View allAll Photos Tagged pixelshift
Perhaps the most conventional view of a bluebells woods - certainly the kind of image I had in mind before setting off. A handful of trees in a sea of grass and deep purple bluebells.
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A mixture of states of water - icicles frozen to the rock, one of the tributaries flowing around them on its way to the Moness Burn. Winter at its finest!
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"You're in the arms of an angel
May you find some comfort here"
From the Sarah McLachlan song "Angel", which is one of my all-time favorite songs; it's absolutely haunting in both music and lyrics.
Seemed like the perfect lyric complement to this beauty, the "Angel Oak" tree of Johns Island South Carolina. I've posted this tree before (see in comments below), but my daughters and I always make a pilgrimage to go see her when we are in the Charleston area. Ideally I would have had one or both of them in the image hugging her, but that's not allowed (understandably). Somehow, spending time among these old trees is every bit as soothing and comforting as the cool ocean breeze blowing in, and all the nagging worries fly away, at least for a moment. The miracle of life on this planet never ceases to amaze me. I'm taking long overdue steps to change my lifestyle somewhat to reduce my impact. It's not enough, but better than not trying.
Angel Oak is a Southern Live Oak tree, thought to be between 400 and 500 years old (exact age disputed and difficult to calculate). It's incredible branch structure provides a magnificent canopy covering over 17,000 square feet. I have a thing for trees, they are one of my favorite photo subjects and I've always wanted to take a second shot of this one from a different angle. This angle is only slightly different than the previous but it seemed to highlight the incredible branching slightly better, however, I feel like it's a slightly odd comp at first glance because the tree's not centered. I'm actually not sure which I prefer, but regardless the early morning light on the leaves was quite glorious. Unfortunately this tree is surrounded by ropes and signs and backed by a fence. I tried hard to remove as much of that clutter as I could with Photoshop but it's nearly impossible to remove the fence non-destructively, so I focused on removing the posts which were more visually annoying.
It's been a long and somewhat trying summer for my family, and as such I haven't had much chance to get out and take pictures, nor even to keep up on Flickr. I'm trying to catch up on the great photos y'all have been posting, so if I've missed commenting on some of yours I apologize. Looking forward to getting back to more regular photography in the fall.
A solo red poppy blooms in the middle of the Lavender fields of the Valensole plateau in Provence. I caught the TGV from Paris following a busy week of meetings to enjoy an afternoon and evening in the Lavender fields of southern France before flying home the next day. It was a tiny bit early, but I'm glad I took the chance because there were several fields that had bloomed enough to give a good sense of that beautiful purple color. The ideal time is probably last few days of June and first few days of July. However, the crowds must be pretty tedious at that time. There were certainly a few flower peepers out there already, but the hordes had not yet descended en masse. Couple that with the extreme heat that most of Europe is now experiencing and I'm quite happy to have been there when I did. It is such a beautiful area, and of course the Lavender fields have been popularized to such a high degree over the years that all the photos start to look the same. I tried to find some different comps, but sadly none played out as well as the tried-and-true.
PS. Some behind-the-scenes notes. I would have liked to bring the poppies a little bit more front and center but there's like a dozen people to my right just out of frame here, I couldn't move closer without getting in front of them (or behind them). I also used f20 aperture because I was shooting with telephoto and I wanted to get as much as possible in focus. I wouldn't normally do that and I had been trying to shoot different focus points at lower f-stop to do some focus stacking, but by this time I was rapidly running out of light and color and there were too many people walking around so I had to shoot quickly. Not ideal, but I don't think it worked out too badly.
On the editing side, there were some damned telephone wires going right behind that tree which I felt compelled to clone/heal out. It is a tedious process in Lightroom as LRs clone tool is not nearly as intelligent at blending as Photoshop. I should've used PS but I need to reinstall it, and I didn't feel like waiting and I thought it'd be easier to do in LR than it turned out to be. Finally, I took this image using Pentax's Pixel Shift, which Adobe only recently added support for in LR. I used to edit by bringing the pixel shift file into Raw Therapee to process and then move to LR. LR's pixel shift processing is not as good, so there are still some artifacts left here from moving leaves, etc. if you peep real close. I plan to run it back through RT and PS to do it right one of these days. This issue would affect Sony, Panasonic and other pixel shift implementations as well.
