The Artful Engineer

Gulf State Park, which figured prominently in last week’s post, had more on offer than birds. In addition to an abundance of wide paths that easily accommodated walkers and bikers both, there were some nice boardwalks that gave a slightly elevated perspective. The image of ferns, above, definitely benefited from this. I know that ferns are a traditional photographic subject—I suppose anything that Ansel Adams photographed has to be considered as such—but they are a beautiful jumble of ordered chaos that I find very satisfying to look at. I also like the fact that this image is essentially monochromatic, it’s just that the base hue is a lush green.

The following image takes a green palette and adds some subtle reds and a single vibrant splash of deep red. The blurred background makes a pleasing backdrop for this image, and looks more peaceful than other variations where I used a small aperture (f/11) for more depth of field. Here I used the lens’ widest aperture (f/4). I didn’t have my 85mm f/1.8 with me, but it would be interesting to see what that even narrower depth of field would do here (although I expect that it would be too shallow). My Petzval lens would have smeared the periphery, but it takes a certain commitment to bring that lens along and I seldom do, even though I like it. (Maybe I should just bring it along on my old Z7…maybe that’s worth a try.)

Birds weren’t the only wildlife to be seen in the park. There were a number of these bright green anole lizards on the boardwalk. If you compare its coloring to the two images above, not to mention the out-of-focus foliage in the background, it is pretty clear that it picked the worst possible place to hide. But, then again, that is probably the only reason I even noticed them and could get some pictures. I like the unusual vertical orientation of the lizard in this particular image. I wasn’t focusing on the background—literally and figuratively—so perhaps there was a subtly different angle that would have had the blurry pattern in a more optimal location, but as it is, I think it is fine.

Random dark things poking out of the water is a bit of a photographic trope, I admit, but there are reasons for that. The pastel color palette is beautiful here, and the two dark sticks—one straight, one tilted—stand out boldly. The reflection of the one on the left, in particular, makes almost a bar-code pattern. The variation in the texture of the water also makes a nice overall pattern with all of the light horizontal “lines” in a diagonal band from lower left to upper right.

Magnolia trees are everywhere in Alabama, but I am fond of them because they remind me of the one in northern California that, growing up, was outside our kitchen window. It was undoubtedly a transplant, and it wasn’t one of the massive specimens I saw around Huntsville, but it still had those same waxy green leaves and giant while flowers. In this image, the flower and the bright patches form a nice triangle on a rich dark green field, too.

This next nearly-monochromatic image features a hazy, brassy-bronze sky and its reflections along a narrow channel through a wetland. Just hints of green highlights break up the dark foreground grasses, most of which are essentially silhouettes. It is evocative of the end of a hot, muggy day.

Which, of course, it was.

This last image was taken the night before next to Middle Lake, which is only a few hundred yards east of Shelby Lake, featured above. I’m very happy with the colors here, with the rainbow gradient from bright gold to subdued blue. The primary tree is placed so that its branches are separated from the others and make a strong kite shape. The leaning trunk keeps the image dynamic, too.

Thanks for visiting. I thought that Gulf State Park was a great place to enjoy not only long walks, but photography, too, despite the lack of any iconic geologic feature. There’s no getting around the fact that it is hot and humid, though. Judging by what it was like in April, it must be hideous in July. But that is true everywhere along the Gulf coast.

If you know anyone that would enjoy my weekly blog, I would be grateful if you forwarded it to them. Thanks!