Recently I met a photographer at a holiday arts fair in Walnut Creek, Jess Gibbs. (See her portfolio here and IG here.) I loved her way of capturing nature and how light falls across landscapes, up close and from a wide angle.
So, I wanted to go back out with my camera and attempt to imitate the techniques used. Here are some of my favorites.
Lichen on a branch in Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, CA.
I wanted to try to hone in on the lighting and contrast of bright cool colors against the dark and damp hues during this rainy season.
Cactus in the Regional Parks Botanical Garden. Tilden, Berkeley, CA.
Lichen close up no. 2.
Lichen close up no. 3. Can’t get enough of this pale turquoise and the organic shapes the algae forms on its home branch.
While wandering around the local regional parks I was struck by how vivid the colors are with such dark and cold hues around. When a shock of pale blue or bright green or orange or red appear it is beautiful against the dark tones of bare bark and branch.
Regional Parks Botanical Garden, Tilden, Berkeley, CA.
Looking for subjects in a space I have already frequented with my camera for years can be challenging. Often, instead of focusing on an entire plant or landscape, I find it easier to narrow in on a particular detail I find charming or life affirming against a wider backdrop. Below is an example of just that. I found a chunk of charcoal at the base of a beaten up public grill in Joaquin Miller. Just in the middle stood one very petite bit of green, which I found fascinating against the deep rich blue of the long-since defused charcoal.
Charcoal with a small sprig of green. Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, CA.
Sporophytes growing off a mossy rock. Regional Parks Botanical Garden, Tilden, Berkeley, CA.
These mushrooms were less than an inch tall. But in zooming in to their little world, I didn’t realize until after I had taken it how colorful their surroundings really were, including the tight little blue droplets to the left and the small spot of lichen to its right. I will need to look up what type of mushrooms these are with my friend who hunts them later.
I am most proud of this last photo. I challenged myself with this wider shot, where the lighting within and around the subject is so extreme. There is something powerful about a shock of highlights against a gloomy surrounding. Sunlight in winter is something special; it is both warm and also weakened by its distance. So having it pop brightly but be surrounded by dark seemed the most fitting capture for a mid-winter photo shoot.
Thanks for having a look. And if you have any recommendations for places to snap up close up photography, I am all ears.