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INSPIRATION AND ASSIGNMENTS: TREES A SECOND APPEARANCE
I enjoy living in an area where there are distinct seasons. The scenery changes often enough and sometimes rapidly enough to have different visuals almost on a daily basis.
The photo of the lone tree illustrated in the previous post was taken on June 5 of this year. The photo of the same lone tree in this post was taken on May 1 of this year.
And in a few weeks time, the corn that has been planted in the foreground fields will be so tall that the tree will not be visible from this same vantage point.
Ya know…looking back, I wonder if I should have reversed the order of photos/posts. Oh well.
INSPIRATION AND ASSIGNMENTS: TREES
I have a special affinity for trees and it doesn’t matter what species of tree I may be looking at. To me they are all special. I honestly think my love for trees started when I was a young boy. My parents planted a Scarlet Oak in the front yard before I was born. Scarlet Oak trees are pretty fast growers and by the time my younger sister and I were able to climb nearly to the top, it was already taller than our house. Granted, it was a ranch style house and we were still youngsters, it was still big to us! My sister and I spent many a day playing in the tree. Mom always knew where to find us. Oh, by the way, the tree still stands in the front yard of our childhood home. It’s at least 60 feet tall now. Maybe taller.
Now several (well, many) decades later my love for trees continues. Whether it is through photography, woodworking or just visual enjoyment. And lately I have been doing a little exploring around the community where I live. Looking at trees. The area is nestled in a wide valley, surrounded by small and a few not so small family run farms. This area has been farmed for hundreds of years and most of the farms have been handed down over many generations. Though sparsely populated, in town there are two gas stations, a grocery store, a couple of small eateries and a few small shops. And tree lined streets. Yup, there are two.
Back to the trees…
Dotted among the farmland and rolling hills carved out by glaciers centuries ago, are groves of trees that have been untouched for a couple of hundred years. And then…what I find puzzling…are the lone trees some farmers leave to grow in the middle of their fields.
Maybe they let them grow out there in the middle so some shade is provided for relief on a hot summer day. Or maybe, just maybe, the farmers leave the trees in the middle of their fields just because. I like that reason the best.
Ya know…I would think that farmers are pretty well-read. So the quote that follows may be familiar to them. Just because…
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a
green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some
scarce see Nature at all.
But to the eyes of the man with imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.”
William Blake
Letters
1799
IN THE FIELD: Coming Soon!
It’s been cold and snowy for a lot of folks this season. After all, it is winter. We still have quite a bit of snow on the ground and according to the calendar, Spring is right around the corner.
As much as I enjoy winter, I really can’t wait for warmer weather. So I decided to look through the archives to find a reminder of the up and coming season. I chose this shot which I had taken while on a shoot for a local country club last Spring.
f 8
1/80th
ISO 100
cloudy WB
IN THE FIELD: Busy Busy Busy
Where’s David been ??? Well here goes…we have been getting ready for the “big move.” My wife and have built a new home. It is something we have talked about doing since we first met.
For the last year we have been renting a small house while our home was being built. During the last few weeks of October, we have been busy with settlement on the home, and moving all the stored items (80% of our belongings) to the new house. Additionally, we have been packing the remainder of our stuff, organizing various contractors jobs, shopping for necessities such as window treatments (we do have neighbors), a new refrigerator (have to keep food and beer cold), and new bed coverings (winter is on the way) along with other odds and ends.
I have even managed to free up some time and shoot 4237 photographs of the Autumn foliage all across the northeast part of the country.
Okay, so I didn’t shoot 4237 photographs of Autumn foliage. But I did manage to find a few minutes here and there to document the whole building process of the house and to photograph some classic cars and trucks. It feels odd not being out with my camera, but soon enough I’ll be out exploring our new territory and sharing what I find.
I do miss all of your stories and wonderful photos you include with them. My new office will be the perfect place to catch up and I look forward to seeing what all of you folks have been up to.
I would also like to thank you all for the likes and the follows…they are truly appreciated beyond words.
