Tag Archives: garden

We Will Never Forget !

150525_We Will Never Forget-1 by Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 49mm, f/9, 1/280 sec, ISO 200

This image was taken at the “Garden of Memories” near Newtown, PA.  The Gardens memorialize the 9/11 tragedy.  Along its spiral walk it memorializes the 2973 people killed, the the 58 Pennsylvania victims, the 42 children from Pennsylvania who lost a parent, and the 18 Bucks County victims.  On the inner ring of the spiral, the Bucks County victims are etched in glass.  It is a quiet and peaceful place.  A place to walk, sit, and reflect.  Remember … on this Memorial Day!

 

Related Images:

An Old South Garden

150210_Spanish Moss by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 41mm, f/6.4, 1/800 sec, ISO 1600

Henry P. Leu Gardens are covered with huge ancient southern wild oaks with Spanish moss hanging loosely from their branches.  It was like I imagined an old Southern Garden to be like.  High in the trees the moss looked like fluffy cotton balls.  Up close the moss is very structured.  I took the opportunity to add a little impressionistic water color feeling to the image using Topaz Impression.

Below is a close-up of the Spanish Moss.  It looks like it would be rough to the feel, but it is actually very soft.  I guess that it was used as bedding in the past.

150210_Spanish Moss- Close up by .

Related Images:

There is Always Something to See if I Open My Eyes

150119_Fungus on Cherry Tree by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/8.0, 1/280 sec, ISO 800

Photography has taught me to open my eyes, look around, and enjoy what each moment brings.  Walking around our back yard with Karen, I saw this fungus growth on one of our cherry trees.  It caught my eye and made me think of the symbiotic nature of life.  I stopped long enough to compose this image and enjoy the moment.  I then continued a wonderful walk with Karen.  It was a good day!

Related Images:

Just Playing in Our Garden and on My Computer

141231_Garden Color-Experimentation by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/22, 14 sec, ISO 200

I keep going back to our Red Twig Dogwoods to get a little winter color.  This is a vertical swipe taken at 1/4 second.  Back at my computer, I started playing around with Topaz’s new Impression plug-in. This is the Impasto II preset.  There is a painter somewhere inside this engineer’s mind.

This post is a milestone.  I have entered a post every day for this month, first time ever.  Now to get ready for the New Year!

Related Images:

Happy Thanksgiving

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.

Related Images:

Exercise in Color Composition

140628_Color Composition by © 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1, XF55-200mm @ 105mm, f/11, 1/60 sec. ISO 200

This image is an attempt to just work with color and composition.  The deep pink and the adjacent dark green provided a strong color contrast as did the bright yellow and the adjacent dark green.  The round clump of pink flowers in the upper right corner was balanced somewhat by the white flowers in the lower left corner.  The diagonal strips of yellow and green provided the center focus.

 

 

Related Images:

Spring: Ginko and Cherry Tree

140509_Ginko & Cherry Tree by 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji XT-1, XF55-200mm @ 90.4mm, f/8.0, 1/800 sec, ISO 500

This image was taken looking out our dining room  window.  I noticed how the emerging leaves of the Ginko were contrasted against the deep pink of a flowering cherry.  I varied the depth of field to get a pleasing combination of sharpness of the Ginko and a blur of the background cherry.

Related Images:

Spring: More Cherry Blossoms

140604_Cherry Blossoms_Texture by 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1, XF 18-55mm @ 42.5mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 800

I simplified this image by isolating one clump of blossoms and shooting against the deep green grass background.  I used Color Efex Pro to extract detail in the blossoms without affecting the background.  I finally used a simple texture on the background.

Related Images:

Spring: First Cherry Blossoms

140503_First Cherry Blossoms by © 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji XT-1, XF18-55mm @ 35.8mm, f/3.6, 1/480 sec, ISO 500

What would spring be without cherry blossoms.  This image was taken on the first day that the blooms popped out of the tight buds.  We have seven flowering cherries in our yard.  They are my favorite spring highlight.  When the cherries bloom, spring is really here.  I worked the aperture setting to come up with the optimum setting to capture the sharpness of the first group of flowers and blur the background flowers.  They were hard to separate with a standard length zoom lens.

Related Images: