January 1, 2020 — Sonoma County Coast Sometimes you move back to express the essence. Sometimes you move in. (Nikon D500, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.1; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
Picking up from the December 31 post. But the storm wasn’t all Rothko. Something else was afoot with the weather. Maybe Mother Nature had been listening to Duke Ellington — as I have been recently — and misinterpreted Take the “A” Train as Take the A-Frame. Or something… I don’t know… (Nikon D850, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.1; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More seascape horizons: www.amagaphoto.com
December 29, 2019 — Sonoma Coast, Afternoon It would seem, six hours later, that Turner was on vacation and Rothko was working overtime. (Nikon D850, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.1; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More seascape horizons: www.amagaphoto.com
December 29, 2019 — Sonoma Coast In her comment on yesterday’s post, Margot pointed out to me that stormy weather brings me Turner, while calm weather brings me Rothko. Wise and helpful words. But Mother Nature works in wonderful and mysterious ways. In the morning, her storm brought me Rothko. Who am I to refuse? The afternoon? Well, stay tuned… (Nikon D850, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.1; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
January 18, 2019 — Sonoma County Coast Reduced to the essence: Look at a scene. Know what you like. Show that. (Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
I want to propose something. Here’s the background: Last week, as I was driving home from an appointment, I crested the pass above Fremont and got a view across the bay and beyond the Santa Cruz Mountains toward the west. It looked promising for some dramatic horizon seascapes. Because I always have my pocket camera with me, I drove straight to the coast. My expectations mounted during the nearly an hour-and-a-half drive, but when I […]
November 27, 2019 — San Mateo County Coast The storm was on its way out, heading east to make headlines. This was its last hurrah; clear sky was visible through the last squall. I’ve mentioned that many (most?) of my influences worked in paint, not pixels. Chief among them is JMW Turner. To me, his later work changed the world of art definitively — to me, he is the father of Impressionism. Toward the end […]
May 8, 2015. Devil’s Slide, near Pacifica, California / November 27, 2019. Silicon Valley. Devil’s Slide revisited. Again. I sat at the computer today, looking forward by looking back. The image whispered, “noir” and I went under its spell. I’d have been a fool not to. A strange image for Thanksgiving, but it it’s from a favorite shoot — for which I am thankful. And I am thankful to all who visit, follow, read, view, […]
October 11, 2019 — Seat 14 F, Somewhere Over Texas Rules exist for a reason. Rules are normally based on how things work, perhaps with a measure of caution dialed on for safety’s sake. It’s good to know the rules. It’s better still to know how things work. Following the rules without exception can lead to creative imprisonment. Knowing how and when to bend, break, or utterly ignore them altogether because you understand the underlying […]
November 10, 2019 — Wright’s Lake, California Whatever it is, it feels no pain and it never cries. It spends a lot of time reflecting. What do you do when you go out on your first shoot in several weeks and you’re not satisfied with your take? You crop ruthlessly and improvise in post-processing. (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.0; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. f/16, 4 seconds, ISO 64. Pan to the left. After a brief hiatus, one more. This is not too different from what originally emerged from the camera — but a bit reduced in vibrancy as a salute to Jerry and Robert who were somewhat minimalist themselves at times. Coming up on a year in the blogosphere. Thinking of a suitable celebration. Stay tuned… (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. f/16, 4 seconds, ISO 64. Pan to the left. This is the longest uninterrupted series I’ve done so far on this blog. Your comments have been interesting, informative, and gratifying. A number of people have asked in comments, email, and in person, to see a “before” image. I don’t usually like to discuss technique because I think it’s potentially limiting: I don’t want it to come off as “do […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Getting even later. Getting even darker. Still at f/10. Now 15 seconds at ISO 64. Pan to the left and back to the right with a twist. Luke’s mentor advised him to use the Force. My mentors have advised me to embrace and use the conditions before me. There were lights before me. (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Getting later. Getting darker. I opened up to f/10 to let in a little more light, and let it go for 10 seconds at ISO 64. Click. Slow pan to the left and back to the right. Clack. In dealing with abstracts, all of the hard-and-fast “rules” go out the window. The only consideration left in post-processing is “what do I want to show?” Something in the image suggests […]
September 7, 2019 — Lake Tahoe. Second evening. Five second exposure, f/16, ISO 64. Yesterday’s post was almost exactly what came out of the camera. A bit of color optimization, removing a tiny bit of extraneous light on the left, and a 16×9 crop. That was it. Today’s image, on the other hand, received extensive tweaking, first in DxO PhotoLab and then in Photoshop. Most of the work went into bringing out the subtle color […]
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