Crocuses

Here are some "spring" crocuses that have been popping up in our yard.

Portland Sunset

I went up to Council Crest looking for the lunar eclipse yesterday but didn't see it. This was one of the photos I took instead.

Second Willow shot

Another attempt at the pussy willows. Some time I'll remember to bring the tripod, and the light will be just right after a rain and I'll get this photo right. I was a bit dissapointed about the street visible in the background at first, then I noticed this shot that has the stop sign seemingly purposely placed at the end of the branch, and I thought it was neat.

Pussy Willow

moon rise

This was taken several days ago when the moon was not quite full. It made me think of trying to figure out when the moon would be rising over Mt. Hood to try to get a night shot from one of the highpoints in the city of the moon illumninating Mt. Hood. Unfortunately, this month it appears that it is late afternoon 3:30PM or so. Too bad Portland's weather is mostly bad, otherwise I could just mark the calandar for next month's moonrise!

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!

Red Fringe

Funky Reflection

Moon Mesh

Ok, here is the story behind this one. I saw the half moon rising (sounds like a poem dosen't it?) and it was almost right in the middle of these two contrails seen in the picture. Well by the time I got outside and set up the camera and tripod I realized that the Moon was moving too fast! But I thought it could still be a neat picture and didn't want to take the time to run out into the back yard to get a clear shot - so I shot it through the branches. Well it turns out I liked the effect of the branches even more than the contrails. I hope you do too.

Afterthought - in processing this file it seems I somehow diminished the clarity of the contrails - I'd like to go back and re-process so they stand out more.

Holiday Light

I was captivated by the distortion of our tree lights by a clear ornament that really can't be seen except for its effect on the light in this photo. Happy Holidays!

Leaf and Vines

Back to a typical plant photo. I tend to be drawn to scenes like this where there is perhaps too much going on.

Three Day Post

FSBO


Oak Leaves


Tarped

To save time I'm posting photos for the next three days. Let me know if you think there is a common theme:

Holes

The peeling paint on this old playground slide brought back pleasant memories of childhood.

Meow

This light colored cat was enjoying the sun break almost as much as I was. I liked the color of this photo and the sense of depth given by the stairs.

happenstance

This was a strange coincidence. While stopped in traffic I took photos of this famous Portland bridge hoping no cars would obscure the landscape; but the one car I that happens to come by is a Citroen. I had no idea until viewing the photo later with Regan when she exclaimed "That's a Citroen!"

Slings and Arrows

I believe this is my 100th posting! And I think I have kept to my promise to avoid close up photos of plants for at least a week. Ok, actually I've still be taking pictures of plants, just not posting them! I liked this photo more after seeing it on the computer. The depth of field is narrow with foreground out of focus, as is background, but I liked the effect, and they way it highlighted the staples and their texture.

Crack the Window

Star Struck

This display was in a window to showcase a local interior decorator. It was nice of him/her to offer up such a nice subject to photograph during a Portland sunbreak.

Fractures

Another close up photo of a garage window that had been painted or treated somehow to prevent people from looking in. The patterns in this photo reminded me of ice flows breaking up.

Blue at the End

Chick Chick Chick

I turned up the contrast quite a bit on this to enhance the sense that the chickens were emerging out of the darkness. I like the expression (do chickens have expressions?) of the hen on the right. She looks like she is really really pissed.

Moldy Bolt

I don't think the mold on this traffic sign bolt should count as nature photography. Note to self, go back and take this shot on a bright day with smallest possible aperture to try to get as much of the bolt as possible in focus.

Black Stuff

I've resolved not to post any macro nature photos for at least a week. That should almost get me to post #100!

Dragonfly

More Drops

Yellow Leaf Blue Sky

Rain Flower Again

I reposted this to see if I could get the resolution a bit better.

