Daily Image - Jul 2020

4th of July HAPPY 4th of JULY to you all; hopefully this won't be our last! In an Electrical Storm Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 8.

02 Jul 20 We're back to Diamond Beach today and we are going to spend several mailings with the ice on this beach. With three different visits there was a lot to play with and experience. Today we are just looking at the contrast of the ice, in this image mostly clear, with the black sand. It's hard to communicate the experience of being on a black beach as it so different from the "sand" colored beaches with which we are familiar. One word to describe it is beautiful, but that word is so overused as to be rendered useless. It's so unusual - of course not in Iceland but elsewhere - that it's almost a bit eerie but even that word doesn't adequately convey the experience. So here we are walking on a black gritty substance covered with uncut diamonds. I'm hoping that this shot properly depicts the naming of the beach. Something that caught my eye, and I can't account for it, was the tendency for the clear chunks of ice, irrespective of size, to cluster together while the colored chunks, think light blue as at the top of the image, did likewise. The clustering wasn't exclusive, but enough so that I did notice it. This is straight from the camera. Girl's Best Friends Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/13 sec @ f / 9.

08 Jul 20 Today's shot from Diamond Beach is another that you should hold on to for a few days as it is setting the stage for a few upcoming shots. You are looking south out to the Atlantic Ocean in an area where it is very shallow. You can see the waves breaking on the horizon a fair distance out and a small section of raised sand with small burgs just below the horizon. When the tide comes in it brings these small burgs further ashore and when you are among those in the foreground photographing them the tidal surge can bring them in tumbling around you. At the same time those among which you are standing can also roll and if you are not really attentive that roll can take you with it. More about that "sport" with some other shots. For now just try and place yourself in the middle of all this ice enjoying the sight but don't lose track of where you are. Other than some cropping this is what the camera saw. Coming Ashore Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/60 sec @ f / 9.

06 Jul 20 Photography has been described by some as painting with light, and in fact, that is exactly what the word means. And timing the light right, or being lucky enough to be present when the timing is right, is what makes for good photography. As evening set on Diamond Beach on our first visit there, the sun made an appearance for something between 5 - 10 minutes as it broke through a tiny hole in the storm clouds - recall, this was the day after the storm - for a very brief time. You either were paying attention or you missed it. I barely got set up in time to grab a couple of frames and then it was over. A few very brief minutes for the entire day. But as it broke through for maybe a couple of minutes it was casting a gorgeous peach glow over the ground, and then it was back to the blue/white looking ice that one normally sees. It you blinked, you missed it. This is basically what the camera captured. Five Minutes Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 320; 1/30 sec @ f / 9.

07 Jul 20 Although we are going with a black and white for this Tuesday's B & W, this was not my initial intent. Further, it is a B&W of yesterday's submission. The day wasn't exactly what I had planned and I was unable to work up an image. Monday was my annual eye exam but it didn't turn out to be the typical exam. In the course of the visit it was decided that it was time for me to have the cataract in my right eye removed and that involved a bit more work up than I had anticipated. Interestingly, the Ophthalmologist is a modest hobbiest photographer and so we had a discussion about how we should go about the cataract removal and lens replacement. At one point in the discussion he said the cataract is quite yellow so once we replaced it I will be seeing colors quite differently including a blue shift. To compensate he offered a replacement with a yellow tint, like that of a permanent warming photo filter. I turned that option down and said I'll just have to get used to seeing real color. (Now if he had offered one with a rosy tint . . . . .) So for my birthday present this year I get to see real color. Should be interesting; wondering how it will affect the images I share with you. We'll all know the last week of the month. All this workup resulted in my eyes being sufficiently dilated that they didn't return to normal until roughly 2000, with the light from the screen being too bright for me to work comfortably in the interim. So we are using a second version of the what I shared yesterday. Depending on the response, I might share a third on Theatrical Thursday for a triptych. Same as yesterday but with a film preset applied. Pure Tone Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/30 sec @ f / 9.

