Scenics
Extracts
Flora
Creepy Crawly
Animal Signs
In the Field
Gwaii Haanas Garden of Chaos & Beauty. Gwaii Haanas National Park and Marine Reserve, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 4, 2011.
Anyone who has spent time perusing the images on this website, or who has read my views on image composition and construction, will know that I tend to like "clean, simple, images with a minimum number of elements." Well, despite that, when I encountered this scene while exploring one of the many islands that make up the archipelago known as Haida Gwaii my jaw dropped and I couldn't resist capturing a few images. I DID spend quite some time looking at this scene from different angles while in a futile search for a way to "clean up" or simplify the scene. But...regardless of the vantage point or lens used, this is about as "visually orderly" as I could make this chaotic - yet somehow beautiful - natural garden look! At the end of the day this IS pretty much a jungle. And...while perhaps not optimal aesthetically, it IS the way that much of Gwaii Haanas is - a chaotic but beautiful garden where SOMETHING is growing on virtually every available surface.
Behind the Camera
Gwaii Haanas Garden of Chaos & Beauty. Gwaii Haanas National Park and Marine Reserve, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 4, 2011.
Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 125
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens at 92mm with B&W circular polarizing filter. Supported on carbon fibre Gitzo GT2541EX tripod and AcraTech Ultimate ballhead. Cable release and mirror-up release mode used.
0.6 second exposure @ f16; -0.67 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
At the Computer
Gwaii Haanas Garden of Chaos & Beauty. Gwaii Haanas National Park and Marine Reserve, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 4, 2011.
RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening using Phase One's Capture One Pro 6. Four raw conversions varying in exposure settings over a 2.25 stop range (from -0.5 stop exposure adjustment through to a +1.75 stop exposure increase).
Further digital corrections on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS5. Adjustments including blending of 4 exposure versions, selective tone curve adjustment, selective colour saturation and desaturation, and final sharpening for web output.
Conservation
Gwaii Haanas Garden of Chaos & Beauty. Gwaii Haanas National Park and Marine Reserve, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 4, 2011.
Not Applicable. Happily, Gwaii Haanas National Park and National Marine Reserve is one of the few island groups in the world that receives protection from ocean bottom to mountain peak! Hurrah!