Made a quick trip down to the Portland Japanese Garden this last Sunday to see what was left of fall colors. Light fog and overcast was a nice combination of conditions and there were definitely some nice visual treats to capture. Another nice twist was stumbling into another FMer I had never met in person before - Dot who is half of of the wesdot FM handle. Always nice to find someone to chat with about shooting the scenes.

A few images from the session (more to come later):

The fog did a nice job of highlighting some of the various spider webs hanging about in the trees. Breezes made these a hard target to shoot and it was difficult to get a good angle on them between the light angles and all the vegetation but there were some interesting results: (edited based on jsuro's suggestions below)



EXIF:
Canon 5D Mk II
Canon EF100-400mm f/4-5.6L @ 400mm
1/13 sec @ f/18
ISO 2000

Next up - the always interesting falls on the west side of the garden. In this case a little mini scene up near the top where the leaf contrasts were kind of nice:



EXIF:
Canon 5D Mk II
Canon EF100-400mm f/4-5.6L @ 100mm
1/2 sec @ f/16
ISO 100

There was a great morning light angle on one of my favorite water features and a few tasty leaves decorating the scene:



EXIF:
Canon 5D MkII
Canon EF100-400mm f/4-5.6L @ 100mm
20 sec @ f/20
ISO 100

I decided to give Jose's suggestions for an edit a full try. I did add a quick edit to the original post to burn a couple of background highlights that were distracting from the spider web but didn't have time to play around with contrast enhancements before heading off for work today.
I do like the way that contrast enhancements help to bring the web up to the front of the image here but in this case it also feels like the ISO of 2000 is starting to inflict some pain with the background noise levels. This web was at tree top level and the breezes were moving things far too much for the light I had so I had to jack the ISO up in order to get a focused shot and it feels like I don't have as much room in CS4 as I might like for radical enhancements without paying a price.




Thanks for looking and C&C always welcome.

Alan

This is a super set, Alan.
All three are beautifully captured. 1 and 3 stand out just a touch for me - they are truly wonderful.
Ute

Alan,

all 3 pictures are wonderful. I especially like the spider web and the zen fountain. Great job!

- Heinz

Beautiful series Alan,,,but I'll go with the spider web as my fave!
cheers Andrew

Amazing spider web, Alan. How often do you come across a web this perfect? #2 is great too.

Great set Alan. That 3rd one is just killer, love it.

Mike

Beautiful series and great post-processing.

A great set of shots Alan. I particularly like 3!

Graham

Sweet series, Alan...tough to choose a favorite as you did a nice job with them all.
Picked a good time to visit, with the added bonus of the "FM stumble"

Hello Alan, a fine series. Looks as though there is still some color left, and that web is excellent

hugh

Super set of intimate studies! Just love the last one. What a great image that one. Might want to try and compress the dynamic range on the first one (hard contrast with levels) to bring the web even more into the foreground and burn in the TLC to hide the brown leaf a bit. Excellent work!!

Jose

Really great stuff, Alan. Excellent work with the big boy!
Hard to pick for me, I like 'em all. If pressed I'd probably go with the last....just a delightful image. The web is incredible and I love the colors and deep shadows in the 2nd, too. Like I said, hard to pick.

Barry

Three great shots, Allen. I am like Barry, I love them all, but the last really sparkles. I love the placement of the leaves and your exposure is spot on.

Sharon

Number 3 is a winner for me!
Thanks for posting.
Cherubino

Nice series. #1 for me.

Y

Great images, Allen, last one is just nice. Good work.
Karl

Thanks for some really nice feedback.

I have added a new version of the spider web based on Jose's suggestions for PP variants.

Alan

Great job with all of these Alan. My favorites are 1 & 3. Again, great work.

Rich

I like the original of the web better than the redo.

But the 3rd is just outstanding! I've tried shooting those type structures at our Japanese garden and never had any luck making them look like anything more than nice documentary shots of the structure. But you've truly captured a zen feeling that does the zen concept proud with the motion in the water and that one little leaf barely hanging on to the left edge. Just superb!

alichty wrote:
Thanks for some really nice feedback.

I have added a new version of the spider web based on Jose's suggestions for PP variants.

Alan





Looks Super! Great job.

Jose

Really nice images here with the spider web being my favorite. Wonderful work on these.
Daniel

Hi Alan,

A fine series and the web is my favorite- superb capture.

Bob

Alan

Don't know how I almost missed these a beautiful set you are a master when it come to the Japanese Gardens. Really like the rework on the web, darkening the background really makes me concentrate more on the foreground web, which is the main subject anyways. My favorite here is actually #3 such a gorgeous delicate capture and the random leaves throughout are icing on the cake. Beautiful work as always Alan

Ray Still

Hello, Alan. All are very lovely. I prefer your edited version of the first one. And, overall, I really like the last the best. Very nice eye on that one. Would have been so easy to pass this by.

Cheers,
Ed

ditto on what Ed just stated. You have done a super job of capturing this garden. I always
look favourite to your posts.

Al B