To be Alone with Nature

A cloudless sky greeted me that morning...there was a chill in the air though, but no wind so the surface of Shanty Hollow Lake was mirror smooth...once again.  I arrived well before sunrise just in time to witness the first glow that indicated a new day was soon to arrive.  A near full moon hovered in the west an hour or so from setting...its reflection shimmering on the calm waters.  The west bank began to show signs of color as the morning light slowly progressed...illuminating the tree line against the still dark ebony sky.  I pulled off on the opposite bank and setup my tripod and spent the next thirty minutes photographing the morning from a different perspective than I normally do.  Some of the best images I've ever taken resulted.  (Sorry...saving their debut to coincide with the debut of the Shanty Hollow year long project next summer).

My story is less about photography than about spending time alone with nature.  Collectively over the years I've managed to spend many hours afield away from work...away from the routine.  In recent years, I've been unable to do as much...so I relish more those few times I do find.  Oddly enough it seems I relish them more once I returned home and begin to relive the day in my thoughts.

As the morning progressed, a front blew in shifting the day from gentle light breezes into a hard blow.  By mid-morning I pulled out and spent the next several hours simply hiking around and enjoying the blustery day.  A few clouds blew in with the front, but for the most part the sun was bright and caused the early fall colors to glow in its presence. Eventually, I found a large flat rock that was surrounded by yellow leaves set ablaze by sunbeams that filtered through the trees.  Listening to the sounds of the wind as it caused the leaves to shimmer and quake...well, it was quite relaxing.  Too often I get in a hurry and think I must move on...pictures to take...something new to see...when in reality, just sitting there in one spot for a while may be the best thing to do.

Finding time alone in nature helps to purge the soul of the anxieties of life.  Time spent doing so is well served as I am always more relaxed once I do return home.  I love to hear the sound of the wind rustling the leaves...observe the glow of the colors...feel the warmth of the sun on a fall day.  The area around Shanty Hollow lake is like a large arena surrounded by moss covered escarpments, filled with tall trees, divided by clear creeks, softened by a marvelous body of water, and anchored by ancient rock outcroppings that line the hills. Accented by a variety of wildlife still wild...still true to their instincts...the area is complete and purposeful for time discovered alone with nature.

Keith

The Old Halfway Bridge

I have for many years been fascinated with old bridges.  They have a kind of rustic charm combined with a graphic strength that give them an element of enduring artistic nature.  Most of the old bridges were way over engineered and were built to withstand far greater stress loads than they probably needed...that alone provides a degree of rustic charm that places them within a time frame where one can almost identify the era in which the bridge was built...not unlike a classic car.

There is an old bridge I found several years ago that spans Trammel Creek...I call it 'The Halfway Bridge' because it is located near the end of Halfway Road.  No longer able to withstand traffic, it was closed off many years ago, but it is possible to walk across it and get a feel of days past.  It is narrow...only one lane and it offers a splendid view of Trammel Creek.  Surrounding it are the wooded banks of the creek that have grown up  and encroached across both ends...even moss now grows on the crumbling asphalt surface.

Although I have photographed this bridge during all four seasons, the best time of year is in the fall when the trees begin to turn.  Around here in south central Kentucky, the fall colors seem to be coming early this season...I bet a good 10 days earlier than what is routine.  In the 8 years I've lived around here, I've seen the colors start to change anywhere between mid-October and the first week of November...peaking somewhere around the end of October through the second week of November.

I took a few days off this week...and spent a few hours around mid-day on this overcast day re-shooting the old bridge again.  It's a fun place to visit...Here is a link to see more.   Old Halfway Bridge

Create a Keeper from a Cull - Opening a Jpeg image in Raw

First of all let me explain that I am not a guru on Photoshop in any of its configurations whether it be Elements or CS3, 4, 5...or whatever the latest version is.  My philosophy when taking photos is to get it as close to being right in the camera so that when I do download it, any post processing will be minimal.

None the less...having said that...there are times when a little bit of post processing is desirable.  Here is a case in point.  The photo above was taken of my neighbor's cat as it played in and around an old chair in our garden.  (All together now...1, 2, 3...Ahhhh!)  It was late in the afternoon and the old chair was in the shadows.  I shot the image with in camera settings of jpeg, Standard, Daylight, ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/60th with +/- 0 compensation.  Nothing fancy...nothing tricky about it.  The results as you can see was an image with a bit of a blue and somewhat dull cast to it.  The reason was because I did not push the White Balance into the Shade range and the 0 compensation caused the exposure to move toward the mid-range tonal values.

This particular kind of image can be salvaged with a bit of a tweak using Photoshop.  At the moment I use Elements 6...I know there are newer versions out there, but this one seems to work quite well for what I need...so, I'm going to save the one hundred bucks or so it would cost to upgrade and use those funds for gas money so I can go out and take more pictures.

An easy way to fix this image is to open it in Camera Raw format using Elements.  With Elements 6 open, click on the File option and select Open As and select as the format Camera Raw.  Even though this is a jpeg image, it can still be opened using the Raw formatting configurations...you just don't have quite as much digital information to work with.  The image will appear looking like the top image with the adjustment sliders on the right.

To correct the bluish tint use the Temperature slider and slide it a few points to the right to warm up the image.

To give the image a bit more pop...slide the Exposure slider to the right just a little to push a bit of power into the image...not too much...just enough to remove some of the dullness.

Move the Blacks slider a point or two to the right to give the image a little more strength.

Add a little Contrast and Brightness if you want to...plus a point or three of Clarity and Saturation...

Then press the Save Image option on the bottom left.  Wait a few seconds for it to finish saving , then press Open Image on the bottom right.  This reopens the image as a jpeg.  From here I normally add a bit of sharpening then save the image again as a jpeg.  These simple corrections can take a dull, somewhat improperly exposed image and turn it into a keeper.