“Trees and Sandstone Cliffs” — Trees near the base of sandstone cliffs, Zion Canyon.
There is a lot going on here related to textures and colors. Color first: the cliff and tree colors are almost complementary. The green trees at the base of the cliff are in full shade. The further cliff face is getting both direct and reflected light. The cliffs seem massive and solid, but the surfaces are surprisingly varied. We see lighter and redder sections contrasting with almost-blue darker areas.
I was a little surprised to see trees growing so close to the base of he cliff. Often these areas are littered with accumulated rockfall debris, but here the trees don’t show any signs of that. It isn’t easy to tell from the photograph, but some of the trees are actually growing from cracks in the rock wall.
“Fire Trail, Calero Hills” — A trail through Central California oak grassland with winter morning light.
This is an unusual post — a “make up” post to restore a lost photograph to the archives. It is an old photograph from 2006 that probably once appeared on this website but seems to have disappeared. I regularly share older “From the Archive” images on social media, and as I prepared this photo for sharing I was unable to find an original post here. Consequently, I worked up this slightly revised version and am sharing it here today.
The photograph comes from a San Francisco Bay Area park where I have hiked and photographed for decades. I visit at all times of the year and in all imaginable conditions. This one comes from a morning hike in the winter, when the low angle sun cast strong shadows across the landscape beneath the skeletal forms of winter trees.
“Couple On The Bank of the Leie River, Ghent” — A couple on the walkway along the Leie River, Ghent, Belgium.
This seemed to me like a particularly picturesque curve in the Leie River though the old section of Ghent, Belgium. Although the sky suggests partly sunny light, it remained a bit overcast where we were, thus the very soft light in this photograph. This is a busy place, and there were not a lot of opportunities to photograph just one or two people in this scene.
We were only in Ghent briefly — we took a train there from Brussels for the day. We spent the day walking around the center of the city, where there are many old buildings and perhaps one of the greatest concentrations of church spires I have seen. I made the photograph as we walked a bridge connecting the two sides of the river.
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“Stained Glass Light” — Beams of colorful light from stained glass windows on the stone floor of the Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire, Brussels.
First impressions on entering old European churches like the Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire in Belgium focus on the architecture, the scale, and the quietness of these places. If you have some time to wander — and you should take that time if you visit them — smaller details start to emerge. Stained glass windows originally provoked me to look up at them, but later I learned to look down at the light they cast.
The first time I understood the projected light was during a late-afternoon visit to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The low angle of early evening light sent colorful beams of light everywhere. The effect at this smaller Brussels church was not quite as broadly spectacula, but its beauty still caught my attention.
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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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