photo-synthesis » A Nearer Landscape

A Nearer Landscape #9

William Koechling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:50:35 +0000

The driveway continues to provide a dark backdrop for whatever falls there.

drivewayscape

A Nearer Landscape #8

William Koechling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:47:13 +0000

Many evergreens like this arbor vitae lose their “leaves” too.

arbor vitae

A Nearer Landscape #7

William Koechling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:43:28 +0000

We transplanted an American Beech tree from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to our back yard about twelve years ago. I’ve only seen about three of these in Wheaton.

beech tree

A Nearer Landscape #6

William Koechling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:40:00 +0000

It looks like it’s time to clean the birdbath. Even after two hard frosts there are a few pholx still blooming under the protection of the large pine tree.

birdbath

A Nearer Landscape #5

William Koechling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:36:14 +0000

Our old amputated apple tree still gives a few apples for the squirrels each year. There is not much left of it but I like the way it shines on a wet day.

old apple tree

A Nearer Landscape #4

William Koechling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:32:19 +0000

Maple leaves and pine needles look like they are swimming in a vat of oil on my driveway. Actually that is a little oil from our old Toyota mixed with rain water.

leaves on oily driveway

A Nearer Landscape #3

William Koechling — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:40:49 +0000

The massive trunk of our old Norway maple tree takes on a distinctive green streakiness when it rains. Small lichens growing on it create this hue. Its leaves are always the last to fall in our neighborhood signaling an end of a season.

Norway maple tree trunk

A Nearer Landscape #2

William Koechling — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:07:55 +0000

I’m glad that there is some redeeming value in our dying pear tree. Our nearly-dead pear tree continues to produce pears that are shared by mostly ants and bees. I enjoy a few myself but the ants are regulars.

pear #1

A Nearer Landscape #1

William Koechling — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:43:16 +0000

Early in my career I thought about all the wonderful photos I could take if only I could travel to exotic locations. As one who always wanted to see what was around the next bend, I felt that my photos would greatly improve by going to where National Geographic photographers and writers went.

Then one of my photographer friends burned out rather quickly working for the Magazine I loved. I still anxiously read the articles and look with wonder at the terrific photographs in National Geographic Magazine but I now have a better understanding of the process than I did years ago.

This past Friday was a very rainy, fall day in the Chicago area. I used this as an opportunity to take some photos. I’ve always enjoyed shooting in the rain because a coating of water saturates the colors. The neutral color of a rainy sky adds a purity to the colors.

My goal was to shoot for no more than an hour, venture no farther than my yard and to come up with 10 photos that showed me something new.

Photography is much more about seeing than it is about taking photos. Familiar subjects seen in a new light become a different – even exotic world. (An hour in the rain could be miserable if this were not true.) Most of the hour was spend seeing; very little was spent shooting.

The images in this series are very straightforward in both composition and treatment. I opted to not use unusual angles or anything other than a “here it is” approach to shooting. I also used no Photoshop filters or any post-production tools other than an occasional use of curves to put the contrast back into sync with my eye.

I didn’t travel to faraway lands shooting these but I looked at each subject as if it were seen for the very first time. And I had a blast.

Landscape #1

This is a horse chestnut tree leaf from my neighbor’s tree. I always have thought of these fallen leaves as a dirty brown color. This one was a beautiful surprise.

horse chestnut tree leaf