13 August 2011

Runner at Ponca State Park, August 13, 2011

A runner heads north through Ponca State Park in August 2011. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

While heading toward the Missouri River, which is a hundred meters down the road from here, I saw a runner. She was heading in this direction, and I thought I’d get a fun balancing act between her and the tree trunk. A contrast study in a variety of ways: color, motion, size, time… The trick with running forms is to get the timing just right with the legs, heels, and arms conveying just the right form and sense of forward movement. Her right leg is too straight—a split-second earlier and it probably would have been bent enough to match the similar angle of the left leg. The motion blur helps to convey motion, so I’ll go with it. No, I’m not going to use the motor drive and try to grab it at five frames per second (in this case). That’s a crutch better not relied on. I like the subtle warm and cold light on the tree, especially how the texture comes out on the warm side.

12 August 2011

Aerial Hills in Dawes County, August 12, 2011

Aerial view of hills near Chadron, Nebraska, August 2011. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

An early flight around Chadron reveals texture and wonderful forms in the hills, valleys, and small canyons that make up the landscape. There is a bit of a triangle in the arrangement of the hilltops from lower right, to center left, and then on to the upper right. A veiling mist across the top of the frame makes a grand scene slightly more intimate than it would otherwise be.