01 Jul 20 Today's image is another of the map-like shots; it is an overview of the Diamond Beach and Fjallsarlon Lagoon areas. I'll try to put everything in place. The Loop Road (Hwy 1) goes across the upper portion and the bridge is part of it. Behind the bridge in the direction of the rock wall on the left is the lagoon from which the ice flows out to the Atlantic ocean. I'm standing on a portion of Diamond Beach shooting across the lagoon exit, the water in the shot, flowing under the bridge to meet the Atlantic ocean is out of view on the right. We spent portions of three days working with the ice on Diamond Beach with each day offering us different weather conditions. This shot was taken on the evening of our first day there. The weather had been playing with us all day, offering periods of both wet and dry. At the precise instant I took this shot of the ice the weather was almost totally grayish-white and to be polite, simply ugly. About 30 minute prior it was quite stormy and the sky very interesting. Whenever reasonable, I shoot images of the sky/clouds. In fact I have something in the neighborhood of 3.5K+ skies/clouds which I've shared with several folks. So whenever I'm shooting something with a horizon I always take several shots of the sky for use in augmenting the image if necessary, and around here with our frequently gray overcast, the sky shots can come in handy. This was the case for this shot of the ice. The ice and the sky are real, they just didn't coincide at the moment the shutter clicked. All this ice was at the toe of the glacier a day or two before we were walking on the beach. Interesting how what looked to be only blue at the glacier's toe is now multiple colors on the beach. Take a close look at not only the colors of the ice but the textures. I'll be sharing much more of this stuff as it was truly an amazing experience. Our three days on the beach had us exploring tons of ice; the week prior there was none present for the entire time. We were really fortunate to have had the experience we did. Other than swapping out the sky this is straight from the camera. Pick Your Color Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/20 sec @ f / 9.

09 Jul 20 It being Theatrical Thursday anything goes as you know and for this go around the theatrical part is the sky. What I wanted to share was being pretty mush obliterated by the totally gray sky so I've selected a sky from a previous day - pre storm - to replace the gray and compliment the ice. Now what I wanted to show is in the left hand section as well as dead center where the ice is meeting the surf. The folks at the left are obvious when pointed out, the individual in the center not so much as he is bent over taking his shot. About 15 minutes prior to my taking this shot there were a couple of individuals standing on top of the burgs doing stunts. The water at the left directly under the rock wall is the lagoon outlet where the burgs flow out of the lagoon to the ocean. There is a bit of a current there which meets the onshore flow from the Atlantic. Needless to say the water can be turbulent; not exactly a location for shenanigans. One of the photographers there while we were was not paying attention and he and his top end Nikon camera wound up in the water. Fortunately for him all that happened was that he and his gear got thoroughly soaked. It very easily could have ended up differently. Other than the sky replacement, this is what the camera recorded. Reckless Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 320; 1/20 sec @ f / 9.

13 Jul 20 Our time at Diamond Beach was in fact parts of four days, but on the 4th another and I elected to pass and spend our time in the lagoon. After dinner on the evening of our first visit to the beach, we had a reminder lecture of what was to be in store for us the following morning. That lecture pertained to what we would be experiencing and how best to be prepared and not get ourselves in trouble. This was a follow-on to the presentation we had been given two days prior in the hotel during the storm. We were to have an early breakfast and then head out to the beach, maybe a 12 minute drive, arriving around 0745 to begin our shooting in the dark. With our snow pants down over rubber boots and then severely taped around the boots with duck tape to keep us virtually water proof up to the top of the snow pants, we headed out onto the beach walking among the ice, the water, and the incoming tide. It being still early morning, sunrise being around 1000, we made our way to our chosen location using either a torch or headlamp to navigate the way. It was both a bit eerie and fun and I'm sharing a shot of how things looked when we first began our shoot. We were truly shooting during the blue hour(s) although this isn't what's generally meant by the term "blue hour." More shots will follow to illustrate how the morning progressed. This was going to be one of our best days, if not THE best, and before we returned to our hotel for the evening I would have shot over 2,000 frames. The sun would break through later in the morning while we were shooting the ice and remain with us till sunset, the most gorgeous sunset of our entire trip!! This is basically what the camera captured and generally what we were seeing as we began out morning shoot. Pre-Dawn Nikon D500; 18 - 200; ISO 1000; 1/4 sec @ f / 6.3.

