Vanderpool, Texas (HDR)

Oct23

On my drive to Lost Maples to catch some Autumn color last year I passed this river with beautiful red leaves. I pulled over and grabbed this shot. After processing, I thought it lacked a little something…thanks to photoshop –
1) Added a new sky + motion blur
2) Motion blur to river (masked and touched up edges of river)
A fun fall color HDR!

Vanderpool, TX – Lost Maples State Park (HDR)

Dec3

One more shot from the colorful Lost Maples State Park. This was the first fall colored tree I saw in the park. I walked up and my jaw dropped a bit! The light was hitting it just right and the reddish leaves were sweet with the dark background. Fall color is just about over in Texas…winter will soon arrive. Hope it is not too cold in your area!

This HDR was a personal milestone for me…my 500th HDR posted on my web site!! Talke Photography That a lot of HDR’s! The next milestone is coming in early 2012…Places 2 Explore is getting near 1,000,000 visitors!! WOW!! Thanks everyone for visiting! I will keep on posting my best shots for you!! Enjoy!

Talke Photography Settings:

Lens: Nikon 12-14 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 17.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/11
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS5, HDR Efex Pro, Coloro Efex Pro, OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6

Vanderpool, TX – Lost Maples State Park (HDR)

Nov24

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US!!!

The past weekend we took the drive to Lost Maples. It is famous for great fall color in Texas. I had seen the pictures and it looked amazing. From Austin it is about a 3 hour drive…whew! Some interesting looking country on the way. For the last 1 hour to 45 minutes drive near the park…no cell service. You are deep into the boonies! The park charges $6 for admittance. A quick 3 minute drive from the entrance and you are at the parking lot near the river trail. I brought my std DSLR camera and IR camera. Ready for some color!!

In our area of Austin, we do get some color change, but it is kinda dull. To see bright reds and yellows…would be nice! Down the trial about 1/4 mile I saw some super color! Sweet! I grabbed some shots and kept walking…more trees and more pics! I kept walking and noticed the river was barely there (we have had small amounts of rain for months in Texas). Then after a 1/4 mile trail walk…it seemed the color stopped. We walked another 1/2 mile…nothing. Hmmm. We decided to head back and grab more shots of the tress we had seen. I was not too impressed with Lost Maples…at least this season. The lack of rain could possibly have had a big effect on the fall colors. I was hoping for some river reflection shots, but no luck. I did happen to take a few HDR’s and IR shots. So it was worth the visit. I’d like to head back next year…as long as we get some rain…hopefully!

For the photographers out there…this shot had no saturation added to the red/yellow leaves! It was pretty impressive color!!!!!

Talke Photography Settings: