Decay
The unstoppable march toward winter has begun.
I can't count the number of times I've driven past the Mallard's Rest fishing access on the Yellowstone River south of Livingston. Every time, I've imagined how great these cottonwoods by the Yellowstone would look in the fall. So today, I decided to take a photo drive to see if I could get a shot. The weather didn't exactly cooperate (rainy and overcast), but this image should nonetheless help you understand why they call this the Paradise Valley. Shot handheld with my Olympus E30 and Zuiko 50-200mm lens at f8.0 for 1/30 sec.
Stole away for an hour of shooting this evening after work. This vantage point on River Road gains shade about 45 minutes before the rest of the valley, so time is of the essence at this time of year. I returned to this area to take a few panoramic shots, but spotted this shot on my way out. I've shot this angle before (earlier this spring), but wanted to take a crack at it with fall color, golden light, and my new warming polarizer. Shot with my Olympus E30 and Zuiko 50mm prime + Moose warming polarizer; 1/5sec at f8.
So here's my latest panoramic attempt - a merge of four portrait shots taken earlier this evening. After attempting to play with HDR on the individual shots, I finally gave up on that and simply merged separate shots taken at 1/60th of a second. I then tweaked the composite .psd in Lightroom to wind up with this finished product. Is it everything I'd hoped for? Not yet. Not crazy about having the foreground in shadow and the mountain in full sunlight (think I need to be about half an hour earlier to the field to get both in golden hour light) and I'd like to see the Bridgers snowcapped to really make this look like a fall pic. Nevertheless, I think it's getting closer to where I want to be - a shot worthy of a five panel mosaic hanging over the fireplace in my great room. Taken with my Olympus E30 and Zuiko 50-200mm lens.
I took a photo drive with Eric Barnes this evening. Although we were a little behind the light, I did manage to get a few worthwhile frames before we lost it. This is the first shot to come out of post-processing, showing early fall colors with the Spanish Peaks rising in the background. We're having a glorious fall here in the Gallatin Valley, with daytime temps rising into the 70s and 80s for the past several days. After a cooler than normal summer, it's a welcome change! Shot with my Olympus E30 and Zuiko 50-200mm lens, 1/50 sec at f8.
I live and work in beautiful Bozeman, Montana.This blog is primarily a photo blog, but I also use it as a venue to discuss/display anything that seems appropriate: software development, requirements, project management, golf, fly-fishing, running, religion - anything's fair game!
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