fine branches

I liked the delicate appearance of these green branches down under the cedars and redwoods in the arboretum. I don't know what they were. I used a very large aperture because of the low light, and gave a very limited depth of field, but I like the effect it has in highlighting the etherial appearance of this plant in the forest. I probably could have done a better job of framing/composition, but I just wasn't quite tall enough to get the perspective that would have been ideal!

trunk

The high contrast caused by the late afternoon light on this trunk at the arboretum caught my eye. I didn't take much time to try playing with the contrast and exposure controls to see what kind of variations I might make, but I'd like to go back and try at some point.

b&w redwoods

Another redwood grove photo rendered in black and white.

Portland Redwoods

This version was processed with a unsharp mask tool in Adobe Elements.


This version was processed with Adobe Lightroom developing tool.

Well, I've had a dry spell for photos lately, and I can't completely blame the weather. Today was near 50 and sunny and I managed to get out for a walk in Hoyt Arboretum. This was my first walk there and little did I know that I would run into some redwoods! It was so dark in the grove that a passing hiker quiped "What did you set it at? 2.8?" Referring to the f stop at the maximum that many lenses go to for aperture. This has been a long time puzzle for me. The human eye and brain seem to have no problem adapting back and forth to the dark dark shadows of a forest grove and the very bright sunlight seen filtering through the same grove. I need to take some time looking at Ansel Adams to see if I can figure out how he handled the problem.

Dusty Old Photo

I wanted to start the new year with something really cool, but the weather has been rainy, and dark and circumstances have not obliged for taking photographs. Then I found this dusty old photo, of dusty glasses on a dusty window sill and decided I'd scan it in. I believe it dates back to 1991. Happy New Year!