An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
Here is another image from my trip in October to the Phoenix area. This is on the south side of the Superstition Mountains along the Peralta Trail Road. It is a wonderful place to find quite. You will hear a coyote howl, a cactus wren call out, and no sign of man. This is three jpeg images run through HDR Efex Pro.
I walked over to the golf course to see about finding some images of the moonrise but clouds prevented didn’t allow those images. But, as many “good photographers” know we must also look behind us and in this case the lingering sunset is what was being given me. This is a jpg file exposure and tone adjustments then cropped to 16:9. The exposure settings were 30s at f22 with an ISO 200. Hand held.
Just kidding. 🙂
I have several images of this farm at sunrise. It is a place I enjoy going to and is not that far from home. Here is a link to one of my favorite images of it.
I decided last night to drive out there in the morning and prepared everything before going to bed. I woke before the alarm to the sound of blowing wind. Discovered later those winds were gusting up to 30 mph. I made a mocha latte, put it in my mug and headed out.
Needless to say, way too many images were not usable as it was difficult to keep the camera and tripod steady. For the image of fence below I parked the car on the west side of me as a wind block and then placed my tripod low to the ground to reduce as much shake as possible. I’m down low in the snow, in a bar ditch where most landscape photographers hang out.
Even with nylon wind pants, the wind found ways to penetrate and, as usual, it did not take long for my hands to get cold. I shot everything prior to sunrise and then headed home to warm up, shower and download images. These are the two images I think best represented the morning.
I also seem to have a rather large dust spot on my Fujifilm 18-55mm lens. It’s not a drastic spot and is almost impossible to see it. Only noticeable on light open skies and when you look for it. It has shown up that last few times I’ve used it and gone through the process of cleaning it. This morning I spent more time trying to make sure I have it cleaned. If not I may have to take it in. Stay warm and hang on to your hat.
I was impressed with the focusing ability and speed for the Fujifilm X-T10 combined with the Fujifilm 35mm 2.0 lens. I saw this low contrast scene with the light shadows on the snow and wanted an image. I turned the camera on with my index finger and increased the exposure with my thumb while I raised the camera to my eye. In my mind I was thinking I’d have to manually focus this scene because of the lack of contrast but this pair immediately snapped on focus. Yes, I am impressed. Stay warm
Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect, and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you. – Freeman Patterson
A few facts for those who are interested. I did not know this but the Thinker was initially a figure in a large commission, begun in 1880, for a doorway surround called The Gates of Hell. The sculpture, Auguste Rodin, based this on The Divine Comedy of Dante, and most of the many figures in the work represented the main characters in the epic poem. Some critics believe The Thinker, at the centre of the composition over the doorway was originally intended to depict Dante at the gates of Hell, pondering his great poem.
It is snowing large beautiful snowflakes as I type this post. I like these flakes as they are much needed by us. Again, I frown on the cold that comes along with these systems. Down into the teens tonight. Stay warm.
This is pretty much all I carry with me in my backpack, anymore. One camera, one lens. My journal and pen. Kindle paperwhite. A light jacket. Sometimes I throw in a small “10” Chromebook. The kitchen sink. And, I don’t usually carry this much cash with me, either. 🙂