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I derived with my family and friends from New York to Acadia National Park about 10 hours. There was new moon and weather forecast for this night was good. It was chance to get good dark sky.
While Mount Desert Island is not heavily populated and is remote, but some light pollution exists. So, some places in Acadia National Park are just with good dark sky. But some places are having amazing sky! Sand Beach, while just a 290-yard-long beach inlet between granite mountains, has a spectacular view of the night sky. On the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, this place has “Class 1” (out of 9) is absolutely, naturally dark — the darkest skies on Earth!
Such darkness sky in the Sand Beach can be attributed to two factors: location and park lighting. Newport cove protects the beach from most of the sky glow from major population centers on the island. The beach faces out to the dark open ocean. The surrounding topography blocks the line of sight from Bar Harbor city preventing residual sky glow. Park lighting were design to minimized light pollution.
The Sand Beach was good choice. The Galactic center region of the Milky Way casts obvious diffuse shadows on the ground. Airglow is readily apparent. The presence of Jupiter in the sky seems to degrade dark adaptation. Amazing sky!
Canon 60Da, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 25.0 sec; f/2.8; ISO 6400 - Panorama of 20 photos
While at a scenic overlook to the New River and namesake national park with a view looking to the southeast. I decided to take advantage of this high point overlook to capture a sweeping view looking across this river gorge and valley. I would use the river floating by as a leading line into the image. The hillsides and ridgelines would also act to channelize the setting. I decided to angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward to help also capture that sweeping view and minimize the overcast skies present that morning. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
Here is a Western Striped Whipsnake that I found in southcentral Idaho this past weekend while looking for horned lizards. This was shot with the Nikon Z 14-30mm F4 lens on the Z7. At 14mm there is some perspective distortion and the corners aren't as sharp as I would hope but I am still pleased with it overall. This image was imported with lightroom, exported to Topaz Noise AI to minimize noise and then imported into Luminar 4 for some quick edits to make the image pop.
I captured this image while walking and hiking along the Oberholtzer Trail in Voyageurs National Park. This view extends to the south-southeast with an overlook and opening beyond some nearby trees. In composing this image, I chose to angle my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward and bring the horizon higher into the image. I did that for a few reasons. One was to have more of a sweeping view looking across this grassy meadow. The other was to minimize what I felt was the more negative space of the overcast skies. Both helped to bring out this picturesque national park setting.
Three 5/16 inch diameter wooden cylinders shot from directly above on a white ceramic plate. Lighting to minimize shadow formation was a challenge and some shadows remains visible. Technically more involved than its black background alternate. Seems consistent with Vasanthi Balson's gallery examples, specifically the final image in Macro Mondays Discussion. Alternate image: flic.kr/p/2c4erqC
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A view looking to the east to the New River with the river valley and gorge while walking the Grandview Rim Trail in that part of the national park. My thinking in composing the image was to one minimize the overcast skies with low clouds and two create a more sweeping view across this national park landscape by angling my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward. In some ways, the river would be that leading line into the image. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/30957/gargoyles...
In architecture, and specifically in Gothic architecture, a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on a building to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastical animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is directed from the wall. When Gothic flying buttresses were used, aqueducts were sometimes cut into the buttress to divert water over the aisle walls
About Stirling Castle :
The Palace of Stirling Castle was built by King James V in the mid-sixteenth century. The King had just returned from France and wanted new accommodation to rival what he had seen on the Continent. This etching shows the view along the southern side of the Palace. Cameron concentrated on depicting the ornate façade with its tall grilled windows and grotesque carved figures. These Renaissance sculptures were probably carved by a Frenchman, and would have been an attempt by King James V to replicate the type of work that he has seen at Loches and Blois in France. Today the Palace is considered one of the finest Renaissance buildings in Scotland, and the sculptures are among the best examples of French stone carving in the country.
