“Brick Building, Chester” — A brick building in the sun, Chester, England.
A photograph may resonate in multiple ways and for many reasons. Sometimes the fact that it captures an interesting or important moment is sufficient, regardless of technical or esthetic quality. Or it might be about composition and the relationship among its component parts in the abstract. It might evoke a memory or an association. It could appeal on its intrinsic visual qualities — tonalities, light, color, and more. Many photographs work in more than one of these and others not listed here.
“Old Cypress” — An old Monterey cypress tree at Point Lobos, California.
The Monterey cypress trees at Point Lobos are rugged and diverse specimens. This is no forest of uniform Sierra Nevada trees. Each tree seems to have its own personality, formed by its exposure to light, proximity to cliffs, age, and the wind. Aside from the fact that they often grow in groves, many of them remind me of the stunted and twisted trees found at timberline in the highest mountains.
“Trees and Peak” — Mount Data and High Sierra forest.
This was a slow, quiet Sierra morning. I had set up camp at Tuolumne Meadows the night before, and this was my first early outing of the trip. I headed up Tioga Road before sunrise and decided to cross the pass and visit some favorite areas on the east side of the crest. I started by going up high where I could photograph sunrise light on the highest peaks. After finishing that — and poking around a few interesting nearby spots — I decided to head back down the way I had come.
“Tufa, Sky, and Water” — An island of tufa formations under early morning sky, Mono Lake.
I think of this photograph, in part, as a study in tones. I had been photographing a brilliant sunrise in color, but as the first wild sunrise colors diminished I began to think about monochrome. (Of course, my camera being digital, I was capturing color images, though monochrome results were in my mind.) The brightest areas of the clouds were extremely bright, while the facing side of the tufa formations, being backlit, were very close to black. My plan was to control the bright areas in the exposure and then lift the shadows in post, just enough to hint at details on the tufa.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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