Welcome Renewal
by John Williams
The somewhat “overkill” title refers to my hope that I can get out and photograph more this year. (The second half of last year was challenging photographically, for reasons both good and bad. I lost my beloved father and a favored dog, fell back into management at work (unwelcome), moved into a new house, trained for and rode Cycle Oregon, had an ear surgery (and then a second) that went awry and deafened me in my right ear, etc.)
I struck out at the coast for sunrise/sunset glory a couple of weekends ago, but the weather report for Monday made me hopeful I might be able to catch a sunrise from Rowena Crest in the Columbia River Gorge. Grass Widows bloom early in the Gorge and I’ve always wanted to photograph them, so the dog and I woke up early and headed east. Fortunately the sunrise had color, and the Grass Widows are doing very well. This is what I came away with.
Nikon D7100
Nikon 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 at 12 mm (18mm equiv.)
Blend of 1, 0.7, 0.5, 1/15, 1/60 at f/22 and ISO 100
Five pictures for DOF and DR
Comments
36 comments-I forgot to clean the front of the lens, so I removed two large sun spots.
-I was unable to scout the area the night before, and was rushed in composing the scene. I ended up with that center flower a little too centered for my taste; you can see that I warped it to the right a little. (There were tons of Grass Widows there; with more time I think I could have done better without the need to warp the image.)
-I cloned out the interstate and railroad below, because it made me happy.
Secondly, thanks for sharing the background to these three...it highlights your skills to create a superb image from so much disparate material that seems to have nothing to offer. Great vision.
Thirdly, what a great shot! Calm scene ... and wonderful warm tones. Hopefully lack of wind made this an easier setup.
Albert Darmo
Canada
This is is an excellent image both technical and aesthetically. It's a very uplifting image suggesting both hope and infinity. I love how the sunshine diffuses through the petals of those flowers.
Excellent work.
Did you blend manually or do you use a program?
Harley, I blended this by hand. I mostly used the techniques I wrote about in an NPN article back in 2010.
aF
Sorry to hear about all the mishaps and best of luck in your new year.
This is gorgeous! The back lighting of the flowers is just beautiful. And I appreciate the follow up with the information on your processing. I know for me, there is often a lot of work and changes to an image before presentation that doesn't get mentioned. But the result you've got here is spectacular. I wouldn't call this a nit, and this falls in the range of personal preference, but if it were mine I might consider just a skosh more contrast in the upper portion of the image. I realize the time of day, angle of the sun and this looks very true to life... but just a thought.
Very sorry about the loss of your father, buddy and the trials and tribulations. Of course our experiences are all different, but I can appreciate how life can throw you curve balls and put photography in it's place. But as I've learned, keeping our passions alive is also part of the healing process. I hope 2016 is a banner year! Great to see your work again.
Lon
Life is crazy like this at times, and I bet you learned something from the hardships of last year that added wisdom to your spirit on your journey. I am wishing you an amazing 2016, and I will be thinking good energy directed your way.
This image is absolutely about renewing your spirit. The uplifting quality to this scene is down right off the hook crazy good Joh.
I feel so alive and full of life viewing this work of art.
AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHY, and looking forward to so many more images from you this year.
Thank you for showing the process, and I am going to have to read and practice the article you have linked.
ML
Your work is a constant source of inspiration.
I was up here just the other day, just scouting and I cant wait for this year! :0
Sorry to hear about the second half of last year but good to see that there was some positive aspects as well. Here's to a better year in 2016 ... and, selfishly, I hope that it includes lots of photography.
Love the image. I also enjoy very much your gif giving us all an idea of where you started to get what you ended up with. I wish more people would do that!!
Best, Stuart