“Meadow, Mountains, Morning Mist” — Morning mist rises from a subalpine meadow with trees in the foreground and peaks in the distance.
For a few days in early July I had this usually-crowded Yosemite location almost to myself. The nearby high-country campground was not yet open, and entry-restrictions to the park reduced the number of visitors. I camped just outside the park’s boundaries, and I entered in the mornings before sunrise — there was no line and I could get to my destinations quickly. On a couple of mornings the sunrise destination was this great subalpine meadow.
The meadow runs from east to west, so sunrise and sunset tend to send light down its length. I positioned myself near the west end on this morning, which meant that I was shooting nearly directly into that morning light. Here I placed a group of trees along the right side of the frame, to contrast the dark forms of their trunks and shadows with the lighter distant mountains, details muted by backlit haze.
“Paint Line” — The boundary between two different approaches to painting one building, Lisbon.
I spotted this little architectural oddity somewhere near the St. George Castle in Lisbon, high up in the hills. This is a single wall – it is all the same building. I can only assume that the building is divided into two or more residences and that those who live there have very different ideas about paint! Both are pretty striking. Purple isn’t quite a typical building color, and the worn, layered, and textured quality of the right side is about as different as I can imagine.
Little scenes like this are among those that I’m always looking for when traveling — interesting shapes, architecture, color, texture, and items that reflect that particular place.
“Cones and Needles” — Cones and needles litter the ground beneath old Sierra Nevada lodgepole pines.
I made this photograph at that time of day when the shadows were long and most areas beneath trees were in the soft light. That seems to work better for this sort of photograph, which would have way too much contrast in full sunlight. Photographs of largely random subjects always end up being trickier than I think they will be. Once I see the subject framed in the viewfinder, it turns out to be a challenge to find a composition that works.
This area beneath large lodgepole piles was completely covered with a layer of fallen cones, intermixed with some pine needs and a few branches. The number of cones was actually remarkable, and it reflects the impressive fertility of these trees.
“A Lisbon Street” — A narrow, curving street in Alfama, lined with colorful buildings.
From my limited experience, this feels like a “typical” street of Lisbon’s Alfama district… except that the street is wider than many of the passageways. The lines suggest that it is two lanes wide — though I imagine that when a trolley goes up and down those tracks there isn’t a lot of room for anyone else!
There is a lot in this scene that attracted my attention. The street itself with its pairs of tracks and optimistic center dividing line is one. The stacked and tightly spaced buildings are another. And I love the saturated colors, from the nearly pure white to the many yellow buildings, and the bits of blue here and there.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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