Quite a discovery: a lovely place in Angus, a secluded den below the main road through Arbirlot. Verdant trees casting dappled patterns of sunlight on the viaduct bridge brickwork; a waterfall (23ft in total) flowing merrily over andesite into sandstone rocks.
Prints available from the website: Kelly Den, Arbilot
Sunset at "the bridge" in Zion National Park looking down the Virgin River to the Watchman in late autumn. On a recent trip out west I flew in to Las Vegas to meet up with my friends Kevin Benedict and
Josh Krasner and head to Zion National Park for a few days of hiking and fall photography in one of the nation's most spectacular national parks. While we were blessed with wonderful hiking weather, it was generally not so awesome for photography, with the dreaded clear blue skies predicted for several days in a row. Including multiple attempts during this trip I've tried to shoot this scene probably 7 or 8 times with no success in the past (i.e., just clear blue sky and no sunset interest at all). Finally, on our second to last night in the park some clouds started to gather in the late afternoon, so we changed our plans and decided we'd give the Watchman shot one more try. As the sun started to go down and more color filled the sky, the old Battle Hymn of the Republic tune filled my head. I don't think there could be a more fitting song to go with this scene. But there's a [short] backstory to why this particular song stuck in my head on this lovely evening.
My trip started out with a flight in to Seattle and a drive up to the interior of British Columbia to visit my mother, who lives at the southern end of the beautiful Okanagan Valley. There are not a lot of radio stations along the way but I was able to get either NPR or CBC radio during most of the drive, and in one segment on NPR they were discussing the history of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. I won't go long in to the history but it is based on an old folk tune called "John Browns Body" from the late 1800s (the tune itself may go back even further - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hymn_of_the_Republic). I certainly remember versions of this song with alternative lyrics celebrating the destruction of the school and various permutations of revenge inflicted upon the teachers from my time as an elementary student. Apparently this was not limited to my school and seems to have been a pretty ubiquitous school yard chant (playgroundjungle.com/2010/09/mine-eyes-have-seen-the-glor...). I've never heard my kids sing it though, so likely it has been replaced by "Baby Shark" or some other new internet fad. In truth it was a pretty awful thing to sing about teachers so that might not be such a bad thing.
So, several days later as the evening sky blazed to life over the visual perfection that is the winding Virgin River valley in Zion NP, I felt positively triumphant as I stood on that bridge (along with 30 or so other photographers), and the words "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" echoed in my head.
A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
A feeling likely every single one of us can relate to right now! I am definitely feeling a bit antsy, particularly wanting to get back out and head out for multiple days exploring and photographing our wonderful natural world. However, looks like I need to content myself with the digital form only for now (together with some walks around the neighborhood). This was from a visit to Boardman Tree Farm in Oregon a few years ago. It was a popular stop for photographers in the fall to shoot the rows of aspen, but sadly it was sold and the last trees harvested and converted to farmland.
This particular crop was from a much larger pano I took (9 or 10 frames wide I think). I was just experimenting, and when I got it on the computer some of the most interesting symmetries got lost in the wider angle but cropping it down made it more pleasing and also made the "bars" at the end of this row visible. I thought that was an interesting little detail.
It has in fact been a delight for me to spend time with my family in recent weeks, and I feel in some ways like it's made up for at least a little bit of the time I missed traveling for the job when the girls were younger. I am realizing just how disruptive the constant business travel was, not just to me but to our whole family. We have a practice now of stating what we appreciate and are grateful for at dinner each night which I think has been helpful. I am extremely grateful for such a loving and wonderful family. They have kept a fantastic sense of humor and a warm and cooperative spirit in a time when it's easy to let anxiety consume one's emotions. I hope everyone is able to find some light and color in their lives right now.
Stay safe!
A more abstract shot from a trip down to the slot canyons in Arizona in January with Kevin Benedict. The fluidity, smoothness and fine lines in this sandstone wall look almost liquid, like an ocean wave captured in stone. Taken in Rattlesnake slot canyon near Lake Powell in Arizona. Rattlesnake is not nearly as crowded as the better known Upper and Lower Antelope canyons, and is only accessible via private tour. This gives lots more time for setting up photos and for finding different angles and unusual formations. Rattlesnake is more open than Antelope, so gets more direct sun. Fortunately, it was fairly overcast for most of this day allowing for more even lighting. Also a good place for horned Owl spotting (we saw a couple on this day). Apparently the rattlesnakes are not very commonly found in this canyon, but they are around. The Pentax Pixel Shift feature on the K-1 worked marvels in the slot canyons, allowing for very fine details. A couple of small highlights blown here which I didn't notice at the time, but oh well.
