Tag: Stumps

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, Mid-Day, Part 2

I continued to shoot, under the overcast sky, in an upper elevation Aspen forest, where the ground was covered with fall leaves and an abundance of old logs and stumps of fallen trees.

Mossy Logs and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
Glory Fades. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1000.
Death in the Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 28mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1000.

The stump above reminds me of the skeleton skull of a longhorn steer that one might find in a desert setting.

Tree Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 34mm, 1/400s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Fading Away. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Old Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Colorful Forest Floor. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/640s, f/11, ISO 1250.

I found a batch of young evergreens among the large Aspens decorated by fallen Aspen leaves.

Evergreens and Aspens. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 58mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Small Evergreen with Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 1250.

This wraps up the mid-day exploration and shoot and I want to remind viewers that the images look much better on the website or on Flickr (if posted there) and on a large screen, rather than in an e-mail or small mobil device screen.

Thanks for following and stay tuned for the final late day shoot,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, Mid-Day, Part 1

After our morning shoot, my son wanted to explore some of the other Forest Service Roads nearby, so we drove along several of those and into higher elevations, where most of the trees had already lost most of their leaves.

It was an overcast day and the dispersed light was good for photographing in the forest.

Aspen Forest, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 500.

With the trees mostly bare, the forest floor was covered in fallen leaves.

A vertical shot with a wide angle, standing to the side of a batch of Aspens, made those trees appear at an angle, rather than vertical.

Aspen Forest, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 500.

I found many stumps of old fallen trees with the roots sticking out at various angles that made interesting subjects.

Gnarly Stump and Fall Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 500.
Old Leaf Catcher. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 36mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 500.

And old logs covered with fallen Aspen leaves.

Fall. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
Stump, Log, Limb, Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.
Death and Renewal. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
The Cradle. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 800.
Weathered Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 800.
Mossy Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 28mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.

To be continued,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, AM, Part 3

Looking for small details in a vast forest, sometimes one finds natural abstracts.

Stump Abstract, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 5000.

This weathered tree stump with map like contours caught my eye.  Here is a black and white conversion:

Stump B&W, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 5000.

The Aspen leaf in this photo had not quite completed its color transformation, before it fell to rest upon a mossy bed.

Yellow and Green, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/1250s, f/11, ISO 5000.
Aspen Leaves on Mossy Stump, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 3200.
Forest floor, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 3200.

I prefer to photograph these little details as I find them; but sometimes I’m tempted to move things around.  I did not move anything in the photo above; but I can’t help but wonder, if I should have.  Should I have removed the blade of grass pointing at the Aspen leaf in the middle?  Or does that blade of grass serve as a useful pointer in this photograph?  Would this image be better, if I had cleared away some of the debris around the edges or the scattered leaves, leaving just the single leaf in the center?  What about that little twig resting on the stump to the left of the center leaf?

I have no objection to “posing” a natural scene for artistic purpose and I have removed man made items from natural scenes and I’m quite ok with this.  I’ve occasionally removed a twig, a fallen tree limb or a blade of grass, if I thought those were distracting in a scene. But nature is not perfect, so will “cleaning” a scene make it unreal?  Is unreal ok in this sense?  No one would know the scene has been modified, if not so informed by the photographer.  Is it acceptable to “manufacture” a natural scene?

Red and Green, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 800.
Aspen Leaf, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 65mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.

And I will wrap up this portion of this morning’s photos with one final forest image, which I just noted this morning was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page.

Forest Shadows, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 800.

Stay tuned for the rest of today’s story,

Ken