SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHT - NEW IMAGE
New Image: "September Highlight"
One of the things that I've learned about "finding" images is that the harder you look, the less you see. It is often when my expectations are lowest that I find compositions, and moments in light, that I get really excited about capturing. Last Fall had the most beautiful and intense colors that I've ever experienced. We were lucky enough to spend a week in northern Minnesota at the very peak of the colors. We did a long day hike on the Superior Hiking Trail, and around lakes in the Ely and Isabella regions. However, as astoundingly beautiful as the colors were, I found them hard to capture. Being surrounding by all that beauty doesn't necessarily mean coming home with lots of gorgeous images. Forest and foliage seems are always challenging to compose, and all the colors in the world do not change that reality.
In the end, from the time spent there, my favorite images came from just steps outside the door of the cabin. I walked outside and on this particular morning without high photographic expectations, because of the clear skies, and because I had already scouted the shoreline across the little creek for compositions, and nothing had caught my eye. But, as the sun rose and started filtering between the trees, I noticed the little tree on the right side of this image get illuminated from the left, in the direction that it was leaning, and it jumped out to me as a composition. It felt as if the tree was reaching for the light, and I liked the strong directionality of it.
Technical Information
I composed the image at 207mm with my Canon EF70-300 f/4-5.6L IS USM mounted on my Canon EOD 5D Mark IV. I turned off the lens stabilizer, as I do when shooting on a tripod, and used an ISO of 100, aperture of f/8 and shutter speed of 1/15 second. The main technical consideration was to confirm via the histogram that I had not blown out the red channel, as those yellows were glowing intensely!
Enjoy My Blog and My Images? Help Me Spread the Word!
If you like my work, please share with others! Selling pictures is great, but the real fulfillment for me is in sharing images with anyone who appreciates them. If you use Instagram or Facebook, please consider following me there:
Instagram Page (@ernesto_ruiz_photography)