Decided to revisit the processing on this one years later. I like this better than my previous efforts. Original caption:
For years I have wanted to travel to Colorado for the fall. It’s been a dream that has never lined up with my schedule. I wanted to return in particular to this incredibly well known place in the valley of Maroon Creek where you can see these magnificent mountain peaks, The Maroon Bells. My last visit was 19 years ago. Maroon Peak’s 14,163 foot summit, flanked by North Maroon Peak’s 14,019 foot summit are a gorgeous sight framed up in a deep valley full of aspens and meadows and lakes. On the 4th day of my visit to the area I decided to check out the Bells for sunset. Traditionally this is a “sunrise location” for photographers because of the reflections from the lake and morning alpenglow on the peaks. On this day after little or no clouds some weather was rolling in. I elected to shoot from a place a little down the road from the popular lake to frame up aspens in the foreground and to minimize the chance of other people being in the shot. As a remote chance, I positioned a 5D mark III with the 24-70 2.8L II on a tripod with this view framed up hooked up to a lightning trigger. This storm was not producing a bunch of lightning. In fact, only 4 or 5 times did I hear thunder through the entire time I was there and I never once directly witnessed a bolt. I was keeping an ear open since I was essentially standing in a meadow away from trees all by myself! After shooting with my a7r through the sunset a little ways away, I returned and retrieved the 5D3. I saw that it had taken 3 frames but a quick glance at the tiny and I missed the frame you see here. I thought my remote chance of capturing a strike (a shot I thought of as a dream shot for the trip) had failed. Many days later when I returned home to download all my photos, I found this. I couldn’t have been more surprised by my luck. A lightning bolt scored a direct hit just off of the summit of Maroon Peak! This photo is a little less than 10 minutes after the sun had set, and the warm light from just after sunset was still backlighting the clouds and bands of rain that rained out photographers who were gathered around Maroon Lake just up the road. I didn’t think I would walk away with a unique photo from the Maroon Bells, one of the most photographed places I can think of, but just maybe I have.
An image captured along the Audubon Avenue inside Mammoth Cave in the national park. With this image, I wanted to capture the immense feel of the caves all around me in this giant canyon passage. I did my best to minimize some of the information exhibits around, but I also felt that was kind of important as it did give a sense of perspective that was really needed. A park ranger happen to be walking by, so I captured part of the shadowed image of her moving by me. I kind of felt that added to the perspective for this image too. While I was satisfied enough with the image, I decided to try another approach to post-processing and import the RAW/NEF image into Aurora HDR 2019 to see what it might produce. I found it brought out much richer and larger dynamic range to the image. I then exported a TIFF image to Capture NX2 where I was able to finish up for this final image.
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A Golden Glow of Sunshine
As the day draws to another end
Ripples across the blue waters of a lake
A dance that on this boundless stage
Moments of life seemingly slip away
But the world is not drowning
As I watch a kayaker glide along
Searching for a safe harbor perhaps
Or just savoring the warmth of the sunlight
So on this serene afternoon of daylight
I ask to share those thoughts,
Random as they seemingly are
Ripples, sunlight, and peaceful feelings.
Another work of short poetry or prose to complement the image captured one afternoon in Lassen Volcanic National Park while walking along the shoreline of Manzanita Lake (along the namesake loop trail). My focus while composing this image was the ripples across the lake waters. I decided to get down low and angle my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward so that I could capture a view sweeping view, looking across the ripples and waters. That would raise the horizon higher into the image and minimize what I felt was the more negative space of the blue skies above.
- Pablo Picasso.
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I don't recall when exactly I began to take an interest in the bridges of Yosemite Valley. Still, I have always felt that they would make excellent subjects to capture through photography, provided the lighting conditions were just right. Usually, when my family and I visit Yosemite, we focus on the more popular viewpoints, such as Valley View and Artist's Point. However, on our most recent trip, I had some free time during mid-day, which I spent photographing some of the gorgeous bridges within the park.