14 Jul 20 There are two approaches to photographing the small burgs on Diamond Beach and we availed ourselves of both. The more common of the two has generally been photographing the burgs for what they are concentrating on the color, textures, and location of the chunks of ice and placing them with highly interesting backgrounds. Of course that requires being at the right place at the right time as you can't pick these things up and do some gardening. That was the intent for our first afternoon of shooting them. The other is to place the burgs among soft flowing water and that is fast becoming a goal of "modern" photographers. That is something you can do. This was the goal for all of the second morning we spent on the beach. The other two days was a photographer's choice. The shot for today's B & W Tuesday is more of a blue and white but still in the tradition of a monochrome presentation. There are a number of challenges in taking these kinds of photos and one of the biggest is keeping the water spray/rain off your lens. If you look critically you will quickly realize that I failed to adequately meet that challenge but as the images progress I hope to better correct for the "dirty" lens. Others of course are things like being able to read the camera settings in very dim light, keeping dry, staying out of the way of the errant wave that sneaks up on you from the side or from behind with the intent of some serious mischief, and keeping your camera steady. These kinds of shots are in the seconds of time and the goal is to have only the water moving and nothing else. Over the next several days we will be looking at several of these soft water and burgs images. The original was close to being as blue as the image for yesterday but I've elected to remove the deep blue to give you are more realistic representation of how the area looked once we got some daylight. If you look at the upper right hand corner in the sky you can see some of the annoying water spots from the splashing water. Softened Up Nikon D500; 18 -= 200; Aperture priority; ISO 100; 1.6 sec @ f /18.

15 Jul 20 More ice in silky water for today, but with a couple of items to bring to your attention. In the top center you will see a chunk of ice being tossed about by the water. This is only a 1 sec exposure so you get an idea of how turbulent the water can be even though it appears otherwise. Looking above that chunk and going all across the top of the frame you can see the onslaught of the waves as they come with some speed one after another. What I didn't capture in this frame was the occasional BIG wave that moves everything in unpredictable ways or those that arrive unseen from somewhere beyond your peripheral vision. Of course this is what makes it so much fun - truthfully, exciting - to be out capturing these kinds of images. I only did it the one morning as I didn't like the lighting on the other two outings but that didn't keep me away from the ice as I share later. Other than a fair amount of spot removal this is basically what the camera captured. The sun had been "out" for an hour at this time so the deep blue was absent. In Soft Candlelight (apologies to Lorri Morgan) Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 80; 1 sec @ f / 29 (not a typo).

20 Jul 20 With either today's mailing or that for Tuesday, haven't yet made up my mind, we'll leave Diamond Beach and head inland. The group will visit the beach one more day but I decided to stick with photographing the lagoon so the remainder of the iceberg images will be from there. Today's shot was taken around 0930 as the sun was coming up. It was also burning off the remaining bundles of air borne moisture and within less than an hour we would be experiencing clear skies for the rest of the day. This glorious moment of deep orange lasted for less than 10 minutes but while it was there it made for some beautiful sights. I had hoped for one of orange water splashing up and over the blue bergs but such was not to be. So here is what I think is the best of this series. Another half hour and the beach will look nothing like it does in this shot. If I do share one more it will be to contrast the two conditions. Other than a small amount of cropping for best presentation and a small amount of contrast enhancement, this is what the camera recorded. Dawn's Early Light Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 80; 1/2 @ f / 25.

22 Jul 20 During our 10 day shoot, the standard modus operandi was one of living out of a suitcase and moving to a new location day after day after day. So a 3 night stay in Hali was a most welcome change to our normal routine. Since two of us were the only ones sharing a room, when we got to our lodging in Hali our guide gave us his room, the largest in the hotel, and we had a very enjoyable stay in very nice accommodations. On one of the daily lunches I opted out of lunch, took a much needed nap and rest for my back, followed by a bit of free time to wander around the grounds before rejoining the group for the next adventure. Though Hali is sorta in the middle of nowhere, a description that suffices for most of Iceland outside of the two cities I began this series with, the surrounding scenery leaves you with a feeling of wonderful, I'll simply enjoy the area, and we did!!! This is a shot of the back of our hotel which nestles up to what might be regarded as a man-made harbor and looks out to a beautiful range of mountains opposite the harbor. An artificial breakwater - black band in center of the image - comprised of basalt forms the harbor which was frozen over but breaking up as identified by the blue streaks in the ice. On the other side of the breakwater the Atlantic was doing its best to put on a last ditch effort of a show of force with wind and waves to display for our enjoyment. The lighting conditions at the time I took the shot were rather uncooperative so I've given it some varying contrast manipulation to give the location its due. Home Base Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 125; 1/800 sec @ f /10.

