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Birch Infinity
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Birch Infinity



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This photo was taken while traveling at 65 mph. on the Interstate through the Columbia River Gorge on the way to Walla Walla, WA. The Nikon D-7000 was on automa...
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This photo was taken while traveling at 65 mph. on the Interstate through the Columbia River Gorge on the way to Walla Walla, WA. The Nikon D-7000 was on automatic.
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cameraNIKON D7000

settings Aperture f/4.0 ISO 500 Shutter 1/60 Focal Length 31/1 

upload_dateFeb, 2015

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5 Comments |
travelfaraway
 
travelfaraway February 02, 2015
WoW...I guess it was that easy....maybe for you!
This is magnificent
TheCubanMama PRO
TheCubanMama February 16, 2015
Thank you!
TravelBugDove
 
TravelBugDove February 16, 2015
A beautiful work of art!! :)) Love this!! Please keep up your beautiful work!!
TheCubanMama PRO
TheCubanMama February 16, 2015
Thank you!
TheCubanMama PRO
 
TheCubanMama February 16, 2015
I am humbled by the response from great photographers, much better than I am. That inspires me to truly focus on the quality of what I shoot and keep.
SheldonCooper
 
SheldonCooper February 16, 2015
What an amazing photo :-) Mark
TheCubanMama PRO
TheCubanMama February 16, 2015
Thank you!
alicealzugarayrodrigues
 
alicealzugarayrodrigues August 30, 2015
Glorious! (Not sure that getting this far means I voted?)

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Tags

#tree #woods #birch
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo of birch farms was taken while traveling on the I84 going east and bordering the Columbia River Gorge. We were amazed to see that the Oregon side of the Columbia River has enormous birch and beech farms that go on for miles and are right next to the highway. I wanted to capture the solitude and magnitude of these tree farms but was challenged by traveling at 65 MPH and unable to pull over for a shoot. I was limited to taking this photo from a fast-moving vehicle.

Time

We entered the Columbia River Gorge around noon, had lunch at the truck stop, and got on the road at 12:30 PM. About 45 minutes later, traveling east on the I84, I began to take photos from the car of the spectacular rock formations towering over the highway. Then I saw the miles and miles of tree farms. started shooting the trees and forgot the rocks.

Lighting

Although it had been sunny before we entered the Gorge and turned east, the sky became overcast, an even grey color. Birch trees are also neutral in color in the winter and are specially beautiful in the snow, but there was no snow. The contrast in this photo instead came from the orange leaves that had fallen on the ground below the white trunks of the trees. The grey sky made a better background for the trees than a blue sky. The low light made the trees look more eerie and the lack of sunshine kept the shadows at a minimum. Too many shadows, especially at this time of the day and the year, would have been a distraction.

Equipment

Since I was shooting from a moving car, I was unable to use the Manfrodo tripod that I had in the back of the car. That left me holding the Nikon D7000 as steady as I could, bracing my left upper arm against the passenger window frame; trying to shoot when the car was not hitting a bump; and shielding the camera from the wind of the open window. I've had this camera for more than a year and still learning how to use it better The camera only has one lens: a Nikkor 18-200 mm. This is a very versatile lens for many different settings but I am going to buy a good close-up lens when I can afford one so I can expand my subjects.

Inspiration

The Columbia River Gorge provides a variety of natural settings for taking great photos, from waterfalls to stone cliffs and from amazing dams and bridges to tranquil inlets and foggy banks. The tree farms were a great contrast to the rest of the rocky landscape on the Oregon side of the Gorge. These birch trees were unusually alien to the rest of the landscape. They looked like ghost soldiers lined up on a field, except these were trees...so uniform and so haunting!

Editing

This photo was not centered when I downloaded it to my Aperture 3 app, so I had to crop the photo to center the trees and straighten the horizon line. I then used the "Enhance" and "Sharpen" adjustments within Aperture to brighten the neutral shades a bit. I did not change any of the colors. I am currently learning how to use Photoshop and Lightroom since Apple will no longer support Aperture, but I am only a novice and aspire to learn more from the experts.

In my camera bag

I carry the Nikon D7000, tripod, and camera case when I plan a photo shoot or any trip anywhere. I also keep a small Canon point-and-shoot digital camera in the glove compartment of the car and always carry an IPhone 6S. I use the ProCamera app on the IPhone because it allows more versatility than the one included with the IOS. I will sometimes shoot the same subject with both the Nikon and the IPhone, using the IPhone photo as a point of reference. I use the Canon point-and-shoot when going on field trips with my youngest grandchildren because it's versatile and unobtrusive. The photos I've posted on ViewBug have been taken with all three cameras.

Feedback

Capturing a subject from a moving vehicle is 50% luck, 30% editing, and 20% fast acting. Anytime I can "freeze" a subject, I will. When traveling through unknown areas, the "perfect shot" often comes up quickly and there's may not be a place to stop for a proper shoot. So I usually set the Nikon to "automatic" and the release mode to "continuous high speed" and take bursts of photos of my subject when I'm not the driver. The beauty of digital photography is that I can shoot as many photos of as many subjects as I like and delete as many as I have to. Like movies, more than 80% of the film ends up on the cutting floor. Likewise, more than 80% of my shots end up in the digital trash basket. I keep the "maybes' and the "good" ones. Sometimes during the editing process, a "maybe" will turn into an awesome photo with just a touch here and there.

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