Fortunately, the low water levels of the Merced River meant that I had a lot of luck with it acting as a reflection pool in many locations. One spot where the reflections worked exceptionally well with the fall colors was the Pohono Bridge. My main challenge was timing my shots to avoid getting cars in the frame, as this is a busy part of the loop road. In terms of composition, my main goal was to minimize the amount of sky in the shots since the timing meant that the sky would be overexposed mainly due to the wide dynamic range of the scene.
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D_T%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D-g%C5%AB:
Nikkō Tōshō-gū (日光東照宮) is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in the nomination. Five of them are designated as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties.
Tōshō-gū is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was initially built in 1617, during the Edo period, while Ieyasu's son Hidetada was shōgun. It was enlarged during the time of the third shōgun, Iemitsu. Ieyasu is enshrined there, where his remains are also entombed. This shrine was built by Tokugawa retainer Tōdō Takatora.
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate carried out stately processions from Edo to the Nikkō Tōshō-gū along the Nikkō Kaidō. The shrine's annual spring and autumn festivals reenact these occasions, and are known as "processions of a thousand warriors". Cedar trees line the roadway, termed the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō.
Five structures at Nikkō Tōshō-gū are categorized as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties. Additionally, two swords in the possession of the shrine are National Treasures, and many other objects are Important Cultural Properties. Famous buildings at the Tōshō-gū include the richly decorated Yōmeimon (陽明門), a gate that is also known as "higurashi-no-mon". The latter name means that one could look at it until sundown, and not tire of seeing it. Carvings in deep relief, painted in rich colors, decorate the surface of the structure. The next gate is the karamon decorated with white ornaments. Located nearby is a woodcarving of a sleepy cat, "Nemuri-neko", attributed to Hidari Jingorō.
The stable of the shrine's sacred horses bears a carving of the three wise monkeys, who hear, speak and see no evil, a traditional symbol in Japanese culture that is derived from a quote in the Analects.
The original five-storey pagoda was donated by a daimyō in 1650, but it was burned down during a fire, and was rebuilt in 1818. Each storey represents an element–earth, water, fire, wind and aether (or void)–in ascending order. Inside the pagoda, a central shinbashira pillar hangs from chains[3] to minimize damage from earthquakes.
Hundreds of stone steps lead through the cryptomeria forest up to the grave of Ieyasu. A torii at the top bears calligraphy attributed to Emperor Go-Mizunoo. A bronze urn contains the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In 2008, Yuri Kawasaki became the first female Shinto priest ever to serve at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.
A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views of tufa formations and nearby plant-life in South Tufa area around Mono Lake. My thinking in composing this image was to zoom in with the focal length and have the plant-life and tufa formations fill the image from edge to edge. That would also help to minimize what I felt was a more negative space with the haze and smoke filled skies above.
Mono Lake-12
A setting looking to the east while taking in views across a sandy landscape with dune formations and wild grasses in Monahans Sandhills State Park. With this image, I decided to take advantage of the sun and the way it cast shadows across the landscape to my front. That added a relief and sense of scale to the image, I felt. The rest was just lining up the my SLR camera to minimize any artifacts across my lens from the sun, while metering to capture the brighter areas.
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Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D_T%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D-g%C5%AB:
Nikkō Tōshō-gū (日光東照宮) is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in the nomination. Five of them are designated as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties.
Tōshō-gū is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was initially built in 1617, during the Edo period, while Ieyasu's son Hidetada was shōgun. It was enlarged during the time of the third shōgun, Iemitsu. Ieyasu is enshrined there, where his remains are also entombed. This shrine was built by Tokugawa retainer Tōdō Takatora.
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate carried out stately processions from Edo to the Nikkō Tōshō-gū along the Nikkō Kaidō. The shrine's annual spring and autumn festivals reenact these occasions, and are known as "processions of a thousand warriors". Cedar trees line the roadway, termed the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō.
