Looking for texture

 

I always look for special light, an interesting critter, or the big vista but it is sometimes easy to overlook texture and detail in a landscape. Going for a few days away from the daily routine seems to help me sharpening the view for those details in nature. We were hiking up a wooded hill on top of a big bluff that is part of the shore line in the Green Bay. It was nice to watch the waves deep down below and to listen to the sound of wind and water. The upper part of the hill was covered with this forest of Northern White Cedars, also known as American Arborvitae. The structures of roots and tree trunks, and with no other plants around them made for a picture that I had in mind since quite some time.

Landscape texture with the Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

Nikon D300s, Sigma 150 / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

I like when a landscape picture goes beyond the usual postcard look. It is sometimes easy to get carried away by just snapping the skyline picture, that clearly shows where the click was made but is exact the same photo everybody shot there before. During our vacation in and around the Great Smoky Mountains we spent some time in the Pisgah National Forest along the famous Blue Ridge Parkway. During one of the numerous stops along the parkway I saw an opportunity on this mountain slope. I really like how the reflected light from the tree trunks creates vertical texture on the different colored bands of trees. It may not be seen on a postcard but it is definitely the direction I like to move with my landscape photography. I wrote some time ago about using the Sigma 150mm / f2.8 EX DG HSM for landscape shooting (here) and this was another good opportunity to use the potential of this very sharp lens. It is the only one in my photo bag that allowed me to isolate this patch of trees across the valley.