Postcard from Leavenworth – Iris in Bloom

Now, we are back in Leavenworth again, but this time in the Spring rather than the Autumn. This area is a treasure trove of photographic possibilities. In fact, this photo was shot about 75 feet from the autumn leaves photo in the last blog.

But, as you see, we moved the camera in close to capture the priceless beauty of this purple Iris. But, like all our photos shown so far in this series, we still have a foreground and a background…and in flower shots, the background is critical and must be selected with care, for it provides the frame for the flower. In this case, the green background worked perfectly. Many photographers who want to shoot a flower like this but don’t have a good background, will often place a black cloth behind the flower so all you see is the flower. Use any method you want but be aware that a good background behind a flower is absolutely essential.

Now, you will notice that much of this photo is out of focus. That is the price you pay for extreme close-ups. As you get closer, the depth of field diminishes to only a very small area, even using a small f-stop. And when you stop down the camera, your shutter speed slows down. That is why photos like this are best done with a tripod.

But short depth of field can also work in your behalf as you want the users eye to focus on the main subject. The eye will ignore the out-of-focus elements in the picture, but they still need to enhance the in-focus elements. Again, to get proper focus, work like this is best done with a tripod.

I did two other things to make this picture work better…I darkened the green grass behind the Iris, and I used a very soft white vignette filter to really bring the eye directly into this one iris flower, ignoring the the rest of the iris flower around it.

I hope you like this photo and that it gives you a taste of Spring that gets closer every day.

Postcard from the Cascades – A Little Closer

As we continue to drill down our photographic sujects to the realm of the close-up, we start leaving the need for a foreground, middle ground and background behind. In fact, in this picture of autumn leaves, there is only a foreground and a bit of background. Other autumn photos I’ve taken (some shown here), show only a single dimension.

But, when we do that, something other than depth must takes its place in order for the photo to be interesting. In this case, of course, it is a myriad of autumn colors and leaf shapes. In some respects, this is similar to an abstract painting…different colors defined by different shapes.

We are drawn into the picture by our own memories of autumn or wishful thinking that we would love to be in a colorful place like this sometime in our life. Believe me, this little island of beauty outside of Leavenworth, WA is a treasure trove of autumn colors. I have taken many a close-up photo in this small area.

As previously discussed, almost every photo I take in nature, my eyes are flooded by a plethora of beautiful things. It is up to me, the photographer, to drill down to the smallest area that will make the best photo. Practice this the next time you are outside anywhere…look at everything then keep your eyes moving in tighter and tighter to find a subject that might make an interesting photo. This exercise is given to students in beginning photo courses.

By the way, I am showing you here two photos of the same subject, treated differently in LightRoom and Photoshop. The first is the more natural photo and the second has been treated to yield a different emotion. I would be curious to know which you liked best and why.

Postcard from the Needles – In a Cave

Continuing on our journey to narrow in tighter on subjects with your camera, this photo was taken inside a rock cave in the Needles portion of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Two blogs ago, we started with a wide angle shot of the landscape surrounding Bryce Canyon, then moved in tighter to photograph Skyline Arch. Now we are even tighter with the lens, focusing on the inside of a cave.

Now, this is far from my best photo ever, but I still like it as it captures the feeling of being closed in by a cave. The subject is the cave itself, but it still has a foreground, a middle ground and a background. I like the background as you see a trail and the light leading you out of the dark cave. Walk into the light and you are free.

This photo may be as close as you get where a photograph helps you remember what it is was like to be in a place. From where I stood that day, there is nothing but the cave and the trail out. There is nothing to see or feel beyond that. And that is what you experience in the photo. When you leave the cave, you are overwhelmed by a cornucopia of sights and sounds that are impossible to capture with a camera.

So enjoy those small spaces wherever you find them.

Postcard from the Arches – A Little Closer

Last time, I wrote about taking the photographic wide view any given place…but qualified that with insisting that the photo must have some intrinsic value as art, rather than just a photograph.

Now, we are going to move in a little closer, to get a shot of something important in a given landscape. This photo was taken in the Arches National Park in Utah. I’ve shown you pictures from this place before. It is filled with subjects to shoot, mostly arches, of course. But anyone with a camera can photograph an arch. The trick is to make it more interesting.

I had to walk about 1/2 mile on a trail to get this shot. Realize that at this point I am surrounded by all kinds of natural things…small and medium size rocks, sand, trees, a large fin, and of course, and arch. I see all these things with my eyes and it is wonderful. My brain is flooded with images. But, as a photographer, I must choose a subject, focus down a little closer, then try to make it a more than a snapshot, but a work of art…hopefully.

The obvious choice of subject is the arch. But, to make it more interesting and give it depth, I search for the right spot to make a picture. I found it pretty quickly. I am fascinated by dead trees that have a haunting, ghostly quality. That is my foreground. The green Juniper tree and the other desert plants give me a middle ground. And of course, Skyline Arch is my background. As an added bonus, I have a cloudy blue sky for deep background and a trail leading from the lower right up into the center of the picture to give it additional depth.

All the elements combined provide my image with depth and character. The arch is still the subject of the photo, but your eye follows from the foreground to the arch. While no photograph can capture the sense of being in a special place like this, a well-composed image can provide some measure of satisfaction of having been there and satisfy one’s desire for beauty.

So, the lesson here to remember is when photographing a subject in nature, try to give it a foreground, a middle ground, and a background. The real subject of the photo can be placed in any one of these three places (in this case the arch is in the background). It isn’t always possible to do this, but it should be the first thing you ask yourself when you see a subject you wish to photograph…how can I give it depth and quality?

