From the Archives of 2005—1
May 3, 2020
There are almost 800 fewer photographs in my 2005 archives than in my 2004 archives, but I found more that I want to share of the ones of 2005. In this post are seven photos taken in Florida, one in Georgia, and five in Wisconsin. You’ll be able to tell which are which except for one taken in Sarasota (the Dodge) and the one taken in Georgia (Casey, the cat).
1 The color of the sky is not right for the color of the water. I have tried and tried to make them better matched, but I simply cannot. Still, I like this photo enough to show it warts and all.
2 This and the previous photograph were taken in the restricted area of Florida’s Myakka River State Park the first time I went there. Every subsequent time, there was no water in the area where I took #1, and no trees surrounded by water as you see here.
3 This is a small tributary of the Myakka that runs through my friend Jean’s property. The water is quite tannic. Running over white sand, it looks yellow through orange to brown. When it reflects the sky, patches of blue show, and when it reflects foliage, green.
4
5 Strong waves kick up sand in the Gulf of Mexico near Sarasota.
6 An egret trolls a Sarasota beach.
7 My Atlanta friend Kathy’s cat, Casey, lives on in photographs.
8 This old armored vehicle was parked outside a Sarasota salvage store.
9 This is another photo with problems, but I really like it, partly because it features my daughter-in-law and partly because of the shapes of the cliffs. This is Parfrey’s Glen, which is sort-of near Madison, Wisconsin. Again, I can’t fix the sky, and cropping ruins the composition.
10 Wisconsin farmland near—or not so near—Madison
11
12
13 The woods somewhere near Madison
Romancing Reality 
Lovely pictures, Linda. My favourite is 3; also like 4 and 7. And the pictures of the Wisconsin farmland – I can imagine that it goes on forever – wow! Adrian 🙂
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May 3, 2020 at 3:40 AM
Thanks, Adrian. Number 3 was a photograph I liked but didn’t consider exceptional. After I cropped it and dodged and burned, it looked a lot better to me. My #7 is so unlike your sensitive cat portraits, so I’m glad it speaks to you anyway. I was struck by how much the color and even the patterning of his fur matched the oak floor. Much of the Wisconsin landscape looks like this; it’s a big farming state, and the hills just roll on and on.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:05 AM
I have one somewhere like the looking up one too. I also couldn’t fix the sky except by ruining the composition.
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May 3, 2020 at 7:23 AM
That’s oddly comforting, Lynda, though I wish we both could have fixed the sky.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:06 AM
The difference in the blues in #1 somehow reminded me of the two-tone cars of the 1950s.
I like the “bridge” of trees over the creek in #3. The orange complements the foliage.
The panoramic treatments in #10–12 suit the subject.
Regarding #9, I’m with you when it comes to skies like that. I hate to shoot up into grey-white skies.
#8 reminds me that Spanish speakers can’t pronounce Dodge. They split it into two syllables, neither of which matches the English.
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May 3, 2020 at 7:49 AM
Thank you, Steve. I don’t know Spanish, so what you say about the word “Dodge” is news to me. Interesting.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:16 AM
A Spanish speaker sees two vowel letters in the word and therefore wants to pronounce two syllables.
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May 3, 2020 at 12:15 PM
How interesting!
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May 9, 2020 at 7:59 AM
I love the tannic water images. That is my color!! The picture of your daughter-in-law made me think about going to Nelson Ledges which is so close to my house. Lots of rocks for climbing.
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May 3, 2020 at 8:13 AM
Thanks, Clare. I found another place to take photos of tannic water over white sand last year. Hoping to get back to it next year. Of course I had to Google Nelson Ledges. Looks like a great place to explore.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:21 AM
Love that Dodge 😊
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May 3, 2020 at 9:19 AM
That truck was quite something, Alastair. Of course now I think (I know!) that I didn’t take nearly enough photographs of it.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:23 AM
Nice set! nr.4 and 10/11/12 for me please. 🙂
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May 3, 2020 at 9:49 AM
Thank you, Harrie. Have a look whenever you please.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:25 AM
Nice little portfolio, Linda. Like Harrie, I like #4 but #7 & #8 are two of my favorite subjects.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:03 AM
Thanks, Ken. You can be sure that I thought of you when I uploaded the Dodge.
