There are a few things that are unusual about this post. First, it comes from the same file as a previous post. I rarely do that. Second, it is cropped unconventionally. What possessed me to eschew the 2:3 or 4:5 ratio? No one knows. Finally, it is heavily filtered. And I teach my students that we filter photo when the photo is substandard to begin with: we plaster over the flaws, so to speak. Thus, I discourage filtering. But I guess I don't always practice what a preach.
Nature
11-15-12 Juxtaposition
There is no inherent juxtaposition in this photo but if you put yesterday's photo next to this, you will no doubt see a bit of a contrast.
11-13-12 Green Growth
in Black Hills, Blog, Nature
Here's a macro of a patch of green lichen growing on a birch tree in the Black Hills.
11-10-12 Golden Grass
in Blog, Nature, South Dakota
Photographers call the hour just after sunrise and just before sunset the "golden hour." I think that prairie grass in late summer is inherently beautiful but the golden hour certainly flatters this patch of prairie grass.
11-04-12 Deep Woods
in Black Hills, Blog, Nature
Here's one I took a few years ago and which I found yesterday in a quest to find a photo to "operate" on. By operate I mean "to rescue from relative mediocrity by using cool software." (Try finding that alternate definition in your dictionary!)The software is onOne's new Perfect Photo Suite 7 and the subject is a mossy branch I discovered deep in the shadowy woods along Iron Creek a few miles away from our cabin in the Black Hills.
11-02-12 Revisiting Iron Creek
in Black Hills, Blog, Nature, Photography, South Dakota
My friend Jack H. asked me yesterday if teaching photography has helped make me a better photographer and he had barely finished the sentence when I said, "Yes." I then went on to say that in finding words to describe thought and physical processes that are the result of 10 years of fairly random reading/looking and endless practice based mainly on intuition has made me more aware of the complexities of finding, framing and capturing my subjects.Beyond that, I am much more sophisticated in how I use software. And this photo is an example. Frankly, I have posted a nearly identical shot of this place in this blog already. The difference is that I was "playing" with software that I didn't have a few years ago and with processes like sharpening, white balance, saturation and contrast that I didn't have as of understanding as I do now.Is this a better photo? Maybe not. In fact, the casual observer may not even see what is "right" about this photo. I would like to think that my second year photo students would because I see clear evidence that they "get it": that they see and understand the 10,000 minute differences between the simple and the sublime.Here's the previous version:
10-31-12 Mysterious
Canon 5DIII 1/160s f/2.8 ISO320 200mm
10-26-12 Aspen
in Black Hills, Blog, Nature, South Dakota
Well, how about another golden aspen tree? This photo was taken a few years ago near Center Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
10-25-12 Variations On A Theme
It was on this day in 2009 that my mother died. And it was on the same date years before that that her mother and my grandmother died. So these roses are for Bernice and Ida. The "roses" are really the same rose with 4 different HDR treatments.
10-20-12 Change of Seasons
A victim of frost and cold, this hosta leaf, once green and white, is still beautiful in fall tones.Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/7.1 ISO640 100mm
10-12-12 Explosion
In an attempt to balance the rather dark and mysterious tree photo posted yesterday, I offer this flamboyant flower. If my mission were to photograph "happy," this is what I'd offer.Canon 5DII 1/320s f/7.1 ISO400 105mm
10-11-12 Mighty Oak
