monochrome monday

City’s just a jungle; more games to play

Trapped in the heart of it, tryin' to get away

I was raised in the country, 

I been workin’ in the town

I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down

~ Bob Dylan

I don't typically take pictures of cars. Mostly, because I don't know how

to get a good shot of one.

But, this car.

It was a beauty.

Confirmed by the fact that everyone that walked by it - stopped. 

Walked around it.

And, pulled out their mobile devices to take a shot.

Including us.

I was initially captured by the interesting reflections.

There is even a little selfie in there.

I have no tips to provide on capturing this kind of subject.

I would gladly welcome any thoughts about shooting cars,

and more specifically, reflections on cars.

Keep shooting!

Stay out of trouble...unless it gets you the shot!

Fuji XT1 ISO 640 1/100 f/5.6 XF18-155mm (67mm EFL)

monochrome monday

Let the rain kiss you. 

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. 

Let the rain sing you a lullaby. 

~ Langston Hughes

Fuji XT1 ISO 250 1/100 f/4.5 XF18-155mm (67mm EFL)

monochrome monday

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves, otherwise we harden. 

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Introducing monochrome monday!

I've been processing many of my color images into black and white.

I think some images are stronger in monochrome,

as you can focus on the subject and not be distracted

by all the color...not that color is in any way bad.

Sometimes, you just want to create a no frills image.

Do you know what the above image is?

You might recognize this more easily.

I captured the above image in camera, rotated it, and processed it into black and white.

I like to rotate images like this.

It makes one think a bit about what they are really seeing.

Go out and tweak reality.

It's easy enough to revert to normal if you really want to!

Fuji XT1 ISO 400 f/6.4 1/100 sec XF18-55mm (48mm EFL)

destiny

As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, 

we will continue to grow. 

We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. 

It happens in its own time. 

~ Denis Waitley

I had a vision when I saw this tulip.

I wanted to isolate the bloom and the leaf on the left from the

remainder of the image. I didn't have a macro lens with me and figured

I would have to do some creative cropping.

In post, I played around with NIK Silver Efex Pro2 (now available for free).

I was able to process this color image to the tight image of just the leaf and flower

that I originally envisioned.

I think the preset underexposes the image a great deal so only the very light areas show.

By altering some of the color filters (blue) I was able to isolate the bloom and leaf

even more. Strong vignetting may also be a part of the preset in order to bring attention

to the center of the image.

I did not expect that a preset for black and white processing

could so radically change this image.

I can still be surprised!

Love that.

This plug-in collection is powerful and empowering.

You don't have to settle for just clicking on a preset,

and letting the software determine your image's destiny.

You can further adjust your image globally, or selectively.

You can tease apart what elements changed the image the most (exposure, vignette, filter),

and apply these concepts manually to your images in photoshop or lightroom.

Play.

Make it your own.

Make it your vision.

Give your image the destiny it deserves.

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/5.6 1/500 sec XF18-55mm (69mm EFL)

elements

The three great elemental sounds in nature are 

the sound of rain, 

the sound of wind in a primeval wood, 

and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. 

~ Henry Beston

We spent the night at the coast this past weekend.I love the ocean.

I don't think I could ever live in a state that didn't have the ocean on one of its borders.

Not ever.

We went to the South Jetty in the Ft. Stevens State Park.

I love this location.

We were hoping for a nice sunset, but this is the best we got.

So, what do you do when expectations aren't met?

With landscape photography it's a bit more disappointing as you have traveled

a distance to be at a particular place at a certain time for the 'party',

but mother nature didn't get the invitation.

Don't cry. It's all good.

First, just enjoy the place you've found yourself...free of expectations.

Second, if you're intent on making a picture, there is always something to photograph.

Readjust your 'sights' and look around with new eyes.

You'll see something. 

Maybe even something better than what you were planning to capture in the first place!

Regarding the top image: I loved the vantage point

we had after climbing onto the rocks.

We were inline with the dilapidated wooden trestle, rocks, and the water, rather than viewing them from above via the observation tower.

If you've been visiting the blog, you know I'm a fan of long exposure water photography.

For me, the contrast between the textures of the hard rocks and wood and the 

soft water worked to create an intriguing compositional element.

I realized in researching elements of composition, that I had layers of the four 'elements'

in this image corresponding to:

Earth (rock), Wood (trestle), Water (sea), and Fire (sun).

I didn't think about this at the time I was making the image...maybe I did subconsciously...

In post-processing, I cropped out most of the sky except for the wee bit

of light at the top to provide context. 

Maybe I don't even need that...thoughts?

I do like the contrast between the warmer sky and cooler water, and keeping

the bit of sky in provides that contrast.

