Showing posts with label sumac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sumac. Show all posts

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Quiet Time

Time for some chillin' off the farm.


I could have stayed home as the temps were supposed to be in the 80's again, but I thought I'd make my own breezes again. This time I promised myself to just pedal until I found something interesting and then stop and look at it. 

This was not a work out, it was a pleasure out. I took my ancient camera that I had converted to Infrared. I put on the hot filter to shoot in normal colors and traded off with some infrared filters of 665nm and 850nm. The 850nm presents in black and white with the greens becoming white and blues are dark.

One of the places I really enjoy stopping at is the pond that is near a place called Star Valley. Okay, it was a place called Star Valley. A community lived here from 1901 to 1962. In the 60's, the government started a flood control project called the LaFarge Dam Project. People's homes/farms were purchased and those who refused had their land appropriated.

There still is a lot of resentment over those actions as the project was abandoned in the 1970's.  I've referred to the project over the years. You can check out one of those posts here: Dam Hike & Forest Wandering.

By the time I got to the Star Valley Memorial after riding about 5 miles, I was so chilled out that I could have laid on the bench and napped. Instead, I sat and just let my mind wander while I ate an apple. Funny thing is, I never thought a bit about my schedules for the next week. 

I knew then, that this was exactly what I needed.

Here is the pond in color, then in IR Black and White, and lastly in 665nm.




The presentation of the foliage and the pond reflections are startling in IR. I guess that is what the biggest appeal to me is. The wild colors are pretty much up to the person who processes IR. I happen to like a pink tint to the 665nm foliage. Sometimes the Black and White is more appealing. I love how the clouds and the reflections stand out.

I couldn't resist bringing my mini-me and Charlie along. In real life, I couldn't do this!



The colors were starting to turn in various places but nothing spectacular quite yet. The sumac offered some beautiful reds.


Bridge 16 is in the background of this shot.


Here is some different colors and a different variety of Highbush Cranberry.


Fully mature Nanny Berries! They turn black ... 


Last but not least was some curious vines I'd seen before but never stopped to investigate.

I've seen it flowering in the spring but had no idea that it is a type of wild clematis, with a common name called Old Man's Beard.


It was a pleasure to have some solo time. It was a beautiful afternoon and oddly enough, I never saw another person on the trail. There was no sign of hikers, bikers, or equestrians. 

Fall is coming. It will be here eventually....



Friday, January 21, 2022

Hunting shadows and

light...


Winter solitude-
in a world of one color
the sound of wind
~Basho





I've been on a black and white stark patterns 'kick' lately.

I recently read an article where one pro photographer said one needed to practice just one genre of photography to get very good at it. 
I agree with him.

Then I read another article that said Do What Inspires You. Okay!

Cold.
Snow.
Winter.
Stark.
White.

I've been inspired by shadows and light play.
And I was inspired by the incredible snow and clear blue skies. 

Trees that huddle in
 the hollow of a soybean field.

The Sumac that stands 
against the western winds.


Here is the tree line that still hides parts of a barbed
wire fence that once separated two farms.





There is pleasure in knowing where to walk to see these favorite places of mine on the ridge. In the other seasons none of these trees make such an amazing statement.

Yet in winter, they are must see spots for me.


I can't help myself.
I love how the winds whisper 
cold air past me 
and it makes snow designs
under my feet...



I feel
free...

~~~