ROCKY REFLECTION

ISO 100, f/16, 1/4 second, 19mm

  Sometimes the simplest of compositions can be the most compelling images. Just capturing a simple reflection on the river with these two rocks in the foreground is a very satisfying image to me. You can see the blue sky reflect in the foreground and the opposing mountainside reflecting the rest of the way through the water. This shows just how great the reflected light was on Saturday.

BALD RIVER FALLS HDR

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/14, 0.6 seconds

  I can't count how many times I have been to Bald River Falls or the number of photographs that I have taken here. It is probably the most recognizable geographic feature of Monroe County and the Cherokee National Forest. At 90 feet tall and a constant, heavy flow of water, it is as picturesque a waterfall as there is in the Eastern US.
  The trouble with Bald River Falls is finding an angle that nobody has shot from. Back in July of last year I got what I think was a unique picture in my blog post ROCKIN' THE FALLS. Other than my buddy Tim Owen's shot from just to the left of where I was, I have never seen a shot of the falls from that angle.
  Last Saturday, my daughter Jocy and I found ourselves right back there and it was one of the few times I have been there in the early evening around 4:30. There was a lot of bright sunshine which usually doesn't lend itself to the longer shutter speeds that are necessary to get that silky look to the water.
  I solved this by climbing under the bridge that passes right in front of the falls and setting up in the shade and also using a foreground element, a large rock, that was in the shade. By metering and focusing on the rock I achieved the exposure I wanted but had to deal with the contrasting range of light from the shaded foreground to the extremely bright background.  HDR to the rescue!
  Knowing that Photomatix Essentials could process this and get the dynamic range I wanted, I bracketed all my shots at -/+2 EV.  Between adjusting in Essentials and Photoshop Elements, I had the natural look I was after with the entire image exposed from front to back.
  Think I may have made my favorite Bald River Falls image.

CURIOSITY

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 20mm, ISO 100, f/16, 1/83 second

  I used my lunchtime today to run over the Highway 322 between Vonore & Sweetwater, TN where I knew this barn had a huge bunch of yellow flowers blooming just in front of it.  I had to maneuver myself around a barbed wire fence to get an angle low enough to place the yellow flowers up front and close in the foreground.
  There was a very stiff wind blowing and the flowers were moving and flowing from it which is why some are blurry right up close.
  As I was framing up the shot a pair of horses came rumbling around from behind the barn and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me. They were inquisitive but didn't come any closer to me. This was fortuitous because they provided a neat element in front of the barn and by the time I actually tripped the shutter, another white horsed poked it's head out from the doorway of the barn and got in the picture as well.
  Due to the harsh light at noontime, I bracketed all my shots and then processed in Photomatix Essentials before general processing in Photoshop Elements.

DOWNSTREAM

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/20,1/4 second, 3 image Panorama

  As I mentioned in the last post, the reflections along the river on Saturday were outstanding. Right before Jocy and I set out back home I happened to turn around and look downstream from the waterfall I was shooting and saw this view.
  The sunlight was striking the green trees in the distant background and creating this awesome reflection all the way back up to this rock that looked like it was pointing me right to the light. Would have loved to get a vantage point directly behind this rock but the water was just too deep so I framed it in the bottom right corner as a lead into the frame.
  Bracketed 3 images and stitched them together in Photoshop Elements Photomerge Panorama. I then processed them slightly in Photomatix Essentials to try and even out the light from foreground to background.

POOL REFLECTIONS

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 20mm, ISO 100, f/14, 1/4 second

  This afternoon was as pretty a day as anyone could've asked for. Bright sunshine, blue skies with soft white clouds, and 78 degrees.
  With my wife out of town, my son out with friends, it was just Jocy and me at the house. I asked her if she wanted to go out to the Cherokee National Forest and take some pictures. With it warm enough for her to get her feet wet she definitely gave her approval.
  We ended up just past Baby Falls on River Rd shooting at a beautiful waterfall that is split down the middle by a huge rock cropping. I have been at this location before but just not in the afternoon. With the late afternoon sunlight the opportunities for reflections were all over the place.  At this waterfall there were several "pools" in these rocks where the water has dug out bowls in the rocks. These pools were reflecting the tree line from the opposing shore wonderfully and I just had to find an angle that I liked. I positioned myself where the largest of this group was directly in front of me and tried to exaggerate it low and up front in the frame with the rest leading the eye back to the left side of the waterfall.

FIRST ROSE

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/125 second

  This morning I was walking around the yard looking at my wife Melissa's several groupings of plants and flowers around the yard. I came her miniature rose bush that sits right next to the drive way up against our garage.
  This month we will be married 17 years and this is the first rose bush that I can remember her having. Don't know why. It just is. Maybe she just doesn't like how a rose bush takes over and spreads all over. This particular bush has grown quite a bit since she planted it last spring.
  One thing I noticed when I looked at this bush this morning was that the first flower of the year was blooming on it. Beings that it was a miniature, this flower looked so cute because it was so small compared to the rest of the bush. I had to take a picture of it. The shade from the garage created a perfect even light to catch the contrast of the dark green leaves against the bright beautiful rose.
  After general processing in Photoshop Elements, I imported into OnOne Software's Perfect Effects 3 Free and applied the Brownie effect and neat border. It is the first time I have used this software and I think it really helped make it pop.

AFTER THE STORM

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19 mm, ISO 100, f/20, 32 seconds

  Having an HDR software that does what I want it to is a whole lot of fun. I am going back and re-processing images that I had given up on for one reason or another and getting something a little more fun out of them.
  Today's post is a long, 32 second exposure from Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, CA. My friend, Erik Kerstenbeck and I spent a glorious evening in February taking photograph after photograph from underneath, along side, and out on the beach of this wonderful pier.
  It rained quite a bit on us that afternoon but as the evening went along, the rain cleared and made for a perfect Pacific Ocean sunset. The clouds were moving extremely fast and as the golden hour light hit made for some great long exposures. The clouds blurred quite well and the surf was flattened by the long shutter.
  Processed this as a single image HDR in Photomatix Essentials and that brought out quite a bit of detail in the pier and the buildings that reside on top of it.  Even out at the very end that is quite a bit off in the distance.