Tag: landscape photography

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2020-04-26: The only constant is change

A few years ago I moved away from Adobe editing products, and started using On1 Photo Raw as my main tool for organizing and editing photos.  At the time it felt like a good idea to try something different, and I was able to use the tools I wanted in a fairly efficient manner.

Fast forward to today, and I have made the choice to move back to Lightroom and Photoshop.  I have been having a few issues with On1, especially strange instances of the program getting stuck searching when filters are turned on, sometimes for a half hour or more.  Which granted isn’t that much time, but I don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to editing, so having my flow interrupted was irritating.  Mostly though, as various companies make changes to their software to have it run as a standalone option, I was missing having Photoshop as an efficient go-between.  My workflow over the last 6 months or so has definitely lacked the flow aspect, so now, I begin the process of relearning Lightroom and Photoshop.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to start revisiting different tools and plugins that I haven’t had an efficient way to use in months.  From a cost aspect, I don’t see that being back in the Adobe subscription model will have me financially any worse off either.  I ended up purchasing each new version of On1 as it was released, since they promised great improvements, etc. etc, so in the end my annual software costs should be about the same.

I enjoy the opportunity to mix things up and learn new things, so in another year or two I may decide to change again.  Only time will tell.

For images this week, I was drawn to work on a few pictures I took along the panorama route in South Africa.

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2019-12-22: Winter

Today marks the first full day of winter, and while I am very grateful that thus far there haven’t been too many bitterly cold days in the transition between autumn and winter, I know they are coming.  I find winter a challenging time, far more so now that I am living in the north than I used to.  It isn’t just the temperatures; it is the lack of colour and the length of time that the area is carpeted in snow.  Yes, the blue sky days, with the snow twinkling in the sunlight can be beautiful, but this morning, the dull grey skies and ice crystals hanging off the branches seemed to perfectly reflect how I feel about winter.  At once both dull and sharp, beautiful and miserable.

I don’t get out to take images that often in winter; I suffer from Reynaud’s syndrome and being out in the type of thin gloves necessary to handle a camera can be a real challenge unless the day is fairly mild.  Sometimes it is worth it regardless of the temperature, but those times are definitely the exception.

I spent a bit of time this morning wandering the yard, hoping to capture what I noticed while out walking my dog earlier this morning.  By the time I got out though, most of the ice crystals hanging from the moss in the trees had dissipated from the slight rise in temperatures, but those clinging to the evergreens and willows still remained.

Here are my early impressions of winter.

Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.

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2019-10-21: Monochrome Monday

I wanted to share a few landscape scenes from some of the camps I stayed at this past May.  The first two images were taken while staying at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge, and the last image was taken while staying at Chitwa Chitwa.

I hope you enjoying, and wishing you a fantastic week!

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Blinded by the light!  We stopped for a quick view of the river as the sun roe behind; but I definitely didn’t have time to do anymore than a single quick photo and then we were off again.  
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A different portion of river later in the morning.  The tall reeds amongst the meandering water could be hiding all manner of animals.  I’ve seen both leopard and lions in conditions like this.
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A view of an afternoon game drive.  Oh, how I wish I was there now!
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2019-09-02: Monochrome Monday

Today I wanted to share a few of the images that I captured while driving the Panorama Route in South Africa earlier this year.  It’s a beautiful scenic drive with lots of opportunities to stop and take short walks to view waterfalls and breathtaking vistas, like the three rondavels.  If you are travelling to South Africa, it is definitely a day trip worth taking.

I hope you enjoy my selections for the day, and wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead!

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The three rondavels under stormy looking skies (not a drop of rain fell during the entire time I spent in South Africa though).
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Some of the small waterfalls at Bourke’s Luck Potholes, another stop along the panorama route.
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Berlin Falls
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2019-07-22: Monochrome Monday

I spent a bit of time playing with my infrared filter while traveling, and while it is a style I definitely need to explore and practice more, I am quite pleased with how these images turned out.

I actually remembered to do the custom white balance before taking these images, which made editing them a more straightforward process once I got home.  I’m actually considering having one of my cameras converted to infrared sometime in the future, to make it a bit easier to explore this genre of photography.

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This beautiful tree is at the edge of the river, seen from the main deck at Lion Sands River Lodge.  
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This is the river view from the main deck at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge.  The long exposures that are necessary when using a traditional camera with IR filter showcase the movement of the water, and the breeze playing with the leaves and the grasses.
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Another river view from Lion Sands Tinga Lodge.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my selections of the day.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!

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2019-06-24: Monochrome Monday

There is definitely more to see in South Africa than just wild animals on safari.  On some previous trips, I had the pleasure of spending time in Cape Town.  On this trip, I got to do a day trip of the Panorama Route.  Here are a few images showing some of the beautiful scenery in the area.

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One of several waterfalls that I saw; this one is called Lisbon Falls.
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The three rondavels under broody skies.
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Some smaller waterfalls at The Potholes.
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