Moonrise over San Antonio

As I mentioned in my previous posting, I will still be dropping in here occasionally to share photos from time to time. Here is a photo I took tonight of the moon rising over the San Antonio Cathedral near the Alamo in San Antonio, TX. I had to take a few shots to get the moon at just the right angle and to have the flag fluttering in the right direction. I happen to think this turned out pretty well. Hopefully you think the same.

FWIW...

On Hiatus

Given that I received no emails or comments wondering about my being gone and stopping making entries here, I am putting this blog on hiatus. I'm sure I'll still have stuff to share from time to time, but it's obvious that what I'm interested in doesn't necessarily translate to stuff other folks are interested in. Given there are only so many hours in a day, there's no reason for me to spend time posting stuff that's just a waste of your time.

FWIW...

Three Views of a Meadow

Finishing off the week with a post that takes three different looks at the same meadow in Yosemite National Park. Part of the reason for doing this is to show you that you should try to look at other ways of looking at the same image when you're out taking pictures. In other words, try different angles or orientations. Generally you'll run out of time before you run out of storage media (and if you're having a problem with that, you should really get another card). So experimentation should be the order of the day. But also I'm trying to point out how time of year affects your picture options. In the rock formation in

the background of the first image, you can see an area that appears to be "stained". That is where, in the spring, you would see Yosemite Falls. The grass and flowers wouldn't be quite as prominent, and you'd be much more likely to center the image on the impressive fall of water. Here in late summer, though, the flow has become a trickle, and so the meadow itself takes over as the feature that draws the eye.

In the first image and this one, I'm also using the footpath to both add a visual accent to the picture, and to draw the viewers eye across the landscape to get them (you) to look at the entire image.

Finally, in the third picture, I was walking down the footpath, and turned to get an image that was just the natural setting by itself. Again, same meadow, but now with a bit of a different look, and possibly even a different meaning to the viewer.

Notice how the "grain" of the grass, i.e. the way it naturally leans, causes the grasses here to look a bit greener and fuller than in the other images. Also how getting the sun a bit more "over the shoulder" makes the sky look a bit more blue too.

Hope you enjoyed this week of photos!

The Sheer Power of Stone

This is a fairly zoomed in look at what I believe was El Capitan - although I did not remember to get a picture of the identifying sign.

Regardless, I was intrigued by the blocky textures and earth tones that were displayed by this outcropping. It certainly serves to explain the draw of this park.

Of course you can also see why Black and White photos from here tend to be so powerful. You are then emphasizing the geometries and the differences in contrast rather than the more subtle differences in color.

Down By The River Side - Yosemite

As promised, a much closer look at the Merced River - one of the two major rivers that run through Yosemite. The highlights in the background are a bit overexposed due to my wanting to bring out the detail in the natural framing of the weeds and willows here. I suppose this would have been a good place to experiment with creating an HDR image. Just that I don't like to mess with my photos quite that much.

Tomorrow, we get a little closer to the main portion of the park.