Nature

Mt. Nebo and Fall Colors in Utah

November 10, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

Yellow is unique in the color spectrum. It is naturally luminous, almost up there with white. Most colors have lighter and darker tints and shades, but not yellow. The dark yellow sounds odd since it becomes brownish! The fall color in Utah, at least in the parts I have seen, is yellow unlike in New England where colors are a mix of reds, oranges, yellows all mixed in. Fall in Utah is an intense, vibrant, almost light emitting yellow. Yes, there are other colors but all are dominated by the intense yellow. This was even more pronounced on Mt. Nebo near Nephi aided by the gorgeous weather. The Mt. Nebo Scenic Trail is a recommended attraction, especially in the fall.

The Wasatch Range & Mt. Nebo

I prefer mountain views to ocean views. There is a far more visible variation in the mountains whereas the exciting part of the ocean lies beneath the surface. The Wasatch Range stretches about 160 miles and dominates the settled areas of the state of Utah. Apparently, about 85% of Utah’s population lives within a short distance from the range on the western side. And, Mt. Nebo is the tallest one in the range on the southern edge of it. Named after the Biblical Mount Nebo overlooking Israel, it is the centerpiece of the Uinta National Forest. Its peaks are a hair under 12,000 feet and they seem to be covered with snow probably much of the time. (Thanks to Wikipedia for much of this information.)

The Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway

I enclosed a small segment of the map from the Lightroom Map module. It shows the spots where I took photographs. Elif drove us to the north edge of the trail so that we could drive over Mt. Nebo to reach the south edge and stop at the Devil’s Kitchen. We drove on the trail for a while, stopping to take a few photographs until we came to the closed gate. The two orange rectangles on the top right mark that spot. The trail was closed due to forest fires from that point forward. So, we spent some time at that location, took photographs of the golden yellow foliage all around, on the trees, on the ground, even on the stream running with the water.

Elif decided that we could try the south end of the trail to reach the Devil’s Kitchen and we started the drive back on the freeway. A little while later we were climbing on the trail from the south end. The climb was steep and I could feel the thinning air. The marker on the road showed 11,000 feet! The orange rectangles going down on the left to make a hook show our path to and from the Devil’s Kitchen.

The Devil’s Kitchen

The park at the Devil’s Kitchen was accessible from a short walk on a path. At the end of the path was an overlook to enjoy the rock formations along the hillside. We enjoyed the view, took quite a few photographs and headed back to the car stopping here and there for more photographs of Mt. Nebo with its snowy tops. During this trip, we saw Mt. Nebo from both sides!

After a few more photographs, it was time to head back since the rest of the trail was closed. But even this much was quite a treat for the eyes. The bright yellow created a great experience for us and allowed us to capture its luminous qualities. Even the photographs I took from the car on the way back show the everpresent yellow on the fading grass near the road. We returned to Salt Lake City in mid-afternoon and stopped to have a late lunch/early supper at a nice burger joint. A nice way to end a good day on the hills of Mt. Nebo.

Now, put on your sunglasses and enjoy a trip to Mt. Nebo!

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Stepstone Falls and Arcadia State Park

October 19, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

Get well, Binnaz. Blue is your color!

The protected land and public parks are an integral part of life in most, if not all the states. Rhode Island, as small as it may be, is not an exception. The large spans of wooded areas, numerous ponds, of course, the shoreline provide visual comfort as well as places to visit.

In southern Rhode Island, the Arcadia Management Area covers over 14,000 acres of forest, scattered lakes and ponds, and many hiking trails. Thanks to Jim who knows these locations, we visited the area with the first stop at the Stepstone Falls in Exeter. The falls are almost decorative in size, diminutive in both width and fall height. Despite the size, perhaps because of it, the spot is quite pleasant to visit and enjoy the surroundings. Large slabs of granite still remain from an old quarry and provide interesting photographic elements. Jim said the level of water was the highest he had seen. Because of that, the whirlpool that apparently forms in the central part appeared as a small pool, no whirling. The small falls in front of this pool provided the main attraction. I was mainly drawn to the reflections on the water in a mixture of colors.

After enjoying the spot, and it is a spot more than an area, we got back in the car and Jim drove to another spot in the Arcadia Park. The wooden walk provided easy access to see the fall colors reflect on the small pond. After this, Jim took us to another similar spot with a wooden walk by another pond and a tiny falls on the other side. The water was very calm, the angle of view was opportune to see the blue sky reflected on the surface like a giant mirror.

Below are some photographs from various spots on the Arcadia State Park grounds.