Five structures at Nikkō Tōshō-gū are categorized as National Treasures of Japan, and three more as Important Cultural Properties. Additionally, two swords in the possession of the shrine are National Treasures, and many other objects are Important Cultural Properties. Famous buildings at the Tōshō-gū include the richly decorated Yōmeimon (陽明門), a gate that is also known as "higurashi-no-mon". The latter name means that one could look at it until sundown, and not tire of seeing it. Carvings in deep relief, painted in rich colors, decorate the surface of the structure. The next gate is the karamon decorated with white ornaments. Located nearby is a woodcarving of a sleepy cat, "Nemuri-neko", attributed to Hidari Jingorō.
The stable of the shrine's sacred horses bears a carving of the three wise monkeys, who hear, speak and see no evil, a traditional symbol in Japanese culture that is derived from a quote in the Analects.
The original five-storey pagoda was donated by a daimyō in 1650, but it was burned down during a fire, and was rebuilt in 1818. Each storey represents an element–earth, water, fire, wind and aether (or void)–in ascending order. Inside the pagoda, a central shinbashira pillar hangs from chains[3] to minimize damage from earthquakes.
Hundreds of stone steps lead through the cryptomeria forest up to the grave of Ieyasu. A torii at the top bears calligraphy attributed to Emperor Go-Mizunoo. A bronze urn contains the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In 2008, Yuri Kawasaki became the first female Shinto priest ever to serve at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.
A view looking to the west while on a guided hike across some tundra. Given the mostly cloudy and overcast skies, I angled my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward to minimize what I felt was the more negative space in the skies above. This helped to bring out more of a grander scale to the mountains present with the distant view beyond.
It is amazing how dragonflies independently control the angle and speed of each wing to attain the swiftness and agility to hunt and catch other flying insects. They eat copious amounts of mosquitoes, flies, and midges. Older than dinosaurs, their polymer chitin mosaic wing structure has remained optimal and relatively unchanged over 300 million years. The intricate structure of dragonfly wings provides stiffness for support as well as flexibility to generate high aerodynamic lift while minimizing wing stress concentration.
Roma is a magical city, one of the most awesome in the world. There is so much history and so much to visit.
I've been lucky with this sunset, I was there just for one day to meet some friends and this was the sunset. :-)
But as always, you have to chase your own luck... I arrived at the train station a 19, with the sun setting at around 19:40. This spot is nearly 3.5km far from the station and I had to choose how to get there. Tough decision: take the metro on a busy friday evening (Rome isn't famous for his fast and efficient metropolitan network) and then walk for 1km or walking as fast as I could for the whole distance?
I had a last look at the sky (some nice clouds were starting to colour) and I quickly realized that I wanted to minimize risks to miss the sunset (planning is the most important aspect in landscape/cityscape photography), so I started walking with my 15kg backpack as fast as I could to get there in time. Race against time.
Roma is alive: people everywhere at every time. Isn't easy to walk fast on the most famous area, but I did my best and I managed to arrive just in time... I missed the first minutes of the nicest light, but I was able to capture the rest. :-)
Luca Libralato Photography • Photographic Workshops • Luca Libralato On Facebook
Around the Stella Lake of Great Basin National Park with a view looking to the south. My thought on composing this image was to use the lake itself as foreground leading up to the more distant evergreen forest and then mountainside. I decided to minimize much of the skies above as I felt the foreground was more interesting for the captured image. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 5 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
Our 3 month anniversary picture that I love so much makes me happy everyday!!
Instructions:
- Minimize all the windows.
- Don't clean up anything!
- Take a screenshot of your desktop and upload to Flickr.
- Post the instruccions with your picture.
idea from: www.flickr.com/photos/engiecortes/2907827264/
Original pic by : MasterDave Newman AKA Love Bug
Focus stack (25 images) shot with three off-camera strobes (Godox AD200Pro/XPro II L trigger). Flash A and B bare bulb, mounted on overhead boom, bounced off 32 inch white umbrella, Flash C behind velum scrim, above subject. White reflectors (24 x 32 inch) placed on either side of subject to minimize color cast in white mug.
