21 Apr 15. Having a few minutes to kill a couple weeks back while in the Port Orchard area we went on a drive to see where the road would take us. Out first surprise was coming upon a farm with two camels in the pasture, a Bactrian under a tree and a Dromedary out in the open. Didn't quite believe our eyes at first, but it was so. I'll share one of those images later. Continuing on our drive we came to a detour which dropped us immediately into a park we had visited prior, but one which we had found coming from a different direction. The weather was quite nice, although a bit chilly and windy, but the light was perfect, the clouds enticing, and the view of Seattle very nice and different from any perspective I've previously encountered. So I took a few shots. This view is almost parallel with the Seattle waterfront and if you look closely you can see straight down the center deck of a ferry. Look even more closely and you'll find two birds, one with floats and another approaching SEA-TAC. This image has complete tonal range, but the city has been left somewhat flat so that it doesn't compete with the sky. Push back 4-5 feet from your screen to view it properly. The clouds should project forward as in a 3-D type image. The original capture was a bit dark, so I first adjusted for full tonal range, then further adjusted for individual colors. Then I adjusted the micro contrast for the clouds to get that 3-D look and followed that with individual grain adjustments for the sky, cityscape, and water. With all that completed, I then converted to B&W and made a few small adjustments to achieve the exact look I wanted. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 13 with a one stop under exposure compensation to handle the clouds.
22 Apr 15. A little color today to contrast with yesterday's monochromatic shot. This is another from the Roozengaarde display garden in the Skagit Valley. The garden is divided up into several different sections, and this is from a roughly 3 foot wide band that parallels a lovely wooden fence that marks two sides of the garden. On the other side of the fence is located one of their larger growing fields and it can be seen as a band of yellow tulips on the right side that joins a thin strip of a set of white plastic "greenhouses" in the middle. The tree at the left marks what I'll call the NE corner of the display garden. The layout of the tulip groupings changes continuously along the fence with both color and petal structure coming into play in the design. You name a color, except for black, and I'm certain you will find it somewhere in the display; likewise, describe a petal shape, and it too is likely to be among the groupings. Bring your camera, your easel, or your sketch pad with you and consider making a day of your visit to see the tulips next year and record, in some fashion, every color imaginable . Or, if you prefer, come a few weeks earlier to see just yellow, daffodils, or a couple months later for purple and yellow, iris. No matter when you visit, the fields are certain to grab your attention and hold it for quite a while. The base image was adjusted for max tonality, given a wee bit of global micro contrast enhancement, and that followed by a local contrast enhancement applied only to the sky. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.
