Tulips and Tree by C.Hillestad
Nov, 2013Views
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Chatter Award
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Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Exceptional Contrast
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Platinum
Hillestad
November 16, 2013
Thank you. The site is the Wooden Shoe Farm in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
hollyh
April 21, 2014
So beautiful. I didn't know Oregon had tulip farms. I just visited the one in Western Washington last week for the first time.
Platinum
Hillestad
March 11, 2018
The fields in Western Washington are bigger, but the one in Oregon is still impressive.
Platinum
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
There is a tulip farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley called the Wooden Shoe. Each year the public is allowed to view it at the peak of season. The trick for photographers is to try to find scenes with no people in it or accept having to spend the time removing them by cloning. Here, I deliberately chose to leave the two small children next to the tree. Despite being tiny with few discernable details, they seem to anchor the eye within the photo which the tree on its own might not.Time
Unfortunately, it was late morning with all the problems that creates, but sometimes events conspire against you on timing and you have to make do with the elements you have available. Choices are more limited.Lighting
Oregon sky in Springtime is a nightmare for photographers. It is usually monotonous grey cloud cover, extremely flat or ruined by jet trails. That day was no exception. Rather than let the sky lighting, be a problem, I chose to let it go entirely white to make the tree and children stand out more.Equipment
A Nikon Coolpix 500. It's a relatively inexpensive point and shoot camera with no interchangeable lens, but a great closeup and telephoto capability nonetheless. This particular shot was hand heldInspiration
I liked the simplicity of the subject matter. The tree alone, the rows of flowers alone, and the children alone did not add up to much as I viewed others images of the same scene. The three together though provided a coherent whole and, at least to me, both told a story and left open ended questions for the viewer. I liked the rows leading to the tree and the rounded branches on the right of the tree seemingly pointing to the children who are discovered last. Although no details of the children are obvious from that distance, my mind filled in their faces with wonder at the vast beds of flowers.Editing
Some adult figures on the left horizon were removed by cloning and others by cropping. Although the fierce red of the tulips needs no saturation, it and the contrast were increased anyway somewhat to have the children's clothes stand out a bit more and the tree trunk become more of a silhouette. The sky was lightened and encouraged to go to pure white.In my camera bag
Although I have carried lots of cameras and equipment at times, especially when I was shooting film, I find that as I age (I'm now over 70), more and more I am content with the lightweight Nikon superzoom point and shoot. It has limitations but works well for the type of photography I enjoy most, macro closeups and extreme telephoto for street photography.Feedback
Oregon has dramatic coasts and mountains. I lived at Cannon Beach for 18 years where the Coast Range kisses the Pacific. It has some of the most iconic views on earth. When I moved inland in 2011, I worried that I would not have the vast diversity of dramatic subject matter to photograph that I had before. I discovered though that the farmland and forests offered equally dramatic scenery if I merely looked around and carefully composed.
