Point Reyes Lighthouse

The sun setting way out over the Pacific, I took this image with a tripod stopped down for maximum depth of field from the top of the stairs overlooking the lighthouse at Point Reyes on a rare fog-free day.

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Point Reyes

In Memorium: Kenneth Hopper

Ken and Family

Phyllis’s Dad Kenneth Hopper (“Ken”) died quietly in his sleep on Sunday following a long illness. Ken was in the second wave on the beach at Normandy, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and was a prisoner of war in Germany. He had worked in Alaska in the 1950s, and fulfilled a long-time dream by visiting Pitcairn Island. He was married for over fifty years to Barbara.

Ken had a sometimes gruff exterior. Paradoxically, at his core Ken was a gentle and sweet man. He loved his family. He had true serenity and great faith in his God. He will be missed.

This photo shows Ken giving Barbara, Phyllis, and our kids (Ken’s grandchildren) a tour around his land in Arizona in his electric cart a little over a year ago.

Related stories: Birthday Boy, Phoenix Roundtrip.

Posted in Kids

Papaver and Shadow

At first glance, one might think this image is a Photoshop composite of a black-and-white image and a color photo, but it is not a composite. It is a single photograph. This Papaver nudicaule (Icelandic Poppy) was gowing in a pot outside our front stairs. It rained the night before, and in the early morning. Then the sun came out. I took the photograph carefully, lens stopped down for depth of field, and exposing for the yellow flower because I knew I wanted the shadow area to go black. Then I processed the RAW file carefully a number of times for the flower, and with different color balance and exposure settings for the shadows. If you look carefully at the shadow areas, you can see that in fact they are not monochromatic, and tend toward the red side of things.

Posted in Flowers, Photography

Nautilus on Black

This version of the Nautilus shell uses Photoshop to combine a digital photograph with a high-resolution flat-bed scan (the center of the image).

Posted in Bemusements, Photography, Photoshop Techniques