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I won't say much about this photo though I will suggest that this is an example of HDR (high dynamic range) photography doing what it is supposed to do: allow the camera to render the complete tonality of a scene that varies from very dark to very bright.
Like yesterday's post, I have a colored version of this but I prefer the black and white version, in part because the other Utah capitol photo I have posted is black and white, too.
Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/6.3 ISO400 24mm
Why take a perfectly good colored, fall foliage photo and turn it into an antique-looking sepia-toned print? I guess I was playing. And I am more interested in having you see the incredible symmetry of nature than I am about have you see the bright color.
Canon 5DIII 1/200s f/3.5 ISO400 100mm
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I spent about two hours on Antelope Island on my recent visit to Antelope Island. I've already commented about my general experience there so I guess I'll keep this post simple: this is native grass, backlit by sun framing part of the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch mountains in the background.
Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/18.0 ISO320 100mm
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When I walked into the Utah State Capitol building at 8am a couple days ago, I didn't know what to expect. It was, of course, architecturally impressive. But I was even more impressed by the fact that I had the place to myself. The dominant feature of the interior of the capitol is the white and gray marble that decorates it and though this photo started out in full color, I chose black and white to help you see this.
I'm not sure that perfectl symmetry results in "art" but my architectural interiors are often characterized by this. And I'll have to admit that I worked pretty hard at getting the two halves perfectly balanced in this scene.
Shame on me, incidentally, for not bringing a tripod on this trip. Shooting HDR series in marginal light is made much more hit and miss. I know that any photographer worth his/her salt works with one. Shooting HDR series in marginal light is difficult. From now on, I will try not to leave home without one. . .
Canon 5DIII 1/13s f/8.0 ISO1250 24mm
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During our recent stay in Salt Lake City we had a room with a view. I took several photos of the courthouse as seen from our room but I liked this one best, largely because of the way the strong sunlight helps light up the building against the distant cloud covered landscape. I walked over to visit the court house but it is much less ornate in the interior public spaces.
Canon 5DIII f/8.0 ISO125 100mm
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I am in Salt Lake City for a couple days and on my first morning, I drove north to Antelope Island State Park. Part of what intrigued me was the fact that the island was connected to land by a long causeway across part of the Great Lake Lake. It turns out that much of the water had evaporated and so I drove across flats of brownish white minerals.
Antelope Island was well worth the visit, partly because of the soft fall colors but largely because at this time of year, there are few visitors and so I felt like I was alone on this island. I also was lucky because there were fairly thin clouds covering the recently risen sun and that helped create strong, soft light. (Oxymoron?)
Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/11.0 ISO200 40mm
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I went looking for something that made me smile and this photo of father Brian holding daughter Glenyce upside down is the first thing I found. I used to hang him upside down when he was two feet tall and so Brian is obligated to continue the tradition. No children were harmed in the making of this photo. :-)
Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/5.6 ISO1600 32mm
In all of my travels, perhaps the most bizarre place I have ever visited is the Capuchin Crypt in Rome. I have no photos of my own of this place because photography is prohibited, but here's a photo that gives you a sense of the place. It has room after room decorated with the bones of deceased monks. Hanging in the crypt near the many skeletons is a plaque that reads: "What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be." That's a happy thought, isn't it?
When I see vast fields of withered sunflowers, I can't help but think of this plaque, because, to me, dried sunflowers look like withered skeletons hanging their heads. Like all flowers, they show their beauty and all too soon, they pass on. Just like us, I suppose. . .
Astute readers of this blog may be inclined to think that, combined with yesterday's post, I am on an existential kick. "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace" blah, blah, blah.
But don't worry. I am happy, well adjusted and I rarely recite somber soliloquies like Macbeth's. I'll try to find something bright and happy for tomorrow's post.
Canon 5DIII 1/640s f/4.0 ISO100 102mm
This blog rarely editorializes. But today's post could have existential meaning. Rather than merely documenting damage from a recent heavy snow fall in the Black Hills, am I saying something about life in general by posting a fallen, twisted twisty road sign? As with all art (if that's what this photo is) you'll have to impose you own experiences and sensibilities in an attempt to answer this question.
Canon 5DIII 1/100s f/5.0 ISO400 80mm
Anyone who knows this blog knows that I often repeat myself. I have not yet tried to re-invent myself as a photographer and, at my age and inclination, I'm not sure that it is possible. Or worthy.
So here I am again at Iron Creek. But today, when I made the trek from our family's cabin to this spot a few miles away, I found a flow of water unlike anything I have seen in the many years I have been photographing the stream. I am at our cabin right now to clean up several fallen trees on our property. There was a major winter storm three weeks ago that dumped 4' of wet snow on the Black Hills and that caused significant tree damage.
The Hills are a mess - it looks like a bomb went off. But the up side is that the snow melt has caused significant run-off. And thus, my trek to Iron Creek.
Astute observers will not doubt see that this photo is not quite, "real." And they would be right. This is actually 4 separate exposures combined in HDR Efex Pro 2.
I hope you like it.
Canon 5DIII 0.8s f/20.0 ISO100 40mm
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So it's been several days since I've posted a photo of our grand daughter, Glenyce Jane. So here you go. . . .
Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/4.0 ISO320 100mm
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My friend, Scott, may dispute my choice of the word "hope" in the title of this post. I have no idea if he was hopeful when he took his rod and reel out into the gentle surf at sunset on a perfect October evening along the Florida Gulf Coast.
I know he would rather catch fish than not when he casts. But I wonder if his fishing isn't sometimes like my photo hunting: it is often less about getting a photo that is a "keeper" than it is about the hunt for the photo.
Scott didn't catch anything of significance on this particular outing but he didn't seem too depressed when he came back to our room. He will live to fish another day. . . .
Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/2.8 ISO500 70mm