Monday, May 3, 2010

May Day

The photos below were taken May 1st, in the floodplain forest near the entrance of the Wakulla Springs State Park.

I LOVE FLOODPLAIN FORESTS. These wetlands are so biologically productive, with a multitude of compositional elements: Bright sky, expansive green leaf overstory, large trees with butress bases, cypress knees, decaying logs, green wetland plants, bright water reflections, and intricate detail in the rich dark brown submerged leaves. My search for visually pleasing images takes me to many remarkable places. I hope you enjoy the view.










Because of the overcast sky and the green leaves overhead, I took a proactive approach for achieving reasonably realistic color. I periodically photographed a "Digital Grey Kard" shown below. Later on computer, the white balance eyedropper of Adobe Photoshop ACR was used to sample the color of the grey card in the raw file. That color balance was applied to subsequent photos taken during similar lighting conditions. I would appreciate anybody providing me with a better method for custom white balance via an email to me at thompsonbob@embarqmail.com

(Optionally, click on an image for a larger view)

Later this month I will be 60 years young ... How time flies when you're having fun!

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