29 Jul 20 One, among many of the things I truly like about going to the condo, is the large number of absolutely beautiful horses we encounter; it's almost as if God picked each one up individually and hand painted them. The colors and designs are something to behold. Around here where we live there is nothing to compare. But not so with the horses in Iceland. These are by far the most marvelously colored horses I've ever seen. Still not sure where we stopped for the image I shared yesterday, but this shot of some of those horses was 30 minutes distant from that location; of that I am sure. Once parked and starting to cross the road to take a few images of these guys, the horse on the far right of the string - who initially was quite a way further back as if he were on point - started walking towards our string of photographers. About 50 meters out he apparently had all the info he needed and changed directions to place himself at the end of the string. This isn't the best shot I've ever taken, but I wanted to show you some of the colors and patterns on these animals. The herd had somehow managed to place itself in the shadows, so I've had to do a bit of creative work to get it as you see it. You'll need to zoom in some to really see the horses. It doesn't look like it due to the concentrated placement of these guys, but there is well over 50 animals in the herd. None of them really wanted to make friends, or even get acquainted for that matter, but a bit later in the day we encountered another nice herd, in a very interesting setting which I'll share next week. Even got my portrait taken with one of them. This is a 5 frame vertical pano, something that most photographers don't shoot. In many instances using the portrait mode vs the landscape mode gives a much nicer result. Having shot this setting both ways, I'll wager you can figure out which I preferred. I given it some contrast enhancement, used a graduated filter to balance out the lighting which was way to bright on the upper right section, and layered two shots on top of one another using one for the horses and the other for everything else. Lining Up Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 125; 1/640 sec @ f /13.

21 Jul 20 Soft iceberg shooting complete, it was back to the hotel for a quick lunch and then out for the rest of a very long and productive day. My seat window having been broken days earlier and seated as I was directly behind our guide and driver, I could shoot out the windscreen for the majority of the time in the van and I did my best to make the most of it. The sun was now shining brightly in a cloud studded blue sky making every moment in the van agonizing as I really wanted to be outside with that camera. But it was a ways between stops so I did my best to take advantage of my seating whenever possible. This is one of those shots, taken as we were driving along the way to the Vathajokull glacier area, illustrating a rather typical view of the countryside. The shot may give the impression of really high mountains but they are not, probably no more than 3K feet for the highest peaks. Other than a small amount of contrast enhancement, this is what the camera captured. On the Road Again Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 100; 1/640 sec @ f /10.

28 Jul 20 Since several of you have asked how the vision is doing, this may help to answer the question. The image for today was made using no visual assistance at all; first time in my life. You can decide how things are going. While we were on our way to the Vathajokull glacier area we made a stop at this location. I have absolutely no recollection as to why we did but perhaps two others on this list who were also on that tour may remember and remind me. For whatever the reason it was a very nice stop and I'm glad we made it. There were two attractions at the stop in my opinion and this fenced piece of property and the road next to it grabbed my attention. Like the reason for the stop, I have absolutely no idea where it went but a big part of me wanted to start walking down it to see where it was going and what might be photographically available. But time didn't allow and this was the best I got. Other than a small amount of contrast enhancement, this is what the camera recorded. Trail's End Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 100; 1/800 sec @ f /10.

27 Jul 20 Eye healing nicely but tires very easily when looking at a computer screen so I'll keep it short. From what I've read and also heard spoken concerning Icelandic native wildlife there isn't much, so whenever we had an opportunity to photograph the biggest of the native animals I always tried to get our guide to stop and let us shoot. That only happened once and that was for a sole animal which was a big disappointment on the trip. We encountered reindeer but 4 times during the 10 days, and only once was the sighting of more than one animal. This is the best shot I got of the sole instance when we got to photograph the critters and it isn't all that great, but I thought I'd share one shot of them since they are a part of the experience. It occurred while we were turning around in a parking area and we stopped for perhaps 10 minutes to shoot. As I said, not all that great, but at least you get to see one. Some of you probably see more in your home town Christmas settings than we did where they live. Other than some severe cropping, this is straight from the camera. Santa's Helper Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 100; 1/500 sec @ f / 9.

