2011, Day 341 - Highlighting

There is something very primitive and primeval about moss and ferns; when I am in a setting like the one below I am always on the lookout for leprechauns and velociraptors.  I am pretty sure the two are related but one is good luck and the other is very bad luck.

I like how the rising sun illuminates the moss and the ferns so that it takes your eyes a minute to see the rest of the image.  In art you only have so long to make an impression so the hope here is that the bright colors will draw you in and the longer you look the more you see.  Dinosaurs may be hard to miss the leprechauns are pretty sly, can you see the one pictured below?

Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
22mm, f8, merged layers of 1/40 and 1/10 sec @ 160 ISO

2011, Day 340 - Relax

Yesterday was one of those days where nothing works out as planned and I had to spend the whole day chasing people with a pointy stick to make them do their job.  Today was entirely different, I was able to get a lot of work done, I had breakfast with a friend and I had the pleasure of visiting with Dawson and his buddy Preston.

For those people who haven't been following my antic, I volunteer with a greyhound adoption group and one of my favorite couples had recovered from their recent loss enough to bring another dog home.  So I made arrangements for this handsome guy to come to the Pacific NW from Oklahoma.  The last leg of his trip I drove from Portland to Seattle and back in a very early morning.  On the way he wiggled his goofy way into my heart.

When Dawson's father became a temporary single parent and stressed by a morning of hectic activity I was asked if I could come by to check up on him and his buddy Preston.  Why wouldn't I?  Dawson I adore and Preston I was about to take home when my friends decided they were ready for another dog so both these dogs are some of my favorite hounds.  So I got to cuddle with the two goofy guys for about an hour between other obligations and then had the mandatory sniff-down when I got home and my hounds could smell that I had been snuggling with other dogs.  Good thing my boys are the understanding types :)

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 24/f1.4L Mark II

24mm, f1.4, 1/125 sec @ 1000 ISO

2011, Day 339 - Rays

This morning Portland awoke to a heavy layer of frost, dense fog and sub-freezing temperatures.  I am sure that most people were worried about their morning commute when they saw the weather but I called my friend Julie while I was walking the dogs to see if she wanted to go out shooting this morning.  The way that trees look when blanketed in fog is just beautiful in that kind of surreal otherworldly kind of way.  Julie was eager to go out to take pictures but, unfortunately, as we neared Mount Talbert (a convenient middle ground) the fog burned off almost completely.

All was not lost, because of the heavy fog we got a late sunrise which led to some great high contrast landscapes.  This one appeals to me because I like the way the sun behind the trees silhouettes their shape and how it catchs the small branches with a bit of rim light.

What you can't feel in the photograph is the cold air in your lungs and the way your whole body constricts to try to minimize your contact with the icy morning breezes.  The light burn of freezing air in your lungs with the sweet smell of the evergreens and the moist rot of the leaf litter all over the ground. You can't feel the sun as it warms your face when you emerge from under the canopy or from behind a thick growth of trees.  It was an invigorating morning which made a nice start to a rather hectic day of people failing to do as they either promised or instructed.  Oh well, tomorrow is a new day with new adventures.

Canon 1Ds Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
27mm, f8, merged layers of 1/30, 1/15 and 1/8 sec @ 160 ISO

2011, Day 338 - Lucky Penny

For better or worse I know my veterinarian and all the people in his office very well.  Life in a multi-pet household means regular visits for routine and not-so-routine issues.  Last week I was in twice, just to pick up a refill and then again for something I forgot.  It is like visiting family and one of the biggest personalities in the office is Penny, the chihuahua that belongs to one of the vet techs.  She comes in wearing a darling sweater and has free run of the office to tell off the bigger dogs if they get a little too interested in her as a delicious morsel.  One of her favorite things to do is to cuddle up to a bigger dog that is under anesthesia to keep warm and to watch over them during surgery.

When I went in there wasn't a patient on the surgical table but Penny was happy to perch there where no one could miss her as they walked by.  A few weeks ago when I picked up Dawson from his neuter Penny felt neglected so she walked right in front of us.  Dawson, you have to understand, is a greyhound less than two years old who weighs about seventy pounds, probably almost twenty times what Penny weighs.  Nevertheless she wanted attention and when he went to sniff her she let out a low growl which he responded to with a big sloppy kiss.  That took the wind out of her sails and she allowed us by after I gave her a quick pat on the head.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f2.8, 1/160 sec @ 320 ISO

2011, Day 337 - Nemesis

One of the Google+ themes for Saturday is #Caturday.  I have no cats, I have dogs that do cat impression by napping in sunbeams  on cool days like today, so instead I used Nicole Young's cat Fuji again.  He was looking out the window see is his nemesis, Black Cat, was back to taunt him.  Joining Fuji in his suspicion is none other than Brian Matiash who seems to be sharing Fuji's mistrust of Black Cat.  I think that Brian might be more agitated than Fuji is by their occasional visitor.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f2.8, 1/125 sec @ 640 ISO

2011, Day 336 - Docked

Another flashback to Alaska from four years ago.  These are the docked fishing boats at Cordova Harbor on a cloudy morning.  It had been raining for most of the trip so we fished in cold downpours in rivers choked with mud churned up by the storms.  We had little luck those days but the day before I took this picture the weather broke and we had some nice days of scattered sunlight that proved very fruitful.  The vignetting you see is the natural effect of the clouds, it is amplified only slightly in the upper right to create a sense of visual balance.

I am hoping that I will be able to go back next fall to fish and to explore Cordova a little more.  In retrospect it looks like a tonemapping dream come true.

Canon 1D, Canon 17-40/f4L
17mm, f4, 1/1250 sec @ 200 ISO

2011, Day 335 - Time travel

I've actually thought about this and other photos from this trip recently.  This was taken in Cordova over four years ago and in that short time my ability to process a RAW file has improved dramatically.  If I recall correctly this is a fish processing facility but what caught my eye was the clouds, the signs of neglect, the rust and the fantastic backdrop; essentially there is a lot of texture in this image so it is a visual feast.

Sadly I have not had time to return to Cordova in the intervening years.  My father goes annual to fish for salmon and 2007 was the first and last time I've been even though he has been generous enough to invited me every year since.  It was a lot of fun and because the fish are so plentiful it doesn't take much skill which means that it is still quite a challenge for me.

It is always worth looking back into your archives at photos that you might have forgotten about.  This one is a gem, one that I remembered fondly but like even more now that I have had a chance to rework it.  What amazes me most is that this is a single image, one that was really well exposed by pure luck.

Canon 1D, Canon 17-40/f4L
26mm, f4, 1/800 sec @ 200 ISO