Below: An intact trestle near the Jetty.

Another favorite spot. We were able to walk all the way to the water's edge in the grasses.

I need to work this location more...we'll be back!

Let's round out the 'elements' theme of this post with a few links on 

elements of composition and strong imagery:

https://luminous-landscape.com/elements-principles-design/

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/photography-tips-12-elements-to-capture-that-winning-shot/

I especially liked this article:

http://www.photocascadia.com/blog/five-compositional-patterns-worth-finding-in-nature/#.VtMYqVKihdk

p.s. if you visit the jetty, be prepared for wind...it is always windy!

Bring plenty of microfibre cloths to dry off your lens/filters and glasses if you wear them...

the mist and splashes (yes, we were that close!) were unrelenting!

Carry a small water bottle, too...the sea spray is horribly sticky

on lens/filters/glasses.

inspiration

You can't wait for inspiration. 

You have to go after it with a club.

~ Jack London

I need a club.

On this evening I explored a different place about an hour from home.

I enjoy the water and the blue hour, 

so shooting long exposures at this time of day is always a good thing.

Exploring a new venue was interesting as the drive to the destination was different and

the location itself was great.

I've read that others also go to different places and at different times of day than usual. 

If you're a street photographer, for example, you'll see different people or different activity in the morning vs. late afternoon or mid-day.

Some people use different lenses and focal lengths than customary.

Some people pick a subject to shoot, such as 'red' or benches, etc. 

again, anything out of the ordinary to make you see differently.

I found my way to a new spot on this evening.

But, I might need that club tomorrow.

What about you,

what do you do to find inspiration and spark your creativity?

Fuji XT1 long exposures; small apertures XF18-135mm lens

choices

There are two primary choices in life: 

to accept conditions as they exist, 

or accept the responsibility for changing them.

~ Denis Waitley

Color or monochrome?

Sometimes the choice is easy.

Sometimes, not so much.

I was feeling a bit monochromatic on this day,
and the black and white image fit my mood better.
But, I also liked the color image.

It was a glorious February day and the color image was a perfect portrayal 

of the day and scene. 

I like monochrome because it accentuates the subject, and reduces the distraction caused by color. 
Some say you can see the soul of the subject when you shoot in black and white.

So, color or monochrome?

I don't believe there is a right or wrong when it comes to image processing...except regarding over sharpening (wrong) or swapping skies (also wrong)...but those things aside, how you process your image is personal.
You were there. You know what you saw and what you felt.
Your image is an echo of that moment.

Let your heart be your guide...it really is the perfect gps!

Remember,

if you save your original image with all the layers intact,

you can easily choose between monochrome and color 

as your mood and creative process dictate at some future date.

For me, I really like both of these images.
Usually I have a clear preference.
What about you, do you like one over the other?

Do you know what's more important than choosing how to process your images?

Yep! Shooting!!

Close down this blog post and go out and make pictures!

Do it now!

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/16 1/30 sec XF35mm (23.3mm EFL)

a rainy night

Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists 

between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach.

~ Earl Nightingale

Remember my comments recently about microfiber cloths being your BFF?

I forgot them on this night.

You can see the little rain spots on the image.

I kinda liked the mood and texture the rain spots added, but...

...it wasn't what I had intended.

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/11 14 sec XF18-55mm (42mm EFL)

autumn redux

I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine 

by staying in the house. 

So I have spent almost all the daylight hours 

in the open air. 

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

How about a 'Throw back Thursday' post on this rainy January day?!

I love photographing the St. John's bridge in Portland, OR. 

It is iconic.

Every fall I seek out a venue from Cathedral Park 
that showcases the bridge framed by fall leaves.

This image is from an afternoon of leaf peeping on my birthday in October 2015. 

I was in a different part of the park than prior years.

I think it pays to revisit the same area more than once.
I will go to this park several times every autumn just
to watch the leaves change and fall over time.
That's always a thrill for this dyed in the wool autumn girl!

More practically, you learn which perspectives work, and which ones don't.

After all these years, I was delighted to find a fresh point of view.

FujiXT1 ISO 640 f/8.0 1/100sec XF18-135mm (112mm EFL)

night notes

Most glorious night!

Thou wert not sent for slumber!

~ Lord Byron

I will never, ever tire of this view.

Night photography. Of the city. Down by the river.

Will. Never. Tire.

This particular night it was raining. 

I just can't seem to escape the rain these days...but that's another story.

I quickly took a few shots before the men on the dock moved out of the frame.

I think they were enjoying the view, too!

A few thoughts regarding night photography:

A tripod is a must for night shots.
You can never go wrong by using a tripod at any time of day.