Some beautiful light reflecting off the steep canyon walls in the Wall Street section of Zion's Narrows. Second shot from a trip there with Kevin Benedict and
Josh Krasner back in November. The Narrows is a very popular trail so getting a shot without a horde of people in it is an exercise in patience. I tried to think of some use of "gold" that went with the Wall Street theme, and this is the (admittedly weak ass) best I could do after hours of puzzling. I think the old Puzzler has been Grinched by too much holiday cheer. However, it is tough to beat the incredible pure gold coloring in these walls and reflected in the water. I was as mesmerized by it as the miners of bygone days, and I couldn't be happier than traipsing miles through freezing cold water in search of the elusive golden image to bring home in digital nugget form.
Wishing a Happy New Year and fantastic 2020 to all.
EDIT: Rereading the text I realized I used the wrong 'hoard' (one sees a horde of people hoarding toilet paper these days)
I'm always impressed by the structure of landscape elements here - curves of bridge in the distance, the River Elliot flowing over rockery to one side in the mid-distance and the curve of rocks around the foreground.
I was less impressed by the litter - broken glass wine bottles, slices of bread, fizzy-fruit-cider cans, waste sandwich-filling plastic packets and airborn lucazade bottle flying overhead crashing into the river beside me, however.
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Continuing with the tree obsession... the well-known tunnel of Cypress trees at Point Reyes California is beautiful in any light, but I think at its best when shrouded in the fog that is so common on the headlands in late summer. Again, a subject I've photographed many times but never caught quite the right fog for my liking. I think this was my 5th or 6th time trying here, most of the previous times having either no fog at all or fog so dense I couldn't see more than 20 feet.
I've always loved the magnificent building at the end of the tunnel road, and I've long thought it was an old coast guard station, but that isn't quite right. It is in fact an old radio listening station (www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/kph_treetunnel.htm), and is open to visiting public with its world war II era equipment on display. These Monterey Cypress trees are of course a staple of the northern pacific coast, but this tree tunnel is a unique opportunity to see so many mature trees.
I always enjoy the drive up to Point Reyes from San Francisco, and had a few hours to kill in the morning before a flight back home. Since there was a lot of fog in the area I decided I'd head for the Marin Headlands at sunrise, hoping for the elusive shot of the Golden Gate poking through the fog. However, the fog layer on this day was too high up and too thick so the bridge was not visible, and so my backup plan was to keep on motoring up to Point Reyes and hope for the fog to be doing its thing around the cypress tunnel. Luckily I was rewarded this time! I'm a little bummed though because now I have less reason to do the drive, and I really do love this area. I'm guessing this won't be my last visit up here.
I have to add my personal thanks to Kevin Benedict for his (always) helpful suggestions on composition. I often let myself get distracted by small touches in a scene that I like and lose sight of what makes the image compelling for someone else, and having another set of eyes to set me straight is extremely valuable.
I thought it would be appropriate to go back to a more ice-themed photo for Christmas. From the trip Kevin and I took to Iceland back in March this year where we had the good fortune to get a guided ice cave tour with Blue Iceland - blueiceland.is, local experts on the Vatnajokull glacier and the ice caves that form within it each year, sculpted through the summer season by the glacial runoff. The caves are scouted in the fall and then usually open for guided tours only once they are frozen again. It is a fantastic other-worldly experience wandering underneath the ice, with the surfaces worn smooth and translucent, the colors ranging from deep grays and blacks to the stunning turquoise and aquamarine color when backlight by the sun. You can see the mouth of this particular cave had two main holes. Would have made for a spectacular sunset photo had there been anything but solid cloud. Still, we were fortunate even to have had access to the cave, which requires a 3-4km walk across the glacier. On this day the wind was calm and the temperature just a couple degrees below freezing. The next day the wind howled across the glacier at 75km/h which would have made it rather treacherous and unsafe.
A wonderful and Happy Holiday season to all!