Posts in Category: tree
5/8/2009
Bench with Petals
Yes, I missed yesterday due to travel (really quite as bad as it sounds). But I am back.
Yesterday started with a rainy cab ride across Manhattan to the Central Park Boathouse where I was involved in an event for work. The rain persisted as a general gray dampness, dreary morning kind of thing, but during the event I was able to slip away for a few moments to explore the area around the lakes and the Ramble. And wouldn’t you know, Central Park has its charms, even on a rainy morning.
I am thinking these are flowering plum petals, which had fallen in drifts in the rain. These few had found a resting spot on a well tended park bench for a pleasing composition. The light was pretty dim and the H50 was pushed to ISO 400…but the amount of detain in the image does a good job of masking high ISO noise.
Sony DSC H50 at about 325mm equivalent (for framing). F4.0 @ 1/100th @ ISO 400. Programed Auto, -1.3 EV exposure compensation to hold detail in the petals against the dark wood.
In Lightroom, I applied just a little Recovery for highlights in the petals and raindrops. Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Landscape sharpen preset. I cropped down from the top of the image slightly to improve composition.
From Central Park.
2/14/2009
About Fog
Not exactly a Valentines Day image, but…
Likely the last of the Jack London State Park series for Pic of the Day. Tendrils of misty fog across the pines and redwoods above the high terrace of vines. Atmosphere. I used the zoom on the H50 to crop in and make the fog the subject of the image.
Sony DSC H50 at about 100mm equiv. F8.0 @ 1/40th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Processed in Lightroom to bring out the transparency of the fog, using the Recovery slider. Added Vibrance and Clarity. Landscape sharpen.
From Vallejo and Sonoma.
2/11/2009
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is an import from Australia, but it grows to magnificent dimensions in California, and can dominate a landscape in a relatively short time. I don’t know whether Jack London planted the groves at Jack London State Park or whether they predated his occupation, but the trees are some of the finest I have seen.
The bark patterns are unique. I could have spent the whole day finding and recording interesting patterns. The rain in the air only deepened the colors and added interesting sheens. This is one example of what I was seeing.
The light was not great…or rather it was interesting light but it made for a difficult exposure. Without the image stabilization on the H50 I would not have attempted it without a tripod.
Sony DSC H50 at about 100mm equiv. F3.2 @ 1/50th @ ISO 400. Programed Auto.
Cropped in Lightroom for composition. Basic Presence settings and Sharpened.
From Vallejo and Sonoma.
1/12/2009
Winter
I took a short walk in the woods in the fresh fallen snow…still falling snow actually. Not much to see. The light was subdued to say the best, but I wanted to get out in it before flying to Florida this morning.
I took some shots of my tracks in the deep snow, and a few of the river, but this tree really caught my attention. Something about the texture of the bark and the clinging snow, and the arrangement of the trunks.
Sony DSC H50 with the zoom at about 40mm equiv. for framing. F4.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, I was experimenting with the Auto Tone button. It increased exposure slightly, and raised the Black point, and decreased contrast. All in all I liked the effect. I increased Black point slightly more. Added Clarity and Vibrance, and used the Landscape sharpen preset.
The image is found in the Winter Weather Gallery.
12/30/2008
Fan
My wife and I are in Florida for a few days, visiting Sanibel Island and maybe the Everglades. No Pic of the Day for yesterday because we left home at 4 AM to catch our flight. We got to Ft. Myers with time enough to walk the Indigo Trail at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. There were not, to the honest, many birds in the late afternoon, but this intersection of two plants, in very different life-stages, caught my eye, as design.
As simple a shot as they come. Simply frame and shoot.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide angle, macro mode. F2.7 @ 1/40th @ ISO 125. Programed Auto.
Small amount of sharpening and Vibrance in Lightroom. I used the Auto setting under Color and White Balance to warm the image (taken in the shade) slightly.
From the new Sanibel and Everglades Gallery.
12/26/2008
Winter Light
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Wells Maine. Just a short loop of trail. I will probably walk it again today, and I have thousands of times in the past 10 years. I rarely come away without at least one memorable image.
This a spring day with a rare late blowing snow. It had just stopped and the sun was breaking through. The unusual light, spring light, on the snow and the trees is really the subject of this image.
Sony DSC H9 at about 55mm equiv. F4.0 @ 1/60th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
I cropped a bit on the left in Lightroom to bring the sun on the tree trunks more towards the lines of power in image (see A Really Strong Suggestion of Thirds). Mild recovery, some Clarity and Vibrance. Landscape Sharpen preset.
It is from the Winter Weather Gallery.
12/14/2008
Iced Ornamental: Kennebunk ME
Walking into town for milk, camera with me of course, on the morning after the storm. Clear. Cold. The sun had begun the job in the late afternoon of the storm day, melting and shedding the encasing ice. This little ornamental tree, planted by the town along our street, had not fared well. Branches lay all around its base and the top was still bowed down. Because of the intense cold, the hanging berries were still half coated with ice, and it was not yet melting even in full sun.
No challenge here really. I just crossed the street and took a number of point blank shots with the macro at the wide end of the Sony H50’s zoom. The only issue was finding a good background. I cropped out some of the road and a telephone pole on the right. That leaves the berries more centered than I might like, but this is pretty much a portrait shot of the moment.
F4.5 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, I applied my standard a bit extra Clarity and Vibrance, and used the Sharpen Landscape preset. Pretty simple.
In pics from the day before I had had to pump up the highlights to show the effect of the low light in the ice. In full sun no help was necessary.
It does not get any easier than this. Always pick the low hanging fruit, or berries in this case.
From Winter Weather.
12/6/2008
New Year Sunset Tree: Parson's Beach, Kennebunk ME
White snow, orange sunset. Shot at moderate telephoto, 125 mm equiv., to set the tree and bushes against the sky. Pretty straight-forward. Programed Auto. F5.0 @ 1/500 @ ISO 100. Exposed for the sky, so it required post-processing to bring up the foreground. Mainly a lot of Fill Light in Lightroom. My standard added Clarity and Vibrance. Landscape Sharpen preset. Some noise reduction to compensate for the Fill Light. I had to desaturate the blue channel in Saturation/Luminance/Hue controls to control excessive blue in the snow.