Free Wallpaper Wednesday - Sultry Black and White

Download 16x9 Widescreen Format

This week's free wallpaper is a beautiful high key exposure of a sultry model in black and white. This wallpaper is provided in the standard 4x3 and widescreen 16x9 formats.

Download 4x3 Standard Format

Free Wallpaper Wednesday - Morning Sunrise

Download 16x9

This week's free Wallpaper is a landscape with Mt Hood, a Hot Air Balloon and a Windmill. There are two versions offered, one is a standard 4x3 for monitors (800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024) and the other is for 16x9 widescreen monitors (1600x900).

Download Standard 4x3

Free Wallpaper Wednesday - Classic Microphone

Download Standard 4x3

This week's free Wallpaper is a beautiful microphone. There are two versions offered, one is a standard 4x3 for monitors (800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024) and the other is for 16x9 widescreen monitors (1600x900).

Download 16x9

The Same; Yet Completely Different

A few weeks ago I posted a stark black and white version of this image. Here is a softer warmer yet equally powerful version of the same image. The difference in processing makes a huge difference in the image. Which is your favorite version and why?

Winter Wonderland

Triptych 

Restrictions

We have been blessed for the last two week of being stuck in a temperature inversion. What is a temperature inversion? I do not know exactly except that there is a high pressure system hovering above us.

I do know what this means, fog. Lots of wintry cold and fog is what temperature is to a photographer.

Things have been a little crazy for me since about November and I haven't been able to get out much. But now that I have things in my personal life straightened out I have the energy and desire to get out and shoot and the timing has been perfect. The fog creates a mood that can't be recreated and the cold adds a weight to the air that can't be mistaken.  Using black and white conversions are truly perfect for winter-like scenes.

Orchard

I hope you have enjoyed the series. More will be coming in the coming weeks.

Winter Landscapes

A Road Divided

Beauty in Black and White

Winter landscapes can be difficult to capture properly. One of my keys to successful winterscapes is stark beauty and mood.

Stark beauty can be brought out in hard light black and white processing. Since a wintry landscape tends to be monochromatic naturally, for the most part, removing what color might remain from the image is a benefit.

Strong light and shadows adds to the natural hardness to the beauty of the scene.

Flat Light Is Not Flattering

In the image on the left, the natural color was left intact because of the nature of the natural light and color tones. Cool blues and purples in the sky contrasting with the warm yellows of the dead grasses add to the sense of death and cold in a scene where the leafless trees are stripped of any sense of life.

The color works because the scene naturally lends itself to the use of color. If there had been a sign of life, green grass, red or orange leaves in the trees color would not have worked for the intent behind the image.

Winter's Gloom

Above, in Winter's Gloom, the grass was still slightly green, therefore I choose a black and white conversion to enhance the gloom of scene.

Against the stark contrast of natural radiance in the gradient gray sky, the subdued yellows work in the scene to enhance the appearance of a land incapable of supporting life.

Winter is full of opportunity in a beauty that cannot be found during any other time of year. From Spring through Autumn, foliage provides a skin that hides the inner soul of scenes like these. Only winter can tear away the skin and expose the bones, the guts and the soul of the stark raw beauty of our world.

Only winter can expose us to the truth of what hides beneath the visible surface. What might you find in your wintry seasons?

Getting the most out of winter

 

Spinning Umbrella

Winter in the Northwest can bring so many unique opportunities that aren't as readily available during other seasons.

Leaves have fallen away, exposing the forests for their natural beauty. Overcast skies create the best possible natural softbox for diffusing light. Finally, rain creates natural textures, reflections and patterns.

Rising Waters

It is easy to complain about the weather, but if one embraces the beauty that all weather brings it becomes easy to appreciate and even look forward to the rain, the sun, the snow, the wind and even the gray skies.

The key to shooting winter is to prepare yourself and your gear.

Sunken Dock

Rain on Blue

Preparing Yourself:

• Dress in layers
• Wear a raincoat
• Protect your feet
• Wear a hat
• Bring an umbrella

Skyward

Prepare Your Equipment:

• Use a raincoat - You don't have to buy a $30 camera rain covering. I use recycles plastic grocery bags and dollar store hair ties. Poke a small hole in the bottom of the bag, push the lens through and seal it with the hair tie. You now have a raincoat for your camera that cost you maybe $0.11. 
• Keep your lens cap on until you shoot.
• Keep your lens point away from rain whenever possible.
• Use a plastic garbage bag to for your camera bag or backpack.

Stark Winter

Harsh Winter

With a little preparation and even less money you can still go out when the weather less than ideal or savory.

No excuses. Now GOYAS.

Wet path

Reflection

Fall in Oregon

Water Collection

Fall Flowers

Oregon is a pretty special place, not too many people can argue that. This is especially true in the Willamette Valley. One of the unique features of a Willamette Valley Fall is that as the trees change their colors, flowers are still bloom. This is pretty unique. Most of the rest of the nation is experiencing vibrant colors uniformly in the trees while Oregon's trees struggle through their color change. One tree will be in full color while the tree next to it, a mere ten feet away, will still be green. Then the when the unchanged tree starts changing the tree next to it is bare, it's leaves laying dead and brown on the ground.

This is due to the unique nature of our weather. Our uneven weather patters of cool to warm to cool to warm leave our trees confused. But this weather pattern also allows some flowers to hang on longer than others. The rest of the country gets their cold snap and it remains cold hence Vermont's hillside's of colors.

Extended Work Season for Bees

With the extended blooming season for flowers comes an extended work season for bees.

Bees are busy harvesting all of the nectar they can before fall sets in hard and fast and they are forced to spend the rest of their lives in their hive.

This time of year allows for some of the best photographic opportunities for flowers because the backgrounds are not polluted with color from other flowers. This allows for simple backgrounds and better isolation of the subject.

Now, this is not a proclamation that flowers are everywhere. You will need to look at specific locations, like private gardens, like the one behind the Sparks Center at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

If the garden is privately owned, make sure to get permission before entering the garden.

Water Drop

Isolation

Non-Uniform Water Collection

Due to the nature of Oregon's trees, specifically trees in the Willamette Valley, to not typically change colors uniformly, it makes it difficult to find those Vermont like landscapes.

Now you can head into the mountains to find those scenes. I have seen many amazing fall color photographs from my friends who make an annual trip up to Clear Lake in the Cascade Mountains, but this isn't all that local. The other choice is to figure out how to make due with what is available.

This leads me to stop looking up, and turn my eyes down.

I began noticing an odd pattern in the nature of things. Rain drops were collecting on a sporadic few leaves while the other leaves were simply, evenly, wet. This fascinated me. I am currently on a quest to figure out why this happens which might mean I have to learn about fallen leaves and the properties of their textures, hydrodynamics and possibly magic. I wonder if David Copperfield is available for a consult.

Black and White Fall

Muted Fall

Water Drops

Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year for a photographer. Understanding how to get the most out of your region, is the key to being successful in your photographic quest. I hope your fall provides you all the great opportunities you are looking for.

Untitled

Veins

Split

Decay

Reaching

Isolated

Paths