Two Paths

Saturday morning started out beautifully. It had snowed during the night but it was the fluffy, light snow which I enjoy shoveling. I look at shoveling as the exercise I need during the less active winter months. I’m not above using the snowblower when needed though, I’m not totally crazy.

The ground was covered in a white blanket and the clouds were sparse enough to let the morning sun cast great shadows across the snow. As soon as the sun made its appearance I grabbed the camera and went out walking along the road to see what pictures await me.

I didn’t have to venture far before finding this deer path through my neighbor’s yard. The setting was perfect. Tracks through the fresh snow. The sun just breaking through the clouds. Still an orange glow in the sky. I grabbed a couple images and then as I normally do I turned the camera and grabbed a few more in portrait orientation. It is a practiced I learned from Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure book. You will also hear him repeat this practice if you watch his videos on his website or at Adorama TV.

The reason for the title of this post is I processed this image two separate ways. The first image, which I actually processed second, was done entirely in Lightroom. The second image I did my normal tweaks in Lightroom and then finished the image using OnOne Photo Suite 9. There are really only slight differences in the images.

The first image has not been sharpened as much, there is a slight softness to it. The second image has stronger colors in the sky.  I also lightened up the shadows more in the second image.  The more I look at both the more I favor the first image.  It feels more real to me.  It could also just be my morning coffee talking…  🙂

I would love to hear what you think of the images.  Which do you prefer?

Lonely Path
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/160s, 27mm, f/16, ISO 200

Lonely Path
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/160s, 27mm, f/16, ISO 200

Hinkley Reservoir

I have to resort to an image I captured Thanksgiving morning since the moment I backed the car out of the garage it started to rain. We never received the rain late yesterday and it is not forecast to rain today. Oh well, I can work with what I have and hopefully the weather will improve as the day progresses.

The Isolation image posted a few days ago was captured on my way up to the reservoir. It is a miracle I make it to where I want to go as I am always looking for images as I drive. Today’s image is the one I had in my head when I set out Thursday morning.

I have not found out what these pillars are doing next to the dam in the reservoir but they are interesting to photograph. They are barely visible when the water level in the Spring is high but during the summer and winter they emerge from the lake.

Pillars at Sunrise
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/3s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200

An early morning drive toward the rising sun let me find this view along the road. I’m getting pretty good at quick 3-point turns! I had to capture the colors of the sunrise in the clouds and the dark tones of the hills.

Isolation
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1.3s, 40mm, f/16, ISO 200

Sunrise

I have been driving past the scene every day to and from work. This morning I decided to walk down before sunrise and capture the early light. It was a good decision.

Morning on the Farm
Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 15s, 26mm, f/11, ISO 200