Shot for 21 days Flickr Birthday Challenge Day 4 Doughnut
A view looking to the northeast from Southside Dr. With the overcast skies, I once again found myself minimizing the skies above and focusing on the amazing peaks all around me. I pulled back slightly from this view to include some nearby trees to use as a frame for the final image.
Through a break in some nearby trees while walking the Grandview Rim Trail. The view is looking to the east across the New River and national park to a more distant hillside and ridgeline with Backus Mountain in this part of the Appalachian Mountains. Rather than closing down on the aperture, I decided to take some steps back along the trail and then zoom in with the focal length into the setting to have more of the image in focus, from near to far. Given the overcast skies and low clouds present that day, I did more of the image composition to focus on the hillsides that channelized the river flowing by and minimizing the skies above.
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The alpenglow in morning is different than the afternoon
So some people mentioned while passing by on a hike
But then I had a chance to see a sight, a mountain in the haze
I saw the glow of sunshine across its peaks
And stood in wide wonder
I’ve now come to appreciate the alpine glow in the afternoon
And am so much better for the experience!
Another work of short poetry or prose to complement the image captured one afternoon while walking around the North Face Lodge area in Denali National Park & Preserve. The focus of this image was Denali and its peaks seemingly rising above a nearby ridgeline. I decided to angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward and capture some of the nearby tundra and trees. Denali would then be in the upper portion of the image, and I could minimize what I felt was more negative space with the blue skies. In someways, the layering of the terrain to my front gave a stepping stone type view to the image. The eyes would be led to the nearby trees with their colors of autumn starting to come out. Next would come the rise across the two ridge lines, with Denali rising above to complete the setting. I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation while playing around as I learned how to work with DxO PhotoLabs 3 that I’d recently purchased after moving away from Capture NX2.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, the U.S. military, fearful that the Japanese would land their troops on the Big Island’s shores, attempted to minimize landing options by bombing Honuapo Pier. There are a few pillars and cross beams missing.
While at the Peyto Lake Overlook along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park with a view looking to the north-northwest across the valley between the mountains present to my front. My thought on composing this image was to minimize the overcast skies present by angling my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward and creating this sweeping view cross this portion of the Icefields Parkway Peyto Lake would be the first thing noticed because of its turquoise blue waters but would lead the eye into the image with the mountain ranges on both sides.
Given the overcast skies present that morning, I attempted to meter an exposure to capture the most of the muted colors present and being able to include the details in the brighter portions of the overcast skies. I chose to work with Aurora HDR Pro to better bring that complete color setting in the image. I later exported a TIFF image to DxO PhotoLab 6 where I did some final adjustments with contrast, saturation and brightness for the final image.
While at the Keys View in Joshua Tree National Park with a view looking to the south-southeast across ridges and peaks of the Joshua Tree Ranges and Little San Bernardino Mountains. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of the layering present with the ridges. Far off in the distance is the Salton Sea, along with other points in the San Jacinto Mountains. I felt that angling my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward would help to bring out more of a sweeping view across this national park and southern California landscape, while also minimizing what I felt was a more negative space with the blue skies above.
Milky Way over Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness after rain, leaving behind filled pools and clear skies.
Composite images to provide sufficient detail to the ground and minimize noise:
Landscape: ISO100 f/8 60s
Sky: ISO3200 f/4 20s
While walking along the banks of the Merced River not far from a bridge crossing around the Fern Spring area with a view looking to the southeast. My thinking in composing this image was to capture the view of the river with trees lining both sides and having distant peaks and ridges of the Central Yosemite Sierras as a backdrop. The rest of the story behind this image is metering properly to minimize blowing any highlights from the sun while using some of the nearby trees to help filter some of the bright sunlight. I chose to initially work with Aurora HDR Pro to better bring that complete setting in the image, given the large dynamic range present. I later exported a TIFF image to DxO PhotoLab 5 where I did some final adjustments with contrast, saturation and brightness for the final image.
