We can’t seem to escape from these cloudy grey days down here, but it could be far worse, we could be somewhere farther north where it’s got to be colder. My Friday Feet today came from an impromptu photowalk around my the block, so to speak. I was taking a very needed break from writing one of three research papers that are due by next Friday.
One of the subjects of photography I have always loved to look for are reflections. Reflections are one of the more rarely photographed views basically because you have to search them out, and then try to make the subject useable. Reflections are everywhere, and they look great when they show up naturally. We have a small pond in the back of our place that has very little water in it right now, and consequently, it’s very black and still.
As I walked around the property I found a great combination, and created the shot below of me with my iPhone. There isn’t any special filters or photoshopping done to the image below, just a little boost to the contrast to bring out the leaves (see exif metadata here). The reflection of myself comes from the water, just like the trees above my head. The color and texture comes from the leaves sitting on the mud bottom of the pond, so the shot is both translucent, and reflective. All shots in this post were taken on my iPhone. Have a great weekend everyone.
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We have been in this drought for some time now, it seems like years, because it has been. For about the last 5 years or so we just have not had any steady rain at all. The best evidence of the drought, at least on our property, is our pond. This is basically a 2 acre pond that is rain fed. From the feet shot you can see it is dry as the Arizona desert. From the shot of the pond area, almost the entire view of the photo should be under water, in fact I am basically standing where the water should be. Anyway, I know it’s not the most photographic Friday Feet but it’s what this summer is turning out to be like on our side of the world. We could really use an active hurricane season where we get some nice slow moving weak storms over and over again. I know the fish shot is kind of gross so I left you with my moms yellow flowers blooming like mad in this 100* weather.
Coming up soon, some uber cute shots of my nephews in their Chick-fil-a cow costume for their annual photo contest. It was quite something to shoot people in cow costumes in 100* weather. Have a good weekend.
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Moonrise over Alabama
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Sometimes I really like abstracts for their simplicity. This image was taken in Gainesville, GA (not the “other” one in Florida), on a mountain pond. I almost didn’t stop to take the shot but I am glad I did. This particular shot was one of the first sets of images I did on film back in 1997.
Some of the most powerful images come from isolating the background and use only one or two colors. This particular shot with basically two colors and a cool smooth background make for a more stunning image than if there were other elements in the background.
Any time you are trying to make a clean quality photograph, one of the first things you want to look at is the background of your image. Move to a spot where the background is either blurred out or is one smooth tone, this will simplify the image immediately. If your subject has to compete with your background the viewer might now know where the important elements of the photograph are supposed to be in, and any image that has to be explained wasn’t composed very well.
I love the lines in this photo. It gives the image architecture, grace, and elegance. Sometimes it is hard to reproduce an image, this is one I have tried for some 10 years to find again without any luck. Another example of this type of image is this grasshopper.
Image Specifics
Lens – Nikon 105mm Macro
Film – Fuji Velvia 50
Tripod – Bogen
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The water in the pond is gone. The fish are easy pickings for the birds these days and the plants are all struggling too. We have been in this drought all spring (and really going back into the winter) and the pond has just slowly gone away. Here is what it looks like now.
This pond at one time was filled to the brim, which would make the entire pond about 10-15 feet deep in the middle, now you can practically walk across the pond. You can just see the pipe going into the pond on the right. That was completely under water and unseen last year and the total volume of water this little pond holds is enough to be visible on Google Earth, but not right now.
This summer we are having to go around and water individual trees to keep them alive. A high pressure system remains over the southern part of the United States and just will not give up any ground. So, we are left with these scortching clear skies every day. No clouds, no rain, no humidity (which is really strange for the south in the summer), just a clear blue hot sky. Eventually it will have to start raining again, but it doesn’t look like it will happen for a while.
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This weekend Scott, Christopher, and Larry rented a trencher and did lots of work at the farm. One of the projects they tackled was constructing a fountain and pulling it into the middle of the pond so that it could be gradually filled by our new well. Here is the pond prior to filling.
They dug a trench from our well up and over the embankment to the pond. Then they laid lots of pipe and constructed the tacky, but functional fountain you see below.
Trench from well to pond
Trench from well to future garden site.
Scott and his plumbing handiwork
Installing the fountain
Isn’t it lovely?
Larry is so proud
