autumn Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Just Enough Focus

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016

Gardens Sunrise

A couple of years ago in New Zealand I was here for a Queenstown Gardens sunrise. It’s an oasis of nature in the middle of the city, except for one thing. The city is an oasis in the middle of the wilderness. If that sounded like a contradiction it is. Queenstown doesn’t need an oasis, it’s already surrounded by beauty and awesomeness on all sides. This park is just the cherry on top.

I was here on one of Trey Ratcliff’s photo adventures. This was our first day. There were about twenty of us and I really didn’t know anyone except one other guy I met on G+. So here we all were on our first morning doing our best to capture the light and such. Now fast forward to the end of the week. Now we are all best friends and feel like we’ve just been through the most amazing experiences together. Big change from beginning to end.

I’ve had this image in my backlog for almost two years. I tried a few times to process it but wasn’t pleased with the results. This time I have some new software called AuroraHDR made by MacPhun and the very same Trey Ratcliff. Now, what was once a challenge has become easy. For HDR images like this, I find it much easier to get the results I want. I guess the moral of the story is, the longer you wait, the better the software gets, the more you can do. That sounded kind of lame, but you know what I mean.

More photos from New Zealand

January 15, 2016

Standing on a Hill in New Zealand

A couple of years ago I was standing on a hill in New Zealand with twenty other photographers. It was early in the morning before dawn and everything was quiet, still and overwhelmingly beautiful. I had to pinched myself to ensure it wasn’t a dream. Well, I made that last part up, my fingers were to cold to pinch anything, but I was pretty happy nonetheless.

Its great I have this image because it helps me remember. I wonder what it wold be like if I could remember everything with vivid clarity. I think it would be a double edged sword. Truth be told I’d, only I’d only want to remember the good things, but if I had that memory I might not have a choice. Maybe that’s why we are the way we are. Our memories fade so we have a chance to move on, start new, live another day.

I’ve heard that when we die we have a life review. That we see everything we’ve done that affects other people. If that’s true, then that will be one heck of a memory machine. Or, maybe that’s how we remember when we don’t have our aging brains getting in the way. Maybe our minds are really that good, it’s an incredible idea. I think it’s true, we have hints of it throughout our lives and society.   Now if I could only learn how to tap in to my unlimited memory, I could tell you what I had for dinner last night and, I could remember my e-mail password. I had one more point to make but I seem to have forgotten what it was.

I’ve heard that when we die we have a life review. That we see everything we’ve done that affects other people. If that’s true, then that will be one heck of a memory machine. Or, maybe that’s how we remember when we don’t have our aging brains getting in the way. Maybe our minds are really that powerful, it’s an amazing idea. I think it could be true, we have hints of it throughout our lives and society.   Now if I could only learn how to tap in to my unlimited memory, I could tell you what I had for dinner last night and remember my email password. I had one more point to make but I seem to have forgotten what it was.

December 27, 2015December 27, 2015

Queenstown Gardens

This was taken inside Queenstown Gardens which is situated right in the middle of Queenstown. It’s kind of like Central Park for Queenstown, yet even as I write that I know it’s not a good analogy. Surrounded by mountains, Queenstown has nothing in common with New York City. Maybe a better analogy would be Stanley Park in Vancouver, yes, I think so. Only Queenstown is not as commercial as Vancouver and is many times smaller. So if Vancouver were one-tenth its size then the comparison might be truer; so much for analogies.

I came here with a group of photographers on the first day of a workshop with Trey Ratcliff. We arrived before dawn along the shores of Lake Wakatipu. We then walked and took photos for several miles, ending up here still quite early in the morning. The shadows were long in the morning sun and the clouds were puffy; all elements to consider in composition, which was one of the themes of the workshop. As compositions go, this is so-so, not one of my best. Even so, looking at this now brings back fond memories of the chilly autumn morning.

After about an hour here we loaded onto a bus and headed for a well-deserved breakfast at a hotel overlooking the lake. After almost two years, I still believe that New Zealand has some of the most scenic landscapes on the planet. I also think they make a pretty good breakfast. So if you can put those two concepts together, that amount sums up my first morning.

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015

Queenstown Sunrise

On my first day in Queenstown I crossed so many timezones I didn’t really know what time it was. Nonetheless I woke up wide awake sometime well before sunrise and so started walking around the hotel. At around dawn I was greeted with this scene near the bridge at the end of Lake Wakatipu. New Zealand has a kind of magic in its landscapes that have to be seen to be believed, and this is one of those cases where it hit me head on just after arriving. The week would have many more amazing landscapes to witness such that I will be powerless to resist another trip.

October 19, 2015

Shore of Lake Hayes

Near Queenstown New Zealand is Lake Hayes which has homes and cottages around its perimeter. Most had kayaks or rowboats laying along the shore. As you can see I was here in the autumn when the leaves were changing and carpeting the ground. Off in the distance to the South is the Remarkables, a mountain range that had already started collecting snow. We were here midday and it was fairly warm without much of a breeze, thus providing a glassy surface to the lake. These still waters are more common first thing in the morning, but in this case we had a rare occurrence in the afternoon.

October 11, 2015October 11, 2015

River in Autumn

Its now autumn in the northern hemisphere but I've not yet gotten out for some fall pictures. Nevertheless I took this about a year ago in Gorges State Park North Carolina. This is in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I think it's one of the best places to go for fall colors. I was hiking up stream along a trail towards a much larger waterfall. The trail was short but strenuous and so I kept leaving the trail to look upstream towards the big waterfalls that would mean I was finally there. It was almost as if I had a voice in my head saying "are we there yet?" over and over again. When I finally did reach the falls it felt like the effort was well worth it. — Gorges State Park in North Carolina

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Its now autumn in the northern hemisphere but I’ve not yet gotten out for some fall pictures. Nevertheless I took this about a year ago in Gorges State Park North Carolina. This is in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I think it’s one of the best places to go for fall colors. I was hiking up stream along a trail towards a much larger waterfall. The trail was short but strenuous and so I kept leaving the trail to look upstream towards the big waterfalls that would mean I was finally there. It was almost as if I had a voice in my head saying “are we there yet?” over and over again. When I finally did reach the falls it felt like the effort was well worth it.

July 31, 2015

Arrowtown Afternoon

The little village of Arrowtown New Zealand in the autumn. There were so many warm colors all around that it seems like they all ran together. Perhaps they did as they imprinted in my brain a most fond memory.

June 15, 2015

Queenstown River Dock

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On a rainy day I walked around the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. This was in Autumn so the leaves were changing. At the higher elevation it was snowing and this location is at the foot of the Remarkables mountain range. So while it rained here, at higher elevations it snowed such that as the clouds cleared we were treated to pristine snow capped mountains. All in all it was a beautiful introduction to a beautiful country.

March 3, 2015

Walk in the Park

A North Carolina forest last fall. The only sounds were the leaves beneath our feet, birds and the distant sounds of the river. After the sensory overload of everyday life I need a period of quiet from time to time. North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains has quiet and beauty for those who seek it out. It’s no wonder so many creative people live hear, you can finally hear your own thoughts for a change.

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February 5, 2015

Autumn by the River

As I drove away from Asheville I couldn’t help but explore this river at the bottom of a gorge surrounded by the fall colors. The water was clean and apparently full of fish on account of the fishermen wading in fly-casting. I wanted to stay here all day but on account of an eleven-hour drive ahead of me I dragged myself from here and back into the car, content with the thought that I just witnessed a little bit of heaven, otherwise known as North Carolina.

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