HDR Photography
St. Lawrence’s campus includes far more natural settings (and transitions far more quickly to them) than any place I’ve previously experienced. The Wachtmeister Field Station is a field laboratory that feels like a “candle in the wilderness,” despite being within (drone) sight of campus.
The shots turned out pretty well, despite the fact that I forgot my quick release mounting plate this particular day.
Today’s guest post comes from Dr. Piper Klemm, publisher of The Plaid Horse. Piper is traveling the northern land of Alberta, Canada for the Calgary Stampede. She stopped by Lake Louise, near the border with British Columbia, and home to some incredible views (more to come). This particular moment, with sunlight peaking through the clouds to illuminate a lakeside cabin and the canoes on the right of the image, was too perfect to resist posting.
I wouldn’t say the water was all that inviting (could have been the day) but I thought it was hilarious that the hiking guide I learned about this trek through suggested that if you were in the mood you could go for a “highland dunking.”
I remembered my tripod but forgot the quick release plate so I had to hand hold my shots. Still, pretty impressed without this shot of the falls turned out. Laurel Run park near Kingsport, TN is a real gem with some good, accessible hiking trails featuring some pretty scenery. Would hike again!
Spring time is one of my favorite times for a hike. The leaves are green but its not too buggy, not too hot, and not too hazy.
Early morning on the Laurel Fork. Before the morning mist burns off, walking along the river is like walking through a fantasy novel.
In this particular corner of Connecticut in early spring, the rain and snow combined to make the perfect storybook fog. This image is so quaint and charming, I could swear I’d seen it somewhere before.
But this brings me to another idea: those particular locations in landscape photography so scenic that they are literally ubiquitous. Take the tunnel view in Yosemite, or shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands, or downtown Manhattan as seen from the top of Rockafeller Center as examples: is it even possible to make an original composition from such a photographically saturated place? But these places are also photographically saturated for a reason: they’re really, really pretty. Where does that trade-off between originality and beauty fall?
West Seattle’s Lincoln park is a magical place.
A year ago, I stood atop this waterfall in the corner of Connecticut, relaxing and hiking in the last few days before I traveled north to Canton to begin the faculty life. There are three things that this image captures:
Muir woods, especially on a day with a bit of a drizzle, reminds me an awful lot of the good old pacific northwest.
In the Twainesque memories of childhood in northwestern Connecticut, cannonballing into this naturally formed pool at the foot of a waterfall stands out:
The stone is hard and slippery. The water is transparent and glacially cold. The my feet touch a soft bed of fallen needles at the bottom. And when I finally climb out, the moss is soft and the sunlight warms me.
Another one from Muir woods. Teeming with life, this shot pretty well sums up why I like walking through the forest, even on a grey day.
Here is your intrepid photographer (a.k.a. me), standing at the foot of a lovely waterfall on Mt. Riga. Near the summer solstice, on the perfect warm and breezy day, we paused here just long enough to take a few shots before we dove into the natural pool beneath the falls.
Decaseconds 