Douglas R. Winn Photography & Imaging

DECEMBER 2006:  Web Studio "Image of the Month"

I call the "inaugural" Web Studio "Image of the Month" simply "Thimbleberry", which is what it is.  I took this photograph at Silver Falls State Park, near Salem OR.  I was shooting the water falls along Silver Creek, walking the trails, and being careful to get the best images I could.  I found a dark and sheltered area along the bank that had a very rich grove of supple Thimbleberry.

The air was nearly completely still, so I setup my tripod to capture this composition of leaves, fern, light and shadow.  I was using my Pentax 67II camera with a Horesman View Camera converter with a Rodenstock Rodagon 50mm lens.  The beauty of this "setup" is that I am able to use the tilts and shifts of a view camera with the benefit of the TTL metering and composition of a SLR camera.  I tilted my lens forward to obtain very sharp focus across the leaf faces, and then I set my aperature at f22 to increase my depth of field in order to bring into better sharpness the other leaves that were not in the immediate plane of focus.  This required a 2-second exposure time using Velvia 50 chrome.

However, 2 seconds shooting in a macro fasion on very nimble plants seems like a decade!  The forest "breaths", even when there is no real "wind".  I stayed set-up over this composition for nearly 2 hours until I was able to get this particular shot...one with extreme clarity, no subject movement, and wonderfully sharp focus across the faces of the primary leaves and their edges.  I've included a blown-up detail so you can get an idea of the image sharpness.

                                             Notice the sharpness of edge and vein.

You might think that 2 hours is a long time, and I guess it is, but to get the best image in this situation I did what it took to meet my vision.  A flexible plant seems to just "dance"...never wanting to rest, and I had to wait this one out until the whole environment was still.  It was worth the wait, don't you think?

Since this is my "Web Studio Image of the Month" I am offering this wonderful matted fine art piece for 25% off of my normal matted-image price [see "Prices" section].  This means that the matted image of this photograph is selling this month for $190, and if you would like to add a fine quality wood frame, they remain at the regular price of $105.  The total is $295 compared to $359 at the regular price. 

If you would like to add this to your cart, please click "Thimbleberry" which will take you into the "Photography" portion of this Web Site where this image is featured and you can purchase it there.