Transitional Rain Forest

[Laurence]

Since my previous image was higher in the hills of the Olympic National Park, I thought it fitting to lose some elevation and show this image. This is, of course, down in a lowland riparian rainforest valley on the west side of the Olympic Mountains.

This little creek that is emptying into the larger creek has been a "haunt" of mine since I was a pre-teen boy. My grandfather would let me hike over to the little creek with my sleeping bag so that I could stay out "solo" for overnight. I still remember those wonderful nights, dreaming of green leaves and moss! Many times, the deer would graze right beside my sleeping bag! It was a great time as a child.

So, I thought it would be nice to show my favorite little creek as it empties its clean water into the larger stream.

Pentax 645
Vega 12B lens
Fuji Reala

 

[skiboarder72]

fantastic shot, great control of the shadows and highlight details

 

[KevinDks]

Very nice Laurence, and I'm sure there is a huge amount of detail in the print that can't easily be appreciated on this small version.

Those rocks look very similar to others I've seen in glaciated landscapes in Switzerland and New Zealand. Do you have glaciers in that area?

 

[Laurence]

fantastic shot, great control of the shadows and highlight details

Thanks skiboarder.

Regarding those huge gradients between shadow and light: I put up a graduated ND filter up to the lens, but it was seeming to "muddy things up" in this case.

I decided to override the "general" meter reading and underexpose 1 stop.

I really wanted those highlights to be at least visible, in order to have some integration in the image. I got lucky in my guess. This would have been a good spot for a spot meter for averaging out the exposure. But...of course...it all takes money, so you work with what you have.

 

[.Serenity.]

That shot has a beautiful feel to it.

 

[Laurence]

Very nice Laurence, and I'm sure there is a huge amount of detail in the print that can't easily be appreciated on this small version.

Those rocks look very similar to others I've seen in glaciated landscapes in Switzerland and New Zealand. Do you have glaciers in that area?

GREAT eye, Kevin! You are totally correct in your assumption of the glaciated landscape. The Olympic Mountains still have extensive glaciation in the high cirques, and of course that is still bringing boulders downstream. Geologically, the Fraser Glaciation (a sort of interim glaciation to the Pleistocene era) filled these valleys almost all the way to the ocean.

Regarding the detail in the print -- yes, I DID make a print because of the memories associated with the image. With the medium format negative, I was able to put a fine print on my wall at 16x20. The details are tremendous in that enlargement and really make the image look good (to me).

Thanks for commenting Kevin. I love to hear comments, as we all learn new things from that kind of dialog.

 

[Laurence]

That shot has a beautiful feel to it.

That's a good way to put it - it has a "feel" to me as well, in that the foreground has almost a black and white "feel" to it, with the colors really cranking up in the greenery. Thank you for looking in, Serenity.