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Newport – Westport 2018

October 14, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

This post and all the photographs are a long-winded get-well card for my sister Binnaz. Get well soon, Binnaz. Jan and I are sending you our love and best wishes along with these photographs.

A little over seven years ago I took a helicopter ride from Newport. There was no set destination and my friend Dennis and I flew towards Westport and back taking photographs as things emerged. You can see them in a dedicated portfolio on this site. That ride was a joint gift from my final capstone class students who totally surprised me and from my sister Binnaz, and brother in law and friend Ergun as a birthday gift.

This year, we took a similar ride with my friend Jim, we decided to do the same route. While we flew over the coastline and the salt marshes I remembered the first ride, my students, my sister, and Ergun. One can never guess exactly what one will see in these flights as the vista changes by the tides, the time of the day, the winds, and the route the pilot decides to take. This time was no exception. The chief pilot Jeff of Birds Eye Helicopter Tours gave us a great flight.

We flew by the coast watching the waves break on the sandy shore like lace, creating very intricate and interesting patterns against the underwater color and texture. Then, a rock emerged as if a giant manta ray with seaweed forming its long tail. The shoreline is filled with little islands in interesting shapes against the ever-changing color of the ocean.

Then, I saw a series of large ripples as if formed by the careful hand of an artist. One ripple followed the other, gently breaking into delicate bridal veils. At times the water was probably quite shallow and clear, the sea bottom providing interesting backgrounds for the surface detail.

As we flew over the land following small rivers, the salt marshes provided the artistry of collaboration between nature and humans. The carefully cut channels on the marshes were done many decades ago by the Army Corps of Engineers to speed up the water drainage after high tide to minimize mosquito’s breeding grounds. Aside from those channels cut by the engineers, nature herself created others using its forces as if to please the viewers. The points where these little rivers joined the ocean formed interesting swirling patterns of water and sand.

The creations by the human touch ranged from the settlements, towns, to villas and mansions. The elaborate mansions are quite an integral part of Newport but seeing them from the air gives them more of a jewel-like appearance. The boats of various kinds were sprinkled on the ocean resembling the grains of salt on a dark tablecloth. Of course, there is the unavoidable presence of the two bridges that connect the mainland on the west to the islands of Jamestown and Newport, the Jamestown Bridge and Claiborne Pell Bridge which is also known as the Newport Bridge.

In the following collections, you will see the photographs I took with two cameras. One was a regular DSLR, a Canon 5D Mark IV, and the other was a Canon M5 converted to take infrared photographs. The last two collections are the infrared photographs with their false colors. I decided to keep the false color versions instead of converting them to monochrome because the general blue presence fit the scenery quite well. And, the yellowish foliage, although technically incorrect, suits the season as if I photographed fall foliage.

Preparations and Pointers

If you are planning a similar experience, here are the things I planned for and one thing I totally overlooked! The following are not in any particular order.

First and foremost, look to see new and different things and respond to what you see instead of searching for what others have photographed. Let the photograph find you
Carry extra memory cards and batteries even if you think you will not need them. Make sure the batteries are newly charged and the cards formatted
Set your camera for auto ISO. If the setting allows, set the minimum shutter speed to 1/500 seconds. I shot in aperture priority mode on my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.
But, the M5 infrared camera did not allow for setting the minimum shutter speed. So, I set that to auto ISO, manual mode with shutter speed at 1/750 seconds and f-stop of 7.5 or thereabouts. The exposure was handled essentially by varying the ISO as needed.
Set your camera profile to Landscape and shoot RAW format photographs
If your camera supports it, set your GPS to work during your flight to mark the locations of the photographs
The M5 did not have GPS but I got the Canon Camera Connect to record the locations on my phone and then automatically transferred the information to each frame
Make sure that your camera has a strong neck strap
Choose a suitable lens for the experience and your camera. On my full-frame 5D, I had a 24-70mm lens which at times felt too short. On the APS-C crop-sensor M5 was an 18-150 mm lens which worked very well for wide angle shots as well as good telephoto when I needed. The full-frame equivalent would be 28-240 mm but something in that range will be very comfortable
If you chose the date carefully you will likely have good weather with plenty of light, set your f-stop to around 6.3 – 8 and let the shutter speed fall wherever it may so long as it is not below /500 or 1/1000 seconds.
You will shoot from the left side of the helicopter, if there are two passengers you will both likely sit on the same side.
Shooting will be mostly looking out and slightly, or seriously down depending on the scenery.
Many photographs you will bring back may be almost abstract photographs, which I really like
The wave crests are very bright and may be blown out, so you may want to consider exposure bracketing
If you are interested in photographing particular structures, say the Newport Bridge, flying parallel to it does not give you good enough angles from the side of the helicopter. Try asking the pilot to rotate the chopper 30-45 degrees away from the bridge so you have a fuller view
If you get too close to the bridge, you may capture the traffic more than the bridge. For the bridge, a little distance gives a good outline of it.
Try to let the photograph find you rather than searching for a particular thing, for that may prevent you from seeing many other interesting frames. You will see plenty, try to react and respond to what you are seeing and capture your experience.
And, don’t forget to check all the settings of your camera. My Canon 5D was a little sluggish, taking a long time to write each frame to the card. In fact, I missed quite a few frames I wanted because it was “busy” writing the previous frame to the card. After returning home, I tried a different card which produced the same results. Then I reset the camera settings to their defaults which worked like a Heimlich maneuver! I could shoot multiple frames per second. Upon careful inspection, I found that the fluorescent light flicker detection and exposure adjustment was turned on (Anti-Flicker Shoot) and the poor camera was trying to figure out the rate of flicker in bright sunlight and adjust the exposure and its timing! Live and learn!

