All posts tagged: Nature

Just in Time

May 17, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 51
California / Flower / Hummingbirds / Photo Log / Photography

May 14, 2020 — The Back Yard, Silicon Valley, California Every April/May I engage in the Hummingbird Ritual. It’s a simple ritual, mostly involving standing around with a heavy camera/lens combo waiting for hummingbirds to feed on echium blooms. This requires four ingredients: Me, Heavy camera/lens, Purple echium blooms, and a Hummingbird. Thing is, despite shelter-in-place, my schedule has been less than accommodating, which has effectively removed the “me” ingredient for several weeks. When I […]

Peak of the Season Poppy

April 17, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 16
Abstract / California / California Poppy / Floral Photography / Flower / Impressionism / Inspiration / Nature / Photo Log / Photography / Poppy

March 18, 2016, Los Gatos Creek Trail, Campbell, California. Not the peak of this season. Can I believe it was four years ago? I can. It was. Be well. Do Good. Be kind. Create. (Nikon D750; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

Londrangar Horizon, Take Two

April 15, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 17
Iceland / Impressionism / Inspiration / New Zealand / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

January 24, 2020 — Londrangar View Point, Snaefellsjökull Peninsula, Iceland I think I’ve only done this once before: posted that same frame twice in a row, with the second being a re-do. There’s a story. When I posted this picture the other night, I decided at the last minute that the image was too dark. It was late and I was in a hurry, so I simply went back to the 16-bit Photoshop file and […]

The One That (Almost) Got Away

April 13, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 18
Iceland / Impressionism / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

January 24, 2020 — Londrangar View Point, Snaefellsjökull Peninsula, Iceland Beside the fact that it was his photography workshop in the first place, I have Gary Hart to thank for this one in another way. His blog post today* prompted me to go back and review my own version of the same scene, and when I did, I came across this shot made about fifteen minutes earlier. I’d overlooked it because the RAW file seemed […]

Crowning Glory

April 12, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 19
Abstract / California / Impressionism / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography

November 23, 2019 — Pescadero Beach, San Mateo County, California I’ve worked on this image six times between November and now. It was never quite right. Sometimes when I don’t love an image, it’s because I’ll never love it and the best thing to do is abandon it and move on. Other times, I just need to leave it alone for a while and come back with a fresh perspective. This was the latter circumstance […]

Look Enough And You’ll See

April 11, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 27
California / Impressionism / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes / Sunset

December 24, 2018, Sonoma County Coast. I’ve looked at this frame approximately 9,476 times* and failed to see its potential. Today, I saw it with different eyes.** Don’t it make my brown eyes blue. Except they are blue. Be well. Do good. Be kind. Create. (Nikon D500; AF-P NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) *If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times — I never […]

A Remarkable Day — Quicksilver Sea

April 8, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 23
California / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

December 23, 2017, Sonoma County Coast. This was taken about two hours before the shot in the last post. This is what this most remarkable day looked like. No post-processing except to straighten the horizon 1/10 degree (hand-held shot) and tone down the white at the top of the frame a just as tiny little bit. That’s it. It was a quicksilver sea. The Pacific was living up to its name. Be well. Be kind. […]

Beyond

April 5, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 18
Abstract / California / Impressionism / Photo Log / Photography / Point Reyes / Seascapes

Dec 8, 2014 — Point Reyes National Seashore, California Another archive dive. The image came to me in a dream recently. There was nothing special about the original shot — but today I was in search of a good starting point. Those pixels never knew what hit them… Be well. Do good. Create. (Canon 7D, Sigma 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)

First Poppy of the Year

March 28, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 29
California / California Poppy / Floral Photography / Flower / Impressionism / Inspiration / Nature / Photo Log / Photography / Poppy

February 20, 2020 — Los Gatos Creek Trail, California A floral palindrome. Mother Nature is very accommodating in giving me a place to start. (Nikon D850, AF-S VR Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 3.2; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.) More fine-art photography at www.amagaphoto.com

What a Diff’rence a Crop Makes

March 27, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 22
Abstract / California / Impressionism / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Seascapes

March 22, 2020 — San Mateo County Coast, California What a diff’rence a crop made Ten percent’s left of pixels And to pixels that were nixel’d — You’ll be mourned; but this is unadorned   Though panorama has attraction There is soul in abstraction We see only a fraction But the essence is clear   Oh, what a diff’rence a crop makes Form and tone lay before me Skies above are not stormy Since that […]

Calm

March 24, 2020
by Michael Scandling
comments 41
California / Inspiration / Photo Log / Photography / Positivity / Seascapes

March 22, 2020 — San Mateo County Coast, California On Sunday, we took a ride along the coast. We were alone. The Pacific was calm… We returned to California on February 2 when the virus situation was just brewing. In the next six weeks the world was plunged into turmoil. These are uncertain times and as a general rule, people don’t deal with uncertainty very well. I’ve seen an entire spectrum of reactions and responses […]