Monochrome Maple

Good Lord! It’s been over a month since I posted anything on Aware Writer. I don’t have any new images but that’s not an excuse. I poked about in my archives and found an image that I made a few years ago in our back yard.

Click on the photo to view larger image

This is a shot of a branch from a small Japanese maple. The original came from a roll of color transparency film, but I thought the photo would be better as monochrome so I converted it. I like the photo but never posted it because there was (please note past tense here) a nasty blown highlight and a few other smaller blown highlights (in the wrong places). I looked at the image again. Hey, I can fix that and I did.

The eye is drawn to lighter tones in a photo which is why the blown highlight (pure white with no texture) ruined the image. The picture came to life once I got rid of the distractions.

The image is peaceful with a kind of Zen feeling — I like it.

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More Textures

Here are a few more images from the same roll of film as last week.

This was taken at the entrance to the Ceres Nature Preserve one morning after a light snowfall the night before.

This is an image of a piece of fallen tree. The textures interested me so I took a picture. Nothing special here though.

Here’s a nicer image of fallen trees and texture with a dash of light thrown in.

The bottom two images were taken in Chestnut Branch Park on the 911 trail behind all the playing fields. The first was the frame before last week’s image and the second was the frame after.

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Layered Light & Texture

I went for a short walk in the woods in Chestnut Branch Park a few weeks ago. Of course I had one of my cameras with me. The day was bright and sunny. I took four pictures. This one is the winner.

I operate on instinct when I’m out taking pictures. I see things that interest me and when I’m in the zone, my design mind takes over and I snap a photo. Not to say I don’t move about framing and re-framing to get just the right image. That’s part of the fun of photography. How do I know when I’ve gotten it right and it’s time to press the shutter? I go by feel, I just “know” when to press the shutter.

This was one of those times when my knowing how to frame and when to press the shutter worked and I got a quality image.

I went for the light and got just what I wanted in this image. The lovely side lighting layers the light and brings out the textures of the tree stumps. My choice of focal length and aperture renders the foreground and background softly while the stumps are in sharp focus. This image pleases me.

My Nikon 8008s has become my workhorse for walk about shooting. I used an uncommon lens, the Nikon 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5 AF Zoom-Nikkor. This is one heavy lens but I love the focal length range, goes from wide-normal to moderate-tele in a single lens. Can’t fault the sharpness of this lens either.

When I want to travel lighter (most of the time) I mount my 35mm f/2.8 AF Nikkor, the only lens in my collection that I bought new.

Here we are, well into the digital age and I cling to my film cameras. I am not a Luddite who rants and raves about digital vs. film photography. I accumulated a nice collection of high quality film equipment that still works and since I’m retired with a fixed income, I use what I have because I don’t have the resources to match the level of quality with new digital equipment (and the necessary computer resources to go with a high end digital camera).

I thought about buying a mid-range digital camera a few weeks back, but even with a price reduction the camera alone costs $799. I compromised and bought two rolls of Kodak Ektar color print film instead for $9.98. Add $7.00 (round number) for processing each roll and my total comes to $24 (rounded again). I’ll load the Ektar into my flagship camera, my F3HP. I want to shoot a few rolls of color macros of flowers and other fun, fresh things. It’s Spring!!

Wow, I really ran off at the mouth here today. Take another look at today’s image. I’m happy with this one.

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Two More Pics From Ceres

Happy Easter. I finished off a roll of film today that I will process during the week. In the meantime, here are two images from the last roll of film that I shot and developed in Feb.

Whenever I go to Ceres and take the ridge trail, I pass by this collection of fallen trees, parts of trees, etc. I like the images and have probably taken dozens at this spot over the past few years. Here’s another.

I zoomed (with my feets) to get a different perspective on this one.

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Back to Ceres for a Quick Visit

I finally got out for a visit to Ceres and the woods a few weeks ago. There was a dusting of new snow on the ground and I was eager for a short hike. Here are a few images from that visit.

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Chestnut Branch Park: From My Archives II

I dipped into my archives again this week and pulled out a companion to the forest shot from two weeks back.

I’m terrible at taking notes so I don’t remember much about this shot. I’ve gotten into the habit of carrying my digital recorder everywhere I go now so the next time I’m out in the woods I’ll be sure to record my notes.

Here’s an alternate version of the photo I posted on Jan. 12. I used a bit of local contrast enhancement and pulled the brightness curve down and to the right which changed the contrast and gave me more shadow. I like this version better.

One of the reasons I develop my film in Diafine is that it scans so well and that’s mostly because film developed in Diafine has rich mid tones. The negatives look a bit grey but that’s a good thing. I always scan @ 16 bit which gives me plenty of room to expand and shape the curve to get the kind of shadows and highlights that I want.

Another reason for using Diafine is that the stuff lasts forever, is reusable, works over a wide temperature range and doesn’t need exact timing.

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Chestnut Branch Park: From My Archives

I am eager to get out into the woods again. I’m driving again so I will be getting out more often. Meanwhile, I raided my archives and pulled out a photo I took several years ago along the 911 trail in the back of Chestnut Branch Park.

The play of light and shadow brings me back for more and more. It’s never the same, one of the wonderful aspects of life — contrast and change.

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Light & Shadow at Play

I was out in my yard on a photo expedition a few years ago. My F3HP was loaded with Fuji Provia color transparency film and I wanted to try out my new Joby pod with my right angle finder. Of course my real motivation was the late afternoon light. It was wonderful, but I had to get down on my hands and knees to capture the image I wanted.

Click to enlarge

As I said, the original is a color slide. I’m reasonably sure I posted the color image at one time. I needed a new monochrome image for this week so I played, converting the color image to B&W. I like it better. Are you surprised?

I probably used my typical macro setup for the shot: F3HP, 75-150mm zoom lens with Nikon 3T close up lens. My right angle finder attachment made the low angle possible, and the shallow depth of field gives the background an ethereal feel.

I created this post using my new toy, ConnectedText. I’ll have more to say about this software later, after I’ve put some miles on and gained some experience.  The new software is loaded on my (new to me) ThinkPad I snagged on that auction site at the end of October for a mere $180 complete with Windows 7 Pro, shipping included. Yeah, I’m using Windows again. More fodder for a future blog post. Stay tuned.

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In the Forest at Ceres

I found an image that I had overlooked. It comes from the same roll of film,  two frames after the Sunlit Web image that I posted on October 21.

Deep shade in the Ceres forest

I remember that morning in the forest at Ceres Nature Preserve. The trees were in full leaf and it was dark in there, perfect for the lovely contrast of light and shadow. This image is one of the reasons I love monochrome photography.

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Stumped Again

I was stumped (ouch!) for an appropriate image when I remembered I had a few photos of a stump, all that remains of a large cherry tree we had to cut down a few years ago.

Click to enlarge

This pic and the one after are both from the same roll as the other shots I took in my yard. I used my Nikkor 35-135 AF lens for all the shots on the roll. I was zoomed in fairly close for this shot.

Click to enlarge

I zoomed out just a little for this one.

I should have more photos soon. I have 4 shots left on a roll of film. I had to wait until: 1) I had good subjects and 2) I remembered to ask Tracy to buy more distilled water. Well Thanksgiving is coming next week and Tracy bought me 2 gallons of distilled H20, a must for film developing.

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