03 Jul 20 Shortly after I purchased my first Nikon film body, actually the first F2AS to enter the U.S.(1972), courtesy of a fellow researcher in Japan, I went on my first pro led field trip. Lee Mann was a local naturalist/photographer who was very talented, a photographer par excellence, and a fantastic teacher. Although I was always interested in the close-up / macro field of photography, Lee, more than anyone, cemented in me my love for this particular aspect of photography. Our day course started at the crack of dawn - literally - and ran until way after the golden hour that evening. The majority of the days' training occurred on a climb up and down one of the foothills of Mt Baker (10,781 ft). On the way up I noticed a particular wild flower I'd never before seen and made a point of it to shoot it on the return leg of the climb. I did just that, but more than that. It turned out to be one of my all time favorite photos. The plant, commonly known as a Turk's Cap Lily, was growing on the edge of a ledge, the bottom of which was about a thousand feet below me. No problem, except that I wanted it with the sun setting behind it with the sun in the arch of the flower. To do that I had to lean way out over the edge of the ledge holding on only with my feet. It would have been nice to have had some one help hold me but I got no offers (apology to Simon & Garfunkel). So dangling out over the ledge, looking into the sun, I snapped a couple three frames on the flower hoping that one of them would turn out, and it did! Over the ensuing years I've shot this particular flower whenever the opportunity presented itself. Last Sunday we took a drive around Hood Canal heading toward Brinnon, passing along the way Mt Walker (2,804 ft). Never know what you may find on the 4.5 mile drive to the summit, and on this trip we found about a dozen species of wild flower in full bloom, one of which was the Turk's Cap Lily which was quite abundant in about a 500 foot zone along the gravel road to the top. It had been raining overnight and many of the flowers still showed signs of the moisture. I obviously took a few shots and this is my favorite of the group. I've cropped out a fair amount of interference and darkened some of the remaining background from the original. Dripping Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

23 Jul 20 Something totally creative for today's Theatrical Thursday. If the cataract surgery doesn't go as planned today this may be how everything looks from now on. BIG If one continues up the road from where I took that shot of the Turk's Cap Lily, all the way to its end, there is a small parking area and a short dirt trail to an overlook of Hood Canal. Depending on the weather you can see the city of Seattle to the far left of the viewing area, Mt Rainier in the middle, and a fair amount of the Cascade range overall. On our last visit the city was barely visible, and the mountains were in total seclusion. But it is always fun to make the drive just to see what you're dealt. Every so often you time it right and the view is spectacular; the rest of the time it is just very nice. Had we made the drive a week to 10 days earlier the area's wild rhododendrons would have been in full display. As it was there was one here and there - bottom of the photo has one such specimen - but for the most part we were "forced" to just work about a dozen other wild flower species in full display. I think overall we played our hand well and won on that day. This is straight from the camera save for some small amount of cropping on the top and of course conversion to the creative look using the Topaz filter Impression 2. Turnerish Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

10 Jul 20 For today's close-up we travel no further than a 15 sec walk out into the garden. When we first moved back to our home in Ballard we used to take daily walks around the neighborhood which we defined as a 1+ mile radius from our house. A few blocks north was a parking strip area that was crammed full of oriental poppies and I took every opportunity provided to photograph them. When we made our move over here to the peninsula that was something I really missed, the walks with all the flora to photograph. After a couple of visits to Sequim we found a lavender farm that was loaded with poppies so every lavender festival trip I spent some time with the poppies. But I really wanted some of my own and so for the last several years we have been trying to get them to populate our garden. Last year was apparently the charm as this year the garden is covered with them, all planted naturally by the wind, and interestingly in two sections, one red and one purple. There is a token one or two red with the purple and likewise a couple purple with the red. But somehow the two colors chose slightly different sections of the garden to grow. Sorta amusing. My hope is that next year we'll have many, many more by virtue of natural reseeding. Now I need to get some other colors to go with the red and purple. Today's submission is a close up looking through one side of one flower to the other side. As you may note the wind is already blowing some of the pollen around. Now I just need some flying, stinging insects to get busy and do their job. Other than a small amount of contrast enhancement and the removal of some distracting elements this is what the camera saw. A Poppy in Red Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

17 Jul 20 Today's macro image will be something with which two members on this mailing list will readily identify. When I got that first Nikon body, the F2AS that I mentioned a few days back, the prime lens that came with it was a 55mm macro rather than the more typical 50mm standard lens of that time. It cost a LOT more, but was well worth it and got me started on my macro /close-up lifetime adventure. That lens, more than anything else, developed my love for the macro photo approach. One of my first images taken with that camera/lens combo was of a dandelion seed head. I shared that picture with hundreds of people over more than a decade with only 2 folks during that entire time being able to identify what it was. That both amused and amazed me but brought me to understand that most people really don't look at things. As the line from the song Sounds Of Silence goes "people hearing without listening", so to I realized the reality of people looking without seeing. So here is another dandelion seed head but with a little artistic license and you won't be asked what it is. I've significantly cropped the original, removed a couple of distractions, and obviously made it a little artistic using the Topaz filter Impression 2. Sketched Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.

