This small orchard near Watsonville was inundated from heavy winter rains. The little tree seemed sad surrounded by so much water. I liked the reflections of the clouds and the other trees. Five bracketed exposures blended together.
Posts Tagged: HDR
20
Feb 11
Favorite Images From 2010–Flooded Orchard
26
Mar 10
Daffodils in Winter
A row of Daffodils retreats into the distance. Five exposures blended together to create a High Dynamic Range image. Taken on Blackie Road above Castroville in North Monterey County, California.
23
Mar 10
Strawberry Fields Forever
These rows leading off into the distance will be planted in Strawberries this Spring. The yellow mustard in the distance and the dramatic clouds caught my attention. Beyond the mustard, the hill drops away to the Pacific beyond Castroville.
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.
12
Mar 10
McWay Falls at Waterfall Cove
I have driven Highway 1 through Big Sur for many years but had never found McWay Falls. I was aware that the falls were somewhere near Julia Pffeifer Burns State Park but, somehow, never made the connection until an afternoon in late February. I was astonished by the setting. The conditions were challenging for this photo, harsh midday light, but I shot 5 exposures a stop apart and blended them together to bring out he detail in the shadows.
McWay Falls: highly recommended!
9
Mar 10
Another View of Bixby Creek Bridge
The Bixby Creek ridge is 280 feet high and the main span measures 320 feet. This shot was taken a short walk up the Old Coast road which rejoins Highway 1 at the bridge. Before the bridge was finished in 1932, travel to Big Sur from Monterey was an arduous journey over rough roads and many ridges and valleys. I’m grateful that it is so much easier today.
8
Mar 10
Bixby Creek Bridge
This beautiful arching bridge is an icon of the California Central Coast. It may be familiar to many from its appearances in numerous automobile commercials. There is some historical information here.
I stopped for this shot on a bright and hazy day in late February. The winter rains have turned the hills green. I set the aperture to f/16 for more depth of field and shot 5 bracketed exposures and blended them together in Photomatix Pro 3.2.
19
Feb 10
Cumulus Cloud Detail
An HDR image of A cumulus cloud taken near San Juan Bautista, California. Five exposures bracketed 1 stop apart and blended together in PhotoMatix Pro.
9
Feb 10
HDR in the Lobby of the Mandalay Bay Resort
The interior of the Mandalay Bay Resort seems quite removed from the natural world, my normal photographic home. The marble, the grandeur, the illusion doesn’t attract me, but I wondered if I could capture the extreme range of light from the shadows in the plants to the overhead skylight and the reflections from the windows. I took five exposures, one stop apart, and blended them together with Photomatix Pro to create this High Dynamic Range image.