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Mike Moats
01-26-2008, 06:08 PM
While shooting in Yosemite I was waiting for the right light to shoot a small falls on the side of a road when I spotted an old burned area under a bridge that was taken over by these ferns. A life and death shot. Shot this with my first digital SLR, Fuji S2 Pro, Sigma 180 macro, Tripod, F22 at 20 sec. Its won a couple of awards and was published a few times.

John Cooper
01-26-2008, 06:41 PM
Another great pattern and texture image Mike - I also love the play of colour here - the bright emerald green against the blue/cyan log.
I do like the blues in an image, usually a result of shadow, but I am never sure if I should remove some or all of the cast as the eye doesn't normally see it. What are your thoughts here Mike.

Robert Amoruso
01-27-2008, 08:07 AM
Mike, this is ultra cool. The contrast between the fern and the burned wood is stunning. I am really liking this. The diagonal lines in the fern, both the direction of the leaves and just the fact the ends create a diagonal works well as do the diagonals in the wood.

Mike Moats
01-27-2008, 08:36 AM
Hey John, The thing I love about digital photography is the ability to manipulate the colors through photoshop. I view my photography as an art, with me in control of the composition and the final product. I don't process images based on what I see in the field. Some image I process the colors with an artistic feel rather than an realistic look. I never expect that everyone will understand or except this idea, but I have to do what make me feel good when I look at my mages. Some will love it, and some will hate it, but thats ok. Art will always be subjective, and when your trying to make a living at it, you better hope the majority agree's with you.:cool:

Jeroen Stel
01-27-2008, 09:02 AM
Hi Mike.

Gorgeous shot! I love the amazing detail you got from using F22 !!
I also like and agree on your apraoch towards the colours. I too am often criticised on the colours i use in my photography, but to me the final picture is what counts and not the fact that i should portray something as seen out in the field.
Keep those beauties coming!

Greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Mike Moats
01-27-2008, 01:04 PM
Hey Jeroen, the original is way sharp, but I always have problems scaleing my images down for the web. I tend to lose sharpness on some of my images. Thanks.

Jim Caldwell
01-27-2008, 01:19 PM
Great image, Mike! I really like the repeating, yet condensing pattern of the fern leaves. I assume you were waiting for softer light, would you care to elaborate more?

Mike Moats
01-27-2008, 01:48 PM
Hey Jim, it was late afternoon and still some harsh light on the falls we were wanting to shoot when we found this area next to the falls and under a large bridge. The area I shot this was shaded by the bridge.

David Steele
01-27-2008, 02:40 PM
Mike, this is what macro and photography is all about. An image to be really proud of - and you were probably the only person to see it. . . .

Mike Moats
01-27-2008, 07:15 PM
Thanks, David.

Chris Ober
01-27-2008, 10:10 PM
Love every part of it. I can see why it won awards.

Kaushik Balakumar
01-28-2008, 05:29 PM
every fine detail is so visible.
lovely composition.
and 20 secs exposure ... very lucky that nothing moved.

rgds,
Kaushik