Now, the photographs (if you have really read this far, thank you!)

Gallery 1: The Shoreline

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Gallery 2: The Marshes

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Gallery 3: The Human Touch

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Gallery 4: The Human Touch in Infrared

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Gallery 5: The Shoreline in Infrared

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Green Trees Glow Under Infrared

August 18, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

A few days ago, when the weather seemed a tiny bit better, I accompanied Jim to visit Roger Williams Park in Providence. It was hot but not terribly so and the humidity seemed tolerable, at least initially. The sky had big puffy clouds and the trees glowed under infrared light. I sought foliage with big green leaves especially if I could get under them. The sun shining on them, I envisioned, would create brilliant leaves and dark branches. And, I was right!

Roger Williams Park occupies a large swath of land in Providence. With over 435 acres of land and many educational and recreational activities, it is one of the important landmarks in Rhode Island. The land sprawls around a body of water that creates pleasing scenery and probably provides moisture that may be necessary for the plant and wildlife. Visit their website for more information about the park. Below are the screen captures from Google Maps showing the park layout and its approximate width and length.

At the first stop, we came across a group of women and men dressed in period costumes going back to the 19^th century. They kindly stopped and posed for us. From there, we slowly walked around the Japanese Gardens with one of the sizeable ponds in the park, decorated with small landings connected with slightly arched wooden bridges. Around these landings on both sides were various trees arranged rather skillfully. As I photographed the small pine tree leaning over the water with a shapely rock next to it, I remembered taking bonsai classes from the designer of the Japanese Gardens; I think his name was Ronnie.

The next stop was at the Betsy Williams Cottage which recently opened after years of renovation. Jim parked the car under the impressive American Sycamore tree and we slowly walked towards the casino. As we approached the small covered bridge, I saw a group of young women taking photographs of one of their friends holding in her hands two balloons in the shape of a 2 and a 0, she turned 20! I took a few photographs and we moved along taking photographs of the glowing trees, ginkgo, maple, pink oak, purple beech and many others. See the Roger Williams Park Notable Trees brochure published by the Rhode Island Foundation.

Young woman celebrating her 20th birthday

As we approached the Casino Building I lost track of Jim, he was ahead and went in a direction I did not see. I looked around a little then decided to walk back to the car. I saw the young women still photographing the 20-year old friend and took a few more photographs, you see them all above. I made it back to the car as the weather was getting heavier. In the meantime, I managed to capture many frames of large tree branches covered with leaves against the sky. The stark contrast in infrared came out quite pleasing to me after processing them.

The long branch of the sycamore tree was quite impressive and extended quite a distance with twists and turns. The curved branch created quite an intriguing display from various angles. I passed more time photographing the huge branch and then decided to sit down on the steps of the Roger Williams statue and wait for Jim to return. A little later, Jim returned and I caught my breath and enjoyed the AC inside the car as we drove home.

All the photographs in this post were converted to B&W from the false-color infrared photographs.

Lotus Pond 2018

August 5, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

I am not exactly sure if it is the lotus pond or the ice cream stand nearby attracts us, but this year we made it to Whitman with Jim “to see the pond” once more. It was a cloudy and overcast day and most of the blossoms were either closed or on their way out but I found some interesting frames to photograph that somewhat summarize the life cycle on the lotus pond as I learned from a Buddhist Temple website.

