Spring is very brief in the high desert and it comes and goes, never lasting more than a couple of weeks. Fruit trees are more for looks, as the fluctuating temperatures kill the blossoms more often than not. I think Walls of Water are the best invention since sliced bread. My tomatoes have doubled in size already and have blossoms - yippee!
I wish I could capture the delightful colors of the pink desert peach and the yellow mule ears growing side by side - you have to click for big. They seem so vivid when I'm driving and not so much when I stop the car to take a picture. Anyway, that's how it appears to me~
3 comments:
The ephemeral nature of spring in the desert makes it all the more amazing - like a lovely illusion.
Your subject matter out there is so amazing!
A suggestion for taking pictures on bright days (not that I'm an expert): my camera tends towards overexposure, so I try to compensate by underexposing (at least as far as the camera is concerned). This has to be done in Manual mode: in bright conditions, choose the lowest ISO you can, set the F-Stop (aperture) to a large number (for landscapes). Then play around with the shutter speed -- you can kind of tell on the LCD display, but not always, so take lots of pictures at different exposures.
When I press halfway down on the shutter, the display shows focus information and (in Manual mode) exposure information. "Perfect" is +/-0, but I find -1/3 to -2/3 gives me deeper color and better detail.
Probably more information than you want. But if you are interested in reading more, Digital Photography School has some very good tutorials. They are mostly geared to DSLR, but I still find the site very useful: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/
I do so love to see the desert in its fleeting full bloom... thanks for the reminder that a drive may be in order... I need to go to Loyalton on Friday, and at least can look forward to seeing the Sierra Valley in spring mode.
Post a Comment