Hanging On - Velvia 50

[Laurence]

Once more, this is not an image that has any great technical value;
however, it holds memory for me, because the tree was less than half
its current size when I first visited this fine trail in my teenage years.

So, for memory's sake here it is. I guess I could have cropped and fooled
around with settings, but this is pretty much out of the camera, and it
shows the surrounding Winter environment as well as the clasping tree.

Good old Velvia 50. No color enhancing, what you see is what
you get. The moss at this time of year shows its most
remarkable colorations, possibly because it is not competing with
the explosion of greenery that comes with Summer.

Once more, the image sharpens when you click for a larger
image, and then click once more if needed with the + indicator, to
bring up the original size.

Hanging On - To Memories
Pentax 645
Pentax-A 55/2.8
f:5.6 and 1/30th handheld (should have had the tripod to enhance DOF)
Velvia 50

[shauttra]

Amazing nature!!
By the way, as i see you have huge collection with slides, and question is- how do you rememmber all technical details at each photo, or all these parameters are written in some catalogue..

[Attila]

Amazing capture!

[Laurence]

[Laurence]

[shauttra]

Thanks, Laurence!

Your pictures for me are like a candy for children, who wants them more, more and more

I deeply appreciate your work!

[Laurence]

[goombles]

[shauttra]

[Laurence]

goombles wrote:

Opening the image to it's original size makes a massive difference.
After clicking the + button the image is only enlarged by ~4% but
the sharpness and clarity increases by about 70% Shocked

Yes! The difference is profound.

[poilu]

great, magical capture! the bigger version is indeed sharper

[rbelyell]

i love what you do with velvia, it just sings!

and yes, i also cannot figure out why my images as well look washed out and lack contrast and sharpness when posted here. 'clicking' does make a big difference, but its disappointing to not see on post what it is you post! many others dont seem to have this problem, but it is why ive kind of given up posting images here...too bad really...

but despite this even the unclicked image looks good to me!

btw i note youve changed your devo quote. whip it good!

[Attila]

[Laurence]

shauttra wrote:

I think every image which we make, records in EXIF some part
of our memories. When we look at old pictures, we can remember
many details about surrounding environment in moment when we
make that picture. Making lots of pictures we can make our
memories more richer and more colourful. Ofcourse it`s not
possible to show all your emotions to other people, but most
important is that you can remember these emotions...
Therefore i like to view my old pictures...

I feel the same, shauttra. For instance, this following image is, once
again, not the greatest. The highlights seem to be blown out, although
a check of the Levels show that they are within tolerances.

However, the point again, is that the memories that go with the images
are the reason for viewing, as you have said.

This image has memories, because if you look down toward the bottom
where the water swirls behind the rock in the stream - that is where I
put my fishing lure when I was about 15 years old. I was fishing only
for smaller trout, but a Steelhead trout took my lure and raced off
with it, right up throught the rapids, breaking the line easily!
That was exciting.

One other thing is that I can drink this water at any time, and know
that it is pure and without contamination. That adds to the sense of
wildness for me.

Once again, if you click on the image to make it larger - then click once
again on the + sign, it will go to original sharpness.

Attila, I actually went ahead and applied 25/1/0 Unsharp Mask to this
image prior to posting. However, it still loses the sharpness once it
is loaded. But that's okay, it's just something to be aware of, since it is
easy to click a couple of times to bring it up to original.

Oh...I was going to say...take a look at shauttra's Pancolar images. The
colors are simply gorgeous, and the compositions are fine.


Trout Stream Memories
Revueflex 3003
Super-Takumar 55/1.8
35mm Velvia 100

[Laurence]

[Laurence]

[cooltouch]

Hey Larry,

Once again, you've hit one out of the park. Gosh, I envy you your location. I really have to figure out a way to get back out to the West Coast. But location is only part of the equation, isn't it. Without your eye, too many of your photos would potentially just be snapshots.

Nice to see a Velvia scan, cuz I've got a bunch of it in 220 now, thanks to fellow member Rawhead. I've shot one roll of the 220 so far, and my situation wasn't as conducive to success as yours -- difficult lighting, so it was not easy to evaluate it. But I shot a roll of it in 35mm the same day, and the lighting was better for it, and for those shots I was really surprised.

I have a few questions about this photograph that doesn't have anything to do with photography. You mention you first visited this tree in your teenage years. I don't suppose you have any photos from one of your earlier visits? I am assuming that at least a couple of decades have passed since the first time you visited this location? And the fallen tree -- is it a redwood, do you happen to know? Maybe a western redcedar? Reason for all these questions is because the fallen tree looks to be in remarkably good shape for one that's been laying on the ground for so long. I guess whatever species it is, it must be one very impervious to rot.