The perky, fresh, firm buds stand upright, fully erect, showing their strength and their potential. For the next 3-4 days, it would open up to show its petals a little more and close again. Each day it would open at different times and close when it seems appropriate. On day four, the petals would start falling off in the morning, and by the end of the day, all the petals would be gone. In this short lifespan, a lotus blossom would grow and stand majestically on its long stem gracefully swinging by the wind.

As the petals start to fall off, apparently some just hang in there by a thread of fiber but eventually, the unavoidable pull of gravity and weakening structure will leave the central seed pod naked, exposed. Eventually, that too will dry, and along with the leaves disappear for the next season.

As I watched for interesting frames of lotus blossoms in various stages of life, I managed to get a few frames of dragonflies. Not being particularly versed in photographing insects, flying or not, I tried to follow their flight pattern and captured a few photographs as they returned to the previous landing spot. This, I heard from Dennis on a few occasions as he described how he nails those hard to catch photographs of insects and even finickier hummingbirds (my favorite.)

As the photo session came to end, we headed to the ice cream stand of course! I ordered a scoop of black raspberry and Jim got a scoop of maple-walnut. I then remembered how big their scoops were and how cold their ice cream; barely finished half of mine, my stomach feeling the chill and promised to myself (again) to remember to ask for half a scoop next time and let them charge for a full one. It is better to pay and leave behind than pay and dump!

Here are the lotus pond photographs arranged to loosely mimic their life cycle. I captioned them to reflect the stages of their life. Let me know what you think, and spread the word, share on your favorite social media! Just copy the link, and paste it into a new post. And, to those of you who already share my posts, thank you!

Hot Weather – Good Infrared

July 29, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

The last week or ten days have been very hot and humid. Frequent threats of rain kept the clouds overhead almost all the time. When they were not totally covering the sun and creating a dreary sky, the clouds were very puffy, huge, varied in shape against the blue sky.

When the humidity and the heat came down to a point not to bother me, I took walks. At other outings, I drove here and there, and during the walks, in the parking lots, and at a special detour I took to get close to the wind turbines, I took infrared photographs. The stark contrast between the clouds and the dark sky provided a nice backdrop for various subjects. Before I talk about some of the photographs let me say something about the processing. They are all captured with a Canon EOS M5 converted for infrared, then converted to black and white, and split-toned. The colors you see are mostly in the tradition of darkroom toning, like platinum, bromoil, etc. The last few are also coming from the same path, the toning colors perhaps being reminiscent of the greenish photographs we used to get after taking a roll of film to the local photographer. One, the Black-eyed Susan flowers is also split toned using local adjustments, so that too is essentially a black and white photograph.

I took the first couple of photographs outside the door of my doctor’s office in Providence at the corner of Waterman St. and Wayland Avenue. The stark metal structure of the lights towering over the soft clouds and the clouds mimicking the old house’s dome caught my eye. On the way home, I noticed the wind turbines were operational and took a detour by their location near Allens Avenue in Providence.

The streamlined shapes and white color of the wind turbines gave them a look as if made from the cloud material, especially when they seemed to tower over huge puffy clouds. As luck would have it, a plane destined to the T. F. Greene Airport went behind one of them giving a couple of ironic frames. The huge wings of the turbines were moving while the structure was anchored to the ground and the wings of the plane were traveling to a different destination while firmly fixed to the fuselage and not moving.

All week long, wherever you looked you would see clouds, some puffy, some whispy, often times moving to drop their bucket somewhere. I photographed some clouds because of their interesting shapes and remembered the Equivalents series by Alfred Stieglitz. This I say not in a comparative way but in an inspirational one. In a parking lot, I was drawn to small trees against the huge clouds as backdrops. The two were made for each other, and I managed to maintain their separation in a gentle, soft-handed way. In the same parking lot, the trees were reaching out to touch the clouds.

Then, we come to the intersection at the end of my street, mere five houses down. Spring Green Rd. extends to the other side of Narragansett Parkway into the neighborhood known as Governor Francis Farms. The centrality of the strong light appealed to me, remembered Fung Ho as I pointed my camera and noted the power lines running into the light! Turning left on the Parkway, at the corner of the next street, Fair St. was a gorgeous tall tree glowing in the sun. Returning home, I went by the white fence I photographed many times. The flower bed in front of it along with a V-shaped set of tree trunks created an interesting frame.