A wired/remote shutter release is also a must.

A flashlight or other light source is helpful to see dials/settings. 

If you use the flash light mode in a mobile phone, make sure it is fully charged (don't ask how I know that!).

Pop an extra battery into your pocket.
If you use live view it eats up your battery life.
So do the long exposures, especially if you use long exposure noise reduction.
If a spare battery is in your pocket, you have easy access to it.
Change your battery at the first indication it is low in the camera.
You don't want it to poop out during a long exposure.

Microfiber cloths are your BFF, especially in the drizzle. Not only do lenses get wet,

but so do glasses!! And then all bets are off if you can't see to check your focus, etc.!

If it's dusk, an ND filter may prove useful to achieve long enough shutter speeds.

Another trick is to use multiple exposures at faster shutter speeds to get the silken water effect.

Dress warmly...it can get chilly when the sun goes down, even in summer. 

As always...just have fun!

In the end it doesn't matter if you get the shot or not if you enjoyed the process!

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/11 6 sec  XF35mm (53mm EFL)

structure

I prefer winter and fall, 

when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, 

the dead feeling of winter. 

Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.

~ Andrew Wyeth

I'm sure you know by now that I like to play with my images - pre capture and post.

I like to play in setting up small vignettes of still life scenes in unconventional ways, adding textures,

turning images upside down, and popping them into black and white.

This time I inverted the black and white so that black became white and vice versa.

Too fun.

I use black to white gradient maps to create my B&W images. There are many ways to turn a color image into B&W, this is one way and it seems to work fine. I create three layers of gradient maps (all black to white) with three different blending modes, Normal, Screen and Multiply. I adjust the opacity in the Screen and Multiply layers as needed and use a soft brush to adjust finer details on their respective layer masks.

For the top most image I did the normal B to W gradient, then I added two W to B gradients.

I was smitten.

I loved how the graphical elements stood out, and the different tones in the water popped.

It totally changed the feel of the image.

The original and B&W images are below...which of the three do you prefer?

I imagine a little goes a long way and I won't be doing this B&W inversion often.

But it was fun to play with it in this image.

This is the home of the Whimsical Pixel! ;)

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/2.8 1/40 sec  XF35mm (53mm EFL)

perception

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph 

can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, 

there is another in which it proves to us 

how little our eyes permit us to see.

~ Dorothea Lange

I wanted to change things up a bit when processing this image. 

I turned it 180 degrees and what were once branches reaching skyward,

became 'roots'.

I'm not a philosopher, so I will just leave it at that.

I like to process my images. Sometimes I do very little,

and sometimes I add textures and such.

 I like to see if there is another story to tell or another mood I can

evoke via processing that may not have been in the original image.

And sometimes, when I'm very lucky, the image SOOC is just what I wanted!

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/2.8 1/75 sec  XF35mm (53mm EFL)

possibilities

Everything that is possible demands to exist.

~ Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

The first image of 2016.

I'm thinking about how to mix it up this year.

Spark my creativity a bit.

I've been listening to some photography pod casts in which a 52-week project is discussed.

One picture per week for the year.
365 day projects are a bit more demanding

and can become a chore.
Not what you want when you want to spark creativity.
 Chores can the photographer to gravitate to taking

mindless images just to produce something and meet a deadline.

Versus a 52 week project.
A project with a fresh theme each week.

I don't think there are any rules other than 

making an image each week.

It seems like a doable project.

Quite possible in fact.

Happy 2016!!

FujiXT1 ISO 320 f/2.4 1/280 sec  XF60mm macro (90mm EFL)

beach day

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, 

I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, 

cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me 

that is bewildered and confused. 

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

A trip to the South Jetty in Fort Stevens State Park 

near Warrenton, OR yielded these images.

It was a rainy, rainy, and windy day.

I was soaked.

I was perched on a wooden viewing platform.

Everytime another person climbed onto it it would tremble.

Not good in the middle of a long exposure.

I waited. I restarted. I stopped. Repeat.

I felt my patience was rewarded with this shot.

On the drive home I rounded a corner and saw a pop of color in the sky.

I pulled over, took out my camera and tripod and quickly...

...very quickly...

set up the shot.

I got off two shots before the color in the sky was gone.

Luck is a huge part of getting any shot.

Luck in being in the right place at the right time.

Luck in having the camera ready and attached to the tripod.

Luck in having a large shoulder to park.

Luck and patience.

I can live with that. 

exploring

Travel makes one modest, 

you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. 

~ Gustave Flaubert

Another image from some autumn exploration.

This was taken on a hill above Yale Lake in Washington.

It was a glorious autumn day.

