A few weeks ago, Bay Area Photo Club had a field trip to Brazos Bend State Park. I really enjoy photographing wildlife in the park, but could not attend the field trip because I had baseball duty that day.
Last week, I had an afternoon portrait shoot at a stable near Alvin. Since Alvin is relatively close to the park, I called one of my friends who resides just south of Alvin. Jeff is a devout “birdie” so I knew he would be willing to go. We agreed to have a very early breakfast in Alvin and then head to the park. We would have been first in line (had there been a line) when the park opened. The weather was great, cool without a cloud in the sky.
Based upon the photos that I saw from the field trip, I thought that I would get a few good shots of alligators, especially some baby ones. Although I tried very hard, I got no alligator shots that I would be willing to share with anyone. It’s sad when I get better photos of birds than, well, than anything.
My basic set-up for all my shots was: Nikon D700 with Nikon 300mm F/4 with a Nikon 1.7x Teleconverter and polarizing filter attached and shot from a tripod.
Today’s image was my last shot of the day, or should I say last shots of the day since the image is an HDR. Looking at the leaf, I was struck by the three very different colors that I was seeing—the red of the leaf, the green of the Spanish moss on the left side and the brown of the branches on the right side. I thought that the light made a very ordinary scene into something unusual. I tried various exposures but was not able to capture the full range of light that I was seeing, so I took five shots at 1 EV intervals.
Over the next couple weeks, I will be posting shots of birds and dragonflies that I took at the park.
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D700, 300mm f/4 with 1.7x Nikon Teleconverter and polarizing filter attached, shot at ISO 200, f/16 and 1/45th, 1/90th, 1/180th, 1/350th and 1/750th of a second on a tripod.
Post Processing:
Photomatix—Combined the five images into a HDR photo.
You really have a knack for "seeing" things many of us don't. How you picked out a leaf against that backdrop is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI like the colors and how they play off each other. An excellent example of HDR and what can be done if you look for it.
DHaass
I must admit, I would probably pass this leaf by. In not passing it by, you have transformed a simple leaf into an abstraction of color. To me, the colors are more important than the form of the leaves and the branches. I would hang this one in my house.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
It's hard to believe that you can get a photo like this out of a simple red leaf.
ReplyDeleteAnne
A little over the top, but I like it.
ReplyDeleteTed