I headed out this morning to Filoli – the beautiful estate and gardens in Woodside. This time of year, Filoli is known for its daffodils – and other bulb plantings.
I had my Nikon D600 in hand – which was just back from Nikon USA service having had its sensor replaced. This was a costly repair – for what I thought was a defect in the new camera that should have been fixed under warranty. But that’s another story. I wanted to get back out into the field with it – and see how it performed.
As I was walking Filoli, the light down this lawn area toward the distant tree – a Camperdown Elm – was especially beautiful. As I had done in Havana, I had the D600 in auto-everything – shooting in P mode with auto-ISO, auto-focus, etc. The camera opted to capture this image that I composed at 85mm at 1/800 at f/7.1 and ISO 1600.
Out of the camera, the image looked good – but it was a bit “flat” – with not much contrast between the light and dark areas. That’s what good cameras do – but the images often look a bit boring as a result.
Over the last couple of days, I became acquainted with some of the post-processing techniques of Aaron Nace. Not sure why I hadn’t come across him before – as he’s a master of Photoshop technique. But I hadn’t. One of his free tutorial videos was especially interesting to me – and I used some of his technique in post-processing this image – with the goal of making its tonal range much more interesting to the eye. I really like the result.
2 replies on “That Camperdown Elm at Filoli”
That’s amazing!! Recovering from surgery I am doing alot of puzzles to pass the time…I sure wish this was one of them 🙂 http://thejigsawpuzzles.com/Flowers-jigsaw-puzzle is the link if you want to consider it 😉 Gardening is my passion and I can imagine myself sitting under this tree. Thank you so much for sharing your pictures! I am just getting back to typing and I want you to know how much I enjoy them all, even when all I could do was look and not comment. BTW, your Life in a Sling really, really, helped so much. I searched far and wide before my surgery for info and yours was the only place I found that gives folks the real deal on what life is like. Every day I enjoy it, the good, the bad, and the ugly 😉 Thanks for everything!!! May you be blessed beyond all I can imagine or ask for!!! You just never know how you may impact people. You have made the past 4 months of my life so much better! If you ever see a patch of wild violets, it’s a thank you gift from me. Shoot it 🙂
Suzanne, thanks very much for your comment! The morning light on this tree was really something special – and I tried to bring that out as I processed the image. Like you, I imagine myself sitting under that tree – with a great book in hand!
Great to hear your recovery is going well and that you’re back to typing again! Life in a Sling has taken on a life of its own – and it’s been great to watch the community develop around it. I’m so fortunate that my rotator cuff surgery went well – otherwise I wouldn’t be able to hold one of these big DSLR cameras and do my photography!
I’ll be looking for those wild violets you sent!
Best, Scott