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Images from Sequoia National Park

"You cannot learn the message that these trees have for you in merely passing by. A day in their presence passes quickly, and with each moment you will be better able to appreciate their singular beauty and the miracle of their existence. To be in harmony with them, cast aside your worldly cares. In our battle for wealth we are prone to forget the real things of life, the things that cannot play us false."  
– Herbert Earl Wilson, "The lore and the lure of the Yosemite" (1925)

I post-processed these in a trial copy of +Nik Software plug-ins for +Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  I used the Color Efex Pro 4 to further adjust a few images I had already take a pass at in Lightroom.  So far it seems that the images can exhibit a little more color without taking on an over-saturated look.  Some of the filters like Polarization can adjust complex areas of the photos much like dodging and burning in a darkroom, without a lot of tedious selection and masking work in Photoshop.  So far, so good.  I hope that I can find more time to play with this module and the others before my trial runs out in a couple of weeks!

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90 thoughts on “Images from Sequoia National Park”

  8. Jeff Sullivan
    Reply

    Good call +Sandra Parlow, I've used Genuine Fractals but hadn't noticed that it was sold as part of the OnOne suite.

    Generally I've been leery of doing much editing beyond a few Lightroom adjustments since with past tools it was far easier to mess up realism than it was to restore it.  Now Nik has me rethinking that bias.  Since I'm liking the Nik Software suite so far, if I decide to go with that I should probably look at the +onOne Software suite as well while they're offering the 50% off price to +Nik Software users: http://www.ononesoftware.com/landing/nik/

    Ironically, I may be too busy processing images for (and writing) my upcoming book to learn new ways of processing images!

  10. Sandra Parlow
    Reply

    you see, I purchased the On Line Suite when it was upgraded last year and I'm very happy with it. I don't use it on every image, but when I feel I want to try something "more"  I've had some good results with it.  I do enjoy the B&W module, which I have been making great use of.

    The bulk of my work is done in PS and LR, and I really don't need another program, but all the hype is making me wonder.  And I certainly don't need another space guzzling program on my computer if I don't really need it! lol!

    I've always heard good things about NIK, and with the On One I am happy, but the new pricing makes it tempting.  What I'd like to hear is for someone who has used both, to say if they are basically the same  or if there is a real, solid difference that makes it worthwhile owning them both if you already have one of them.

  17. Ian Minshall
    Reply

    I played with the trial for a few days. Found that with some of my images it could get some info out that I thought I couldn't cleanly. Also HDR seems almost as good as Photomatix Pro, but when given a single RAW to work with it did a better job…. for what I wanted. That sold it for me so I bought it. It should save me a lot of processing time.. I hope. I don't think you will regret paying for it.

  84. Jeff Sullivan
    Reply

    I hope that I find enough time to really learn it +R. Brooke Fox… It can have some nice influences but there are some subtle ways I haven't figured out how to control it.  In come of the forest images it seems a little strong on the saturation of light greens for example (and yellows in Fall colors).  I'll want to find the control for decreasing saturation of individual colors. I can do some of that on the TIF file in Lightroom after the Nik adjustment, but where Lightroom doesn't have a specific control (light green vs. dark green), it may take me a while to discover or develop a workaround.

  86. Marvan Kerkuki
    Reply

    كنت عبقريا في التصوير الفوتوغرافي
    هل تسمحون لي لوضع الصور على أجهزة الكمبيوتر المحمول في الخلفية؟

  90. Michael Crow
    Reply

    I first went to these mountains almost fifty years ago on a camping trip to Yosemite National Park. I was a kid growing up in a suburb of San Diego. It was a different time that's for sure but it was an integral part of growing up for me. Seeing these trees that Jeff has so inquisitively captured, has really taken me back in time. I can remember seeing these great Giant Sequoia Trees and the first time I saw Yosemite Valley. My Breath was gone, and taken from me in a second. We had just gone through a tunnel in Yosemite after driving all night long. The tunnel was a cool thing for a kid my age but I really wasn't ready for what I was about to see. I think the first time you see Yosemite, Valley can be a pivotal moment in a person's life. One of those things that you can look back on and remember, kind of like where you were when JFK was assassinated or Bobby was shot. When Martin Luther King Was shot on a Memphis motel balcony by a crazed racist. Of course, events like these are going to impact our lives, but they impact us in a negative way. Much better to remember something like this, something that impacts us in a positive way. This year, it will the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination on November 22nd. What better time is there to look back on a simpler more innocent time in our lives? A time before the digital revolution and before these horrific events, and America changed, before September 11th showed us that we are all vulnerable. These are life changing events, true, but I appreciate what Jeff has done here. These aren't just pictures, they represent the time that was simpler and the present. Thank You Jeff for capturing this for us and thanks to Google too for giving us this open platform that anyone can use to further whatever they are doing. It's nice to have your voice heard. And, it's nice to look at these pictures of what for a lot of people don't realize is right near us, easy to go and see, and represents something very important, the still, small, Voice of God. It has said to us both now and that kid from San Diego almost fifty years ago, that peace and tranquility are there for the taking. That there is a place where we can go to get away from the rat race that we live in. I'm taken back again, life is simpler than it was yesterday because of what we see in these pictures. What you have shown us Jeff is that God is still there and through these serenely situated trees that are right on my back porch, He is saying I created everything and everyone and every voice is always important. He is telling us that we can have a peaceful existence, these trees have been standing there since long before any of us were here and they will be standing there still, long after we are gone. They have stood there through forest fires and days filled with peace and tranquility. And God to is near us and especially felt in a sacred place like this. Again, thanks Jeff. We appreciate what you do. Keep it up. And thanks to God for places where it is easy to feel His handiwork and creation.

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