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My partner and I went hiking near Wrightwood on Sunday and decided to drive back the long way -- across the San Gabriel Mountains on the Angeles Crest Highway. As usual there were lots of rocks on the road, which we owed to the steepness and crumbliness of the range. (For those who don't live in the area, the San Gabes are the mountains that divide the L.A. metro area from the Mojave Desert).
We were driving south on the Angeles Crest Highway on Sunday evening at sunset and wanted to capture this vista of the clouds filling and spilling over from one of the range's valleys. The problem: there was no way not to shoot straight into the sun.
A few stabs at fall colors, which were peaking just as I had to leave Cincinnati last week. SML, as the kiddies say.
I didn't have much time to shoot, but was able to take a few photos while out and about -- mostly on rainy days as it rained or was deeply overcast during much of my visit to the Queen City.
The top photo -- the best of this selection -- was taken in French Park. I think it works because we get just a taste of the leaves turning bright yellow in the top of the image, which contrasts quite nicely with the duller colors of the fallen leaves on the pathway. In between are three benches; things always tend to look nice in clumps of three.
The second best shot -- the one of the guy fishing -- was in Sharon Woods. That one works because there's just enough color to keep it interesting.
Autumn colors are tough -- I've always struggled with the colors, trying to figure out how best to reign them in, particularly the yellows, which can sometimes come across as too bright and dominant. In this photo from the Eastern Sierra from 2013 I was able to just reign them in enough for a good shot:
And in another shot from last year, I perhaps reigned the yellows in too much:
Matt Kloskowski has some good fall color tips on his website. One of his suggestions is to use a polarizing filter. I didn't have one with me, so I tried the polarizer filter in Color Efex Pro, the NIK Software plug-in to Lightroom. Seemed like it helped.
Please see my website for all my photo galleries and info on buying prints and licensing images.
--S.H.
The images above are ©Steve Hymon and may not be used or reproduced elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved.
At the Skyline Chili in Blue Ash. If you haven't had Cincinnati chili before, the four way is spaghetti, chili, onions and cheese. The cheese coney is a cheapo hot dog, chili, mustard and onions. Bliss on a bun.
My photo galleries are here, where you can buy prints and license photos.
--S.H.
The above photo is ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved.
Saw this in a backyard in a very developed part of Cincy near Vine Street -- a deer hanging out with two pit bull mixes. Don't see that every day. I didn't have the right lens on the camera, but I only had a few seconds and at least I got a shot.
Took this one last night at Fountain Square, the public plaza in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. As civic squares go, this one is pretty uninspired -- as if a Cincy pol had his/her secretary google "generic things I can do to make it look like I care about our pre-eminent public space." But I've always loved the Tyler Davidson Fountain, which was dedicated in 1871, and that was good enough reason to visit.
My tour of Cincinnati culinary hotspots continues. White Castles earlier this week, Frisch's Big Boy (in the suburb of Blush Ash) tonight. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed the Big Boy mascot was dressed for Halloween. Boom. Easy photo.
Not exactly Nighthawks, but if you ever wondered where the term "sliders" comes from -- it comes from White Castles, the mini-burger franchise found in a few Midwestern cities. The one above is at the corner of Reading Road and Taft Avenue in Cincinnati.
Back in Cincinnati for a couple of weeks. Driving back from Mariemont, I stumbled across this pony keg on Plainville Road.
