Dammed

In this latest photo from Yosemite National Park, I pulled off to a picnic area off of Rte. 140, just a little west of the 120/140 junction in Yosemite. This was taken Nov. 3, 2009.

One of my areas to target on this trip was along the Merced River. There seemed on my internet research, before my trip, that many good fall foliage shots could be found along the Merced. This was my first time at Yosemite, during the fall foliage season.

When I got to the picnic area, it was just a very short walk back to the river. I was first taking pics in the other direction, because there was a lone tree surrounded by some neat rocks in the middle of the river. But, when I glanced the other direction to find other things to photograph, not only did I see some fall color, but I also spotted this sand bar and what appeared to be almost like a natural dam. I walked a little further back that way along the banks of the Merced.

What I found was a very pleasant scene. The clumps of grass almost appear to be damming up the Merced River. There are many elements I liked in this shot. I liked the back-light making the trees with fall foliage more brilliant. I also liked how the back-light was hitting the tops of these clumps of grass, putting even more emphasis on it. The colors reflecting into the still Merced of course are nice. Then I like the layers of tress that give nice depth to the scene. Lastly, the sand bar off to the left helps guide you down the river, towards the mirage of the dam.

It's a shot I have not seen anyone else take and I always like these types of photo opportunities, rather than the obvious scenes which have been shot by many photographers. I will spare you the dam rhetoric or jokes.

Iconic Reflection

When you speak of natural icons here in America, one of them is the largest block of granite rock in the world. It is one that experienced climbers from around the world love to climb. Of course, this icon can be found at Yosemite National Park, in California.

In this photo, I took a more indirect way of showcasing this icon. I was situated in an area called Cathedral Beach, along the Merced River. This was taken on my most recent trip to Yosemite, during the first week in November. If you try this shot in the Spring, let's just say, you will not have the still, glass, calm waters of the Merced.

This is a pretty challenging shot, as far as exposure goes. El Capitan, if shooting it from a shaded area, is very hard to keep from blowing out. Dynamic range is maxed out here. You have to ensure that you leave some details in the shade, while not blowing out the portions in the sun. I composed the shot to minimize the area in the sun.

Reflection shots are not as easy as they may seem. So many will just take the easy way out, and do the 50/50 composed shot. Meaning they will show exactly what they see on top in the reflection, where the horizon is split right in the middle, giving a 50/50 view of the reflection and the non-reflected.

The added grass and fall leaves in the very foreground nicely adds a little nice touch and frames around the tip of El Capitan's reflection. Hope you enjoy it.

Relics of Yesteryear

As promised, here is the black-and-white version of the shot I just posted previous to this post. This black-and-white conversion, wasn't just a one-click conversion. Here is what I did to process this image.

I converted this image to a solarized look, using a photoshop plug-in. On this layer, I adjusted the opacity back to about 73%, blended normally. I then used a large, soft, history brush, set at 100%, normal blend mode, and brushed back in the areas of dirt. I didn't want the dirt to have the solarized look at all. After I did this, I have a weird looking image.

The next thing I did was use Photoshop's Black-and-White tool, to change what still has color left in the image to black-and-white. This has really no effect on what is already black-and-white, when I did the conversion to the solarized look, the first time. This basically is just getting rid of the leftover color, that remained. Most of this was the dirt and obviously, the dirt doesn't need any dramatic black-and-white conversion applied.

This is what I am left with. When you compare the color version to the black-and-white version, you can see what the soloarized look does. It sort of inverts the highlights and shadows somewhat. It's not really a negative look, but has some properties of it. The purpose when I used the history brush, was to decrease the contrast and to give it a little hazy look, which makes the image have some attitude and look eerie.

Well, which version do you like better? The color or black-and-white image?

Relics

One of the places I love to go to, when I have a free Saturday, is the Motor Transport Museum (MTM), out in Campo, CA. It's about 60 miles east of San Diego. This museum basically has old trucks, dating all the way back to the early 20th century. You can find old milk trucks, tow trucks, gas trucks, fire trucks, some buses, dump trucks, etc... There is such a great variety. There is also a lot of odds and ends, as well. They do restore some of the vehicles. You can find out more about the MTM at http://www.motortransportmuseum.org.

This was taken this past Saturday. The museum is only open to the public on Saturday, from 10A.M. to 5P.M. It was a stormy Saturday. It rained most of the time, while taking photos. But weather can create some interesting lighting conditions.

In this photo, the sun was barely breaking through a hole in the clouds, which created some wonderful lighting on this area on the museum grounds. I always love this bus, which is in the foreground. I used my strobe attached to the top of my camera, to provide some fill light.It kind of has an eerie feel to it. I also converted this image to a black-and-white image. I will post that image, as well. I was really torn again, on which one I prefer.

Anyways, this is just a fraction of the faded, rusty relics you can find at this wonderful museum. It is also just 2 miles up the road from the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. You can come and check out both wonderful museums, for just a few bucks between the two museums. Donations are welcomed at the MTM.