Tater

Leaf Leaf

Pentax K10D
1/60
f2.8
ISO 200
Pentax 50mm f2.8 Macro

December Grape

Pentax K10D

Rain Flower

Pentax K10D

Sumac

Minolta A1

Post Post Post

Minolta A1

I sometimes think this photo blog's true name might be something like "The inner beauty of rotting plants". This is an attempt I made at doing some urban scenery. As I was re-viewing the photo I became aware of the analogy referenced in the title; this is one of the ways that news, information, gossip, etc. was shared in the past. Posting bills was likely thought of as quite an innovation just as the web now is (of course dogs had mastered the art of passing information at public landmarks long before humans.) In colonial US history news was often shared at a local tavern where travellers would stop on their way from city to city and town to town carrying information with them at the fastest speed then known - how far one could walk, or ride a horse in a day. It is amazing how easily we have traded the tradition of visiting a local tavern to share fellowship, a couple pints, and the news of the day for the relative isolation of a computer terminal. On that note I should probably head out to the local pub instead of wasting more time here!

November Tomato

Minolta A1
1/800
f6.3
ISO 200

Maple In

Minolta A1
1/30
f6.3
ISO 100
tripod

Maybe too Low Key?

Here is an even darker version of yesterday's post. After reviewing my first attempt it just didn't seem too dark. I lowered the exposure level mainly in Adobe Lightroom thinking that this might help preserve as much detail as possible until I decided it was dark enough. I think from a modern digital point of view the approach to taking a photograph, at least that I've been exposed to (pun not intended,) it to try to capture as much detail as possible in a photo, and then make artistic decisions about it, such as the one described in this project later. But perhaps this is a misconception on my part, or perhaps the leaning of my own personality to want to hold on to as many options as possible until I've explored the possibilities.

My fear with this project is that by taking a photo that is underexposed from the get go I would be giving up information I could capture and then selectively discard later AND that I might be at greater risk for introducing NOISE to the photo. I won't attempt a long or accurate definition of noise here, but just describe it as lighter colored or toned pixels in an area of the photo of darker pixels when the lighter toned pixels should not really be there. I want an image that has low noise just like I want a radio station to come in clearly on a tuner. Capturing a photo with the histogram shifted to the right might be like trying to get the station to come as clearly on a tuner and once it is adjusting the volume (down in this example to keep with the low key theme.) Capturing a photo with the histogram shifted to the left (underexposed) would seem to me like trying to adjust the voulme lower on a radio by using the tuning knob to gradually move the tuner from the strongest reception to weaker reception. Perhaps this is not a proper metaphor, but at present seems to capture how I am thinking about doing the project in the digital age vs doing it "the old fashioned way" by just underexposing from the moment of image capture.

Low Key Project #1

Minolta A1
1/13
f5.6
ISO 100
Yes, I used a tripod.

I took this photo with converting it to black and white in mind, and in particular with the idea of doing it as a low/key type of black and white with the range of tones going from black to grey rather than grey to white (high key) or black to white. Although I bracketed the exposure, my thought was to take a photo that was exposed as if it was normal or higher key with the histogram closer to the high end (right) of the scale rather than do a traditional low key photo where the histogram might be shifted to the low end (left). The reason for trying to do the low key photo as a post photo process was that I thought that I would retain as much information as possible in the photo and then have the flexibility to throw some of it away as I did the processing and try to get just the right look. Anyhow, my goal with this picture was to try to capture the dark tones of the decaying flowers, and create a brooding autumnal atmosphere. Let me know what you think!

Maple Up

Minolta A1
1/60
f3.2
ISO 100

Another color/b&w comparison. I think I like the b&w on this one better. It will be interesting to see how the Pentax renders these same subjects when I get the film developed.

Maple Down

Minolta A1
1/13
f2.8
ISO 100

I'm trying to develop an eye for black and white lately since I've loaded some Fuji Acros B&W film in my old Pentax K1000 in part inspired by not having the A1 for so long. So that is why I've posted the comparison above.

This was one of those pictures that I'm now wishing I had used a tripod for. Maybe I'm wishing that about all my photos. But in this case after about a week of rain the sun came out for about 15 minutes, and I bolted out to try to get a few pictures of the neighbor's maple tree. Given the conditions, lack of a tripod, and the fact that I used ISO 100 I'm very proud of my A1.

Rosemary

Minolta A1
1/60
f5.0
ISO 100
tripod

Blue Window #2

Minolta A1
1/250
f6.3
ISO 100
Adobe Lightroom cyanotype filter, and color saturation adjustments.

I think I've entered my blue phase.