Here in Houston, we had a blazingly hot summer back in 2000, and two of the pine trees in our back yard died. Within a couple years, they had sloughed off much of their bark, and we finally had them taken down. Within a couple more, the stumps had rotted away to the point where they had almost disappeared from view. Eleven years after, there is absolutely no trace of two pine trees that were each about 30" in diameter.

We have a large park within the city, called Memorial Park. Most of the park is just wild, undeveloped forest area that is interlaced with hiking and biking trails. I like walking the trails and observing nature at work, and one of the things I've noticed is how rapidly a tree rots in our climate once it has fallen. Now, I realize you're a lot farther north than I am, but you're also close to the coast, which moderates temperature, and your climate is a wet one. Probably wetter than Houston's. So, I don't think we have anything on you when it comes to the speed with which things rot. And that's why I'm wondering about that tree. And I guess I'd have to say that that is what I consider to be so remarkable regarding your photograph -- content-wise, that is. It just looks to be in too good of condition. Just doesn't seem possible that it could have been laying on the ground long enough for the "young" tree atop it to be as big as it is. And it almost appears that the tree growing over the fallen one has roots that have tapped into it, drawing sustenance from it. Which lends the photo a touch of an eerie feeling as well. Very cool.

[mo]

[Laurence]

Great questions and statements Michael!

I've shot one roll of the 220 so far, and my situation wasn't
as conducive to success as yours -- difficult lighting, so it was
not easy to evaluate it. But I shot a roll of it in 35mm the same
day, and the lighting was better for it, and for those shots I
was really surprised.

I am glad you are gaining some success! It's a challenge at first with
Velvia. You have to just keep going until you feel a "familiarity" with
the film's nuances in light. After a while you will be able to make a
good determination of shutter speeds, etc. I still utilize the Sunny 16
rules, because that makes things simpler. In a lot of cases, I'll use the
averaging meter on the Pentax 645, and use the Sunny 16 rules in
my head, and come up with my own "average" of the two systems.
In 90% of my shots, it seems to work. Backlight situations are harder.



You mention you first visited this tree in your teenage years.
I don't suppose you have any photos from one of your earlier
visits? I am assuming that at least a couple of decades have
passed since the first time you visited this location? And the
fallen tree -- is it a redwood, do you happen to know? Maybe
a western redcedar?

I think I DO have an old snapshot of me leaning against the downed log,
taken by my grandfather. I'm guessing I was about 18 years old at the
time, because I think it was the summer after graduation. So that is
44 years ago. I'll try to find that picture. The downed tree is Western
Red Cedar, a tree that is extremely resistant to rot, even in this area.
In fact, there are downed cedars that have resisted rot for nearly a
century. The tannins in the tree are a powerful resistor, and I am not
sure, but there are other natural compounds that also help.



Now, I realize you're a lot farther north than I am, but you're
also close to the coast, which moderates temperature, and your
climate is a wet one. Probably wetter than Houston's.

The climate is VERY wet in these valleys. This particular valley is draining
toward the northeast and into Hood Canal, so it is not as wet
as the western "true" rain forest valleys that drain directly to
the ocean. Those valleys average about 12-14 feet of
precipitation a year, and this Skokomish River valley averages about 10 feet per year.



Just doesn't seem possible that it could have been laying on
the ground long enough for the "young" tree atop it to be as big
as it is. And it almost appears that the tree growing over the fallen
one has roots that have tapped into it, drawing sustenance from it.
Which lends the photo a touch of an eerie feeling as well. Very cool.

I'm guessing that the young tree is 80 years old, give or take a decade.
Yes, there are roots that are tapping in to the old cedar; this is actually
quite common throughout the peninsula. The other side of the log shows
more small "stringer" roots than this side that shows bigger roots. You can
see where one root broke off, and has tapped into the log with smaller
rootlets.

The climate is so conducive to plant growth, that the mosses use the bark
of the roots themselves as their own "dirt", sending their own roots about
a centimeter into the bark.

Larry

[PaulC]

[Attila]

[Orio]

Spectacular tree!

[spleenone]

That tree is one of the best photos I've seen recently. I mean for quite long time.

[Katastrofo]

Yes, Poilu, summer will be here eventually and expectations are high!

Laurence, what a beautiful image in the larger file! Gorgeous dripping-wet
colors, love it! And like another world away...

[Laurence]

Thanks SO MUCH to the rest of you! I will be actually trying to get the
similar shot again, but with more depth of field. The moss in the Winter
seems to shine under gray skies, especially when there is just a bit
of filtered sunlight shining through to the forest floor.