26 Aug 14. After reviewing the three images of the flower I shared yesterday, and having Jan say she preferred the creative one, that's what I sent. Only upon sending it did Jan remark with words to the effect of "I thought you were going to send the creative one, the one in B&W?" Now one must ask oneself, how can two people who have been together for 51 years, 47 of them living together in the same house, fail to communicate on something so simple? Can't be you say. Yeah, right! So for today's submission I'm sharing the one I was supposed to share yesterday, and as it is in B&W, I guess it is appropriate in two ways. Having seen the color version first I think will help with this one, as there would be no way of knowing how the flower actually looks, but then, I guess that's true for the majority of B&W images. I've dolled this one up a bit with a grungy white border, but in this case I feel like the grunge works well with the subject. IF you still have access to what I shared yesterday, it might be fun to look at them side by side. I've endeavored to give this B&W version somewhat of a 3-D look, not excessive, just a trace of it. As I was working to convert this image into a B&W version my biggest concern was that of how light (white) should I render the petals. I bounced back and forth for the better part of an hour attempting to capture just the right feel, and what you are seeing is how I finally decided I wanted it to look. All the info is the same as that for the color image yesterday, Nikon D300s;18-200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/250 sec @ f / 7.1.
27 Aug 14. The furthest NW you can reach in WA state, and likewise in the contiguous 48 states, is Cape Flattery. It was named by Captain James Cook on 22 March 1778 during his search for the NW Passage because "there appeared to be a small opening which flattered us with the hopes of finding an harbour ..." I believe this to be the only cape similarly named. The trail from the highway to this lookout point is easily traversed, takes about 15 minutes of walking on a very well maintained trail, and affords many magnificent views at its termination, as well as some nice views of heavily forested land along the way. The trail is not handicapped accessible, nor would folks with walking difficulties find it welcoming, but otherwise not difficult at all. The rocks, on the day and time of our visit, seemed to me to have a rather unusual texture to them, which may have been due to the evening lighting which was very contrasty in the cove. The camera did not record what I was sensing, and while what it recorded was likely a more accurate version of how the rocks actually are, the capture didn't come close to what I was experiencing. As such, in an attempt to convey what I was experiencing, I've increased the micro contrast of the rocks to render them closer to what I "saw." When you visit I'll wager you see them very differently from what I saw when we were there. Nikon D300s; 18 -200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 8.
28 Aug 14. Over the weekend we began preparation for our final landscaping. The first part consisted of mowing a fair portion of the grounds on the side and in the rear of the house. Always a potentially grave danger for the local critters, I was delighted to find no signs that any of them had met their demise in the process. Wednesday I transferred a large accumulation of bark from the side of the house to the front where we have it collected for drying for use as wood stove fire starter. As soon as I uncovered the pile I noticed a discarded wardrobe quite possibly from the very garter snake I saw earlier in the year and whose portrait I shared previously. Thinking the owner might be residing in the pile of bark, I looked carefully as I tossed the pieces into a wheelbarrow for transport to the other location hoping to not injure or frighten the critter if it was living there. I never saw any sign of that snake. But on the third trip, as I was unloading the wheelbarrow, I saw a sudden movement of black and low and behold, there was the snake starting to crawl up the side of the wheelbarrow, over the top, and down to the ground as it found its way to a new home between two logs touching each other as to form a "roof" for the abode and close enough to the other pile of bark to use as a cafeteria. No camera nearby this time, so no pictures of the individual moderately making its way to that new home. Since I didn't get any new shots, I've taken the creative version of the B&W of the snake I shared before, and manipulated that creative version three times using my favorite filter, Fractalius. After making the 3 new creative versions, I've placed them one atop another to form a vertical triptych. Each one is distinctly different from the other, and if I didn't tell you what they were it is likely that you might not immediately even think snake. With a close look it is obvious, but first glances could be deceiving. Same info as for the single shot I shared prior, Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/125 sec @ f / 8.
