A LITTLE LANDSCAPE

I have been neglecting any efforts at landscape photography lately, in part because of the weather.  More recently I have given it a little more attention, and here is what I have come up with.

The first was a fence I have shot before.

Really no better (or worse) than my previous effort from a couple of years ago.  This was taken in the late afternoon looking west.  The sun had swung around to the north side of the fence, providing some reflection off the fence boards.  This was taken at f/11 for 1/100 second.  Holy Hill basilica is just visible at the top right of the image.

Last week we drove up to the Twin Cities.  On one of our stops along the way, I spied a line of trees at the crest of a hill and took this shot.

By converting the image to a black & white, I was better able to separate the line of trees from the hill behind on the right.  I like the "negative space" created by the overcast sky.

Later on the drive we took a small hike at another rest area, and I took the following shot at an overlook.

It is evident that the focal point for this shot was the red-leafed tree in the lower right.  Otherwise, the the spring scene is a little diffused.  In post processing I was able to keep some clarity in the foreground while letting the background become a little "impressionistic."  Since there wasn't much going on the background, I thought the tactic worked pretty well.

More recently we have "enjoyed" some dense fog (the landscape photographer's friend).  First of the fog shots was of a cluster of trees in bloom.  Here, again, I used post processing to soften the background a bit.

I then headed for a local park on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, hoping for some denser fog.  On the way I passed a heavily wooded private lot that I have attempted twice to shoot in the past.  Both times the owner came out questioning my camera, in effect chasing me off.  This time no one came out and I was able to get a few good shots.

The virtue of these woods is that they primarily include mature trees and not too much undergrowth "junk."  In this shot I chose to focus on a younger sapling.  Here,  again, I was able to soften most of the trees while keeping the sapling in sharp focus.  I thought this helped to emphasize the presence of the fog.

Below is another, similar shot that I converted to a black & white.

Not the best, perhaps, but you have to take advantage of what is available.

Then it was on to Virmond Park on the bluff above Lake Michigan.  Here is a shot of my favorite tree in the park, a smallish evergreen that sits in an otherwise open field.

OK, but I thought the fog would be more of an element in the shot.

Finally, I noted a bench near the edge of the bluff that had been paired with a fairly large evergreen and took this near-silhouette shot that I converted to a black & white.

Although it was getting dark, I was able to take this shot at f/7.1 for 1/40 second at an ISO of 100.  I chose to place the tree and bench on the left to emphasize the fog as negative space.

John