Out in the country ...

Re the headline: Anyone for a little Three Dog Night? OK, I thought not, so I'll just move right along.

I had an opportunity to shoot landscapes, flowers and nature on Sunday on some private property near Martinsville in Morgan County (Ind.). It was an outing of the Indy Meetup Photo Club, so I used the occasion to capture multiple exposures on most of my landcapes to later process in Photomatix, the high-dynamic range (HDR) melding software I acquired a couple months ago.

My "nature" shots were limited; there were birds all over the place, as the property owner maintains quite a few birdhouses and feeders. But the birds must not have trusted or liked me; I could hear them quite a bit, and on several occasions, I camped out on a bench where the property owner suggested I wait because, she said, eventually they will come. But, no such luck for me there, except for a shot or two of a bird on a tree branch, no where near any of the feeders. Nor did I see any frogs at the frog pond, a man-made basin the owner installed at the foot of a steep hill in the back of the property that helps collect runoff and leave the remainder of the property relatively dry in damp weather. 

Now ... I did get a shot or two of a baby alligator in the west pond ... except that ... well, the gator isn't real. The owner has it there to dress up the scene -- and perhaps for comedic effect. So I shot it in HDR to try and help make it seem real. I did grab a few shots of lady bugs on flowers and some floral macros sans bugs or other insects (mostly early-season blooms like crocus). I'll post those on another day. 

This post is about the HDR shots from Sunday. The shots I was most excited about were the tree reflections on the southwest pond, the shots of the landscape along the road on the property's south perimeter and -- leading off the post at the top -- the one of the silo in the distance, a vista visible from the end of the property's owner's dead-end street.

To view a full gallery of HDR images from this shoot, follow this link.

Above and next two below: Different shots of the southwest pond, where I was struck by the reflection of the trees in the background. 

Above: the "alligator" that isn't real. 

Above and below: Portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) perspectives of a scene in the property owner's peace garden. I tend to prefer the portrait version; it doesn't have the distraction of the foreground birdfeeder.

Above: A two-layered birdhouse. Upper- and lower-class housing?

Above and below: Views of a wheelbarrow, whose color and shape provide a nice change of pace to a bucolic scene. Rustic ... and rust.
  

Above: A closeup of the dead -- and contorted -- tree in the background of the wheelbarrow photos. 

Above and next three below: Scenes from the creek that forms the east property line. The bridge is part of a road that forms the south property line.

Above: The frog pond that produced no reptiles for me to photograph during my visit. Instead, I tried to focus on some tree reflections in the small pockets of clear water on one end of the pond.

Above: Another birdhouse.

Above and next three below: Views of the look east along the road that flanks the owner's property. The bridge you see in the distance is the one pictured above from creek bank level.

 

Above and next two below: Western views of the same road, a vista I enjoyed mostly because of the tree on the road's horizon.

Above: A bark-stripped tree in the wooded portion that dots the ravine leading to the lower level.

A walk along several wooded trails

Walking the trails of Wasatch Lake presented an amalgam of visions and spectacles, and when the camera lens is equipped with a polarizing lens on a sunshiny day then pointed toward the sky at a 90-degree angle to the sun, you get some amazingly rich blue sky hues to background your images, like the several included below.

The image at the top of this post was taken near the conclusion of the 0.7-mile loop trail above the main lakeside trail (which is about a mile on its own) on the back, non-cabin side of the lake. This side trail climbs the steep wooded hill overlooking the lake to allow hikers to explore the forest. The horseshoe loop levels off briefly at the top of the hill before turning downhill to return hikers to the main trail encircling the lake. For most of the loop trail, the forest is so thick you cannot see the lake. The view above, again very close to where the loop trail rejoins the main trail, is the earliest you would see the lake on the descent, but it lets you know you're heading in the right direction.

Without further adieu, here are the remaining images from my trail walks during a recent visit to Wasatch Lake in Owen County, Ind., the second of three blog installments from the trip. Installment No 1, posted Monday, featured images of the lake. Post No. 3, which will come in the next day or so, will focus on wildlife on the grounds.  

The portion of the main lakeside trail on the cabin side of the lake actually overlaps the gravel road (above) used by cars and maintenance vehicles to access the various cabins.  

At the far northeast end of the lake, where a wooden pedestrian bridge separates the lake from Beaver Pond, there is a seating area furnished also with the above sundial (side shot below).

Above, a look at the trail ahead -- and a late-afternoon light at the end of the wooded "tunnel."

Above, some ornamental grass along the wooden pedestrian bridge (below) at the far northeast end of the lake. In the image below, you can see the above grass on the left side at the far end of the bridge. The option to climb the 0.7-mile loop trail up the wooded hill begins about 15 yards beyond the end of this bridge and to the right. 

Above, log catching some spot sunlight from a late-afternoon sun.

Above and below, some more "down the trail" looks inside the forest area. The frame below is part of the descent of the loop trail above the lake; the frame above is part of the main lake trail and taken behind cabins along the east side of the lake.

Above, another birdhouse.

Above and below, two images of the filter-enriched sky serving as a nice background to fall colors and tree trunks mostly silhouetted from backlight.

Above, a view hikers encounter on the west end of the lakeside trail, near the west end damn where there's another wooden bridge.

Above and below: On the nature trails a bit removed from the lake and main residential area -- and separated by another wooded area -- hikers come upon the tennis court (above), which is available to cabin renters to use, and a small pond (below). 

Above and below: Perspective and closeup images of a birdhouse along the main lakeside trail.

Above, a solitary leaf spotlighted by a late-afternoon sun.

Above, the renter check-in building and maintenance garage, which features an antique Texaco gasoline pump (non-functional) and a classic Coca-Cola sign.

A final look at a hiking trail. This view is from the nature trail away from the main lake grounds -- taken from ground level low ... and with shallow depth of field.