Unfocused Foliage, March 27, 2010

Unfocused foliage in Chadron State Park, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Every so often, I play with throwing things out of focus and seeing what the shapes look like. Light through a tree creates a collection of highlights broken by softer branch edges. You can see the needle leaves on the left, cutting through a few of the highlights. Plenty to keep the eye moving and exploring in a scene like this.

Steamboat Loop Trail, Chadron State Park, March 27, 2010

 

Butte viewed from Steamboat Loop Trail in Chadron State Park, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Steamboat Butte in Chadron State Park, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Unfocused foliage in Chadron State Park, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Reflections in a Puddle, March 11, 2010

Cloud reflections in a puddle, Chadron, Nebraska, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Every so often I see reflections in water and try to photograph them. Sometimes the results work. Here, the entire scene takes on an abstract quality, helped by showing it in black and white, and not the brown tones of the original color. The clouds are abstract forms surrounded by an abstract ovoid littered with tiny ovoids. I like the various tones of the pebbles, especially in the foreground. What is in there below the surface or above the clouds?

Scenes in Chadron, Nebraska, March 11, 2010

 

Snow and dirt in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Cloud reflections in a puddle, Chadron, Nebraska, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Reflected evening sunlight and cat's eyes in Chadron, Nebraska, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Evening clouds over a power line in Dawes County, Nebraska, March 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Snow, Bark, Light at Island Park, January 1, 2010

Snow and trees at Island Park in Fargo, North Dakota, January 2010. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

It was a warm day in Fargo, North Dakota, so I put on some shorts and a t-shirt and drove to Island Park to photograph the scenery. This was a fun curved tree branch to frame a light pole. The snow on the branch made for a strong contrasting outline to help make the overall form stand out against the smaller branches in the background.

There can be only ones and zeros

Is that a manual-focus lens? Why are you using that? You should get an auto-focus lens. Manual-focus lenses on modern cameras offend me. I find them very offensive. You should get modern lenses. Some people are still shooting film. Can you believe it? I can't believe it. Have you gone digi-tal? I heard they aren't going to make film anymore. You should definitely go dig-ital. Everything is going to be dig-ital soon. I have a digi-tal camera. It has 12 megapixels. I have really good pictures of my cat. Take a look at them. I printed all of them from my dig-i-tal camera. I used the dig-ital printer at the store to make these digi-tal prints from my dig-ital camera. I'm going to get a digi-tal printer of my own so I can make my own dig-ital prints at home. Then I won't have to pay for digital prints of all of my pictures. I will only print the ones I like. These pitchers of my cat are my favorites. He's so funny! I like digital pitchers because I can look at them on the screen and if they didn't work, I can delete them and try again. Should I get a digital flash for my digital camera? I want to make sure the digital light is compatible with the digital camera. And I definitely want to make sure the digital glass in my digital lens is compatible with my digital camera. See, this lens is a digital lens. It's on the label: "Digital." You know pretty soon there won't be any thinks. They're going digital. Have you gone digital?

Cheyenne River Bridge near Hot Springs, November 26, 2009

Bridge detail over the Cheyenne River in Fall River County, South Dakota, November 2009. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This bridge south of Hot Springs has been closed for a number of years now. Every so often I visit and see what I can photograph with and from it. This ultra-wide view is a near-far study, with giant bolts and tiny trusses. I originally did a black and white treatment, but during a recent review session decided to rework it in color. The shadows aren't entirely natural, but I wanted to keep certain details more apparent, especially in the diagonal divide between the bolts on the left and the rest of the bridge on the right. That diagonal would normally be much darker. Here, it allows the two sides to meet, to some degree.