We drove to Strawberry, California (Pop. 50) yesterday to take part in a 50th birthday celebration for Kelly’s long-time friend Jeff Marshall at the historic Strawberry Lodge. Along the way we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Heyday Cafe in Placerville.
We arrived at the lodge just in time to see the moon bouncing toward Lover’s Leap. I grabbed my Sigma 80-400 mm lens and caught this shot just as it tumbled over the edge.
Not terribly pleased with the original image, which looked flat, I decided to give it the Ansel Adams treatment. I converted it to black and white in PhotoShop and performed a bit of dodging and burning here and there trying to emulate the master. You’d probably be surprised to see how easy it is to get this effect.
How fun! Looks like a beautiful area. Both pictures are wonderful, but the b&w is more dramatic.
Adams said that “color is for painters”.
Seeing the world as light and shadow forces us to see mass.You can feel the weight of all that granite.
Breathtaking Dude!
Impressive, Jim.
Hi- I’m looking for images of the Strawberry Lodge for a magazine piece. Can you contact me asap if you photographed it? Thanks.