Spotlight and Shadow

June 07, 2013

Spotlight and Shadow small

Photographer: Mari Wirta; Mari's Web site
Summary Authors: Mari Wirta; Jim Foster

The Palouse region of eastern Washington is a prime grain and legume producing area. It’s also a wonderful place for photographing spectacular sunrises and sunsets, rolling hills and barns an inch from falling over due to a century of disuse. I especially enjoy mornings in the Palouse -- the light across the meadows and fields of winter wheat is soft and golden. Moments after I noticed the lone conifer (likely a ponderosa pine) shown above, a beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and lit the scene perfectly. For a few seconds, the tree appeared to be in the spotlight; its shadow extending across the chartreuse Palouse landscape. That 'in the sunshine' feeling excited me enough to grab my camera just before the clouds closed in again. Photo taken on April 20, 2013.

Photo details: Camera Model: NIKON D5200; Lens: 18.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6; Focal Length: 38mm (35mm equivalent: 38mm); Aperture: f/11.0; Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125); ISO equiv: 200; Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 4.2 (Windows).