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)

winter water

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

~ Joseph Campbell

We went exploring in the rain this past weekend.

We went to Beaver Creek Falls in Clatskanie, OR.

The water was running high and fast!!

Very different from our visit last September!

Looking back on my notes from back then,
I did have a tripod with me, but wished that I had an umbrella connected to the tripod this time.

I routinely carry a lot of microfiber cloths to dry off the camera and lens, 

and was very glad to have them!

A towel would've been nice. It was a soaker!

I did have boots in the car and, in fact, made a mid-day shoe change.

I had my cable release with me, so I was well prepared overall...except for the umbrella attachment. 

I visited Amazon to purchase one when I got home!

In the picture above, you can see the top of the falls depicted below.

You can also see how the bottom of the trail had been completely washed

out after recent flooding in the area. We couldn't get down to the bottom of the falls

and had to shoot from a different vantage point.

To add to the 4 lessons from last September:
Lesson #5: Always carry microfiber cloths (you can never have too many) for drying of your lens, 

and add a small hand towel for drying off your camera for really wet days or wet areas, e.g. waterfalls that spew a lot of spray!

Lesson #6: Carry boots and extra socks.

Lesson #7:  Carry an umbrella or other kind of protective 

wrap to protect your camera/tripod/self from rain and drizzle. If it isn't too windy and you
can attach the umbrella to your tripod, all the better!

Lesson #8: Use caution and be prudent when walking trails in the winter time. Damp moss and leaves are slippery. I used my tripod as a walking stick in some areas, but would've liked a true walking stick
to keep in the trunk and have available as necessary.

What items do you include in your everyday photo carry?

Canon 5DS R varied ISO and speeds 24-70mm f4/L IS

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)

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. 

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)