I'm going to write this post backward and start with the more recent trip because the photographs are better. Paradise Valley Conservation Area was my destination. I'd been there before, and was frankly unimpressed - the forest is young and not all that interesting, and the trail generally stays well away from wetlands, creeks, and other visually interesting yet ecologically sensitive features. I remembered, however, that one of the trails had a good eastern view not too far from the parking lot, and I though about maybe getting a nice frosty sunrise. Upon arrival, what should I find but - of all things - snow! Not deep, but a nice frosting still remained on most of the trees. So any frost was dwarfed by its more ostentatious cousins, snow and ice.
This is probably my favorite image of the pack. These bushes were everywhere, and all had little red buds, but this was the first composition I made of them and it ended up being the best. The red comes through very nicely, and the shapes of the buds are perceptible beneath the ice. The background has some barely perceptible lines/shapes, which I don't like, but I really needed some depth of field in the foreground. I think that, especially with some tweaking of the lighting, it's a forgivable deficiency.
Now comes my second favorite. As I was wandering down the trail, I happened upon a fir branch that was lit with soft sunlight. I tried envisioning a variety of different compositions, and noticed that the sun itself was quite diffused by other branches and some high clouds. The sun, then was soft enough to include in the composition without overwhelming everything else (although I did place it mostly behind the branch). I liked how the cool blue shows up in the shadows.
Next, two pictures I took prior to dawn. I think they capture the spirit of the morning well, and the colors even came through fairly accurately (although the first could stand slight saturation...but not much). Clearly the second could use a lighting boost in the shadows.
The next two juxtapose wintry trees against the sunrise. I used a graduated neutral density in the first one...and sideways, no less! This helped darken the sky and the sunrise, so I could expose for the tree in the foreground without overexposing the sky. In the second one, the sky actually is overexposed - with dark foreground elements on either side, I couldn't use the graduated filter. With Highlight Recovery in Lightroom, I might be able to save it, because I like the composition.
The previous morning, I had gone to Bob Heirman Wildlife Preserve, on the Snohomish River near Monroe, hoping to capture that elusive frost. For whatever reason, the park and its immediate environs were not as frosty. Perhaps the big river's proximity moderated the air temperature. That's really the only thing I can think of.
There was some frost, however, and this was my best composition. I wanted to juxtapose a frosty bush with the bare trunks of the adjoining forest. I think this picture does that fairly well, while also communicating the color in the branches. I tried many apertures for this, and settled on f/6.3 to preserve some shape in the background. I kept all of them, though - I'd really have to see this one printed at a large size to make the final decision on whether the background was distracting and needed less definition. I don't think any more would be a good idea.
The other respectable composition from the Preserve was this of a frosty fern. I honestly wasn't that satisfied with it, just because it seems like a bit of a conventional subject and composition. It turned out well, though. The middle of the fern is a bit left of center. This would be easy to fix at cropped sizes, of course.
A shout-out to my parents, older brother, and sister-in-law, who got me a tripod strap and warm pants and socks for Christmas! I surely would have perished without them. Thanks!
