Dave Wilson Photography » Nature

Abstract Forest

Dave Wilson — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:17:10 +0000

Forests offer great potential for abstract fun through camera movement. All those lovely vertical lines produce great streaks if you move the camera upwards during a long exposure. This kind of thing is pretty hit-and-miss, though, so it generally takes me a dozen or so attempts before I find one shot which has the right mix of basic sharpness and streaking. Too much streaking and you end up with a series of stripes and pretty much no indication of what the subject was. Too little streaking and you end up with what is just basically a blurry picture.

Of the batch of shots I took that day, this was the one that balanced the sharp core and streaking best for me. You can still tell that the green areas are lichen covered tree trunks but the streaking gives the whole image a rather dreamy feel. What do you think?

Sand and Tracks, Mustang Island

Dave Wilson — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:13:19 +0000

I feel like a temporary diversion away from California today so here's a shot from our Easter weekend visit to Corpus Christi.

This was taken in Mustang Island State Park just south of Corpus on Easter monday when, for some reason, very few people seemed interested in spending the day on the beach. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and had a great time boogie-boarding, watching birds and looking for critters in the seaweed that was washing ashore.

Sequoia Abstract

Dave Wilson — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:18:05 +0000

I'm still working my way through the pictures from the California trip but, of the ones I've edited so far, this is most likely my favourite.It was shot in Sequoias National Park on an overcast day following rain and I love the textures of the lichen, pine needles and bark, and the contrasting colours of the sequoia trunk and the greens around it.

Trees and Moss, Crane Flats

Dave Wilson — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:24:58 +0000

We headed to Crane Flats in Yosemite purely because it was the closest fueling stop and we were about to make the long trek out to Glacier Point. While the group's minivan was being topped up, however, we had a wander in the woods and discovered that all the trees were covered in the most amazing lime green lichen. It turns out that this stuff is all over the area when you get above 6000 feet or so but, given that this was the first time we had seen it, we all went mad and filled memory cards with images like this one.

Cascading Water, Yosemite National Park

Dave Wilson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:19:09 +0000

One of the most difficult thing when shooting in Yosemite is trying to find something different to shoot. I'm not sure I've succeeded but I have been trying to find things other than the classic views to take pictures of and this is one example.

The waterfalls here cascade up to 6000 feet and the stream often becomes little more than a high speed mist by the time the water reaches ground level. This create wonderful views of hard rocks and soft water and I used a long lens to try to capture this here.

Coyote, Yosemite National Park

Dave Wilson — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:01:31 +0000

You thought I was in Yosemite to shoot landscapes? We had an interesting diversion from the intended plan yesterday when, on the way to Glacier Point, we were approached by this coyote (Canis latrans) who was hanging around one of the rest stops obviously begging for food. For once, I was sitting in the van with exactly the right lens on the camera and I managed to get a couple of dozen shots of the coyote as he or she walked back and forward along the side of the vehicle.

The park has very strict rules about not feeding or interacting with wildlife but, given this animal's behaviour, I have to assume that a disappointing number of visitors must break those rules.

Blackened Bark, Bastrop State Park

Dave Wilson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:19:32 +0000

A detail of the bark on a burned pine tree in Bastrop State Park, Texas. The brown flecks on the right are, I think, flame retardant likely dropped from an aerial tanker. This material was seen over large areas of the ground and on one side of the tree trunks.

Blackened Pines, Bastrop State Park

Dave Wilson — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:06:25 +0000

Last Labor Day weekend, towards the end of the epic 18 month drought that hit Texas, a massive wildfire swept through Bastrop County just east of Austin. The final toll included 1500 homes burned and the almost-total destruction of Bastrop State Park.

A couple of weeks ago, we were passing through the area and stopped for a while to see the park. At that point, only 15% of the area was open to visitors but I’ve just heard that all other trails will be reopening this coming week now that clearing of dangerous trees is complete.

Walking through the trails we could access, the scale of the destruction is staggering. This area was famed for its pine forests and a huge number of these trees have been destroyed.

You can’t see it from this picture but it’s also wonderful to see how nature is bouncing back. Wildflowers are again growing in the charred areas and many trees that appeared to be completely dead have new shoots growing from their bases.

While it is likely that I will never again see the park look as it did a year ago, it is also pretty certain that it will bounce back and it will be fascinating to watch it go through the process.

Buttercup, Llano

Dave Wilson — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:11:23 +0000

This is a flower that caused me some confusion when I arrived in Texas since it shares a name with a different flower from the UK. My family kept mentioning "buttercups" but all I could see were these large, yellow flowers while I was looking for tiny yellow ones instead.

During the spring, it's quite common to see one of other of our boys walking around with pollen-covered chins as they check to see if they like butter (by holding a buttercup under the chin and looking to see if it's yellow colour is reflected).

Bluebonnets Near Llano, Texas

Dave Wilson — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:07:27 +0000

A patch of bluebonnets seen near Llano in the Texas Hill Country. The bluebonnets have peaked now but we're beginning to see an explosion of other colours - reds, oranges and yellows - joining the blue. Still a great year for wildflowers in central Texas.