The final move is soon upon us….then we get to unpack.
f6.3
1/200th
ISO 100
cloudy WB
IN THE FIELD: PREHISTORIC OASIS
While visiting a local arboretum a few weeks ago, I spent a good part of my time in the shade of enormous trees. It was a rather warm day and the coolness of the woods was a welcome relief from the hot sun.
I had never visited this arboretum before and was looking forward to the experience. I am familiar with many of the species of trees growing there, and even some of the understory shrubs. Although, I learned of many species entirely new to me.
Some of the plants and trees have prehistoric origins, so I was not surprised to find everything seemed to be of extraordinary size. I think that is what drew these butterflies to the area. And they certainly looked right at home. I had never seen such a large grouping of butterflies in one location and never would have believed they grow this large. I am not kidding when I say that I would estimate their wingspan to be at least four feet. Maybe more.
f 9
1/40th
ISO 200
cloudy WB
IN THE FIELD: The Other Half Of Serenity
This photo was taken the same morning as the photo in the previous post. I was facing in an easterly direction when I took this shot, as compared to facing in a more westerly direction when I took the former photo. The two shots were taken within a minute of each other. Shortly after I took this shot, the subtle colors of the sunrise and distant forest were obscured by the fog moving up the valley.
The exposure settings for both photos were actually identical. I wanted to show the difference in color tones from two different view points and to illustrate the difference in the light, even though the scenes were very close to each other.
I used a cloudy White Balance setting for both photos primarily because I rarely use any other setting. I feel the color tones in photos have a warmer feel when using the cloudy setting. Sometimes I will need to make a custom white balance setting for really difficult, mixed, or artificial lighting situations, or if the camera is just not duplicating the color I am seeing.
I also like to experiment, if time permits, by taking several shots of the same scene using different WB settings. Not only just to see the difference, but also to determine what works best for me. There is no right or wrong, just a personal preference.
ISO 200
1/200
f5.6
Cloudy White Balance
IN THE FIELD: The First One
We awoke this morning to the first snowfall of the season. As I am writing this, it is still snowing with predicted accumulations of one to three inches. We have those amounts already, even though the weather forecasters mentioned the snow is supposed to continue through the day. Later today the snow is expected to turn to light rain and the temperatures should fall closer to freezing. Winter has arrived.
I took these two shots looking out from our deck about 9:00 am this morning. Both photos were taken within seconds of each other, and from the same vantage point.
I wanted to illustrate the difference between a vertical composition and a horizontal composition of the same subject.
Some compositions work better in one format versus the other. That is why I almost always take a vertical shot after taking a horizontal. Neither version is correct or incorrect, but more of a personal preference. Due to the constraints within WordPress, click on the photos to see the full effect.
I also over exposed each photograph by one stop. Had I followed what the exposure meter recommended, the snow would appear grey rather than white. I probably could have over-exposed the shots by an additional stop to brighten the snow even more, but then I would have lost detail in the tree trunks. Photography can be full of compromises.
Photo specs are, ISO 200, White Balance-cloudy, f3.5, @ 1/200th, manual mode.
IN THE FIELD: Not As Late As You May Think It Is
After I finished some yard work on Saturday, I got out the camera to capture some of the autumn color that remains in our woods.
The sun was dipping below the horizon, but there was still enough ambient light to get some shots without using the built-in flash or a speedlight. And I knew this was a situation which would call for longer exposure times and the use of a tripod.
One of the advantages of long exposures is colors can become more saturated than what you may find with shorter exposure times. I was also fortunate there wasn’t even a wisp of a breeze, so everything in the photos was sharp.
To start this exercise, I bumped the ISO to 400, set the aperture at f11 for good depth of field, and adjusted the shutter speed to 2.5 seconds for a proper exposure. I could have used a faster shutter speed, but that would have dictated the use of a wider aperture. Which in turn leads to less depth of field. I also used an electronic cable release to further minimize camera movement.
Some folks might say it was too dark to get a decent photo. I say phooey. The light sensitivity built into cameras these days is remarkable to say the least. My camera, which is at least four years old, had no problem making a proper exposure or auto-focusing. The newer models are even more capable.
Low light photography can be a challenge for your equipment or for yourself, but the rewards are worth it. Least in my humble opinion.
David Heilman 
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