A view of the Talkeetna River and miles of trees turning color. Mt. McKinley is sixty miles away. The trees seemed to turn color all at the same time. To see them from the air was very impressive.
Trees
4
Jun 10
The McKinley Range
25
May 10
North of Valdez Alaska
Fall color north of Valdez, Alaska. One of many unnamed rivers crossed by Highway 4 in Alaska.
22
Mar 10
Winter Country Road
This is the original of the black and white and cropped image from my previous post, a side road leading into a farm near Castroville, California. The previous crop excluded the concrete block and made the trees the focus, rather than the road.
19
Mar 10
Winter Clouds in Castroville
Photographers love unsettled weather. In Central Coast California, that is usually December through March when storms blow in from the Gulf of Alaska. Impending or clearing storms bring dramatic skies. I was driving along Blackie Road towards Castroville when I saw this side road leading up towards a farm. The bare trees and long shadows caught my attention. The scene was colorful with bright yellow mustard off to the right and shades of gray and purple in the clouds, but I was sure that black and white was the best choice. Converted to black and white with Nik Silver Efex Pro.
5
Mar 10
Polar Coordinates and a Sierra Meadow
I discussed the technique of Polar Coordinates in the last two posts and explained the process here. I began the previous posts with the distorted images followed by the original. I’m starting with the original in this post (scroll down for the distorted image.) This is one of my favorite shots, contrasting the fallen tree’s decay with the new life of the flowers. It was taken near Ten Mile stream in Kings Canyon National Park. The transformed image is quite different.
23
Feb 10
Oaks on a Ridge
Another image captured North of San Juan Bautista in San Benito County, California. I used a telephoto lens at 200 mm to bring the trees and clouds closer. The longer lens also helps find pleasing compositions by excluding unwanted elements in the scene. This image, and the others in this series, are five bracketed exposures blended together in Photomatix Pro.
16
Feb 10
Solitary Oak on Ridge
Photogrpah of a oak tree and cloud in San Benito County, California
As the storm cleared. patches of sun alternated with shadow. This lone oak on the top of the ridge was momentarily bathed in sunlight. Taken with a 200 mm telephoto lens in San Benito County, California.
15
Feb 10
Greens and Yellows in San Benito County
Green and yellow are the dominant colors in Central Coast California in February. The hills begin to show the saturated greens from the winter rains. Wild mustard appears along the highways and on the hillsides. Unsettled weather brings dramatic clouds as storm systems clear. I went to the hills above San Juan Bautista in San Benito County to look for oak trees on ridge tops. Large cumulus clouds were blowing through from the Pacific. I used a telephoto lens to isolate individual oaks with clouds in the background.