Postcard from Bryce – The Long View

Much of my landscape photography and painting focus on a small section of what my eyes see in a given location. In other words, my eyes see a great deal, but the goal is to drill down to only that portion of a scene that is interesting artistically, balanced compositionally, and beautiful to the eye. Once I find that sweet spot, I use the camera to set up the exact composition before clicking the shutter.

But sometimes, it is important to capture a larger view, not only for beauty, but for putting the entire area in perspective. In the case of this picture, the goal was to how Bryce relates to the rest of its surroundings. Most of the previous photos I’ve shown of Bryce Canyon focus on many of the park’s fascinating geological structures.

But this photograph, taken from high up on Inspiration Point, shows the heart of the canyon and enough of the surrounding land to give you a feel for all the land…thereby adding to the appreciation of the entire park.

It also helps to have beautiful light, some clouds, and some interesting surrounding landscape. This photo is better than most panoramic shots as it still captures not only the endless array of hoodoos, but also it captures some interesting light and clouds. If it were only a cloudless blue sky, I probably would not have shown you the photo as it would not be very interesting.

And, here is a tip for adding the sky to you photos…first some clouds are always nice, but more importantly never photograph 1/2 scenery and 1/2 sky. Very boring compositionally. Use either 3/4 landscape and 1/4 sky…OR 3/4 sky and 1/4 landscape. Remember that the next time you raise your camera to shoot a landscape.

Postcard from Yosemite - Ghosts

When I walk in familiar places, I feel the memories of old friends who were here with me…Some friends long since gone, some friends still here but gone from my life, and a few friends who remain.

When I walk without friends, the memories come alive. All taught me things. Many were life’s early lessons…others the meaning of true friendship that even death cannot end. How I miss these people.

Sometimes I wander into places shared with other friends and lovers. Many bring smiles to my face, other bring sadness, of what could have been, but isn’t. I miss those friends too. It’s as if they were dead.

When I walk this land alone, the past is still with me, but the place is without a memory. It is here providing happiness and new memories of beauty and art and a sense of being alive. The place does not change. It is beyond just being a place…it is a state of mind and soul. It is my foundation. No one or no event can take this place from me.

Postcard from Valley of the Goblins – More Rocks

I thought I was finished with Valley of the Goblins for now, but I had a couple of requests from readers to show a few more of the weird rocks that inhabit the basin. So, here are two more pictures.

Many of the rocks look like mushrooms, but there are so many others that defy description or categorization. As I walked through the basin, I recall I started assigning names to some of the rocks. I quickly ran out of mushroom names as I am not familiar with very many types of this edible fungus.

Then, I just started giving them names from the first thing that popped into my head. I mean you just have to give a rock a name as you take its portrait. Too bad I didn’t write them down.

One of these days I will post more rocks from this unique place on to my Web site.

Postcard from the Valley of the Goblins

Happy New Year to all my readers. Thanks for putting up with my extended vacation.

When we were last together, I was finishing up my stay at Capital Reef National Park. I only had one day left to explore before heading off to be with family and friends and to photograph a wedding. Having seen what I wanted to see at this location, I got out my friendly photographic guide book for Utah to look for one more new place to visit.

I found and interesting sounding state park called “Valley of the Goblins,” located about 60 miles north and east of my campsite…and that is where I decided to go.

I headed out fairly early in the morning, hoping to see some new, exciting things. Actually, until I got into the vicinity of the park, there was very little exciting to see, photographically speaking. It was an easy drive to Goblin Valley, although somewhat circuitous.

The Valley of the Goblins is definitely well named, although it is more of a basin than a valley. As you approach the parking lot, you see this strange rock formation off to the left (photo #1). I liken it to be a natural signpost, giving you some idea of the strange sights that lie ahead.

The parking lot sits above the basin and although there are a few trails to take, the signs in the parking lot encourage you to wander into the basin on your own, which is exactly what I did. You can’t get lost because it is a basin and you can always look up and see the parking lot.

The Valley of the Goblins can best be described as a refuge for some of the strangest rock formations ever seen. A good description comes from Wikipedia - “Its eminent feature is its thousands of hoodoos and hoodoo rocks, which are formations of mushroom-shaped rock pinnacles, some as high as several meters. The distinct shape of these rocks comes from an erosion-resistant layer of rock atop softer sandstone.”

What is not in Wikipedia is that the park is an extremely difficult to photograph. It must be done in the early to mid morning or late afternoon. The light in midday is overpowering making landscape shots almost impossible. As I was there in mid-morning, I hiked down and across the basin so the sun would be at my back for photography.

The rocks themselves are a very brownish red (more brown than red) and there really is no other colors, save for the blue of the sky. That is why I chose only one color photograph…the rest are in black and white as they are more attractive.

But all that aside, it is a fascinating place to explore and see all the different shaped rocks that nature has created here. You almost have the feeling you are on another planet (in fact, a sci-fi movie called Galaxy Quest was partially filmed here). No two rocks are the same, although some have similar shapes.

The other two photos show part of the basin as seen from the parking lot and one of the many strange-shaped rocks in the basin. Although this park is definitely out of the way, you might make a side trip to it if you are ever in the general vicinity.

I hoped you have enjoyed my traveler’s tales from my September trip into Northern Arizona and Southwest Utah. You will see more photos from this and other trip as I continue to share some of my on-going adventures with you.