Beautiful for a drive with the camera in tow.

You never know what you might see.

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/16 1/40 sec XF18-55mm (83mm EFL)

home

We must make our homes 

centers of compassion and forgive endlessly.

~ Mother Teresa

We were out and about this past weekend chasing waterfalls and leaves.

I found a barn.

Extra points for it being red barn!

I was surprised this image turned out.
The face of the barn was in deep shadow and the sky and roof blown out.

Thank goodness for graduated filters in ACR. I was able to darken the sky and roof of the barn,

and retain the exposure of the barn face that was then easily corrected in CC2015.

I loved the bee boxes to the right of the barn!

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/5.6 1/150 sec XF18-135mm (135mm EFL)

more water works

In those vernal seasons of the year,

when the air is calm and pleasant,

it were an injury and sullenness against Nature

not to go out and see her riches,

and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth.

~ John Milton

Autumn is in the air!!

Today is the first official day of autumn!

Yay!!

To continue the 'water' theme, I give you waterfalls. These beauties are located

about 1 hour from where we live. It is a short walk to the falls in the upper image, and the

falls in the lower image were easily accessed from the side of the road.

I was lucky that there wasn't a full load of water running over, as it would

have created a sheet of white, and it would be difficult to get the correct exposure, and

it would block the beautiful rocky amphitheater visible behind the falls in the upper image.

I like the green moss on the rocks in the lower image; when there is a lot of water running over the rocks you wouldn't even know the rocks were there, let alone the beautiful moss.

I favor long exposures of moving water. I didn't have my large tripod for the top image, so did

my best to use a small, tabletop tripod. 

Lesson #1: Carry that tripod in with you. Better to have it and not use it, than to wish you had it!

Lesson #2: Bring boots! I missed my boots! I would've loved to have waded a bit into the water, 

and to follow the creek a bit. But be prudent...rocks are slippery!

Lesson #3: Carry a circular polarizer and a neutral density filter. Even though the area was "dark", I still needed both filters to allow the combination of a long shutter speed, low ISO, and small aperture I wanted. The CP allows you to cut glare, reduce light, and generate richer colors. 

Lesson #4: If you don't have a remote/wired shutter release, you can always use the 10 second timer on your camera to avoid camera shake when you deploy the shutter release.

Finally, always remember to have fun!! Whether your shots turn out or not doesn't matter.

First and foremost, enjoy your surroundings!

I get a little obsessed with capturing the shot, so I'm working hard to learn to enjoy the

place I'm at as the primary outcome of the adventure. 

Baby steps!

Happy Autumn!! Now turn off your computer, grab your camera, and go enjoy the season!

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/22 6 seconds (top)

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/18 4 seconds (bottom)

monday blues

There is no blue without yellow and without orange.

~ Vincent van Gogh

I've had a lapse in posting.

This is from earlier this summer.

The 4 mile long Astoria-Megler bridge during the blue hour.

Awesomeness in steel and light!

I used a small aperture, low ISO, and a 10-stop ND filter to set a long enough exposure

to achieve the silky look of the water. 

FujiXT1 ISO 200 f/16 50 seconds XF16mm 1.4 (EFL 24mm)

the next move

We must be willing to let go of the life we planned 

so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

~ Joseph Campbell

It took me a couple of times visiting this location to get the shot I wanted. It's not an award winning shot to be sure, but it is the best of what I took, and I was really just after the "message". 

It's a lesson I keep learning when photographing.

And rarely do you get a second chance at a subject.

Move. Move. Move before shooting.

Walk around your subject. 

View it high, view it low.

Light in front, side, or backlit.

And in the case of large subjects...find different vantage points for shooting!

This capture was a whim and an after thought. I had already taken my shots from along the edge of the river, and continued on my way. On the walk back, I passed the dock and thought to try to shoot from the vantage point of the dock ramp. I liked the composition of this shot better than the others.

When processed in monochrome, the white boat pops out from the background 

and draws your eye to it and its message. 

Did I get it right? Is your eye drawn to the boat and the message?

Fuji XT1 ISO 400 f/7.1 1/500 XF18-135mm (EFL 83mm) 

deeds

With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I came across these wonderful hay bales on my morning run. But, it was overcast.

Coming home that same evening, the sun was out and sunset was close at hand.

I did the only reasonable thing - I drove by the Bernet Farm to check out the hay bales.

I'm so glad I did.

Not only did I get some shots of the guys gathering the hay bales in their truck, 

I was able to capture the quickly disappearing light on the few bales remaining in the field.

15 minutes well spent.

Fuji XT1 ISO 250 f/8.0 1/80 18-135mm (88mm EFL)