Tag Archives: ice

Well, It is Now Time…

“Kotoji & Waterfall Ice”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

A couple more days with sub-freezing temperatures and the waterfall is freezing over. It is now time to turn the stream off before the water overflows the stream bed. It is an indicator for the garden to take its winter nap. It will be about 3 to 3 1/2 months before we start our spring clean-up and turn the water back on. Now is the time to rest and plan for the upcoming year. Weather permitting, we will continue our strolls through the garden, enjoying the winter garden color and contrasts.

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Brrrr!

“Frozen”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Brrr … We are ending the year with an arctic blast! The temperatures are dropping into the single digits and the highs are hovering around 20 degrees. This year, I have left one of our two waterfalls running into the pond to keep the pond aerated for the fish. A side benefit is a beautiful water-ice feature to accent our winter Japanese garden landscape.

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Ice Patterns

150124_Ice Leaf by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 800

I love to walk along the edge of a stream and explore the ice configurations that have been formed.  My imagination wanders as I visualize different shapes created in the ice.  This particular image reminded me of the tip of a maple leaf.  The basic shape formed the edges of the leaf.  I could also see the veins of the leaf within the ice crystal.  I become hypnotized as I watch the water flow under and around the ice.  The reflections create patterns of their own.

At times I get so intrigued by what I am seeing, I do not pay attention to some of my camera settings.  For instance, this was shot at ISO 800 on a tripod.  I could have easily reduced the ISO down two stops and still captured a nice image.  Also, how would this image have looked if I would have slowed the shutter speed down to blur the water passing by the leaf.  However, this was a walk in the woods enjoying the solitude and silence of nature.  If I would have spent a lot of time working this image, the spontaneity would have been lost.

Lesson Learned:  Maintain the balance of wonderment and the mechanics of capturing images.  Many times it is best just to put the camera down and enjoy the moment.

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Winter is Here

150122_Neshiminy Creeek by © 2014 Karl Graf. 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.

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Lonesome Leaf

150121_Ice Crystals & Leaf by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 88mm, f/11, 1/160 sec, ISO 400

Ice crystals covered a little runoff stream in Peace Valley Park, I saw this one leaf fall on the ice.  It looked out of place, hoping for a breeze to blow it off into a warmer bed of fellow leaves.

I started out processing this image in B&W.  I could not make the leaf pop out like I wanted, so I added subdued selective color.

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A Path in the Woods

150118_Path in the Woods by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 53 mm, f/10, 1/75 sec, ISO 800

I had just walked this path covered with ice, almost falling several times.  I turned around, the sun broke through the clouds and I caught a glimpse of the warm bright grasses and leaves encasing the ice covered path.  I thought, “What a beautiful painting”.  The sun went back behind the clouds before I could capture the feeling.  I tried several times with the sun behind the clouds, but could not get the warm feeling.  I was in no hurry, so I just waited until the sun broke through again for a few seconds.  I was ready!

When I processed the image, I took my advice from yesterdays post.  I had thought of the image as a painting when I saw it.  I therefore processed it as a painting using Topaz Impression.  This is what my mind saw.

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Getting Out of a Processing Rut

150117_Ice Formation1_Hard by . 150117_Ice Formation1_Soft by . Fuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 123mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO 800

From time to time I find myself getting into a processing rut.  I tend to process every photo in basically the same way with just a few modifications image to image.  For my black and white images, I normally use NIK Silver Efex Pro and add a high contrast, high structure look to the images.  I amplify the whites and blacks and add structure.  The images look hard and have an abstract feeling as seen in the top image.

This morning I woke up and started on my post.  I looked at the hard image that I had processed the day before.  Something did not feel right.  I tried again doing just the opposite by decreasing contrast and structure.  The resultant second image was much more pleasing to me and better represents what my mind recalls seeing.

Lesson Learned:  Do not process images in a “production mode” method.  Take my time, and process each one to bring out what my eyes and heart see.  Like my friend John Barclay, says, “Wait for the image to come to you”, processing should be considered in the same way.

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In Search of … and Getting Fancy

150116_Ice & Water Impression by . Fuji X-T1, XF18-135mm @ 135mm, f/11, 1/55 sec, ISO 800

Today I got out for a little walk in Peace Valley Park (Bucks Co., PA).  The morning was beautiful, bright, and crisp.  Besides just getting out for a nice walk in the woods, my objective was to capture interesting ice formations. This image of ice bulbs on branches hanging over a fast moving stream caught my eye.  I got a little fancy and used Topaz Impression’s “Cracked Fresco” preset to enhance the image.  For me, it seemed to highlight the ice and add motion to the moving water beneath.  Below is the SOC version for comparison.

150116_Ice & Water SOC by .

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