Landscapes
Lovely Branches (oil paint)
Trees of Green and Brown
My first stop during my walk was these trees. There are a lot of trees in this park, but I chose these to photograph because they were green and brown at the same time. There were lots of other trees in this park, but I thought it was the best place to shoot. There was a house in the park that I had to avoid, which was hard. There were also fences and power lines, which were all things I had to take note of. We have lost kites in these trees, as well as rockets, drones, parachutes...the list goes on. I wanted to focus on the green trees (the evergreens) because it's always miraculous to me that they manage to survive the winter without losing their needles (mostly). I wanted them to be a little off center, while the deciduous trees were sort of in the middle. The lighting on the day of my walk was gray and dark, but it was the only day I had time to do this, so I really had to turn up the exposure and brightness during editing.
Sledding Tree (oil paint)
Broken Twigs
I really liked the look of these trees on the nearby hill, so I stopped to photograph the one without leaves. I found a broken twig. Any ideas why it's broken? I thought the break looked really interesting. The background of green trees made it much more engaging. It was really cold outside, and the wind was blowing, so the camera wasn't taking pictures very well. I was also slipping down the hill, as it was quite icy. I slipped and caught myself, not on the tree, but on the very cold and snowy ground. Needless to say, I had a hard time even pressing the button to take a photo on the rest of the walk. For both photos, I wanted the subject to be on the right 1/3 of the photo, just so it looked a little different. I think a lot of people have crashed into this tree...so that might explain the broken twig. I looked around for the other part of the twig, but didn't find it.
Wilted Plants (oil paint)
Shoots
This was also in the same area as the trees, but I thought it was something most people wouldn't pay attention to. This hill is really steep and functions as an incredible sledding hill. There were some people playing pickleball and some people walking around on the footpaths, so I had to use very specific subjects, so as not to get people in the picture. The shoots of this plant were a really interesting color, and I wanted to show the contrast in the snow. Because I slipped and fell, I had to move up the hill so that my footprints weren't in the photograph. The camera I use doesn't focus when you are too close to the subject, so I had to zoom in, focus, and try to keep my balance in the cold, wintry weather. I wanted to have the close-up in the very middle, crossing over those imaginary lines so that the viewer is immediately drawn to the image.
Tree Trunk (oil paint)
Orange Needles
I saw this tree on the walk back to the front of the park and thought its bark and needles looked really amazing. In both images, I am trying to bring out that beautiful orange/red color. It was really beautiful, and I really love this color. I just wish that those colors were natural-I edited them a little so they "pop" out a little more than they would naturally. It still looks awesome without the edits. The lighting actually was great for these two photos, which I was grateful for. For the tree trunk, I wanted to have something in front of the camera that kind of added to the photo, and that worked pretty much perfectly. I also love that my camera focused perfectly for the needles photo. It kind of reminds of a flower, too, which are also really fun to photograph (or do timelapses of). I wanted to very specifically bring out the back light and the details of the twig that the needles are on as well as the needles themselves.
Bush Branches (oil paint)
Sharp Points
For my last photos, I took pictures of a bush at the very front of the park. It is covered in very sharp needles, and it is hard to take pictures of it because of those VERY sharp needles. I was trying to bring out the color of the bush...brown and black. It is not a happy bush, but I'm used to seeing it and I wanted to capture its essence. It was always part of the landscape, so I wanted to photograph it. I wish I had taken more pictures of the buds growing on the bush already, but their red color looks awesome. At this point in the walk, my hands were essentially numb. I think that next time I do a nature/landscape walk, I will wear gloves. The camera worked very well in the cold, which I was thankful for. I also wanted the bush to stretch across the entire image. It came out great.