whydangle

Thanks Tim, Jeff, Leo and Kallol!! Actually, there are many places along the coast that have this yesteryear appearance. Last year we vacationed in Bodega Bay (where the movie "The Birds" was filmed), and it was even more so. One thing about California is that you may expect it to be very hip and current, yet in my travels I have seen many "Americana" scenes throughout the state. Morro Bay is just one more example!

This is how a summer morning looks in Morro Bay. It was chilly and dank and my sister and I were loving it. As I write this, it is creeping up towards 100 in Bakersfield and I wish I could go right back to the cool coast. The blues have been pulled back from the RAW, so while it may look blue, it is probably closer to the original color temp, but perhaps mildly accentuated to provide some of the cooler mood that we experienced. I love these yesteryear scenes that can be found throughout California. Thanks for your thoughts!!

Perhaps "Tension and Serenity"? Or maybe not. Actually, I don't see any tension in that way, but I understand the observation. As far as the ladder, well that's just plain laziness. Go get yourself a couple of llamas and "get er done!". Really, Marc, this came out so good. This is magnificent!!

All of your digital paintings are no less than exceptional! This one's beyond that! I hope you are making some of these into framed prints for the pad!!

Zsolt....I think this may your finest work, at least in b&w. I don't know if I'm seeing frost on those smaller limbs, but it really separates them and gives the image an additional dimension, breaking up the strong vertical lines in a harmonious way. It visually dances because of that separation. Obviously the fog acts as an additional layering effect. These are really difficult to get right; I certainly struggle with this type of composition. Much of your recent work is truly exceptional, but this one is beyond exceptional. You've been working hard and your passion shows. This goes straight to my favorites!

Brian, this is a standout image and really should be on the first page. Very nice work!!

Lester, you've hit a home run with this fine work! Actually, I'm not one for minimalist photography, but this grabbed me immediately. Congrats!!

I can relate to that Jeff! I can't tell you how many times I have witnessed epic skies during the heart of the day, only to fizzle a half hour before the twilight light has a chance to paint them. Another meditative piece with all the qualities that make it so. I find my eyes wandering over this image and taking in the various elements. The faint water line in the sand, the strong graphic shape of the rock outcrop, the blurred water spilling back into the ocean, the soft water among the almost indistinct waves, the distant break on the jetty, and on and on. Simple, yet evocative. It's great to see you making pictures again, especially along this favorite haunt!!

My first though was IR, but you are in the southern hemisphere, so winter is in full throttle I guess. I think this is stunning, but I can see many not catching the subtle beauty. For me, it is superb all the way to the faint detail of trees in the distance and finally, to the heavy fog. Great catch Jeff!

Awesome presentation Leo! 

Thanks John! I just uploaded before having to run my daughter over to her music theatre. I didn't expect a look, much more a comment. I am running the paces on my new outfit (Canon 60D with the Tamron 18-270mm). The 15X Tamron zoom seems risky for a landscape shooter, but for the price and the quality, I'm impressed. One thing that a "edges of the day" shooter like myself has to iron out is how it will render a sunstar. Obviously it is a 7 blade aperture which produces 14 flares (or whatever they're called). These flares are narrow to wide quite a bit more than my Sigma lens, but I think stopping down to F22 should narrow them more (this was shot at F16). In this case, I was composing something else. As the sun emerged, I simply turned my camera into it, shot two bracketed exposures, and then resumed my other composition. After processing, I had to ask myself why I didn't hunker down on this shooting direction and spend more time with the possibilities. The backlit grasses always work well with these extreme lighting conditions. Luckily, there was no breeze, which enabled me to blend in some detail on the yucca bloom. One other thing that is immediately obvious; hardly any erratic flare. Finally, the Canon delivers amazing results all the way up to ISO 6400 with minimal noise. The conclusion is: I didn't waste my money and I don't expect any buyer's remorse regarding this setup. Thanks again for the comment!!

The only thing that comes to mind when I look at this is "Excellent"! Honestly, what more can I say!

Stupendous! A visual treat! High marks for this excellent landscape Enrico!!

Of the two compositions, this looks more natural in it's colors, the other looking too saturated. I actually think you could push the color a little in this one. If I were tweaking it, I would layer this one under the other and then set the other's layer opacity to about 25% to gain back some of that vividness. To be sure, this is a sweet photograph. My other observation is that the shadow detail is almost gone in the upper right. I wonder if you have a brighter exposure that could be blended in for more shadow detail? Excellent!!