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May 3, 2020 at 11:27 AM
I like them all. Especially on the canyon photo I wouldn’t bother to fix the sky. It is what it is. What does the first one look like without the fixed sky?
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May 3, 2020 at 11:58 AM
The sky in the first one was an unreal turquoise before I fixed it a bit. Two things may account for that. 1) Blaming the camera, the Nikon D80 couldn’t handle the contrasts even well enough for Lightroom to fix them. 2) Blaming the photographer, I probably didn’t expose properly. In those days I don’t think I knew enough to check the histograms.
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May 3, 2020 at 12:35 PM
In a case like this, it might be best to just blow it out to white in Lightroom and be done with it. The main interest is the foreground anyway.
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May 3, 2020 at 1:10 PM
Tried your suggestion, Michael. I’m afraid it just looked different, not better.
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May 3, 2020 at 1:56 PM
Oh well.
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May 3, 2020 at 2:06 PM
Thanks for your forgiveness of the sky in #9. It is a pity that your eye goes there first.
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May 3, 2020 at 12:38 PM
No, my I didn’t go there first. It went to the subject. Just like it was supposed to.
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May 3, 2020 at 1:09 PM
Well, that’s good!
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May 3, 2020 at 2:03 PM
It’s a big bonus to read your sky discussion! 🙂
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May 9, 2020 at 8:02 AM
Thank you. I normally do not like blown out highlights. As a matter fact, hate them. Unless the subject is deliberately high-key or a far more predominant subject takes a high priority.
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May 9, 2020 at 11:38 AM
I’m glad I took the chance of showing the photos with the bad skies. A good discussion is worth humiliation.
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May 9, 2020 at 12:02 PM
I enjoy the images but beyond that, the sky discussion is fun to read. I thought Michael had a good idea for the first one, too bad it didn’t work. And my eyes absolutely go to your d-in-law first and return to settle there. I imagine the sky in that photo became an obsession and you couldn’t stop seeing it. 😉 I have many photos with this problem; at least one will likely be in my next post because the subject is important to the post. Ah, perfection! To what end?? 😉
I enjoy seeing the FL photos – they’re well done and remind me of vacations around Ft. Myers. I photographed a spot just like the one on your friend’s property. The cat! It’s a very Japanese look with that composition – smart! The truck is a delight; the hint of sunlight on the grill is excellent. The long horizontal compositions enhance the field photos – they’re beautiful.
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May 4, 2020 at 11:33 AM
I knew I was displaying my vulnerabilities by showing those photos with the bad sky, so I’m pleased that you found the discussion fun to read. Yes, I can’t stop seeing that bad sky even though my own eyes, of course, go straight to my d-in-law. Glad yours do, too. Ft. Meyers is not all that far from Sarasota, so I’m not too surprised that my Florida photos remind you of your vacations. Isn’t that white sand beneath tannic water wonderful? You’re right about the photo of Casey! I hadn’t considered that. Thanks for all your comments, Lynn.
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May 6, 2020 at 9:06 AM
Hi Linda, mind if I chime in? When I was a boy, I spent a lot of time in that part of Wisconsin (my dad was born in Madison and my mom in Stoughton, and your gentle landscapes have rekindled many fond childhood memories. And I beg to differ about the “problems” with your Parfrey’s Glen portrait: That high-key sky bothers me not in the slightest, as it serves as the perfect object of her obvious interest (or, at least, her attention), and it also casts some lovely light on her upturned face. It’s actually my favorite in the series. -Gary
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May 17, 2020 at 5:15 PM
Thank you for chiming in, Gary. I’m glad that the sky in the Parfrey’s Glen photograph didn’t bother you. Thanks for pointing out that the sky casts light on my daughter-in-law’s face. Happy to rekindle fond childhood memories. If you do a search at the bottom of this page for “Madison,” you might revive more.
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May 17, 2020 at 8:31 PM