Making the most of flat light

Bright but overcast yesterday, the first day of spring, I enjoyed a nice walk in the Crystal River valley.  My landscapes came out predictably dull (that doesn't stop me from shooting them - another advantage of digital photography is you can "waste" shots if you want).  On my way home my eye was caught by a downed log with matted grasses curved over it.  The winter snow pressed down on these for months, creating a gentle curve that I was able to capture by holding my camera inches from the ground. 

 Because of the flat light, there are no harsh shadows, and I was able to achieve contrast using the levels adjustment in Photoshop.  I then converted to black & white with the channel mixer, and used the unsharp mask to add a degree of sharpness.  I cropped much of the bokeh background, cutting from the top and right side.  With shots like this, I'll try to see where in the frame my eye is drawn, and then crop so that location is on one of the "rule of thirds" lines (or intersection of two of them).  In this case, one-third from the top of the frame.

Mountain Sunrise

The morning sun hits Chair Mountain, Colorado, on an early spring day.

I was out early today, and got some more shots by the river (not posted because they're not as good as those earlier in the week), then walked out on this small ridge to shoot the valley a day after a snowfall.  It's melting as fast (if not faster) than it's falling this time of year.

I've been shooting aperture-priority with the ISO set to the "cloudy" setting because of the warm color cast is provides.

Heart of the Sunrise

What do you get when you combine Monday's brilliant skies and Sunday's new-found spot on the river?  Why Tuesday's killer photos, of course!  I was so charged from yesterday's pics that I got down to the river early this morning and hoped for a repeat.  I don't think the clouds were quite as good, but they were certainly good enough, and I was in the right place at the right time.

What a sunrise!

As it was getting light out this morning, I could see a few clouds, and hoped the rising sun would light them up.  What ended up happening in the next ten minutes exceeded my expectations by a long shot.  Brilliant pink clouds got me outside with my camera.  Wouldn't it have been great if I had been by the river to catch both the sky and the reflection?

a bright sunny later winter day makes for a great black & white landscape

The sharp contrast offered by the scenery on a bright afternoon is perfect for converting from color to black and white.  The blindingly white snow and clouds and dark shadows in the pines give the range of contrast that works well when using the Channel Mixer in Photoshop to convert to monochrome.  This mountain landscape came out just as I hoped it would when I was shooting it.

ice and snow on spruce bough

While shooting morning landscapes by the river, my eye was drawn to the ice and fresh snow on these nearby spruce boughs.  I walked over to get a few shots while waiting for the skies to change for more landscape photos. 

It's hard to predict what the Bokeh will look like when taking photographs like this.  Even harder is knowing just where to crop for maximum effect.  In this case, I removed the left and bottom of the image, preserving the Bokeh above and moving the in-focus area off-center.

Colorado landscape in late winter/early spring

Mild weather is taking its toll on the snow, but the longer days afford more opportunities for taking photographs.  I'm spending more time at this spot in the river, as it reflects the sky and clouds well.  Once the run-off from spring melting starts, the surface will probably be too turbulent for shots like this one.

Morning winterscape in the Colorado Mountains

From the place that's becoming my new favorite spot, I took this photograph on my way to work this morning.  While there were no well-lit clouds reflected in the river, the low-hanging clouds, soft light, and fresh snow makes this a very appealing image.

Icicles in the evening

This photo has a little of everything.  I like the close-up texture on the icicles, the way they refract the evening skies, the Bokeh background, and probably something else too.