Swimming through doors
you know how to do it:
minimize fear
of the room beyond,
maximize panic of
the space in front
take a deep breath
think of the power
of anything small
and keyholes
will let you pass
and when asked:
why didn't you just
turn the key?
say just turning the key
isn't my way
to be free.
(Karo)
A view looking to the south to Cyclone Canyon while on the Confluence Overlook Trail. While I angled my Nikon SLR camera to minimize any flatten of the high points off in the distance, I decided to crop some of the nearby desert grassland to bring out a more panoramic feel for the final image.
At a roadside pullout along the main park road with a view looking to the northwest across Joshua Tree and other plant-life present in this part of Joshua Tree National Park. Snow was definitely starting to fall as one can see from the landscape and road itself. Normally I attempt to minimize including man-made objects like roads or people in my national park images, but here I felt it added as both a leading line as well as adding a layer to the foreground leading up to the more distant hillsides and rock formations.
Sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) begin to stir after a cold night in a frozen pond at Bosque del Apache. The pond is a safe haven from their predators. To minimize heat loss at night they retract one of their legs and tuck it into their feathers, and stick their heads into one of their wings. The surface water in this pond froze over night, so the first order of the day is to crack the ice so they can move their legs. They keep their core temperature warmer using counter-current heat exchange, with warm blood from the heart heating the cooler blood coming from the ice/water encased leg and feet, and by constricting blood flow to the extremities. Some of the birds taking flight a short time after this photo was taken still had rings of ice around one of their legs.
Here's my first Milky Way shot of 2021. This was captured on the evening of Friday, June 4th from Trayfoot Mountain Overlook in Shenandoah National Park at mile post 87. I had seen this old snag on previous drives and thought it might make for a fun foreground as the overlook looks out to the south and east.
The only downside is the Milky Way was rising right over the light dome of #charlottesville Virginia so the effects of light pollution are evident in the photo, although I've tried to minimize the impact through processing.
Specs:
Canon EOS 6D, Sigma EX 50mm lens, iOptron Skyguider Pro tracker for the sky shots. Aperture was set to F/3.2 for all shots.
12x60" tracked sky shots at ISO800 stacked and denoised with 12 dark frames, merged with a single untracked foreground shot of 120" at ISO1600. I used some dim light painting for the tree from my cell phone's flashlight to make it show up a little better.
The rock & water series continues. A splash of warm sunshine on a rocky outcrop contrasts with the rushing blue waters of a mountain creek. This was late in the day, after a long hike on a wild west coast beach with a couple of friends. Hiking back through the woods to our vehicle, we could glimpse the racing waters below us, and finally found a safe access point down the steep embankment.
I tried different compositions, both horizontal and vertical, from this spot, but the results were too busy with light and shadow. A confusion of shapes. Dappled light is a tough puzzle to solve. I loved the look of the rock, though, and eventually taking it out of context by getting as close as I could - and then cropping square - minimized the confusion.
This was December. Advantage of living in a temperate rain forest: it never gets cold enough for racing water like this to completely freeze over. There was ice in the puddles and quiet pools, but the creek babbled on, pouring through a channel carved long ago before emptying into the Salish Sea.
Photographed at Parkinson Creek in Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2010 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
A setting looking to the south-southeast while taking in views of a snowy landscape along the Hidden Valley Nature Trail in Joshua Tree National Park. This was another image captured where I liked the layering present with the foreground and it's snowy landscape leading up to the rock formation in the distance. I decided to minimize the overcast and overcast skies as I felt it really didn't add much to the image.
An interstellar experience in the remote Norwegian mountains.
Hardangervidda is a mountain plateau and the biggest national park in mainland Norway. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and one of Norway's largest glaciers.
Photographed from the central mt. Store Skrekken 1429moh. to minimize light pollution.
