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Tulips and Blue Forget Me Nots |
Another from Filoli. These gorgeous plantings were from the sunken gardens.
Author: DorothyPhoto
Yosemite #8
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Wildcat Falls |
A small second of Wildcat Falls in Yosemite. Another HDR image.
Filoli #3
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Tulip Basket at Poolside |
Another flower shot from Filoli. These tulips were is baskets around the pool area.
Filoli #2
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Tulip Explosion |
There were literally thousands of tulips in full bloom at Filoli during my last visit.
Yosemite #7
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Upper Yosemite Falls |
This is a classic Yosemite shot taken from the Swinging Bridge. You cannot see the lower falls because they are obscured by trees. If you look closely, you can see a block of ice below the upper falls.
Yosemite #6
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Merced River |
This is another from my Yosemite series. I loved the beautiful green color in the Merced River but had a hard time capturing its essence. In the process, I learned a trick that I want to pass on. Below is the same image as I would have normally processed As you can see, there is a huge difference in the tonal quality between these two images.
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Merced River (original) |
The original image was captured in Raw format. There was no black or white clipping in the histogram but the histogram shows a very contrasty image with a large spike in the quarter and three-quarter tones. I processed this image (5) times with exposure values of 0, -1, -2, +1 and +2. This simulates doing exposure bracketing in the field. Then using Photomatix Pro, I combined the (5) images into a single High-Dynamic Range image and did tone mapping (I think I used the default values).
Maybe, you are saying to yourself that I could just use Shadows & Highlights to open up the darker areas in the original version and retain some detail in the clouds. Well, I did use Shadows & Highlights and I still could not get results nearly as good as using the high-dynamic range image. The bad news is that you would have to buy Photomatix Pro because this trick does not work with Photoshop CS2’s HDR plugin. Photoshop’s HDR requires different exposures not just different raw processing. The good news is that you can try out Photomatix Pro for 30 days and see if it works for your style of photography.
Filoli
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Tree Peony |
I will break my Yosemite posting streak for a Filoli posting. This is an American Castle donated to the Historical Trust. There are acres after acres of incredible formal gardens. It is mind-boggling to see how the super-rich lived. As a midwestern transplant to California, I missed peonies. Turns out that tree peonies due fine here. This bloom is about the size of a tea saucer!
Yosemite #5
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Unnamed Waterfall at Turnout |
Every day driving to and from the park, I would see tucked into a turnout along Highway 140. On my last afternoon, I decided to stop and take a picture. To my surprise, there was another photographer just stowing her large format camera. As she left, I walked around for the best vantage point. I could see her footsteps in the grass and where she placed her tripod. I selected the same spot. I wonder if our images are the same?
Yosemite #4
Since this was my first visit to Yosemite, I had a hard time not taking the grand landscapes and look for the details. This is one of those (few) detail shots that I took.
Yosemite #3
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El Capitan from Cathedral Beach |
I do not think that any photo can really show how massive El Capitan is when viewed from below. It takes over the skies above the trees. This was from our most successful outing when we got up around 5:45 AM and rushed into the park. This is the last of the golden light.
DorothyPhoto 