Reaching Out

I found this composition 'inviting'. A single stream briefly splits into two and these tree branches really reach out to you.

- Woolly Hollow State Park, Arkansas
Orig # KS1_3197-3203hdr2

Cascading at Sunset

Cascading waterfall at sunset, Woolly Hollow State Park, Arkansas

Long exposure, HDR from 11 frames ranging from less than 1 sec to 15 seconds. Yes, the sun and sun rays are all real. The refractions are from the stacked ND filters and the shifting of the trees during exposure.
Orig # KS1_2939-2950hdr2a

Nature's Graffiti

I titled this one "Nature's Graffiti", although it could easily have a myriad of titles. This old homestead could tell so many stories, and if it were to have ghosts, you can almost see them peering through the windows.

This photograph ended up being much more interesting after a closer look. I shot this as an infrared, but I also bracketed it for an HDR image - to ensure I had the greatest tonal range from the infrared spectrum. The reason I went to all this trouble was to ensure I could emphasize the dramatic contrast of the vines spinning and exploring the house.

I also converted it to b&w to give it the simplicity and toning to closer match it's timeliness. I purposefully shot this with a slow shutter speed to give some life to the grasses and branches, which blurred during the exposure.

Old store...

This is an old store that I've passed many times, but just couldn't find the right mood/composition to photograph it....until this visit. I fear that it will soon collapse. As you can tell from the photograph of the full structure, it's leaning to the left considerably.

Hope you enjoy.

Nature's Green is Gold - #2

"Nature's Green is Gold - #2"

This was shot the same day (same tree!) as my Project Imagin8ion Grand Prize winning photograph ("Where One Day Ends, A New Day Begins"). This was shot about 20 minutes before my winning photograph was taken. This is an HDR taken at sunset, composed of 22 bracketed images. I wanted to achieve the highest, dynamic range possible (within reason).

This field of flowers is what attracted me to this area. Imagine a field full of yellow flowers (buttercups), with a clear, blue sky.

This is also the same tree in "Nature's Green is Gold".
Hope you enjoy. :)
Orig # KS0_6121-6142_hdr

Gravity

Another from this series of color-infrared images of this tree. I planned this shot ahead of time, to capture the sun setting with the light about half-way up the tree, and subsequently positioning the moon in the same frame. I left plenty of space between the moon and tree to give the greater sense of space (pardon the pun).

I entitled this with "Gravity" because of the effect of shooting this in ultra-wide, the curvature of the earth bends toward the moon, while the tree points to the moon. The result is that your eye is always drawn to the moon, the smallest object in the photograph. :)
Hope you enjoy.

Color-infrared, hdr, converted to monotone.
Orig # DSC_0118-24hdr

You can see my popular, horizontal version here: www.flickr.com/photos/kellyshipp/5622954644/

Stand Out from the Crowd

This is more of an artistic result than I normally display. The original, infrared-color image produced wonderful magenta hues that I couldn't resist exploiting.

Hope you enjoy.

Color-infrared panorama.
Orig: DSC_0126-0139hdr2

Nature's Green Is Gold...

"Nature's Green is Gold"

I photographed this tree last week and really had this image in-mind afterwards, so I returned this week to get this shot. The tree is rooted among a field of buttercup flowers. It's an obvious HDR image, which took some time processing, but I wanted this to be more artistic than pure realism.
I hope you enjoy.

Orig # KS0_5888-94hdr4cs

A few photos from this past weekend...

A few photos from this past weekend:


"Sunset Bridge"


"Field of Flowers"

Fog

Here are a few images from this week, while I was out in the fog, just before nightfall. Hope you enjoy...


Something about this bridge caught my attention. The mix of traffic, fog and diminishing light. The "windows" of light under the bridge form a visual interest that intrigued me.

Nature images from the weekend...

Here are a few images from this past weekend. Hope you enjoy.