A couple more from the accidental B&W shoot, that are in color, due to using the program settings (landscape). I really, really like this shot of the snowy field and the road it the foreground. What appeals to me is its simplicity, lines, and the gradations in the color of the sky.


f/9, 1/200 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-100 (Landscape Program)
Post-processing: auto levels, contrast



This next shot is something new that I'm trying -- not composing the entire tree, but rather trying to capture some part of it that communicates its character.


f/7.1, 1/125 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-100 (Landscape Program)
Post-processing: auto levels, contrast, ink outlines filter

My absolute adoration of trees is well documented in my daily photoblog. I'm forever trying to capture their essence and their subliminity. In most past attemps, I try to capture the whole tree, thinking its beauty lies in whole form. But, my eye can take in the whole form as well as the intricate detail at the same time. When I look at the shots taken of the whole tree, they often fail to communicate what captivated me at the time.

Sometimes whole tree shots are good, however, because the form and line of an entire tree is wonderful, and like snowflakes, no two the same.

In Camera B&W

I actually did not mean to use the B&W, but I had been playing around with it earlier in the day, and did not realize that the setting stayed on after I turned off the camera.

I took some pictures in the landscape program mode, and those were in color, but when I used the aperuture priority, the b&w was in effect. I post-processed these, using the auto levels and contrast and really like the result. The only one that I did my normal darkening of highlights for is the woods (3rd shot).


f/4, 1/4000 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-400

f/29, 1/60 SEC, 65 MM, ISO-500

f/22, 1/25 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-800

f/22, 1/50 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400

Today I snapped some shots, in our yard and neighborhood, of our first snow. I probably should have done some thinking about settings, but I just set the aperture open in aperture priority mode and shot away. I like what I got just fine, nothing crazy good (by my current standards), but the real fun came in the post-processing. I used my favorites posterized and poster edges -- I just love that graphic look -- and I also used another standby, the combination of poster edges and posterize, it subdues the effects of posterizing a bit. There's a variable in the posterize effects, the number of channels. The default is 4, but raising it to five or six, reduces the effect a bit, by not combining so many colors.

I know the purists would probably object, but I enjoy giving my photos different looks. I love FX!!


f/3.5, 1/640 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: cropped



Post-processing: poster edges, then posterized (5 levels)

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f/3.5, 1/800 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: cropped, darken highlights



Post-processing: poster edges, then posterized (6 levels)

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f/3.5, 1/125 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: cropped, auto levels, contrast, color



Post-processing: poster edges, then posterized (6 channels)

Landscape vs. Portrait

Fully intending, after meandering and shooting for a while, to go home, I crested a hill and saw this alternate view of Red Barn 108. I passed it, deliberated, and then turned around and went back. I really should have driven the Jeep instead of the Caravan, considering the places that I was pulling over to get these shots. Next time, Jeep.

Unintentionally, I ended up with a landscape and portrait shot of each. I tend to shoot vertically, and I guess I was trying to make sure I tried both compositions.

Do you find you have a preference for horizontal or vertical shooting? I like the vertical composition best for all three of these sets below (not that I dislike the horizontal, it's a close call). which do you prefer?

For the first four shots, I was using the landscape program mode, and for the last two, I was shooting in aperture priority mode, wide open.


f/5.6, 1/100 SEC, 53 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: None


f/5.6, 1/80 SEC, 56 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: None

I also grabbed some shots of the cornfields.


f/6.3, 1/100 SEC, 60 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights


f/5.6, 1/80 SEC, 60 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, cropped

And, finally, I could not resist shooting up through these grass stalks to see what kind of shot it might create.


f/4.5, 1/1250 SEC, 53 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: None


f/3.5, 1/1600 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: None

The Boys

After shooting Red Barn 108, and a quick stop at 7-Eleven, I dropped Equus at her barn, and took a few minutes to get some shots of her and her *boys*. (These are the kind of boys that you want your thirteen year old to hang out with!)

These animals move constantly! I switched to the sports setting, to try action program mode and caught some good ones.

Ugly

f/8, 1/80 SEC, 65 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: None

Tennessee and Lippy

f/3.5, 1/40 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, cropped

Bob

f/5, 1/80 SEC, 70 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, cropped

Tennessee

f/3.5, 1/100 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights

Boomer and Lippy

f/5.6, 1/40 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-200
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights

Lippy

f/5.6, 1/30 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, auto contrast

And more Lippy

f/8, 1/25 SEC, 35 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, cropped

It was my intent to head straight home from the barn, but I ended up stopping to shoot this small lake, and then discovered, further down the road, an alternate view of Red Barn 108.


f/5.6, 1/50 SEC, 56 MM, ISO-800
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, healthy boost in saturation, dry brush filter, cropped

Red Barn 108

I woke up early Sunday morning, to get out in the early dawn light. Sadly, I had to wake up my girl to go with me, since she needed to be dropped off at the barn for a horse show. We got out the door, both of us grumpy and needing caffeine. Surprisingly, she did not give me too hard a time as I took many, many shots of this barn. I'm calling it Red Barn 108, because I hope to shoot more red barns, and the road number is a way to identify it.

I'm pleased with the close shots, but the landscapes still have the problem of bright sky and dark foreground. I photoshopped it, into layers, but I am not happy with the result. Two things that I must try: first, AE lock, where I meter against the foreground, lock the exposure, and recompose the shot, and second, a graduated filter.





And here's the problem shot, below. I'm going to go back soon, and shoot it again, trying the AE lock. I actually don't dislike the shot, it's just that the sun was illuminating the barn, and I would like to capture that.



On another note, the sky was amazing.



And I got a cool tree shot when I crossed the road to get a different perspective on the barn. I love the cornfield and blue sky in the background.



From there, we headed to 7-Eleven for some blessed caffeine, and a donut for my girl as a thanks for not complaining about all the time she spent waiting in the car. Then we were off to the her barn, for the horse show that she was helping with. Of course, I had to take a few minutes to do some glamor shots of the horses...I ended up shooting all boys, I guess the mares were all off stuffing themselves with hay. : )

I had a dream the other night that I was shooting in this little park, from this exact perspective. Weird that photography has permeated my consciousness like that. I got up early and drove there the next morning. Of course, how could I not?


f/5.6, 1/50 SEC, 20 MM, ISO-100

Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, small increase in saturation, poster edges filter (I liked the way the poster edges darkened the lines of the tree branches against the sky.)

I ended up using a different shot on my 365 blog, one that I got after I had packed everything up and was driving out. I passed this other side of the park, saw the two benches and decided it was worth pulling everything back out to see what I could capture. I actually drove past it, and back around, before comitting to it. Now, I'm glad I did.


f/5.6, 1/30 SEC, 31 MM, ISO-200

Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, small increase in saturation, dry brush filter (I liked the way the dry brush simplified the lines and softened the foreground.)