Along the way, I went by the usual wilderness blocks with ivy growing around trees, an interesting low-growing fern-like plant and a bunch of Black-eyed Susans. Back at home, the tall and delicate Liatris created a lacey look. I decided to tone the low plant and the Liatris in the cool colors zone. The Black-eyed Susan cluster needed a different touch, with some local adjustments I gave them a little edgy and surreal look.

Let me hear what you think, and I hope you enjoy them like I enjoyed making them.

From Spring to Summer

June 15, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

This post is dedicated as a birthday gift to my sister from Jan and I. We are sending our best wishes and these flowers on your birthday Binnaz, many happy returns of the day.

A day in Boston and Watertown

As the spring tries to turn into summer, my walks become more frequent. Although not too long, they still allow me to stop and smell the roses, literally! This post is like a bouquet of flowers picked up from our garden, from our neighborhood, even from nearby Massachusetts. A few friends and I went to Boston to cast our votes at the Turkish Consulate General. Afterward, we went to Watertown to visit Russo’s Market and then stopped at Sevan Bakery where my friends did some shopping. You will see a few flowers from Russo’s and a few melons showing off their smooth lines.

Public Libraries

I also would like to highlight the public libraries in various locations in Rhode Island offering great service to the public. The William H. Hall Public Library is located in Cranston, not too far from where we live in Warwick. I took Jan to visit a friend’s art show at the library and I stayed out to take photographs. The building has a clean architectural style and has character. This may grow into a project of public libraries in Rhode Island!

WInd-blown flowers

During one of my walks on a windy day, I stopped to enjoy a dogwood tree and photographed its bobbing flowers. As I photographed, several gusts of wind blew the flowers in front of my lens. I continued photographing to record the motion blur. I hope that when you view them one after the other in rapid sequence, you can also feel the gust of wind pushing them around.

Our house and garden

You will see a couple of photographs of our humble house. Contrary to the common practice, we have no lawn in the front or in the back but many flower beds. There are several yucca plants in our garden, in the front and the back. When the flower stem starts to rise, the layers of panicles ready to open create an interesting pattern. You will see several photographs showing it in slightly different states. Along with yuccas, we have quite a few flowering plants. Enjoy some Dutch irises, larkspur, coral bells, hosta, and others.

Although we have a flower bed of rosa rugosa, the photographs are from a neighbor’s front yard. I saw them as I walked by, stopped, smelled them, and captured their beauty with the camera to share.

Wilderness next door

On more than one occasion, I mentioned the patches of wild growth in some empty properties. One of the benefits of this wild growth is the enjoyment of flowers we might not otherwise see. In one such crowded area, there are many rambling wild roses, mainly white. They put on quite a show in front of some dead trees, bittersweet, and other plants that grow in the wild. Wilderness next door!

Infrared Walkabouts

June 8, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

With the Canon M5 converted for infrared photography, I enjoyed photographing the neighborhood and even drove about 2.5 miles from home to see the Narragansett Bay. From the end of Norwood Ave. in Cranston I photographed the wind turbines and the splash of small waves. When you look at those water photographs, try to imagine the movement and the sound of the waves. On the way there, I stopped near the RI Yacht Club and enjoyed the view, an empty bench inviting people to stop and smell the ocean.

From Norwood Ave. I drove back to the small, historic Pawtuxet Village and from one side of the Pawtuxet River rushing into Pawtuxet Cove, I photographed a few houses singly and then in a panorama. Since I was not planning to take panoramic photographs I did not bring my newly made panorama head but managed to take a sequence of photographs that stitched with no fuss.

Some of the photographs below are in color and others are black and white, yet some have versions in both. Keep in mind that the colors you see are false infrared colors I managed to extract by swapping the blue and the red color channels. Those in B&W are processed further to remove the color and some are slightly toned after that.

For those not familiar with infrared photography, it records wavelengths not visible to the naked eye and renders colors somewhat or significantly different from what we expect. Typically, the camera white balance is set to render the green foliage as neutral gray, thus the white appearance of the trees and the grass. Infrared sensors respond to the light bouncing off the chlorophyll-rich green foliage rendering them quite bright. The blue sky and water render quite dark mainly in the red channel. When the information in the red and blue channels are swapped the sky gets blue which is technically incorrect but looks more natural to our eyes. But, the foliage in color now turns yellowish and other colors finding some spot for themselves in the spectrum, all false colors.

Infrared photography is not for everyone. The effort to see with different sensibilities appeals to me. What are your thoughts on infrared photography, or any photography that sees in the wavelengths we cannot see with our eyes?