A setting looking up at a nearby tree and then beyond to the skies and sun shining above. This was while walking to the main area and exhibits at the Montezuma Castle National Monument. When I noticed the sun shining down through the trees, I recalled a friend giving me some advice on creating and bringing out more of a starburst look with the sun by closing down on the camera lens aperture. To minimize blowing any highlights present while still being able to bring out the more shadowed areas underneath the trees, I decided to work an angle that used the tree leaves to mask some of the sun’s brightness. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.
Die Buhnen bei Rantum auf Sylt sind charakteristische Holzbauwerke, die ins Meer ragen und parallel zueinander angeordnet sind. Sie dienten dem Küstenschutz und sollten die Strömung bremsen und die Sandabtragung minimieren. Die Szenerie ist geprägt von der malerischen Kombination aus dem weitläufigen Strand, der Nordsee und den sich im Takt der Gezeiten verändernden Buhnen. Auf dem Foto erscheinen die Buhnen in herbstlichem Licht bei sehr tief stehender Sonne.
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The groynes near Rantum on Sylt are characteristic wooden structures that protrude into the sea and are arranged parallel to each other. They served as coastal protection and were intended to slow down the current and minimize sand erosion. The scenery is characterized by the picturesque combination of the expansive beach, the North Sea and the groynes that change with the tides. In the photo, the groynes appear in autumnal light with the sun very low in the sky.
The Mallard, or Wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos[1]), probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical Americas, Europe, Asia, New Zealand (where it is currently the most common duck species), and Australia.
The male birds have a bright green head, while the female's is light brown. The Mallard lives in wetlands, eats water plants, and is gregarious. It is also migratory. The Mallard is the ancestor of all domestic ducks, and can interbreed with other species of genus Anas.[2] This interbreeding is causing rarer species of ducks to become genetically diluted.
The Mallard is 56–65 centimetres (22–26 in) long, has a wingspan of 81–98 centimetres (32–39 in), and weighs 0.9–1.2 kilograms (32–42 oz). The breeding male is unmistakable, with a bright green head, black rear end and a yellowish orange (can also contain some red) bill tipped with black (as opposed to the dark brown bill in females), and is also nature's most feared duck. The female Mallard is light brown, like most female dabbling ducks. However, both the female and male Mallards have distinct purple speculum edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest (though temporarily shed during the annual summer moult). In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage the drake becomes drab, looking more like the female, but still distinguishable by its yellow bill and reddish breast.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic Mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.
A noisy species, the male has a nasal call, the female has a "quack" stereotypically associated with ducks.[3]
The Mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimize heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare, as they lack external ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold.
This was after the sun set behind the mountains... sometimes the sky does crazy things. This is pretty much straight out of the camera and I just did everything I could to prevent the highlights from blowing out and to minimize oversaturation artifacts.
As I walked up to the shoreline at Mirror Lake just outside of Anchorage, I’d been drawn to the mountains all around with the sun slowly coming up that Saturday morning. It was a few seconds, maybe a minute, before I turned to the east and noticed this with the mountain and ridgeline and its reflections on the lake waters. Wow! So while composing the image was a matter of lining the mountain and reflections, metering the image required a lot more work, especially with the sun shining away. I knew I didn’t want to blow any highlights with the sun and that area. I also wanted to minimize light artifacts across my lens. And then there was the more shadowed areas and pulling out realistic colors. I found a spot I could meter the shutter speed and then let it be. I later worked with control points and color control points in Capture NX2 to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted. I then added a Foliage and Sunshine CEP filter to give that little bit extra for the final image.
An image idea I noted from another photographer before heading out on this trip to the Dakotas and Badlands National Park. By angling my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward, I felt I could minimize the overcast skies but also capture a more sweeping view across the prairie grasses to the yellow mounds and then badlands formation off in the distance. I later used a Pro Contrast and Skylight CEP filter in Capture NX2 for the final image to address what I felt was the more muted colors from the overcast skies above.