Thanks Linda, A.K. and Stephen! I appreciate the feedback!

Thanks Vincenzo! Your point is well received. I knew after the shoot that a drop dead gorgeous sky was somewhat wasted on an uninspiring foreground. That is to say, uninspiring to most. Personally, I am very fond of highly detailed, grassy foregrounds that convey the nature of the foothill slopes of the Southern Sierra. I would have loved to come upon a grouping of rocks, but nothing could be found and the light wasn't going to wait for me. Though I find the grasses interesting, I also totally agree with you. This, for the most part, fails!!

Thanks Mike, Dominick, Leslie, Leo and Niki! I like to foray occasionally to keep me and my viewers on our toes. Thanks all!!

I've stepped up from the Pentax K10D (10 megapixels) to the Canon 60D (18 megapixels). I went with the Tamron 18-270 mm lens because I didn't think the kit lens would be as good. I have read many good things about the Tamron. The advancement in technology is amazing and alot of things have been introduced over the nearly 4 years that I have bee working with the Pentax and a single short range zoom. I feel adding equipment to solve photographic challenges may work, but it can be a costly strategy. My outfit has served me well over these years and I have discovered ways to work around the challenges. Still, it's time to move forward. One distinct benefit from the newer camera is the write time to the card. The old Pentax needed as much time to write to the card as it did to expose, therefore, a 30 second exposure essentially was a minute total. In essence, I could only take half as many photos and the duration of time allowed some great light to get away. The Canon 60D writes almost instantly, so 30 seconds is truly 30 seconds. Let me tell you, this is really significant for someone who shoots at the edges of the day. In this case, the image is a five frame pano. I made two exposures for each frame so I could later blend them for added dynamic range. The Pentax would have taken twice as long for this process, thus the chance that quality light would fade or clouds may move significantly during the process. No doubt, having almost 80% more resolution is another advantage for someone who enjoys making large prints. Even if I have to interpolate, it will mean much less interpolation and a print that is more like the original image file. All this technical stuff, however, will not make me a better photographer. Perhaps it could give me more confidence!

The composition is excellent. I can see the source (the waterfall) in the distance and then the result in the foreground, with nothing but green forest and rocks separating them. Because the connection is not visible, it creates a space between them, which implies depth. The bonus is the vertical trunks of trees occupying the upper right portion of the frame. The image conveys a constant wetness, thus a completely green landscape. Very nice work!!

I can see your inspiration! The elements are all very strong and the conditions and timing are excellent. Your blending is pretty good. You are giving the viewer a strong sense of being there. On the plausible side of things, however, I find the backlit driftwood surprisingly bright compared to the subdued luminosity of the sea stack. I like the orange glow on the inside of the hollow part of the log, but I think the balance of the log should represent itself at least a stop or two darker. This might enable you to bring back some of the clipped area of the clouds along the edge of the log. I am also distracted by the blurry detail of the sea stack. It looks as if you did so intentionally, yet the grain of the wood and the balance of the scene are tack sharp. I am offering my honest observations, which are to say I admire this spectacular scene and your effort and desire to present it, but perhaps some additional attention to details may enrich this beyond it's already sublime offering. Thanks Dejan for sharing and also for accepting my platitudes and criticisms!

To be sure, this is more accurately categorized as a macro, but since I am

predominately a landscape shooter, I prefer to maintain a single category

for my posts. I appreciate the feedback. Please view Larger!

I was thinking that the plural of stamen might just be stamen or possibly the more obvious choice, stamens. Indeed, stamens is one possibility, but stamina seems to be the more appropriate version. I stopped near Caliente on my way back from a sunrise shoot to shoot a landscape when I saw this flowering bush. I just recently purchased a new camera and lens and I have been trying to test them with the various potential uses. The lens is not labeled as a macro, but set at 270 mm, it's highest focal length, it should be able to produce something in that category. What seemed to work best was to focus on the very ends of the stamen and throw everything else out of focus. 6.3 is the largest possible aperture at that focal length, so while it is not so fast, it gave this just enough softness beyond the focal plane to render a painterly look. Try the Larger preview. Thanks for your impressions!