Today, in the United States, we celebrate Independence Day. It’s the anniversary of the day in 1776 when our forefathers said, “enough.” We declared ourselves independent of tyranny. We, as a culture, have been — and remain — fiercely independent. We carry that spirit of independence as a badge of honor. And we should. We fought hard for these values: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they […]
Camera movement, not by accident. (Nikon D850, Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
March 23, 2013. Filoli, near Woodside, California. I have not one single clue what kind of flower this is. But here it is. I made many attempts at doing this justice over the years and it wasn’t until three and half years later that I was satisfied. It kept calling me back till I finally got it right. It was its own muse. (Canon 7D; Canon EF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Zoom. RAW processing in […]
August 24, 2016. Parque e Palácio de Monserrate, near Sintra, Portugal. While exploring this magnificent park — where I could have easily spent days — I was captivated by a large, smooth succulent. I saw the picture immediately. I made several shots with minor variations in composition and depth of field and moved on to other botanical wonders. I didn’t think about it again until a couple of months later, back in California. Time being […]
May 13, 2012. Monterey, California. Shooting roses from the side opens the door to myriad possibilities. I was unaware of most of them when I shot this. Imagine my surprise when I checked focus a moment later, magnifying the image to 100%, and was faced with a visage that took me straight to the New Mexico desert with Georgia O’Keeffe by my side. I coined the word on the spot. A floral landscape. Florascape. This […]
September 1, 2018. Marin County Headlands, California. Standing on old gun emplacements that go back to the Spanish-American War. Sun going down. Fog rolling in. This one spent hours in post-processing. Not one pixel was left untouched. The perfect balance that I so clearly saw in my mind was eluding me in the file. But it came. It crept up on me very slowly. (Canon G7X II. RAW processing in DxO Pro; Editing in Adobe […]
December 24, 2017. The Sea Ranch, Sonoma Coast, California. Christmas Eve. A few hours before the previous post’s photo. The storm was coming in. The sky was threatening but the water was still flat calm. It all had a silvery glow that only winter can bestow. This is the essence. (Nikon D750; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO Pro; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More Fine-Art Photography at www.amagaphoto.com
December 24, 2017. The Sea Ranch, Sonoma Coast, California. Christmas Eve. It was a dark and stormy night. Actually, to get my tenses correct, it had been a dark and stormy night. Now it was clearing. Outside it was gray-black. Then a glint of orange. Then black. Inside it was toasty warm. (Nikon D750; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO Pro; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More Fine-Art Photography at www.amagaphoto.com
December 22, 2017. Sonoma County Coast, California. On our way to The Sea Ranch for Christmas. The Pacific was living up to its name. Pacific. Peaceful. Mirror flat. The sky was calm. The temperature was mild. All was right with the world. Waiting until the clouds lazily drifted into position, I clicked. I wanted the dreamy look that Nature suggested. I just helped her along a bit. Then in creative rapture I hit a wrong […]
May 8, 2015. Sutro Baths, San Francisco, California. My general plan in shooting Horizons is to have water and sky and nothing more. In this scene I wanted the texture and pattern of light on the water juxtaposed with the soft clouds. Period. But without a crane I wasn’t going to get high enough to get the rock out of the frame and the light was changing rapidly and then this huge RORO (Roll On […]
April 4, 2014. Marin County Headlands. My seascape horizon photographs are devoid of any vestige of land, for the most part; and they show no man-made objects at all. So this image will never be part of my Horizons collections. But this scene intrigued me in 2014 and it still intrigues me today. The first draw was and is the subtlety of color on the water. And the sky. But then there’s the ship. Container […]
A volunteer poppy at Filoli, easily as arresting as anything in the manicured gardens. Thanks to Oliver for the push. Not motion this time, but depth. (Nikon D850; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine art photography at www.amagaphoto.com
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