Sunday, 20 June 2010

iPhones and Giant Redwoods

So how do you capture a Giant Redwood with an iPhone?  Well I think I need to clarify one or two points.  The first is that this isn't a giant redwood.  Yes it is a Sequoiadendron giganteum but really it is just a pre pubescent redwood - it is perhaps no more than 70 years old - a mere pup.   The second thing to clarify is that I am not in California but rather just outside Leicester, Leicestershire, England.

So there I am standing in front of this  small example of the redwood - perhaps only 30 metres tall. Nonetheless when you stand next to these creatures you start to realise that you are not such a significant creature after all.  Yes I will come and go and this tree will endure to who knows when?  So how do you capture the size with an iPhone?   Well the truth is I don't know but I had a go.   The iPhone camera is, by any standards, a very poor digital camera and this is why I find it so interesting to use.  It free's you from the manic straight jacket of Mega pixels, shutter speeds, lens and f stops.  You just press the button and hope for the best.   The challenge is to use these limitations to my advantage.   I am not sure I have mastered this creature yet but it really is fun trying.

Anyway, back to the Redwood.  There was no way I could capture this tree in one shot so I decided to make a collage  of a series of shots.  I suspect I will be coming back to the photo I made again and again - but this is the first stab at trying to make a photograph of this small but beautifully formed sequoia

Simon Marchini LRPS

Posted via email from SIMON's posterous

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