16 Jul 20 It's that time of year around these parts that all those growing feed for cattle are mowing it down and bundling it up in rectangles wrapped with twine. On the way to church Sunday morning I noticed that a neighbor had his field mowed and was letting it dry. Sunday night it rained on that mown field and I thought oops, might be hard on the crop. Out on an errand Monday afternoon I was surprised to see that it had been bailed and was adorning the field so I got the camera and went back to shoot it. Good thing I did as it was all stacked up high in the barn (apologies to Toby) on Tuesday. I'll likely share something from that shoot later. On the way back from shooting it I thought the sky was looking rather nice so I took a small diversion and drove down a neighbor's drive to have a look at "our" mountain. Good call on my part as the light on it was rather enticing so I tried a few compositions to see what I might achieve. None of them were show stoppers, but a couple turned out acceptable and so I thought I share one for this Thursday's Theatrical offering, the creative part being a bit of heavy handed contrast boost to give the mountain some depth. Depending on your monitor you should be able to see a very subtle hint of pink. It was the perspective of the buildings reaching out to touch the foothills and the mountain floating on the layer of clouds that really got my attention. Perhaps yours as well. I've cropped the original to get this pano look, and manipulated the contrast as I mentioned above. Floating Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

24 Jul 20 Not knowing quite what to expect following the surgery, I made the image for today on Wednesday just in case . . . . . It was a wise decision. With one eye still "normal" and the other eye presenting as if looking through a smear of Vaseline, the combined stereoscopic image is let's say, a bit "interesting" and not suitable for working on a computer. Wrighting this is a bit of a challenge so I'll keep it short; probably should have written it after I made the image. This weekend is the traditional time for the Sequim Lavender Festival obviously canceled like everything else this year. So we paid the farms a visit last Friday under what I lovingly call God's Lightbox meaning soft overcast grey clouds with wonderfully diffuse light. With neither harsh shadows nor bright hot spots, it made for spectacularly saturated colors, one of my two favorite lighting conditions, the other being back light. But you already knew that. Purple Haze Lavender Farm is our favorite of all the farms and I love to shoot there. I know the owner and have provided him photographic material of his farm so we sorta have the run of the place. In years past he has planted a section of sunflowers near the rear of the farm; this year it wasn't such. But along the edge of one of the paths there were a couple three rouge sun flowers who just wanted to strut their stuff. As the flowers had yet to develop I elected to shoot the stalks with red poppies and purple lavender out of focus behind them. I liked the way they turned out so sharing one for this week's macro / close-up Friday. There was some purple in the shot but it got lost when I cropped for best presentation. For those of you in my area the lavender is at peak so if you are looking for something to do I highly recommend a visit in the next several days. As mentioned above I've cropped the original for best presentation and given it a wee bit of contrast enhancement. Needing a Supporting Actor Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

30 Jul 20 Festival or no, we make at least one trip a year into Sequim solely to photograph that lovely purple flower. Our daughter even used the plant as a color theme in her wedding. So I guess you could say we are a lavender family of sorts. Each year I try out something different or approach the same thing from a different perspective and one year I concentrated on old farm implements situated in the lavender fields. In the last several years I've been trying to concentrate on both patterns in the fields and things mixed in with the lavender, with today's offering being one of the latter. This broken windmill is part of a small garden from one of the farms and I've been "playing" with it for the last several years. This year the farm decided to go political so this was my last year shooting the windmill; will be looking for a new challenge next year. It being Theatrical Thursday I've given it a little adjustment but not such that you can't readily recognize all the components. I had a lot of fun when I was concentrating on the old farm implements about a decade ago and may just return to that idea once again as I've been noticing more and more farms adding such into their decorations. With a little bit of luck by this time next year we'll all hopefully know what I decided. Other than the creative look achieved using the Topaz plug-in Simplify 4, this is what the camera captured. Just Basics Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/400 sec @ f / 9.

31 Jul 20 Since I shared an objects type lavender image yesterday, how about a patterns type for today. (I think I rather liked the original as I made 10 versions of it.) The lavender on this farm is grown on ground covered with plastic with holes in the plastic for each plant. Simple way to control both the weeds and direct the water. Makes the photography a bit trickier but all you really have to do to avoid the plastic is shoot from a slightly lower angle. The bright green in the shot is just plants with the flowers having been harvested. The owner noticed I was working with the lavender and came over to tell me where to go on his farm to shoot where nothing had been cut. I thought that was really considerate of him and told him so. But the cut rows made for much more interesting images so after walking over to where he suggested I shoot, I waited for him to get busy with other visitors - he was giving a tour - and went back to shooting material such as this. This is basically straight from the camera. Rolling Hills Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320. 1/160 sec @ f /13.