photography. It was early afternoon with a bright blue sky. It wasn’t the best time for color photography, but it was a great time for shadows and black & white, infrared images. My sherpa and I trekked out in my wheel chair, sherpa pushing, and I with my camera in hand. The arboretum was not crowded, so it was easy to keep our “social distance.”

Sherpa was wonderful, moving me to just the right spots for me to create a few images. We saw this lone bench in the shade. The scenery was great and no-one was around. It was a good place to take a break. Thank you sherpa for a great excursion.

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Crabapples, A Look to the Future

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Crabapple Grove
Yakima Arboretum

The Yakima Area Arboretum has one of the largest and oldest crabapple collection in the country. In the Spring, the blossoms create a mass of whites, pinks, purples, and reds. The trees are all mature and the blossom display is gorgeous.

The Yakima Arboretum collection is the stimulus that has led me to try to develop a little crabapple grove as part of our home landscape. This Spring, we planted a small grouping of six crabapples, all different varieties. Being young, their spring bloom was just a harbinger of what will be in the next 10 years or so. Over the coming years I look forward to watching them grow and mature. I plan to gradually develop an understory that will pull the grove together and complement the individual trees.

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Back to Reality … Sort of

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Yakima Arboretum Infrared
Yakima, Washington

Now I am back to reality (partially). I am experimenting working in Infrared to see what works best with Infrared images. Clouds, deciduous trees, and grass are always good candidates. Infrared seems to bring out some of the tonality differences among the various types of trees. Here I see the differences between the deciduous trees which have fully leafed out, ones that are in bloom, others that have just started to have leaves at their tips, as well as the conifers.

This image was created using my standard image processing steps: Balance levels in Lightroom, convert to Black and White in Sliver Efex Pro. then optimize in Silver Efex. Pretty simple!

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